The President is a baller, for real, but is he a cost-cutter?

NO RAISES FOR YOU!

Today’s Pilot leads with a big red ball, representing the deficit, and a tiny white ball, representing the amount of money that will be saved by the pay freeze announced by Obama yesterday. You can’t find this story in the online edition of the Pilot, however, so I’m linking to the coverage in the New York Daily News, which ran the inflammatory headline: Federal workers rage over President Obama’s two-year wage freeze.

I saw the Prez announcing the pay freeze yesterday while I was at the gym. I walked up to the TV and took a close look. “Yep, 12 stitches,” I said. Then I moved on, not very interested in the subject. I might have felt differently if I were a federal employee (anger that I won’t be buying the Sony Move to enhance my PS3 this year), I suppose. Or a tea partier (anger, but not surprise, that Obama didn’t just fire half the federal employees instead). Rather, I felt a sort of vague empathy for the employees who wouldn’t be getting raises, and a vague uneasiness that our economic times demand such an action, and a vague agreement with the president’s newfound budgetary discipline. I think that puts me right in the middle of the political spectrum, lumped in with most Americans.

Actually, the stitches interested me more, and I found this story in the New York Daily News (bringing you a daily dose of lurid fluff) that places Obama’s wound in the context of other presidential recreational injuries.

Party responsibly, people

An illegal warehouse party held last New Year’s Eve ended abruptly when the NPD broke it up. 400 people were dancing in a building at 25th St and Monticello, but the party had no permits and the facility was not zoned for that kind of action. Oh, and a 27-year-old woman overdosed in the parking lot and died 10 days later.

Lesson: when you throw a party, whether you like it or not, you are taking responsibility for the safety of your attendees. Holding an unsanctioned event in a firetrap could result in serious mayhem. Remember that when you’re making plans this New Year’s Eve.

Virginia cleans up its cleanup plan

Two months ago, Virginia submitted a draft plan that spelled out, in vague and noncommittal terms, how the state would meet new mandatory pollution limits for the Chesapeake Bay. The EPA said, effectively, “try again.” So, yesterday the state offered its revised proposal, which includes more specific actions, such as reducing nitrogen pollution from sewage plants, tax credits to assist homeowners with replacing aging septic systems, a mandatory 35-foot buffer between croplands and streams, and an expansion of the nutrient trading system used in the state to trade pollution credits. It seems more comprehensive and realistic than the previous version, but environmental groups such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (which panned the first draft) have not had enough time to comment on it yet. I’ll be visiting http://www.cbf.org later today to see if they’ve published a reaction…

Say goodbye to the NET, maybe

The city proposes to end the free NET bus service that runs downtown. In a meeting with residents yesterday, many expressed frustration with this plan. Drew Ungvarsky, president of Grow Interactive, a downtown business, explained that many of his employees commute to work on the NET, and that its cancellation would cause hardship for downtown workers who depend on the service to pick them up from the less expensive satellite parking lots outside of the downtown area. We’ll have to see if these appeals will be enough to save the service.

“All my characters are gay”

This story made me smile. Johnny Depp says in an interview with Vanity Fair that Disney hated his limp-wristed Captain Sparrow character in Pirates of the Caribbean. The role was good enough for an Oscar nomination, but the actor says Disney was less than thrilled. Depp said Disney “couldn’t stand” his Sparrow, and one person there even asked if Sparrow was gay. Depp told the Disney executive, “all my characters are gay,” and he said that “really made her nervous.” Captain Sparrow’s entrance in the first movie, standing atop the mast of his sinking ship, is a great moment in contemporary film.

Disney is pretty thorough with removing clips of their films from YouTube, so I can’t find the one I was looking for, but I did find this blooper reel. Enjoy.

Who’s your favorite Depp character? Or does he make you nervous?