What a Week!

Our favorite books blog posted this today and we thought we’d share it with you.

(partial) Quote of the day:
…Ayn Rand, who is to traditionally female attributes like empathy and interpersonal relationships what Grover Norquist is to functioning government…Salon Magazine

(Rand was the author of Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, Anthem, We the Living, and The Virtues of Selfishness. Her philosophy of “objectivism” preached that self-interest was the only virtue and that altruism was both non-productive and a sham. Alan Greenspan, former head of the Federal Reserve Bank, is probably her most famous acolyte.)

If you've been paying attention, you knew that this week would be, if not pivotal, at least seminal in fulfilling the aspirations of our city's residents (including, by the way, them people).

There is so much happening on both sides of the struggle for New Albany's future that it could be a full-time job chronicling it. In the public, private, artistic, commercial, and philanthropic worlds, the last week of June 2008 may be remembered as "the little bang" from which our future evolved.

Marcia Nedland and Eileen Flanagan, nationally recognized experts in the resuscitation of cities, made a deep impression on more than 100 avid believers in progress. Apparently, New Albany stacks up pretty well when compared to other American cities...in its potential and in the spirit of those who are its stakeholders.

The urban core has seen a flare, and it's not an emergency flare, but a beacon that hope is on the way. The business community downtown experienced its expected two steps forward, one step back brand of progress. But it is progress, and measurable at that.

The Carnegie Center for Art and History heard very good news about the extent of its community support and its endowment campaign. The YMCA announced the launch of its membership drive, pounding the nail into the coffin of those who continue to treat its impending debut as if it were the eruption of Mount St. Helens, sending residents fleeing toward Birdseye and other points where progress is a "furrin" word.

Dramatic developments in the fight for electoral fairness should come to light in the next fortnight. The Redevelopment Commission authorized the sale of $2 million in bonds, partially to support the match for $983K in federal largesse toward the Ohio River Greenway project. And there even may be news on changes in the lineup of the City of New Albany's payroll.

For now, let us leave you with this query regarding headliner B.J. Thomas and the advertisements for the Independence Day Eve celebration, brought to you by Doug England and others...well, mostly by you, who probably didn't know that $35,000 in tax money was being expended to entertain us. When we read the item about Mr. Thomas (performer of Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head), we also read that he was known for having recorded I Can't Stop Believing and Hooked on a Feeling.

Are we addled, or are those last two the same song, or not?

Speaking of the July 3 cityfest, will you be there on site? We've heard rumors that it will be covered live by an emerging media organization. Could Cary Stemle, formerly of LEO, have built an organization already? If anyone has more information about this, please share it with us, won't you?

July 3 is, for those of you who slept through class, actually Independents Day, which makes it somewhat ironic that the Democrats will conduct the exercises. July 4 is Independence Day, which commemorates the Declaration of Independence promulgated 232 years ago next week.