Category: Media Watch

The National Security Agency, Edward Snowden’s Biggest Brother and the bête noire of civil libertarians everywhere, has been around since it morphed out of Signal Intelligence and its World War II code-breaking charge. More than a decade ago, James Bamford wrote the national best seller, “Body of Secrets,” an anatomy of the NSA. Here was Bamford’s take then:

“For Americans, the greatest danger of the NSA is its involvement with law enforcement. During the Nixon years, the NSA was used to secretly target antiwar protesters and others in disfavor with the White House. Today (2001) among the NSA’s key target areas are the ‘transnational’ threats: narcotics trafficking, terrorism, international organized crime, weapons proliferation and illicit trade practices.”

* “I have a sense that there’s no sense of urgency … on Iran.”–Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

* “In our region, there were some countries who miscalculated their positions, and you have witnessed what happened to them. … We should not describe as oppressive brutal actions in an enemy country while refraining from calling the same actions oppressive if they take place in a friendly country. Brutality must be called brutality.”–Iran’s president-elect, Hassan Rouhani.

* “The flight of the leaker Edward J. Snowden from Hong Kong to Moscow last month would not have been possible without the cooperation of Russia and China. The two countries’ behavior in the Snowden affair demonstrates their growing assertiveness and their willingness to take action at America’s expense.”–Leslie H. Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.

* “We both will benefit from an open, secure, reliable Internet. Outright cyber-enabling theft that U.S. companies are experiencing now must be viewed as out of bounds and needs to stop.”–Vice President Joe Biden, in remarks at annual U.S.-China bi-lateral talks.

* “The current national security apparatus is huge. An estimated 483,000 government contractors had top-secret security clearances in 2012. That’s a lot of Snowdens to trust with your information.”–David T.Z. Minich, author of “Tuned Out: Why Americans Under 40 Don’t Follow the News.”

* “The Government Accountability Office says border security in 2011 was about 84 percent effective. A much-discussed aspiration is 90 percent. So the $46 billion is supposed to purchase a six-point improvement.”–George Will, Washington Post.

* “I don’t intend to get involved in the politics or the specifics of policy, but I do hope there’s a positive resolution to the debate. And I hope, during the debate, we keep a benevolent spirit in mind, and we understand the contributions immigrants make to our country.”–Former President George W. Bush.

* “Low-skilled immigrants don’t directly compete with the native-born. They do entry-level work, create wealth and push natives into better jobs.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “We estimate a significant increase in both the population and the number of workers paying taxes in the United States as a result of these changes in legal immigration limits.”–Stephen Coss, chief actuary at the Social Security Administration.

* “The complications that induced the administration to postpone the employer mandate (how to count workers’ hours or implement reporting requirements) are just that–complications, not insurmountable obstacles. Expanded access to insurance–the fundamental goal of health-care reform–remains intact.”–Ruth Marcus, Washington Post.

* “He (President Obama) has probably done more to reduce emissions than anyone else in history, but his critics on the right and left haven’t noticed.”–Michael Grunwald, Time magazine.

* “The general bias to the market is up. You can see a clear path to economic growth in the United States.”–David Kelly, chief global strategist at JP Morgan Funds.

* “Justifiable use of deadly force is one of the most difficult areas of the law.”–State Attorney Angela Corey, a special prosecutor in the George Zimmerman trial.

* “We think we made progress with the first African-American president … but this has set us back.”–Tampa City Councilman Frank Reddick on the  George Zimmerman verdict.

* “No form of government is perfect. Our elected officials sometimes fail us. Ultimately, it is our level of involvement in the political process that determines its quality.”–Former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.

* “We’ve got an uphill battle here.”–Dunedin Mayor Dave Eggers on the Toronto Blue Jays’ pursuit of other spring training options.

* “I do. I do, I do, I do.”–New USF St. Petersburg Chancellor Sophia Wisniewska on whether she envisions a more residential campus.

* “In my conversations with our economic development folks and Amazon’s representatives, I believe Amazon wants to be in Hillsborough County and will be in Hillsborough County.”–Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Ken Hagan.

* “We have definitely seen an increase in crystal meth. We don’t know if that’s directly related to the crackdown on pill mills, but we can tie some of that back.”–Tampa Police Dept. Sgt. Rick Mills.

* “I have nothing against individuals with money. But when it comes to subsidizing a stadium … it’s almost a conspiracy among the leagues to say we’ll work with each other to get what we want from any city in the country. And we’re too stupid to realize it.”–Tampa City Council Chairman Charlie Miranda.

* “Anyone who has followed Middle East policies knows that this is a region where extremists tend to go all the way and moderates tend to just go away.”–Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times.

* “So much depends on the Internet that its vulnerability to sabotage invites doomsday visions of the breakdown of order and trust.”–Robert Samuelson, Washington Post.

* “Why should America involve itself in a sectarian civil war in Syria? Which side are we on–Sunni or Shiite? We send arms to rebels knowing they will wind up in the hands of al-Qaida? Why spend American treasure or risk American lives to escalate a war in which neither side can be counted as an ally? How is this in our national interest?”–U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Okeechobee.

* “You can’t outsource national security. As long as we depend on the intel-industrial complex for vetting, we’re going to get more Snowdens.”–Former CIA agent Robert Baer.

*”It is better to do this right than fast.”–Adam Jentleson, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, on the rationale for the Obama Administration’s one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act’s larger-employer mandate.

* “Requiring all candidates for a high-school diploma to pass the U.S. Citizenship Exam might be one way to raise public awareness and begin to exert pressure to restore essential knowledge to the K-12 curriculum.”–Robert Holland, Lexington Institute policy analyst.

* “The ability to connect with others is developed by studying the humanities, and in the global community this skill is not optional–it’s essential.”–James Cuno, president of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

* “Today’s vote suppressionists are driven less by discrimination for its own sake than fear that their hold on power will weaken if minorities and the young vote in large numbers.”–Harold Meyerson, Washington Post.

* “Marriage equality absolutely is coming to Florida, without a doubt. The question is what’s the quickest path.”–Nadine Smith, president of Equality Florida, the state’s leading gay rights group.

* “There are people who are looking at loopholes and these things expand gambling. I’m for closing loopholes. I’m not for expanding gambling in Florida.”–Florida Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine.

* “It’s kind of a brave new world we’re heading into with online education, and I’m not sure the state of Florida has really done a good job examining all the questions that come to mind to make sure it really is a good system before we throw a lot of money at it and go full scale.”–Mark Pudlow, Florida Education Association teachers union spokesman.

* “It could be negative. It could be positive because it brings more visitors to the market. What would be the impact of Clearwater’s plan? I don’t know.”–Thom Stork, CEO of the Florida Aquarium, speculating on the impact of Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s plans to build a much bigger, state-of-the-art facility in downtown Clearwater.

* “By all standards, this is a huge event. To get this to Tampa is really cool because nobody believed it could be done.”–Dr. Kiran Patel on the effort that successfully wooed the International Indian Film Academy’s Weekend and Awards to Tampa next June.

* “We want this to be a city young professionals want to be a part of. I look at the food trucks as my offspring. The craft beer guys are really putting us on the map and creating Tampa’s next chapter. I’m a proud papa.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

Maybe it’s too much to ask. But wouldn’t it be appropriate if mainstream electronic media, both local and national, would go back to identifying legitimate news subjects–on second reference–by their last name? Leave it for blatantly partisan hacks and pseudo political pundits to traffic in first-name familiarity.

I’ve heard countless anchor-desk references to “Trayvon” in the George Zimmerman trial. During the 2008 presidential election a weekend anchor of a local network affiliate told me that management had to send a memo to on-air staff to remind them to refer to John McCain’s opponent as “Obama” and not “Barack.” It made them sound like cable partisans. And recall all those “Saddam” references during the Gulf War.

Unless someone has achieved iconic longevity in the culture–Ike, Elvis, Oprah, for example–this largely has to do with non-traditional first names and careless, clueless newsreaders.

* “The Fed isn’t just the U.S.’s central bank. It’s the world’s central bank.”–Mark Frey, chief strategist at the Cambridge Mercantile Group.

* “If things are worse, we will do more. If things are better, we will do less.”–Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke.

* “Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s justice will be in the next world, but for his brother, accountability will begin right here in the district of Massachusetts.”–Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley.

* “We don’t have time for a meeting of the flat-earth society.”–President Barack Obama in urging sweeping steps to battle climate change.

* “Mr. Snowden’s claim that he is focused on supporting transparency, freedom of the press and protection of individual rights and democracy is belied by the protectors he has potentially chosen: China, Russia, Ecuador, as we’ve seen. His failure to criticize these regimes suggests that his true motive throughout has been to injure the national security of the United States, not to advance Internet freedom and free speech.”–White House spokesman Jay Carney.

* “Today the dominant distinction defining socioeconomic class is between those with and without college degrees. Graduates earn 70 percent more than those with only high school diplomas. Soon the crucial distinction will be between those with meaningful and those with worthless college degrees.”–George F. Will, Washington Post.

* “I want to encourage you to reject the cynics who say technology is flattening your experience of the world. … Technology is just a tool. It’s a powerful tool, but it’s just a tool. Deep human connection is very different. It’s not a tool. It’s not a means to an end. It is the end.”–Melinda Gates, commencement speaker at Duke University.

* “Florida will be slow on the uptake to implement a policy that concentrates on moving away from carbon. We remain mired in the lack of policy.”–Scott McIntyre, president of the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy.

* “…I do not believe there exists a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage. …”–Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.

* “The Supreme Court said the Constitution prohibits discrimination of lawfully wedded same-sex couples. I support this decision.”–Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

* “We firmly believe that marriage is, and can only be, the union of one man and one woman.”–Bishop Robert Lynch of the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg.

* “Society has moved and is not becoming just tolerant, but rather accepting of what I think most people feel–live and let live. What business is it of governments to tell people who they should love or who they should marry?”–Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

* “Florida leaders should embrace this decision and address the outdated and discriminatory Article 1, Section 27 of the Florida Constitution that bars many Florida married couples from equal rights and treatment even after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling.”–U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa.

* “We’re one community, and we do better when we recognize that.”–Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn at the St. Pete Pride parade.

* “We like your market. We’re buying there every week. … This is a long game, and we’re still in the early innings.”–Justin Chang, CEO of Colony American Homes, among the major investors buying Tampa Bay area homes to renovate for a burgeoning renters’ market.

* “He’s the simplest complex person I’ve ever met in my entire life.”–Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor at U.S. Attorney Robert O’Neill’s farewell party.

* “It’s too big. You can’t get a decent return on investment, and you can’t get a company to come in and take that kind of risk.”–Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill in expressing skepticism about possible plans to reconstruct the Friendship TrailBridge through a public-private partnership.

* “Every aspect of our lives is touched in this community through the port. It is the economic foundation of this community.”–Port of Tampa CEO Paul Anderson.

* “He will always be a champion for children with cancer–especially those being treated in the All-Children’s center that bears his name.”–Sylvia Ameen, vice president of the All-Children’s Hospital Foundation, on the legacy of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Vinny Lecavalier.

* “He’s like Longoria, and in due time they’re hoping he turns out like him, the same mold. They’re guys that’ll be the face of an organization because they’re class guys and talented.”–Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons on Rays’ heralded rookie outfielder Wil Myers.

We all have them. Those memorabilia nooks. Old photos–in albums, cigar boxes and cubes–yearbooks, certificates, plaques, term papers, hats, membership cards, political buttons, cool coasters, hotel notepads, foreign coins, newspaper clippings and eclectic curios–remember Super 8 movie cameras and projectors?–from another time, place and, seemingly, personage.

Someone–OK, me–once said: “We are what we keep.” However often we do it, whenever we inventory what we continue to lug through life, it says something about us. Why do we still have it? Why did we finally jettison something? It must matter.

I checked out my own stash of stuff the other day. It used to be more extensive. Multiple moves have reduced inventory. Downsizing happens.

A cursory look yielded vintage Time magazines with cover visages of Anwar Sadat, G. Gordon Liddy, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. There was Newsweek’s “Good Bye To The ’60s” issue and yellowed headlines shouting: “JFK Assassinated,” “Nixon Pardoned,” “Reagan Crushes Carter” and, uh, “O’Neill Named Speaker.” There were copies of publications I used to work for, such as the Bucks County (Pa.) Courier Times, Indiana Business, Tampa Bay Business Journal, Florida Business/Tampa Bay and several incarnations of Tampa city magazines. And a smattering of well-worn paperbacks that are variations on a back-in-the-day, snapshot theme. As in Tom Wolfe’s “Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers” and Eldridge Cleaver’s “Soul on Ice.” Inexplicably, something called “So You Think You’re Irish” was also in the mix.

And then in mid-reverie, I happened upon this baseball-card sized souvenir–right next to a Cliff’s Notes summary of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and an ash tray from Bud Miller’s Cafe in Evansville, Ind. This orange and yellow card, however, only took me back to March 14, 1990. Less than a generation ago, but what timely perspective.

On the front it said: “Welcome Major League Baseball.” MLB was being formally introduced to the “Florida Suncoast Dome.” It was the grand opening of what we now know as the Trop, the home field of the Tampa Bay Rays. And so what that MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth had warned the city of St. Petersburg not to build anything on spec.

I was there as the editor of Florida Business/Tampa Bay magazine. Our cover story, “The Bay Area’s Big League Pitch,” included an illustrator’s rendering of how the new Dome would look when reconfigured for baseball. It depicted packed bleachers and outfield signage of would-be sponsors that included Bay Plaza, Barnett Bank and GTE. It also showed a left-handed third baseman. My bad.

The reverse side of that Dome-opener card had four marketing bullet points aimed directly at MLB.

*”Major League Commitment … 22,697 season ticket reservations sold in 30 days.

*Major League Market … The 13th largest media market in America. Florida’s number one metro in America’s 4th most populous state.

*Major League Facility … A 43,000-seat baseball showcase.

*United political and corporate support coupled with a dedicated local ownership group.”

As it turned out, Tampa Bay missed out on the Chicago White Sox, the Seattle Mariners, the San Francisco Giants, the Minnesota Twins, the expansion of 1993 (Miami and Denver) until finally landing a franchise (along with Arizona) in ’96 that debuted as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998.

That first season the Devil Rays’ attendance average was 31,000, topped by a crowd of more than 45,000 for the March 31 season opener against the Detroit Tigers. The next season, that average dropped by a third to 21,000, and it’s basically been a struggle ever since–even with a competitive team. Official capacity is no longer 43,000, but a downsized 34,078. This year the Rays are 29th out of 30 MLB franchises with average attendance under 18,000. The reasons remain the same: An obsolete, catwalk-skewed facility on the western fringe of an asymmetrical market with few corporate headquarters, no mass transit and too many locals with allegiances elsewhere and lifestyles that don’t prioritize baseball in the summer.

Honestly, I didn’t start out intending to write about the Rays again–yes, their future in Tampa Bay has to be in Tampa–but it’s indicative of what can happen when you start rummaging around in the lost and profound department.

And once again, it prompted perspective. And once again, it matters.

Since last summer’s lock-down ambience for the Republican Convention, national media have seemingly ratcheted up the pot shots at Tampa. And not just Comedy Central jokesters. Most recently there’s been George Packer’s “The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America,” which puts the Tampa area in the cross hairs for a microcosmic look at the housing implosion and foreclosure hell.

So, it was nice to see that recent travel shout-out for Tampa in New York Magazine. While the piece highlighted the Riverwalk and Ybor City and made note of Tampa Theatre, the Floridan Palace and Tampa Bay History Center, it also probed beyond downtown and Ybor. As a result, readers also found out about The Refinery, edison: food+ drink lab, Ciro’s Speakeasy & Supper Club and Wat Mongkolratanaram, the Thai Buddhist Temple that also welcomes in-the-know foodies every Sunday.

As we’ve seen, Tampa took it on the civic chops recently with the publication of George Packer’s “The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America.” Packer, a New Yorker writer, used the Tampa area as Exhibit A for the housing crash and foreclosure hell.

So, nice timing for an upbeat shout-out in New York Magazine’s travel piece: “Skip the Beach in Tampa.” The lead is sure to induce a Bob Buckhorn smile of validation. “After decades of suburban sprawl, this Gulf Coast city has brought new life to its neglected center by fixing up the riverfront, repurposing abandoned spaces and embracing its Cuban-American history.”

Its lengthy list of highlights includes: the Tampa Riverwalk, Tampa Bay History Center, Tampa Theatre, Cigar City Brewery, the Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn, the Floridan Palace, the Oxford Exchange, the (45) casitas at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, The Refinery, edison: food + drink lab and Ciro’s Speakeasy & Supper Club. The section on Ybor goes well beyond the Columbia Restaurant. It also advises sampling  La Tropicana Cafe and La Segunda Bakery, visiting the Ybor City Museum State Park, riding the TECO Line Streetcar and, yes, grabbing a copy of La Gaceta.

The death of James Gandolfini–aka Tony Soprano–certainly shocked us all last week. He was a gifted actor, an uber popular antihero icon and by all accounts a helluva nice guy. He will be missed on multiple levels. That said, it certainly was surprising when, on the NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams prefaced the lengthy news account of Gandolfini’s passing with this lead: “It was one of those ‘Where-were-you-when-you-heard-the-news?’ moments.”

That didn’t resonate. My short list of events so tragically traumatizing that they remain seared in detailed memory context is still limited to John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the Challenger explosion and the 9/11 attack. I hope I never lengthen that list.

* “I’m going to meet with the leaders of the peaceful protests. I want institutions that are more transparent, more resistant to wrongdoing.”–Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

* “Egyptians today desperately need a ‘peace process’–not with Israel, but with one another.”–Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times.

* “None of the other major powers of this era–China, Russia, Europe, Japan, India–are tempted to challenge the United States for primacy. America’s per capita gross domestic product is at least six times that of China, and the United States spends more on defense than the next 10 countries combined.”–Richard N. Haass, author and president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

* “The Hong Kong authorities used the murkiness of extradition law to make what was a political decision.”–Steve Vladeck, American University College of Law, on the Edward Snowden case.

* “We may not live in fear of nuclear annihilation, but as long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe.”–President Barack Obama, speaking at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

* “Eventually, I can see the Affordable Care Act being embraced like Medicare, because once people get used to this kind of coverage, it’s going to be a pretty abhorrent thing to try and take it away.”–Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler.

* “For people who are concerned about border security, once they see what’s in this bill, it’s almost overkill.”–Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who helped lead the senate compromise on a comprehensive immigration bill.

* “Today the dominant distinction defining socioeconomic class is between those with and without college degrees. Graduates earn 70 percent more than those with only high school diplomas. Soon the crucial distinction will be between those with meaningful and those with worthless college degrees.”–George F. Will, Washington Post.

* “I want to encourage you to reject the cynics who say technology is flattening your experience of the world. … Technology is just a tool. It’s a powerful tool, but it’s just a tool. Deep human connection is very different. It’s not a tool. It’s not a means to an end. It is the end.”–Melinda Gates, commencement speaker at Duke University.

* “Whoever the Democratic nominee is will beat Rick Scott. We will win the Governor’s Mansion next November. There’s not any question.”–U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

* “All these people who think it’s going to be easy to beat Rick Scott, they’re wrong. They are very wrong.”–Alex Sink.

* “I wish that the guy who’s in the Governor’s Mansion now didn’t used to talk about an Arizona-type law. That’s not welcoming and that’s not what a Floridian would do.”–Former Gov. Charlie Crist.

* “I don’t think that it is deserved, but I certainly understand it.”–Ava Parker, interim head of Florida Polytechnic University, on skepticism over the school’s viability.

* “If it’s not an impossible task, I’m sure you’ll make it succeed. However, it may be an impossible task.”–Florida Board of Governors chairman Dean Colson on Parker’s Florida Poly challenge.

* “We like your market. We’re buying there every week. … This is a long game, and we’re still in the early innings.”–Justin Chang, CEO  of Colony American Homes, among the major investors buying Tampa Bay area homes to renovate and sell to a burgeoning renters’ market.

* “You still have a lot of kids not getting jobs; a lot of kids with college degrees working fast food.”–Scott Brown, chief economist with Raymond James Financial.

* “Someone told me you treat them like a stepchild.”–Florida Board of Governors vice chair Morteza Hosseini to USF President Judy Genshaft in reference to the status of USF’s regional campuses.

* “…Every aspect of our lives is touched in this community through the port. It is the economic foundation of this community.”–Port of Tampa CEO Paul Anderson.

* “It’s too big. You can’t get a decent return on investment and you can’t get a company to come in and take that kind of risk.”–Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill in expressing skepticism about possible plans to reconstruct the Friendship TrailBridge through a public-private partnership.

* “Wi-Fi will be a draw. I want people of all ages and backgrounds to come downtown and be able to work and play at the same time.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn on the city’s plans to work with a private-sector partner to bring free Wi-Fi to downtown Tampa’s parks.