On Racial Profiling

That insidious practice by which some police routinely stop African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Arab-Americans and others simply because of their race, ethnicity or national origin should be an issue of concern.

President Bush pledged to end racial profiling nearly two years ago during his first address to a joint session of Congress. Attorney General John Ashcroft has acknowledged the damage caused by racial profiling and called for an end to the practice. It is time for the administration to move this effort forward.

In the last Congress, a bipartisan group of members sponsored the End Racial Profiling Act. The bill bans racial profiling and requires federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to take steps to eliminate and prevent the practice. This bill should be one of the top agenda items when Congress reconvenes in January, and the administration should follow through on its promise to address this issue.

Merry Christmas

... And Happy Holidays! May your season be filled with good cheers, peace and love.

Citiblog will return in a few days. Be safe.

-The Garrauds

Sign of the times

Still seeking that perfect gift for a special young girl in your life? Well, look no further than page 50 of the FAO Schwarz 2002 holiday catalogue. For a mere $45, you can surprise and delight her with a Lingerie Barbie.

And what a Barbie Babe she is, decked out in her sexy black (or, if you prefer, pink) garters, stockings and obligatory stiletto heels. Even her PR is PG, giving the phrase "sex toy" a whole new level of meaning:

"Barbie exudes a flirtatious attitude in her heavenly merry widow bustier ensemble accented with intricate lace and matching peekaboo peignoir."

Oh darn, reading this too late for holiday gift giving? Not to worry. Mattel plans a February launch for its sixth "limited edition" Lingerie Barbie, promising she'll be "simply sassy in a short pearl-grey satin slip trimmed in black lace" and "thigh-high stockings" that "add a hint of flair." [more]

Schoolbooks are flubbing facts

Ever wonder what your children might be learning when they hit the books? Would you want your kids learning from these books?

"It's a reign of distortion and censorship," said Diane Ravitch, an education historian at New York University and former assistant education secretary in the first Bush administration. "It's an environment in which words and images are routinely banned." And that's just the textbooks.

Homeland Security, back then.

(Walt Handelsman)

More Classic NYC

My favs.

the World’s Fair site at Flushing Meadow . . . the Grill Room at the Four Seasons . . . the Brooklyn Heights Promenade . . .the dozens of fiercely competitive Indian restaurants on East 6th Street . . .jay-walking as a sport ...Turkish baths . . . the fountain at Lincoln Center . . . the pretzel . . . people swearing every year that it’s their last year in the city . . . pigeons . . . staying friends with people only because they have the perfect window view for parades ... deli guys who memorize your order after a while so you never have to ask for your breakfast . . . the lions in front of the New York Public Library . . . unwritten but sacred social rules involving personal space (like, dude, take off your backpack on the subway) . . . graffiti . . . umbrella carnage on every corner after a storm . . . bike messengers . . . cheesecake (yum) . . . brunch . . . pride in showing off the city to friends in from out of town ... New Yorkers of every age, race, and class waiting patiently in four-block-long lines on 9/11/01 just to make an appointment to donate blood (God Bless America). . . famous people everywhere except where the tourists are looking for them ...hearing ten languages spoken in the course of a single block . . . the Apollo ...the opening night of a Broadway show . . . the waterfront . . . haggling with street vendors . . .a whole subway car full of people pretending nothing is happening even when someone just two feet away is screaming obscenities at the top of his lungs . . . the Rockettes . . . the confidence of living in the center of the universe.

Blook: Tony Pierce

I received my copy of Tony Pierce's book in the mail yesterday. I have copy number 74/125 , signed by the author and delivered via priority mail in a plain brown wrapper (Just kidding about the plain brown wrapper).

"Blook" is a compilation of the west coast power blogger's weblog entries from the past year. If you haven't yet experienced the busblog, check it out.

The first thing that impressed me was the front cover's unique imagery (busblog style), superimposed with the classy title that appears in a burst of light as if to suggest a bold and uncensored perspective. That, I agree is apropos, since "Blook" certainly delivers what it promises.

First, Tony gives special thanks to his readers, as well as the book's title creator Jeff jarvis. He then takes the reader directly to the first entry:

"Hi blog that I treat like crap. I love you. I'm making a hot meal for my hot girl tonight. I'm pretty excited, shouldn't I be? Some say you jinx it by being excited. I think Jinxing is a bunch of phooey, for if you have the ability to jinx something, you should also be able to unjinx it. I think this girl is killer."

Empowered with unadorned directness, wit and imaginative points of view, Tony pierce's "Blook" is a hit. The 111 page compilation has a down to earth and credible style that entices the reader to dig deeper. You gotta love it!

Classic New York

You already know it's the greatest city in the world. From stilettos to power lunches, let us remind you why... You don't have to look hard to catch a glimpse of classic New York. Just do what the tourists do: Look up. But tourists, being tourists, see only the landmarks. What really makes this city constant over time is not so much the bricks and mortar but what's inscribed in the city's DNA: the people, the institutions, the ways of life that may evolve over time but remain unmistakably New York.

The skyline . . . neurosis . . . “Stand clear of the closing doors” . . . Shakespeare in the Park . . . the penthouse . . . pickles . . . very wealthy small children . . . the docents at the Met . . . seltzer . . . parties where everyone’s wearing black . . . “Page Six” . . . getting bus-slushed . . . the fine distinction among bodegas, delis, and corner stores . . . the knish . . . at 5 p.m., Town Cars lined up two deep in front of corporate buildings . . . Art Deco . . . standing under the Washington Square Park arch with its decrepit statue of George Washington and gazing up Fifth Avenue . . .

“I’m on the list” . . . the beat cop . . . famous people at the newsstand early in the morning so they can be the first to read their reviews . . . apartment envy . . . Ed Koch . . . spending the day sitting in the Cloisters’ medieval garden . . . illegally tapping fire hydrants . . . [more]

Slate: How Reaganomics became Rubinomics

The bizarre Republican swoon for deficit spending.

You and I as individuals can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?"

—Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address, 1981


"Glenn Hubbard, chairman of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers … derides the 'current fixation' with budget deficits, and labels as 'nonsense' and 'Rubinomics,' the view espoused by former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin that higher deficits lead to lower growth."

—The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 17

How in the world did this happen? Once upon a time, federal government deficits were denounced by St. Ronald as a focus of evil barely less threatening than communism itself. Now that concern is mocked by a Republican White House as the nonsensical "fixation" of a previous Democratic administration. In recent weeks the term "Rubinomics" has spread through the press like a rash—promoted by people who apparently believe that the best way to discredit anything is to associate it with Bill Clinton. They are not deterred by the inconvenient fact that the economy did rather well under Clinton and Rubin—better than under either of the Bushes or Reagan himself. Even more astonishing is that the Republican propaganda machine is trying to stamp "Clinton" all over one of the cornerstones of Reaganism. [more]

Send in the clones

The Daily News has this report

The chief scientist of a group that believes humans were spawned by space aliens is claiming an American in her care will deliver the world's first cloned baby within days. Dr. Brigitte Boisselier - a member of The Raelians, a Canada-based sect that advocates building an embassy for extraterrestrials - says the clone is a girl.

Boisselier's announcement is the latest from a string of scientists racing to produce the first copycat human. Last month, Italian fertility doctor Severino Antinori promised a cloned baby boy will be born in January.

But skeptics argue the cloning claims smell about as bad as a dirty diaper.

Maybe our friend Leah in Canada can tell us if she's ever heard of this Dr. Brigitte Boisselier.