Dynamist Blog

TARIFF TOLL

The San Jose Mercury News editorializes against the steel tariffs, with a California angle:

But President Bush's steel tariffs, which were intended to score political points in key manufacturing states, have already proven to be bad economics in California. They've hurt a slew of small, struggling manufacturers and even threatened to bust the budget for retrofitting the Bay Bridge.

Worse, if the president refuses to lift the tariffs, which the World Trade Organization ruled were illegal on Monday, locally grown produce from avocados to oranges, lemons and rice, could end up rotting in shipping containers, the victims of retaliation in a looming trade war. Other California products such as clothes and machinery could be held hostage as well.

The steel tariffs were always about electoral politics -- not economics. They amounted to a giveaway to antiquated and inefficient steel producers in states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia, which Bush needs to win to get re-elected. In the tug of war between the president's economic advisers, who opposed the tariffs, and his political advisers, who favored them, the latter prevailed.

The tariffs have given breathing room to some beleaguered steel markers and saved some jobs in that industry. But they've hurt the makers of everything from washing machines to auto parts, who have had to pay higher prices for steel. The higher prices dampen hiring and, ironically, accelerate the migration of jobs overseas.

The Rove Tariffs, as Andrew Sullivan calls them, don't just hurt California, a state Bush won't win anyway. The tariffs hurt the American economy as a whole, they hurt America's credibility abroad, and they definitely hurt the administration's credibility on economic issues. If there's one thing Candidate Bush appeared to believe in his heart of hearts, it was that free trade is good. If you can't trust him on a small, obvious policy issue like this one, how can you trust him on more difficult questions?

DREADING LONDON

David Frum and Andrew Sullivan are predicting a public relations disaster when President Bush visits London. David writes:

President Bush is scheduled to travel Sunday to Britain to spend three days in Buckingham Palace as a guest of Queen Elizabeth. No doubt he and Prime Minister Blair have much to discuss at this critical juncture of the war on terror. Nevertheless, we have to face some unwelcome facts. President Bush is not widely popular in Britain. He will not receive a warm welcome from the larger British public. Meanwhile, a vociferous and often violent minority is planning massive protests in central London.

British police have responded to the threat of unrest by banning demonstrators from the area immediately around Parliament. But the cameras will follow wherever the protesters go, and the images those cameras will broadcast — of enraged masses hurling themselves at barricades to be beaten back by police — will look equally awful whether the protests take place 100 yards or 100 blocks from Big Ben.

For a tourist, three days is a very short stay. But for the President of the United States to spend so long in one foreign country represents a huge commitment of time: It's as long as a G-8 meeting for example, the most important summit of the year. The president will surely use the time well. But so will the protesters. And the British, American, and global viewing publics will be treated to every screeching minute of those raucous 72 hours.

David, who knows Bush better than I ever will, suspects p.r. sabotage within the U.S. government. But maybe Bush is just stubborn--not one to back down in the face of protests. Texans are a stiff-necked people.

DALLAS FUNDRAISER FOR 9/11 VICTIMS

After 9/11, Mark Anthony Stroman went on a shooting spree, attacking convenience store and gas station owners who looked like Arabs or Muslims. He was convicted of killing Vasudev Patel and, Texas being Texas, sentenced to death. But, as this DMN account reports, life has been hard for Patel's family, not just emotionally but financially.

As is gratifyingly common in Dallas, locals are organizing to raise money to help the family. My D Magazine colleague (she actually works there) Jennifer Chininis blogs about an upcoming fundraiser:

A few weeks after September 11, 2001, Vasudev Patel, a Hindu immigrant from northern India and U.S. citizen, was shot and killed in his convenience store/gas station in Mesquite. Since then, his wife Alka has bravely kept the convenience store open and has been raising their two children by herself. Susie Priorie, Carol Brettell, and D Magazine contributing photographer Nan Coulter want to help Alka and her family, so they are holding a fundraiser on Sunday, November 23, from 5-7 p.m., at Susie's restaurant, Iris. Please join them for Indian food, Indian music, wine, and conviviality. Admission is a $50 donation at the door to the Children of Alka Patel Fund.

Given my travel schedule, I'm not sure I'll be able to attend, but if you're in the area, it sounds like fun for a worthy cause. Here's info on Iris, the restaurant where the fundraiser is being held.

ROAD TRIPS

I'm on the road again, as I will be most of this month, speaking today at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati and then flying to New York. I'll be speaking to NYU urban planning students tomorrow afternoon. The talk is open to the public but requires RSVPs. If you'd like to attend, see details on the book tour page. I've recently updated the page, adding some new dates and cities. Next week, I'll be in St. Louis and Rochester, NY.

In March, I have unrelated trips to Clearwater Beach, FL, and Santa Fe. If you have a group in either area that would be interested in sponsoring an event while I'm in town, please contact me.

WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT THE WTO

This A.P. report says that the WTO's ruling against U.S. tariffs "is squeezing the White House between political and economic interests as President Bush weighs the sanctions' fate -- and his reelection prospects." Actually, what the WTO ruling does is tip the domestic political balance against protectionism. Its threat of retaliatory tariffs gives the steel-consuming industries potential allies in other industries. And, most important, it gives the Bush administration Big Bad Foreigners to blame for forcing it to do what it knows is right.

ANOTHER Q&A

Sci-tech reporter James Pethokoukis of U.S. News interview me via email on aesthetic matters from perky Paige Davis of Trading Spaces to the future of education.

REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS

I have finally gotten around to updating the reviews page for The Substance of Style. The list is in reverse-chronological order, starting with Saturday's fine review in the Financial Times.

I'm doing my best to make the list comprehensive, so if I've missed something you know about, please let me know. When I have more time--this is a hectic travel week--I'll respond to a few of the more interesting and/or aggravating reviews.

DOES THIS WORK?

The latest variation on the Nigerian spam scam sympathetically invokes the memory of one of the late 20th century's great butchers--a mere "nationalist" by this account:

with due respect, l apologize for intruding as we have not known ourselves or met previously. Despite that, I am constrained to write you this letter because of my present situation.

I am Mrs. Amina Amin, the widow of the late Military Head of state of Uganda Present Idi Amin; He died at 8:20 a.m. Saturday 9th of August 2003[1:20 a.m. EDT] at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia.

In spite of the above, I am presently receiving treatment in a specialist hospital at Cotonou in Republic of Benin for a chronic heart disease that has almost paralyzed me and affected my immune system, and as a result of my present condition l have decided to seek for your help in assisting to concluding a pending business arrangement. The funds to carry out this project are presently deposited with a Finance company abroad.

The funds emanates from Kickbacks from contract , which my late husband has executed with Saudi Arabian Government for export of Crude Oil. Amin's rule was marked by extreme nationalism, as thus the international communities saw my husband's leadership as bad governance, and this led to the imposition of sanctions on members of our families. Having been going through agonizing and excruciating circumstances which have given rise to my very poor state of health, l now seize this opportunity to seek in confidence your assistance in fronting as a close family ally in receiving the funds on my behalf as all the documents to formalize this project would be made available to you upon the receipt of your consent.

If my confidential terms are ok by you, you must promise me that you will use a certain percentage of the money as donation to charitable organizations in your country, while part of the money will be used to support same programs in Africa. L have a daughter who is Fifteen years of age and my share of the fund will be made available to her when she becomes of age. If you are ready to act accordingly in this manner, l will give you the co-ordinates of my lawyer to enable you liaise and sign the agreement documents, before handing over the full information that would enable you conclude this project on my behalf.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Mrs. Amina Amin

I can't feel too bad for people who fall for this particular scam.

BETTER-LOOKING BOXES

031110-36A.jpg

Like Wal-Mart, Home Depot wants to go into urban markets and, like Wal-Mart, it's finding that urbanites have higher aesthetic expectations--in this case, not just for the stores' exteriors but for inside as well. Here's an account from Engineering News-Record.

These stores don't fit into Home Depot's typical format. Inner-city logic dictates a smaller store than the usual 150,000-sq-ft concrete box, as well as a more aesthetic interior, free from the cracked, dusty floors and low-level lighting of some older stores.

Ironically, many of the rough-looking warehouse features of older Home Depot properties were part of the company's original marketing objective. In earlier years, Home Depot lured do-it-yourselfers and small contractors by making them feel as if they were in a warehouse serving "professional contractors." In reality, professionals only make up about one-third of total sales, although the company says it is trying to attract more with special services.

The gimmick paid off in billions, but one competitor, Lowe's, Wilkesboro, N.C., is closing in with annual revenue of $26.5 billion and shoppers are flocking to buildings that are navigable, organized and well-maintained. "The customers today aren't looking for skidmarks and sawdust anymore, they're looking for a bright, clean store," says [Rich] Marshall [Home Depot's vice president of construction].

Over time, I expect the better-looking stores to spread beyond the cities to revamped suburban "big boxes."

KILLING KIDS

Courtesy of Google News, this Scotsman report emphasizes the smallest, and most numerous, victims of the blast in Saudi Arabia.

CHILDREN's toys lay among the shattered concrete that littered the road. Sofas, baths and beds hung precariously from half collapsed buildings, while charred palm trees and twisted car metal surrounded the deep crater that lay at the heart of the once-peaceful Saudi housing compound yesterday.

The number of people killed in Saturdayï¿s attack on the Muhaya residential compound in Riyadh was still uncertain last night. Saudi authorities said it was 17; diplomats said it could be between 20 and 30 with more than 100 injured, the majority of them children. Many of the adults from the compound were out having dinners and parties late into the night, relaxing after the day-long fast of Ramadan, when the bombers struck.

These kids were Arabs and Muslims:

Initially, Britons and Americans were thought to be among the casualties but last night, it appeared all the victims were Muslims from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Sudan and Egypt.

Gaby Kallas, 44, from the Lebanon, said he heard gunfire and three explosions when the ceiling of the compound cafeteria where he and his friends were meeting collapsed. "I rushed home about two blocks away and found my family OK," Mr Kallas said.

"Oh God, this is unbelievable, heartbreaking," cried another young Lebanese businessman who moved into the compound only four months ago. "I feel like I am lost. Everything is gone. I survived the Lebanese war for ten years and I never saw anything like this.

"I know a lot of beautiful people who left their homeland to build a future here.

"There was an amazing community spirit. We lived together and prayed together. It was unbelievable. This was the place we could come home at the end of the day and just forget where we were. Now, it's gone."

I wonder if Al-Jazeera had its usual gory pictures? Here's the network's online English-language report.

Dan Darling at Winds of Change has a great post on the bombing, with lots of background and links. (Via InstaPundit.)

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