Leg Rally Wrap Up

Apologies for the lack of posts but it has been a busy week. Before we get to the news of the week, I wanted to give a wrap up of APPA's Leg Rally. Tuesday included a luncheon and a speech by political commentator Mark Shields which was both witty and insightful. It set the bar for a the future. Immediately after that we had our Membership Committee meeting which I had to sit in on. It was all business but still very interesting. The final day was a morning breakfast, followed by a speech by Congressman James Cliburn of South Carolina and a skit, done by APPA staff that highlighted public power issues that they would be lobbying on during their visits to Capitol Hill. The point of the conference is to update members on the issues and in turn give them the opportunity to visit their elected officials on Capitol Hill. Overall this week is certainly a break in the action and one I look forward to every year.

Oscar night

No, I didn't stay up for the Oscars. Events mentioned in the previous post prevented that from happening. Not to mention that there are no regrets as there was no drama or surprises unlike in 2002 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llgL7mGYVTI (alluding specifically to drama). As expected I was happy that Slumdog Millioniare got best picture. I hadn't seen any of the others but now I hope to.
The night got to the point where I was ready to suggest that the Oscars switch to a press conference format like the Golden Globes last year as it was going on for so long. Then again, I guess for Hollywood's biggest event we should respect the Pacific time zone. Ever other event has East Coast bias in every sense (this includes both news and sports).

Leg Rally Day 1

Today was the opening day of APPA's legislative rally. Our annual session where members vote on legislative resolutions (positions on various issues related to public power) and go lobby on the hill. As it is a major association conference, we also have committee meetings including the Membership Committee (which I have to make an appearance at :) as well as a board meeting. Today I attended an interesting presentation on regional transmission. The issues were very interesting that came up. Some of these included when utilities (both municipal and investor-owned) decide on many alternatives for routes-you can potentially create more enemies. Interestingly enough, my policy analysis class said that creating alternatives diffused a lot of controversies and hostilities with interest groups and the general public. Day one also gave me a chance to talk with other members. More on Day 2 tomorrow.

Tiger Woods watch, Part 3

Tiger Woods will be returning to the PGA Tour next week at the WGC Match Play Championship. I am somewhat surprised by this mainly due to the nature of the tournament. With match play it is basically a final round every single day and if you "choke" you don't come back. Most likely, the Sunday collapse isn't on Sunday either, it would be right before that and the week could end the first 18 (or fewer holes) that you tee it up. It won't allow Tiger to get into the groove and get at least 36 holes of golf under his belt. However, this is Tiger Woods, he is the ultimate competitor and he wants to get into that mode as soon as he steps to the tee and there is not better place to do that than this tournament. As far as readiness to play, he is Tiger Woods with 14 major championships-don't ask questions. If he accomplishes nothing else he is the true king of the game. Although it wouldn't best Nickalus, to win 14 in this age is a jaw-dropping accomplishment. The microscope is on him but even more this time around. Lets stay tuned and see what he does.

New York Post cartoon

As many of you heard the New York Post ran a cartoon that connected the economic stimulus bill to the monkey that was shot in Connecticut. I understand if they want to mock the stimulus package, what would you expect from a right-wing Murdoch owned newspaper. However, now that we have a black president to connect a monkey to one of his policies is simply wrong and not an avenue any newspaper should go down. Surprisingly, the just issued an apology, albeit half-hearted. MSNBC just discussed that their editor is in the twilight of his career there and I think now would be a good time to start thinking about retirement as for most editors, decisions like this are career killers. Hopefully editors across the nation can learn from this and use this example as what not to do when trying to make good sound editorial decisions.
I went through a situation like this when I was on the school paper in college and a lot came out of it. It was a difficult experience but many of us said we learned more than anything we ever did in the classroom.

Tiger Woods Watch, Part 2

This one is of a different variety. Congrats on the birth of your son Charlie Axel. I hope Mom and son are doing well. Unfortunately the sleepless nights probably won't affect his golf game at all which is not good news for the tour. One can only wonder if other factors will take the place of that. Of course the Woods family probably won't draw inspiration from the octuplet Mom as his publicist will be even quicker to drop them as an account!

Uncle Ted

I just picked up "Last Lion-The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy" at the bookstore. I have never been a diehard fan of him but he is the dean of Massachusetts politics and the last king of the great Kennedy dynasty-a title no one ever really thought he would have but wound up taking after his two brothers were slain. He is probably one of the last great liberal senators that this nation will ever see as well. Nevertheless this should be a great read as it is written by Boston Globe writers-the foremost authorities on covering Massachusetts politics at the national level. Sometimes they have it easy because often times Massachusetts politics is national politics! I promise a review once I finish reading it.