Working on the book

I plan to work on my own marijuana legalization book this weekend, with the goal of having the outline and sample chapter ready to submit to a publisher by next week. Feel free to prod me and ask uncomfortable questions about whether I'm really buckling down and getting it finished.

Marijuana legalization initiative in CA

I had the privilege of talking to Richard Lee, proprietor of a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland and head of Oaksterdam University, on the phone about the initiative he submitted to the Calif. AG this week. The Register applauds. It went through 14 drafts and was fully lawyered. He says they've already raised half of the million bucks it will take to get in on the ballot and have hired a signature-gathering firm. He's aware of SF Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's bill and other efforts, but thinks it will take more than a year to get serious legislative consideration and could easily be vetoed. He's aiming for November 2010, though he's aware that the Drug Policy Alliance and NORML had been thinking about 2012. He says there are activists who would like to work on a concrete project.

Lee sounds quite serious to me, and he's not uncomfortable talking about raising $9-10 million for the campaign when it gets on the ballot. Some polls (Field, which is pretty reliable) in Calif. show 56% support for legalizing. One might like to have a higher margin to start, but there just might be a chance.

More on the particulars later.

Keith Miller finds his musical bliss

I love this story! Keith Miller will be the bass soloist at the Metropolitan Opera's summer recital concerts in New York parks, Aug. 7 and 14, but he has an unusual back story. He played fullback for the University of Colorado, playing in the Fiesta Bowl in 1994 and the Cotton Bowl in 1995. A few weeks after that game he went to see "The Phantom of the Opera" and was blown away by what he now calls "this goofy show." He started watching DVDs, at first of Brodway shows, and singing along, then"The Three Tenors," where Pavarottis's "Nessun Dorma" gave him the same chill. While he was playing football in Finland and then in the Arena league, he was learning opera, memorizing arias even though he couldn't read music yet, and he tried out for an opera at Moorhead College in Minnesota, got the part and one thing led to another.

My impression (and my experience) is that most people who end up loving opera fall in love with it at an early age. Keith Miller took a different path. Good for him. I'm going to look for the Met production of "Eugen Onegin" on CD, on which he sings, and give it a listen.

One of those international Facebook moments

I had a moment last week that sort of brought home to me some of the potential of social networking sites like Facebook, which I joined about a month ago after some prodding. I was looking at posts when I noticed that somebody named Abdallah wanted to chat with me, so I responded and we did so for about 15 minutes. Turns out that he's a high school student in Ghana who would like to go to college in the States but doubts if he'll be able to afford it, even though his mother is in the U.S. (NY). I didn't inquire into what might be a complicated situation. Anyway, we chatted and I think we'll chat again. Pretty cool! I'm not what you would call a techno-geek (actually more of a late adopter), but I'm learning.

Our newspaper isn't dead yet

There's no question that the newspaper business has been taking it on the chin for the last couple of years, and the recession sometimes feels like the cherry on top (talk about mixed metaphors -- the brass in a knuckle sandwich?). But the Register, perhaps against some pretty stiff headwinds, is at least still profitable, if much less so than in palmier days. This piece from our publisher Terry Horne, who came to us from Freedom's paper in Mesa, AZ about a year ago and whom I really like, explains some of what we're doing to try to stay afloat. It still feels strange to an old dog to be thinking "Web-first," but we're getting used to it.

Why not pay organ donors?

This has been at least a minor peeve of mine since then-Congo Al Gore got the law passed in 1984 making it illegal to buy or sell human organs, thus no compensation for organ donors. I had a nice phone call with Sally Satel at the American Enterprise Institute for this Register editorial calling for legalization of compensation for organ donors. I really don't understand the notion that it is somehow "dirty" or "demeaning" or "exploitive for an organ donor to be paid. The result of mandatory altruism, not surprisingly, is a chronic "shortage" of usable organs and almost 5,000 kidney patients dying each year -- more than have been killed to date in Iraq, and a thriving black market lacking, as black markets usually do, elementary quality control and featuring genuine exploitation. When did it become the mark of a "liberal" to be able to boast that he or she got something else outylawed?

Sally got a kidney d0nated by Virginia Postrel in 2006, or she might not have been around to talk to me. She's written a book calling for donor compensation, which I plan to get, read, and report on to you and others.

Merce Cunningham, dance visionary, dies

I'm not a huge fan of dance. I recognize the discipline, body control and artistry required to do it well, but what usually draws me to it is the music, much of which -- Tchaikovsky, Gliere, Adam, Prokofiev, and all those Balanchine appropriated -- I simply love. I also loved Nureyev and Baryshnikov. I think I've only seen one full ballet live, though I've watched a fair amount on TV. But still, just a casual fan.

Even I knew, however, the Merce Cunningham, who died Sunday night at 90 in Manhattan, was one of the giants of the art. American artists of great accomplishment deserve to be celebrated, even by those of us who appreciate more than love their accomplishments. RIP.

Recession reduces immigration

I have argued numerous times, in numerous places, that the most effective approach to immigration is to let the marketplace, rather than government bureaucrats/central planners set arbitrary quotas. For years we had low unemployment and significant illegal immigration because the marketplace -- in a somewhat bubblicious manner in retrospect, to be sure -- was able to absorb the work of millions of immigrants when native-born Americans were at close to full employment. Now the bubble has burst and the recession is upon us, and sure enough, immigration has dried up -- the most recent figures in the studies cited in this Register editorial are from 2008 and some 2007, and you can be pretty sure more recent stats will show more decline. Get the bureaucrats out of the way and let the martkethandle things it can handle so much better.

An interesting irony the editorial notes. Fewer Mexicans than might have been expected have returned to Mexico; many seem to have chosen to ride out the recession in this country. The drug-law-related violence down south is part of the reason, but a significant reason is beefed-up border enforcement that makes crossing th bordere more inconvenient and expensive than it used to be. Bet that makes immigrant-bashers happy!

Ending the F-22 -- good, but no reform

The Register thinks ending the F-22 fighter program, which all the relevant Pentagon top guys signed off on, was a good thing, but not all our readers agreed. As we also note, however, ending a weapons program designed to counter the Soviets took an extraordinary effort by DefSec Bob Gates and support from the president. It doesn't reform the Pentagon procurement process, which still emphasizes planting subcontractors in as many states and congressional districts as possible, creating, in essence, lobbyists for continuation of the project, preferably with beaucoups overruns, no matter how useless it is. In fact, uselessness may be an advantage. When the inevitable costly delays and cost overruns occur, the top brass doesn't get upset because everybody knows it's useless anyway, and it's only the taxpayers' money.

Obama's health dreams fading

It shouldn't be surprising that as people learn more about the congressional Democrats' plans for nationalizing health care opposition would grow. It's fascinating, however, how quickly the plans are falling apart, especially since people expected Obama to learn from Hillary's mistakes. Never mind, as this Register editorial reports, he's found ways to make his own mistakes.

Guantanamo more complicated than Obama hoped

The suspicion keeps growing that when it comes to national security policies -- even those that Obama has promised to abandon or change from the bad old Bush days -- Obama is turning out to look a whole lot like GWB. The atmospherics are different, of course, as are some of the priorities. But as noted before, he's maintaining dragnet electronic surveillance and using the state secrets flim-flam to keep cases from going to court, just like Bush.

Now the delay of two panels, one on interrogation and one on closing Gitmo, engeenders further skepticism. There's no reason, in my view, and as this Register editorial contends, to delay a report on torture -- just announce you're fgollowing the Army Field Manual. Guantanamo, on the other hand, embodies some legitimate complications. There are probably some -- fewer than the government thinks, I suspect, but some -- there whom almost nobody would want released, yet who can't be tried in a U.S. court for various reasons.

Gates and Cambridge cops: maybe no hero?

I haven't been able to get to blogging here of evenings, but I did tke not of the Henry Louis Gates situation over at the Register's Orange Punch blog. Entries here, here, and here, all with a fair number of comments from readers. Apparently the situation is fairly interesting to a range of people. I guess I'm struck, however, by how closely ideological predilections tracked attitudes. Conservatives in general sided with the police and some even came up with conspiracy theories -- he was trying to sell a book and figured publicity would help -- to discredit Gates. Liberals generally blamed the cops. Facts emerged gradually that had the potential to change attitudes, but I don't think many attitudes changed.

I'm inclined to think -- to having been there either, of course -- that there's plenty of blame to go around. One can understand that Gates was pissed, but the police report says he immediately played the race card and shouted interminably. Bad move. Contempt of cop is more likely to get somebody arrested than a real offense. On the other hand the Cambridge cop could have walked away as soon as he determined that Gates wasn't a burglar but the legitimate resident of the house. Unprofessional in my view.

Encouraging news about young musicians

I've mentioned it before but it's been a while. One of the PBS stations our cable system shows has a show called "From the Top at Carnegie Hall," featuring pianist Christopher O'Riley with young classical musicians, ages 11-17. Tonight's program had an 11-year-old cellist, a 17-year-old french horn player from a gang-infested neighborhood in Salinas (not one of the finer cities in Northern California), and a string quartet from Chicago playing an Astor Piazzola tango featuring lots of slides, pizzicato, and using the instruments as drums.

The players are simply marvelous, at least all the ones I've seen in the last year or so, and it makes me feel a bit more optimistic about the future of classical music. Apparently it still has the power to grab young people by the gut, as it did me so many years ago, and inspire them to do the hard work -- and it is hard work -- to achieve excellence.

Anniversary in wine country

Yesterday was our 28th wedding anniversary, so Jen and I went and had lunch in the Temecula Wine Country and did a little tasting. For anybody who lives even close to the area who has not visited Temecula wine country, you're missing a treat. The valley just outside town has a good microclimate because there's a gap in the coast range that allows cool evening ocean breezes into the inland. It doesn't match Napa, of course, but there are at least 20 good wineries, one of which specializes in Champagne, all of which produce pretty solid wines. Most have tasting, some host weddings, all have a nice ambience. It was very hot yesterday and the parking lots didn't look as crowded as usual on a Saturday. Maybve it was the heat and maybe it was the recession. Anyway, we had a nice time and are still happy to be married to one another.

Obamacare coming unglued

It looks as if Obamacare is in deep trouble, which doesn't exactly break my heart. He's pretty resilient and determined, but I don't think the approval numbers for his jury-rigged health care scheme will go up no matter how many speeches he gives. Maybe the reverse. The fact that about 80% of Americans are moderately satisfied with their health care and might see the gummint as endangering it is starting to tell.

Roderick Long needs help

Libertarian/anarchist philosopher (yes, he teaches philosophy at Auburn) Roderick Long is in trouble with the IRS and could use some $$$ help. Here's a YouTube explaining. And Roderick explaining. His address (PayPal or cash): 402 Martin Ave., Auburn, AL 36849.

Music hath charms . . . but

Here's a poignant story I've had on my "I should blog this" stand for some time, but it's hardly a daily news cycle kind of thing. It shows that music has power that can transcend politics -- and that politics can be a powerfully destructive force that soils almost everything it comes in contact with.

Four Palestinians who play classic Palestininan music on traditional instruments (here's a YouTube and another) call themselves the Oriental Music Ensemble, but they are hardly ever together. They can practice together only when they're on tour. Here's why, per the NYT:

"The men are a cross section of the Palestinian experience in miniature: two Muslims, a Christian and a Druse. They live in Israel, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and abroad. The West Bank member cannot go to Israel because of Israeli travel restrictions on Palestinians. The Israeli Arab cannot go to the West Bank because of Israeli travel restrictions on Israelis. The one who lives in Sweden has a Jordanian passport but can travel to neither the West Bank nor Israel. And the one who lives in East Jerusalem said he is denied entry to Jordan for what he called “political reasons.”"

And yet they continue to do it. "We have to keep on," says Ahmad Al Khathib, who plays the oud, which is a bit like a lute. "It's part of our identity, this cultural struggle." They've been together, after their fashion, since 1997. They respect that the music has its own integrity, that "it shouldn't be so connected to the political situation." Yet politics obviously impinges on them and sometimes they write pieces with a political cast -- one inspired by the Israeli siege of Ramallah, another named after an Israeli prison. They played at a festival in Morocco in July.

It must be excruciating and exhilarating simultaneously, what they go through to keep making music. I guess I won't whine too much about not being in a chorus that will challenge me musically just now.

Sotomayor seems pretty inevitable

It's hard to tell whether she has actually never thought too much beyond platitudes on the kind of controversial issues the Supreme Court is likely to address -- abortion, property rights, the Second Amendment, incorporation, eminent domain -- or whether acting that way seemed like the best strategy to assure a comfortable Senate approval. But the Sotomayor hearings were remarkably lacking in drama or information. The only things that excited me was her approval of state protectionism when it comes to interstate wine sales, one of the issues on which the current Supremes reversed her. Here's the Register's editorial after the first day, along with a few subsequent blog posts, here, here and here. She probably won't be a disaster, but there's no evidence that she is intellectually distinguished or even especially curious about constitutional issues.

Space: another government bungle

Maybe it's because I attended a conference where Burt Rutan, the mastermind behind SpaceShip One, spoke and shared his vision of human beings in space, but I see the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 a little differently than almost anybody who has been publicized by the media. Peggy Noonan, I think, said that the way the space program has gone is a little as if Columbus had discovered America and then nothing else happened. A couple more moonwalks and then the ill-conceived shuttle program, the spacegoing equivalent of a horse designed by a committee.

If only we had decided to turn space over to the private sector after those initial forays, I'm convinced a great deal more would have happened -- maybe not Mars, but possibly a colony on the moon and plans to venture beyond. We let the private sector take over after government developed or subsidized some of the early airplanes and the Internet. As Burt Rutan, who pushed ahead despite NASA's near-monopoly and seems almost ready to establish a viable space tourism business, noted, the Internet didn't start to become useful to a great number of people until after several years of playing and experimenting -- literally, barnstorming for airplanes, and some of the first widespread Internet uses were to play video games. NASA seems almost ready to cede the effective monopoly it nursed and protected for so long. Whether it will focus on basic research and let the private sector do the operational stuff remains to be seen. But that would be a much better model.

Hot and lazy days

This was probably the laziest weekend we have had in years. It really was too hot to do much outside except lounge in the pool and water thirsty plants. I like hot weather but when you have back-to-back-to-back-to-back 105s, it does tend to take it out of you. So Jen and I did the absolute minimum required yard and house maintenance, spent time with Steve and Amanda, and didn't do much else. Didn't even work on the book. Shame on me, but it felt good.