Moral compass

In the wake of former Asst Coach Jerry Sandusky’s conviction for child abuse, and the subsequent cover-up by top officials at Penn State, the NCAA has taken harsh actions.  NCAA President Mark Emmert announced this morning that it will impose a four-year ban on post-season play at Penn State, the loss of forty scholarships over four years, and a $60 million fine.  The money will go into a fund to aid victims and to prevent further abuse.  In addition, all Penn State football victories from 1998 to 2011 will be “vacated,” effectively erasing Joe Paterno’s record as the most successful football coach in division 1 history.  Needless to say, the financial impact on Penn State’s entire athletic and academic program will be severe.  Good!

The NCAA’s actions should stand as a beacon of light to other institutions.  Once the crime became apparent, instead of searching for some legal nuance that might let them off the hook, they imposed penalties harsh enough not only to punish the guilty parties but to serve as examples to others.  This is how we prevent crime, by letting people know that if they commit a crime and are caught, they will be punished.  The SEC, the FDA, the US Congress, the Catholic Church, would do well to take note.

"RUBY SPARKS"

I was recently put on the SAG nominating committee - a random choice, I assume - which allows me to vote on selected films.  I missed a couple while I was in New York, but went last night to see Ruby Sparks at the Linwood Theatre on Vine, which is inside the Motion Picture Academy.  It's kind of hallowed ground.  Lovely theatre.

Ruby Sparks is a dramedy about young novelist Calvin Weirsfield (Paul Dano) who is surprised to find that a character he has created for his new book has come to life.  Dano, a strong actor with over a dozen films to his credit, is known for playing some fairly strange characters: the silent brother in Little Miss Sunshine, the weird preacher (and his twin) in There Will Be Blood, and the science prodigy in Knight and Day.  He continues down the same path with another strong performance.

Zoe Kazan plays the title role in the film, for  which she wrote the screenplay.  Elia Kazan's granddaughter adds luster the family name and clearly has along future in the biz.

The supporting cast is all pro all the time: Chris Messina turns in an especially endearing performance as Calvin's brother; Annette Benning has made a seamless transition into middle age as she plays Calvin's hippie mother in Big Sur; Antonio Banderas is charming as Bennings' second husband; and Elliott Gould is delightful as Calvin's therapist.

The movie rocks back and forth - a little screwball comedy here, a little psycho-drama there, but it's well worth the popcorn.

Insecurity

The Olympic Games begin in London in less that two weeks and G4S, the multi-national security corporation, was chosen to provide security.  They have fallen somewhat short.  At the last possible moment, they confessed that they were unable to secure the 10,000 guards for which they had been paid, and could only manage fewer than 5,000.  British military and police will have to make up the difference.  Apparently they could have hired the full compliment of guards, but that would have meant hiring and training in advance, and that would not have been cost effective.  So they chose to simply wait and hope for the best.  I think it's worth mentioning that G4S is the largest supplier of private security in the US, including their work at nuclear and petro-chemical facilities.  How surprised will we be when their incompetence results in a disaster at home?  The G4S web site includes a list of its corporate values.  You can see them below.  

      CORPORATE VALUES

      Customer Focus – we have close, open relationships with our customers that generate trust and we work in partnership for the mutual benefit of our organizations

• Expertise – we develop and demonstrate our expertise through our innovative and leading-edge approach to creating and delivering the right solution
• Performance – we challenge ourselves to improve performance year-on-year and to create long-term sustainability
• Best People – we always take care to employ the best people, develop their competence, provide opportunities and inspire them to live our values
• Integrity – we can always be trusted to do the right thing
• Teamwork & Collaboration – we collaborate for the benefit of G4S as a whole

This debacle strikes me as a perfect metaphor for our current economy.  When I saw the recent headline, "City of San Bernadino declares bankruptcy," I thought, where were they six months ago?  A year ago?  How does bankruptcy "sneak up" on you?  Isn't it a question of simple math: Running the city costs this much, our revenues are this much and ... uh oh!  Shouldn't they have seen this coming?  

I don't buy the surprised looks on the faces of the San Berndino city counsel any more than I buy the mea culpa from the CEO of G4S.  This is a top-down society, and those at the top should all be held criminally responsible for the actions of their organizations.

HEADLINES

Do you keep up with current events?  I'd consider myself a newshound: I watch the network news every night, always have, my entire adult life; during the week I watch at least three or four hours of political commentary; I read the paper every day - not cover-to-cover, to be sure, but a quick scan at least - plus, I always read the Opinion page to see what both conservatives and liberals are saying publicly.  That might be a little over the top, but I genuinely believe that an informed electorate is our only defense against tyranny - not a great defense, but the only one we have.

I don't read LA EXTRA, the small, added section at the front of the paper that, I assume, focuses on local issues.  But I was up early this morning and there it was, so I gave it a look.  Here's a rundown of the headlines on the front page:

Former jail official tells of brutality - corruption in the prison system

Convict in fatal arson wins ruling - an arsonist (two fatalities) gets a chance to challenge his conviction

Video ties pair to pimp's killing, prosecutor says - a teenaged prostitute's parents seeking revenge

Parasite linked to risk of suicide - the parasite breeds in cats; the suicides are the female owners; I didn't read any further

Scott Peterson appeals guilty verdict - this is the guy convicted of killing his pregnant wife, Laci, in Northern California a decade ago.

I'm pretty sure this is not the information the electorate needs to build that vital defense.  There is nothing about the local economy, the bullet train, our crumbling roads, how the Affordable Healthcare Act will affect the Southland, or the coming election.  "If it bleeds it leads" may well be a time-honored tradition in journalism, but perhaps it's time to rethink that formula.