Deadline pressures Genting/Mashpee Wampanoag

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Looking ahead to '13: Casino deadline pressures tribe


Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, center, shakes hands with Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, right, moments after Patrick signed a casino compact bill during ceremonies at the Statehouse, in Boston on July 30.AP

January 01, 2013

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe took two steps forward and two steps back in a year that started with much promise for its casino dreams.

By June, the tribe had reached an agreement to pay Taunton as much as $13 million per year from casino revenues and unveiled details of a $500 million hotel, casino and water park complex at the intersection of routes 24 and 140.

The tribe also met a July 31 deadline to reach a compact with Gov. Deval Patrick that would have paid the state 21.5 percent of gross gambling revenues.

That's when the wheels started to come off.

The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs rejected the deal in October, saying it was too lucrative for the state without enough given in return to the tribe. Meanwhile, legislation to clear the tribe's path to have land taken into federal trust stalled in Congress.

The five-member gaming commission began meeting in March and ended the year by giving the tribe three months to make progress on the federal hurdles. So 2013 starts with an even tighter deadline for the tribe than it had in 2012 to finalize a compact with Patrick.

The commission could issue a slot parlor license by the end of the coming year, will likely prequalify a half-dozen potential bidders for licenses in two of three regions, and should decide in March whether to begin accepting commercial bids in Southeastern Massachusetts — something that appears highly likely given the tribe's uncertain future.

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130101/NEWS/301010322/-1/NEWSLETTER100

Tug Of War Over Picknelly

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Developers in dispute over role of major casino investor

Springfield businessman wants out of palmer deal, backers say

By Mark Arsenault Globe Staff / December 31, 2012 Casino developers in Palmer and the North End of Springfield are in a sharp dispute over which project may claim businessman Peter Picknelly, head of Peter Pan Bus Lines, who initially invested in the Palmer venture before joining Penn National Gaming in an $807 million casino proposal in his hometown of Springfield. While Picknelly insists he has separated from the Palmer deal, his former partners say he remains legally bound to the original project, and they threaten to sue to stop Picknelly from moving forward with Penn ­National in Springfield. The partners argue that losing such “a prominent, highly visible local and regional businessman” to a competing project will undermine the Palmer casino bid.

Penn’s Springfield casino proposal, meanwhile, has become intimately tied to Picknelly, and it is hard to imagine that project moving ahead without him. The casino is proposed for land occupied by the Peter Pan bus terminal, and Picknelly has said he will be a 50-percent partner in the ­development.
 Picknelly and Penn National say he has no obligation to any other casino effort, and they have threatened litigation of their own if the Palmer group interferes with Picknelly’s pursuit of a casino license in Springfield.
 The dispute is laid out in a series of letters, obtained by the Globe, ­between lawyers for Picknelly and Penn National and representatives of Northeast Gaming Group, which owns land in Palmer where Mohegan Sun has proposed a gambling resort.
 The Penn National and ­Mohegan projects would be in direct competition for the sole Western Massachusetts casino resort license. MGM Resorts is also seeking the license with a project planned for the South End of Springfield.
The state gambling commission is taking applications for development rights for up to three resort-style casinos, one each in three regions of the state. The commission hopes to issue licenses by early 2014.
Picknelly’s public connection to the Palmer project dates to 2008, when it was announced that he had invested in the effort to bring a gambling resort to the town, if casinos were legalized in the state. The Palmer group struck a deal with Mohegan Sun to develop a resort at the site, and the project was among the first ­serious contenders for a casino license when Massachusetts ­legalized Las Vegas-style gambling in 2011.
But last August, Picknelly informed Northeast Gaming that he intended to “disassociate” from the Palmer effort.
 “Peter will be pursuing a ­casino license for an undetermined site in Springfield, and, by operation of law, he cannot have an interest in more than one casino license,” Picknelly’s lawyer wrote on Aug. 7 to Northeast.
 The letter asked the group to return Picknelly’s $500,000 investment.
Over the summer, Picknelly emerged as the local development partner for the Penn ­National Springfield project.
Northeast refused to let him walk away, maintaining that their agreement remained in force, despite Picknelly’s intention to leave. The group wrote that Picknelly’s obligations ­under the 2008 agreement “do not permit him to simply abandon his venture with Northeast so that he can become a competitor.” Northeast also said Picknelly had access to proprietary business information about the Palmer effort, “which he apparently feels free to use in his competitor status.”
“His decision to abandon Northeast and his legal obligations is regrettable and will surely result in Superior Court litigation for injunctive relief” and damages, the group wrote.Penn National responded through lawyers, calling the statements “frivolous” and “completely unfounded” and arguing that Picknelly’s 2008 agreement with Northeast only obligated Picknelly to provide investment capital, which he did.
“All of the remaining obligations under the agreement are those of Northeast Gaming, not Mr. Picknelly,” Penn wrote to Northeast, in a letter dated last Friday.
Picknelly has taken another step to try to separate from Palmer, signing an agreement assigning “all right, title, and interest” in the Palmer venture to a business associate, according to a copy of the agreement.
Northeast was unmoved and complained directly to Penn National chief executive officer Peter Carlino, insisting that “Penn National Gaming not aid and abet any effort by Mr. Picknelly to breach his ­fiduciary and contractual ­duties to Northeast.”
Picknelly said Monday by ­e-mail that he was traveling and would be available to comment later in the week. He told the Globe in a mid-December interview that he had ­“divorced . . . completely” from Palmer.

“I was never really that ­involved,” he said. “I was simply an investor in the land. I never had any intimate knowledge, never had a conversation with Mohegan Sun, never even saw the plans until the day I said I’m out, I’m pursuing something in Springfield.”

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/01/01/developers-dispute-over-role-major-casino-investor/orP26g5Qpb5T3Eb7bZBbgJ/story.html

Plainridge's Slot Barn Facing Competition

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What a shame the Boston Globe ignores the intimidation to which Plainridge has resorted or even the failure of the Board of Pickles, negotiating behind closed doors and failing to hire a qualified, impartial expert to protect the Town's future interests.

Plainridge racetrack gambling on slots parlor bid

  

Spends $20.5m on parking to boost profile

By Mark Arsenault

| Globe Staff December 31, 2012  Gary Piontkowski is president at Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville, where a 1,000-car parking garage is being built in anticipation of securing the state’s sole slot parlor license.

PLAINVILLE — Earth-moving machines and hard-hat workers crawl over the grounds of Plainridge Racecourse, busily building a 1,000-car parking garage that the flagging racing industry could not possibly fill.

For the partnership that owns the racetrack, the $20.5 million garage is a featured element in their application for the state’s sole slot parlor license. The harness racing track, at Route 1 and Interstate 495 near the Rhode Island border, will make a case that its development proposal is the furthest along — in planning, design, permitting, and construction — and would be the quickest project to open and to produce tax revenue if awarded the license.

“We took a $20.5 million gamble,” said Plainridge president Gary T. Piontkowski.

For the gamble to pay off, the track will need to beat some new competitors for the license, which have begun to emerge as the state’s Jan. 15 application deadline approaches.

A 15-minute drive down Route 495 from Plainridge, Raynham Park owner George Carney has struck a partnership with Greenwood Racing, owner of Parx Casino & Racing in suburban Philadelphia, to pursue a slot parlor license at the simulcast parlor and former dog racing track in Raynham.

“We could have gone anywhere in the state,” said Greenwood chief executive Tony Ricci, “but this is the best location.”

More competition for the license is possible in Littleton, Charlton, and perhaps other communities.

The state’s 2011 gambling law authorizes up to three resort casinos, each costing at least $500 million. The resorts will pay a 25 percent state tax on gambling revenue. The law also creates a license for one slot parlor, limited to 1,250 machines and no table games.

The law sets a minimum initial investment of $125 million for the slot parlor, and requires the facility to pay higher taxes: 49 percent of gambling revenue.

The state gambling commission controls the casino licenses and will award them through a competition. The commission hopes to issue the slots license in 2013.

As of Friday, Plainridge was the only contender for the slots license to have paid its nonrefundable $400,000 application fee.

In a recent interview at the Plainville track, Piontkowski showed plans, permitting documents, and architectural drawings for the project, developed during the past several years, which he said puts Plainridge far ahead of any other competitor.

“We’re picking the colors for the bathrooms,” Piontkowski said.

Should Plainridge not win the license, the track would have a new parking garage it doesn’t need for the racing business. More notably, there would be no racing business — Piontkowski said the track will not survive without slots, and the owners would need to market the property for some other use.

At Raynham, Ricci said his company liked Carney’s property in part because it is close to Boston and has been a gambling operation for many years.

“Many of the people in the community either work there or patronize the place,” he said. “You’re accepted from the beginning.”

Ricci also likes his firm’s new partnership with Carney, who has been in the Massachusetts racing business for decades.

“We could have opted to go it alone in another area, but we felt having someone of George’s reputation and experience and relationships in the community would make it a much better enterprise than we could do alone,” Ricci said. “We think that we have the best possible situation where we have the financial strength and the operational experience, with a guy who intimately knows this market.”

Another potential slots developer, Clairvest, a Canadian private equity firm, confirms it is interested in developing a slot parlor in Littleton.

“Given Clairvest’s focus on the gaming industry across North America, we are currently evaluating the potential for a [slots parlor] gaming license application in the town of Littleton,” the company said in a statement to the Globe. “Specifically, we believe ‘The Point’ development currently underway at I-495 and Great Road has the potential to be the ideal location.”

Clairvest is considering a roughly 100,000 square-foot development. “At this time, Clairvest is only evaluating the potential for such a development, and has not submitted a formal application to the commonwealth or a proposal to the Town of Littleton.”

Clairvest promised “a transparent process” if it submits an application.

And businessman Vincent Iuliano, who controls a site on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Charlton, said a number of gambling firms have visited the property, which he said is ideally located to intercept Massachusetts residents heading to the Connecticut tribal casinos.

“We’re not going to affect any [resort] casino market in Massachusetts,” he said. “The only thing we’re going to do is cut off money going to Connecticut.” http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/12/31/competition-heats-for-slot-parlor-license/0fMViHS0JHli0VR90L0mgM/story.html

Picknelly Food Fight

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For two casino groups, a dispute over investor

By Mark Arsenault

| Globe Staff  Casino developers in Palmer and the North End of Springfield are in a sharp dispute over which project may claim businessman Peter Picknelly, head of Peter Pan Bus Lines, who initially invested in the Palmer venture before joining Penn National Gaming in an $807 million casino proposal in his hometown of Springfield.

While Picknelly insists he has separated from the Palmer deal, his former partners say he remains legally bound to the original project, and they threaten to sue to stop Picknelly from moving forward with Penn ­National in Springfield. The partners argue that losing such “a prominent, highly visible local and regional businessman” to a competing project will undermine the Palmer casino bid.

Penn’s Springfield casino proposal, meanwhile, has become intimately tied to Picknelly, and it is hard to imagine that project moving ahead without him. The casino is proposed for land occupied by the Peter Pan bus terminal, and Picknelly has said he will be a 50-percent partner in the ­development.
Picknelly and Penn National say he has no obligation to any other casino effort, and they have threatened litigation of their own if the Palmer group interferes with Picknelly’s pursuit of a casino license in Springfield.     

The dispute is laid out in a series of letters, obtained by the Globe, ­between lawyers for Picknelly and Penn National and representatives of Northeast Gaming Group, which owns land in Palmer where Mohegan Sun has proposed a gambling resort.

The Penn National and ­Mohegan projects would be in direct competition for the sole Western Massachusetts casino resort license. MGM Resorts is also seeking the license with a project planned for the South End of Springfield.

The state gambling commission is taking applications for development rights for up to three resort-style casinos, one each in three regions of the state. The commission hopes to issue licenses by early 2014.

Picknelly’s public connection to the Palmer project dates to 2008, when it was announced that he had invested in the effort to bring a gambling resort to the town, if casinos were legalized in the state. The Palmer group struck a deal with Mohegan Sun to develop a resort at the site, and the project was among the first ­serious contenders for a casino license when Massachusetts ­legalized Las Vegas-style gambling in 2011.

But last August, Picknelly informed Northeast Gaming that he intended to “disassociate” from the Palmer effort.

“Peter will be pursuing a ­casino license for an undetermined site in Springfield, and, by operation of law, he cannot have an interest in more than one casino license,” Picknelly’s lawyer wrote on Aug. 7 to Northeast.

The letter asked the group to return Picknelly’s $500,000 investment.

Over the summer, Picknelly emerged as the local development partner for the Penn ­National Springfield project.

Northeast refused to let him walk away, maintaining that their agreement remained in force, despite Picknelly’s intention to leave. The group wrote that Picknelly’s obligations ­under the 2008 agreement “do not permit him to simply abandon his venture with Northeast so that he can become a competitor.” Northeast also said Picknelly had access to proprietary business information about the Palmer effort, “which he apparently feels free to use in his competitor status.”

“His decision to abandon Northeast and his legal obligations is regrettable and will surely result in Superior Court litigation for injunctive relief” and damages, the group wrote.

Penn National responded through lawyers, calling the statements “frivolous” and “completely unfounded” and arguing that Picknelly’s 2008 agreement with Northeast only obligated Picknelly to provide investment capital, which he did.

“All of the remaining obligations under the agreement are those of Northeast Gaming, not Mr. Picknelly,” Penn wrote to Northeast, in a letter dated last Friday.

Picknelly has taken another step to try to separate from Palmer, signing an agreement assigning “all right, title, and interest” in the Palmer venture to a business associate, according to a copy of the agreement.

Northeast was unmoved and complained directly to Penn National chief executive officer Peter Carlino, insisting that “Penn National Gaming not aid and abet any effort by Mr. Picknelly to breach his ­fiduciary and contractual ­duties to Northeast.”

Picknelly said Monday by ­e-mail that he was traveling and would be available to comment later in the week. He told the Globe in a mid-December interview that he had ­“divorced . . . completely” from Palmer.

“I was never really that ­involved,” he said. “I was simply an investor in the land. I never had any intimate knowledge, never had a conversation with Mohegan Sun, never even saw the plans until the day I said I’m out, I’m pursuing something in Springfield.”

http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/01/01/developers-dispute-over-role-major-casino-investor/I75pPTi0WBjmadmwgeJozL/story.html

Successfuly Foxborough Opposition

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Looking back on 2012 | Foxborough

At year end, an uneasy relationship between Foxborough and its biggest taxpayer

By Michele Morgan BoltonGlobe Correspondent / December 29, 2012
There was a time when Foxborough and its largest taxpayer, the Kraft Group, got along famously. But that has changed. Tension turned to controversy when Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn pitched a $1 billion casino complex on Route 1 land owned by Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, Gillette Stadium, and the adjoining Patriot Place mall. Supporters and opponents clashed, sometimes angrily, until the proposal was abandoned. But not before selectmen chairman Larry Harrington, a supporter, was voted out of office, and fellow Selectman Mark Sullivan sought police protection after his opposition to the casino drew a death threat from a neighbor. Negotiations also soured between the town and the Krafts over development plans for Route 1, and disputes over sewer access and shared billboard revenues. The relationship remains uneasy at year end, although the two sides now have something else in common: Both face lawsuits stemming from alcohol use during events at the stadium.


Michele Morgan Bolton

Country First? Not With McCain'sVP Choice

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There's a lot to like about John McCain's Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. She has challenged her own party on ethics and other issues. She's smart and tough, and getting new blood in Washington is never a bad thing. But, that means she'd make a good Senator. Vice President? At 44, having been Governor of one of the smallest states in the Union (population wise) for less than two years, and having been mayor of a town of just 6,500 people before that, and with no interest in foreign policy (she's been quoted as saying she doesn't know anything about the conditions in Iraq related to our exiting the country) she is nowhere near "ready to lead" (to steal a McCain phrase).

Yet John McCain has put her one heartbeat away from the Presidency. This is despite meeting her just one time, just six months ago (!) and having talked with her about the Vice Presidency exactly one (!) time (on the phone no less). Apparently it's harder to get hired at a fast food restaurant than it is to be named the second most powerful person in the world in John McCain's administration. And while that's not completely fair (I'm sure there was a thorough vetting process which took place) it's not completely unfair either. In many ways, this bothers me more than anything else about the Palin pick, even her inexperience.

The selection of Vice President is often seen as a political gambit, but in many ways, it has to be about putting "County First" to use John McCain's own campaign slogan. Because the Vice President is one heartbeat away from running the free world, ensuring that the Vice President, more than anything else, is qualified to be President, has to be the first quality satisfied. Should something happen to the President, the country has to know that the Vice President is capable of taking over immediately. And how can John McCain know that Sarah Palin is ready? How do you not meet and interview the person, in-person? How do you only speak to the person ONE time about the job? How can you be sure that Sarah Palin is best for the country having hardly spoken to her. If John McCain allows his staff to make this decision for him (and if they didn't, they certainly must have played an extraordinary large role given the lack of personal contact between McCain and Palin) what other critical decisions will McCain similarly have little input on as President? He didn't just pick somebody the country doesn't know very well. He picked someone whom he doesn't know very well. How could he? He's met or spoken to her just twice in his entire life.

As Paul Begala put it so well yesterday night on Larry King, would you entrust your children, if something happened to you, to somebody who you met one time at a luncheon and with whom you've spoken with one time, on the phone, about raising your kids? That would sound absurd. Yet John McCain has entrusted the future of over 300 million Americans (and in many ways, the future of the world) to Sarah Palin, despite not knowing her at all. She may turn out to be a tremendous Vice President, but how can John McCain know that for sure? How can he gamble with the country's future like this?

This shows me a real lack of consideration on John McCain's part which really concerns me about how he'll make decisions if he becomes President. His lack of personal engagement is remarkable in a decision this important.

And what about Palin's stances on the issues? We already know, based on her past statements, that she knows very little about foreign policy. She's fiercely pro-life (going so far as to say she wouldn't allow abortions even in cases of rape and incest), is a life long member of the NRA, and has talked favorably about requiring schools to teach creationism in public schools. And she has a very thin (and questionable) record on Israel. Both her and her husband were fundraisers for Pat Buchanan when he ran for President (he proudly admitted that on MSNBC tonight, giving Palin a stronger Buchanan connection than Politco's Ben Smith earlier believed) and while I enjoy watching Buchanan on MSNBC and think he's very knowledgeable about political issues, he has never been a strong (or any kind) of real friend of Israel. I can't imagine that's going to play well in the very swing state of Florida, where Obama has shown surprising strength.

John McCain needed to follow his own slogan and put "County First" with his Vice Presidential pick. It's what Barack Obama did. There is no question that should something happen where Barack cannot continue as President, Joe Biden is ready and qualified to be President. John McCain, on the other hand, selected a woman with an extraordinarily thin resume whom he hardly knows. And this is after spending months convincing America that Barack Obama is not ready to lead. With the way he made his choice (even more than the choice itself), John McCain certainly did not put his "Country First."

Protecting Palin Too Much Plus: Palin's Jews for Jesus Problem

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...If you even dare ask about Governor Sarah Palin's foreign policy experience (or lackthereof) the question is so out-of-bounds, so sexist (even when it comes from a woman, Campbell Brown) that John McCain was so offended that he jilted Larry King of all people, canceling a scheduled interview on Larry King Live after Campbell Brown dared ask the question. Give me a break. A few months after Sarah Palin called Hillary Clinton a "whiner" because her campaign was complaining about sexism (saying such comments did women a disservice), the McCain-Palin campaign has decided that any criticism of Palin, no matter how substantive, is sexism.

The fact that she was for the bridge to nowhere before she was against it? Can't bring that up, that's sexism. The fact that her town of 6,500 people received almost $30 million in earmarks? Can't go there. How about her abuse of power in firing a public safety commissioner after he refused to fire her brother in law? Or her and her husband's support of the Alaska Independence Party, which wants a vote on succeeding from the Union and whose founder has damned America and said he would refuse to be buried in the US flag? Or, today's news that Palin's church, while Palin was present, allowed an anti-Jewish group to preach. In August, while Palin was in the pews, Palin's pastor turned over the pulpit to the founder of "Jews for Jesus" which aims to covert those of the Jewish faith, and who said, in front of Palin, that terror attacks on Israel were God's wrath against uncoverted Jews. I can't make this up.

An illustration of that gap came just two weeks ago, when Palin’s church, the Wasilla Bible Church, gave its pulpit over to a figure viewed with deep hostility by many Jewish organizations: David Brickner, the founder of Jews for Jesus.

Palin’s pastor, Larry Kroon, introduced Brickner on Aug. 17, according to a transcript of the sermon on the church’s website.

“He’s a leader of Jews for Jesus, a ministry that is out on the leading edge in a pressing, demanding area of witnessing and evangelism,” Kroon said.

[ . . . . ] Brickner also described terrorist attacks on Israelis as God's "judgment of unbelief" of Jews who haven't embraced Christianity.

Why do I think that Sean Hannity, who spent months railing against Barack Obama (even demanding that he resign from the Senate) because of his association with Jerimiah Wright, won't be talking about how Palin should have walked out of her church, and how Palin should have stood up to her pastor. And worse than Obama, she was there that day in August when the Jews for Jesus founder spoke about how those who are Jewish have a "difficult time understanding the reality" that they need to convert to Christianity.

But, I'm sure bringing this up just makes me sexist. Just one question then before I go. Does questioning Barack Obama's relationship with Reverend Wright or his lack of experience make Republicans racist?

What I'm Watching -- USA Network (More specifically, House and NCIS repeats)

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Ed Note: Yes, I'm back. I missed blogging. Too much to talk about I guess.

Little did I appreciate syndication until, oh, about two months ago. Most of the time, when a television show had gone into syndication, it didn't really affect my life any. Sure, I'd catch a Seinfeld episode when nothing else was on, but most shows in syndication that I'd flip to I'd already seen every episode of.

That's until I started watching House. Yes, I know I'm late to the party. I don't know why I didn't watch the show from the start, but I have a very vague recollection of seeing previews for the show when it first started, and for some reason, I thought it was a science-fiction show. Probably because it was sold as a doctor solving impossible-to-solve (read, or at least I believed,: other-wordly) cases. Ironically, basically, I thought House was Fringe. I don't think it helped that the one episode I later did see, probably a year later or so, was when Omar Epps' Dr. Foreman was going insane due to contracting a rare disease from a patient (which somehow confirmed in my mind that the show was not anything I'd be interested in watching). And besides, I had a dozen other shows I watched, no problem.

Well, with most of those shows (West Wing, The Practice, Las Vegas, Jack & Boddy, Ed, and Alias, among others) going off the air, I gave House a shot last year (the addition of Olivia Wilde to the cast probably didn't hurt either). And, like most others, I was hooked almost immediately. And, luckily, this fall is exactaly when the USA Network started airing House episodes in syndication, every day. With House marathons practically every weekend. At one point, I had over 25 episodes of House on my DVR. And then, thanks to a week of DirecTV outages (don't ask), I caught up faster than I thought. Having now seen almost every House episode (or, at least, every old episode USA Network has aired, which is most all of them), I'm a true believer. I don't know what I've been missing for all these years. And with House now on Monday's before 24, I never need to leave my couch. House, 24, the 10:00 Countdown with Keith Olbermann repeat, How I Met Your Mother on my DVR from 11 to 11:30, watch the Leno monologue and Headlines, and then fall asleep. That's a great night of television right there.

So, given how the USA Network came through with House, I decided to give another show a chance that I've never seen but everyone else seems to love. Over the Christmas holiday, in between two days of House marathons, the cable network aired a full day of NCIS episodes. I didn't know much about NCIS other than it was a spin-off of another show I never watched (JAG), it was sort-of-like CSI, and it starred Mark Harmon, who not only had a great four-episode run as a secret service agent on The West Wing, but who is married to Pam Dauber, who was Mindy on Mork and Mindy, and more importantly, went to North Farmington High School, of which I am also a proud alum (Ed Note: Wow, that was a long sentence, even for me. I'm a bit rusty at blogging obviously.) And I'm hooked. Now that I've watched all of House that USA has to offer, DVRing multiple episodes of NCIS a day should give me plenty to watch in case my satellite ever goes out again.

Of course, it would probably be better if instead of watching House and NCIS I got back to reading the numerous books I have on my list to read (I started Team of Rivals after finishing my first Lincoln biography, Lincoln, and need to get back to it) but I'm enjoying what USA Network has to offer for the time being. And with 24, LOST, and Damages set to make returns in the next three weeks, something tells me my TV will continue to get a workout. Thank God for HD.

What I'm Reading - The Know It All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

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I've always wanted to write a book. Back, years ago, when I was a teenage sports columnist for The Oakland Press and the Detroit News I had a vision of writing some kind of a sports book. Not sure on what exactaly, but something interesting. I never got very far though. I convinced my parents one summer that instead of getting one of those summer jobs most kids get (like the one I had at Staples or Sam Goody the year before -- As an aside, working at Sam Goody, the mall CD store which may not even exist anymore, when you know next to nothing about music, really doesn't work) I'd write a book instead. I'm still working on that.

In 2002 (or 2003, my computer isn't quite sure, and neither am I) I started on "Sterling Sharpe, Wide Open in the Endzone -- One Superfans Journal of the Lovable Losers Known As The Detroit Football Lions." Who knew that six (or seven) years later, they'd really become losers. I got through an introduction (which, ironically, as I look back at it now, started with "I’ve always wanted to write a book", which shows how little has changed with me, or the Lions, in six years) which explained my passion for the Lions, and why I felt qualified at such a young age to write a book about the failings of a franchise which had been a laughingstock for more years than I had been alive. I also got about a page into a prologue, which I titled "The Draft." Maybe one day I'll pick it back up again.

But this blog entry isn't about my writing as much as it is about A.J. Jacobs bestseller The Know It All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. As those long-time blog readers know, I don't read a lot (or, any, really) fiction, so this kind of book is what qualifies for me as "light reading." Over the summer and early fall of 2008 I was on an American History kick, mainly focused around the Revolutionary period. And after two John Adams biographies, a Jefferson biography, and two Joseph Ellis bestsellers on stories from the American founding, I moved on to the 1800s, and 1812: The War That Forged a Nation (good, but too battle intensive and full of military strategy for my tastes) and Lincoln. I was going to start Team of Rivals, but following the 2008 general election ate up a lot of my time, and then I watched the entire first season of Mad Men on Blu-Ray, then got obsessed with House repeats (as I wrote about last week) so I haven't read much in a while. And getting back into the swing of things with something entertaining and fun seemed like a good start.

The book is about magazine columnist and editor A.J. Jacobs' quest to become the smartest person in the world by reading the entire contents of the Encyclopedia Britannica from start to finish. And what may sound dry in description is anything but in print. Jacobs has a very conversational writing style (very similar to what I hope the writing style of this blog is, and very similar to what I would imagine a book I would write would read like). Aside from learning some of the more humorous tidbits Jacobs picked up through his quest (so the book is educational, and like a shorter, punchier, wittier version of Cliff Notes) you can also read about the puzzled and mystified reactions of Jacobs' friends, family, and co-workers to his new found knowledge. So far it's been a very entertaining book, and I should make a decent amount of progress on it before the NFL games start in about an hour and a half.

And because I'm enjoying it, it likely means the purchase of Jacobs follow-up book, "The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible." Because just what I need are more books. Hey. Maybe that's an idea for my book. "One Man's Humble Quest to Read All of the Books He Bought Foolishly Believing He'd Ever Have Time to Read Them All." Nah.

Lions Struggle in Free Agency, But Its Not Mayhew's Fault

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Despite having almost $40 million to spend in cap room, and more starting positions to fill than almost any team in football, the Detroit Lions have had a quiet start to free agency. Sure, they've signed a backup running back (Maurice Morris, a solid pickup, sure), a second or third option at wide receiver (the talented, but always seemingly disappointing Bryant Johnson), and picked up a couple of cornerbacks (aging veteran Anthony Henry from Dallas in a trade for Jon Kitna, and former Tennessee Titan backup Eric King) but certainly, for a team that went 0-16, these signings aren't going to instantly make the Lions a contender for much of anything.

Yet, I'm not upset, nor do I even remotely blame new Lions general manger Martin Mayhew. In fact, I give Mayhew high marks for how he's handled this off-season so far. Why? Because had things gone according to plan, the Lions would be in a much different position right now, and for once, the plan was not foiled by the Lions ineptitude, but by that of other teams.

First, the Lions had finally filled the left guard spot vacated when Matt Millen, in his first season as general manager, balked at paying Pro Bowl guard Jeff Hartings a few hundred thousand dollars more to stay in the Detroit. Instead, Hartings continued to visit Pro Bowls as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Millen regime was off and running in the wrong direction (little did we know at the time just how much the Hartings decision was a foreshadowing of things to come). This time, though, the Lions had lined up a trade with Buffalo for guard Derrick Dockery. Dockery is in the prime of his career and would have been the first real replacement for Hartings in almost a decade. He would have solidified the offensive line and would have instantly improved the Lions team. So what happened? The Bills screwed up the paperwork and failed to get it to the league office in time before Dockery was due a roster bonus. They chose to cut him instead, and the Lions were left with nothing. And despite offering Dockery more money than he later received from the Washington Redskins, Dockery chose D.C., his previous home before he went to Buffalo two seasons ago. Mayhew tried, but forces beyond his control kept the Lions without a starting offensive lineman.

An even larger disappointment perhaps was when Denver backed out of a potential trade for Jay Cutler. The Lions were trying to use their second round pick to trade for New England QB Matt Cassel, who the Lions would have then shipped to Denver in exchange for Cutler, who would instantly become the best quarterback the Lions have had in at least four decades. Denver, though, ultimately decided against moving Cutler, and the Patriots sent Cassel to Kansas City.

So, had Mayhew had his way, the Lions, along with the signings of Johnson, Morris, and King, would have added a top LG and one of the league's best quarterbacks to the Lions. And both were very close to happening, and both failed due to no fault of the Lions. And yet, Mayhew didn't get discouraged, and instead, went back to work. He somehow was able to get something for Jon Kitna, the quarterback the Lions would have cut in the next 48-hours before a roster bonus came due, sending him to Dallas for Henry, who, while aging, was a starter on one of the league's best defenses last season.

Would I have liked to see the Lions acquire more talent so far in free agency? Absolutely. But, it hasn't been for a lack of effort. And I like how Mayhew's mind seems to be working, as he is trying everything possible, and considering every option, to improve the Lions. Let's just hope in the next few days, if the Lions have another blockbuster move lined up, he's actually able to pull it off.

Country First? Not With McCain'sVP Choice

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There's a lot to like about John McCain's Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. She has challenged her own party on ethics and other issues. She's smart and tough, and getting new blood in Washington is never a bad thing. But, that means she'd make a good Senator. Vice President? At 44, having been Governor of one of the smallest states in the Union (population wise) for less than two years, and having been mayor of a town of just 6,500 people before that, and with no interest in foreign policy (she's been quoted as saying she doesn't know anything about the conditions in Iraq related to our exiting the country) she is nowhere near "ready to lead" (to steal a McCain phrase).

Yet John McCain has put her one heartbeat away from the Presidency. This is despite meeting her just one time, just six months ago (!) and having talked with her about the Vice Presidency exactly one (!) time (on the phone no less). Apparently it's harder to get hired at a fast food restaurant than it is to be named the second most powerful person in the world in John McCain's administration. And while that's not completely fair (I'm sure there was a thorough vetting process which took place) it's not completely unfair either. In many ways, this bothers me more than anything else about the Palin pick, even her inexperience.

The selection of Vice President is often seen as a political gambit, but in many ways, it has to be about putting "County First" to use John McCain's own campaign slogan. Because the Vice President is one heartbeat away from running the free world, ensuring that the Vice President, more than anything else, is qualified to be President, has to be the first quality satisfied. Should something happen to the President, the country has to know that the Vice President is capable of taking over immediately. And how can John McCain know that Sarah Palin is ready? How do you not meet and interview the person, in-person? How do you only speak to the person ONE time about the job? How can you be sure that Sarah Palin is best for the country having hardly spoken to her. If John McCain allows his staff to make this decision for him (and if they didn't, they certainly must have played an extraordinary large role given the lack of personal contact between McCain and Palin) what other critical decisions will McCain similarly have little input on as President? He didn't just pick somebody the country doesn't know very well. He picked someone whom he doesn't know very well. How could he? He's met or spoken to her just twice in his entire life.

As Paul Begala put it so well yesterday night on Larry King, would you entrust your children, if something happened to you, to somebody who you met one time at a luncheon and with whom you've spoken with one time, on the phone, about raising your kids? That would sound absurd. Yet John McCain has entrusted the future of over 300 million Americans (and in many ways, the future of the world) to Sarah Palin, despite not knowing her at all. She may turn out to be a tremendous Vice President, but how can John McCain know that for sure? How can he gamble with the country's future like this?

This shows me a real lack of consideration on John McCain's part which really concerns me about how he'll make decisions if he becomes President. His lack of personal engagement is remarkable in a decision this important.

And what about Palin's stances on the issues? We already know, based on her past statements, that she knows very little about foreign policy. She's fiercely pro-life (going so far as to say she wouldn't allow abortions even in cases of rape and incest), is a life long member of the NRA, and has talked favorably about requiring schools to teach creationism in public schools. And she has a very thin (and questionable) record on Israel. Both her and her husband were fundraisers for Pat Buchanan when he ran for President (he proudly admitted that on MSNBC tonight, giving Palin a stronger Buchanan connection than Politco's Ben Smith earlier believed) and while I enjoy watching Buchanan on MSNBC and think he's very knowledgeable about political issues, he has never been a strong (or any kind) of real friend of Israel. I can't imagine that's going to play well in the very swing state of Florida, where Obama has shown surprising strength.

John McCain needed to follow his own slogan and put "County First" with his Vice Presidential pick. It's what Barack Obama did. There is no question that should something happen where Barack cannot continue as President, Joe Biden is ready and qualified to be President. John McCain, on the other hand, selected a woman with an extraordinarily thin resume whom he hardly knows. And this is after spending months convincing America that Barack Obama is not ready to lead. With the way he made his choice (even more than the choice itself), John McCain certainly did not put his "Country First."

Protecting Palin Too Much Plus: Palin's Jews for Jesus Problem

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...If you even dare ask about Governor Sarah Palin's foreign policy experience (or lackthereof) the question is so out-of-bounds, so sexist (even when it comes from a woman, Campbell Brown) that John McCain was so offended that he jilted Larry King of all people, canceling a scheduled interview on Larry King Live after Campbell Brown dared ask the question. Give me a break. A few months after Sarah Palin called Hillary Clinton a "whiner" because her campaign was complaining about sexism (saying such comments did women a disservice), the McCain-Palin campaign has decided that any criticism of Palin, no matter how substantive, is sexism.

The fact that she was for the bridge to nowhere before she was against it? Can't bring that up, that's sexism. The fact that her town of 6,500 people received almost $30 million in earmarks? Can't go there. How about her abuse of power in firing a public safety commissioner after he refused to fire her brother in law? Or her and her husband's support of the Alaska Independence Party, which wants a vote on succeeding from the Union and whose founder has damned America and said he would refuse to be buried in the US flag? Or, today's news that Palin's church, while Palin was present, allowed an anti-Jewish group to preach. In August, while Palin was in the pews, Palin's pastor turned over the pulpit to the founder of "Jews for Jesus" which aims to covert those of the Jewish faith, and who said, in front of Palin, that terror attacks on Israel were God's wrath against uncoverted Jews. I can't make this up.

An illustration of that gap came just two weeks ago, when Palin’s church, the Wasilla Bible Church, gave its pulpit over to a figure viewed with deep hostility by many Jewish organizations: David Brickner, the founder of Jews for Jesus.

Palin’s pastor, Larry Kroon, introduced Brickner on Aug. 17, according to a transcript of the sermon on the church’s website.

“He’s a leader of Jews for Jesus, a ministry that is out on the leading edge in a pressing, demanding area of witnessing and evangelism,” Kroon said.

[ . . . . ] Brickner also described terrorist attacks on Israelis as God's "judgment of unbelief" of Jews who haven't embraced Christianity.

Why do I think that Sean Hannity, who spent months railing against Barack Obama (even demanding that he resign from the Senate) because of his association with Jerimiah Wright, won't be talking about how Palin should have walked out of her church, and how Palin should have stood up to her pastor. And worse than Obama, she was there that day in August when the Jews for Jesus founder spoke about how those who are Jewish have a "difficult time understanding the reality" that they need to convert to Christianity.

But, I'm sure bringing this up just makes me sexist. Just one question then before I go. Does questioning Barack Obama's relationship with Reverend Wright or his lack of experience make Republicans racist?

What I'm Watching -- USA Network (More specifically, House and NCIS repeats)

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Ed Note: Yes, I'm back. I missed blogging. Too much to talk about I guess.

Little did I appreciate syndication until, oh, about two months ago. Most of the time, when a television show had gone into syndication, it didn't really affect my life any. Sure, I'd catch a Seinfeld episode when nothing else was on, but most shows in syndication that I'd flip to I'd already seen every episode of.

That's until I started watching House. Yes, I know I'm late to the party. I don't know why I didn't watch the show from the start, but I have a very vague recollection of seeing previews for the show when it first started, and for some reason, I thought it was a science-fiction show. Probably because it was sold as a doctor solving impossible-to-solve (read, or at least I believed,: other-wordly) cases. Ironically, basically, I thought House was Fringe. I don't think it helped that the one episode I later did see, probably a year later or so, was when Omar Epps' Dr. Foreman was going insane due to contracting a rare disease from a patient (which somehow confirmed in my mind that the show was not anything I'd be interested in watching). And besides, I had a dozen other shows I watched, no problem.

Well, with most of those shows (West Wing, The Practice, Las Vegas, Jack & Boddy, Ed, and Alias, among others) going off the air, I gave House a shot last year (the addition of Olivia Wilde to the cast probably didn't hurt either). And, like most others, I was hooked almost immediately. And, luckily, this fall is exactaly when the USA Network started airing House episodes in syndication, every day. With House marathons practically every weekend. At one point, I had over 25 episodes of House on my DVR. And then, thanks to a week of DirecTV outages (don't ask), I caught up faster than I thought. Having now seen almost every House episode (or, at least, every old episode USA Network has aired, which is most all of them), I'm a true believer. I don't know what I've been missing for all these years. And with House now on Monday's before 24, I never need to leave my couch. House, 24, the 10:00 Countdown with Keith Olbermann repeat, How I Met Your Mother on my DVR from 11 to 11:30, watch the Leno monologue and Headlines, and then fall asleep. That's a great night of television right there.

So, given how the USA Network came through with House, I decided to give another show a chance that I've never seen but everyone else seems to love. Over the Christmas holiday, in between two days of House marathons, the cable network aired a full day of NCIS episodes. I didn't know much about NCIS other than it was a spin-off of another show I never watched (JAG), it was sort-of-like CSI, and it starred Mark Harmon, who not only had a great four-episode run as a secret service agent on The West Wing, but who is married to Pam Dauber, who was Mindy on Mork and Mindy, and more importantly, went to North Farmington High School, of which I am also a proud alum (Ed Note: Wow, that was a long sentence, even for me. I'm a bit rusty at blogging obviously.) And I'm hooked. Now that I've watched all of House that USA has to offer, DVRing multiple episodes of NCIS a day should give me plenty to watch in case my satellite ever goes out again.

Of course, it would probably be better if instead of watching House and NCIS I got back to reading the numerous books I have on my list to read (I started Team of Rivals after finishing my first Lincoln biography, Lincoln, and need to get back to it) but I'm enjoying what USA Network has to offer for the time being. And with 24, LOST, and Damages set to make returns in the next three weeks, something tells me my TV will continue to get a workout. Thank God for HD.

What I'm Reading - The Know It All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

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I've always wanted to write a book. Back, years ago, when I was a teenage sports columnist for The Oakland Press and the Detroit News I had a vision of writing some kind of a sports book. Not sure on what exactaly, but something interesting. I never got very far though. I convinced my parents one summer that instead of getting one of those summer jobs most kids get (like the one I had at Staples or Sam Goody the year before -- As an aside, working at Sam Goody, the mall CD store which may not even exist anymore, when you know next to nothing about music, really doesn't work) I'd write a book instead. I'm still working on that.

In 2002 (or 2003, my computer isn't quite sure, and neither am I) I started on "Sterling Sharpe, Wide Open in the Endzone -- One Superfans Journal of the Lovable Losers Known As The Detroit Football Lions." Who knew that six (or seven) years later, they'd really become losers. I got through an introduction (which, ironically, as I look back at it now, started with "I’ve always wanted to write a book", which shows how little has changed with me, or the Lions, in six years) which explained my passion for the Lions, and why I felt qualified at such a young age to write a book about the failings of a franchise which had been a laughingstock for more years than I had been alive. I also got about a page into a prologue, which I titled "The Draft." Maybe one day I'll pick it back up again.

But this blog entry isn't about my writing as much as it is about A.J. Jacobs bestseller The Know It All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World. As those long-time blog readers know, I don't read a lot (or, any, really) fiction, so this kind of book is what qualifies for me as "light reading." Over the summer and early fall of 2008 I was on an American History kick, mainly focused around the Revolutionary period. And after two John Adams biographies, a Jefferson biography, and two Joseph Ellis bestsellers on stories from the American founding, I moved on to the 1800s, and 1812: The War That Forged a Nation (good, but too battle intensive and full of military strategy for my tastes) and Lincoln. I was going to start Team of Rivals, but following the 2008 general election ate up a lot of my time, and then I watched the entire first season of Mad Men on Blu-Ray, then got obsessed with House repeats (as I wrote about last week) so I haven't read much in a while. And getting back into the swing of things with something entertaining and fun seemed like a good start.

The book is about magazine columnist and editor A.J. Jacobs' quest to become the smartest person in the world by reading the entire contents of the Encyclopedia Britannica from start to finish. And what may sound dry in description is anything but in print. Jacobs has a very conversational writing style (very similar to what I hope the writing style of this blog is, and very similar to what I would imagine a book I would write would read like). Aside from learning some of the more humorous tidbits Jacobs picked up through his quest (so the book is educational, and like a shorter, punchier, wittier version of Cliff Notes) you can also read about the puzzled and mystified reactions of Jacobs' friends, family, and co-workers to his new found knowledge. So far it's been a very entertaining book, and I should make a decent amount of progress on it before the NFL games start in about an hour and a half.

And because I'm enjoying it, it likely means the purchase of Jacobs follow-up book, "The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible." Because just what I need are more books. Hey. Maybe that's an idea for my book. "One Man's Humble Quest to Read All of the Books He Bought Foolishly Believing He'd Ever Have Time to Read Them All." Nah.

Lions Struggle in Free Agency, But Its Not Mayhew's Fault

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Despite having almost $40 million to spend in cap room, and more starting positions to fill than almost any team in football, the Detroit Lions have had a quiet start to free agency. Sure, they've signed a backup running back (Maurice Morris, a solid pickup, sure), a second or third option at wide receiver (the talented, but always seemingly disappointing Bryant Johnson), and picked up a couple of cornerbacks (aging veteran Anthony Henry from Dallas in a trade for Jon Kitna, and former Tennessee Titan backup Eric King) but certainly, for a team that went 0-16, these signings aren't going to instantly make the Lions a contender for much of anything.

Yet, I'm not upset, nor do I even remotely blame new Lions general manger Martin Mayhew. In fact, I give Mayhew high marks for how he's handled this off-season so far. Why? Because had things gone according to plan, the Lions would be in a much different position right now, and for once, the plan was not foiled by the Lions ineptitude, but by that of other teams.

First, the Lions had finally filled the left guard spot vacated when Matt Millen, in his first season as general manager, balked at paying Pro Bowl guard Jeff Hartings a few hundred thousand dollars more to stay in the Detroit. Instead, Hartings continued to visit Pro Bowls as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Millen regime was off and running in the wrong direction (little did we know at the time just how much the Hartings decision was a foreshadowing of things to come). This time, though, the Lions had lined up a trade with Buffalo for guard Derrick Dockery. Dockery is in the prime of his career and would have been the first real replacement for Hartings in almost a decade. He would have solidified the offensive line and would have instantly improved the Lions team. So what happened? The Bills screwed up the paperwork and failed to get it to the league office in time before Dockery was due a roster bonus. They chose to cut him instead, and the Lions were left with nothing. And despite offering Dockery more money than he later received from the Washington Redskins, Dockery chose D.C., his previous home before he went to Buffalo two seasons ago. Mayhew tried, but forces beyond his control kept the Lions without a starting offensive lineman.

An even larger disappointment perhaps was when Denver backed out of a potential trade for Jay Cutler. The Lions were trying to use their second round pick to trade for New England QB Matt Cassel, who the Lions would have then shipped to Denver in exchange for Cutler, who would instantly become the best quarterback the Lions have had in at least four decades. Denver, though, ultimately decided against moving Cutler, and the Patriots sent Cassel to Kansas City.

So, had Mayhew had his way, the Lions, along with the signings of Johnson, Morris, and King, would have added a top LG and one of the league's best quarterbacks to the Lions. And both were very close to happening, and both failed due to no fault of the Lions. And yet, Mayhew didn't get discouraged, and instead, went back to work. He somehow was able to get something for Jon Kitna, the quarterback the Lions would have cut in the next 48-hours before a roster bonus came due, sending him to Dallas for Henry, who, while aging, was a starter on one of the league's best defenses last season.

Would I have liked to see the Lions acquire more talent so far in free agency? Absolutely. But, it hasn't been for a lack of effort. And I like how Mayhew's mind seems to be working, as he is trying everything possible, and considering every option, to improve the Lions. Let's just hope in the next few days, if the Lions have another blockbuster move lined up, he's actually able to pull it off.