Boston Confidential

A Fabulous New Format

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:18:22 -0500

Starting now, Boston Confidential will be undergoing a format change. I recently got a new job, started a new blog on an entirely different and unrelated subject, and diversified my extracurricular interests beyond the web. For these reasons, the classic weblog format Boston Confidential has traditionally followed is somewhat inappropriate and unrealistic. I no longer have the time or the inclination to post on a daily basis.

That said, Boston Confidential isn't going anywhere. Rather, I will now be posting more infrequently (as if that were possible, you say) but in more depth. Each entry from this point forward will essentially be a short essay, hopefully offering a deeper, more well-thought-out analysis of its topic than might previously have been offered. Sort of quality-over-quantity, light-on-fluff stuff. In other words, no more of this, this, or this.

I think it plays.

Look back soon for a discussion on the language of Presidential electoral politics, how it has changed, and what it might indicate for the future.

Teenager Deterrent

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:58:26 -0500

Science fiction can't make this stuff up: http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzz/Teenager_Deterrent.

From the company website:

The Mosquito™ ultrasonic teenage deterrent is the solution to the eternal problem of unwanted gatherings of youths and teenagers in shopping malls, around shops and anywhere else they are causing problems. The presence of these teenagers discourages genuine shoppers and customers’ from coming into your shop, affecting your turnover and profits. Anti social behavior has become the biggest threat to private property over the last decade and there has been no effective deterrent until now.

The scientific explanation:

It seems that there is a very real medical phenomenon known as presbycusis or age related hearing loss which, according to The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, "begins after the age of 20 but is usually significant only in persons over 65". It first affects the highest frequencies (18 to 20 kHz) notably in those who have turned 20 years of age". It is possible to generate a high frequency sound that is audible only to teenagers.

The sales pitch:

Is your business suffering from anti social youths driving your customers away or generally causing damage or nuicance?

Are you bothered by crowds of teenager’s hanging around your street and making life unpleasant?

Mosquito™ ultrasonic deterrent can solve your problem.

Purchase Mosquito™ now!

My company would have succeeded if it wasn't for those pesky kids!

This is a British company, but stay tuned for my legal analysis should this product cross the pond.

Suffolk University Law School & iTunes U

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 20:53:27 -0500

I swear, sometimes it seems like every school I attend gets noticeably cooler immediately after I graduate.

There Will Be Blood

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:20:12 -0500

I saw Paul Thomas Anderson's film There Will Be Blood tonight. It was beautifully filmed and superbly acted, most notably by the reliably brilliant Daniel Day Lewis.

His character, Daniel Plainview, a turn of the century oil prospector, and Paul Dano's, a local farmboy become evangelist preacher, serve as a remarkable pair of foils in a uniquely American tale of capitalist greed and uneasy religious fervor.

I'm consistently surprised at Day Lewis's ability to transform himself for each role he plays. The effort and nuance he puts into his craft isn't fully obviously until you see him in real life: a soft-spoken man with long, tousled hair, an aristocratic British accent, and a uniquely stylish sartorial bent. Compare this with characters like Christy Brown, Bill the Butcher and now Daniel Plainview and you see the breadth of ability he has. Is this ability alone, the ability to so transform oneself into a fictional character, physically, tonally, and morally, the mark of a great actor? No, but it is perhaps the most obvious indicator that you are seeing one at work.

Day Lewis's personal story is an interesting one. Prior to 2002's Gangs of New York, he had taken a three-year sabbatical from acting, during which he reportedly returned to an earlier passion for woodworking and eventually apprenticed to an Italian shoemaker. According to rumor, he traded the cobbler acting lessons in return for room and board. As the story goes, the cobbler later became a traveling performer with the Commedia dell'Arte.

A search for "Daniel Day Lewis" on YouTube produces a few clips worth watching.

To me the other star of the film was the musical score, written by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead. The music is engaging from the very beginning, adding drama where you might not expect it and lending a somewhat bone-chilling air to the work as a whole.

The movie was, as I said before, well-acted in general, but it's hard not to focus on Day Lewis alone, because he steals the show again and again. The final scene of the film is one that stays with you.

Every Vote Counts

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 04:14:53 -0500

Having just mentioned the Electoral College in passing, I thought I'd take a moment to point out the Every Vote Counts Amendment, which Boston Confidential officially endorses.

A proposed amendment to the Constitution, Every Vote Counts would, if ratified, effectively abolish the Electoral College and allow for the President to be directly elected by the people of the United States.

Despite what your "short ballot" might imply, when you go into a voting booth and vote for the President, you are in fact voting for a number of electors who are not constitutionally required to vote as they have pledged (though the law of your state may require them to). There are many arguments for and against the continued existence of the College. A comprehensive discussion of the relative merits of each is beyond the scope of this post. The amendment, however, is worth reading if you feel, as I do, that the President should be elected popularly.

I am continually pleased to see Massachusetts Congressman William Delahunt's cosponsorship of this bill.

Election '08 Delegate Guide

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:39:06 -0500

The New York Times has posted an excellent guide to the awarding of delegates in each state for the presidential primaries and caucuses.

The guide also provides links to the latest polling results. Poll results* for the Democrats in Massachusetts show Obama ahead of Clinton by two percentage points, 46 percent to 44 percent, although the margin of error is +/- five percent.

If you need a refresher on the differences between primaries and caucuses and pledged and unpledged/superdelegates, this is a good place to start.

* Much of the election polling in Massachusetts is conducted by Channel 7 News and Suffolk University, my alma mater. Government students can actually participate in the polling if they take the right classes. I was a Government major myself, but preferred writing lengthy essays on Lockeian theory and scathing diatribes calling for the abolishment of the Electoral College to the hands-on stuff.

Romney Campaign: 'Don't Be Argumentative'

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:16:02 -0500

I posted this here just in case anyone hadn't seen it yet.

The best part of the video, and by best I mean worst, isn't Romney's snippy attitude or short temper, but Eric Fehrnstrom's post-interview words with Glen Johnson of the Associated Press. Fehrnstrom, the Romney Campaign's Traveling Press Secretary, tells Johnson in no uncertain terms: "You're out of line....Save your opinions...and act professionally...and don't be argumentative with the candidate."

I don't know if Johnson is a reporter who has been embedded with the campaign or if he merely showed up to report on this speech. Romney's familiarity with him seems to suggest that he has been on continuing assignment. Either way, this is a terribly interesting look into how Romney's campaign deals with the press. Isn't it a reporter's job to ask questions and to be argumentative when the need arises? Johnson clearly thought he was catching Romney in a lie, and he was reprimanded for challenging him about it. Not exactly a free exchange of ideas.

Can we assume that this is how the press is treated by presidential campaigns as a whole? "You're welcome to tag along and report, just don't get uppity and contradict anything we say."

Shabby Chic

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:19:56 -0500

A New York Magazine feature this month (link via Kottke) discusses the growing problem of how the conscientious super-wealthy can raise successful, hard-working children.

The article primarily concerns what used to be called "new money," the younger, richer generation that has become wealthy through its own hard work and now fears creating a wave of entitled, lackadaisical offspring with none of their parents' values. Ironically, the article characterizes American blue bloods as having long ago discovered how to deal with (or at least ignore) this problem:

American blue bloods, perhaps, have a strategy for coping with their inherited wealth—wearing the ratty sweaters, pursuing the eccentric hobbies—namely, pretending it doesn’t exist. But this strategy is hardly applicable to any generation that makes its fortune.

So is the WASP tendency toward Yankee frugality and faux-poverty a successful coping mechanism, or a creepy delusion? I can't honestly say that I have seen any indication of psychological or socio-economic enlightenment among the few fey, locked-jaw New England trust fund beneficiaries that I have personally met. But the blue blood mentality does have a grain of truth to it: the fact that one has an enormous fortune does not necessarily mean that one must act is if one is from a different species. You don't necessarily have to buy the jet, live in the gated community, or send the kids to the most obscurely elite prep school in the nation. You can be rich and still be normal.

Clinton Advisor Arrested for OUI in Nashua

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 16:19:41 -0500

Sidney Blumenthal, a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton and longtime friend of the Clinton family, was arrested for driving under the influence in Nashua, NH this past Monday morning.

I'm curious to see what the continuing media coverage of this incident will be. The Clinton campaign declined to comment and Blumenthal's New Hampshire attorney made a brief statement effectively refusing to talk details with press.

Blumenthal himself wisely refused a Breathalyzer test and acted like "a perfect gentleman", according to the arresting police officers.

I can't speak for New Hampshire, but in Massachusetts OUI cases where no Breathalyzer has been administered typically result in a Not Guilty for the defendant at trial, although very few even reach that stage. Defense attorneys have a variety of weapons at their disposal to combat OUI charges. It will be interesting to see if any of the details of Blumenthal's case go public.

Hayden Christenson to Star in 'Neuromancer'

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:08:56 -0500

In the nerdery category, Hayden Christenson, star of the Star Wars prequels, is rumored to be under consideration for the role of Case in the upcoming film adaptation of William Gibson's novel Neuromancer.

I'm not so sure about this. In fact, I plain don't like it. Not only does Hayden Christenson, a six-foot blond with an athletic build, completely shatter Gibson's original physical description of the character, he has yet to show that he can actually act. I'm not as derisive of him as others, however. I give him a pass for the fact that very few actors can get anything worthwhile out of George Lucas's wooden dialogue and lackluster storytelling. But is he Case? I don't think so.

Neither Gibson himself nor the people over at his lively online discussion board are holding their breath over this movie actually being made. Neuromancer has almost happened too many times now for anybody to get really excited and/or dismayed until they actually see it start production. But the Gibson Board posters aren't pleased. In the words of poster Tessier Ashpool: "This would be like Michael Bay directing Blade Runner with McCauley Culkin playing Deckard."

Update: More information, including an alleged director and a laughably thin plot description that makes the story sound like it's about some drugged out pop star (it's not), at "Mike's Buzz Bin." Take all of this news with a generous helping of salt, of course. Link via WGBoard.

Idaho Man Cuts Off Hand Bearing Mark of the Beast

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:36:42 -0500

I can't think of a more powerful example of the dangers of religion to impressionable minds than this.

No Whining Allowed

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 01:10:17 -0500

The Massachusetts law student who sued the Board of Bar Examiners over a bar examination question dealing with gay marriage has now apologized to the gay community.

You may remember the story. Stephen Dunne argued last July that an essay question on the Massachusetts bar exam featuring gay marriage as an issue violated both his constitutional right to free exercise of religion and the equal protection clauses. Dunne attributed his failure of the exam (he failed by a small margin: a single point) to his intentional refusal to answer this question

In a December 22 letter to Bay Windows, a New England GLBT newsletter, he said that he was "deeply sorry" for causing hurt to the gay community. In a follow-up interview, Dunne said he regretted having filed his lawsuit, which drew international attention, blaming his actions on the shock of failing the bar exam:

"It was a lashing out as a result of failing the bar exam. I mean I think I failed by a fraction of a point and I skipped a question that was 30 points. So I obviously failed myself. In retrospect I should have been a lot more secular in my thinking processes and should have separated religion from the outset, from the law."

How mature and introspective.

I took (and passed) the July 2007 Massachusetts bar exam. So I understand the mania it can induce. More than one licensed attorney advised me that the most important reason to pass the bar the first time around, professional advancement, academic achievement, personal pride, and financial reasons aside, was so that you never, ever had to go through the experience again. I walked out at the end of the second and final day of the exam feeling numb and exhausted, literally as if I had just run a marathon. I understand the desire to rail at the examiners and their seemingly sadistic tendencies. I can understand a person, under pressure and in a panic, deciding to leave an essay question on an unknown topic blank.* I can even understand, afterward, suing the BBE for a perceived infringement of one's constitutional rights.

What I don't understand is a man sitting in the convention center on the second day of his bar exam, reading an essay question on gay marriage, and deciding, in apparent partisan fury, that this was the time and place to assert his constitutionally protected right to discriminate against homosexuals.

I can only imagine that the pressure of the exam had so addled his mind as to cause him to forget every instinct of self-preservation and common sense he had ever had. Putting aside every other political, legal, and philosophical argument against this man's beliefs and actions, why would he ever have so knowingly and purposefully screwed himself?

As he seems to have finally realized, he has no one to blame but himself. You don't have to be a genius to pass the bar exam. Mostly you just have to work hard. Thousands of people take it every year in Massachusetts. If there's one thing the passers have in common, it's this: you have every other day to do anything you please, to be a great attorney, to file cutting edge lawsuits, to spout your opinion of the Board of Bar Examiners and their chosen examination topics at the top of your lungs. You have the rest of your life to whine. But on the day of your bar exam, you sit down, shut your mouth, and take the test as best you can.

There's no whining allowed at the bar exam.

Fix Reason Firmly in Her Seat

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:13:21 -0500

Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.

~ Thomas Jefferson

I found this quote by way of reading The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins's recent atheist manifesto. This clinches it: I'm adding a biography of Thomas Jefferson to my reading list.

A Task in Progress...

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 19:10:17 -0500

I apologize to my small band of dedicated readers for the inactivity on this site over the past few months. I have been having a problem with Movable Type, my blogging software, that prevented me from posting. It does seem to be working again now, however, so I will attempt to start writing here regularly again. Thank you for your patience.

On Beacon Hill, Look Both Ways Before You Cross

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 03:02:16 -0500

I went to Suffolk University on Beacon Hill for four years and lived in an apartment on the Hill for one. I attended Suffolk University Law School, a short walk across the Common, for another three years. When people ask, for instance, why the college still cannot guarantee housing for undergraduates, I try to explain the difficulty of engaging in new construction in Beacon Hill. I think you really have to spend time there to get to understand the neighborhood and the nature of the people who live in it. No anecdote of mine, however, could explain the general pettiness of the Beacon Hill neighborhood associations as well as this: http://wbztv.com/local/local_story_277214410.html.

Apparently Beacon Hill residents are now complaining that the chirping noises given off by crosswalks, designed to aid the blind in crossing the street, are simply intolerable:

[A]ccording to Steve Young of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, the new chirping sound was so loud people couldn't sleep.

So they complained to the city.

"They made those volume levels on those devices for people without hearing not for the blind because people without sight have enhanced hearing they don't need to have it so loud (that) it is waking up people two blocks away," Young said.

Was that English? Incomprehensibility aside, I can't even stomach the gall of this man. I can almost imagine him flouncing out of bed in a huff at 2 a.m., calling the transit police, ready to verbally abuse whichever poor bastard is working the phones on the graveyard shift:

"Transit Police."

"Yes, this is Steve Young."

"How can I help you, sir?"

"Of the Beacon Hill Civic Association."

"Uhuh."

"Do you realize that the crosswalk on Charles Street is emitting some kind of loud chirping noise?"

"It's so blind people can cross the street, sir."

"Well people are trying to sleep here. They'll just have to wait until morning to cross."

The idea that Brahmin trustfund babies and overpaid social-climbers might not be able to sleep at night because of this aural assault on their sensitive, Anglo-Saxon ears truly fills me with despair. Blind people should really have more consideration for Charles Street residents.

Ahem.

Contrary to the beliefs of stuck-up WASPy assholes, Beacon Hill is not a nation unto itself. You live in the city. Cities are noisy. Get used to it, take off your smoking jacket, get back into bed and find something better to do with your time.