Young Local Bloggers Blowing Up

Some of our favorite young local bloggers are up to big things these days. Kyle Kutuchief (Revere High School, '97) and Ben Keeler (Revere High School, '98), of the Akron Beacon Journal’s ohio.politics.com blog recently sat down with Governor Strickland in his office for an interview that you can see on video in three parts here and here. Kyle and Ben are the founding editors of The Chief Source, and the Keeler Political Report, respectively.

As for the interview, we’re impressed that Strickland took the time to sit down with a couple of twentysomething local bloggers. He appears to us to be a likeable and thoughtful man. As for the contents of the thoughts expressed, we think the bit on Obama is all so much nonsense, and is emblematic, to us, of Obama’s campaign at large. In sum, Strickland starts with the Chicken Little-esque notion that “we are facing a cataclysmic shift, driven by what’s happening around the world,” and then, without any substantive explanation, tells us that Obama is the man to see us through these violent times. Why Mr. Governor? Why? Why? Why? (Relatedly, and oddly enough, we read an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal this weekend: “While the Iraqi effort is almost exclusively American now, Afghanistan is a NATO mission. Sen. Obama, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on European and NATO affairs [who talks A LOT about Afghanistan], had never visited Afghanistan, and has not bothered to hold a hearing of the subcommittee covering the countries for which it bears legislative oversight responsibility.” How strange.)

The best part of the interview is where Strickland discussed legislation pertaining to our local fresh water source, The Great Lakes Compact. To paraphrase the money quote: “Growth that we’ve seen in Arizona and elsewhere in the American West can simply not be sustained without a supply of fresh water. This compact will ensure that the resources of the Great Lakes are managed by the States and Provinces of Canada that surround them." Word. Thanks for being on top of that, Gov. And nice work Ben, and Kyle.

Speaking of nice work, Chuck Kozelka (Revere High School ‘97), one of the original editors of The Chief Source, surely has himself some of that. Chuck is a lawyer who works at the Arizona Public Defender’s Office. Chuck’s most recent assignment has him defending the inalienable rights of one Earl Simmons, better known to some as the rapper, Dark Man X, or DMX, who has been indicted with felony charges of theft and identity theft. It’s remarkable that Mr. Simmons was appointed a public defender in this case, as the Judge notes in this video at TMZ.com (you can hear Chuck's voice in the background). While Chuck won’t be able to discuss his representation of Simmons due to his professional duties of confidentiality to his client, we are sure that this foray into celebrity justice will inform Chuck’s wisdom in a number of ways, and we look forward to this coming through in his writing at The Chief Source. Best wishes to Chuck, and to DMX, who is obviously the target of a government conspiracy. (Let’s not forget that Arizona was one of the last states to adopt Martin Luther King Day as a national holiday.)

In concluding, we should point out that it was only a few years ago that Ben, Chuck, and Kyle started with nothing but an internet connection, a blogger account, and a dream. Now they’re interviewing governors and defending rap stars. It’s true, kids. The world IS flat. The internet IS the wave of the future. Start your blog, TODAY.

2008 Cleveland Frowns Person of the Year Nominee: Latarian Milton

If you haven’t met Latarian Milton of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, you are in for a treat.

A local news report starts with an understatement: “Latarian Milton is not your typical seven year old, [because] few his age have ever driven an SUV up and down several busy streets.” As far as we know, Latarian might be the only one who has done so for several miles, with only so much as another seven-year old in the car to supervise. This joyride was not without casualties, as according to the report, Latarian “hit two mailboxes, hit two parked cars in a Cosco parking lot, and struck two moving cars near Wal-Mart.” But it’s not the mistakes we make that count, it’s how we react to them. Young Milton’s explanation for and reaction to this “incident” clearly demonstrates that his unquenchable lust for life coupled with his finely-tuned sense of justice and willingness to see it through makes him a leading candidate to be the first governor of history’s first real utopian society, and certainly a candidate for the 2008 Cleveland Frowns Person of the Year Award.

Photographic evidence of the young man’s excellence starts here (and directly below). Please review this two minute video carefully.



First we see that Latarian had excellent reasons for embarking on his voyage. He first explains that he “took [his] grandma’s car because [he] got mad at [his] mom,” which seems fair enough by itself, because grandmas generally rank higher than moms in the family chain of authority and must certainly bear some responsibility for moms’ actions. But this argument is unnecessary because Latarian then tells us that he had an even better reason for taking grandma’s car -- he had a friend over, and that friend “smokes with cigarettes.” A seven-year old who smokes with cigarettes is impressive. One of the very few things that could top that would be a spin in grandma’s Durango, so that’s what Young Milton did, going to the greatest lengths to conform to the ancient rule of “one good turn deserves another.” We should all have such good friends.

Even more impressive is the way that Milton didn’t crack when police officers and local news reporters attempted to break him down. He told them, simply and unwaveringly: “I wanted to do it because it was fun. It’s fun to do bad things.” Here, Milton obviously means that it’s fun to do fun things, and subtly makes the point that in today’s topsy-turvy world, “fun” is all too often held to be the equivalent of “bad” -- especially by meddling police officers, officious news reporters, and parents who are too lazy to properly raise their children.

Milton held up even stronger when the reporter went for a cheap shot by asking him, “[d]id you know that you could perhaps kill somebody?” Milton’s response: “Yes, but I wanted to do hoodrat stuff with my friend.” This is Milton’s reaffirmation of the basic principles of “one good turn deserves another,” and “it’s fun to do fun things.” Milton, confident in his driving skills, knew that he wasn’t going to kill anyone. He also knows that one has to break a few eggs to make an omelette. A few nicks and scrapes to some vehicles and mailboxes, maybe a whole weekend without video games? A small price to pay for the chance to simultaneously mete out justice to his mother and grandmother, and more importantly, earn the friendship and respect of not only the seven-year old who smokes with cigarettes, but also a number of others who were surely impressed by this episode.

We’d like to think that every seven-year old would make the same choices when confronted with the same incentives, but few if any seven-year olds are as aware as Latarian Milton is of the opportunities that exist for them. What we find so troubling is that the state of Florida seeks to punish Milton for this brilliance. This bad news is contained in this two minute follow-up news report on Milton (also directly below), stemming from an incident that occurred at a local Wal-Mart: “The problem began when Latarian asked his grandmother to buy him some chicken wings. She said no, he got mad, and walked over and ordered them anyway. [Such initiative!] When his grandmother[, Vikitta Stratford,] confronted him about it, Latarian snapped.” He began hitting his grandmother, “[in her] stomach, in [her] legs, wherever he could reach [her] that’s where he would hit [her].”



This sounds to us like a typical temper tantrum of a seven-year old, the source of which is easily explained by Milton’s grandmother himself, who appears not to have been seriously injured in the incident: “I know what causes this behavior because all he’s ever seen was his parents do physical, abusive, and verbal things . . .” Yet the state has intervened. They picked up Latarian from his home and took him to the hospital for a mental evaluation. Even worse, they are pursuing charges of grand theft against him, because “they want to get him into the system and get him some kind of help.”

By all appearances in these two videos, this rush to get Latarian Milton “in the system” is a ridiculous overreaction of the sort that probably happens all too frequently. Yet, apparently out of misguided love for her grandson, Ms. Stratford is OK with the state’s involvement here: “I don’t want him to continue in this direction, so I’m doing the best I can to get him help.” The report goes on to tell us that Ms. Stratford “hopes that health officials can diagnose the problem, and help him get the proper kind of help.” Here’s a diagnosis for Ms. Stratford and for state health officials: Latarian Milton is a bright seven-year old who comes from a tough background. That’s not a problem that needs to be diagnosed, it’s a life that needs to be lived and learned from. We admire Ms. Stratford for taking custody of her grandson from his parents. He is obviously gifted, and must be on a better track in her care. It looks like all he needs is some more enforced discipline. Some time in his room, without video games. Maybe even a spanking. What he does not need is for people to make him feel that he is weird, or “systematically” bad. It seems impossible that involvement in “the system,” which should be an emergency measure, won’t make him feel this way. It seems further impossible that the state bureaucracy can give Milton the simple yet fundamental kind of attention that he needs. To the extent that we’re correct about this, we hope that this nomination for our 2008 Person of the Year award may undo at least some of the damage that the state has done, or will do, so that Latarian Milton’s bright light may continue to shine forth as it should.

Thanks to Gregory Urbano of CBSSportsline.com for bringing this story to our attention.

Cleveland Frowns 2008 Person of the Year Nominee: Lyndon Antcliff

On the night of the day that we nominated Ralph Hardy for our 2008 Person of the Year award, we had beers with our good friend DF who said that while the story of Ralph Hardy was probably too good to be true, he was glad that it was written in the first place. So are we, which is why we're nominating online marketer Lyndon Antcliff for our 2008 Person of the Year award because it turns out that he completely fabricated the Hardy story to help his client, Money.co.uk, direct more traffic to its website. According to Antcliff himself (look in the comments for commenter "Lyndon"), "the story is [a]bsolutely-completely-utterly a fabrication, a tissue of lies weaved in a fog of deceit. Or what most people would call satire. Nowhere do I see the author claiming this is true or that it is attributed to a news report."

When taken to task by fellow internet marketers, Antcliff was unapologetic: "[A]s I am not a journalist and as I did not claim it to be true I don't feel bad at all. I let people decide for themselves wether it is true. News organisations contstantly publish untruths dressed up and news and people don't seem to mind all that much. So when Fox news picks up a story with no corraboration or even an author and then dresses it up as true, that is where your ire should be pointed at. . . . My background is as a fiction writer, stories are written as if they actually happen, it's what Shakespeare did, it's what Hemingway did. I wrote in the style of a news report but it was fiction, just like the Daily News makes a program in the style of a news show. . . . I didn't dupe the media, the idiots duped themselves, they are responsible for what they print not me. If they are stupid enough to print a story that has no basis in fact and does not even have a writer listed then tough! I don't give a toss what they think, if they want to play fast and loose with their website it's their problem. It's a pretty stupid thing to say I am responsible for what someone else puts on their website. If you are going to print a story, get it verified. I know that and I am not even a journalist, lol."

Lol indeed. Except that we're not sure that Money.co.uk doesn't have a fraud claim against Antcliff. Philipp Lenssen points out at Google Blogoscope that Antcliff "managed to lower the image of his apparent client, Money.co.uk, who got themselves involved in a very shady marketing technique," and "Jonathan Crossfield writes [at his blog], 'if this article is incorrect, how can a reader trust any of the financial advice contained on the site?'"

Cleveland Frowns hopes that this nomination (and perhaps the big prize) will take the sting out of any judgment that Antcliff might be forced to pay. We also think that Antcliff should go back to fiction writing. The Ralph Hardy Chronicles anyone?

There's a smarmy piece on this over at Gawker as well which is worthwhile mainly for a link to this story about Jenkem. Leroy Jenkems! And pardon us for being optimists, Pareene. We think that the occasional internet hoax is a small price to pay.

Garbucks

We’ll have our Sweet Sixteen picks for you by Thursday afternoon, with our Elite Eight picks to follow this weekend. Astute Cleveland Frowns commenter Ben correctly notes below that “bettors would . . . be up” if they had played our NCAA picks so far.

Until the Tourney starts back up, we have for you this uplifting story about a coffee shop operated by special-ed students at Akron’s Garfield High School, Garbucks. Garfield is the alma mater of Buckeye football star, Chris “Beanie” Wells; former Buckeye football star and current Minnesota Viking, Antoine Winfield; and loyal Cleveland Frowns grandmother and duly canonized Saint, Grandma Christine, a.k.a. Grandma.

We appreciate the efficiency of a solution that satisfies both the need for good coffee at Garfield, and the provision of practical education for special needs students, but we can’t help but wonder about the Garfield students who drink the coffee served at Garbucks. Specifically, we can’t help but note that the increased demand for coffee in high schools is a symptom of the societal illness that is the perpetual sleep deprivation of our nation’s high school and junior high students.

Stephen Moore makes a good case in the 9/1/06 Wall Street Journal: “As a father of two teenage boys, I can attest to the fact that the single greatest teen crisis in America is not drugs, alcohol, smoking or early sexual activity, but sleep deprivation. . . . The National Sleep Foundation finds that teens now average between 6.5 and seven hours of uninterrupted sleep on a weeknight and only one in five gets the recommended nine hours. . . . Studies show that spurting growth hormones in teens alter their circadian rhythm and naturally turn them into night owls, physiologically uninterested in 9:30 p.m. bedtimes and fiercely opposed to 6:15 a.m. wake-up calls. . . . Amy Wolfson, a professor at Holy Cross who studies Americans’ sleep patterns tells me: ‘The evidence is pretty clear that students in the later starting schools get more sleep and have less tardiness, fewer behavior problems, and do somewhat better in school.’” And we wonder why most teenagers are such jerks. Read the whole thing here.

As home schooled students continue to run circles around the rest with respect to academic performance, and with movements such as the one described in Moore’s piece, we are confident that we will soon enough see a wholesale restructuring of the American educational “workday” so that, whatever else, it will allow students to get more sleep.

Until then, if we’re not going to let the kids sleep, we might as well make sure they have decent coffee. And once the problem of teen sleep deprivation is fixed? They could turn Garbucks into a gourmet salad bar. GarFields of Green?

Buck Wild

Have a look at this remarkable piece at Kissing Suzy Kolber (KSK) about a person's story about a personal encounter with ubiquitous sportscaster Joe Buck while on vacation in Las Vegas. A piece like this shows that the line between traditional “news” sources and “just blogs” continues to blur. Whether or not this story is true, it’s worth reading if only for post author Big Daddy Drew’s concluding comment. Not sure what Drew has against Frankie Muniz, but his point is well taken.

Friend of the Frown Big Dood has a plausible take on the KSK Buck “story” -- “this sounds to me like some Tucker Max wannabe who did actually meet a pathetic Joe Buck flying solo in Vegas and then embellished like a m____f____. No way that chick said ‘looks like the buck does stop here’ right there on the spot. That's clearly a joke they thought of later on IMHO.”

If you don’t know who Tucker Max is, it’s probably worth a few minutes of your time to look at his website, if only to have a better idea about what the internet makes possible. (Note the New York Times endorsement. !?!)

Finally, all of you Obamabots out there might want to look at this piece by Dorothy Rabinowitz in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. She makes many good points -- here is one of them: "A New Yorker profile published last week quotes numerous stump speech pronouncements, among them Mrs. Obama's assertion that most Americans' lives have gotten worse since she was a girl. 'So if you want to pretend like there was some point in the last couple of decades when your life was easy, I want to meet you.' . . . America is, she has elsewhere informed audiences, a nation whose 'souls are broken.' It is a vision striking for its consistent hostility to any notion that Americans have cause for optimism and pride in their country: striking, too, for the stark and obvious absence, in this graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, of any sense of the reasons Americans might revere their nation and consider themselves fortunate to be its citizens."

That’s all for this week. Look for a defense of Roger Clemens early next week, then an update on Spitzer and the Democratic Primaries, and NCAA tournament picks beginning with the second round games (picks for your sportsbook, not for your bracket). Best of luck with those brackets though, and with leaving work early on Monday…and with coping with the Shamrock Shakes on Tuesday morning.

A Cleveland Frowns Valentine: Freeze Your Eggs?

One thing about Cleveland Frowns Valentines is that they sometimes arrive three days late. Another thing about them is that they sometimes arrive in the form of thought-provoking Wall Street Journal Op-ed pieces like this one, by Dr. Ronald Dworkin. In this piece, called “The Next Sexual Revolution,” Dr. Dworkin asks the question: What happens when motherhood over 50 becomes commonplace?” Dworkin answers his question by explaining why he thinks that “vitrification,” technology that will soon provide “a practical method of storing unfertilized human eggs,” will have “enormous sociological consequences.” According to Dworkin,

“Freezing unfertilized eggs gives women a way out of a complicated cultural maze. Decades ago, the lives of men and women diverged at adolescence. Men prepared for careers while women prepared for domestic life. Today, many young men and women go through high school, college and professional school often mistakenly assuming no differences in their respective trajectories.

Our culture encourages women to pursue high-powered careers. Many women must pursue at least some kind of career: With the divorce rate over 50%, women can no longer rely on the integrity of the family unit to support them. The culture paints a rosy image about career and family. Then biological truth breaks through, by which time these women have lost a decade of their best childbearing years.

Women who opt to freeze their unfertilized eggs will gain those years back -- and more -- giving them the freedom to leisurely follow the male career trajectory. No more late night panicking. No more marrying a man you don't love "just to have the baby." No more lurching from Harvard to the mommy track. . . .

[M]ost middle-aged people know that many careers can be pretty dull, without much chance to create. Following rules and procedures until midnight in a law firm may seem acceptable when you're 25, but not when you're 50. Armed with this insight, money and perfect eggs -- and with an expected life span of 86 years -- many women will likely choose to create a family.”

Folks have critiqued this piece as being wrongly dismissive of the importance of starting a family and the impact that childbearing has on the human body. These critiques go too far. Dr. Jennifer Morse, a former Yale Professor who advertises herself as “Your Coach for the Culture Wars” (wars have coaches!) suggests that “[i]nstead of taking the economy as given and adapting our bodies around the workplace . . . we (should) take women's fertility as given, and organize the economy around women's bodies.” Candice Watters of Focus on the Family is “bothered” because she thinks that “our whole culture is OK” with “the career first babies later time-line.” But neither Dworkin nor anyone reasonable would suggest that women sacrifice their health for the sake of their careers, or that there is a one-size-fits-all approach to the “career or babies first?” question. A person’s health is the combination of many factors, personal satisfaction certainly being one of them. To the extent that medical technology like vitrification can provide us with more flexibility in choosing our own individual paths then it must be considered a positive development, if not the “revolution” that Dr. Dworkin makes it out to be.

One's work is an elemental part of one’s being. A career choice has a great influence on a person’s life and health. To the extent that we are able to choose and develop careers that are “better for us” as individuals, we are able to become better parts of better couples. Technology, changed and changing attitudes about women in the workplace, and evolving approaches to personal and public health continue make it easier for us to take our time and do this -- if we want to. It was not long ago that a 50 year old American was considered to be a very old person. This is not so today, and should continue to be less so in the future, which is a good reason for any individual or combination of individuals to celebrate on this Valentine’s Day.