Scientists Explore Sea Lion Population Decline

Sea Lions in San Francisco

When I lived in San Francisco, my first apartment was a relatively short walk to the bay. I enjoyed going to its shores and watching sea lions play in the chilly waters. Since that time, I've had a sentimental feeling about these creatures.

Today's online edition of the BBC includes a story about experiments whose purpose is to better understand why North America's sea lion population is in decline. It's an interesting article, highlighting the animals' "coachability" and playfulness. I hope the scientists determine why the sea lion population has diminished to an alarmingly low level, and can show ways to restore their numbers along Canadian and American shores.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Journalism Grads Recall UW Grad Anthony Shadid

Anthony Shadid, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who recently died in Syria, began his journalism career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's student newspaper, the Daily Cardinal. Some journalists spawned at the Cardinal recently spoke with a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter about Shadid's influence and friendship. The reminiscences are reminders about how one person can impact peers and friends in ways that can't be measured in bits and bytes.

I can't pretend to have followed Shadid's writing or issues. We attended UW-Madison nearly a generation apart. His Daily Cardinal, and the one where I worked as a UW undergrad, were almost certainly different creatures. However, the paper was and remains a great place -- in my opinion, the best in the United States -- to learn the x's and o's of journalism. Shadid's body of work honors the Daily Cardinal's proud, enduring legacy.

Trust Lost: From Nixon to Google

Earlier today, a widely circulated report noted a Stanford University researcher's findings regarding Google's circumvention of Apple privacy safeguards. To put it mildly, the episode adds to Google's collective black eye over privacy. (Google's ex-CEO Eric Schmidt's announcement today of his intention to sell over two billion in Google stock seemed particularly ill-timed.) However, it would be fatuous to assume such privacy violations were unique to the Mountain View search giant. The sense, from Facebook's outrageous rape of privacy to the everyday data mining that American technocrats are convinced are their entitlement, is that Silicon Valley finds privacy rights simply inconvenient to their firms' ambitions.

It is ironic that Silicon Valley -- a hotbed of libertarian political philosophy -- should treat privacy so cavalierly. A previous generation understood how profoundly invasive and erosive electronic "data collection" -- a/k/a snooping -- can be. I was reminded of this when I read a rather truculent opinion piece in today's Miami Herald. The article, by Glenn Garvin, complained about what the author claimed were the less than virtuous motives of Richard Nixon's nemesis, Deep Throat.

Garvin alleged that Deep Throat, who was the FBI's numero due at the time of the Watergate incident, wanted to become the next J. Edgar Hoover. To that end, Deep Throat used his leaks to reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to as leverage to ease out DT's bureaucratic obstacles. At that time, privacy was still something Americans of any political persuasion guarded. The notion that a widespread invasion of privacy, managed by a Mafia-like network within the federal government's executive branch, could seize control of the nation was a shivering thought. It was as if the very foundation of American political freedom and hope was being slowly strangled.

Nixon was stopped, though not easily and especially not without resentment from conservatives who saw Tricky Dick's denouement as a plot hatched in the editorial offices of "liberal" newspapers. The current situation, in which fabulously rich enterprises apparently simply flout any inconvenient privacy statutes in their lust for advertising and data dominance, is much more upsetting than Nixon's attempted overthrow of the Constitution.

Who will stand up to Silicon Valley?

Wallenda High-Wire Act Across Niagara Falls Gets Canadian OK

Blondin carrying his manager
across the Niagara River, 1869

Nik Wallenda will be bringing his high-wire act to Niagara Falls later this year.

According to a Reuters report picked up by Yahoo News, Canada's Niagara Parks Commission recently approved Wallenda's request to perform the stunt. Months ago, New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation permitting a one-time Niagara performance.

Wallenda's intention is to cross directly over the falls, rather than the gorge, where previous high-wire crossings have been attempted.

Expect an enormous media buildup and carnival-like flavor of its coverage of the Wallenda crossing. It will be interesting to note what prime event seats or standing room areas will cost. I will be quite curious what "oddsmakers" will post for Wallenda's safe passage over mighty Niagara.

Asking Price for Jeremy Lin Middle School Yearbook in the Thousands

Jeremy Lin

The hype over NBA player Jeremy Lin has me a little intrigued. The mass fascination over Lin has really come out of nowhere. In the space of a couple of games, this formerly unknown Asian-American pro baller and Harvard grad has captured an international audience. While a big deal has been made out of Asians, especially Chinese, watching Lin's performances, his following goes far beyond the Great Wall of China. Why that happened so quickly and so broadly is something I just don't know. However, as I said, the phenomenon does intrigue me.

Apparently, anything Lin touched has become valuable. The San Jose Mercury News reported that enterprising people have put their Palo Alto, California middle school yearbook, complete with photographs including the young Lin, for sale. According the the Mercury News story, the asking price for an unsigned middle school yearbook is over two thousand dollars. You have to double down to get a copy Lin allegedly autographed.

What would you pay for a piece of Harvard's second NBA player?

MIT Premieres Online, "Fully Automated" Course

MIT recently threw down the education gauntlet with its launching of an online, "fully automated" certificate course. An electronics course gets the honors. A number of media outlets covered this story, including the BBC.

This course is a harbinger of things to come in education. MIT is possibly using this course to test the waters for branded online programs. They can be taken at home, or what's more likely, in schools themselves.

Number of Registered Voters in Chicago Lowest Since WW II

Barack Obama Voting In Chicago,
November 2008

According to today's online edition of the Chicago Tribune, the number of that city's registered voters has bottomed out at 1.28 million. That figure represents the lowest number of registered voters in the Windy City since the months after America's entry into World War II.

The story did not note the number of "dead" voters for which Chicago is famous. My guess is that number has increased.

Of course, Chicago election behavior has been characterized, not always tongue-in-cheek, as "vote early and often." While Chicago hardly has the monopoly on "questionable" voting patterns (the Florida GOP's "dangling chad" vote in the 2000 Bush-Gore presidential election offers competition), the city still has the feel of politics of a century ago, when "vote early and often" was a national pastime.

Parisian Suburb Wants Bronze Sculpture Depicting French President's Wife

Lenin Statue/Seattle

I recently traveled to Seattle, where a massive bronze statue of Lenin is on public display. I didn't have time to see it, but I wish I had. There is something genuinely strange about sculpture of public figures, whether they are artifacts from a bygone era (surely Leninism qualifies on that score) or manifestations of current popular sentiment (the bronze bull in New York's Financial District is a case in point).

However, the notion that anyone would want a bronze of the wife of French president Nicholas Sarkozy is from way out of left field. In this case, I should say right field, as the request came from the mayor of a Parisian suburb who is a member of Sarkozy's UMP "right-of-center" political party.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

Mrs. Sarkozy happens to be Carla Bruni (now Carla Bruni-Sarkozy), an Italian who made quite a name for herself as a world-class fashion model. She also has done some acting, notably a cameo in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. The UK newspaper Guardian's report on the Bruni sculpture affair did not indicate whether the French first lady agreed to the sculpture project or if she was consulted.

However, the proposed six-foot piece will not be the same scale, or presumably historic intent, from the 16-foot replica of Lenin currently in Seattle's feisty Fremont neighborhood.

Whitney Houston -- RIP

I happened to be in the middle of a writing project when I learned of Whitney Houston's passing this evening. She was 48 when she died, but the accounts of her final, addled years made it seem she was long gone before today.

I had the good fortune to see Whitney Houston perform at the top of her game. At that performance, she was the backup act to Jeffrey Osborne. She looked terrific, in a yellow dress that didn't quite reach her knees. I always thought the promoters wisely paired the acts, as JO was highly professional and all business. His crossover audience also neatly dovetailed with the big plans in store for Ms. Houston.

Whitney came from gospel royalty. Her mother, Cissy Houston, made her name with sacred music. Whitney's godmother, Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, also happened to be a splendid gospel singer. (For a fascinating post script to the Houston strum und drang, read Aretha Franklin's comments about Whitney at a recent Radio City Music Hall event.) At her finest, Whitney could bring gospel fire and skill to tried and true lyrics. Suddenly a song's human drama, commingled with belief in the divine, became transfigured into something beautiful and moving. Whitney's vocal range, ability to musically emote, and raw energy made her best efforts worth listening to over and over again.

Recently, I attended a nonfiction reading in which an author made an observation about song lyrics that lacked "subtlety." What the author didn't understand was how the singer's voice could lift everyday words  into those very areas of "subtlety." I had a very similar argument with a writer after the Whitney Houston/Jeffrey Osborne concert we attended. My companion's mantra was the primacy of the word; I championed the voice.

Tonight, I lament with words the loss of Whitney Houston's voice, her heart, and her soul. If only my words could sing!