VANESSA CZARNECKI

Youth in the booth

VANESSA CZARNECKI — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:36:04 GMT

The frat party at the Electoral College may be over . So why are the kids still turning out?
Sometime since 1976 — just four years after 18 year olds were granted the right to vote but decided they’d rather not — the youth movement has become a joke.

YOUNG AMERICANS: After the youth vote carried Barack Obama to an overwhelming victory in Iowa, Hillary Clinton traded in her old guard and started courting the under-30 electorate in New Hampshire.

Sometime since 1976 — just four years after 18 year olds were granted the right to vote but decided they’d rather not — the youth movement has become a joke. It’s hard to pinpoint when things went awry, but its credibility problem probably has something to do with Madonna’s spanking heard ’round the world and the WWE telling us to “smack down” at the ballot box.

When it burst on to the scene in 1990, Rock the Vote and its pledge to engage young voters, regardless of party affiliation, seemed admirable enough. But in the years that have followed, the nonpartisan organization and its fellow young-voters leagues have begun to act like the obstinate kids they court — seeking lowest common denominators, demanding respect, and forever declaring, with not an ounce of discernable irony, that this is the year they’ll show the world what they’re made of.

Then they don’t.

At least, that’s how the youth-vote escapade always used to play out.

After years of being told to choose or lose, declare themselves, or vote lest they die, 18 to 29 year olds nearly tripled their participation in the 2008 Iowa caucuses. In New Hampshire, they doubled their turnout from 2004. So if the rest of the primaries follow suit — and they might, judging by this past weekend’s turnout in South Carolina, where participation of young Democrats also skyrocketed — this really is the year that youth voters will shake up the election results.

“As many people under 30 showed up as senior citizens,” wrote Tim Dickinson of the Iowa caucuses on Rolling Stone’s National Affairs blog. “That’s fucking nuts is what that is. That’s the Rock the Vote political wet dream that never ever comes true . . . actually coming true.”

Funny. Many of the youth-voting groups who’ve long proclaimed this day would come are nowhere in sight.

Rock off
As the cool poster-granddaddy for the get-out-the-vote youth movement, Rock the Vote has received its fair share of flak — partly for its failure to deliver, and refusal to admit defeat, but also for seeming to lower the level of political discourse.

Without candidates or issues to rally behind, their task is a difficult one. But rather than encourage substantive debate, the organization has instead focused on convincing candidates to “hang” with the kids — hoping to drive young voters to the polls by making the electoral process seem hip.

NOLA’s arc

VANESSA CZARNECKI — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:40:31 GMT

Extreme circumstance
On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we’re all looking for easy answers, barometers of recovery, and people to blame. Simplistic messages of hope.

On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we’re all looking for easy answers, barometers of recovery, and people to blame. Simplistic messages of hope.

Yet despite the renewed conversation about our drowned American city, on the surface, there doesn’t seem to be that much to talk about. Bourbon Street continues to assault the common senses. The French Quarter’s wrought-iron balconies are still fit for Mardi Gras; the antebellum mansions still impossibly big and beautiful; the food and music still among the best you’ll find.

It’s possible to regale in post-apocalyptic New Orleans without sensing the specter of fear and despair that looms overhead. Crisis averted, then.

Except, it wasn’t. It’s still going on.

Understanding New Orleans requires one to reconcile the seemingly irreconcilable extremes of glut and want, languorousness and violence, insouciance and dejection — all telltale dichotomies of a city rich in history and culture, where nearly one-quarter of the citizens are unmistakably, devastatingly poor. That was true long before storm sisters Hurricanes Katrina and all-but-forgotten Rita arrived. Today, those extremes are just harder to avoid.

Entire neighborhoods are loitering in ruin, at best half-inhabited, littered with demolition signs and forgotten foundations.

Nearly every standing home in the once middle-class neighborhood of Gentilly, near Lake Pontchartrain, bears spray-painted scars detailing the date — most three weeks after Katrina — when rescue teams finally inspected the buildings and counted the bodies that were found inside.

With this land of the living dead comes an endless string of questions: what took so long? Will the demographics of the “chocolate city,” the birthplace of jazz, now be realigned? How is it that people are still fighting with insurance companies?

Checks are in the mail. “Better days are ahead,” said President Bush, when he dropped by for a moment of silence on August 29, two years after Katrina touched down. But rents have skyrocketed since then, due to increased insurance premiums and a lack of tenants, and property taxes have doubled. Crime and murder are again appallingly high, with more than 140 slayings so far this year. So at least one thing’s back to normal in New Orleans — it’s once again one of the most dangerous cities in the US.

But a sense of normalcy? Thirty-three thousand people displaced by the storm live in trailers; nearly 40 percent of the population has yet to return and as much as 29 percent of the current population may leave again, according to a recent University of New Orleans poll.

When inadvertent lite-brite terrorists attack

VANESSA CZARNECKI — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:40:51 GMT

The events as they've happened
The following is a rough timeline of the events, which led Boston police and city officials to hunt down Aqua Teen Hunger Force mooninite displays, believing, at first, that they were bombs, then suspecting that the ads were part of an elaborate terrorist hoax.

The following is a rough timeline of the events, which led Boston police and city officials to hunt down Aqua Teen Hunger Force mooninite displays, believing, at first, that they were bombs, then suspecting that the ads were part of an elaborate terrorist hoax.

ABOUT TWO WEEKS AGO Mooninites are installed in Boston, as part of a 10-city marketing campaign for Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They are also installed in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.

JANUARY 31:
8:05 AM An MBTA worker spots one of the devices underneath an Interstate 93 North overpass, just above the bus depot at the Sullivan Square T station, in Charlestown, on the Orange Line.
9 AM Channel Four and Channel Five report that the Interstate has been closed; they break in with updates throughout the day.
10 AM The State Police blows the mooninite object apart with a water cannon to render it safe, and determines it does not contain explosives.
10:05 AM Interstate 93 is reopened.
10:50 AM Police reportedly receive a call regarding a suspicious package at South Station, leading them to close the commuter-rail station and adjoining streets.
NOON Police use a remote-controlled robot to inspect the South Station package and determine that it is not an explosive device.
1 PM Police receive four calls about similar devices found at the Boston University Bridge, the Longfellow Bridge, the intersection of Columbus and Stuart Streets, and the Tufts-New England Medical Center. Police Commissioner Edward Davis later says the Longfellow Bridge and medical center device are unrelated to the others.
2 PM Storrow Drive is closed.
2–3 PM A Boston police analyst realizes the mooninite is in the image of a cartoon character; police conclude it is likely a publicity stunt.
2:20 PM The MBTA suspends service on the Red Line between Park and Kendall stations. Channel Five breaks into regularly scheduled programming to begin continuous coverage.
2:30 PM One eastbound lane on Storrow Drive is reopened.
2:35 PM Red Line service is resumed.
Coast Guard officials close the Charles River to all water traffic form the Museum of Science to the locks at Boston Harbor.
5 PM Turner Broadcasting System Inc. sends a fax to City Hall, notifying officials that the mooninites are part of a guerilla marketing campaign. They apologize for the confusion.
6:30 PM Channel Five discontinues its continuous coverage.
8:20 PM Police arrest Peter Berdovsky, 27, an artist originally from Belarus who now lives in Arlington. Earlier in the day he tells the Boston Globe he was responsible for putting up the signs, saying he is “a little kind of freaked out” about the police response.
9 PM Menino receives a call from a low-ranking press official at Turner, according to the Boston Globe. Police have so far recovered 14 devices throughout the city.
11:30 PM Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown, is arrested, according to Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office.

Cheap cheer

VANESSA CZARNECKI — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:30:05 GMT

The Scrooge – lovers guide to seasonal fun
Why bother caroling when you can spike your eggnog and sing karaoke? Heck, why venture into the windy streets when you can snuggle next to the radiator with a six-pack of cheep beer?

BUFF SANTAS in holiday Speedos hit Boylston Street, December 16

Why bother caroling when you can spike your eggnog and sing karaoke? Heck, why venture into the windy streets when you can snuggle next to the radiator with a six-pack of cheep beer?

We’re not about to argue with however you chose to spend your holiday, but lest you pass the most wonderful time of the year in your rat-infested apartment watching John Tesh’s Christmas special, we thought we’d present you with a couple of fun — and cheap — options to kick your butt into gear and out into the crisp, winter air. Pick what you like, re-gift the rest. And if all else fails, keep your eyes on the street: they’re teeming with swanky holiday parties waiting to be crashed.

It's all free
Christmas is the one time of year when you can suck down chocolate and prance through the streets like an idiot. So if you’re looking to recapture that child-like cheer, head to Faneuil Hall, where every Saturday and Sunday afternoon in December the market is overrun with snotty-nosed kids taking part in the annual Reindeer Games. Sure, it’s intended for the seriously pre-pubescent crowd, but the interactive activities and performances will conjure your inner child and have you pining for Santa’s lap in no time.

If crashing rich kids’ parties is more your style, stop by Cambridge and Charles Streets on December 8 from 5 to 9 pm for the Beacon Hill Holiday Stroll. Check out the elaborately decorated streets, or stay put on Charles Street where you can partake of free refreshments, buggy rides, tree lightings, and a visit from Mr. Claus. Don’t worry; it’s not just for neighborhood residents. Besides, Beacon Hill is the only part of Boston that’s relatively rodent free, so do your part to spread holiday cheer by introducing freeloading vermin into the city’s most wealthy community.

Still looking to deck the halls family-style? Head to Puopolo Park for the North End’s Christmas Parade (December 11, 1 pm). Or, skip it and help put the ho, ho, ho back into holiday fun. Gawk at the brave souls who’ve dared to bare (nearly) all as they race down Boylston Street for the Santa Speedo Run. The 1 pm event benefits charity. And you, too, can do your part by donating a warm drink to the runners when the after party moves to Lir.

Bold, fruity, and unsophisticated

VANESSA CZARNECKI — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 18:59:27 GMT

The battle over wine
What’s the harm in a glass of wine?

What’s the harm in a glass of wine? If we buy it from grocery-store chains, it seems, we’ll be drunk and dead in a matter of weeks. At least that’s what liquor-store owners want us to believe, should Ballot Question One pass.

Trouble is, few Bay Staters actually believe the commonwealth will be overrun with drunken teenagers if Shaw’s starts selling wine, and even fewer are willing to sacrifice convenience so that a 1934 law can stay on the books.

Perhaps if Vote No on 1, the group behind the Kerry Healey–style attack ads, fought with facts rather than sensationalism, they’d have a shot at winning voters’ sympathy. After all, at its heart the ballot question represents a David-and-Goliath fight in which huge supermarket chains are poised to grow fatter at the expense of independent package stores, many of which may struggle to survive. That’s because Question One would create a new type of license that would allow both independent grocers and big chains to sell wine — the latter in more than three stores throughout the state, as stipulated by current law — while leaving liquor stores mired in the old permitting process.

Kim Hinden, spokesperson for Yes on 1: Grocery Stores and Consumers for Fair Competition, which has spearheaded an effective campaign against Vote No on 1, says “there’s no evidence in the 34 other states [that sell wine in grocery stores] that there’s any negative impact on small businesses.” Yet statistics rarely lie. In Florida, for instance, which has a long history of permitting wine sales by grocers, roughly 64 percent of all wine sales occur at such stores — and that’s excluding big-box wholesalers such as BJ’s and Costco.

Plus, while Hinden claims the ballot proposition “doesn’t necessarily help out the grocers as much as one would think,” Yes on 1’s list of financial contributors reads like the supermarket section of a phone book, with only 18 donors — 16 of whom are grocers or directly involved with the industry — coughing up more than $5 million. (Stop & Shop alone has contributed more than $2.3 million to the campaign.) By contrast, approximately 586 individual donors, the majority of which are independent package-store owners and distributors, have spent $2.97 million to oppose the ballot question.

I'll be watching you

VANESSA CZARNECKI — Thu, 04 May 2006 14:22:23 GMT

A new tracking technology could make today’s debates about warrantless spying seem quaint
When Conrad Chase, director of Barcelona’s Baja Beach Club, asked his VIP customers if they wanted a microchip implanted in their arms, many of them didn’t think twice.

WE'LL BE WATCHING: RFIDs have popped up everywhere.

When Conrad Chase, director of Barcelona’s Baja Beach Club, asked his VIP customers if they wanted a microchip implanted in their arms, many of them didn’t think twice. After all, the minuscule chip facilitated unheard-of freedom of movement, since it could be scanned to reveal a person’s identification and credit-card information, allowing customers to leave their wallets and handbags at home. It seemed like the ultimate form of convenience, and soon clubgoers in Glasgow and Rotterdam were latching on to the trend. “I know many people who want to be implanted,” Chase told CNN in 2004. “Almost everybody now has a piercing, tattoos, or silicone. Why not get the chip and be original?”

Two years later, the subcutaneous chips haven’t yet taken American club kids by storm, but it seems the remote-sensory technology — called radio-frequency identification (RFID) — is popping up everywhere else. The technology, which was largely researched and developed in Boston, is already being used in EZ Pass transponders, garage-door openers, and cell phones. Some cities, including Los Angeles, are making them mandatory for all adopted pets, and many schools are hailing efforts to embed them in children’s ID cards. Meanwhile, manufacturers are using RFID tags, which consist of a flat antenna and an embedded chip that can be as small as a grain of sand, to track packages as their goods travel throughout the world.

The RFID industry has much bigger plans, and with tag prices dropping dramatically over the past three years, it’s primed to explode. An increasing number of retailers want to put RFID tags on every item in their stores, making manual inventory and even shoplifting things of the past. The health-care industry is planning to use RFID to track patients and cut down on medical errors, the US government wants to put chips in passports, and the European Union will soon embed the microchips in its currency. The American company VeriChip is already selling implantable forms of RFID — like the ones used in that Barcelona bar — similar to those used to track pets.

“RFID will revolutionize our lives and change the way we live,” says Dr. Peter Harrop, chairman of the RFID consulting company ID Tech EX, which sponsored an RFID trade show in Boston last month. Indeed, officials at MIT Auto-ID, a consortium of scientists and corporations that set up shop seven years ago to develop modern applications for the technology, say the tiny chips could one day be used to track every item on earth.