BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: "Craft is being assimilated by the mainstream, but not entirely on the mainstream’s own terms."

Three pieces to an ongoing puzzle, though still too early to glimpse the larger picture.

All shook up: When craft beer goes mainstream, by Pete Brown (Imbibe)

With craft brewers selling out to multi-nationals and global giants acting like craft brewers, it’s a confusing time in the world of beer. Pete Brown takes a look at how we got here and where we might go next

When looking at the beer market, it might be tempting to see craft beer as a discreet little niche, a bubble that operates differently and separately from the mainstream. But if you’re invested in the beer market, such thinking is dangerously wrong. Craft and mainstream are converging, and stories that look quite separate from each other are starting to intertwine. Let us explain …

Pardon a massive snip, straight to the conclusion.

... In one sense, craft is simply the latest stage in the ongoing, permanent state of evolution in beer, of consumer education and rising expectations. But crucially, unlike any other innovation in recent history, this one happened without the permission of the biggest brewers in the world, and those corporations were powerless to prevent it.

Craft is being assimilated by the mainstream, but not entirely on the mainstream’s own terms. After trying to belittle it, they have been forced to accommodate and accept it, and they’ve had to recognise the seismic difference that craft has made to what drinkers expect from any beer.

Two additional links provide informative reading about the booze and beer scenes. First, the great Lew Bryson. Feeling all shook up? Sometimes it's better stirred, not shaken.

PODCAST EP 118 – STIRRING THINGS UP – WRITER LEW BRYSON, at the Full Pint

We are joined by veteran beer and whiskey writer Lew Bryson. We share stories, laughs and hot takes on covering booze.

Items of discussion include:

– Why Danny loves Lew.
– Our admiration of tech writer John C. Dvorak.
– Lew’s approach to writing about beer and whiskey.
– Dealing with Pennsylvania liquor laws.
– Comparing to the late 2010’s craft beer boom to the 90’s.
– Well made alcohol is well made alcohol.
– Gut reactions to new styles.

And to close this session, a look at how craft pioneer Anchor Brewing is doing under a(nother) new owner.

The unanchoring of Anchor Brewing, by Esther Mobley (SF Chronicle)

Our original craft brewery has changed radically since Fritz Maytag sold it in 2010. So who is it today?

A lot has changed at Anchor Brewing Co. in the last few years, but one thing hasn’t: how it makes steam beer.

On the second floor of the Potrero Hill brewery, built as a coffee roastery in the 1930s, workers still hand-crank the valve on the copper mash cooker, half a century old and shaped like an onion dome. In an adjacent room, steam beer, Anchor’s signature product, still undergoes fermentation in big, open-top steel bins. Almost all the time, the only temperature control is that chilly San Francisco Bay breeze, on which the original Anchor brewers wisely capitalized in 1896. The process is practically anachronistic.

Anachronism has always been part of Anchor Brewing’s appeal. It was the brewery oblivious to the beer zeitgeist, known for old-fashioned styles like barleywine, porter and, quaintest of all, steam. Steam is balanced, clean, refreshing; it’s timeless, and it’s never been cool. When craft beer exploded in the nineties and early aughts with its insatiably hoppy IPAs, Anchor stayed true to its old ways. It felt like home.

Which is why, to those who grew up on the local institution, these can feel like bewildering times. Anchor was Fritz Maytag’s, it was San Francisco’s. Now, as of 2017, California’s oldest brewery is owned by Japanese beer corporation Sapporo. Anchor was always touted as the nation’s first craft brewery. Now the Brewers Association says it can’t be called “craft” at all. In lieu of having a brew pub, Anchor always just offered a free tour, with beer samples. Now it charges for tours, and it has a trendy taproom, Public Taps, complete with a Skee-Ball machine and limited-edition beers like Boys ‘N’ Blood, a fruited kettle sour.

Suddenly it looks as if Anchor has jumped on every possible bandwagon, making beer styles you could never imagine Maytag endorsing. Meyer lemon lager? Blackberry IPA? Brut IPA? In the 45 years that Maytag owned Anchor, the brewery released just 10 beer styles. In the nine years since he sold it, it’s put 30 new styles into distribution — and that’s not counting the 60-plus beers that have shown up on the taproom menu since launching a pilot brewery in 2017.

Has Anchor lost touch with its own identity?

By modernizing, does it risk alienating the people who love it most?

And, in an era when this city worries about these things, what part of San Francisco’s identity hangs in the balance?

THE BEER BEAT: Speakeasies here, speakeasies there, and not an original thought to be found anywhere.

It's far easier to be "magical" when your family has profited immensely from LEGAL liquor sales, the budget is unlimited, and you're not scraping for crumbs to implement good ideas -- but money can buy neither love nor an exemption from imminent prosecution for inexcusably pretentious word abuse.

The CJ's writer somehow keeps a straight face, this being a skill I never learned.

Blink and you might miss the latest trend to hit Louisville bars: Speakeasies, by Bailey Loosemore (Louisville Courier Journal)

 ... "It's sort of out of time and out of space," said Maud Welch, co-owner of Hell or High Water in downtown Louisville. "You walk in and you feel like you're part of an escape."

Welch and her brother, Stirling Welch, opened Hell or High Water earlier this year after spending 18 months constructing their bar within the Whiskey Row development.

The Louisville native said she was inspired by the speakeasy trend that picked up in New York during the four years she lived there.

"I just fell in love with the concept, especially in New York where in the hustle and bustle, you were able to go into these hidden underground spaces to have a quiet moment with a friend," Welch said. "It was pretty magical."

All together now:

"Speakeasy" is voyeurism, channeling the thrill of that danger without having to encounter it.

---

From June 2, 2017

THE BEER BEAT: "Please stop calling your legal, open-to-the-public bar a 'speakeasy' " -- and other adventures in fake news.

Allow me to suggest that far too many lamentations about the scourge of "fake news" are found to emanate from those who routinely and unquestioningly absorb vast mounds of extraneous bilge written and photographed in the service of food and drink promotion.

It isn't so much that many of the press releases I read from food and drink businesses are badly written, though stunningly often, they are.

Cringing in the expectation of further abuse is no way to enjoy your morning coffee.

Rather, it's when these hype sheets refer to the imperative of Hagio-Simmered Whey Encrusted Virgin Pork Gills, somehow combining pretentiousness, snobbery and loin of PT Barnum in a single phrase. We're supposed to nod knowingly, so that others will, too, even if none of us has any idea what it means.

As another example, a word like "speakeasy," unraveled here. To use this word without having a clue as to its proper context and historical meaning ... well, is that not fake?

If it isn't fake, what is?

And before someone asks, the late Speakeasy in New Albany was a restaurant, bar and musical venue that didn't claim to be something it wasn't. It was a proper name, not an implied identity. 

Fantasy is fun, and it appears that vast numbers of us were raised on pretending, though spouting utter nonsense doesn't make you a card-carrying member of the 1%, precisely because the 1% still holds all the cards -- and intends to keep it that way.

Better to learn something, act on one's convictions and teach the coming generations how life really works. End-times extravaganzas financed by plastic might prove only to presage the end times. I'd prefer to think and move otherwise.

I remain supportive of the various revolutions in food and drink, and always will, but the time has long since passed to raise a hand and call "bullshit," whether to drivel oozed by national political figures, local economic dishevelment directors or the posturing that accompanies restaurant openings and new beer releases.

Now, I'm going to make a statement (again) without really knowing how I intend to back it up, but speaking only for myself: It's back to hitting fungoes and shooting those hundred free throws every day. My world needs to be about fundamentals, genuineness and dependability. The train must become reacquainted with the rails, and those rules that matter learned prior to breaking them.

Rant over. Enjoy your damned weekend.

Please stop calling your legal, open-to-the-public bar a "speakeasy", by Esther Mobley (SF Gate)

Just because your bar doesn't have a sign does not make it a "speakeasy."

Other features that, sorry, still don't make it a speakeasy: a hidden door. A reservation-only policy. An intimidating gatekeeper.

And here's something that definitely precludes your bar from being a speakeasy: You send out press releases and post endless photos on Instagram, no matter how many old-timey mustaches or antique medicine bottles may appear in said photos.

For a while I've been biting my tongue, willing to let this term go the way of "handmade" or "artisanal," wearing itself out to the point of meaninglessness. But it's gone too far now.

The latest offender is the Grid, the new "Tron"-themed "speakeasy" inside the arcade-cum-bar Coin-Op. (Though there's some confusion even among its operators about what to call it: All press releases call it a "speakeasy." But one partner prefers "VIP lounge" to "speakeasy," which, don't even get me started on "VIP lounge.")

THE BEER BEAT: "Please stop calling your legal, open-to-the-public bar a 'speakeasy,' " and other adventures in fake news.

Allow me to suggest that far too many lamentations about the scourge of "fake news" are found to emanate from those who routinely and unquestioningly absorb vast mounds of extraneous bilge written and photographed in the service of food and drink promotion.

It isn't so much that many of the press releases I read from food and drink businesses are badly written, though stunningly often, they are.

Cringing in the expectation of further abuse is no way to enjoy your morning coffee.

Rather, it's when these hype sheets refer to the imperative of Hagio-Simmered Whey Encrusted Virgin Pork Gills, somehow combining pretentiousness, snobbery and loin of PT Barnum in a single phrase. We're supposed to nod knowingly, so that others will, too, even if none of us has any idea what it means.

As another example, a word like "speakeasy," unraveled here. To use this word without having a clue as to its proper context and historical meaning ... well, is that not fake?

If it isn't fake, what is?

And before someone asks, the late Speakeasy in New Albany was a restaurant, bar and musical venue that didn't claim to be something it wasn't. It was a proper name, not an implied identity. 

Fantasy is fun, and it appears that vast numbers of us were raised on pretending, though spouting utter nonsense doesn't make you a card-carrying member of the 1%, precisely because the 1% still holds all the cards -- and intends to keep it that way.

Better to learn something, act on one's convictions and teach the coming generations how life really works. End-times extravaganzas financed by plastic might prove only to presage the end times. I'd prefer to think and move otherwise.

I remain supportive of the various revolutions in food and drink, and always will, but the time has long since passed to raise a hand and call "bullshit," whether to drivel oozed by national political figures, local economic dishevelment directors or the posturing that accompanies restaurant openings and new beer releases.

Now, I'm going to make a statement (again) without really knowing how I intend to back it up, but speaking only for myself: It's back to hitting fungoes and shooting those hundred free throws every day. My world needs to be about fundamentals, genuineness and dependability. The train must become reacquainted with the rails, and those rules that matter learned prior to breaking them.

Rant over. Enjoy your damned weekend.

Please stop calling your legal, open-to-the-public bar a "speakeasy", by Esther Mobley (SF Gate)

Just because your bar doesn't have a sign does not make it a "speakeasy."

Other features that, sorry, still don't make it a speakeasy: a hidden door. A reservation-only policy. An intimidating gatekeeper.

And here's something that definitely precludes your bar from being a speakeasy: You send out press releases and post endless photos on Instagram, no matter how many old-timey mustaches or antique medicine bottles may appear in said photos.

For a while I've been biting my tongue, willing to let this term go the way of "handmade" or "artisanal," wearing itself out to the point of meaninglessness. But it's gone too far now.

The latest offender is the Grid, the new "Tron"-themed "speakeasy" inside the arcade-cum-bar Coin-Op. (Though there's some confusion even among its operators about what to call it: All press releases call it a "speakeasy." But one partner prefers "VIP lounge" to "speakeasy," which, don't even get me started on "VIP lounge.")

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: These 10 definitions will help you speak local politics like a native.

Welcome to another installment of SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS, a regular Wednesday feature at NA Confidential.

But why all these newfangled words?

Why not the old, familiar, comforting words, like the ones you're sure to hear when asking the city's corporate attorney why the answers to my FOIA/public records request for Bicentennial commission finances, due to be handed over on July 8, still haven't arrived on August 17?

Bicentennial commission financial trail? What's two (yawn) weeks (shrug) after 463 days?

August 17 update: Make the 490 days since I asked Bob Caesar to tell us how many books were left unsold, and how much the city's 200-year fest cost.

It's because a healthy vocabulary isn't about intimidation through erudition. Rather, it's about selecting the right word and using it correctly, whatever one's pay grade or station in life.

Even these very same iniquitous, bond-slush-engorged municipal corporate attorneys who customarily are handsomely remunerated to suppress information can benefit from this enlightening expansion of personal horizons, and really, as we contemplate what they knew and when they knew it, all we have left is plenty of time -- and the opportunity to learn something, if we're so inclined.

Today's word isn't a word at all, but a series of concepts originally published at NAC on June 18, 2015. Subsequently, some of them have been explored for Shane's benefit in this column. There are 490 reasons to believe nothing has changed since then, so these definitions are to be regarded as evergreens in the New Albanian context.

Evergreen: 2: retaining freshness or interest : perennial

Unfortunately ...

ON THE AVENUES: These 10 definitions will help you speak local politics like a native.

It is a matter of considerable disappointment that I’ve never learned to speak a foreign language, at least outside of Restaurant Menu German, Ask for a Beer in Russian and Really Simple Numbers Spanish.

Accordingly, it annoys me when a writer inserts a foreign language phrase into the narrative without translation, especially when it’s French.

Stray Latin words that have crept into our vernacular (“Et tu, Brute?”) are one thing, but interrupting the account of a soccer match to quote Montesquieu strikes me as both pretentious and unnecessary.

On the other hand, finding the right word or words is crucial to communication, and readers “getting” it is the entire point of writing. Often I, too, make references to concepts using words and phrases which I assume are widely understood, but actually are not.

Today, with the magic of cut, paste and Wikipedia (except where noted), it is my aim to clarify certain words, phrases and concepts. There’ll be a definition, and a local example. Let’s begin with rage against the machine.

Political Machine

A political machine is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses (usually campaign workers), who receive rewards for their efforts. The machine's power is based on the ability of the workers to get out the vote for their candidates on election day.

Although these elements are common to most political parties and organizations, they are essential to political machines, which rely on hierarchy and rewards for political power, often enforced by a strong party whip structure. Machines sometimes have a political boss, often rely on patronage, the spoils system, "behind-the-scenes" control, and longstanding political ties within the structure of a representative democracy. The term may have a pejorative sense referring to corrupt political machines.

The Democratic Party machine controls municipal politics in New Albany, and the Republican Party machine in Floyd County, enabling them to maintain a comfy two-party monopoly on power. Among the indispensable cogs in the local patronage political party machine is the …

Ward Heeler

A ward heeler is an American urban political operative who works for a political party in a political ward, the smallest electoral subdivision of a city, usually in order to achieve an election result. A ward heeler may have controlling influence with a small clique in the ward organization. Often, ward heelers have been low-level operatives soliciting votes and performing campaign tasks on behalf of a political boss, including get-out-the-vote efforts, placing campaign signage, coordination of constituent support, etc. In many urban areas, ward heelers also serve as precinct captains.

In spite of the fact that Dan Coffey adheres to no coherent ideology apart from his jowly image in the mirror, his skill at ward heeling – particularly within the Autonomous Republic of Riverview Towers – means he never has to say he’s sorry. Ironically, Uncle Joe Stalin began as a ward heeler for the Bolsheviks, later graduating to …

Cult of Personality

A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized, heroic, and at times, worshipful image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise.

For almost four years, New Albany’s current mayor has avoided making his first mistake in office. It is a consecutive-day errorless streak without parallel in politics. When missteps have occurred, they’ve been the fault of others. Constantly he produces shiny and magnanimous gifts for his constituents, and does so without raising taxes. He is everywhere, and yet nowhere, his image on the Book of Face, his name on numerous plaques.

Pssst … excuse me, but do you mind if I steal a glance behind that façade on the film studio backlot …

Potemkin Village

The phrase "Potemkin village" was originally used to describe a fake portable village, built only to impress. According to the story, Grigory Potemkin erected the fake portable settlement along the banks of the Dnieper River in order to fool Empress Catherine II during her journey to Crimea in 1787. The phrase is now used, typically in politics and economics, to describe any construction (literal or figurative) built solely to deceive others into thinking that some situation is better than it really is.

Our new water sports palace is very nice, thank you, but have you walked through an alleyway lately?

Seen the condition of some of our housing stock?

Tried to cross the street at Main and W. 1st?

Noticed the proliferation of Dollar General Stores on all available street corners?

It’s looking more and more like …

Smoke and mirrors

A metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description. The source of the name is based on magicians' illusions, where magicians make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a distracting burst of smoke. The expression may have a connotation of virtuosity or cleverness in carrying out such a deception.

Another recurring local political favorite is the ‘ol …

Bait-and-switch

A form of fraud used in retail sales but also employed in other contexts. First, customers are "baited" by merchants' advertising products or services at a low price, but when customers visit the store, they discover that the advertised goods are not available, or the customers are pressured by sales people to consider similar, but higher priced items ("switching").

“Hello. I see you carry the economy packets of Municipal Budget. Can I have one of them, please? What’s that? You’re out of those, but you have the 40% Larger in Less Than Five Years size? Hmm, can I think about it for a minute? What? Whaddya mean I’ve already paid for it?”

Transparency

As used in science, engineering, business, the humanities and in other social contexts, it implies openness, communication, and accountability. Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed. It has been defined simply as "the perceived quality of intentionally shared information from a sender".

As David Duggins demonstrated at Tuesday’s merchant meeting, “transparency” in New Albany is when anyone needing anything from government supplies an itemized, exhaustive list of motives, causes, effects and outcomes to a board of “works” that meets weekly at 10:00 a.m. and refuses to be bothered any other day or way, and when transparency is turned the other way around, it means government will conceive, plan, approve and execute a $20 million dollar TIF bond for parks without the benefit of a single substantive public meeting until after the plan is finished, primarily because …

Monetization

The term "monetization" may be used informally to refer to exchanging possessions for cash or cash equivalents, including selling a security interest, charging fees for something that used to be free, or attempting to make money on goods or services that were previously unprofitable or had been considered to have the potential to earn profits.

In New Albany, monetization occurs when the political machine utilizes non-transparency to fund capital projects (or Potemkin Villages) by bonding debt, incorporating the ward heeler’s share, as well as guaranteeing that lists of future political donors will include the same names as those on the contracts to design and construct the expensive capital projects. Many diverse beaks are made wet, and the circle remains unbroken, except that perhaps we’re finally about to witness a …

Revolution of Rising Expectations

Popularized during the 1950s in discussions of the foreign and developmental aid policies of the United States, the term was used to describe the hope of the poorest counties for a better future in the wake of postwar decolonialization. It was said that rising expectations embodied the 20th century’s “real” revolution insofar as it represented for the vast majority of the world’s population a break from centuries of stagnation, fatalism, and exploitation. (Encyclopedia.com)

In a New Albanian context, rising expectations are that the traditional political bait ‘n’ switch is replaced by merit and efficiency in civic management, wherein the city’s infrastructure and assets are deployed to provide a more level playing field for residents every day, not every now and then, and from the grassroots building upward, rather than trickling down.

It’s a point best made when borrowing a term from Teddy.

Bully pulpit

A sufficiently conspicuous position that provides an opportunity to speak out and be listened to. This term was coined by President Theodore Roosevelt, who referred to the White House as a "bully pulpit", by which he meant a terrific platform from which to advocate an agenda. Roosevelt used the word bully as an adjective meaning "superb" or "wonderful", a more common usage in his time than it is today. Another expression which survives from this era is "bully for you", synonymous with "good for you".

1,466 words, and not a single one of them French.

You’re welcome.

ON THE AVENUES: These 10 definitions will help you speak local politics like a native.

ON THE AVENUES: These 10 definitions will help you speak local politics like a native.

A weekly web column by Roger A. Baylor.

It is a matter of considerable disappointment that I’ve never learned to speak a foreign language, at least outside of Restaurant Menu German, Ask for a Beer in Russian and Really Simple Numbers Spanish.

Accordingly, it annoys me when a writer inserts a foreign language phrase into the narrative without translation, especially when it’s French.

Stray Latin words that have crept into our vernacular (“Et tu, Brute?”) are one thing, but interrupting the account of a soccer match to quote Montesquieu strikes me as both pretentious and unnecessary.

On the other hand, finding the right word or words is crucial to communication, and readers “getting” it is the entire point of writing. Often I, too, make references to concepts using words and phrases which I assume are widely understood, but actually are not.

Today, with the magic of cut, paste and Wikipedia (except where noted), it is my aim to clarify certain words, phrases and concepts. There’ll be a definition, and a local example. Let’s begin with rage against the machine.

Political Machine

A political machine is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses (usually campaign workers), who receive rewards for their efforts. The machine's power is based on the ability of the workers to get out the vote for their candidates on election day.

Although these elements are common to most political parties and organizations, they are essential to political machines, which rely on hierarchy and rewards for political power, often enforced by a strong party whip structure. Machines sometimes have a political boss, often rely on patronage, the spoils system, "behind-the-scenes" control, and longstanding political ties within the structure of a representative democracy. The term may have a pejorative sense referring to corrupt political machines.

The Democratic Party machine controls municipal politics in New Albany, and the Republican Party machine in Floyd County, enabling them to maintain a comfy two-party monopoly on power. Among the indispensable cogs in the local patronage political party machine is the …

Ward Heeler

A ward heeler is an American urban political operative who works for a political party in a political ward, the smallest electoral subdivision of a city, usually in order to achieve an election result. A ward heeler may have controlling influence with a small clique in the ward organization. Often, ward heelers have been low-level operatives soliciting votes and performing campaign tasks on behalf of a political boss, including get-out-the-vote efforts, placing campaign signage, coordination of constituent support, etc. In many urban areas, ward heelers also serve as precinct captains.

In spite of the fact that Dan Coffey adheres to no coherent ideology apart from his jowly image in the mirror, his skill at ward heeling – particularly within the Autonomous Republic of Riverview Towers – means he never has to say he’s sorry. Ironically, Uncle Joe Stalin began as a ward heeler for the Bolsheviks, later graduating to …

Cult of Personality

A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized, heroic, and at times, worshipful image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise.

For almost four years, New Albany’s current mayor has avoided making his first mistake in office. It is a consecutive-day errorless streak without parallel in politics. When missteps have occurred, they’ve been the fault of others. Constantly he produces shiny and magnanimous gifts for his constituents, and does so without raising taxes. He is everywhere, and yet nowhere, his image on the Book of Face, his name on numerous plaques.

Pssst … excuse me, but do you mind if I steal a glance behind that façade on the film studio backlot …

Potemkin Village

The phrase "Potemkin village" was originally used to describe a fake portable village, built only to impress. According to the story, Grigory Potemkin erected the fake portable settlement along the banks of the Dnieper River in order to fool Empress Catherine II during her journey to Crimea in 1787. The phrase is now used, typically in politics and economics, to describe any construction (literal or figurative) built solely to deceive others into thinking that some situation is better than it really is.

Our new water sports palace is very nice, thank you, but have you walked through an alleyway lately?

Seen the condition of some of our housing stock?

Tried to cross the street at Main and W. 1st?

Noticed the proliferation of Dollar General Stores on all available street corners?

It’s looking more and more like …

Smoke and mirrors

A metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description. The source of the name is based on magicians' illusions, where magicians make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a distracting burst of smoke. The expression may have a connotation of virtuosity or cleverness in carrying out such a deception.

Another recurring local political favorite is the ‘ol …

Bait-and-switch

A form of fraud used in retail sales but also employed in other contexts. First, customers are "baited" by merchants' advertising products or services at a low price, but when customers visit the store, they discover that the advertised goods are not available, or the customers are pressured by sales people to consider similar, but higher priced items ("switching").

“Hello. I see you carry the economy packets of Municipal Budget. Can I have one of them, please? What’s that? You’re out of those, but you have the 40% Larger in Less Than Five Years size? Hmm, can I think about it for a minute? What? Whaddya mean I’ve already paid for it?”

Transparency

As used in science, engineering, business, the humanities and in other social contexts, it implies openness, communication, and accountability. Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed. It has been defined simply as "the perceived quality of intentionally shared information from a sender".

As David Duggins demonstrated at Tuesday’s merchant meeting, “transparency” in New Albany is when anyone needing anything from government supplies an itemized, exhaustive list of motives, causes, effects and outcomes to a board of “works” that meets weekly at 10:00 a.m. and refuses to be bothered any other day or way, and when transparency is turned the other way around, it means government will conceive, plan, approve and execute a $20 million dollar TIF bond for parks without the benefit of a single substantive public meeting until after the plan is finished, primarily because …

Monetization

The term "monetization" may be used informally to refer to exchanging possessions for cash or cash equivalents, including selling a security interest, charging fees for something that used to be free, or attempting to make money on goods or services that were previously unprofitable or had been considered to have the potential to earn profits.

In New Albany, monetization occurs when the political machine utilizes non-transparency to fund capital projects (or Potemkin Villages) by bonding debt, incorporating the ward heeler’s share, as well as guaranteeing that lists of future political donors will include the same names as those on the contracts to design and construct the expensive capital projects. Many diverse beaks are made wet, and the circle remains unbroken, except that perhaps we’re finally about to witness a …

Revolution of Rising Expectations

Popularized during the 1950s in discussions of the foreign and developmental aid policies of the United States, the term was used to describe the hope of the poorest counties for a better future in the wake of postwar decolonialization. It was said that rising expectations embodied the 20th century’s “real” revolution insofar as it represented for the vast majority of the world’s population a break from centuries of stagnation, fatalism, and exploitation. (Encyclopedia.com)

In a New Albanian context, rising expectations are that the traditional political bait ‘n’ switch is replaced by merit and efficiency in civic management, wherein the city’s infrastructure and assets are deployed to provide a more level playing field for residents every day, not every now and then, and from the grassroots building upward, rather than trickling down.

It’s a point best made when borrowing a term from Teddy.

Bully pulpit

A sufficiently conspicuous position that provides an opportunity to speak out and be listened to. This term was coined by President Theodore Roosevelt, who referred to the White House as a "bully pulpit", by which he meant a terrific platform from which to advocate an agenda. Roosevelt used the word bully as an adjective meaning "superb" or "wonderful", a more common usage in his time than it is today. Another expression which survives from this era is "bully for you", synonymous with "good for you".

1,466 words, and not a single one of them French.

You’re welcome.

---

Recent columns:

June 11: ON THE AVENUES: This is Dan Coffey, New Albany’s quintessential Democrat.

June 4: ON THE AVENUES: Dan Coffey speaks for Jeff Gahan and the Democratic Party … unless they say otherwise.

May 28: ON THE AVENUES: The last of the summer beer.

May 21: ON THE AVENUES REWOUND: "I Just Want to Know, Can I Park Here Somewhere?”

May 14: ON THE AVENUES: Take this cult of personality and shove it.

May 7: ON THE AVENUES: In Havel I trust.

The Nation: "The Message and the Meaning: Is 'Pro-choice' Passé?"

That's exactly my view: I believe that whether or not a woman keeps a pregnancy is up to her.

Indeed, language, words and meanings are crucial. They define humanity beyond the cave, and I see no reason why redefining them need be some exclusive right of the Right.

The Message and the Meaning: Is 'Pro-choice' Passé?, Katha Pollitt (The Nation)

... I often find public relations a bit bewildering, so maybe it’s my problem that I worry when people say the term “pro-choice” is “oversimplifying” and “extreme” and call for “moderation” and an acknowledgment of “gray areas.” To me, “pro-choice” means you believe that whether or not a woman keeps a pregnancy is up to her—the position most Americans say they support when asked about Roe. That is the “moderate” position. The exact opposite of the pro-life position would be to override the woman’s will and let others—parents, doctors, social services, the government—decide she must have an abortion, as is happening in China. An “extreme” pro-choice position would be the one pro-lifers falsely claim Roe protects: it would permit abortion on demand up until the day before birth. No pro-choice organization calls for that.