An excellent essay about Sylvia by someone who did not see the film at the time of writing it can be found here. Readers are well advised to use the "more by user" feature, since there is a consistence excellence to his writing and reasoned thought that is often remarkable.

Chicago acted to settle a long standing lawsuit involving panhandlers. The problem: "Currently you can't have a blanket ban on panhandling like that," said Jennifer Hoyle, spokeswoman for the city's Law Department. "It's considered a limit on commercial speech." Those who have been ticketed can obtain $50, arrested $400. Of course, when dealing with this group, it is hard to deliver.

I would suggest going around and putting money in their cups. Panhandlers also can milk the settlement: promote their newly obtained status as fighters in support of the First Amendment. Panhandling is as popular, after all, as another group whose commercial speech rights are being threatened: telemarketers. Seriously, panhandlers have always provided an important resource -- putting a human face on the ills of society as well as allowing us to personally and directly attempt to deal with the problem. I do not think giving panhandlers money is always the best way to help them (but damn if the city, as NYC does through advertising, suggests I cannot decide to spend my money thusly), but covering up the problem by basically banning them (selectively enforced, of course) is not the solution either.

A nod, a bit early, to all those veterans out there, including those in active service. The LA Times had a pair of valuable stories on those currently fighting the imperfect fight in Iraq today. One gives a measured look at the morale of the troops, basically it is better than one can expect, and troubled in some ways as is understandable. Another article discusses those injured, a group we rarely hear about, many of whom owe their lives to improved battle armor. Veteran's Day is scheduled on the official date that WWI ended, a war with many tragedies for often worthless ends. Thus, I think it proper to honor veterans on this day while still remembering how much a mess war all too often turns out to be.