News-Record.com

My column today ... Gov. Easley's voodoo gambling economics.

The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday overwhelmingly approved an ethics bill that the N.C. legislature should copy.

Among many other provisions, "It would require lobbyists to detail their own campaign contributions, as well as payments to presidential libraries, inaugural committees and charities controlled by lawmakers," the Washington Post reported.

The last point is relevant to events in North Carolina. The N.C. Legislative Black Caucus Foundation is controlled by lawmakers, some of whose family members have been granted college scholarships through the foundation. There's no requirement to disclose the source of the foundation's money.

Why does this matter to the issue of ethics in government? Picture this scenario: Lobbyist makes big contribution to foundation controlled by legislators; foundation provides scholarships for sons and daughters of legislators; legislators support bills that help lobbyists' clients.

Did that happen? It's impossible to know without disclosure.

The U.S. House of Representatives thinks this is important. What does the N.C. legislature think?

Ed Cone links to this article in Rolling Stone, "Ethanol Scam: Ethanol Hurts the Environment And Is One of America's Biggest Political Boondoggles."

I hope you read Andy Brod's commentary in our Ideas section Sunday on "The ethanol effect."

Jeff Goodell's lead on the Rolling Stone article says: "The great danger of confronting peak oil and global warming isn't that we will sit on our collective asses and do nothing while civilization collapses, but that we will plunge after 'solutions' that will make our problems even worse."

So, I wonder what other boondoggles will sprout from seeds we're scattering these days.

Why do you need bagpipers for the opening of a shopping center?

Why ask why? I think bagpipes are perfect for most any occasion ... weddings, funerals, sporting events, certain medical procedures.

But, I'll admit, they go better with a glass of single-malt scotch whisky.

The pipes and those medical procedures, I mean.

Jim Black has more than enough assets to handle that $1 million fine, The Charlotte Observer finds.

Presidential candidate and former hedge fund consultant John Edwards today called on Democrats "to openly oppose and take the necessary steps to stop the merger between News Corp and the Dow Jones Company/The Wall Street Journal."

Basically, Edwards is offended by media mogul Rupert Murdoch's imminent purchase of the Wall Street Journal.

Murdoch's News Corp also owns Fox News, one leg of Edwards' axis of evil along with Wal-Mart and Smithfield Foods. The latter two resist unionization, and Edwards is working very hard to win union endorsements and money. The former, says Edwards, is mean to Democrats.

"The basis of a strong democracy begins and ends with a strong, unbiased and fair media -- all qualities which are pretty hard to subscribe to Fox News and News Corp," Edwards pronounced.

That statement indicates some confusion, or perhaps manipulation, on Edwards' part. Anytime one associates a strong democracy with the media, I assume he's referring to the First Amendment, by which the Founding Fathers implied that a strong democracy depends on a free press. But a free press is in no way the same as an unbiased and fair press. There was really no such thing as an unbiased press at the time the Bill of Rights was ratified. In fact, many publications existed primarily for the purpose of promoting particular political views.

The idea of an unbiased and fair media actually contradicts the concept of a free press. Simply put, if the media are free, then they're free to be biased and unfair. If they're supposed to be unbiased and fair, there's a presumption that someone is going to make them. But who's going to judge how unbiased and fair they are -- President Edwards? Will he be fair in his judgments, or would the media just have to conform to his biases?

Of course, President Edwards couldn't actually override the First Amendment and force the media to be nice to Democrats, but I suppose he could use his bully pulpit to rail against the unfairness of Fox News. Or, worse, maybe he could direct the FCC to oppose mergers of media companies whose views he doesn't like -- as he's apparently proposing now.

"The reality is that Americans deserve more news outlets -- not fewer," Edwards says. "It's time for all Democrats, including those running for president, to stand up and speak out against this merger and other forms of media consolidation."

But, guess what? Americans are getting more news outlets all the time. There's an unbelievable proliferation of media in a society when everyone with a computer can be a news source. If Edwards doesn't like the idea of Murdoch owning the WSJ, Edwards can start up a competing newspaper. But where does he get off trying to deny Murdoch the right to buy it?

There's less need than ever for the government to police the media, and it's frankly disturbing that a liberal presidential candidate who's as media- and Internet-savvy as Edwards is promoting media suppression, apparently based on ideology.

Or is there a little more to his indignation? Oh, yes. Editor & Publisher reports that Murdoch and some News Corp executives seem to be supporting Hillary Clinton. And I thought they were unfriendly to Democrats. Maybe just some Democrats.

An accused serial rapist sitting in the Mecklenburg County jail is an illegal immigrant deported last year only to cross the border from Mexico into Texas again this year.

And there are a few more like him, The Charlotte Observer reports:

"Since last April, Mecklenburg sheriff's deputies working with federal immigration agents, have identified more than 150 illegal immigrants at the jail who had been deported before but re-entered the country."

More:

"In April 2006, the Mecklenburg Sheriff's Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities launched a program at the jail to identify illegal immigrants. Inmates born outside the United States are fingerprinted and photographed. The information is then sent to the federal immigration database to determine if the suspects are in the country legally.

"Through the program, authorities have identified more than 2,400 illegal immigrants and targeted them for deportation."

Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes wants his department to participate in the same program. The idea has stirred fears of deputies rounding up immigrants, but that doesn't happen. The major concern has to do with powers to detain witnesses to crimes; otherwise, it seems hard to object to an effort that might increase deportations of illegal immigrants who are arrested for committing crimes.

Unfortunately, it's then up to federal immigration authorities to keep them out of the country. Unless they start doing a better job, local law-enforcement efforts won't be 100 percent effective.

This never happened at Michael Vick's place.

Bull mastiff info here.

Sort of resembles my dog.

Dog days, nothing. My dog refused to run with me this morning. Too warm.

I tried out Wii yesterday. My son Kenny totally smoked me in tennis, but I got him back in baseball. Smacked one over the fence with a man on for the game's only runs. On the mound, kept him off balance with a mix of fast and slow. Oh, yeah. Threw out my arm. Who knew you could injure yourself playing a video game? Wii is not for me.

Kenny recently moved into a condo in Charlotte's NoDa neighborhood. NoDa, for North Davidson Street, is a former mill village being reclaimed as an "historic arts district" 10 minutes from uptown. UNC Charlotte is about the same distance in the other direction. Some nice restaurants, bars, quirky little shops, the Neighborhood Theatre. It's got personality, meaning lots of young people with tattoos and odd haircuts. Plus young professionals like Kenny.

More for the older set is the Flat Rock Playhouse, where Margaret and I attended a show Saturday night. It's much improved since its early days when she lived in Flat Rock before we were married. As the State Theater of North Carolina, it's gotten a good bit of funding from Raleigh, and it shows. It's a terrific facility, with beautiful grounds, right next to the Carl Sandburg Home. The production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" was outstanding. It's well worth an evening if you're in the area.

The state legislature still isn't safe from corruption, Greensboro Rep. John Blust says.

Blust writes:

After all of the recent developments, legislators should feel a deep sense of obligation to take strong actions to change things in the North Carolina legislature and throughout state government. I propose the following measures, none of which give any advantage to either party and all of which I would wager would be overwhelmingly backed by the people of North Carolina ...

Our editorial today about North Carolina's proposed but fortunately unsuccessful electoral vote tinkering.

And commentary by Newsweek's Jonathan Alter about similar shenanigans in California.

None of it has to do with devising a better system of choosing the president. It's all about partisan advantage.

My column today, "Edwards loses battle with media mogul."

Apologies to blog readers for its similarity to a post here last week. Today's offering was a version for print readers.

John Edwards apparently has initiated a change in tactics. He's showing anger, commentators say here and here.

Edwards has gotten very aggressive toward Hillary Clinton, taking more jabs at her during an AFL-CIO forum in Chicago yesterday. He's even criticized Bill Clinton lately.

The strategy might be risky, but unimpressive poll numbers indicate Edwards has little to lose.

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Mayoral candidates Yvonne Johnson and Milton Kern offer vision statements for Greensboro.

We'll present their responses to a new question every week or so during the campaign.

Cindy Sheehan announces she'll run against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in next year's congressional race.

What an irony. Sheehan's highly publicized opposition to the war in Iraq after her son's death there in 2004 probably helped Democrats win last year's congressional elections, which put Pelosi in as speaker. But Democrats, and Pelosi, apparently have been a big disappointment to Sheehan, who wants U.S. troops out tomorrow and President Bush impeached to boot.

What should Pelosi do, ignore Sheehan or actually debate the merits of an immediate pullout and impeachment?

I'd guess Pelosi will try to ignore Sheehan for as long as she can.

Sheehan can't win, but she can embarrass Pelosi in her very liberal San Francisco district by forcing the speaker, eventually, to explain why Sheehan's demands aren't practical.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, including what ought to be absolutely straightforward information like how many people attended the recent furniture market there.

All you get from the World Market Center, via a gushing press release, is that the July 30-Aug. 3 show surpassed "the historical average of 50,000 registered attendees."

This "historical average" goes back exactly two years.

Let's try to track the math.

WMC announced its inaugural market in July 2005 drew 62,000 attendees.

Attendance was a less-specific "more than 50,000" for the second show in January 2006.

By the third show in July 2006, WMC had adopted its "historical average" method of reporting attendance: "Las Vegas Market continues to enjoy strong attendance, and over the course of the last three markets has maintained an average of approximately 50,000 registered attendees each show."

I'm no math whiz, but I can see a flaw here. When the first show drew 62,000 and the second "more than 50,000," then the market has not "maintained an average of approximately 50,000." It could have fallen to an average of approximately 50,000 if its third show drew about 38,000.

In February, WMC boasted of its best and biggest show yet, claiming it "significantly exceeded the historical average of 50,000 registrations per market."

So, the last two markets have been much better than average and better than average.

But why no exact numbers? Why use a yardstick based only on an average established during the first three of five markets? It's like saying that when Barry Bond broke the single-season home run record in 2001, he significantly exceeded his "historical average" of 40 home runs a year rather than say he hit 73.

My first guess is that the Vegas markets haven't matched their initial draw of 62,000, despite adding more showroom space and exhibitors. Second, WMC doesn't want to report any declines at all. It seems obvious that if market No. 4 "significantly exceeded" 50,000 but market No. 5 only "surpassed" 50,000, attendance dropped from February to July. WMC doesn't want to report how much.

It doesn't even want to update its "average," which of course would change after every market and would let anyone with middle-school math skills (I'm barely there) figure out the actual attendance. This might be because WMC thinks 50,000 is a mark it can beat each time out, or maybe its PR people just aren't good at calculating averages.

I don't know, but I do know that the High Point Market is winning both in numbers and in candor.

Please check out my NewsMaker video interview with N.C. A&T Chancellor Stanley Battle.

(Go to our Web site front pageand look for it on the Multimedia menu.)

Battle will be featured on our Ideas front Sunday as well.

This was my first video interview.

Well, actually, my second. We had an equipment malfunction on our first try, and Battle graciously returned to our studio for a second interview.

Battle's experienced at this sort of thing. I'm not, but it's fun to venture into multimedia.

Thank goodness we have people who know what they're doing.

Thanks to Charles Gregory for passing along a link to this story in The News & Observer from back on Aug. 4. I'd missed it.

The General Assembly, in an apparently under-the-radar move in the closing days of its session, granted incentives worth $40 million over 10 years to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. if it invests $200 million in its Cumberland County manufacturing facility.

The investment requirement is good, but Goodyear doesn't have to create a single job under the terms of the deal. On the contrary, it only has to maintain a work force of at least 2,000 employees.

Its current level is 2,750.

This is the kind of public policy issue that twists my shorts.

Yes, it would be devastating if Goodyear shut down its Cumberland County plant and eliminated all those jobs, which pay an average salary of $50,000. If you can prevent that, and gain an investment of $200 million, maybe $40 million in tax breaks or other favors is a worthwhile expenditure.

But what if Goodyear doesn't really need these breaks? And what about the next company that asks for the same consideration, whether it needs state handouts or not?

The N&O reports that Bridgestone/Firestone, a Goodyear competitor that employs 2,179 at a manufacturing plant in Wilson, wants to deal, too.

"We stand ready to work with the state to correct this so we can compete in a challenging and competitive global environment," spokesman Dan McDonald said.

And then there's the issue of how this came about -- almost always a question in matters like this. Where was the public debate? And what's the state's incentives policy? Isn't there supposed to be some requirement about creating jobs? Now we're happy as long as the company doesn't lay off too many workers? Where's this going to end?

Maybe when we're all knotted up.

Is Hillary Clinton the intended victim of a vast left-wing conspiracy?

This Associated Press story makes me wonder.

The New York senator and former first lady is pushing hard toward the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Now, if this story is accurate, party insiders are getting nervous. Hillary's high negatives could cause a voter backlash that will reverberate against Democrats in key congressional races.

Democrats are supposed to be on a roll, so it's odd that they're so worried about the strength of their 2008 candidates from top to bottom. But I'm not convinced their fears are well-founded. I'm more inclined to believe Clinton strategist Mark Penn, who says, in effect, that Hillary's negatives have peaked and the numbers will improve as the campaign progresses.

To me, Hillary is the best of the leading Democratic hopefuls. Bill Richardson may have better credentials, but he lacks cash and charisma.

During this campaign, Hillary has proven herself to be the real grownup among the leading candidates. Her eight years inside the White House, and her two successful Senate races, have steeled her character, made her politically savvy and given her a tough, realistic world view.

Barack Obama is impressive but he's still a rookie senator and not ready to lead the nation. John Edwards has even less real experience in public office and is too liberal to win a general election.

Clinton, like her husband, has a chance to appeal to centrist, independent voters. Her opposition in the Democratic race is all coming from the left, and maybe that's the source of these supposed fears that she's unelectable.

I'm no big Hillary fan and I don't agree with her on many issues, but I respect her because she's earned a reputation as a hard-working senator who can stand up to pressure. She does her share of political pandering, but not as much as some of her rivals. I may not end up voting for her in November 2008, but I think she is qualified to be president. That's something party insiders should consider.

I'm not unsympathetic to teen mothers. Nearly two years ago, my cousin's then-15-year-old daughter had a baby. With the help of her family, she's raising her son and continuing her education. It's tough, but she's doing well under the circumstances.

Reading today's stories by Elon University student Alyse Knorr, especially the focus on 14-year-old Ashleigh Graham, drives home the point that these kids really needed help making better decisions.

Knorr reports that the father of Ashleigh's baby "was in prison for larceny, and he denied that the baby was his."

Not the type of guy she should have been spending time with.

And how old is he? If he is more than four years older than Ashleigh, he should be in prison for more than larcency.

As a young mother, Ashleigh now says, "I can't drink anymore. I can't do any of that anymore."

She never should have been.

Yes, these girls need support. Their future, and the future of their children, depend on it.

Just as importantly, other children need help earlier so that they don't make the same mistakes.

Some letters you just know are going to get a big response.

Today's from Barbara Sloan was one of those. Our headline for it was: "Democrats more in line with Jesus' teaching."

She starts out, quite rightly, by protesting efforts by some Christian conservatives to portray Democrats as anti-religion and themselves as God's apostles to the world of politics.

Where she goes wrong is by saying that Democrats base their beliefs on the teachings of Jesus and use the power of government to carry them out.

Oh, and then she argues for the separation of church and state.

Some of the first few commenters on the letters blog have it right: politics has very little to do with religion. Both political parties are after worldly power. The major differences are in which constituencies they appeal to in order to get that power.

My own belief is that one can't fulfill his or her religious obligations through government programs funded by the taxpayers. If you think God wants you to serve the needy, get out there and do it yourself!

If you support government programs to accomplish social objectives, fine. We need lots of them. But that's not a mission from God.

Accident or not-so-subtle barb?

Time magazine's cover photo puts horns on evangelist Billy Graham.

I doubt Time editors have accidents like that. Very funny.

My column today.

Mike Nifong is just pathetic, complaining he was treated with "fundamental unfairness" by the N.C. State Bar.

The legal disciplinary body took away the former Durham DA's law license for his improper and prejudicial prosecution in the Duke lacrosse rape case. He pressed charges against three individuals despite a lack of evidence of guilt, while ignoring exculpatory evidence. They were finally pronounced innocent by Attorney General Roy Cooper.

Previously Nifong has issued disingenuous apologies. Now he's snapped back at the Bar, as if he were some kind of victim. Does he still not get it?

Nifong did a lot of harm to the judicial system, to Duke University and to the Durham community with his management of this high-profile case. Now he's just doing further harm to himself.

Man, we're interviewing all these candidates for City Council and some guy running for governor drops in.

OK, he had an appointment.

He's Republican Bob Orr, and he insists it's not too soon for the press to start paying attention to the 2008 race for North Carolina's chief executive.

I guess it's not. The 2008 presidential candidates have been running so hard for so long, you'd think they were entering the home stretch.

And Orr's not the first gubernatorial hopeful to visit. Democratic Richard Moore was here way, way back on May 31.

Orr is a former N.C. Supreme Court justice who, since leaving the bench, has led legal actions challenging the Dell incentives deal and the creation of the state lottery. On the bench, he authored the second landmark decision in the Leandro case, which established the yet-to-be-fulfilled constitutional right to an adequate public education.

If Republicans are looking for a candidate to bellow about hot-button social issues, Orr isn't their man. He vows to "try to address important issues constructively." Those include ethics in government, public education and transportation-infrastructure.

On education, he pledges to propose meaningful, workable reforms, such as upgrading and strengthening the job of teaching assistants. Everyone promises to reduce class sizes, which Orr agrees can make a difference. The problem is that requires more teachers and more classrooms -- all hard to come by. So how about adding more TA's to classes by making those jobs more attractive to people who are qualified but currently outside the work force? They could be retirees or stay-at-home moms who might be willing to come back part-time or with decent pay and benefits.

Orr isn't satisfied that the state has taken more than "patchwork" measures to implement the court's Leandro directives. He does credit Gov. Easley's More at Four program for addressing some problem areas, but otherwise he hasn't seen much more than "Band-Aids, catchy titles and press releases" from Raleigh.

Talking about infrastructure doesn't usually excite crowds at campaign rallies, but Orr says the state's crumbling highways and substandard bridges need more attention. "We have to prioritize spending," he says. "Leadership has a responsibility to say we can't afford everything," but some needs can't be neglected.

Orr thinks hundreds of millions of dollars are wasted on economic incentives. Worse, local governments compete against each other to lure companies. The state would do better to create a favorable business climate with good schools, infrastructure and tax rates, Orr says.

I've written about Orr before and the challenge he faces in running for the state's top political office after a career in the courts. He's not a typical politician by any means -- more like a professor. But then, North Carolina's last Republican governor was a professor.

Who has done more harm to his sport ...

Former NBA ref Tim Donaghy?

Or soon-to-be former NFL quarterback Michael Vick?

I'd say Donaghy, hands down.

Dogfighting and abuse of animals are abhorrent, and if Vick is found guilty of sponsoring or participating in those activities, he deserves appropriate punishment under the law, and his football career should be curtailed.

But those illegal activities did nothing to harm the integrity of his sport. They didn't affect the outcome of a single game. They had no on-the-field impact on other players or his team -- except, of course, that the Atlanta Falcons now have to replace their biggest star.

Donaghy's offenses, although still not fully revealed, potentially are devastating to the image of the NBA. There's a cloud over games officiated by this man, who placed bets on some of those games and also provided inside information to other gamblers. The idea that he might have used his position to alter outcomes, even if only to shave a point here and there, is appalling. A dishonest ref can mean the difference between a team making the playoffs and falling short and in the performances of individual players. If the NBA can't assure honesty and impartiality in its officials, its credibility is very much in doubt.

It may be that the effect of Donaghy's betting was actually negligible, but right now we don't know. It's all very bad for the NBA, much worse than whatever damage Michael Vick has done to the NFL.

Will the politicians in Raleigh ever really conduct state business on the up-and-up? Not the current bunch, for whom ethical compromise is a way of life.

Comments yesterday by Gov. Easley and N.C. House Speaker Joe Hackney, as reported by The News & Observer, illustrate the point.

This issue has to do with a $500,000 "special provision" dropped into the recently enacted state budget. It creates an endowment that will provide athletic scholarships at 10 historically black colleges and universities in North Carolina (and, yes, some of the recipients are private colleges, like Bennett).

In a $20+ billion budget, this is a very small amount of money. But it's meaningful as a matter of principle. First, the state never before has directly funded athletic scholarships. Second, there was no separate bill, no hearing, no debate.

When asked about it yesterday, Easley admitted he didn't like how this came about -- but not so much that he'd actually do anything about it.

"Should there have been more debate? Yes. Should it have been discussed before today? Yeah. But at the end of the day, is it a bad thing? It's certainly not something worth vetoing a budget over."

A spokesman for Hackney added, "He doesn't necessarily disagree with what was done, but he doesn't like the process."

The willingness to accept improprieties on small matters leads to larger and larger abuses. After Jim Black's downfall, you'd think leaders in state government would be concerned about that. Apparently they aren't.

There's a proper way to conduct the people's business, and that's in an open, forthright manner. When the House and Senate draw up their budgets and go to a conference committee to reconcile differences, by their own rules they aren't supposed to come up with new spending items that didn't appear in either the House or the Senate budget. Obviously, their own rules mean nothing -- and that's how you find late appropriations like this $500,000 athletic scholarship fund suddenly included.

At least in this case the governor is willing to stand up and say it's not right. For years he's said next to nothing about legislative shenanigans. But he's still not willing to do anything to stop these shady practices.

The next governor needs to do much, much better if we're to restore honesty and openness to our state government.

Phoenix Mountain in Ashe County doesn't get enough snow to make a ski resort feasible, Florida developers tell the Winston-Salem Journal.

"You don't want to go skiing down rocks," Elias Tobchi says in the quote of the day.

The Charlotte Observer adds some interesting info:

"The Ashe Chamber of Commerce reports an average of 28 inches' snowfall every winter, but lesser amounts of snow have fallen in recent years. In addition, milder-than-normal temperatures have been recorded for the past several winters. ...

"Phoenix Mountain's altitude is 4,600 feet, but it receives only about half the average annual snowfall that is experienced a bit farther west in the mountains, near Banner Elk."

North Carolina skiing has always been iffy because of sometimes-mild weather, even in the mountains. Is the business melting? Or is it still practical, as long as you pick the right location?

Some of our mountains have more wintry weather than others. For example, it's my impression that weather is harsher on Grandfather Mountain than on Mount Mitchell, even though Grandfather's altitude is more than a thousand feet lower. Here's climate info for Grandfather. I couldn't find comparable data for Mitchell, although the state's all-time low temperature of -34 degrees was set there in 1985 (it was only -32 on Grandfather that day) and its greatest one-day snowfall of 36 inches occurred there in 1993, so maybe I'm mistaken.

Obviously, all Southern ski resorts will struggle if the climate warms dramatically, but I suspect there will still be weather suitable for winter sports at high elevations for a long time to come.

Is it just me, or does it seem like there's a John Edwards story like this every week or so?

The Wall Street Journal reports today:

"As a presidential candidate, Democrat John Edwards has regularly attacked subprime lenders, particularly those that have filed foreclosure suits against victims of Hurricane Katrina. But as an investor, Mr. Edwards has ties to lenders foreclosing on Katrina victims.

"The Wall Street Journal has identified 34 New Orleans homes whose owners have faced foreclosure suits from subprime-lending units of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Mr. Edwards has about $16 million invested in Fortress funds, according to a campaign aide who confirmed a more general Federal Election Commission report. Mr. Edwards worked for Fortress, a publicly held private-equity fund, from late 2005 through 2006."

I guess Edwards could blame Rupert Murdoch for this embarrassing story. But, really, it's just another example of how hard it is for a really, really rich guy to walk the walk when he talks the talk about standing up for the poor.

Here's someone who learned nothing from the Tolly Carr case.

And now another young person's life is lost.

One of our more interesting candidate interviews so far was with Joe Wilson, running in District 3.

One of Wilson's top issues is the gang problem in Greensboro, and you can see from his blog that he thinks it's "getting personal" and his message is "reaching someone" because his real-estate signs are being spray-painted with gang markings.

I don't know what to make of that, but Wilson did capture our attention with a story -- also recounted on his blog -- about young gang members charging $5 tolls on a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 29 N.

Wilson's report seems credible. Police should contact him for more details and stake out that bridge, maybe using a camera with telephoto lens. The city simply can't tolerate gangs extorting money from people who want to use a public right of way.

Babe Ruth is still the Sultan of Swat. The original Bronx Bomber hit more mighty clouts than anyone who ever played, baseball historian Bill Jenkinson contends in "The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs."

Jenkinson researched every game of Ruth's professional career, and every home run hit by baseball's other great sluggers. He analyzed ballparks, quality of competition, rules, training methods, equipment, travel schedules, medical care and other factors that separate players of different eras to draw a not-so-startling conclusion: The Babe was the best.

And if he played today, Jenkinson adds, Ruth would hit more than 714 career home runs. A lot more.

As it was, Ruth hit a baseball harder than anyone else before or since. Jenkinson documents 50 Ruth rockets of 500 feet or more in Major League games. The new all-time home-run king, Barry Bonds, has one -- and that was at high elevation in Denver.

Ruth played under more difficult conditions, enduring long train trips, lack of air conditioning, day games throughout hot summers. Balls weren't as lively, pitchers threw from higher mounds and aimed at much larger strike zones and the centerfield fence in every American League park of his era was at least 450 feet from the plate. Ruth benefited from short rightfield corners but lost many more homers on titanic blasts to the power alleys and dead center that went for doubles and triples or ended up in the gloves of swift outfielders like Ty Cobb.

Ruth did not compete against players of color -- in Major League games. But Jenkinson also researched the many, many exhibition games Ruth played against Negro League teams and found his batting average and home-run numbers were better than in regular season contests.

Also, Jenkinson notes that baseball in Ruth's era was the only team sport that afforded players a chance to earn a decent living, so it drew the best athletes of the day.

Ruth was not only a one-of-a-kind athlete but a wildly popular phenomenon who drew huge crowds everywhere and was often mobbed outside stadiums and even on the field itself during exhibition games. He was so marketable that the Yankees filled in all in-season "off" days with exhibition games, and after most seasons Ruth led barnstorming tours across the country -- even to Japan and the Philippines once.

His career suffered from poor off-season conditioning, detrimental spring "training" practices and overwork. When Ruth should have taken more time to recuperate from injuries or illnesses, he was rushed back onto the field -- even for meaningless but profitable exhibition games. The Yankees should have handled him better, but Ruth himself hated to disappoint his fans.

Jenkinson points out that Ruth was a fabulous natural all-around athlete -- a great pitcher, outfielder and baserunner in his younger days -- whose skills declined rapidly late in his career.

Ironically, Barry Bonds improved dramatically at about the same age that Ruth's abilities were fading. Jenkinson doesn't say much in his book about Bonds, which he explained was meant to honor Ruth, not detract from others. But his "significant suspicions" about Bonds are fueled by the fact that Bonds had already followed a discipline of off-season weight training before adding muscle mass and boosting his power numbers after the age of 36. "Once an athlete has engaged in optimum training, beyond about age 25 he or she cannot significantly increase either strength or muscle mass," Jenkinson states.

Ruth didn't. His power was generated by tremendous natural strength but also terrific mechanics and an amazing competitive spirit.

Oh, the year of the title? 1921. Ruth hit 59 official home runs for the Yankees. But Jenkinson plots every ball the Babe hit that season against the dimensions of an average Major League field of today, applies today's rules (then a ball was fair or foul according to where it landed, not where it left the field) and re-calculated a total of 104. The same re-calculation for Ruth's entire career would raise his lifetime total to 1,158.

Sure, that's fantasy baseball. Fans are free to disagree, although it may take them years to refute Jenkinson's meticulous research. On the whole, this is a timely reminder for followers of the game of just how remarkable Babe Ruth was -- in fact, unique.

Thanks to Brad and Britt for highlighting this outrageous story on their program this morning.

The long-overdue deportation of "immigration activist" Elvira Arellano has ignited protests in immigrant communities.

"The undocumented Chicago resident was arrested Sunday in Los Angeles shortly after leaving her yearlong sanctuary in a Northwest Side church," the Chicago Tribune reported. "Federal agents then dispatched Arellano, 32, across the border to Tijuana."

"Undocumented," of course, means illegal. And this isn't the first time Arellano has been deported.

She is seen as a sympathetic figure because she has a U.S.-born son with special needs, but his status doesn't change hers. The woman chose to make herself a prominent figure in the immigration debate, and federal authorities simply could not let her flout the law. Deporting her was the right thing to do.

Greensboro joined the Cool Cities initiative last night, although it's not clear exactly what the goal is. The U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement says cities should try to reduce their greenhouse emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels. Greensboro doesn't know yet what its 1990 emissions were, so it's shooting at a target it can't even see. Nevertheless, there's a potentially big upside to this if the city reduces its energy consumption and manages to clean the air a bit, but I'd expect it to do that without signing the Cool Cities pact, which may turn out to be unrealistic.

Football, soccer, golf, volleyball ... Why are high school "fall" sports seasons already under way the week before school starts? I didn't like it when the legislature dictated that school can't start before Aug. 25 each year, but as long as that's the law, school systems should live with it. Sports are school activities, and they should wait for school to start. Are the athletes even officially enrolled before the school year begins? I went to a high school football game Friday and saw the smallest marching band ever. Most of its members must have been still at the beach -- where they should be in the middle of August.

If High Point follows Greensboro's lead and enacts mandatory water-use restrictions, I'll miss the showers I get along my morning running route. There are some mighty lawn-watering systems out there. Some shoot water halfway across the street, or more. I saw one once that fired a streaming arc all the way to the other side. Magnificent, but wasteful.

These are not good times for pit bulls, or people and pets who encounter pit bulls.

The story from Gig Harbor, Wash., where two pit bulls entered a woman's house through a dog door and attacked her in her bed, is bizarre. But the incident here in Greensboro, where two pit bulls fatally attacked a woman's beagle while she was walking it, is maybe more frightening because it could happen to anyone.

A veterinarian friend of mine was saying just yesterday that, in his experience, many pit bulls are friendly and gentle.

Dogs generally behave the way they're trained to behave. Responsibility lies with the owners.

New Jersey's attorney general, Anne Milgram, orders local law-enforcement agencies to check the immigration status of suspects arrested for serious crimes and drunken driving, the Newark Star-Ledger reports today.

This should have been police policy long before now, and throughout the country.

Milgram was forced to act because of the horrendous execution-style slayings of three bright and decent college-age people in Newark this summer.

"One of the chief suspects, Jose Lachira Carranza, was an illegal immigrant from Peru who was out on bail awaiting trial on charges of aggravated assault and child rape," the Star-Ledger reports. "Essex County prosecutors and the state Superior Court said they did not know Carranza was here illegally when bail was set in the two cases."

How outrageous is that? First, even setting bail for a man charged with child rape. But not knowing he was an illegal immigrant? How can that information not be pertinent in criminal cases where an appropriate bail is being considered? Wouldn't an illegal immigrant be considered a flight risk?

This case has caused an uproar in New Jersey, with ripples now spreading across the country. Newark's mayor has said his city has regarded itself as a "sanctuary." I'd say the families of those slain young people have a right to be pretty damn mad about some of the people who have taken advantage of that sanctuary.

I know it's impossible to round up and deport all the illegal immigrants in this country. But those who are arrested for committing crimes should be held until their cases are adjudicated or until they are returned to their country of origin. That should be law-enforcement policy everywhere.

Addendum: N.J. AG Anne Milgram's bio. She's 36 years old and been on the job since June 29.

Addendum: I have a call in to N.C. AG Roy Cooper's office to find out whether he thinks a similar approach is needed here.

Update, Aug. 24: BJ Barnes will host a meeting next Friday with area sheriffs, Sen. Elizabeth Dole and an I.C.E. official from Atlanta. Sheriffs are trying to get some help on dealing with their illegal immigrant/criminal problems.

No callback from Cooper's office yet (11:55 a.m.)

Now that lawn-watering is socially unacceptable, is brown the new green?

When Michael Skube is burned at the stake, will it be shown live on the 'Net?

Are North Carolina Democrats waiting for John Edwards to run against Elizabeth Dole?

Dave Ribar is one of those guys who keeps me on my toes as a blogger. Which means he often nails me whenever I'm intellectually flat-footed.

He also posts comments over his real name, which I appreciate.

Now Dave, an economics professor at UNCG, is launching his own blog, Applied Rationality. It's going to be worth reading.

And, Dave, if I ever catch you flat-footed ...

In case you missed it, here's an entry I wrote about water after my trip to Africa last year. My point: We shouldn't take it for granted.

It seems appropriate now.

Joe Killian did an outstanding job of reporting about some of Greensboro's gang members yesterday.

I just don't buy some of the stuff he was told:

"Don't nobody care about us," says an 18-year-old Blood from the Ray Warren Homes neighborhood who calls himself TT. "Ain't nobody looking out for us. When was the last time you saw the mayor down here?"

Although he's a high school dropout, TT's not stupid. He can see that black kids in poor neighborhoods are treated differently.

He points to National Night Out earlier this month, when police and city officials went to cookouts in Greensboro.

In some neighborhoods, kids got tours of firetrucks and emergency vehicles, TT says. At Ray Warren, they got the same two cops who always patrol the housing project.

There you go, Mayor Holliday. Want to put a stop to Greensboro's gang problem? Just get out and cook a few hot dogs for the teenaged hoodlums, show them you care, and they'll straighten up. Right.

Maybe this passage cut closer to the truth:

Many gang members, or gangbangers, say gangs have been part of their neighborhoods for so long that it has become normal.

"Everybody you know is in a crew,'' says the 16-year-old Crip who loves "Scarface." "Your brother, your best friend, your father was in a crew, too. That's just what's happening."

Of course, "what's happening" for decent people in those neighborhoods is crime and fear.

Greensboro has to produce a new normal, and it ought to begin with protecting people from criminals, not treating criminals to cookouts.

"If I felt like I ain't going to win, I ain't going to spend the money" -- Powerball player quoted in the High Point Enterprise Saturday.

Congratuations, Mike Easley, Jim Black and Marc Basnight. That's exactly the kind of thinking you hoped to create when you pushed North Carolina into the gambling racket.

And remember one of the major justifications? North Carolinians were already playing lotteries, just not here. We had to keep their money from going out of state.

Oops. Looks like a whole lotta lotto money is going to Indiana.

Charlotte and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will negotiate how the city will settle payments owed for the collection of fines imposed through its Safelight and Safespeed programs, the Observer reports today.

The city hopes to reduce the $4.8 million debt and possibly reinstate the programs, which it says decreased speeding and accidents.

In similar circumstances, Guilford County Schools has allowed High Point and Greensboro no leeway. Both cities have ended their red-light camera programs, which they can't afford to operate if 90 perrcent of proceeds have to go to the school system, as state courts have ruled.

A reasonable compromise could provide a steady revenue stream to the schools and leave enough money for the cities to continue an effective traffic-safety program.

Right now, the Bush administration reminds me of last night's Yankees game.

The Detroit Tigers laid a 16-0 pasting on New York.

The Yanks' starting pitcher was shelled. The bullpen threw gasoline on the fire. With all due respect to my favorite philosopher, Yogi Berra, this game was over long before it was over.

In such situations, I'd think a manager might have a hard time deciding how to finish an out-of-control game. Do you send out your worst relief pitcher, somebody to mop up, figuring things are already as bad as they can get? Or someone with some ability and professional pride who can make some good pitches, stop the bleeding and restore some semblance of respectability before the night is over?

That's exactly where President Bush is in regard to his Justice Department. Alberto Gonzales has been knocked around worse than the Tigers battered weak-armed Mike Mussina last night. Who's in the White House bullpen? If it's Michael Chertoff, I don't think things will get any better.

Bush needs an ace, someone whom everyone on Capital Hill will recognize as tough, fair and competent. Someone who can make the tough pitches and get some outs.

Not to win the game. It's too late for that. But to make it more respectable.

Fans who shell out good money to see the Yankees (even in Detroit) deserve a major league performance for all nine innings. They didn't get that last night.

The American people deserve a strong Justice Department, so Bush has an obligation to appoint an attorney general who meets the highest standards, even in the last innings of his administration.

Earlier this summer, the Durham City Council launched an independent investigation to find out how its police department screwed up the Duke lacrosse case so badly.

Now the city isn't so sure it wants to know.

It's put the investigation in a holding pattern, The News & Observer of Raleigh reports, because of fears that it will expose itself to massive legal liability if (make that when) the three former Duke students sue in federal court.

It would be plenty damaging to find out officers in the Durham PD knew darn well there wasn't a case against David Evans, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty but allowed Mike Nifong to push his false rape prosecution anyway. But I bet lawyers for the three will be able to make that case in court, with or without a Durham investigation.

Calling off the independent committee, headed by former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Willis Whitchard, makes Durham look cowardly.

Unfortunately for taxpayers, the city only has $5 million in liability insurance, and that ain't going to be enough.

My column today:

By a backyard pool in a lush Greensboro neighborhood:

"Thanks for coming, everyone. Help yourselves to drinks and hors d'oeuvres."

"Swell."

"Awfully good of you, old man."

"You're welcome. But this isn't a cocktail party. As you know, we've got a serious problem. Our neighborhood, our very way of life, our rights as wealthy and wasteful Americans, are under attack." ...

I find the latest SAT scores, for North Carolina and especially for Guilford County, depressing.

Both are down, and they don't have the excuse that more kids are taking the test. Participation rates are steady.

The North Carolina score of 1,004 for math and critical reading remains 13 points below the national average of 1,017. Guilford County's average score dropped 9 points to 985. It's not a good position to be 19 points under the state average, which is 13 points below the national average.

The SAT has plenty of critics, but most colleges still use the standardized test in evaluating applicants. Lower scores put Guilford County students at a competitive disadvantage.

Of course scores vary widely by school. Guilford scores range from 1,101 at Northwest to 804 at Smith (not counting the middle colleges). The three-year trends show some fluctuations up and down but overall aren't encouraging. Take a look (scores for 2005, 2006 and 2007):

Andrews -- 875, 885, 842
Dudley -- 830, 838, 861
Eastern -- 925, 927, 901
Grimsley -- 1129, 1115, 1095
High Point Central -- 947, 954, 934
Northeast -- 940, 947, 891
Northwest -- 1108, 1106, 1101
Page -- 1022, 990, 974
Ragsdale -- 999, 994, 1002
Smith -- 793, 845, 804
Southeast -- 1001, 951, 982
Southern -- 917, 923, 924
Southwest -- 1010, 1006, 977
Western -- 1030, 1023, 1019

Lots more analysis can be done, but a surface impression says that many of our students who want and plan to continue their education in college aren't well enough prepared to do so successfully.

The United States has finally figured out how to win distance running gold medals in international competition:

Give American citizenship to Kenyans.

Kenyan-born U.S. citizen Bernard Lagat yesterday won the world championship at 1,500 meters.

Congratulations to Lagat, 32, who's been a top international competitor for more than a decade. For American-born Alan Webb, the U.S. record-holder in the mile, there will be other days. Webb finished eighth yesterday, but is still only 24.

Lagat is not the first track & field athlete to gain U.S. citizenship and compete internationally for his new country. But he's the best.

He's also following our great immigrant tradition, which continues in many endeavors today. Whether the field is engineering, medicine, physics or athletics, the United States draws talent from all over the world.

As someone interested in track & field, I wish the U.S. was developing more world-class distance runners of our own. Kenya, and many other countries, put us to shame in that sport. Our own young athletes obviously are not working hard enough to match their overseas rivals. But I'm proud to see Bernard Lagat wearing the colors of the United States.

I could also lament the fact that so many of the young men and women earning graduate degrees in math and science fields at American universities are foreigners, mostly from Asia. I'm afraid it means our young people aren't working hard enough to compete.

But the greatness of our country stems in part from its ability to attract and inspire the best and brightest from overseas. Immigration controversies notwithstanding, we should welcome newcomers who can contribute to the success of our country, whether they're winning Nobel prizes or gold medals.