Obama Names Adolfo “Hot Sheet” CarriÃ³n to New Urban Affairs Position

Ever hear of a hot sheet motel?

When I was growing up in the Bronx, we called them no-tell motels until the local news popularized the term “hot sheet motel” to describe the grimy, STD incubators rented out by the hour to prostitutes, drug dealers, and addicts. The Northeast Bronx, especially Boston Road, was so infested with these crime havens we started calling it the sleaze belt.

Adolfo CarriÃ³n Jr., President Obama’s pick to lead the White House Office of Urban Affairs, knows a little something about hot sheet motels. While CarriÃ³n was serving as a New York City Councilman in late 2000, the Giuliani administration responded to citizen outcry about the motels by proposing new zoning laws to prevent new construction of these blights. CarriÃ³n helped block those laws.Â Here’s how this Chicago-style political tale played out:

When angry residents of the Baychester community demanded that Mayor Giuliani rid the area of the motels and the crime they breed some years ago, the former mayor proposed a radical rezoning that would prevent more motels from opening there. This was set for quick approval when a couple of major property owners hired Mr. Ramirezâ€™s [Roberto Ramirez, former Bronx Democratic Party Chair] law firm to stop the plan.

Mr. Ramirez assigned his top land-use associate, Linda Baldwin, to convince the local community board to back down. With a little bit of double-talk, a dash of deception, and the connivance of Mr. Ferrer [Fernando Ferrer, Borough President at the time], the plan was killed. And who exactly is this Linda Baldwin that “Boss” Ramirez turned to? Sheâ€™s Mrs. Adolfo Carrion.

CarriÃ³n, who clearly had the public’s best interest at heart, accepted a $2,000 political contribution from Oscar Porcelli, one of the appreciative property owners. The conflict of interest stemming from his wife’s involvement was exposed by Mary Lauro, a Community Board member and strong supporter of the Giuliani plan. After becoming Bronx Borough President in 2002, CarriÃ³n refused to reappoint his whistleblower to the Board.

That wasn’t the last time community board members experienced backlash after failing to support CarriÃ³n. In 2006, he replaced four members of Community Board 4 after they rejected the plan for a new Yankee Stadium. The plan, which drew significant opposition regarding displaced parkland and large taxpayer funded subsidies, was later approved by the City Council. CarriÃ³n’s most visible role as Borough President has been Cheerleader-in-Chief for the Yankees, and he has been accused of neglecting community interests in his quest to get the new ballpark built.

Questionable campaign donations, conflicts of interest, and Chicago-style politics? Sounds like we’ve got another Democrat who’ll be a great fit for the Obama administration. Does CarriÃ³n get bonus points for getting arrested with Al Sharpton?

Oh, and those hot sheet motels? Well, CarriÃ³n was only for them before he was against them. Bowing to political pressure as Borough President, he made repeated attempts to cleanse the Northeast Bronx of the seedy establishments, but only a few have been eliminated. Not shocking considering he continues to accept campaign contributions from pro-hot sheet property owners.

Published by Jenn Q. Public on February 23, 2009

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Alan Wolfe: Conservatives Are From Mars, Liberals Are From Awesomeville

In his latest book, The Future of Liberalism, Alan Wolfe describes seven dispositions that characterize liberals:

a sympathy for equality
an inclination to deliberate
a commitment to tolerance
an appreciation of openness
a disposition to grow
a preference for realism
a taste for governance

I hear liberals also absorb fluid like a ShamWow and have a pill that can make a man larger. Call now, operators are standing by!

Like Alan Wolfe’s liberals, I also embrace “a preference for realism,” so unless he’s describing classical liberalism, his assessment is nothing more than comic fodder.

Published by Jenn Q. Public on February 19, 2009

Sex, Lies, and Georgia GOP Lawmakers

The state of Georgia is facing a $2.2 billion budget shortfall, but some GOP lawmakers believe they have the answer to curbing spending: a good old fashioned smut hunt, starting with public universities. State Representative Calvin Hill (R-Canton) issued a press release earlier this month to express his outrage regarding course offerings at Georgia State University:

What I am about to tell you will shock and disgust you.

Do you know that your tax dollars are being used at our state universities to pay professors to teach your children classes like â€œMale Prostitutionâ€ and â€œQueer Theoryâ€? Yes, even in tight economic times like we are facing today, our Board of Regents is wasting your tax dollars to teach these totally unnecessary and ridiculous classes.

If that is not enough, you will even find a class entitled â€œOral Sexâ€ and another on â€œSexual Orientationâ€. Yes, the list goes on and on.

In his zeal to incite constituent ire about the racy subjects being taught under their very noses, Rep. Hill failed to note he wasn’t actually consulting the course catalog. The subjects cited in Rep. Hill’s press statement are listed in the GSU guide to faculty experts, a document distributed to media outlets, governments, and research organizations to assist them with locating specialists. Oral sex and male prostitution are areas of faculty expertise, not entries on the course roster.

Male prostitution, for example, was the focus of a study of the spread of HIV conducted by faculty member Kirk Elifson. His results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1989. Societal messages about oral sex are being examined by senior lecturer Mindy Stombler, who hopes her findings will help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Their expertise qualifies them to act as research consultants in these areas; they are not offering how-to seminars.

Stombler and Elifson spoke to the House Higher Education Committee last Tuesday, but Rep. Hill declined to ask the professors any questions at the hearing. Despite clarification from GSU faculty and administrators, Rep. Hill continues to assert, “Our job is to educate our people in sciences, business, math.” Humanities and social sciences be damned!

State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock) is also incensed by this “major misuse of the state university system’s budget.” She told CBS Atlanta:

I probably am a fuddy-duddy. I believe in the Bible. I’m a Christian. I go to church, and these are not the things that we are learning in church and in the Bible. And so if you want to call me a fuddy-duddy, have at it.

In a finger-wagging rebuke of the University delivered via YouTube, notorious fuddy-duddy Rep. Byrd assured viewers, “the timing is perfect to eliminate positions of professors and staff who are paid to provide such services.”

Of particular concern to Rep. Byrd is a course that actually exists, a doctoral seminar on queer theory. The validity of queer theory is certainly controversial and if the topic concerns Rep. Byrd’s constituents, she is obligated to investigate. However, she completely undermined her credibility as an elected representative (and her status as a decent human being) by publicly posting an unsubstantiated, patently outrageous claim (see cached copy here) that “there is a professor in charge of Queer Theory actively recruiting young teenage gays to accompany him on international trips.”

Nothing like implied charges of pedophilia to get an investigation going, huh?

Rep. Hill also suggested inappropriate faculty behavior. “The concern is what are we doing on our campuses? Are we actually recruiting people, if you will, into a lifestyle?” he asked.

By spending time ferreting out queer needles in the academic haystack, Calvin Hill and Charlice Byrd are distracting the Georgia legislature from careful consideration of state budgetary woes. They are manufacturing scandals where none exist.

There is plenty of room for debate regarding the legitimacy of queer theory as a fruitful academic discipline. Camille Paglia once referred to queer theorists as a “wizened crew of flimflamming free-loaders,” and she may be on to something. I tend to believe the academy’s obsessive division and subdivision of disciplines along lines of gender and ethnicity creates intellectually isolated academic ghettos, but that’s an opinion, not a mandate for legislative interference.

Georgia code (Â§ 20-3-51) specifies that “the government, control, and management of the university system and all of its institutions shall be vested in the Board of Regents.” The Board is also given authority to allocate appropriations among institutions as members see fit. While members of the public are free to voice curricular concerns to the Board, micromanagement of course content is not a function of the state legislature, not even when taxpayer dollars are involved, not even if Charlice Byrd launches an inquisition.

Published by Jenn Q. Public on February 16, 2009

Celebrating Intellectual Dishonesty in the Abortion Debate

Making the digital rounds this week is a Youtube clip of a precocious 12-year-old girl delivering her articulate defense of the pro-life position on abortion. Conservative bloggers immediately fell in love, not just with the content of the seventh grader’s argument, but how she passionately conveyed her perspective with eloquence and poise.

Allahpundit proclaims her destined for Hollywood, calling her “young talent in the service of a righteous cause.” Ace finds her a “very poised public speaker.” And Robert Stacy McCain rounds up a similar smattering of praise and awe from other right-leaning blogs.

Their assessment of her performance is spot on – set her up with Obama’s teleprompters and she’ll be a surefire hit on the stump – but what about the content of her message?

Don’t worry, I’m not going to subject a 12-year-old kid to a complete ideological fisking. I have great respect for faith-based arguments against abortion, many of which she presents impressively, but there are some examples of false and dated information in her speech that detract from her case.

Most notably, her speech includes the oft repeated, scientifically unsubstantiated myth that women are “at a greater risk of developing breast cancer if they have an abortion.” Experts at The American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists agree that scientific evidence does not support a link between abortion and increased breast cancer risk. The speech also includes exaggerations about the impact of abortion on women’s mental health.

I suspect the child who delivered this heartfelt speech was not aware she was citing false data. But that doesn’t mean we should pass it around without comment and hold her up as a model to which all kids should aspire. She is already gifted in the art of persuasion, and she would see even greater success if her talking points were less deceptive.

There are few aspects of the abortion debate I find more distasteful than the intentional spread of misinformation by people on either side. When pro-life activists mislead women about the harmful effects of abortion as part of a fear mongering campaign, it is just as egregious as intentionally downplaying the risks of abortion.

Whichever side of the abortion debate you favor, no matter how impressive you find this girl’s oratory skills, intellectual honesty requires us to expose arguments based on falsehoods, particularly when those falsehoods pertain to medical information. The truth is important, even it if doesn’t support our political goals.

Too bad that belief precludes me from successfully running for elected office.

Published by Jenn Q. Public on February 12, 2009

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Al-Qaeda Militants Using Rape of Men and Women to Produce New Suicide Bombers

The organized rape of men, women, and children has emerged as the suicide bomber recruiting tool du jour at Middle East al-Qaeda camps. Rape, and the attendant shame levied on victims by adherents of fundamentalist Islam.

Samira Ahmed Jassim, dubbed “The Mother of Believers, is accused of recruiting over 80 women to become suicide bombers. Exploiting the culture of honor killings, Jassim orchestrated the rapes of young Iraqi women as a method of dishonoring them. After the women had suffered perhaps the greatest humiliation in Islamic culture, Jassim would step in to advise them that martyrdom through suicide bombing was the only way to redeem themselves.

Via GayPatriot comes a second report of rape being used as a barbaric al-Qaeda recruitment tool, this time on men and boys:

Evil al-Qaeda chiefs are raping young male converts to shame them into becoming suicide bombers, it emerged yesterday.

The intense social stigma and fear of more gay sex attacks leaves Muslims prepared to die.

The warped new tactic was revealed by a reformed Algerian militant. Abu BaÃ§ir El Assimi said: â€œThe sexual act on young recruits aged between 16 to 19 was a means to urge them to commit suicide operations.â€

The environment cultivated by fundamentalist Islam is one in which the innocent victims of rape bear all the shame and stigma of the assault while the rapist earns extremist brownie points for terrorizing the next batch of suicide bombers into compliance. Rape is one more violent weapon in the arsenal used to coerce young men and women into making a sacrifice that piety alone does not compel them to make. They are shamed into seeking redemption by taking as many lives as possible in the ultimate service to Allah.

Published by Jenn Q. Public on February 5, 2009