Pat Andrews to Run for City-County Council

Pat Andrews, who writes the Had Enough Indy? blog and has extensively worked with several organizations including the Marion County , has announced that she plans to run for City-County Council in the 2011 municipal elections.

Andrews has resigned the posts she holds in non-partisan organizations in preparation for this run so as not to bog the organizations down in partisan politics.

Andrews, a Democrat who lives in District 22, hasn't decided if she'll run for the District 22 nomination or an At-Large position.

District 22 is currently represented by Republican Robert Cockrum. Cocukrum has previously said that this term will be his last one. No Republican has yet publicly expressed interest in the seat. Christopher Jackson, who used to write for the Indy Democrat blog, was seeking the nomination earlier in the year until he got accepted to an out-of-state law school.

As for my unsolicited thoughts? Andrews would do well to see the District 22 nomination. For better or for worse, there is a Democratic incumbent for the At-Large seats in Joanne Sanders, along with at least two strong At-Large candidates in Zach Adamson and Annette Johnson. There's a third candidate, John Barth, who I'm not very familiar with but he's been campaigning just as long as Adamson and Johnson. That's four candidates right there. It would be hard to squeeze into that full field.

Good luck to Pat Andrews. She would be an excellent District 22 nomination for the Democratic Party in 2011. She attends just about every council meeting anyway, and now she can put her extensive knowledge to good use if she's elected.

EDIT: It's been mentioned to me that Decatur Township leans Republican. It seems Pat Andrews might have an uphill battle in either race. Either way, best of luck to her. We need more people like her on the council.

Overhearing Conversations

While I was out and about earlier tonight, I couldn't help but overhearing two ladies talking about local politics. The Capital Improvement Board, the water utility sale, and the Affiliated Computer Services parking scam were all bought up.

I walked over and introduced myself to them and we had a nice chat on various topics.

I know us bloggers can be a bit obsessive about local politics. But its nice to be reassured that the concerns we have also exist in the "real" world amongst ordinary citizens.

Happy Thanksgiving/Black Friday

It's strange how things evolve.

I've been in journalism, in some form or another, since high school. I started out at Y-Press and stayed there until the end of high school. At some point, I got in touch with some folks from the local music scene and started writing for a website called Indianapolis Music Net. During my first two years in college, even though I didn't work on any type of newspaper, I was in the IU School of Journalism taking classes and doing well. When I switched out of the School of Journalism, I lost that creative outlet that I needed.

Since then, I've thought that maybe journalism, as a profession, might not be right for me. The industry is going through a transition period, and nobody has a safe job. The job I used to dream about at The Indianapolis Star likely doesn't exist.

But just because the industry is screwed up doesn't mean I can't do this on my own.

So in the middle of 2009, while I was going through some personal issues, that's how this blog came to be. As an outlet to keep me writing and keep my craft in form.

And it's been well over a year since I started writing, so I guess the plan has expanded.

If you look at the earlier entries, I think they're a bit more personal than I like. At some point, I figured that I only have a limited amount of stories that can be introduced into the news cycle to be relevant that have ME as the focus. I also decided I wasn't all that interesting to write about anyway, and I don't like the spotlight.

So now I do a combination of straight reporting and commentary. It's mostly commentary, since I do this in my spare time. But I love writing original news pieces when I can. And I enjoy observing the media in this town, which is really an interest of mine that I haven't focused much on.

I also like to think that I provide something a bit unique in the local, political blogosphere. Many of the political bloggers are either media pundits or people who work within the two party system as ward chairman or precinct committeemen or similar positions.

So I like to think that I, as someone who isn't tied to a single political party, give a bit of a unique perspective.

I want to thank anyone reading this. I never imagined anyone outside of my immediete family and close friends ever giving a damn about what I write. And while I still mostly do it for myself, it helps to know that there are people who read who care.

Thank you all. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and stay safe on Black Friday.

More on the TSA and What We Can Do Locally About It

If you haven't read my post from yesterday, do so. I updated it several times, added some more Obama bashing, and linked to some other posts and news articles that I thought were interesting.

The Transportation Securities Administration maintains a blog and actually has a really good social networking system as far as government agencies go. Most just issue press releases and interact very little with those that read the social networking accounts.

So in response to an airport out in Orlando considering switching to a private security firm, the TSA blog clears up some points of confusion in this post. It basically says that even if a private security firm does the actual screenings, the TSA is still in charge of making the regulations.

In addition to supporting Congressman Ron Paul's legislation mentioned in yesterday's post (have you called your US Congress and Senate representatives yet?), I need to do some digging to see what legislative body would have the authority to hire a private security firm locally at the Indianapolis International Airport. Would it be the City-County Council or the Indianapolis Airport Authority?

I'll do some asking and report back later.

Has The Public Finally Woken Up to the Corrupt Practices of the TSA?

Outrage has been posted by both the left and the right on the new Transportation Securities Administration's standards for flights that take off within the United States. These new include a full body scan or an "enhanced" pat down which goes into regions normally considered private by most of society.

The full body scan is exactly what it sounds like. It takes an image of your entire body, and a TSA agent in a separate room views it. Some concerns have been made about the amount of radiation it gives off. And my understanding is that, for most travellers who fly infrequently, it's negligible. But for frequent travellers or anyone who works behind the security checkpoint of an airport, it could be cause for concern. The images are also more identifiable than people make them out to be. One TSA agent got angry after co-workers made fun of his genitalia after a test screening.
The "enhanced" pat downs have likely caused the most outrage, mostly because the TSA has shown that it's not able to follow it's own rules. A video I've seen frequently on CNN shows a TSA agent sliding her hand between a woman's breasts in a sideways, swiping motion. But that isn't what happened to a woman who was forced to remove her prosthetic breast (which she has because she's a breast cancer survivor). Ironically, TSA standards say you won't be asked to remove a prosthesis and that you shouldn't even voluntarily remove it.

Another case that arose is when a traveller who has to wear a urostomy bag, a survivor of bladder cancer, alleges that the TSA agent that touched the bag and broke the seal on it. The seal break caused the bag to leak, leaving the traveller with urine soaked clothing which he couldn't change out of until after boarding the flight. I imagine he didn't want to miss his flight, and it might take several minutes longer for him to change clothes due to the urostomy bag. The article ends saying that the TSA is in touch with an advocacy group for people with disabilities, hoping that they'll have policies rolled out soon to deal properly with these situations. You would hope they'd have all their ducks in a row BEFORE they roll out these enhanced screening procedures, not after.

And to top it all off, President Barack Obama seems to have some of the same advisers as Mayor Greg Ballard who seem to be intentionally destroying any credibility either politician has by pushing them in front of unpopular issues. In a politically unwise move, Obama has defended the new policies, saying it's a "tough situation". But Obama goes so far to say that these new policies are the only ones they consider to be effective to prevent another Christmas Day underwear bomber episode. Someone should remind Obama that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded the plane in Amsterdam and there was no way the TSA could've prevented it. So much for having a self-described "student of history" in the White House when he can't even remember what happened less than a year ago.

Maybe President Obama would feel differently if he had to go through these procedures and the agents were unaware of his status? Maybe he'd feel differently if his daughters, ages 12 and 9, were felt up by the TSA like this young man here or this 3 year old here.

Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) has introduced legislation that will require all federal officials to follow all laws regarding sexual contact and taking of pictures that anyone else would have to follow, and that they aren't exempt from them just because of their job. It would effectively end the practices of the enhanced pat downs and the full body scan. I am in full support of this legislation, particularly because these policies were decided by TSA bureaucrats rather than our elected officials, who we elect to make informed, educated decisions on our behalf.

Paul's legislation is House Resolution 6416. It has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Most reading this likely reside within the 7th Congressional District of Indiana, so I'll list all possible ways to get in touch with Congressman André Carson and Senators Evan Bayh and Richard Lugar.

If you decide to call, make sure to ask for someone who handles legislation in the DC office. In this specific case, homeland security would be the topic.

Carson:
DC Phone: (202)225-4011E-mail: See this page.
Facebook: Personal page and Congressional Fan Page.
Youtube: Here.

Bayh:
DC Phone: (202)224-5623
E-mail: See this page.
Facebook: Personal page and Fan page.
Youtube: Here.

Lugar:
DC Phone: (202)224-4814
E-mail: See this page.
Facebook: Fan page and personal page.
Youtube: Here.
Twitter: Here.

UPDATE: And here's what happens when the TSA does,in fact, investigate an allegation. It clears the agent and says they acted appropriately.

Swift says they told her she was singled out because she was wearing a skirt. She says the search earlier this month was very rough and left her in tears.

"The female officer ran her hand up the inside of my leg to my groin and she did it so hard and so rough she lifted me off my heels," she says. "I think I yelped. I was in pain for about an hour afterwards. It just felt excessive and unnecessary."

It's worth noting Swift did not choose the enhanced pat-down, but was singled out and chosen by the TSA.

Among other sites:

While there are several posts at the LGBT site The Bilerico Project on the subject of the new search procedures (such as this one), to the best of my knowledge, no official LGBT organization has taken a position on these procedures. One of the comments in the aforementioned post links to an ACLU site that is collecting complaints based on the TSA searches which you can go to here.

For another take on the subject, Jon Easter of Indy Democrat has a post you can view here. The comments section is also worth a read.

Erick Erickson of Red State throws in his two cents here. This story concerns several of our own troops, including Indiana National Guard members who stopped in Indianapolis, Indiana's international airport to drop off the guard members.

TSA agents allegedly hate the new rules as well.

Help Save Y-Press

I got my start in journalism in part due to the dedicated folks at Y-Press. Y-Press is a news bureau run by and aimed at the audience of those under age 18, covering angles of stories from a youth perspective. With the younger kids conducting the interviews, the older middle and high school aged children writing the stories and doing a lot of the editing, and the adults juggling interview schedules and providing transportation, it was at times a hectic experience, but always rewarding.

You might remember seeing Y-Press, or Children's Express as it was known earlier, on the third floor of the Children's Museum in the 1990s. I don't remember the exact circumstances, but at some point, Y-Press relocated shortly after The Indianapolis News folded and took over it's office space on one of the upper floors of The Indianapolis Star's building. In late 2009, Y-Press moved again, this time to the former photo department area still within the Star's building.

According to Ruth Holladay, Y-Press is having financial troubles. They had a recent $10,000 donation to keep them afloat through this month, but they need more to keep things going. Please consider donating to them. Here is a direct link to their donation page. You can give through Google Checkout or you can mail them a check.

UPDATE: They also have a Facebook fan page. Sometimes, they have deals with local businesses where a percentage of the proceeds for a day's business will go towards Y-Press.

Journalism 101

As someone who has worked in journalism since high school, I like to keep track of how the field of journalism functions, and how different it operates from how I was taught during my years in Y-Press and in the IU School of Journalism at IUPUI.

One particular nitpick I've had in recent months is the use of formal titles, specifically the term "Doctor", often shortened to "Dr." According to the Associated Press Stylebook (which is basically The Bible for journalists), the term "Dr." should only be used for those in the medical or dental professions that hold the proper qualifications. In recent years, as alternate treatment such as osteopathic and chiropractic have become more acceptable, it's become appropriate to even use the "Dr." term for those in alternate medical fields as well.

But people with a doctorate of philosophy degree should fall under a different title. There is a bit of a differing viewpoint as to what the proper view is, but it's generally accepted that "Dr." shouldn't be used.

Writing, of course, differs based on who you're writing for. The Department of Health and Human Services have posted how their web writing and press release writing differs from the AP Stylebook here. But when writing as a journalist for a news source, let's stick with identifying what the PhD is in rather than using the term "Dr."

One of the more humorous examples of this abuse of the term "Dr." comes from Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert. In the regular segment "Cheating Death", Colbert identifies himself as "Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA", then reminds the audience (humorously) that he isn't a medical doctor. The DFA stands for Doctorate in Fine Arts, which is an honorary degree he received a few years ago. With the amount of honorary degrees some people receive, you could stretch their title probably for a paragraph or two.

And what originally pushed this to the front of my mind so much so that I had to write about it?

When is the local media going to stop using the "Dr." title when referring to Public Safety Director Frank Straub?