Occupy Wall Street Intensifies

I had this conversation with The Pale Man last night- and I stand by my original premise. One of my biggest problems with liberalism in this country is that it attempts to sell people on the idea that class warfare (racism, sexism, etc and everything that goes along with it) is the greatest threat to this country's democracy. Capitalism is inherently evil of course and part of the global imperialist system of blah blah blah- and while I completely agree that racism, sexism and classism are all problems in this country, they're not the chief problem-

That lies with the Republicrat elites. Like I told The Pale Man last night- political elites are married to the business elites who have creeped into media and entertainment elites- they're all one big elite power system that works the country to benefit themselves and the expense of the rest of us. What the Left continually ignores is it's own guilt at participating in said system. Our elites cut across both party and ideology and nobody- nobody is innocent. Whether it's Republicans and their love of corporate cronyism or Democrats and their Union sugar Daddies (witness the special interest goodies, waivers and side deals packed into ObamaCare for Democratic interest groups) they're all part of the same elite power system.

People need to stop buying into the rhetoric that the politicians are trying to sell. It's us versus them and until the people of this country rise up and neuter the elites- dysfunction in America will continue.

So, by all means, occupy Wall Street. But to me, you're protesting what they tell you to protest and you're becoming part of the problem, not the solution.

A Tiff over TIFs

In the wake of Coralville's brazen attempt at bribery to peel Von Maur away from Sycamore Mall and out to the Iowa River Landing, there's been a flurry of coverage on the issue of TIF (tax incremented financing) districts and their drawbacks and potential- with some lawmakers calling for a review of Iowa's TIF statute over concerns that Coralville might be stretching it a little too far.

All of this raises a potentially interesting question: does Coralville have an edge or is it just selling its soul to a ginormous TIF district that'll come back to bite it in the ass someday? A couple of nice articles in the Press-Citizen explore this a little bit, ranging from the overall use of TIF in the county to the impact it has on other services- especially given the loss of tax revenue involved in promoting a TIF district.

Over at FromDC2Iowa, Nick Johnson weighs in as well with some more reasons why TIF's should be used a lot more judiciously than they are now- all 3 are well worth a read.

As a local development group eyes a Hampton Inn for Iowa City and the controversy still rages in University Heights about a proposed development (where the developer was asking for a TIF, of course, the questions will probably continue. I think there are a couple of things worth touching on here: first, Iowa City is not Coralville- we shouldn't get tagged with their brush, especially given that I don't think financing for the proposed Riverfront Crossing District has been locked in stone yet.

I'm not against TIF's where they're appropriate- turning your whole town into a giant TIF, like Coralville seems to secretly want to do, is a little bit of overkill for me though.

Will this Riverfront Crossing thing work without TIF financing? I don't know- I don't even know if it's that good of an idea, given all the flooding we've had- even with the gigantic greenspace the plans call for. That area of town could do with a facelift though- a Hampton Inn also wouldn't be that out of place, but beyond that, we've gotta have a sensible conversation about what Iowa City should look like in the future. All this insistence on a local identity and blah blah blah doesn't really impress me much. We've haven't had that since elementary school- and we need to do something. I'm just not sure what. I do know that I'm getting sick and tired of spending my money in Coralville. Or at Wal-Mart... and we can do something about that- but only if we want too.

This Is A Republican...

I could get behind. Behold, kids- the GQ Profile of former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. Who is pro gay, pro choice and pro pot. He's got my vote.

They Should Do This

The 'screw the rich' side of the GOP. No seriously- these are all brilliant ideas that should totally be done. Why aren't we doing any of these things? If I was President Obama, I'd print out a copy of this column, take it up to Congress and say 'send me this bill, and I'll sign it.'

When do we get legislation on this stuff?

Ooops!

Yeah, big oops- forgot to mute the tape!

Hmmm... Shady

We got a new car last week, kids- pics will be forthcoming, I swear! Anyway, the Great Guru Instapundit is reporting that Ford pulled an ad featuring a pointed attack on their greedy, handout seeking competition that the White House was not pleased about.

Shady, shady shit, kids. Very uncool. Personally, of all the American car companies, I'd be more inclined to buy Ford- primarily because they didn't ask for a handout during the economic crisis. That and the fact that I've owned a Chevy Cavalier that was a piece of shit- yet was curiously impressive given the fact that it held together despite years of abuse by it's prior owner, the Pale Man. (Formative automotive experience of my life- driving said p.o.s. Cavalier to class one January morning in Mankato. It was so cold the electrical system froze up, yet strangely, the car would still start. I drove to class with the windows down- an awesome experience in the middle of January in Minnesota.)

Ford, to me, makes more quality looking products. GM cars just feel too cookie-cutter for my liking. Ford has a small range and to me, a smaller range equals higher quality. What they've done with the Taurus (which looked like a jelly mould on wheels when I was in high school) is nothing short of amazing. The re-invention of the Mustang has been impressive (it's on my bucket list of cars) and to me, GM has nothing to match what Ford's been doing- with the possible exception of the new Camaro- another sexy car on my bucket list.

Quality + lack of a handout = The Cigar really eyeing up your company for potential future vehicles. (I'm really happy with the super sexy one we've got now- more on that later.)

UPDATED: See, I'm right! (Plus, vid of the commercial itself.)

Arch West, 1914-2011

The man credited with creating Doritos has died in Texas at the age of 97. Arch West is reportedly to be buried with a few handfuls of the chips he created before they put the dirt in the urn according to family members.

Here at the Cigar, we can shed a :_( for Mr. West- after all he invented some dangerously addictive tortilla chips that we adore. Seriously: those regular flavored Salsa ones- Doritos Company, if you're reading this, please, please, please, bring them back!! Or maybe you shouldn't- I'm trying to lose some weight and get back into a good workout routine, after all. Though it should be noted I was 50 pounds lighter when I was eating those crazy addictive Salsa Doritos by the bagful, so maybe they should bring them back, I don't know.

Anyway- if you've got a bag of Doritos handy- the one pictured above has long since vanished into my belly, then grab a handful of the glorious things and eat them in tribute to a culinary genius. Mr. West, you will be missed.

Read The Whole Thing

North Carolina Bev Perdue has gotten herself in some hot water. Across the internet tonight, the delicate lacy undergarments of America's Conservative movement are bunched in outrage over the following quote:

“I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, North Carolina, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.”

Hmmm... now kids, I'm not in favor of dousing the Constitution in gasoline and lighting it on fire, but behind this somewhat mangled, ill-concieved idea is a rather interesting notion worth exploring a little bit. It's an undeniable fact that Congress- at least the House anyway, is locked in a perpetual cycle of fundraising and electioneering. Two years does not give our representatives enough breathing room to actually concentrate on making sound policy for the country. There's a tiny, tiny window where Congresspeople can actually worry about governing before they have to start fundraising for their next campaign.

You want to lessen the influence of money and special interests in our politics? Extending the term of the House of Representatives to four years would be a good start. Let them govern for a bit before they dip back into the mudpit of re-election. Adding term limits of 12 years to both the House and the Senate (and why not the Presidency too, to make everyone equal?) would be a good second step. A third step would be slightly more complicated- but for sure, banning double-dipping for all elected officials would be one component worth exploring as well as a ban on all lobbying for at least four years after they leave office.

While Governor Perdue should probably be more careful about what she says, the Conservative panty-bunching is a bit much, I think. Bad quote? You bet. Bad idea? Oh yeah. But bad notion? Lurking behind all the mangled blabber is an idea worth talking about. I just wish the Governor had put this in terms of amending the Constitution with an eye towards making Congress work a little better than ripping it up in favor of some kind of pseudo-emergency rule.

King Size, Foo

For my entire life, various dickheads have thought it amusing to ask me what size baseball caps I wear. (Well, not all of them have been dickheads. Some of them have been young, genuinely curious children- whom I don't fault for having inquisitive minds. But the rest of them weren't asking for their own curiosity.) For those of you that know me, you realize that my distinguishing feature, other than my beautiful eyes and winning smile is my freakin' huge cabeza, so to speak.

I know I've got a big head. The people that asked that question throughout elementary school, junior high and high school and even into college have known that- it's pretty damn obvious. Baseball caps and I, did not get along. 'One Size Fits All' meant 'one size fits every head but mine.'

Until Saturday that is. The Missus texted me and informed me she had found a baseball cap on sale upstairs at Universi-tees that might just fit my head. I was doubtful, but agreed to give it a try, so she snagged it and brought it down- and guess what? The Missus wins super secret triple bonus awesome wifey points for the year, because she actually found me a baseball cap that fits my head. Behold:

Yes, kids, I know am the proud owner of a ball cap that fits my head. It's something of a novelty to me, so I'm enjoying the heck out of it right now. And to all the haters that wanted to know what size ball cap I wore, allow me to retort: king size, foo. (No really, it is 'The King' of ball caps...)

Crazy, Stupid, Love-- A Review

Both the Missus and I were feeling extremely run down last night, I because I had been up early and wrestled with football all day at work (lot of drinking for Louisiana-Monroe. What's up with that, Hawk fans?) Anyway, having taking a blessedly relaxing nap (both of us, I suspect were extremely warm and extremely comfortable on our respective couches) we managed to get up and decided that a change of pace and some fresh air might do us good, so we rolled on down to Sycamore Mall and took in 'Crazy Stupid Love.'

And I have to say, I was impressed. The movie tells the story of Cal (Steve Carell) and Emily (Juianne Moore) who have a comfortable life, wonderful kids yet find their marriage in crisis in middle age as they've- intentionally or not, drifted apart. Emily asks Cal for a divorce and Cal soon spends most of his time at a local ultra-modern, well lit watering hole where he spies the smooth, hip playah Jacob (Ryan Gosling) who seems to have no trouble at all getting with the ladies, while he just bemoans his wife's affair with her work colleague David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon). Soon enough, Jacob befriends Cal, updates his wardrobe and soon Cal is getting on the seduction game as well, sleeping with a woman named Kate (Marisa Tomei) who is a teacher at his son's school.

While this is going on: Cal's son Robbie (Jonah Bobo) wrestles with his love for their baby-sitter, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton)- who in turn, being 17, has a crush on Cal. A young woman named Hannah (Emma Stone) resists Jacob's advances as the bar, spurning him for her safe, run of the mill, fellow lawyer boyfriend Richard (Josh Groban- whom I totally didn't recognize, btw.) but eventually, when Richard doesn't propose to her after she successfully passes the bar, she returns to the bar where she met Jacob, finding him, she intends to seduce him but instead they spend the night getting to know each other instead- and soon Jacob finds himself falling for Hannah.

Eventually everything gets tied back together in what you'd think would be a fairly formulaic rom-com type of way, however, there's a nice twist at the end that I didn't see coming at all. The talented cast really makes the movie work- and more importantly, avoid a lot of the rom-com cliches and formulas which seem to be so common to the genre. This is more Love Actually/Valentine's Day than 27 Dresses. Steve Carell does an excellent job at portraying the weariness of a middle aged husband who is genuinely and deepy hurt by his wife's infidelity. Julianne Moore is just excellent period. Emma Stone is hot- and funny. But the one that really stood out for me was Ryan Gosling- I tend to come across him in dramas or thrillers where he played tortured souls or misfits- but he really shows off his comedic skills with this role and he's great at it.

Overall- *** out of ****: This movie didn't exactly break new rom-com ground, but the cast is incredibly talented and the writing keeps the story original and far, far, away from the usual tropes and formulas. Worth a peek if you need a matinee to go to- definately worth a rent as well.

Another Glass Ceiling Down

Women in Saudi Arabia are getting the vote.

Wow... Granted, the municipal councils they can now vote for and run to be on don't exactly have a lot of power- but they've also won the right to be appointed to the consultative Shura Council which advises King Abdullah (whether any actually will be or not will have to be seen)- but no question, this is a major, major development worthy of a quiet 'hooray!' for any sign of progress from the House of Saud.

(Of course: you can thank, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain for this- all this talk of revolution and revolt has them very, very, very nervous in Saudi Arabia. They're spending cash hand over fist to make everyone happy so I guess loosening up a bit is in order as well. We'll now how nervous they are depending on how much they loosen up- when women start driving and can actually show their faces in public, then the ground will be shifting in a big way- but I still say two thumbs up. Any progress is good progress.)

Bookshot #31: Freakonomics

I'm not really sure how to review this book. It's a fairly easy, engrossing read packed full of fascinating material- but I'm still not entirely sure how to review it. Part of the problem might be the title- you go into it thinking that it's more of a straight up economics book but by the end you're wondering if it's more sociology than anything else- and then you're wondering just how closely the two fields might be intertwined when you get right down to the nitty gritty of it.

But it is damn interesting, I'll give it that. What is 'freakonomics' you ask? Well, consider it everything you ever wanted to know about a question you didn't even think to ask- that might seem a little crytpic, but this book covers such gems as: What do real estate agents and the KKK have in common? Why do drug dealers live with their moms? (Dealing crack is far less lucrative then you might think.) Just what's in a name? What do sumo wrestlers and teachers have in common? And just why did crime drop so precipitously in the early 90s?

As a reader, you have to marvel that the authors took the time to examine such questions in detail, but then you actually read what they concluded and you're pretty much blown straight out of the water. Turns out, they conclude (in a very un-PC type of way) that the drop in crime can be pinned on Roe vs. Wade- a whole cadre of unwanted (and therefore more likely to be felonious) babies failed to show up, because they weren't around. Both teachers and sumo wrestlers have a lot of incentives to cheat to preserve their jobs. Crack, it turns out, is most definately whack as your average street level crack dealer doesn't make squat- and then they demonstrate the fascinating case out of NYC of a Winner Lane and a Loser Lane. Loser went onto a distinguished career in the NYPD while Winner has a criminal record longer than your arm- so there's a fascinating discussion of that age old question: what's in a name?

It's good stuff- but the real question behind the book is more metaphysical in nature, I think. Is this economics as we know it? Dubner and Levitt take a more abstract- well, maybe that's not the right word, maybe it's more of a basic definition of the concept- defining it loosely as 'the study of how people get what they want' which is kind of what economics is all about really, but this doesn't read like a dry, dusty, coma-inducing economic theory either. I have a sneaking suspicion that it might be the fact that this book actually makes economics seem interesting that causes so much controversy in the dry and dusty halls of academia. This is an economics book I can actually get behind.

Overall: At the very least, this tag team of authors deserves a lot of credit for getting people to look at what might be considered very conventional questions in a totally different way- this is an easy read and totally worth it for just that reason alone.

Bonus blog: http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/

After Fooball Armageddon

The Big 12 has ousted their Commissioner, Dan Beebe and replaced him with old Big 8 Commish Chuck Neinas- he's talking a good game about bringing the conference together and might be on the verge of nailing down an agreement to have all the Big 12 members sell their television rights to the conference for a six year period, which would essentially manacle everybody together for that time- which is a sensible move.

I expect Neinas will be pretty good about rallying the Conference, wringing some more concessions out of Texas and getting them to behave themselves and letting Texas A&M out to go to the SEC if that's what they're really wanting to do. (It is.) After that, I'm really hoping he gets aggressive about getting the Big 12 back to 12 again. I could really care less, but I hope that these rumors about Louisville and West Virgina are just that: rumors. Just because the Big East did the weird thing and added TCU doesn't mean the Big 12 needs to play that game. Media markets are what's driving this, to be sure, but academics, geographic footprints and to some degree history and tradition need to play a part too. Does a school really 'fit' into any given conference? Personally, I'd like to see the Big 12 go after some combination of BYU, Air Force/Colorado State and Boise State to the West or TCU (apparently Baylor has some beef with them so I'm not sure this will happen- plus they did just join the Big East), Houston/SMU and Memphis on the East. (Memphis because FedEx, the T Boone Pickens of that school has pretty much said they'd pay to get them into a BCS conference, so the Big 12 might as well oblige them.)

Either way- once Neinas stablizes the place and manacles it together he needs to get aggressive about expansion- to me, that's the best way to stablize the conference.

Israel and the Palestinians

Kids, it's pretty simple: Israel is going to have to remove the vast majority of settlements from the West Bank- at a minimum- though maybe give up a chunk of East Jerusalem as well. The Palestinians are going to have to agree to a limited right of return, renounce violence, disarm Hamas and recognize Israel- at a minimum.

Right now, everybody knows what needs to be done, but neither side is willing to do what needs to be done. I can't blame President Abbas for trying to break the deadlock somehow- and I think they'd be willing to meet the Israelis halfway on a lot of things, but Netanyahu-- man, that guy pissed me off, acting like Israel's the victim and expressing his sincere desire for peace. It's not exactly evident thus far, you know what I mean? Someone just needs to say what it's going to take to get it done- Arial Sharon could have done it- Yitzhak Rabin could have done it, but Netanyahu just isn't up to the task and there's no one out there who is.

(Of course, it's worth noting that Arafat got everything but the kitchen sink offered to him by Barak and walked away- the obstructionist pendulum could just as easily swing back towards Abbas and the Palestinians. But right now- all Israel. Those settlements are gonna have to go- the longer they wait, the mroe painful it's going to be.)

Guilty Pleasure Wednesdays (Special Thursday Edition) #3: Doritos

Doritos are my crack. I have no idea when this particular addiction began, but it's spread and now I think it's safe to say that I have a problem. I've come a long way since my late undergraduate days, when regular Salsa (not the Salsa Verde) flavored Doritos would often be nutrition for breakfast, lunch and dinner- seriously, those things were addictive. I tend to avoid the regular Nacho Cheese flavor, because weirdly, they can give me a little bit of heartburn- yet oddly, the Spicy Nacho ones don't. Cool Ranch are like a fresh breath of air sometimes- and I oddly enough wasn't all that impressed with the Buffalo Wing ones. Someone once told me that the Taco flavored ones smelled like ass (that was a very long paste-up in Newslab- happy high school memory! :-) ) The Spicy Sweet Chili ones are probably tied with the Spicy Nacho ones as my faves right now. Though Salsa Verde is nice change of pace!

But I really, really, really miss those regular flavored Salsa ones.

Yes, kids- I have a problem.

(P.S. I read this article about Wendy's updating their hamburger- which hasn't been updated for 42 years and was curious about what would result. Happily, after trading in our cars for a shiny new Subaru Outback last night we stopped at Wendy's for some food and they did a damn good job. It's thicker, less greasy and the flavors are all there- it could have been packaged better- it ended up being a bit lopsided, but all in all, much improved. Two thumbs up!)

Well, What's The Plan Then?

People are raging about the Downtown Survey that's circulating out there- personally, I filled it out and didn't have that big of a problem with it (I'll get to that soon)- after all, we need to do something to push back the Condo Cartel and I think there are things we can do involving yes, real live retail chains that will maintain Iowa City's distinct identity without embracing crass capitalism the way Coralville does.

But then I saw this:

Caroline Dieterle told the council she found the survey -- part of a consultant's $50,000 study analyzing downtown Iowa City's economic potential with the intention of drawing new retailers -- "offensive" and "useless."

The survey uses the names of national retailers when asking participants what types of new retail and restaurant options they would like to see downtown. Dieterle took exception to the notion of targeting national retailers, as have others since the survey began circulating.

"I truly do not believe you will add to the distinctiveness of Iowa City by inviting chain stores to come here," Dieterle said.

Consultant John Millar has said those national chains merely serve as easily recognizable examples, and their inclusion is not an indication of the specific businesses that will be courted for downtown.

The cost of the online survey component of the study is $15,000, Millar said.

OK, so what's the plan then? Von Maur is about to roll on out to Coralville, which means one less place to shop here in Iowa City. I mean, if we're good being Coralville's bitch, then fine. But I don't think we should settle for that and there is a local/retail hybrid model out there that would work well for Iowa City and has before in the past. Remember Bushnell's Turtle? Barbara's Bakery? Great Midwestern? All locally owned small businesses DOWNTOWN that are now gone. Remember Sam Goody, County Seat, Campus III Theaters? All chains- evil, eeeeeeeevil chains apparently that served Iowa City quite well- DOWNTOWN- that are now gone.

I don't want to be Coralville. It's useless to try- but Iowa City has advantages that Coralville doesn't that it is, as usual, pissing away. People don't want to truck out to Coralville to buy the basic shit they need to get through life. It's a pain in the ass and it's 20 minutes away. People want to shop here- and they don't necessarily want to shop in a huge-ass superstore to do it- and they don't want to pay for parking while they do it either.

Hmmm: free parking + stores people want to shop at = less people driving to Coralville. How is this not perfectly obvious to people?

I get that people don't want to be Coralville- neither do I. But the shiny steel and glass, let's pretend to be an upscale, gentrified, lilly white big city when we're SO not thing is not working either. So, Comrades: what then, I ask, is the plan? Instead of bitching (which is what people in this town are very good at) make productive suggestions.

All of this shouldn't be taken to mean that I'm an awesome fan of this survey. It was long and a pain in the ass to fill out- and then I discovered this interesting tidbit from the Little Village website. Apparently the 'consultant' they hired looks to be completely useless- and so we dropped gobs of money on guy who has developed nothing much of anything at all.

I find this frustrating because to me, at the end of the day, you need to give the masses a reason to go downtown and shop there. They currently have precisely no reason to do that and in this economy, I try to support local business when and where I can, but cost and convinience usually win out. As they do for everyone- protecting Iowa City's local identity is important, I agree, but size 0 jeans that cost $75 aren't serving me or a lot of other people all that well.

Something needs to be done.

Football Armageddon III: Larry Scott Saves The Day

Kids, the merry-go-round of college realignment seems to be coming to a halt- at least for now. The Pac-12 has backed off expansion saying it's good at 12 schools (reportedly after Texas didn't want to play ball on equal revenue sharing with their ridiculous Longhorn Network.) Oklahoma, (happily for the Big 12 Orphans, anyway) has made it clear it's displeased with the current state of affairs and things are done gonna have to change if they're going to stick around the Big 12.

Out east, the Big East schools met, looked each other in the eyes and apparently liked what they saw, because they're staying put- West Virginia had reportedly asked the ACC and SEC about joining and had been turned down by both, however UCONN has made it clear it's waiting for an invite to the ACC- whether that's forthcoming or not isn't clear at this point. But, the Big East announced targets for expansion- namely the service academies- Army, Navy and Air Force with Central Florida and East Carolina also on the list. (I think Air Force is more likely for the Big 12 or staying where it is- East Carolina could be interesting though.)

So the Big 12 survives- but there's trouble in the Oklahoma-Texas marriage that will have to be ironed out. It looks like Commish Dan Beebe will get the old heave-ho and Texas will probably have to make some ironclad concessions on it's ridiculous television network and happily, it looks like there's going to be an aggressive move to get the Big 12 back to 12 again, which is what should have happened last year as soon as Nebraska and Colorado left.

I think we might be good for a year now. Once the dust settles, I think the Big 12 lets A&M go to the SEC and starts shopping around- but the nagging question remains- will the SEC stay at 13 schools? They might be willing to do so for one season, but sooner or later they'll be back at it. With exit fees from the ACC now topping $20 million and a distinct disinterest in West Virginia, the logical choice for the SEC would be Mizzou. So stay tuned, I guess...

While Nobody Noticed...

Our Glorious Leader in Des Moines pulled a fast one... he dangled an appointment on the Iowa Utilities Board in front of Marion Senator Swati Dandekar which she accepted, triggering a November 8th Special Election for the now open seat.

Brilliant politics by Our Glorious Leader, I'm grudgingly forced to admit. He didn't want to sound too anti-gay crazy during the campaign and kept issuing blanket neutral statements with a head fake towards family values whenever someone pressed him on it, but he knows how to read the writing on the wall. Subtle, subtle...

But kids, pay attention because this is important: control of the entire State Senate is now up for grabs. Democrats are already suiting up for this one- and rightfully so. I'm not normally a fan of either party and Lord knows there's a long list of things about the Democratic Party that set my teeth on edge or send me into uncontrolled spasms of rage, but in this case, I'm all in. I don't want homophobia enshrined into this state's constitution. I don't want government- any level of government messing with definitions of family, love and marriage that are frankly none of their damn business.

Marion is just a short car ride away, kids. Write a letter, send some change you find in your couch cushions, go knock on some doors, volunteer- because this is now for all the marbles.

Game on.

(This would be interesting and oh so smart. Please tell me it's more than a rumor!)

(P.S. Also suspect- the quick burst and then deafening silence from the mainstream media on this. Control of the Iowa Senate is up for grabs- you'd think in this political climate, that would be a bigger deal than it is, but apparently not.)

(P.P.S: So NOT a rumor! Awesome awesome awesome! Get behind Mathis, Democrats!)

90K Carpet?

When I first heard the Iowa State was going to drop $90K on carpet for the President's house (well, I thought it was his office or the floor outside his office, actually) my first thought was: holy shit, that's a lot of money for carpet.

My second thought was: Iowa State's about to get screwed because of this conference realignment and will probably have to send the good taxpayers of Iowa a pretty hefty bill as a result. I doubt they're going to be pleased.

But some more details emerged:
It's 2,700 square feet of carpet- so it's pretty big.
The current carpet is 23 years old, so that's pretty old.
And the carpet they want is some fantastic wool-synthetic blend that's supposed to last 20 years.

All in all, I'd say 90K every 20 years isn't too bad. It averages out to about 4500 bucks a year... not too shabby.

(Potentially) Rolled By Coralville

Von Maur is going to anchor the new Iowa River Landing out in Coralville- no word yet on whether it'll affect the future of it's Sycamore Mall location in Iowa City. I'm really, really, really, really hoping NOT- as keeping Von Maur where it was is what saved Sycamore Mall to begin with. They showed the mall and the East Side of Iowa City a lot of love by staying where they were and if I move up a tax bracket overnight, I'll totally go on a spending binge there. (Seriously- I'll even buy a suit, penny loafers, whatever it takes! I'd totally go swank-wild to keep y'all on the East Side.)

Not to return once again to a point I keep making, but we need City Leaders to start being proactive about this. Am I arguing we should go all out and wallow in whorish capitalism like Coralville does? I am not- but we should try at least try and keep some retail in Iowa City. There's a hybrid model of local-chain retail that's out there for the taking that would work really well for Iowa City. We just need leadership with the vision to pursue it.

Or maybe we can just say f**k it and be the housing tract to Coralville's shopping mall. Which we'll probably end up doing anyway.