Buttermilk & Molasses

COVERING YOUR ASS WITH AN EXECUTIVE BRANCH

Man, to be Dana Perino, deputy press secretary for the White House. Talking Points Memo has some wonderful out-takes from today's press huddle in which Perino struggles to not admit that the office of Vice President Cheney exists in a totally different dimension than the rest of the government. Although, I find myself reluctant to actually call it "government" anymore. What a farce.

KEREN ANN'S FIFTH

I'm sitting here listening to the new Keren Ann CD (Keren Ann on Blue Note) and having huge Mazzy Star meets Velvet Underground flashbacks. Here's Paste Magazine's David Mead:

The effect is mesmerizingly conversational. In “It’s All A Lie,” she allows a lazy swell of strings and synthesizer to all but overwhelm her vocal right at the point she reveals her unfaithfulness to a lover, the aural equivalent of waiting for a train to pass before pulling a trigger. Softened by the tender, smoky tones of her voice, Ann’s punch is all the sweeter.

I don't even remember how I stumbled upon Keren Ann's music (though I seem to have somehow gathered together three of her five releases), but I'm pleased to see that the Israeli-born, Parisian-living chantreuse is maintaining her creative stride.

THE LOVE OF NATURE, THE NATURE OF LOVE

My friend Julia introduced me to author Annie Dillard almost two decades ago, and I was delighted to see Dillard reappear in The Washington Post's Book World with a review of her latest, the novel The Maytrees. Equally delightful is a brief and chatty interview with Dillard that helps put a human -- and humorous -- face on a woman whose writing about nature and the human spirit has at times seemed otherworldly and too serious to me at times. Dillard currently lives in the mountains of Virginia, which is where she spoke to Book World's Daniel Asa Rose:

So you granted Book World your only in-depth interview for this book. Was it because of that affair we had back in '82?
[Laughing] It slipped my mind. Refresh my memory.

OK, it wasn't technically an affair. It was a dance. We were at a mutual friend's publication party, and suddenly you yanked me onto the dance floor with these immortal words, "Now let's see what you're made of."
I said that? Usually that's how I got men to play Ping Pong with me. It was good for four points.

Well, it sure worked on me. I was intimidated the whole dance.
What were we dancing to? Fast or slow?

Fast. Disappointingly.
I can't dance anymore. Total knee replacements. I can't do anything anymore. I'm 62 now.

For me, you'll always be the way you were then: svelte, incandescent.
I kept growing through my 30s! I don't know why. Now I'm shrinking, of course. At the doctor's the other day, the form asked, "How tall are you? How tall were you?" I said, "I didn't come here to be insulted!"

Author Marilynne Robinson reviewed The Maytrees for the Post:

Annie Dillard's books are like comets, like celestial events that remind us that the reality we inhabit is itself a celestial event, the business of eons and galaxies, however persistently we mistake its local manifestations for mere dust, mere sea, mere self, mere thought. The beauty and obsession of her work are always the integration of being, at the grandest scales of our knowledge of it, with the intimate and momentary sense of life lived.

The Maytrees is about wonder -- in the terms of this novel, life's one truth. It is wonder indeed that is invoked here, vast and elusive and inexhaustible and intimate and timeless. There is a resolute this-worldliness that startles the reader again and again with recognition. How much we overlook! What a world this is, after all, and how profound on its own terms.

Thanks, Julia.

LIMPING TOWARD COOPERATION

Today's Richmond Times-Dispatch launches a two-part series on regional cooperation in Richmond; reporter David Ress seems to be leading the effort on this series. You may remember Ress' excellent series (with reporter Paige Mudd and photographer Eva Russo) on the Richmond City Jail. The series kicks off with three articles, and continues next Sunday:

• An overview of the issue: "Not just borders limit our localities"
  
• Regional planning example: "With many absent, panels plans for future"
  
• GRTC's example: "Area's limited bus service seen as symbol of divide"

LOCAL OR GLOBAL: WHERE'S THE LEADERSHIP?

At every level of my life, I spend way too much time thinking about the essential components of leadership (some elements of which include integrity [trust + relationship], inspiration and vision). At work, I focus on how to help others diagnose and strengthen the leadership they provide in service to others. At home, I wrestle with how well I live in the moment, in relationship with my wife, even as we seek to build a shared future. In my community, I struggle to understand what limits the effectiveness of our political, social and business leaders.

Two articles struck me this morning -- the beginning of what I hope will be a well-reported and comprehensive look at regional cooperation by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and an op-ed by David Ignatius in the Washington Post about a recent discussion between foreign policy "wise men" Brent Scowcroft, Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski. First, the two quotes that caught my attention, and then my thoughts on how our leadership -- nationally and locally -- are failing us.

Quote Number 1 is from James Ukrop of Richmond:

"But our vision stops at jurisdictional lines. Really, nobody is thinking about what we will look like by 2025, 2030, 40, 50."

Quote Number 2 is from former Secretary of State Zbigniew Brzezinski:

"The world is much more restless. It's stirring. It has aspirations that are not easily satisfied. And if America is to lead, it has to relate itself somehow to these new, lively, intense political aspirations, which make our age so different from even the recent past."

The global system is in the midst of significant transformation, as is our local region. Both require new leadership -- and both are getting more of the same old leadership.

For the Richmond region, the changes are not subtle. This is not your father's version of Richmond -- on the off-chance that your family happens to be native to the region.

Richmond is more diverse today than it has ever been, and the old black-white boundaries, while still relevant, are made less obvious by an influx of new residents from Asia and Latin America, in particular.

The old, white boys' club that alternately propelled and held back growth and change and the politics of Richmond is on its last legs. For that, all of us should be thankful. The smoke-filled rooms of Main Street are emptying out, replaced by a social diversity that has different passions, drivers and beliefs.

The relevance of the region's center -- particularly, the City of Richmond and the County of Henrico -- must be redefined, and its foundation rebuilt. Tomorrow's decisions will be driven, for better or for worse, by two entities -- the 800-pound elephant known as Chesterfield County, and the counties absorbing the new growth (Hanover, Caroline, New Kent, Powhatan, among others).

If Richmond and Henrico want to be in the game a decade from now, they need to begin changing how they deal with their neighbors today. If the rest of the region wants to continue to grow succcessfully, they need to figure out how to help Richmond and Henrico respond to change. Without the rest of the region, the core will remain static. Without the core, the rest of the region will always struggle.

Unfortunately, the current crop of leaders are failing on too many fronts.

Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder has proven himself to be a visionary. He has failed, however, to build the relationships and establish the trust that will allow his visions to develop and take root.

Business leader James Ukrop is less visionary than Wilder (though more visionary than others), but has done tremendous work over the past two decades to create strong relationships and demonstrate a passion for and belief in the Richmond region. What continues to cripple Ukrop's leadership in the region is his lack of transparency -- most recently demonstrated with his leadership with the Virginia Performing Arts Foundation's efforts to build an arts center downtown.

Chesterfield's leadership is in flux -- the old generation is beginning to retire, and it remains unclear if there will be a shared voice to emerge from the new generation.

To paraphrase Brzezinski, Richmond "is much more restless. It is stirring." Where is the new leadership for a changing community?

THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA CAFE

Richmond.com has a lengthy review of Ipanema Cafe, which is not only a mainstay of Richmond's vegetarian and hipster crowd but is one of the best restaurants in town -- especially if you just want to hang out, drink and eat, and watch a parade of people pass you by. Owner Kendra Feather really deserves a key to the city for keeping the place alive.

THE WAR ON PLASTIC

Newsweek has a Q&A with San Francisco's mayor about that city's ban on plastic water bottles. First, the city banned the use of plastic grocery bags. Now, plastic water bottles are in the cross-hairs. It's all part of an effort to reduce plastic waste.

NEWSWEEK: Salt Lake City has also banned bottled water for its employees. Why are cities taking the lead in persuading people to stop buying bottled water?
Gavin Newsom: The transportation and distribution, developing the plastic for the water bottles, the cost of the water, has a huge environmental and economic impact. As a consequence of the prolific growth in bottled waters, we in the city feel we have a responsibility to address its cost and its environmental impact. We are looking to eliminate completely all of bottled water consumption supported by city money but also to begin an educational campaign to convey the real cost of bottled water, transported half way around the world. We are looking at a marketing campaign showing bottled water compared to a barrel of oil, that shows it takes far more energy to transport the water than the oil.

Representatives from the bottled-water industry say it’s unfair to single out their product. Thousands of food and beverage items come in plastic packaging, they point out—and consumers like having a healthy choice of water, instead of buying drinks containing sugar and calories.
Yes, but the difference between bottled water and Diet Coke is that you can’t get Diet Coke from the tap. It’s not like any other bottled liquids. These people are making huge amounts of money selling God’s natural resources. Sorry, we’re not going to be part of it. Our water in San Francisco comes from the Hetch Hetchy [reservoir] and is some of the most pristine water on the planet. Our water is arguably cleaner than a vast majority of the bottled water sold as "pure."

GREG BEAR AND STEVE COLBERT

Courtesy of Boing Boing (though actually David Brin at Contrary Brin sent up the first alert), science fiction writer and futurist Greg Bear recently made an appearance on Comedy Central's Colbert Report to discuss his new novel, Quantico (which I read just this week). He also hung out with Jon Stewart last week and explained how the collision of technology, the current political situation and our worst fears can be really, really depressing.

PUBLIC VERSUS PRIVATE: THE NEW EXTREMISM

In recent months, Boing Boing has spotlighted the two extremes of privacy -- Google Maps' new "street level" views and an effort to ban photography on a public street in Silver Spring, Maryland. In both cases -- one which suggests nothing visible is private, while the other suggests everything visible is private -- corporate entities are establishing the rules. It's going to be really interesting how government weighs into either of these extremes when they find their way into the legal system.

MAKING IT UP AS YOU GO: THE NEW LEADERSHIP MODEL

TPMmuckraker has the latest on the twists and turns at Guantanamo Bay, as the Bush administration continues down its well-established "damned if we do, damned if we don't, we don't give a damn" policy pathway. After the Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense were effectively shut down this week by the Vice President in discussions about closing the detention camp, the Defense Department announced a new detainee was on the way. And now an Army Reserve intelligence officer has testified in a declaration in D.C. Circuit Court that the "enemy combatant" classification process is filled with flaws.

In his declaration, obtained by TPMmuckraker, Abraham charges that the officers tasked with gathering information on a detainee -- known as a Recorder or a Case Writer -- typically have "little training or experience" in intelligence. The fact files they compile are most often "outdated, often 'generic,' (and) rarely specifically relating to the individual subjects of the CSRT," and frequently reliant on a Pentagon database that lacked information from across the intelligence community. "This limitation," Abraham writes, "was frequently not understood by individuals with access to or who relied upon the system as a source of information."

As with so many policies that the Bush administration has either backed itself into or consciously imposed upon the American public, the detention policy that the U.S. adopts for terrorists is a serious matter -- one that demands the best thinking of the U.S. legal system. It is at the least unfortunate, and perhaps criminal, that the Bush administration has been allowed to gut huge swaths of the American legal system with a reliance on instinct, paranoia, secrecy and a belief in executive privilege that rivals that of Josef Stalin.