Wondering, on Wednesday (v20)

Be honest -- how many of you really thought that 60 million people would be 'devastated' by the "Blizzard of 2015" also known as Winter Storm Juno, or as I've heard if referred to, the Fizzle of  '15?  I get that there are lots of cities in the path of these storms, but I personally am getting tired of all of the hype.  The news readers, the 'official' weather reporters and the photogenic people who read the weather ad nauseum during all of the new shows, shouting from the rooftops about the potential carnage aiming straight for New York City, and then? Nothing.

The blizzard was so bad in Manhattan, the street sweepers were out.

And did you see that there was a $200M negative impact from governmental and weather forecaster intervention  - closed roads, travel bans, company closings, many of which turned out to be for naught? Not sure about you, but to me it seems 'weather reporting' is getting way out of hand.

What's also getting out of hand is the hype about Super Bowl commercials - and the fact that they don't even wait to put them on TV during the game any more.  Over $4M per 30-second spot, and some of them have already aired on You Tube or news shows or TV shows.

Today we had the almost certainly fake 'controversy' about a Go Daddy ad where a woman makes a website and sells a puppy online.  Animal rights activists got involved, some 40,000 signatures were added to a petition and the Big Daddy of Go Daddy has had a change of heart and says they're not going to show the ad... except on the national news, and the entertainment shows, and who knows where else. I don't think they ever necessarily planned on running the ad; and, not for nothing, it seems a little odd that they're going to be ready in really only hours with a new $4M replacement. You tell me: real issue, or pure PR stunt?

And speaking of pure PR stunts, I offer this:

You can absolutely say that I'm seriously interested. 

Those were the words of Sarah Palin, she of the 'servant's heart' who was recently photographed with a sign telling Michael Moore exactly how she felt about him.  Although it wasn't her sign, she apparently doesn't know that f-bombing someone is not really 'presidential'.  Those were the words of the one who, over the weekend, rambled her way almost unintelligibly through a speech in Iowa, offering up stuff like this:

And GOP leaders, by the way, ya know the man can only ride you when your back is bent. So strengthen it then the man can’t ride ya and America won’t be taken for a ride because so much is at stake and we can’t afford politicians playing games like nothing more is at stake than maybe the next standing of theirs in the next election.

Even conservatives were confused; even the Republicans must have some other woman who can run in 2016?

And there's also this:

A lot of people think I have fun with (talking about running for president) and I enjoy the process, but the country is in very serious trouble so I am considering it seriously. 

Those were the words of His Hairness, Donald Trump. Who has threatened us many times before that he was going to run for office. And has, of course, bailed, leaving his poor fans starved for more.  Which, of course, he'll give us the next time he pretends to run, when he'll remind us that, had he really put up a fight, he would have won.

I'm wondering, this Wednesday, if the Republicans will ever stop humoring these two?

10 Questions for NY Legislators

If you are an Albany pol, regardless of party, how would you answer these simple true/false questions?

1. Sheldon Silver should resign, now.  
2. If you were Sheldon Silver, you would resign. 
3. What Sheldon Silver has been charged with are really crimes.
4. You have done the same things that Sheldon Silver is accused of doing. 
5. If offered the role of one of the "Three Amigos" you would turn it down.
6. Three men in a room is the wrong way to govern New York. 
7. It's OK that a State Legislator makes more than a teacher. 
8. State legislators should be subject to term limits.
9. You will not run again. 
10. You answered the above questions honestly.

Thanks.

Tuesday's Number: $449,029

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Since mid-2012, I’ve been tracking health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

• This week, there were 26 new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $449,029. 
• There were no satisfied judgments. 
• And there were no health care related bankruptcies.

I also track filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals. Here’s the breakdown for this week:

• Crouse had two, totaling $15,536 
• St Joe’s also had two, for $22,862 
• SUNY Upstate had 22, totaling $410,631 
• Community General, a part of Upstate, also had none.

This year, I am subtracting the satisfied judgments from the overall totals and from the individual hospital totals; the likelihood is that they've already been incorporated into the numbers at some point now, since I've been tracking this for two and a half years.

The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000.

First They Came for the Muslims

Most of us have heard  some version of the "First They Came" quote, one of which is below.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out,
because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out

because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out,

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.

There's some disagreement over who wrote it, or what the original version was; it's generally attributed to Martin Neimoller, a German pastor and lecturer, although it supposedly could have been written by some counter-culture types who figured no one would pay attention if they put it out on their own, so they tagged Neimoller with credit.  

Regardless of the true origin, the meaning is clear, as is the evergreen and challenging nature of it.  Watch:

First they came for the Muslims, and I did not speak out

because I was not a Muslim.

Seem relevant? It should; all you have to do is watch the news coming out of France on anti-Muslim attacks since the terrorist acts on Charlie Hebdo and the kosher grocery store; or Germany, where there are regular anti-Muslim rallies; or read any number of articles right here at home, or listen to our politicians:

• John Bennett of Oklahoma, who professes to have read the Koran and has determined that Islam is a "cancer that needs to be cut out of our nation" among other things.
• Bobby Jindal, Catholic convert from Hinduism, Louisiana Governor and possible presidential candidate, on the need for Muslims to assimilate, and stop with their Sharia law stuff and those unnamed 'no-go' zones where women are afraid to go without veils.
• Jack Whitley, a Republican party hack from Minnesota, who pronounced last November that we should "frag" Muslims when they make their pilgrimage to Mecca - I mean we know they're going to be there, right? 

Or, read your state's political party platform, such as the one from Texas which specifically calls out Sharia Law as something from which protection is needed; even in the face of cases where American people and companies have benefited from our courts taking such laws into consideration.

Some of us at least appear to have difficulty differentiating between a faith and terrorists. For some people, it's a definitive choice; hatred for others who are not like us is not unheard of. For others, though, it's possibly a lack of understanding or it's perhaps because they've never thought about it.  That's the way it is for us in majority America when it comes to race and racism (it doesn't exist, right?) and religion (mine is good and yours is OK as long as it's a lot like mine or at least resembles mine a little) and free speech (as long as it's not critical of anything I believe in or even remotely critical of America. If you need examples, look no further than 'American Sniper' discussions).

What would happen, I wonder,  if this were the next verse we wrote today:

Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak up, 

for I was not a Catholic.

Catholics? Why would anyone come for the Catholics? 

Catholic priests abused children, tens of thousands of children around the world; the true number terrorized by these men of the cloth may never be known.  The Catholic church at different times feigned ignorance of the abuse, then denied it ever happened. They failed to protect the children from the abusers, and instead focused on protecting the Church and her leaders; they moved abusers from parish to parish, expanding the problem instead of limiting it. Had church officials been school teachers or doctors or bus drivers or coaches or politicians or people from any other walk of life, they would surely have ended up in jail. Permanently in jail.

These men were terrorists, plain and simple. They were priests, yes, and they were Catholics, yes, but they individually were terrorists.  They did not represent the entire Catholic clergy, and their behavior is not presumed to be representative of all Catholics.  In fact, the opposite is true.  

The presumption (from people who were not victimized by these men) has always been that these individual priests were monsters, and that maybe some of the leaders of the church were complicit in the cover up, and that maybe some did not do enough to take care of the victims. There are still Catholics who believe this never even happened.

But has there been a call to round up all Catholics, to ban all Catholics, to evict all Catholics, to bomb and shoot at Catholic churches, to burn down Catholic houses of worship? Any calls to 'frag them' on Christmas Eve and Easter Sunday? Of course not.

It would be wrong to brand an entire faith and all her followers as terrorists, simply based on the bad acts of a small minority of them, wouldn't it? 

Well, sure, that would be wrong.

Unless of course they're not done taking care of the Muslims.

Obviously it's Bad

Mike Groll/AP Photo

Andrew Cuomo's comment on the arrest of Sheldon Silver on multiple federal corruption charges:

Obviously it's bad for the Speaker, but it's also a bad reflection on government and it adds to the negativity. And it adds to the cynicism and it adds to the 'they're all the same'.

Yes, Governor, obviously it's bad.

It's bad that you had an ethics commission and shut it down when it got too close to you.

It's bad that you think you can do whatever you want to get what you consider reform, as you and your buddies sit in The Room and make your deals.

It's bad that just yesterday, you were giddy and giggling as you delivered your Opportunities Agenda and told us about you and The Honorable Shelly Silver and The Honorable Dean Skelos traveling as the Three Amigos, in your ridiculous and more than slightly insulting sombreros.

You're right. It's a bad reflection on government, and your behavior just yesterday, when everyone knew that Preet Bharara was likely to indict Smelly Shelly, only adds to the thinking that you are all the same.

Kudos to Bharara and his gang; let them continue the investigations that we New Yorkers deserve, that you did everything possible to shut down.

Obviously it's bad. But it's obviously good for us, and for the state of New York, if we get rid of the people who think they're above the rules.

Wondering, on Wednesday (v19)

A world of wonder out there, don't you think?

A person who had a relative killed by an enemy sniper in World War II announced that he was taught that snipers were cowards. And was promptly told to shove pretty much everything up pretty much everywhere, because implying that sniping (an invading, he added) were less than noble pursuits means that he's un-American.  Going out on a limb here but I suspect anyone who lost a loved one in this manner would consider the perpetrator to be a coward, including any of the people who are so enraged about the tweet sniped around the world.

And I wonder, why is it that so many of the people who are so enraged about the exercise of free speech by the author of the tweet can't express their rage without telling him to shut the blank up and advise that "until he has gone to war" he cannot comment on anything related a movie about a soldier, or about this soldier, or about war? Ou est Charlie?

Have you figured out yet, based on the news stories coming ahead of the State of the Union (SOTU) address and since then, who's in the running for 2016?  The Dems have Hillary Clinton, of course, and Mitt Romney. And now Joe Biden is likely in as well, or at least talking like he's literally thinking about it. I don't know about you, but I'm wondering what those primary debates are going to look like?

And of course there was the SOTU itself.  President Obama talked about free community college, and a middle class economy, and taxing the rich, and trade and some other stuff.  And, oh yeah -- seems he won a couple of elections too? How long before the Republicans get over that slap in the face, I wonder?

And speaking of getting over things, how long before folks of Hispanic heritage get over the portrayal of the 'Three Amigos'  that our Sonofa Governor plopped into his 'Opportunities Agenda' speech this afternoon? Other than Cuomo himself, did anyone laugh?

Tuesday's Number: $173,856

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Since mid-2012, I've been tracking health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

·         This week, there were fourteen new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $190,022.

·         There were two satisfied judgments, for $16,166.

·         And there were no health care related bankruptcies.

I also track filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals. Here’s the breakdown for this week:

·         Crouse had five, totaling $40,847

·         St Joe’s had one, for $20,815

·         SUNY Upstate had nine, totaling $122,970

·         Community General, a part of Upstate, also had none.

There was one judgment filed by a surgery center which account for the remaining $10,776.

This year, I am subtracting the satisfied judgments from the overall totals and from the individual hospital totals; the likelihood is that they've already been incorporated into the numbers at some point now, since I’ve been tracking this for two and a half years.

The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000.

Are We Really Charlie Hebdo?

Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine, publishes cartoons that are so inflammatory that most American news outlets won't show them. Wouldn't even think about showing them. Would be fined if they did show them.

Even the relatively modest cover of the post-attack edition, which showed the prophet Muhammad with a tear on his cheek, holding a sign noting 'Je Suis Charlie' (I am Charlie) and the headline above saying 'All is Forgiven', was not shown by many media outlets; reporters held the magazine, rolled up so that we could see the bright green background of the cover and know that it was the one we had seen published on social media, but that was it. 

from Time.com

Shortly after the attack in Paris, Time magazine published a few of the covers, including the one pictured to the right, described as follows:

In this cover, the newspaper called itself an irresponsible newspaper, and likening itself to a Neanderthal, claiming that the invention of humor is the process of adding fuel to the fire.

Frankly, that's how many have viewed the whole situation, as being all about adding fuel to the fire. Many Muslims are deeply offended by some of the cartoons, because they believe the prophet should not be depicted in human form at all, much less (for example) on his knees, genital exposed with a gold star on his anus, beneath a headline proclaiming 'A star is born'.

Christians would be just as mightily offended had Jesus been portrayed in that manner, or if they had seen the cover depicting the Holy Trinity engaged in anal sex, or if, similar to the one about the Koran, there had been a cartoon stating that said the Bible was 'shit'.

Most people, regardless of their faith or personal beliefs, would be offended, and I dare say hesitant to rally and march in support of a magazine that published these cartoons. We are, after all, the country that fined CBS for showing a 'wardrobe malfunction'; we are the country that didn't allow the 'seven dirty words' to be broadcast (but has no problem with lingering, loving shots of two of them, tits and ass, on cheerleaders, fashion models or sitcom stars).

We are the country that has determined that money is speech; how comfortable that seems, compared to even the mildest of Hebdo covers.

Tom Toles, a political cartoonist at the Washington Post, noted in an interview with Buffalo's WIVB that he wouldn't have drawn the cartoons published in Charlie Hebdo, that he has his own standards.  He also noted, rightly, that freedom of the press includes both the right to publish, and not publish, certain material.

And he pointed out that

If someone is telling you, you can't do something or you are at risk if you do, it often makes you more determined to stay with it than to turn around and run away. 

Toles is right: often it does make you more determined. More determined to offend, in the case of Charlie Hebdo. And more determined, for many of us, to thank our lucky stars that we are not forced to defend this particular kind of speech in our own back yard.

Wondering, on Wednesday (v18)

Tonight on the way home, we caught part of a semi-local radio talk show host putting an idea out for his listeners. The host does a local show in Rochester in the morning and an afternoon show here in Syracuse; for a time on his show he would do a Bible verse of the day, and he regularly complains about Andy Cuomo and President Obama and sometimes against Republicans as well. He likes guns and soldiers and veterans and hates commies and liberals (and on rare occasions, he might admit there's a difference between them).

Having set the stage, here's what he offered today, in the shadow of the attacks in Paris and lone wolf terrorists or radicalized jihadists who turn on the rest of us:

We should stop allowing unskilled Muslims in the country. 

He asked us not to yell at him, not to call him a racist or anything like that. It's OK, he went on, to accept Pakistani doctors, and all the engineers and scientists and all the smart Muslims but we need to keep the unskilled ones out.  They come here, you see, and don't work or are under-employed and mostly they're just sitting around trying to figure out how to get in on their share of welfare money.

There are some that work out, he said, but even those shopkeepers, the ones who run the corner stores, they're spending time and energy trying to figure out how they can get their fare share of welfare money, even if they have to cheat to get it. They should probably go, too.

I didn't listen to what came next - I admit to having difficulty listening to him at all most days, and today was no exception. But it did get me wondering, on this Wednesday, if he was simply trying to provoke a reaction, or if he had the courage to take his idea all the way to the only possible conclusion:

We should not allow any unskilled people in our country. Don't let the come here from other countries, regardless of ethnicity, and don't allow the ones who are already here, even if they are our children, to remain.

See, that's really what we need to do! We should only have productive people in America. We don't need to have 47% of the people here on the dole, we need to have 100% of the people we allow to stay making positive contributions, just like the Pakistani doctors and, even, the Indian hoteliers.

I clearly didn't take this idea far enough back in 2013 when I thought I had everything figured out, after spending a more than a little too much time reading social media comments.

As I said, I didn't stick around to hear if the host took it all the way and included all unskilled residents, citizens or otherwise, or if he left it at just unskilled Muslims.  I have my guess, but I'll leave you wondering with me on that one.

If at First You Don't Succeed

Gamble, gamble again.

According to a report this evening, the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board (GFLB) will reopen the bidding for the 'true' Southern Tier region, the part of the region that's currently home to Tioga Downs. The part that's not the future home of Lago, a casino resort that was awarded the Southern Tier/Finger Lakes region's rights on the first roll of the dice last year.

You'll recall that the GFLB was asked to reopen the bidding process by Governor Cuomo; he made his request not long after the decision to bypass our neighbors to the south and only award three licenses - Sullivan County, Schenectady, and the Town of Tyre -- instead of four. And, right after Cuomo's experts announced the decision that fracking would not be allowed, also a blow to the Southern Tier.

While some folks, including the Sonofa Gov, believe that there could be bidders other than Tioga Downs, it seems unlikely that will happen.  Already the Binghamton area has ceded the floor to Tioga and will not complete; the thought that there would be a dark horse bidder coming out of nowhere, with a site and a plan and community buy-in and all the rest, seems like a pipe dream.

So, what happens if the re-worked bid from Tioga still doesn't pass muster?  I'm not sure that the GFLB is obligated to offer a license to the Southern Tier; after all, Cuomo has noted that he has nothing to do with the process and that it's entirely up to the Board to make their decision on the merits.  He just asked them to take another look at the merits, that's all.

Jeff Gural, developer of Tioga Downs, has said it was his 'bad job' explaining the financing that kept him from winning the bid in the first place, and moreover he seems to feel that he was used by Cuomo:

The governor asked me to spend $800,000 of my money to pass Proposition One, and then the intent was that there would be a casino in the Southern Tier. That's what he said to me, he came to Binghamton and said it, and now they put it up by Lake Ontario. I feel like a complete fool to be honest with you.

If the bid doesn't fly this time, Gural goes back to running his racino, the bad taste still in his mouth. More importantly thought, what's next for the true Southern Tier?

Tuesday's Number: $364,675

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Since mid-2012, I’ve been tracking health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

• This week, there were thirteen new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $250,097. 
•  There was one satisfied judgment, for $5,211. 
• And there was one health care related bankruptcy, for $119,789.

I also track filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals. Here’s the breakdown for this week: 

• Crouse had ten, totaling $216,190 
• St Joe’s had three, for $18,749 
• SUNY Upstate had none 
• Community General, a part of Upstate, also had none.

There were two large judgments filed by surgical practices which account for the remaining $129,736.

This year, I am subtracting the satisfied judgments from the overall totals and from the individual hospital totals; the likelihood is that they've already been incorporated into the numbers at some point now, since I've been tracking this for two and a half years.

The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000.

Wondering, on Wednesday (v17)

Here we are, just a few days into the new year, and instead of being filled with hope and anticipation, we're sharing grief and anger and agony with our friends in France,we've got a new Congress in Washington, and we said goodbye to an icon here in New York.  It's been a busy few days.

Paris was devastated by an attack on their boldly satirical magazine, 'Charlie Hebdo'. The magazine, which gained notoriety for publishing cartoons of the prophet Mohammed was fire-bombed in an earlier incident, and today a dozen people were killed in the horrific attack; meanwhile we are still a bit indignant about the brazen technical assault last month on Sony Pictures for their somewhat ill-advised comedy about killing North Korea's Kim Jung Un.

In that attack on free speech,  Sony lost emails, data, credibility and money by not having the opportunity for a big Christmas-day premiere of The Interview. In Paris, they lost lives for publishing cartoons.  I'm left wondering, this Wednesday,  if we'll ever really understand that kind of extremism, and more importantly whether we'll ever collectively have a way to manage it and the people who bring it upon us.

The 114th Congress took over this week, with an extreme kiss from Crying John Boehner to the head of Nancy Pelosi; a more awkward kiss has not been seen in DC in who knows how long. Boehner managed to get re-elected as House Speaker, although it wasn't easy. It wasn't easy for a few of the folks were were not firmly in his corner, either - those folks lost their committee posts in a swift reaction by Boehner. He's going to have a long battle these next two years, but starting out by smacking down the opposition has to feel good, don't you think?

Meanwhile, over in the Senate, Mitch McConnell actually talked about finding agreement with his Democratic counterparts:

I always like to remind people that divided government is not unusual in this country. When the American people choose divided government I don't think it means they don't want us to do anything, I think it means they want us to look for areas of agreement. 

And then, reminded us that this first order of business is to pass the Keystone XL Pipeline bill, which according to McConnell is a key component of the 'energy revolution' in this country.  That would be the same energy revolution that has gas prices tumbling, which would be good, except that OPEC countries are not propping up their own oil, and so the price is in free fall, which is messing up the stock market and the world economy, which is scaring the bluecheeses out of us.  I'm wondering if Mitch wants to reconsider his first big vote?

And finally, we said goodbye to Mario Cuomo this week; I wonder who will be the real voice of progressive reasonableness, or reasonable progressitivity, going forward? That person, whoever he or she is, will have a huge opportunity in 2016, one that shouldn't be wasted.

Tuesday's Number: $1,133,733

Tuesday is the day my local paper, the Syracuse Post-Standard, publishes the weekly business section. In addition to special features, tips from stock experts, budgeting advice and the like, we get the judgment and bankruptcy listings.

Since mid-2012, I've been tracking health care related filings. I include anything that is clearly a debt owed to a hospital, nursing home, physician or physician group, medical supplier, and so on; I do not include filings by insurance companies, many of which are so diversified it would not be a fair assumption that the filing is related to medical care or health insurance.

• This week, there were 26 new judgments to hospitals, doctors, or other medical providers totaling $1,069,733. 
• There were no satisfied judgments. 
• And there was one health care related bankruptcy, for $64,000.

Here are the filings for each of the four Syracuse hospitals this week, which totaled $875,943:

• Crouse had three, totaling $142,926 
• St Joe’s had one, for $30,854 
• SUNY Upstate had 21, totaling $702,163 
• Community General, a part of Upstate, had none.

There were two large judgments filed by local nursing homes which account for the remaining $257,790.

This year, I am counting the satisfied judgments as negatives, given that they have already likely been incorporated into the totals as some point now, since I've been tracking these numbers for two and a half years.

The paper publishes only those accounts of at least $5,000; while the majority of the filings are from facilities in Onondaga County, on occasion there will be some listings for hospitals and medical providers located in Cayuga, Cortland, Madison and Oneida counties.

Mario Cuomo's Words Still Ring True

Tomorrow, former NY Governor Mario Cuomo will be laid to rest.

His classic 1984 Democratic Convention address will live on, stored as it is among the Top 100 speeches at American Rhetoric. There will always be people who will talk about the tale of two cities vs the shining city on the hill, the comparison between the middle class reality as Cuomo saw it, and what Ronald Reagan saw when he looked out the window at his world.

One of those people talking about Cuomo mentioned that there wasn't a lot of detail in the speech, that it would have been better if he had included more 'meat' beyond the quotable parts with which we're all so familiar.  I disagree with that assessment; there was a lot in the speech that doesn't make the highlight reel, and that still rings true today.   Here are a few examples:

On how to win an election:

We must get the American public to look past the glitter, beyond the showmanship to the reality, the hard substance of things. And we'll do it not so much with speeches that sound good as with speeches that are good and sound; not so much with speeches that will bring people to their feet, but with speeches that will bring people to their senses. 

On creating a party platform:

To succeed we will have to surrender some small parts of our individual interests, to build a platform that we can all stand on, at once, and comfortably...

On the middle class::

And in between (the rich and the poor) is the heart of our constituency - the middle class, the people not rich enough to be worry-free but not poor enough to be on welfare; the middle class, those people who work for a living because they have to...White collar and blue collar. Young professionals. Men and women in small business desperate for the capital and contracts that they need to prove their worth.

On key themes:

We speak for young people demanding an education and a future.  We speak for senior citizens, for senior citizens who are terrorized by the idea that their only security, their Social Security, is being threatened.  We speak for millions of reasoning people fighting to preserve our environment from greed and stupidity.

And on the credo of the Democrats:

• We believe in only the government we need, but we insist on all the government we need.
• We believe in a government that is characterized by fairness and reasonableness, a reasonableness that goes beyond labels, that doesn't distort or promise to do things that we know we can't do.
• We believe in a government strong enough to use works like 'love' and 'compassion' and smart enough to convert our noblest aspirations into practical realities.
• Our government should be able to rise to the level where it can fill the gaps that are left by chance or by a wisdom we don't fully understand. 
• We believe as Democrats that a society as blessed as ours the most affluent democracy in the world's history, one that can spend trillions on instruments of destruction, ought to be able to help the middle class in its struggle, ought to be able to find work for all who can do it, room at the table, shelter for the homeless, care for the elderly and infirm, and hope for the destitute.
• We believe in firm - firm but fair law and order.
• We believe proudly in the union movement.
• We believe - we believe in privacy for people, openness by government.
• We believe in civil rights, and we believe in human rights.

On the night before Mario Cuomo is laid to rest, and as the 114th Congress gets to work, it might do us all well to think about Cuomo's words from 30 years ago.  Because, with the exception of the part about the union movement, most of what he talks about are goals that just about all politicians profess to support, even if the path to getting there is very different as expressed by the Democrats and Republicans today.

The one piece that missing from today's picture, however, is the shared sacrifice part. If everyone "surrenders some small parts of (our) individual interests" everyone "gets to stand." Wouldn't it be nice if our new Congress in Washington was willing to give a little, on both sides, so that all Americans are able to stand? And if they all could drop the glitter and showmanship and focus on the realities, which is where real Americans live?

That would be an outstanding addition to the legacy of Mario Cuomo.

The Hotel Syracuse: Looking Back, Looking Forward

There are times that it pays to pay attention.

Lobby ceiling detail

Back in December I got an email from the Onondaga Historical Association (OHA) letting me know there were still tickets available for a 'Ghostwalk' at the Hotel Syracuse. As many of you know, the Hotel Syracuse was a gem in Syracuse, dating back to the 1920s. Built by the firm that went on to do the Waldorf, she's getting ready to be restored to as much of her former glory as can be saved, and she should reopen, we learned today, on March 16, 2016.

The opportunity to get inside before the renovations kick in was too much to pass by, and I managed to get our tickets just in the nick of time.

The OHA doesn't look for ghosts on tours like this - it's not a seance or anything like that. Instead, they have actors portraying people who would have been around back in the day. Today it was folks who would have worked at the Hotel, including the concierge, the hotel detective, a bell captain, and a maid.  We also were thoroughly entertained by a singer who did a pretty good Al Jolson, Ole Blue Eyes and John Lennon.

Hotel Syracuse Lobby

Back in the 1980's I worked the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce; at the time, the offices were on the street level of the Hotel on the Onondaga Street side. There were several Chamber events held in the Hotel itself.  Between those meetings, and holidays parties, and the piano bar, 'prom-watching' from the MONY Plaza, I have lots of fond memories of the hotel, but my personal history of her pales in comparison to what we learned on yesterday's trip.

According to the concierge, the Edward Joy Company (the same one you drive by on I-690 heading east out of the city) did all of the electrical work, including the sprinkler system, and there was some Stickley furniture too. All of the furnishings, including the Stickley pieces, were supplied by the E. W. Edwards department store on Salina Street. Bedding and other linens, miles of carpeting, all of the china (locally sourced from the Iroquois and Onondaga pottery companies, which eventually became our beloved Syracuse China), silverware and furniture and chandeliers and sconces (like the one in the Persian Terrace pictured here), and pretty much everything else you could see or touch in a grand hotel was delivered from just up the block.

If you're interested, there's a store directory from Edwards on the Department Store Museum blog, as well as some additional history from folks who remember it. It notes that 'our' Edwards dated to 1889, with expansion into other upstate cities (Rochester, Buffalo, Camillus and Dewitt!) happening later.

We learned from the entertainer ghost that the hotel was wired so that music played anywhere - in the ballrooms or the clubs - could be heard everywhere: the 1920's version of whole-house audio. The room he performed in eventually became the Library disco (one of only four in the country), the home for Wise Guys comedy club (recently closed in its third or fourth location) and then Viva Debris (comedy and magic).

Persian Terrace

I think the most fascinating part of the trip for me was the time we spent in the Persian Ballroom. I had no idea that there were fashion shows broadcast live from that beautiful room, while the fashionable ladies of Syracuse lunched. We learned this from two delightful performers, one the host of the show, and one the fashion director who fabulously ad-libbed as tour members modeled hats of the day.

The drapes and paint (a peach/pink/salmon color scheme), the crystal chandeliers and sconces, beautiful stone columns and white-veined black marble under the giant windows, the soaring ceiling, and the faded carpet, are as they were when the hotel closed for good back in 2004. So too is the obligatory parquet floor on which thousands of couples danced.

And now, it's the hint of what's to come for the Hotel Syracuse that has me excited.  We've previously been made aware that the original entrance, on Onondaga Street, will become the primary entrance once again.

Original lobby ceiling

And today, we learned that some of the giant arched windows that have long been covered up or painted over will become functional windows once again; that the lobby will be returned to her original glory, including the gorgeous mural that was recently uncovered, and removing a wall to give us back a balcony. We were told that the ceiling will be restored to its darker, more luxurious hue.

We learned that, underneath the paint in the Persian Terrace, there's a mural that hopefully can be restored. A small section of it is visible, including what someone said was part of an elephant's trunk.

There's so much to look back at, and so much to look forward to, as our grand Hotel Syracuse is restored. She may have a new name then and fewer rooms then she did in the 1920's, but we'll still have her history, thanks to the OHA, and hopefully there will be decades more history to be made there.  I know that I'm not the only one who will be following the progress of her restoration/renovation - and that we're not the only ones already planning on spending the night there come 2016 when she opens once again.

The Inspirational Mario Cuomo

1984 was the third presidential election I voted in.

I didn't have a lot of hope that Walter Mondale would win. He could not match Ronald Reagan's Hollywood appeal and charisma, his easy charm. Mondale also had made the decision to choose a woman, Geraldine Ferraro, as his running mate. I admit to being excited about the possibilities of that choice, but was not surprised with how it played out: the investigation into her finances, her husband's business, her brashness, the whole 'Italian thing' and the potential ties to organized crime, and so on.

The main reason I didn't have a lot of hope for Mondale, honestly, was that he wasn't Mario Cuomo.

Like many twenty-something Democrats (and many older ones as well), I was very moved by Cuomo's convention keynote address, and his vision of America. I loved his passion, and his energy, and his ability to grab and hold people's attention, as he did mine. Cuomo could have tackled Reagan, I thought back then -- I remember talking with my Dad about how we had picked the wrong guy.

I watched the highlight reel from that speech again yesterday, after hearing the news that Mario Cuomo had died on the very day that his son Andrew began his second term as New York's Governor.  The most famous parts, good libs can at least paraphrase without much prompting. Here's a look at some of them. Later, I'll look at some of the things that didn't make the video.

On Reagan's "this country is a shining city on a hill" analogy:

The hard truth is that not everyone is sharing in this city's splendor and glory. A shining city is perhaps all the President sees...But there's another city; there's another part to the shining, the city; the part where some people can't pay their mortgages, and most young people can't afford one; where students can't afford the education they need, and middle-class parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate. 

 In this part of the city there are more poor than ever, more families in trouble, more and more people who need help but can't find it... There is despair, Mr. President, in the faces that you don't see, in the places that you don't visit in your shining city. In fact Mr President -- this is a nation -- Mr President you ought to know that this nation is more a "Tale of Two Cities" than it is just a "Shining City on a Hill."

On 'trickle down' economics:

President Reagan told us from the very beginning that he believed in a kind of social Darwinism. Survival of the fittest. "Government can't do everything," we were told, so it should settle for taking care of the strong and hope that economic ambition and charity will do the rest.  Make the rich richer, and what falls from the table will be enough for the middle class and those are trying desperately to work their way into the middle class.

You know, the Republicans' called it "trickle-down" when Hoover tried it. Now they call it "supply side."  But it's the same shining city for those relative few who are lucky enough to live in its good neighborhoods. But for the people who are excluded for the people who are locked out, all they can do is stare from a distance at that city's glimmering towers.

On the difference between Ds and Rs:

It's an old story. It's as old as our history. The difference between Democrats and Republicans has always been measured in courage and confidence. The Republicans -- the Republicans believe that the wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of the old, some of the young, some of the weak are left behind by the side of the trail.  "The strong" -- "the strong," they tell us, "will inherit the land."

We Democrats believe in something else. We Democrats believe that we can make it all the way with the whole family intact, and we have more than once.  Ever since Franklin Roosevelt lifted himself from his wheelchair to lift this nation from its knees -- wagon train after wagon train -- to new frontiers of education, housing, peace; the whole family aboard, constantly reaching out to extend and enlarge that family, lifting them up into the wagon on the way; blacks and Hispanics and people of every ethnic group, and native Americans -- all those struggling to build their families and claim some small share of America. And remember this, some of us in this room today are here only because this nation had that kind of confidence. And it would be wrong to forget that. 

On a 'proper government':

We believe in a single -- we believe in a single fundamental idea that describes better than most textbooks and any speech I could write what a proper government should be: the idea of family, mutuality, the sharing of benefits and burdens for the good of all, feeling one another's pain, sharing one another's blessings -- reasonably, honestly, fairly, without respect to race, or sex, or geography, or political affiliation.

We believe we must be the family of America, recognizing that at the heart of the matter we are bound to one another, that the problems of a retired schoolteacher in Duluth are our problems; that the future of the child - -that the future of the child in Buffalo is our future; that the struggle of a disabled man in Boston to survive and live decently is our future; that the hunger of a woman in Little Rock is our hunger; that the failure anywhere to provide what reasonably we might, to avoid pain, is our failure. 

Back in 1984, these words moved me.  They moved me again today.  Rest in peace, Mario.