Hollywood-Style Accounting Masks NBA Miami Heat's Bonanza

American Airlines Arena, Miami

Today's online edition of the Miami Herald includes a fascinating story about the NBA franchise Miami Heat's money trail. One intriguing angle is how the Heat's revenue sharing, rent, and other financial configurations has managed to leave Miami-Dade holding an empty money bag.

The Herald article noted how fan spending dramatically increased at the Heat's home arena once LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined superstar guard Dwayne Wade to form "The Three Kings." However, that increased revenue did not reach the Heat arena's landlord, the Miami-Dade municipal authorities. Instead, the Herald noted, "the surge in revenues during the Three Kings era has not yet offset the losses recorded in the first years of the waterfront arena...As a result, Miami-Dade has yet to collect rent on the county-owned facility, which is governed by a 1997 profit-sharing arrangement."

The entire story goes into detail about the financial maneuvering, and strongly suggests that Heat owner Micky Arison is raking in the cash on this deal. It's also a cautionary tale about pro sports in general, and how following the money almost always leads to some very interesting, and occasionally dark, areas that ownership and municipalities alike would prefer kept out of the light.

Bull Market for Counterfeit Fine Wines

Chateau Petrus

How do you know if that bottle of red from a highfalutin' vineyard is legit? In most cases, you don't know, you can't know, and you probably won't ever know. Even among wine professionals, it takes years of training to distinguish between a fine wine and something a step above Yellowtail. It helps to live near the source of great wines, or visit these areas so frequently, so that one's palate becomes attuned to the qualities that make Chateau Haut Prix genuinely special.

A long time ago, I lived in Italy and became familiar with central Italian reds. When I returned to the States, it broke my heart to drink the junk masquerading as quality Tuscan wine. I mostly avoid Italian wines altogether now, although I do enjoy an honest Calabrian red called Gravello.

At least I don't have to brood about the high flying wines. That world is beyond my budget. However, there are wine fans who have the means, interest, and will to indulge their civilized tastes, and I say more power to them. Their issue is one of confidence in the wines' integrity.

Lately, supremely high end wines have caught the attention of enterprising counterfeiters. Some auction houses and merchants either knowingly or unwittingly sell fake vintages to eager wine collectors. The money made in these transactions is often too good to refuse.

Jancis Robinson, the superb doyenne of wine writers, offered her observations on this issue in today's Financial Times. You don't have to be able to afford Chateau Petrus to enjoy the piece, but you might not want to buy a case after you read it.

Big Banks Buy AIG Toxic Commercial Mortages

With all the deserved attention over funky residential mortgages, their less publicized commercial counterparts offer competition for dodginess. Their value has not escaped the attention of major banks and their staffs. They understand these instruments, their nuances, and their true value. In purchases that should raise eyebrows both inside and outside the commercial mortgage business, Deutsche Bank and Barclays won an auction of "complex packages of commercial mortgage bonds at the heart of the controversial government bailout of AIG," according to a story in today's Financial Times.

Deutsche Bank certainly knows these mortgages, as it was the "original counterparty that sold the securities to Maiden Lane III," the Financial Times reporters observed. In other words, not only did Deutsche Bank know what they were buying, they originally sold them a few years ago for a profit.

Nice work if you can get it.

Federal Overseer Notes Small Banks Can't Pay Back TARP Funds

Remember TARP? This program, invented during the cusp of the Bush-Obama administrations, essentially loaned a kaput American finance industry enough capital to keep itself afloat. The notion was that American taxpayers would receive dividends on its loan, and financial firms would pay back loaned money.

The largest firms have benefitted from this arrangement, while smaller community banks have struggled. That imbalance continues today, according to a report issued by Special Inspector General for the TARP Christy Romero. According to a story in marketwatch.com, Romero noted that nearly one-half of the remaining banks in the TARP program are behind in their dividend payments. Why? Community banks, according to the marketwatch.com story, "cannot find new capital. (Romero's report) noted that community banks with less than $1.5 billion in assets typically don't have access to capital from private equity firms, mutual funds, foundations, and other institutional investors."

The government report also observed that the US Treasury has "already written off or realized losses of $14 billion in TARP investments."

One curiosity about this story is the limited coverage it received. The story did get play in The Wall Street Journal and The American Banker. Some UK newspapers paid attention. And that was about it. The TARP story is a complicated, ominous one that underlines some uncomfortable facts. It's not as sexy as beating the drum for the latest gadget or social media whizbang. It's not as "helpful" as informing the public about how their intuition is wrong and that everything really is better. It doesn't help either presidential candidate and his "message." A lot of very powerful people and institutions want TARP swept under the rug. Will major media outlets, recently getting a wake-up call from a Pulitzer Prize committee that recently stiffed them, rise to the occasion?

Some Thoughts On the 2012 NFL Draft

I admit I've thought far too much, and far too often, about the upcoming NFL Draft. It's as pointless (no pun intended) as wondering which nail salon in town offers the best service. Nonetheless, I enjoy letting my thoughts wander to considering which scholar-athletes will win professional football's version of the lottery.

This season's draft's drama, if you can call it that, centers around possible trades. The NFL's salary structure now encourages draft pick swaps. The Washington Redskins took advantage of this trend earlier this year when they dealt a fistful of high draft picks for the rights to select RG3. However, it's not always the #1 draft pick that delivers the greatest impact to a team. Just ask Tom Brady, a former sixth-round pick.

Certain teams draft well, and some just flat out suck at picking talent. Who makes strong choices more often than not? In recent years, it's been Baltimore, Pittsburgh, New England, and Green Bay. The worst teams? Miami, Dallas, Chicago, St. Louis. All four clunkers have something in common: either meddlesome owners or a dreadful front office.

# 66 -- Peter Konz
(photo from Sports Illustrated)

I hope the players I'm partial to don't end up on bad teams. As a Wisconsin alum, I'm pulling for Badger players. Their center, Peter Konz, will be a very good pro; some have marked him for the Ravens. Outside of Madison and the Big Ten, I keep an eye on Alabama players. They tend to be NFL-ready. The Tide's running back Trent Richardson is very, very good, reminiscent of Emmitt Smith. Another 'Bama star with Pro Bowl potential is the safety Mark Barron. Don't be surprised if a team trades up to draft him. The third jewel in this crown is Dont'a Hightower, seemingly made to order for the Ravens, Steelers, or (surprise) the Bears. I believe this is Brian Urlacher's walk year in his contract.

Finally, this will be a fabulous year for those who played college ball on the West Coast. Nick Perry (USC) and David DeCastro (Stanford) are two that come to mind. Oh, yes, there's that Luck fellow who played for Stanford, too. We're told he's special. We'll see. Keep in mind that the team that plans to draft him, the Colts, is anything but special.

Chicago Artist Unveils Painting Depicting a Nude Sarah Palin

Gotcha!

You can't say the Chicago of Barack Obama doesn't have a sense of political humor. Artist Bruce Elliott, whose wife owns a popular Second City gin joint, is showing one of his most recent paintings at his spouse's bar. According to a story in today's Chicago Tribune, the work is a rendition of a nude Sarah Palin. The former vice presidential candidate did not model for the painting; the artist's daughter did provide the full frontal exposure needed for Elliott to express himself.

I think Elliott is a campaign too late, as his painting would have made one helluva political poster. You'll have to go to the Trib story to see the Chicago painter's work; in the meantime, you'll just have to be satisfied with Botticelli.

Washington Post Blogger Elizabeth Flock's Resignation Underlines "New Media" Issues

Vator.tv contributed reporting on
WaPo's 2011 "personal" news aggregation
service called "Trove"

On Friday, April 20th, Washington Post  (WaPo) ombudsman Patrick B. Pexton contributed an article outlining his perspective on the resignation of Elizabeth Flock, WaPo's newspaper's blog.Post blogger. This excellent piece touches on the factors that led to Flock's no mas, and provokes some hard, uncomfortable thinking about what the public accepts as "news" in today's "New Media" environment.

Let's get something on the record quickly, for those who might perform a quick data search for the unfortunate Ms. Flock. She should not be confused with the Elizabeth Flock who formerly worked for CBS News and currently hangs her hat as a novelist. WaPo's bloggista, who is in her mid-20s, brought a relatively thin resume to her position. That's not a crime. In fact, for a young journalist, landing a WaPo position is a coup. However, big media players such as the Washington Post have deliberately brought in a decidedly young, inexperienced wave of journalists to their publications. The notion is to move into "New Media," assuming that twenty-somethings have the wherewithal old farts lack to handle the Web and social media. The newbies also happen to cost less to sign, they're easier to churn, and they're "more efficient" (i.e., they'll work like dogs). As for quality....well, let's take a look at what Pexton noted in his article.

The expectations for blogPost were daunting ones. According to Pexton, Flock said the site was expected to routinely generate 1 million to 2 million hits per month. In my opinion, that "production" implied something of a popularity contest for stories. This concept fits tabloid journalism and the commercial imperatives of search engines quite well. (Most users do not have the slightest idea how information is chosen and presented on any search engine. That passivity is a profound problem, one that dim bulbs continue to propagate by using "google" as a transitive verb.) WaPo's ambitions have, in recent generations, demanded higher standards worthy of prestigious journalism awards. Obviously, something has changed in DC.

Pexton's story only gets more disturbing. "On many days," he wrote, "Flock was the only reporter filing for blogPost. Last month, she averaged 5.9 blog posts per day. These are not 100-word briefs but often 500-word summaries of complicated news events that ranged from the killing of Trayvon Martin to the use of pink slime in ground beef to the impact of general strikes in Spain."

Flock had made two mistakes in the past four months. One involved attributing a Ku Klux Klan slogan to a Mitt Romney speech. Her report was flat out wrong; she took her publicly cited medicine and continued soldiering for blogPost. Pexton observed that there was a lack of editorial oversight on that piece. In essence, Flock was left out on an Internet island, under tremendous production pressure and time deadlines. Did anyone say "Good luck, Mr. Phelps"?

Pexton spoke with other young WaPo bloggers who pointed out the Mission Impossible feeling of their roles. "They said they felt as if they were alone out there in digital land, under high pressure to get Web hits, with no training, little guidance or mentoring, and sparse editing. Guidelines for aggregating stories are almost nonexistent, they said. And they believe that, even if they do a good job, there is no path forward. Will they graduate to a beat, covering a crime scene, a city council or a school board? They didn't know. So some left; others are thinking of quitting."

Meanwhile, as Pexton noted, the Flock episode occurred during a week in which the Post offered more buyouts to established employees. Coincidentally, this was also the week the Post was shut out in the Pulitzer Prize awards. Transforming the Washington Post into a digital sweatshop doesn't seem like the path to a return to journalistic glory.

Curiously, the post that led to Flock's departure was, to my mind, a relatively minor offense. (Yes, it's still a violation of classical journalism standards.) Apparently, she cribbed a couple of paragraphs without attribution from a Discovery News story about life on Mars. The competitor, whose corporate office happens to be in Silver Spring, Maryland, complained. WaPo ate some more public crow, and Flock fell on her professional sword.

Discovery Communications HQ, Silver Spring MD
(photo via Wikipedia)

Discovery News is not exactly small potatoes. It is one of the established powers of "New Media," with a stable of cable TV brands at its commercial heart. If you're a fan of Animal Planet, the Oprah Winfrey Network, or TLC, then you're watching Discovery product. Discovery Communications, Inc. is the parent company of these and other brands. The firm is a significant player in the K-12 video content and delivery market and its lucrative contracts. (Full disclosure: I work in K-12 publishing sales.)

In case you're wondering who owns Discovery Communications, take a look. Among its important shareholders are the Advance/Newhouse enterprise (think big-time magazines and you get the idea) and John Malone (Liberty Media/cable TV). What is the level of their commitment to "quality" journalism? I suppose you could tune into Animal Planet to get a sense of it. If you want a notion of their commitment to profit, Discovery Communication's SEC filings should provide a clue.

Anti-Semitic Mayor's Name Removed From Street In Vienna

Karl Lueger

Karl Lueger, the mayor of Vienna from 1897-1910, holds a special place in the Austrian capital's history. He improved the city's public works and social welfare programs. For many Austrians, those accomplishments have accorded him honored places in Vienna's civic fabric. Lueger's name graces some of Vienna's most prominent public areas.

Many have objected to these honors, on the basis that Lueger was virulently anti-Semitic. Some attribute Adolf Hitler's perspectives to Lueger's public excoriation of Jews. It's a dark subject, one which Austria has never handled well. Some still consider Austria to be Europe's flagship for visceral anti-Semitic sentiment, both latent and expressed.

Viennese authorities have recently taken a step toward addressing this issue. According to a BBC report, they have changed the name of one of the city's prominent thoroughfares and no longer associate it with Lueger.

Predictably, an extreme right-wing political party, currently second in opinion polls, has protested the action.

An Argument Against Business CEOs Becoming Political CEOs

Simon Kuper
(Photo from the Guardian)

When Mike Bloomberg ran for an unprecedented third term for New York mayor, his principal claim to worthiness was his business background. He was a "successful" business person, and that perspective was touted as what America's largest and most influential urban city needed. Bloomberg was even touted as an independent presidential candidate, a sentiment he quickly scotched.

The notion that CEOs would make wonderful governors, presidents, or other officials of prominent elected office is based on faulty logic and misplaced, even disturbing sentiment. In today's Financial Times, British journalist and author Simon Kuper attacks the idea that CEO's, by their very nature, command superior qualifications for high political positions.

Kuper observed that the CEO's role as political savior is, historically speaking, quite new. In previous eras, "it was soldiers and clergymen that ran states." He also pointed out an assumption that our classist society holds dear. "The CEO fallacy," Kuper wrote, "is related to the 'money fallacy': the notion that life is a race to make money, and that rich people therefore possess special wisdom."

Kuper realized that it would not take a great deal of imagination to superimpose these arguments on Mitt Romney, and the writer does note how the arguments cast a shadow on the presumptive GOP presidential candidate's leadership bona fides. Yet, Kuper could have considered media sacred cows such as Mike Bloomberg; Kuper's aim would have been just as true.

Web Pioneer Tim Berners-Lee Comments On The "Closed" and The "Open" Web

Tim Berners-Lee

Tim Berners-Lee, widely credited with helping launch the Internet as we more or less know it today, has some uneasy feelings about the current state of Web affairs. According to a Guardian interview picked up by the "Good Morning Silicon Valley" blog, Berners-Lee regards smart phones as closed systems that create "a serious brake on innovation." He prefers to use machines that encourage open platform capabilities. You remember those devices: they're called computers.

Unlike those who use "innovation" and "monetization" as synonyms, Berners-Lee actually likes the creative use of the Internet. Then again, he's essentially a scientist who believes in the glory and expansive use of the rational imagination. It's not just about the money.

Top Ten American Cybercrime Cities List Released

Seal from the DOD's Cyber Crime Center.
Note 0s and 1s below the eagle.

Do you live in one the United States' major cybercrime zones? Well, if you live in New York, congratulations. The city that claims to be first in just about everything is tops in American-based cybercrime, according to a story in today's Chicago Tribune.

What other cities are on the list? LA, natch. Surprisingly, Miami is not in the top ten. Neither are high-tech capitals, such as San Jose, Boston, or Seattle. I'm not certain how Omaha ended up fifth; perhaps the city's premier resident, Warren Buffett, has a notion.

The list was compiled by a private, Bay Area-based security firm. The Department of Defense's Cyber Crime Center, which one would imagine have its own "Top Ten" list, tends to be more discreet.

Small Media Happy, Fiction Mafia Miffed Over Pulitzer Prizes

Award-winning cartoon by Politico's Matt Wuerker

This year's Pulitzer Prizes were announced today, with some winners bringing welcome new blood into the media mix. According to the Washington Post's report on the prizes, the Pulitzer jurors found the year's best journalism outside the heavy, big-city hitters. That small, relatively unknown reporters and photographers could create prize-winning pieces is a testimony to their determination, skill, and editorial backing. The Pulitzer committee also awarded a prize to a writer from the Huffington Post (a publication whose editor is, in my opinion, intellectually and morally dishonest) and a cartoonist from another blog, Politico.

Journalism is difficult work, often denigrated by a public that prefers ideology and certitude to reasoned argument and dispassionate fact. What's striking about the Pulitzer winners is the risks implicit in the stories they covered so well. They weren't paid enough for their labors and the hazards of their jobs, but you can't put a price on guts.

Ironically, while new media advanced, the Pulitzer committee stiffed the fiction category. This decision, according to a New York Times report, has upset the fiction mafia and some percentage of people who actually read "serious" contemporary novels. While the supposed focus of the publishers' ire was the snubbed books' quality, the Times piece kept coming back to the impact of the Pulitzer action on book sales. Apparently not bent out of shape by the Pulitzer decision was Nora Roberts, whose novels are massive best sellers. She doesn't give a damn about the Pulitzer, or any other award. For a rather different look at an author's life and perspective on publishing, by all means read a recent Washington Post feature on Ms. Roberts.

An Academic Perspective on "The Wire's" Visual Style

Boston.com contributor and Harvard Teaching Fellow Joshua Rothman contributed a post about The Wire to the site's "Brainiac" blog. The post includes a rather long video essay from a Norwegian academic regarding the TV series' visual style. The essay offers a certain lumbering quality that is worth enduring for the strong, sharp points the Scandinavian post doc makes.

For those who believe Mad Men is the best show ever made for TV, I would argue -- strenuously argue -- on behalf of The Wire. While there's less tits and ass in The Wire than in the over-lauded Mad Men, there's a helluva lot more reality.

France Declares Michel Foucault's Archives a "National Treasure"

Michel Foucault

Some philosophers in France get the star treatment. They obtain lucrative book deals, get interviewed on television, don't come across as freaks, and the public knows who they are. Their American counterparts are more anonymous than participants in the Witness Protection Program.

One of the brightest stars in the Gallic philosophical firmament has been the late Michel Foucault. The French State has now made his Olympian status official. According to a report in the Parisian newspaper Le Monde, the government has declared Foucault's archives a "national treasure."

The directive, among other impacts, bans the export of Foucault's documents. As the Le Monde story noted, the Foucault action comes in the wake of the French government's recent intervention to block some of Antonin Artaud's recently auctioned self-portrait in pencil from leaving France.

French Resistance Leader Raymond Aubrac and Algerian Resistance Leader Ahmed Ben Bella -- RIP

Raymond Aubrac obit,
from the leftist French newspaper Liberation

In a curious coincidence, two people familiar to francophones and their political history died recently. One of the deceased, Raymond Aubrac, was a French Resistance leader during World War II. His courage and daring exploits helped save France and especially salvage its self-respect. A grateful Charles de Gaulle became the godparent of one of Aubrac's children.

Aubrac's story, including his remarkable marriage with his gutsy wife (who could match her spouse's chutzpah), is a fascinating one. The New York Times' obituary on Mr. Aubrac provides some fascinating details.

Sharing the obit column's A-list was Ahmed Ben Bella, a cagey Algerian who led the North African country during the mid-1960s after its bitter war of independence from France. Ben Bella was smart, ruthless, and a little lucky throughout his life. He died at age 93 and had endured house arrest for over a decade.

Ahmed Ben Bella (right) and Che Guevara (left), 1964
Photo credit: GTRES

Ben Bella's story, which includes escapes from French assassination attempts and navigating internal coups in Algeria, is nearly as interesting as Aubrac's tale of survival. Ben Bella's world was nearly as rough as Occupied France during the darkest days of the Second World War. He, too, received an honor from Charles de Gaulle: a Medal Militaire, "the highest decoration of the Free French forces," according to Ben Bella's obit in The New York Times. Ironically, Ben Bella won the honor for his spirited defense of Marseille during a 1940 German bombing attack. His perspective would change after the war, and this proudly Muslim, proudly Arab, proudly Algerian man became a tenacious foe of French colonialism. The Times obit offers a useful overview of Ben Bella's life.

The Justice Department, "Big Six" Publishers, and Amazon

Shakespeare?

In what must have been this year's world's worst kept secret, the Justice Department (DOJ) finally came out and publicly accused five of New York's "Big Six" publishers of collusion. The epicenter for the alleged illegal activity was e-book pricing, with "consumers" as the ostensible victims. Three of the five publishers are reportedly intent on settling with the DOJ, with Apple, Pearson, and Macmillan determined to have their day in court.

Notably, the European Commission has pursued a more or less parallel case. Rumors of settlements in that action have been reported.

The DOJ's brief, part of which I read this morning courtesy of a Financial Times link, is at times unintentionally funny. Its citing of Mafia-like dinners in a New York restaurant, the name of which was misspelled in the DOJ brief, bordered on something from a plot-challenged movie. However, the DOJ's intent to "help consumers" is serious stuff. The question is whether the legal action will, in fact, aid e-book buyers. It will certainly help Amazon, whose race to the price bottom is motivated by monopolistic intent and the firm's CEO's desire to hijack an industry.

Well, what would happen if Amazon combined monopolistic distribution clout of "book-style content" with publishing ambitions? If your answer is "nothing good," you're on the right track.

What the DOJ announcement signified was something far more momentous than allegations of a tawdry criminal conspiracy in what was once a genteel business. It signalled the triumph of the tech world, its data collection capacity, the value of bits and bytes over mere words, and the "rationalization" of the distribution of what was once called "the printed word." Do you think this is a desirable outcome?

Texas City Gets Eyeful of Nude Maid Service

National Ranching Heritage Center,
Lubbock TX

Lubbock, Texas is a conservative city in a conservative state. That has not stopped one of its residents from starting a nude maid service. According to an Associated Press story picked up by the San Jose Mercury News, founder and West Texas native Melissa Borrett has launched her nudist enterprise in a moment of fiscal desperation. She just couldn't make ends meet (no pun intended) as a waitress. Something had to be done, and that realization became the genesis of her business venture.

There are now three maids on staff. While her firm's rates are $100 per hour for one maid, Borrett does offer a discount to law enforcement.

"The Great Gatsby" at 87

The Great Gatsby's original jacket

The Great Gatsby was published 87 years ago today. While few brought out a cake, noisemakers, and party hats to celebrate the day, the book doesn't need any hoopla. F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel has a name recognition few American books possess. The work is something students read in high school or college (or what more and more Americans now fatuously call "university"). I read it when I was a teenager, and the experience was akin to eating "something that was good for you."

Ironically, Gatsby was not the author's first choice for the title of his novel about East Egg and West Egg. Fitzgerald wanted to call his book Trimalchio, allegedly after a character from Petronius' Satyricon. Fortunately, a calmer head, in the form of the great editor Maxwell Perkins, prevailed, and suggested a contemporary, recognizably American title.

Unquestionably, The Great Gatsby is an American book, even though Fitzgerald wrote much of it while he was living in Europe. His generation cared about writing in ways our current generation is devoted to self-promotion. Although autobiographical elements have, over the years, been associated with Gatsby, Fitzgerald did not write a thinly disguised memoir. He was too good a writer and far more intellectually ambitious than that.

TheBocx.com Delivers "The Soundtrack For Your Everyday Chill!"

TheBocx.com began a couple of years ago. DJ Phil D and DJ Special Ed, who created the Internet streaming radio station, wanted to share its taste for jazz, funk, neo-funk, chill, and other good sounds with as wide an audience as possible. At some point, their Friday night sessions at New Jersey's Cricket Hill Brewery were just not enough. The two DJs thought about the matter, and decided to launch their radio station. Their inspired move was choosing to broadcast on the "jazz" category, with its manageable universe of like-minded radio outlets. They christened their enterprise "theBocx.com," and they've never looked back.

In the interests of full disclosure, I know both DJs. You'll find their site on my blog's splash page, and I like the association very much. I enjoy the music they select, and I do feel motivated to purchase some songs they play. Their selections include musicians unknown to me, or songs enlivening a memory in a way only music can do.

Somehow, the two DJs find time to create 24/7 playlists. I hope you find time to listen to their fun sounds!

Recalling an Easter at Paris' Palais Garnier

Grand Staircase/Palais Garnier
Photo appeared in Opera Today; photo credit: Minor Keys

Today's Easter Sunday happens to be a quiet one for my wife and me, and something of a work day for me, as well. During a break from the deadline concerns, I thought about an Easter we spent in Paris some years ago. Good New York friends of ours were coincidentally visiting Paris at the same time, so we decided to enjoy Easter Sunday together. After careful planning, we decided to attend the ballet at the Palais Garnier, the 19th Century opera house popularized in Phantom of the Opera.

Our decision turned out to be inspired. We had the good fortune to know someone who purchased the tickets for us, as they were only available onsite and one month before Easter. (I picked them up at the opera house's version of will call about an hour prior to the performance.) The day itself unfolded as a crisp, sunny day, and we felt jazzed about attending a cultural event in Paris. The ballet company was showcasing 20th Century dance created by American choreographers; that eliminated language barriers and added some cultural understandings. The experience, from the opera house's atmosphere, the hall's enchanting Chagall ceiling, and the excitement of a live dance performance, was an exhilarating one.

Vacheron Constantin watch, with Chagall ceiling on face
Photo appered in The Robb Report; photo by Jean-Marc Breguet

When the performance concluded, and we returned to the Parisian streets, we felt connected to the city, its people, and its purpose. My wife and I still feel chills about that day. Even the limited edition Vacheron Constantin timepiece featuring Chagall's ceiling mural gets me excited, even though I don't typically follow the world of "important watches," as auction houses characterize them. (Michael Weare's clicktempus.com story about the watch is brief, informative, and fun to read.) Mostly, I'm grateful for experiencing a magical event, in a glorious setting, and shared in friendship and love. That's an Easter worth remembering and cherishing on this quiet, calm Sunday.

Facing Recall Vote, Wisconsin Gov Walker Signs New Abortion Restrictions

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, facing a tight recall campaign, signed 51 new pieces of legislation into law on Holy Thursday evening. Among the items were new abortion restrictions, conservative nuances to sex education in public schools, and the prevention of plaintiffs in employment discrimination cases to seek compensatory and punitive damages in state courts. Walker's action, and comments on them, were noted in today's online edition of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

One question is who benefits from Walker's action. Those who want to eliminate women's reproductive rights certainly emerged as winners. The sex ed legislation mandates the promotion of marriage and the claim that sexual abstinence is the only certain way to prevent STDs. Good luck explaining those perspectives to hundreds of thousands of horny teens. However, the legislation must have made right-wing religious standard bearer Rick Santorum, campaigning in Wisconsin prior to the state's upcoming GOP presidential primary, smile.

Meanwhile, the right-wing political and ideological agenda marches on. It's a scenario in which concentrated economic power gains greater sway while useful medical programs are eviscerated. The agenda bluntly asserts the imposition of conservative religious beliefs on private behavior. The right-wing offers a return to a dreadful social environment when discrimination, mainly by white males toward minorities and women, is characterized as acceptable behavior, while those opposing sexual harassment and racism are viewed as inconvenient, out-of-step, even deviant personalities.

Intriguingly, the Walker recall vote right now is too close to call. Why that is so, while Barack Obama is well ahead of "Etch-a-Sketch" Mitt Romeny and Santorum in Wisconsin, is a very curious question.

Wealthy Mainland Chinese Rush for US EB-5 Visas

San Francisco International Airport, 2005
(photo from sfgate.com)

Around the time Hong Kong was in its final stages of British colonial rule, the Canadian government offered a special residency opportunity for foreigners. Those wishing Canadian citizenship had to bring plenty of money, keep the stash in Canada, and -- presto! -- they would qualify for a Maple Leaf passport. The program was notably successful at attracting Hong Kong families and their cash, with British Columbia and Toronto preferred destinations. No one was hurt, although the feelings of understandably sensitive Chinese government officials probably were.

The United States, now in the throes of a dreadful debtor environment, has taken a page from Canada's book. The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave now offers an "EB-5 Immigrant Investor" visa. The conditions for obtaining this gateway to permanent resident status is a relatively simple one. Basically, the applicant brings millions of dollars, invests some of it in "economically challenged areas,"and sits tight with the investment for a couple of years. If all those hurdles are cleared, the applicant and immediate family under age 21 get permanent residency status. (An example of the aggressive pursuit of candidates for this passage is something called the Utah Regional Investment Fund. The site is available in English and Chinese.)

According to an article in today's Mercury News, the EB-5 visa is a hot item for wealthy mainland Chinese. Riches have a decidedly yin-yang aspect in China. Unquestionably, money talks and opens doors in the PRC's complex power arrangements. On the other hand, the wealthy are ripe targets for those who consider blackmail and corruption to be profit centers. The United States is viewed as a relatively safe haven, and areas with significant Asian populations, such as California's Bay Area, are desirable landing places for this human and fiscal capital flight.

We may see much more of this type of exodus in the coming years, and not only from China. It's a curious thought to consider on a Passover evening.

Italian Writer Antonio Tabucchi -- RIP

Antonio Tabucchi (1943-2012)

Antonio Tabucchi, an Italian fiction writer whose novels and other writings were well known in European literary circles, died recently in Lisbon.

While there's something of a tradition of Italian intellectuals leaving Italia to pursue their careers, Tabucchi was unusual in that he chose Portugal as his home away from home. According to New York Times obit editor Margalit Fox's well-written notice about Tabucchi's passing, the writer's fascination with Portugal began when he was a teenager. He was not a native Portuguese speaker, but trained himself to become expert in its literature. This background informed his novels which, as Ms. Fox relays the story, are suffused with a uniquely Portuguese mood called saudade. The word refers to a state of mind which blends "nostalgia, wistfulness and a yearning for what is lost, evanescent and perhaps unattainable," according to the Times obituary.

Tabuccih's works have been translated into English and published by New Directions; some are available for purchase from IndieBound.

150K-Plus Attended Miami's Ultra Music Festival

Miami's claim to leadership in hip events took another leap forward with the recent, successful Ultra Music Festival. According to the Miami Herald, More than 150,000 people attended the late March, three-day fete in Bayfront Park. That's a crowd, even for a former New Yorker accustomed to dealing with waves of humanity.

The festival served as a marvelous warmup for the holiday trifecta of Spring Break, Passover, and Easter. Throw in tonight's opening of Major League Baseball's Miami Marlins' new playpen, and Mah-amah has upped the ante for large crowd excitement.

DJ David Guetta
(photo from djmix.com)

The Ultra Music Festival event featured DJ Tiesto, DJ David Guetta, DJ Fatboy Slim, DJ Afrojack, and presumably anyone else with the first initials "DJ." The festival was spun as a fun event, although there were some arrests and injuries. However, the police actions and the medical issues were minor, given the event's scale. As long as you enjoyed being around one hundred and fifty thousand of your closest personal friends, the Ultra Music Festival was a wonderful party.

Apple To Build Country's Biggest Private Fuel-Cell Energy Complex

The News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina's daily newspaper, reported today that Apple has set into motion plans to build America's largest private fuel-cell energy plant outside Charlotte. The plant will supply energy for Apple's nearby data center that supports the firm's iCloud data storage system and the one and only Siri.

Bloom Box
(photo from fastcompany.com)

The newspaper story provides as much information as Tobacco Road public records reveal. Unsurprisingly, Apple would not comment for the article. However, the details reveal what appear to be a very shrewd plan by Apple to leverage alternative energy, natural gas, needs of local utilities, and the company's formidable brain trust. The quiet, clean energy fuel cells thus created would be a wonderful, nonpolluting, albeit expensive industrial development.

The fuel cell facility will be built by California-based Bloom Energy. They create fuel cell modules called, appropriately enough, Bloom Boxes. That's an interesting name for a device that provides quiet, clean energy.

When Rome Was My Home

I lived in Rome a long time ago. How I got there, stayed there, and left there require separate chapters of a book yet unwritten. For decades, I would not write anything about my time in the Eternal City. I would talk about it over the years, sometimes embellishing details, and more than occasionally omitting inconvenient facts. However, no words about my Roman interlude ever saw type, except for very brief references to my "overseas experience."

Fontana di Trevi
I worked around the corner from the fountain.

Rome, by its very nature, challenged me in ways I had not anticipated at all. The city's sensuality was both an awakening and a provocation. The language, supposedly simple to learn, was in fact quite difficult to master and I certainly never came close to that accomplishment. Even though I was most definitely a foreigner in Rome, I could easily spot American tourists and often tried to avoid them. Yet, the irony of living in Rome was that I often thought about America and gained a useful perspective about it that I've retained since that time.

Of course, living an everyday sort of life amidst Rome's aura of dramatic history was definitely a singular experience. However, the grandiose monuments and subdued historic remains found their counterpoint in Rome's edgy, turbulent politics. It's hard to overstate to an American reader how Italian political unrest felt, even to a foreigner. I lived there when an Italian prime minister was kidnapped and murdered, buildings were bombed, and mass demonstrations and strikes were part of the city's political fabric. The sense of politics was quite different from what I had known in the States, even though I had lived in New York and went to arguably the most politically restive college campus of the 1960s (Wisconsin).

All of this was simply an operatic background to the personal relationships. Some people found love (congrats to you) and were lucky enough to keep it through the years. Some found love that unraveled over time. I'm still not entirely clear what I had and what I gave, but it was something short of love. However, there was respect and some genuine caring, and that's not bad. This part of the story gets a little complicated, and I've avoided articulating what happened. However, to tell the true story of when Rome was my home, I'll have to get into matters of the heart.

Phew....that's asking a lot. The reward will be worth it.

Amazon Cold Shoulders Seattle Charities

(photo from gizmodo.co.uk)

While many have sung Amazon's praises as a prototype of the "new normal" retail business model, the Seattle-based firm is coming under fire for its uncharitable charity practices. As a recent Seattle Times article noted, Amazon is often invisible in the Pacific Northwest's non-profit and charity scenes. Not only are Amazon big shots notably absent from the Seattle charity circuit, Amazon's charitable contributions are often either negligible or completely nonexistent.

Those who have attempted to communicate or do business with Amazon knows the company is breathtakingly difficult to deal with. It some ways, Amazon's arrogance and monolithic behavior is reminiscent of life behind the former Iron Curtain. The direction for Amazon's aloofness unquestionably starts at the top with its boss, Jeff Bezos. Similar to some other tech zillionaires (notably the late Steve Jobs), Bezos believes in total control, treats shareholders with complete indifference, and simply does not talk to the media (except for his pet projects). Amazon's new Seattle headquarters buildings do not even display the company's name. Uniquely for a Fortune 500 firm, Amazon's employees are rarely involved in charitable community work and, if the Seattle Times story is accurate, are discouraged from doing so by Amazon's spooky corporate culture. (The article does note that Amazon's frosty perspective on charities is slightly thawing.)

One explanation was offered by venture capital manager and early Amazon investor Nick Hanauer. "When you have 50 or 100 percent annualized growth rates," Hanauer noted, "there's just an infinite amount of work to do to keep the thing from exploding...It requires a lot of intensity and commitment that doesn't permit a lot of other things."

How much time does it take to write and sign a check for a worthy cause?