Magic Wand

For folks confounded by the process of setting up a videocassette recorder to tape a show in absentia ("time shifting"), help is on the way. Later this year, Panasonic, Quasar and Magnavox will introduce a VCR that's programmed with a digital magic wand. Just wave this hand- held scanner three times over a card, then point it at the VCR, press a button and voila! Your recorder will be all set to capture that once-in-a-lifetime television program coming up in a week, a month or maybe even a year away.

For folks confounded by the process of setting up a videocassette recorder to tape a show in absentia ("time shifting"), help is on the way. Later this year, Panasonic, Quasar and Magnavox will introduce a VCR that's programmed with a digital magic wand. Just wave this hand- held scanner three times over a card, then point it at the VCR, press a button and voila! Your recorder will be all set to capture that once-in-a-lifetime television program coming up in a week, a month or maybe even a year away.

I love the Harry Potter books. A world in which problems can be made to disappear with the flick of a wand is attractive. But adults know that anything worth doing can't simply be waved into existence. Calling on the government to solve problems usually involves fantasizing. The fairy tale begins with the words "The government should ... " and ends with a litany of wonderful results. How we get from start to finish is anyone's guess. The latest example of such fantasizing is in the debate about alcohol markets.

"It's a rip-off!" shouted John Moscatelli. "It's insulting," added Dean Troutman. "It's the biggest fraud I've ever seen in my life," chimed in Melissa Sanel. "Liberace would have never pulled anything like this. " These were just a few of the raving reviews offered by audience members storming out of the King's Court Showroom at Trump's Castle Hotel & Casino Friday night. In Atlantic City, even a nightclub show can be a gamble. The evening's eagerly anticipated entertainment was comedian-movie star Steve Martin, whose grinning face beamed at fans from billboards along area highways and from glossy posters in the hotel's gilded corridors.

I call them magic-wand moments. They often came during interviews with the five Democratic candidates for mayor this spring. Presented with a vexing, hellacious problem the solution of which has eluded the last five mayors, some of the candidates some of the time couldn't resist the impulse: They solved the problem with a metaphorical wave of a magic wand. Voil?! See? It has disappeared. Simple as that. Take the issue of poverty. As Jesus reminded us, the poor we shall always have with us. Nearly one out of every four Philadelphians lives in poverty.

Yzerman named GM Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman is the Tampa Bay Lightning's new general manager, taking on the task of rebuilding a franchise that has fallen on hard times since winning its only Stanley Cup six years ago. The former Detroit Red Wings captain and executive was introduced Tuesday. "There is no easy fix," Yzerman said. "I don't sit up here with the notion that there is a magic wand I can wave and make changes and we're a Stanley Cup contender. I plan on making the Lightning better for the upcoming season, but the long-term goal is to make this team a perennial contender.

RE "Stem Cells: The Inconvenient Truth," the op-ed by Christine Flowers, I have one thing to say: Ring, ring, this is reality calling . . . Ms. Flowers says that "after years of research and unrealistic expectations, the results are still disappointing. " But if researchers had government funding and support, more substantive results may occur. We simply can't throw away promising scientific research just because it isn't yielding immediate results, especially when greater government funding is likely to enhance those results considerably.

Don Pooley used his putter as a magic wand and fired a 6-under-par 65 yesterday for a course-record 131 for 36 holes in the $700,000 Bank of Boston Classic. Pooley, who has won only two tournaments while earning nearly $2 million in 14 years on the pro tour, charged into a 2-stroke lead over Brad Faxon in the 72-hole tournament at Pleasant Valley Country Club. SAFECO CLASSIC KENT, Wash. - Pat Bradley fired a 67 to grab a share of the lead with Cindy Rarick in the second round of the $300,000 tournament.

It was a tough choice. Stay at home and watch Pee-wee's Playhouse on television or go to the Delaware County Symphony's rehearsal, featuring Mozart's Don Giovanni Overture, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor and Schubert's Symphony No. 9. Forty or so children opted for the latter and heard the symphony at Delaware County Community College in Marple on Saturday. It was hard to tell if their parents had coaxed or cajoled them into attending. One boy and his buddy were promised a Burger King lunch if they behaved properly.

A Moorestown man was nominated yesterday to head the state's troubled Division of Motor Vehicles, but Attorney General W. Cary Edwards said the public should not expect any "magic wand" solutions to the agency's problems. Gov. Kean said he had selected Glenn Paulsen, an assistant commissioner in the state Department of Labor, to run the division and implement a series of proposed changes designed to make the agency more efficient and customer- oriented. If approved by the Senate, Paulsen would replace Robert Kline, who announced yesterday that he would resign April 4 after nine tumultuous months as the division's acting director.

I love the Harry Potter books. A world in which problems can be made to disappear with the flick of a wand is attractive. But adults know that anything worth doing can't simply be waved into existence. Calling on the government to solve problems usually involves fantasizing. The fairy tale begins with the words "The government should ... " and ends with a litany of wonderful results. How we get from start to finish is anyone's guess. The latest example of such fantasizing is in the debate about alcohol markets.

With Tim Gleason off the market after signing a four-year, $16 million extension with Carolina this week, the Flyers may turn their attention to two other defensemen: The Hurricanes' Bryan Allen and Montreal's Hal Gill.   Allen, a rugged 6-foot-5, 226-pounder, is on the Flyers' radar, according to a league source. He would have to waive a no-trade clause in order to be dealt.   Allen, 31, has a $2.9 million cap hit and he can become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Yzerman named GM Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman is the Tampa Bay Lightning's new general manager, taking on the task of rebuilding a franchise that has fallen on hard times since winning its only Stanley Cup six years ago. The former Detroit Red Wings captain and executive was introduced Tuesday. "There is no easy fix," Yzerman said. "I don't sit up here with the notion that there is a magic wand I can wave and make changes and we're a Stanley Cup contender. I plan on making the Lightning better for the upcoming season, but the long-term goal is to make this team a perennial contender.

AS INTERIM chief executive officer of the Philadelphia schools in 2000-2001, there were many days I wished I'd a magic wand to make board members disappear. I had a job to do, so how could I answer all their questions, from the mundane to the important to the inappropriate? So I can understand how School Superintendent Arlene Ackerman might've been frustrated by inquisitive SRC member Heidi Ramirez, who recently announced her resignation, citing her frustration at being ignored.

When Barack Obama takes the oath as the first African American president of the United States on Tuesday, gazing down the National Mall at the Lincoln Memorial, man and moment will meet in an instant remarkable for a nation once torn by slavery. So history already has placed an enormous burden of expectation on Obama's shoulders. But he also comes to power invested with the hopes and fears of an anxious nation facing the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression and fighting two foreign wars.

I READ with anger, sorrow and disgust how Officer Patrick McDonald was assassinated in broad daylight after a routine traffic stop. My fury deepened when I noted people directing anger at the cops. Are you nuts? You complain about crime in your neighborhoods, but do any of you complainers lift a finger to change things? Do you think a fairy will come out of the sky, wave his magic wand and make everything better? Kelly White said, "Cops are always using unnecessary force. " Excuse me - the officer was performing a traffic stop when your "victim" ran. If he wasn't wanted, there would be no need to run. The police are trying to eradicate maggots like Daniel Giddings, and when they do their job, they're criticized.

Of all the ideas on how to combat global warming, few have stronger appeal than producing cars that get better mileage. The Sierra Club says a boost in fuel-economy standards "is the biggest single policy step" the government can take. Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) advised the auto industry in May that this change would "help bring it into the 21st century. " And last month, the Senate voted to require that each automaker's fleet of cars and trucks average at least 35 miles to the gallon by 2020.

I call them magic-wand moments. They often came during interviews with the five Democratic candidates for mayor this spring. Presented with a vexing, hellacious problem the solution of which has eluded the last five mayors, some of the candidates some of the time couldn't resist the impulse: They solved the problem with a metaphorical wave of a magic wand. Voil?! See? It has disappeared. Simple as that. Take the issue of poverty. As Jesus reminded us, the poor we shall always have with us. Nearly one out of every four Philadelphians lives in poverty.

RE "Stem Cells: The Inconvenient Truth," the op-ed by Christine Flowers, I have one thing to say: Ring, ring, this is reality calling . . . Ms. Flowers says that "after years of research and unrealistic expectations, the results are still disappointing. " But if researchers had government funding and support, more substantive results may occur. We simply can't throw away promising scientific research just because it isn't yielding immediate results, especially when greater government funding is likely to enhance those results considerably.

If this is the winter of Philadelphia sports fans' discontent, imagine being Ed Snider. Snider, 74, heads Comcast-Spectacor, which owns the Flyers and the 76ers. Both teams are enduring dramatic, unprecedented slumps this season. "I'm miserable," Snider said Friday in an interview from his home near Santa Barbara, Calif. He said the Sixers, a young team, will improve. And not with Larry Brown returning to the bench as coach, he said. "We have a coach," Snider said, referring to Maurice Cheeks.