The current system is not serving us well, and should be changed. But having survived two public referendums, any change to the current system would have to be put to the voters to have any legitimacy.

With 11 years of experience (combined at the state and national level), Obama is more experienced than 11 of the 19 presidents elected since 1900 (that's presidents, not just candidates, Rudy). And he's tied with one more (Eisenhower).

And if you are looking for a correlation between prior experience and performance as president, there isn't one. If anything, the correlation for "great" presidents tends to be slightly inverse. The list of "great" presidents with less experience includes Lincoln, Truman, John Adams, both Roosevelts and Wilson. "Great" presidents with more experience? Jackson, Jefferson and Washington. (And again, Eisenhower is a push.)

Will Obama be a great president (or even a decent one) based on his level experience? Who knows. Will McCain be a great (or even decent) president because of his 26 years* of experience as a Senator and Representative? Not if Gerald Ford and James Buchanan are any indication (but again, who knows).

Huh?

Moon River Chattel (which the article cites) has been around since 1995. Portmanteau (also cited) is a newcomer, but all of the other stores at the west end of Grand Street have been around a while. That includes Cosmo Modern (close to ten years?), Two Jakes (OK, used office furniture is not antiques) and Carl Chaffee and Modest Designs (the shared modern spaces at the corner of South 1st and Wythe - maybe the Sun doesn't consider mid-century modern to be antique, but the stuff sells for a lot more than most other "antiques"). Add to that Golden Calf (North 6th and Wythe), which started out at South 1st and Wythe close to 10 years ago.

I suppose the Sun is trying to draw a distinction between "the innumerable thrift, vintage, and secondhand stores" in the neighborhood and bona fide antique stores, but its a stupid distinction. There has been a market for higher-end vintage furniture for well over a decade now (M and White on White were here in the 1990s). That includes the mid-century modern pieces at Modest and the ancient Chinese pieces at Golden Calf. It sure doesn't seem to me that we have suddenly crossed the line into curated "antiques".

Oh, and this doesn't inspire much confidence in the system either.

These concerts are the last bastion of what this neighborhood has come to represent over the past 10 or 15 years. If they leave, Williamsburg will become just another SoHo. [JellyNYC's founder Alexander Kane]

The parking requirements written into the zoning code are almost 50 years old. They date to a time when it was assumed that the car was the future for New York and every other city. I think we know better now, but we are still living with zoning requirements based on a decidedly mid-20th Century mindset.

Oh, and even if the foundation was poured by the deadline, the project still "must make timely progress on the building until its completion". So you can't pour a foundation and walk away for a couple of years waiting for the market to improve.