Category: Guest Authors

The televised images of violence and looting triggered one recurring thought in many people: This isn’t supposed to happen in our civilized cities. No, we’re not just talking about in London, but right here in Philadelphia, as flash mobs have grown more frequent—and more violent.

To deal with mobs—which keep residents barricaded in their homes and visitors out of the city—Mayor Michael Nutter has instituted a citywide curfew. In and of itself, the curfew isn’t a bad idea, but that seems to be the Mayor’s only answer, and that’s the real problem.

Curfews are short-term, reactive tools of government, a tactic rather than a strategy. While people feel safer—which is important to keep society functioning—the false sense of security that a curfew provides often evaporates when the situation doesn’t stabilize or the curfew is lifted.

They are simply too expensive and resource-intensive to be permanently maintained. Police become bogged down in the menial work of processing curfew violators and contacting their parents (who will be hit with fines they can’t afford), instead of focusing on the real criminals prowling the city.

The other downside is that curfews create resentment among those affected—most of whom are law-abiding citizens—because an entire group now becomes classified as criminals for doing something that two weeks ago was perfectly legal. The majority are punished for the actions of very few.

Measures that are perceived to unfairly target people based on age, skin color and gender will only enflame tensions, not soothe them. And as a result, people take on the persona of that which they are accused of being.

Curfew aside, perhaps the focus should be on targeting actual crime, and concentrating on the arrest of actual criminals (not curfew violators). If police catch the bad guys, prosecutors gain convictions, and judges hand down tough sentences, we’d be light years ahead of where we are today.

Here’s the bottom line: You don’t solve a crime problem by making something a crime that is now not a crime.
So why do we do these things? Because they’re easy and make good 30-second sound bites. While the Mayor wants us to believe that the curfew will make everything right, in reality we are left with a city that is no safer in the long run.

Beyond the curfew, what does the Mayor suggest to solve the problem? He says parents and children need to “get their act together” and that there will be a “zero tolerance” for this type of behavior.

Some parents absolutely need to get their act together, but for many, they are doing all the right things yet are still swimming against the tide. Things that would improve their situation are out of their control, and the person who could fix the problems—the Mayor—chooses not to.

Too bad Michael Nutter doesn’t employ a zero-tolerance policy where it’s needed most: educational failure and businesses fleeing the city.

* * *

Solve the Problem
Sure, there is an element in every society that is violent and lawless, and nothing can ever change that. The only solution for those thugs is a life in prison.

But for the majority of others, crime doesn’t have to be a way of life, but often is because of the lack of opportunities, both educationally and professionally. That’s where bold leadership comes into play, the ability to reverse years of decline with real solutions to the toughest problems.

Unfortunately, this Mayor is totally lacking in that category.

As I’ve repeatedly noted, the core reason for our situation is the horrendously bad educational system, which directly results in the lack of hope for young people.

There is simply no possibility of receiving a quality education in Philadelphia, despite taxpayers spending more than $17,000 per student, per year. Some schools are deathtraps and, incomprehensibly, many sport graduation rates in the 20s and 30s—and that’s after a huge number have already dropped out. Despite all the rhetoric promising to turn things around, they have only gotten worse.

When the most basic life skills are lacking, the prospects for a decent job are virtually nonexistent, so many of our youth see the dream of a stable and prosperous life as nothing more than an illusion. Faith is lost.

If young people feel they have nothing to live for, they resort to criminal activity. The youths committing these crimes figure that, before they are 30, they’ll either be dead or in jail. The “I’ve got nothing to lose” attitude turns them into predators, and law-abiding citizens become their prey.

When education is trumped by survival, everybody loses. But no one wants to fix the problem, instead pretending that more money is the solution. Wrong—it isn’t. Only educational competition—school choice—can turn things around. But it isn’t happening, so another generation will be lost while gutless politicians continue their inane babble that accomplishes nothing.

And speaking of competition, is it any wonder why Philadelphia can’t compete with the nation’s cities that are growing? Could it have something to do with the fact that, cumulatively, it’s the highest-taxed city in the country? And that the situation is only worsening?

Under the Mayor’s watch, property taxes have gone through the roof, the city portion of the sales tax has increased 100 percent, pension payments have been deferred, and numerous other taxes and fees have been instituted or proposed. And that’s in addition to what was already a crushing tax load.

It’s a simple cause and effect. Businesses flee the city or refuse to relocate here. The resulting lack of opportunities in turn triggers despair and increased crime. As the recently released Pew survey showed, residents who can depart Philadelphia do, leaving behind an underclass with scant opportunities and even less hope.

You wouldn’t treat a heart attack victim by giving him an aspirin, since that would only be treating a symptom. In Philadelphia, curfews and feel-good fairy tale rhetoric have become the “cure” but do nothing other than speed up the city’s death spiral.

* * *

Until leaders with a true understanding of the problems—and how to solve them—take control, citizens will continue to be held hostage to terrorizing thugs, and brazen crime sprees will increase. Whether it’s flash mobs, riots, brutal subway attacks, or cops in the crosshairs, it’s clear that respect for authority is waning, and no one is off limits to the predators.

Create opportunity, and you create stability. People with good jobs buy houses, have families and become productive, law-abiding citizens with an incentive to keep their neighborhoods safe. Ignore the problems, and you have a powder keg ready to explode. With nothing to lose, all bets are off—and society takes a hit.

Anything less than real solutions will make flash mobs more than just a flash in the pan, but an unfortunate part of everyday city life.

Mayor Nutter’s Curfew Isn’t A Solution

On any given day, tens of millions flock to the beach for the sun, sand and surf. Yet because there have been 50 cases over the last decade of people digging deep holes in the sand and then getting trapped in cave-ins (including one in the last week), there is a renewed call to ban digging holes at the beach. Some towns have already done so (Myrtle Beach), and some are close to following suit (Los Angeles). It’s such a “serious risk” that the L.A. lifeguard division chief, when asked by a reporter what advice he would give parents who are heading to the beach, replied, “Don’t let your kids dig holes.”

Talk about burying your head in the sand. Fifty cases out of millions is insignificant. We’re talking about creating laws to ban an activity that had negative results for only 50 out of literally billions of beach trips.

Given that this warped mentality is now the norm, it’s no surprise that America just got handed a horrendously bad debt ceiling deal by Congress—one that will only exacerbate the problem—yet is already being celebrated as a necessary step and part of the “solution.”

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

So what do passing ridiculous laws and debt-raising deals have in common? Both ignore the real problems, with bury-your-head-in-the-sand thinking. Bad decisions are rationalized in a paternalistic, group-think way, accomplishing nothing but providing the decision-makers with a false sense of feeling good.

It’s bad enough that we now make laws to “protect” idiots who want to dig six-foot-deep holes side by side and try to tunnel between them. But laws intended to prevent stupidity never work. So why don’t we instead focus on the real problems that we have, instead of passing do-nothing regulations that only hinder law-abiding folks using common sense? Because it’s the easy way out.

Welcome to the MO of the United States Congress.

Let’s look past the rhetoric and ponder the real implications of the debt deal recently passed by Congress and heralded as absolutely “necessary” to save America:

1) If virtually everyone in Washington agreed that the high national debt was a bad thing, then how could those same folks turn around and raise it? It’s like locking an alcoholic in a liquor store for a week and expecting sobriety. If the debt was admittedly the problem, then raising it, by definition, would only make the problem worse. Go figure.

2) How can Congress be expected to solve the nation’s educational failures when its own basic math skills are suspect? So to cut two trillion in spending, the solution is to add two trillion to the debt? Hmmm. Granted, columnists are not that smart, but that one just doesn’t seem to add up.

3) A number of Republican congressmen voted for the debt deal “so that the small businessman wouldn’t be hurt” and to avoid a credit-rating downgrade. Now, they get the worst of both worlds. As any high-schooler could have told you, the downgrade was coming, since the cuts weren’t nearly substantial enough. So now faith in America takes a huge hit, interest rates and inflation will rise, and the markets will continue to free-fall. Yep, those things really serve the interests of small business.

4) Who exactly is going to buy the additional trillions in debt? Sure, there will be foreign nations, investors and fund managers, but there simply isn’t enough money out there to buy that much debt. And don’t look to China to buy a whopping share of the new debt, since they aren’t exactly thrilled with the way things are going. They are nervously watching their current U.S. debt holdings, and don’t want to be holding a worthless bag of goods as the value of the dollar continues to plummet. The Chinese may be a lot of things, but being imprudent with their own money is not one of them. They were cutting back on buying U.S. Treasuries well before this current fiasco.

5) Most significantly, does anyone really have any idea what a trillion is, let alone two, or 17, for that matter? No, not even the brightest astrophysicists. It is an incomprehensible number. So to give the debt increase some perspective, we have just given ourselves the green light to borrow more than twice the entire economic output of Texas, currently the most productive state in the nation in terms of attracting residents and businesses and beating the recession. For that matter, the debt increase is greater that the gross domestic product of all but four countries—just the increase!

The truth of the matter is that America’s credit rating should have been downgraded quite some time ago, so it is a mathematical certainty that it will be downgraded again in the relatively near future. And regarding the argument that raising the debt was necessary to avoid default, that’s Washintgton-speak, plain and simple. There were numerous ways to pay the nation’s bills while not raising the debt ceiling. Don’t get hypnotized by the “complexities” foisted upon us by a Congress—both parties—with an insatiable appetite to spend. They could have fixed the problem. They chose not to.

And the beauty of it all, at least from Congress’s perspective, is that they got what they wanted: more money to spend now, and down-the-road reductions that can, and absolutely will, be ignored by future Congresses.

So what happens? Given our unprecedented situation, no one really knows for sure, but none of it will be good, and the pain level will be huge.

The West is experiencing its financial bankruptcy in large part because of its spiritual bankruptcy, and until that changes, don’t expect things to “get back to normal” anytime soon.

But there is one measure of preparedness that will undoubtedly come in handy as the economic storm worsens: When at your foreign-owned service station, learn to ask for your Middle Eastern-derived gasoline in Chinese.

 

U.S. Credit Downgraded Again Deservedly

Chris Freind’s Best (and Worst) of Philly

By Chris Freind

Who makes the best Bloody Mary in the city?
Where is the best brunch? Freindly Fire has no idea. Thankfully, though,
there are much smarter folks who know the best things in and around the
nation’s fourth-largest market. For those gems, see the Best of Philly
awards in this month’s Philadelphia magazine. There are,
however, some Best and Worst awards that I’d like to bestow on some very
deserving winners … and losers. Here’s my list.

***Best of Philly***
Best Snowfall Removal:
Anywhere but Philadelphia. The
streets were absolutely deplorable last winter, with significant snow
and ice on major city roads days after the storms, not to mention that
many side streets were simply impassable. How did city residents react?
Almost 80 percent voted for Mayor Nutter in the May primary. In
comparison, Chicagoans kicked out their Mayor for similar incompetence in 1979. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow … just don’t complain when you can’t get to work. He’s your Mayor.

Best Political Comeback: IBEW 98 boss John Dougherty.
After losing a bid for the state senate and coming up short in clashes
with Democratic party powerbroker Bob Brady, Doc came roaring back. He
garnered huge headlines by trying to reform the DRPA, but most
significantly, orchestrated big wins in City Council races. More than
anyone, Johnny Doc has positioned himself to be kingmaker in deciding
who the next Mayor of Philadelphia will be.

Best “It’s All About Me” Moment: City Council’s
refusal to abolish the DROP retirement program for city employees—you
know, the one that makes elected officials rich when they “retire” for a
day after being re-elected. So while the folks who actually foot the
bill are struggling just to survive, city lawmakers keep cashing in at
the public trough. Often forgotten in the criticism, though, is
Council’s stellar stewardship of Philadelphia. Its leadership has
produced the highest rates of taxes, murder, violence and poverty in the
nation, an education system that, by all accounts, is a colossal
failure, and a city that is perpetually ranked as one of the dirtiest.
But give ‘em a break. We’re not Detroit. Yet.

Best “I Don’t Recall” Moment: No, it wasn’t a political corruption trial, but the just-revealed grand jury testimony of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua
as he weaved his way around prosecutors’ pointed questioning regarding
the ever-widening Church sex-scandal. The Cardinal’s memory lapse was an
oh-so-convenient backdoor for covering his own derriere and evading
discussion about his role in the cover-up, leading the grand jury to
label him as “untruthful” and “not forthright.” Church officials need to
be reminded that sins of omission can be just as bad as sins of
commission, and that ignoring the 8th Commandment is not a prudent way
to go through life. So much for always standing behind the kids.

Best Sports Move: Bringing Cliff Lee
back. The Phils have been transformed from an organization that made
the playoffs only three times in 26 years (and that’s with the wild
card), to being perennial contenders. But being “very good” wasn’t good
enough, so they brought back Lee. With him rounding out one of the best
rotations in baseball history, the Fightin’s are fully expected to win
the World Series, and that has them hanging out in hallowed Yankees
territory, at least for the present. Like the Bronx Bombers, the
Phillies are now in the elite world where a season that culminates in
anything less than total victory will be viewed as a failure. Tough as
it will be to swallow if the Phils aren’t World Champions again, that
expectation of perfection is rarely seen in any sport, and was
nonexistent in Philly. Tip of the hat to the best—and only—sports
braintrust in the city that has shown the resolve to do whatever it
takes to win.

Best Thing About Philadelphia: Its people.
It’s a blue-collar town, through and through, and that makes it as real
as it gets. People wear their emotions on their sleeves, and it’s rare
to not know where someone stands. Politics? Rough and tumble—sometimes
literally. Sports fans? The most dedicated, if not always educated, in
the country. Run out every play, and you’ll be a Philly Hall of Famer,
but cop a ‘tude, pout, dog it (no Vick pun intended) or just plain suck,
and you’ll be run out of town on a rail. Everyday people? Not nearly as
rude as we like to think we are. That salt-of-the-Earth,
you-know-what-you’re-getting character is innately Philly, and, while
maddening at times, is beyond refreshing in an increasingly shallow
world. Yo Philly, don’t ever change.

***Worst Of Philly***
Worst Way to Earn a Living:
Dealing with the dead. Not
funeral directors, coroners, and grave diggers (although all have been
quite busy with skyrocketing murders). They all earn an honest living.
We’re talking about Michael Meehan, the city GOP boss
and lawyer extraordinaire who gives the famous movie line “I see dead
people” some real-life meaning. Seems that a dearly-departed soul—a year
after dying—retained Meehan as legal counsel to challenge the petitions
of people running for Committee posts—in his own party. Meehan didn’t
fare much better with the living, as many of his other “clients” signed
affadavits stating that they never met or heard of Meehan, and
that the signatures in Meehan’s possession were not theirs. The Philly
GOP led by Meehan may be dead, but the criminal investigation into the
matter by the District Attorney isn’t. And who said lawyers couldn’t get
any lower?

Worst Sports Move: Yes, it was last year’s move, but it’s been so devastating that it bears repeating. Getting rid of Donovan McNabb.
Life is now so boring without Number 5 around. Just look at all there
is to miss: throwing up in the huddle during the Super Bowl, laughing
jovially when his team was losing, not knowing the rules of overtime,
making racially charged comments where they had no place, and always
connecting with his favorite receiver—the turf—when the game was on the
line. Sports in Philly just aren’t the same anymore, especially with
Michael Vick being so dog-gone … normal. Without McNabb’s drama queen
theatrics over which to obsess, Philadelphia is on the verge of
becoming, dare we say it, a civilized sports city. Bring him back!

Worst Empty Promise: Philly’s pension will be OK.
Anytime a politician admits that something is bad, it’s always worse.
So when the Mayor says the city’s pension fund is 45 percent funded
(less than 50 percent is considered somewhat catastrophic), you know
there just won’t be a happy ending. With no more state or federal money
to bail out the virtually insolvent pension, and no possible way Nutter
can keep his promise to write an $800 million check to the pension (to
make up for several years of deferred payments), look for retirees to
start getting pennies on the dollar in just a few short years. Think it
can’t happen in America? Given the fact that the nation came within hours of default—despite its magical power to print money out of thin air—can anyone seriously believe that?

Worst Thing About Philly: Its people.
Or more accurately, the people’s complacency. What can you say about
residents who, despite the knowledge that things are going the wrong
way, time and again reelect the very same people who created the mess?
Philadelphia has the potential to be a world-class city, with not one
but two major rivers (neither developed). It is ideally situated within a
day’s drive of more than half the country. As a major gateway for
overseas travelers, it should unquestionably be a destination rather
than a layover stop. And with major ports, railroads, airports and
interstates, it should be a no-brainer for companies to locate their
operations in Philadelphia. Philly’s stagnant position stems from a lack
of leadership. It’s time for Philadelphians to wake up and demand that
their city take its rightful place as one of very best. But that mantle
simply can’t be claimed until the people show the will to make a change.
Given Mayor Nutter’s virtually guaranteed reelection, though, that may
have to wait another four years. How ’bout them Phils?

Lazy Media Gets “F” For Heat Wave Coverage

By Chris Freind

Gary Kirkpatrick runs Ned’s Bar in
Tahlequah, Ok. If you stopped in for a cold one recently, Gary
would have gladly given you the rundown of all things happening in that
part of the Sooner State. As home to the Cherokee nation, and sitting on
the boundary of the wild and scenic Ozark Mountains, Tahlequah is never
dull. With so much going on around him, Gary had lots to say.

But
there was one thing he didn’t mention: the weather. Which, come to
think of it, was amazing. Not just because he was one of the few who
didn’t get sucked into the nauseating, 24/7 news coverage of the
“nation’s heat wave,” but because, if anyone is entitled to blabber on
about the summer temperatures, it’s folks like Gary Kirkpatrick.

You
see, in Gary’s neck of the woods, it wasn’t 95 degrees for just a few
days like on the East Coast, spiking past 100 for several hours (with
the media hyping a “heat index” of 105, whatever the hell a heat index
is). It was a tad hotter.

As in, over 100 (real) degrees – for
over 30 straight days. That’s a solid month of topping the century mark.
And was there complaining? Few and far between.

Maybe that’s
because many mid-westerners still exhibit the salt-of-the-earth,
tough-as-nails pioneering spirit that built the nation. And maybe it’s
because East Coasters are getting increasingly soft.

But one
thing is certain: the media vastly over-sensationalized the story, to
the point where the heatwave was the only topic of conversation for
millions of Americans. Their scare tactics petrified seniors, made
parents of young children frantic, and otherwise consumed a nation,
forsaking many other far more important stories.

The media’s
abdication of all things related to doing its job has it fast
approaching the esteem level held for lawyers, politicians and the
cockroach –  with the cockroach being held in higher regard, of course.

You
could take any TV segment from a decade ago about summer heat and air
it today – and no one would know the difference. It is, quite literally,
the exact same storyline with the exact same verbage. The only thing
different is that the hype factor has increased exponentially.

And
it’s not just that the stories are mundane, but they’re produced in a
way that would offend a third-grader’s intelligence. That’s not to
suggest that they should appeal only to Ph.D’s, but come on… the
American people are not that stupid. They don’t require the media’s
condescending, dumbed-down approach, but in fact deserve solid and
relevant reporting.

“Place the metal fittings of the seatbelt
into the other, and tighten by pulling on the loose end of the strap.”
“Pour shampoo into wet hair. Lather. Rinse.” “When it’s hot, drink
plenty of liquids, don’t exert yourself outside, and seek air
conditioning.”

Really?

The airlines and shampoo companies
have those ridiculous instructions for liability reasons, since trial
lawyers (see “cockroach” category above) sue for every reason, even
inconceivable ones.

So what’s the media’s excuse? Let’s be
honest. If folks don’t know that they should avoid excessive heat, drink
water, and not resurrect a jogging regimen after 20 years (and 80
pounds ago) when the mercury hits 95, then nothing the media tells them
will make a bit of difference. Idiots will be idiots. But the vast
majority of people have common sense, so the ridiculous stories airing
nonstop serve no purpose.

And really, what do we expect? It’s
July in America. It gets hot. Philadelphia, Washington, and New York
routinely see temps in the mid to upper 90’s during this time. How is
that news? The fact it breaks a one-day record from a whopping five
years ago is newsworthy? And when it breaks 100, you’d think it was the
end of the world. Is there any real discernable difference between 96
and 100 anyway? Or 93 with high humidity versus 100 without it?

So
extensive was the media’s coverage that it took significant channel
surfing to find any details on the horrific massacre in Norway. In fact,
just a day after the shooting which left scores of children dead and a
government building in shambles, a national network dedicated less than
one minute to the story. And that was only after at least 12 minutes of
coverage dedicated solely to the heat.

Is it any wonder why so
many around the world view America disdainfully? Here we have a major
terror attack against a close ally (Norway has a military contingent in
Afghanistan, and has been threatened by al-Queda in the past), and the
identity of the perpetrator(s) and possible connections to other
terrorists had not been fully determined.

Yet we give those
tragic events nary any coverage, instead incessantly rolling the same
tape on something that happens every year — a hot spell during a
typical American summer.

Compare that to the outpouring of
support from overseas and their in-depth coverage of hurricanes hitting
America, the Alabama tornadoes, our flooding rivers— and terror
attacks, including the Oklahoma City bombing, to which many experts
likened the Norway attack.

The media has reinforced what so many
overseas already think: Americans are arrogant and self-absorbed, caring
not about the troubles of others. And that’s the biggest tragedy,
because the reality is so very different.

The American people, as
individuals, and their government (to a fault) comprise the most
generous nation the world has ever known. Money, logistics, care
packages, and yes, their prayers, are immediately sent around the globe
whenever a crisis erupts, with no expectation of payback. We do this not
for calculated future gain, but, trite as it sounds, because it’s
simply the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, the media
overshadows the true American spirit by ignoring the gripping stories of
the day in favor of recycled garbage that focuses on 1) things we
already know, and 2) things we cannot change.

In the same way
that we were treated to the Year of the Shark several summers ago (when
shark attacks were actually down), this has become the Summer of Record
Heat. Both are codespeak for media laziness.

The biggest irony is
that the media hasn’t changed its ways, content to sensationalize the
mundane while ignoring the real stories (READ: the ones which require an
honest day’s work), yet its ratings continue to plummet. Call me crazy,
but there might be a correlation there.

Sounds like a great story. Just don’t expect to see it on TV — or this column in many papers.

End Of Space Shuttle — Chris Freind has an interesting but sad column on the demise of our space program under President Obama.

He notes that  we are in “the peculiar situation of having to rely on the very same folks who less than two decades ago were our archenemy — the Russians.”

He wonders how a parent could explain such a thing to his child.

“Dad, how do we get astronauts to the space station?”

“Well, uhhh… since we put all of our space ships into museums and don’t have any new ones, we now have to hitch a ride with the Russians.  But there’s good news.  They used to be our enemy, but now they’re run by the Mob.”

Check out his column here.

 

End Of The Shuttle

Texas Don’t Mess With; Pa. Is A Mess To Begin With — Columnist Chris Freind has just got back from Texas and tells me that there is a world of difference between that state and ours — and not in our favor.

Chris notes that Pennsylvania ranks 43rd in economic performance while Texas is number one. He notes that Pennsylvania is dead last, in fact, with regard to labor competitiveness due to the influence of unions and trial lawyers.

Texas, on the other hand, is a Right To Work state, has no state income tax and has aggressively passed legal reform measures reducing litigation costs to historic lows.

This means that 40 percent of all new jobs created in the current “recovery” have been in Texas and that Texas is only one of three states to have gained jobs since the recession began in December 2007, which not coincidentally, is not long after the Democrats took over control of Congress.

Check out Chris’ column at PhillyMag.Com