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Wednesday, June 30, 2004
...to commit petty acts of vandalism against the brave souls of the left. At least that's what you would be lead to believe after reading the latest drivel from Laura Billings at the St. Paul Pioneer Press:
A friend is considering scraping the "No War in Iraq" sticker off her bumper, convinced that it is the cause of the rising number of unexplained dents and dings on her high-mileage vehicle. A neighbor who once displayed a "Howard Dean" sign believes it attracted a higher than usual amount of dog poop in the front lawn. Dang. You're on to us Laura. Every Saturday afternoon after the Northern Alliance Radio Network show we all hop in Hindrocket's Jag, light up the stogies, and drive around Minneapolis and St. Paul laughing maniacally and looking for rusty Suburas with anti-war stickers so we can park real close and ding the doors. I'm not sure who's masterminding the campaign to crush dissent with dog poop, but it wouldn't surprise me if Jasper wasn't somehow behind it. Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
Paul e-mails to point out this post at Beautiful Atrocities which juxtiposes reviews from the same critics of Farenheit 911 with The Passion of the Christ. As Paul says, it is amazing how many of them lauded Moore while decrying Gibson as a pornographer.
Labels: Movies
Fraters reader Joe B. writes in with some constructive criticism for the production of "The Invisible Hand":
Don't forget to have CEO's and boards of directors thrashing around on the floor dying. And farmers as well. Those two groups alone take orders of magnitude more money from federal coffers than the poor. Die! Die! Die! Not sure how many of the "poor" exist in government, the media, the arts, and academia, but point well taken Joe. A piece of friendly advice for any liberals brave enough to see "The Invisible Hand". Just keep repeating to yourself "it's only a movie, it's only a movie". As a service to them, we will have an ambulance parked out in front of the theater, ready to go with it's engine running and sirens blaring. But we will have to ask all patrons to sign a liability waver form upon entering. And if you have a heart condition (a heart?) we beg you not to see this movie. Labels: Economics
Yesterday I had an idea for a movie.
Genre: horror/economics Setting: the present day, mid-sized American metropolitan area. Plot: Everything seems perfectly normal in Urbantown USA, until one day members of the press, academia, the arts, and government bureaucracies start mysteriously thrashing about and dropping dead at work, in full view of their coworkers. All due to strangulation. No assailant is ever seen. Title: The Invisible Hand Tag line: In a world where where government spending was out of control, no force on Earth could control the ravenous appetite of the public sector. No force ..... on Earth. Alternate tag line: Great nations are never impoverished by private, though they sometimes are by public prodigality and misconduct. The whole, or almost the whole public revenue, is in most countries employed in maintaining unproductive hands... Such people, as they them-selves produce nothing, are all maintained by the produce of other men's labour... Those unproductive hands, who should be maintained by a part only of the spare revenue of the people, may consume so great a share of their whole revenue, and thereby oblige so great a number to encroach upon their capitals, upon the funds destined for the maintenance of productive labour, that all the frugality and good conduct of individuals may not be able to compensate the waste and degradation of produce occasioned by this violent and forced encroachment. The story needs to be fleshed out a little bit, but this baby writes itself. Anybody out there getting me a thirty page treatment by the end of the week gets cut in on the gross. For the cast, I envision Heather Graham in the lead role. She'll play the intrepid, brilliant classical economics professor (Dr. Erika Love) who finally connects the dots and begs the authorities to limit the rate of growth in government spending to that of inflation. Before it's too late! The thrilling climax of the movie occurs during her riveting testimony about the Quantity Theory in front the Senate Budget Committee. I, of course, will play her love interest, the handsome, cadish blogger (Paul Saint). While she painstakingly cracks the case, risking life and limb in the process, I sit back and make sarcastic comments. I see a Summer 2007 release. Summer 2008 will bring the release of the sequel - "The Invisible Hand 2: The Wrath of Keynes" Labels: Economics Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Jim e-mails to observe:
While reading the New York Times article on John Kerry's recent Hollywood fundraiser, I came across this sentence in the twelfth paragraph: "Mr. Kerry, as he is happy to tell you, has longstanding friendships with James Taylor and Carly Simon, as well as with Mr. Affleck and Matt Damon, but he lacks the cachet of Mr. Clinton in these parts." I decided to check Neighbor Search to see how much money these wealthy and famous longtime friends donated to John Kerry. I came up with nothing for the singer James Taylor, however Carly Simon's only donation was $1500 to Howard Dean. Ben Affleck donated $2000 to Wesley Clark and $1000 to Dennis Kucinich. Not a dime to John Kerry. Matt Damon gave $2000 to Dennis Kucinich. Again, nothing to Kerry. All three will no doubt donate the full $2000 to Kerry, but it is interesting that Kerry seems to have been the second or third choice of these supposed longtime friends in the Democratic primary (assuming the NY Times story is accurate--a risky assumption, I admit). Labels: Politics-National (02-04)
As a way to deal with the pain of losing her, Martin Zellar's brother has been concocting his own Plain Layne fantasies:
We also once, on a complete lark, went to New York for the weekend to see Urinetown, purely because we had been concocting elaborate and far-fetched speculative versions of our own for months. My favorite was Layne's take-off, based on Oliver, where the hard-drinking and weak-bladdered denizens of a squalid village in England relieve themselves any- and everywhere, and where the streets run with urine and the characters break into riotous song as they make their contributions to the river of piss ("Piss, glorious piss! Never before has a piss felt like this!" Or: "You're in, you're in, you're in Urinetown, where continence is frowned upon." And, finally, Layne's twist on 'Kiss On My List,' the Hall and Oates' classic: "Oh piss! Oh piss is on my list/Oh piss is on my list/of the best things in life!"). I think I miss that Layne even more than the authentic fake one. Somebody please let me know when the mourning, support group blog starts for Zellar's creation. Labels: Blogs-Local
Today the City Pages comments on the continuing Plain Layne crisis. Celebrity blogger Mitch Berg makes another appearance:
Just as it seemed that Layne had disappeared into the ether, the online investigation unit uncovered more information. Mitch Berg, author of ShotInTheDark.com and member of the right-wing Midwestern blogger association Northern Alliance of Blogs revealed that he was "99 percent certain" he knew Plain Layne." There it is. In the paper, so it must true. We're in the right wing! I'll be checking my mailbox for the membership card and the instructions for the secret handshake . It's also news that the Northern Alliance is an "association." Did someone go and incorporate us without me knowing? If so, that's great. Just let me know how I can start claiming myself as a nonprofit organization on my taxes. Labels: Blogs-Local
This weekend Barbara Streisand attempted to get into the novelty song business, parodying her own lyrics to "People" with this attempt at sticking it to George W. Bush. A sampling:
PEOPLE I MEAN G - O - P - EOPLE - WHO'D BELIEVE THERE'S SUCH PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD? BUSH SEEZA LOTTA CONDOLEEZA, THEY'RE DIVIDING THE PLANET'S OIL ACCORDING TO RICHARD "POIL" AND THEY'RE ALL JUST TRAINEES OF CHENEY'S. I don't think Weird Al or Ray Stevens has anything to worry about. Although I would like to see what Streisand could do with the Stevens classic A-Hab the A-Rab. Jennifer from Eagan writes in with her own parody of Streisand's "The Way We Were": Activism--turns on the bulb of my tiny mind. I don't think Bush caused 9/11 --but they say "that's the way things were." Scattered pictures of Kerry at the communion rail. Sees no contradiction being Catholic and pro-choice. Wants to propose abortions by mail. Can it be that I'm such a simpleton? Fundraising for John Kerry who supports men marrying men? If we have the chance to vote for Dukakis again tell me, would we, could we? Memories of beheadings on the internet. 911, torture, and terrorists--we simply choose to forget. So it's the laughter, the belief in God and heaven. Whenever we remember our world before 911. I wish we could go back to being "The Way We Were". That's great stuff. I'm sure it would be even better if I knew the melody to that sappy song, but I'll trust Jennifer nailed the meter exactly. For more on Streisand and more song parodies, check out Tim Blair and his commenters. Tim Blair and the Commenters, now that's a band I'd pay to see. Labels: Music, You Got Your Politics In My ...
Putting Potosi on the map:
Potosi, Wis., a town of about 700 people where a brewery named after the community operated for 120 years, has been chosen to house a museum of U.S. brewery memorabilia. The American Breweriana Association, which convened in Denver earlier this month, selected the southwestern Wisconsin river town over Milwaukee, where the Miller Brewing Co. is based, and St. Louis, the home of Anheuser-Busch. Association President Len Chylack said the collectors' group made the choice because of Potosi's passion for beer, brewery history and beer-making culture. The museum is to go into a renovated building where the Potosi Brewery operated from 1852 to 1972. It will display beer cans, bottles, trays, coasters, glasses and other items that sport the name of any U.S. brewery. A passion for beer? Sounds like my kinda town. Labels: Beer
News reaches us this morning that radical St. Paul bookstore Ruminator Books is finally closing. After years of sketchy financial performance and poor business decisions by its owner Dave Unowsky, the lease holder, Macalaster College, pulled the plug on it this week.
I've written previously (here and here) on the efforts by DFL City Councilman Jay Benanav to channel tax dollars into this floundering enterprise. I'm happy to read that his ill conceived scheme to publicly subsidize a failing business never came to fruition: St. Paul City Council members earmarked a $50,000 grant in March to help the store continue to attract national writers for readings. Council Member Jay Benanav planned to funnel another $25,000 of city money allocated to his ward to help. But none of that money has been spent, city officials said. "It's sad," Benanav said. "It's more than just a bookstore. It's part of the community. And there are fewer and fewer places in the community to get together. It's pretty hard to gather at Wal-Mart." Actually Jay, people do gather at Wal-Mart. I see them doing it every day, hundreds of them at the Stillwater branch, near where I work. And you know why? Because Wal-Mart sells things people actually want to buy. That was the missing ingredient, the fatal flaw, in the Ruminator Books business plan. If only they would have seen it sooner! Sadly, some folks still don't see it. This comment from alleged author Carol Bly: "If America hadn't gone totally junk culture, totally commercial, bookstores like Ruminator wouldn't have any trouble at all," Bly added. "David would have done just fine at the tail end of the 19th century. You can't sell Shakespeare to someone who comes in looking for a discount paperback copy of 'Reagan's OK, You're OK.' " Like it or not Carol, if the people want to buy a discount paperback on Reagan, the Ruminator should have considered selling that to them. Because, it was a book store, not the ministry of high culture. I guess I can understand Carol Bly's hostility to success. Her latest page turner is called "My Lord Bag of Rice." Nice title, sounds like a profile of a cult devoted to worshipping Uncle Ben. Which would be a far more interesting topic than what Ms. Bly actually penned: eleven exquisitely observed stories about sharp-eyed characters who stand a little apart from their peers, nurturing a hardy sense of self-worth in a mostly mediocre world. Ugh. I just about lapsed into a coma cutting and pasting that description, I can't imagine the torture of actually trying to read that awful crap. But, believe it or not, Carol Bly is an author whose books the Ruminator carried. Carried them right to its grave. Or did Carol Bly and her kind carry the Ruminator to its grave? (Yes, that last part sounds right.) Labels: Culture
The curious case of the Pioneer Press continues. One day they announce they're reassigning Brian Lambert to an unnamed position at the paper. The next day celebrity blogger Mitch Berg mysteriously appears in a Pioneer Press article, opining on gender bender blogger Odin Soli:
On June 23, St. Paul blogger Mitch Berg, an old friend of [Plain Layne hoax-ster Odin] Soli, revealed that he knew the real story behind Layne but couldn't say more. Soon after, others fingered Soli as the perpetrator. Berg, who followed the Layne saga without knowing that Soli was behind it, questions why people got so attached to her. "People supplied their own vortex," he said. "They swam toward the hole in the water." Swam toward the hole in the water? My confusion over this statement is similar to what I experience when reading Lambert. I don't want to start any rumors. But has anyone ever seen "Mitch Berg" and Brian Lambert in the same room together? Labels: Blogs-Local Monday, June 28, 2004
Muslim leaders denounce those who are violent:
Through news releases, public forums and petitions, Muslim groups in Minnesota and across the country have gone on record condemning the recent beheadings of Americans Nick Berg and Paul M. Johnson Jr. and South Korean Kim Sun-il. 'We wish to state clearly that those who commit acts of terror, murder and cruelty in the name of Islam are not only destroying innocent lives, but are also betraying the values of the faith they claim to represent,' read a statement by the Twin Cities-based Islamic Resource Group on the day news broke of Johnson's murder. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have signed an online petition condemning terrorist acts since it was posted last month by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim civil rights group in Washington, D.C. Too bad the story is buried on page three of the Metro section. Labels: Terrorism
I join Saint Paul and Atomizer in their stance on Fahrenheit 911. I will not see the movie under any circumstances. For those who say that you cannot judge the movie unless you view it, I say that if a dog craps in my yard I don't need to smell the pile of feces to know it reeks. And Fahrenheit 911 is really nothing more than Michael Moore squatting down and crapping all over the movie screen. Take a good look at the man and tell me that you don't think his shit stinks.
Jamie e-mails to question the attendance figures from the opening weekend: Given the new trend of marketing tickets to groups and the attendant publicity for "sold out" shows and ticket sales, "When will the media get savvy about the actual ATTENDANCE at some of these "sold out" venues?" Last night at the most popular theatre in Minneapolis' trendy nighttime entertainment area, Uptown, the Lagoon Theater had three screens of five screens devoted to Fareinheit 911. All three screens were "sold out", but 2/3 of the seats were empty. Amazon.com has caught on to authors pumping up their sales numbers with similar tricks, when will the Movie entertainment industry catch on and stop being used for publicity? Don't hold you breathe on that one Jamie. Tim seeks to distance himself from the flatulent film maker: I know that theaters rent the movie, and therefore, have already paid Mr. Moore most of his take, but I would also bet that Mr. Moore would also get a percentage of the total receipts, so I refuse to go see the movie because giving Mr. Moore one penny of my hard-earned money only encourages him to produce more senseless drivel. Plus, I wouldn't want anyone to see me walk into the theater to see it, either. But I have a little history with Mr. Moore, albeit pretty removed. Like Mr. Moore, I too, am from Flint, Michigan. When Roger and Me came out, I was living in Colorado, and I wasn't much into documentary films or TV programs, so I didn't bother to see it at the theater. I caught it later on cable or someone rented it and left it for me to watch. I doubted anyone would take it seriously. But whenever I would meet someone new and the conversation turned to hometowns, and they would learn I'm from Flint, they would ask if I'd seen Roger and Me, and say wasn't that a great film. I would respond that no, it wasn't a great film, or even documentary, and I would explain that Mr. Moore didn't show Flint or its residents in an honest setting, that the film and the people in it were distorted from the truth. Now when I go home to visit, and the conversation turns to where do I currently live, I reply Parker, which is a little south of Denver. Often, the next question is, "Is Parker near Littleton, where that Michael Moore documentary "Bowling For Columbine" was filmed? Did you see that film? Wasn't it great?" Geez, I can't get away from the guy. I'm glad he's moved onto a more national scene. Hopefully, the brighter lights will show him for the crackpot and purveyor of lies that he is and his fifteen minutes of fame will quickly expire. His fifteen minutes was up years ago. Unfortunately, I think we'll be subject to his silliness for years to come. Labels: Movies
Local political maven Sarah Janacek (of the Politics in Minnesota Newsletter) writes in to confirm that there's only one degree of separation between everyone in Minneapolis. At least those who attended the University of Minnesota:
Regarding James Lileks, I've never really met him, although I did have an apartment at the U that he had before me. It was an efficiency apartment on the 19th floor of the E building in that multi-colored monstrosity on the West Bank. I don't even know what they call that complex anymore. I remember getting all this mail for a guy named James Lileks. The New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly, and tapes from a club, which I always returned to sender. The mags were different, though. As a broke college student, they were a gift, and I figured this Lileks guy must be rich not to change the addresses on them. After reading months of The New Republic, I also thought this Lileks guy must be a classic mushie little liberal college puke. Of course, that spring semester, I was writing a major paper on Cesare Borgia, the model for Machiavelli's "The Prince." I should thank Lileks sometime. Reading all those New Republics helped solidify my conservative thinking. That multi-colored monstrous apartment building on the West Bank is called Riverside Plaza. Formerly known as Cedar Square West. Lileks discussed his days there in this Bleat from April 1, 2001. Key quote: I hated living there. It smelled, and the walls were thin, and my building had bugs. That's all true. How do I know so much about it? I am an alumnus of the Riverside Plaza as well. The 19th floor no less, but I was in one bedroom in the D building. Worst thing about it was the roaches. And in the early 90's nobody there got the New Republic. At least not the English language version. For all of you others pining away for your days at old Ski-U-Mah, Lileks has a great review of the neighborhoods in his old stomping grounds. Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
I don't think I'm going to see Fahrenheit 911. Sure, I'm an advocate of witnessing cultural phenomenon, especially those I'm bothering to criticize. But from the numerous reviews I've read, I'm not sure my mental health and my felony free criminal record would survive sitting through this thing.
I love documentary film, and the man does violence to the genre with his gimmickry, sleight of hand, and intentional distortions of the truth. I know every documentary has to have a point of view, and I respect that. But in order for a documentary to have any merit, it's got to be as close to the truth as you can possible make it. Otherwise I might as well go see Harry Potter. And his reliance on the ambush interview with selective editing drives me nuts. It's local TV news, Candid Camera level artistry. It's ridiculously easy and lazy, and the guy is hauling down Oscars and Palm d'Ors for it. Just because he hates America as much as the elites doing the voting. It's shameful and I suspect these awards will someday be irrefutable historical evidence of the twisted, corrupt nature of our elites during this strange time. It's clear to me that this movie has no merit, beyond giving a perverse thrill to those who wish it all to be true. It's like liberal pornography. Obscene fantasy sequences meant to give them prurient pleasure and nothing more. Michael Moore is printing testimonial letters on his Web site and most of them read like a political Penthouse Forum. Excerpts: ... there were hundreds of people lined up, and the announcement was blaring that the next two shows were sold out, and that the only one left available was the 10:30 p.m. Show. A massive GROAN went out. Just wanted to say that we went to the showing this afternoon at the Grand Lake Theater, and it was sold out. The line stretched for blocks and, thankfully, some of the media were there to see it. It give me shivers, and it gives me hope. We loved it. You did a great job. The theater applauded at the close of the movie. I wish we still had reporters with enough balls to report the real news instead of the butt kissers we have now. I personally was overwhelmed with emotions and moved by this I had goose bumps all over my entire body!! What really hit home to me, however, was the fact that you touched my friends. They may still be Republican, but they are reconsidering voting for Bush. As I told them, the opinions may be yours, but the facts are irrefutable and hold true. We laughed, cried, and were inspired. Thank you. We all laughed and cried, applauded and gasped together. ... but the way you put it together, your humor and your humanity, your integrity and dedication to the truth....this has touched us all. I supported their cause by buying some "Re-defeat Bush" paraphenalia including a "Re-defeat Bush" condom (so we don't get screwed again!). I absolutely adore this movie. And I say to anyone, you cannot walk away from this movie without being effected. Even if you close your ears to all the facts, the images will live with you forever. That last line sounds more like a threat than a testimonial. Images from some piece of partisan propaganda living with you for the rest of your life? Leni Riefenstahl should be so lucky. And if I'm going to have pornographic images live in my mind forever, I'd prefer them to include some breasts. (And not those of Michael Moore, triple D's though they may be.) Labels: Movies Sunday, June 27, 2004
In today's Star Tribune, Pam Schmid wastes over twelve hundred words wondering why WNBA attendance is floundering when the answer could be provided with four:
Women's basketball is unwatchable. SAINT PAUL ADDS: Or maybe it has someting to do with this, the lead article in Saturday's Pioneer Press sports section. Labels: Basketball
On Monday night the folks at MoveOn.org are having house parties around the country to celebrate the release of Fahrenheit 911. Here's a description of one in Minneapolis:
we welcome folks to the goddess house for some eatin' (please bring something to share)and respectful dialogue about our current political situation. Whether you join in the online forum with Michael Moore (we can connect 2-3 additional labtops to the internet), chat in the dining room or jam out with random instruments on either or both of the porches, weather permitting- we hope to have everyone leave with a personal action plan and a smile. Volunteers appreciated. Don't forget to bring your labtop and random instrument. I wonder if that includes bagpipes. Labels: Politics-Local (04-05)
Mike of Clan Keegan, e-mails with speculation on the cozy relationship between Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar and local televison station KARE 11. The story of the man nabbed for his twenty third DWI spurred Mike to write:
Last night I once again had the displeasure of seeing Matlock, I mean Ms. Klobuchar on T.V. I'm not sure if I'm hyper-sensitive to hearing her voice and seeing her face or if she is using her office and KARE 11 to position herself for her next job. I suspect the latter. If she is indeed guilty as charged, KARE 11 should be identified as partner to this scheme because they continually go back to the same well for a few seconds of video. Is there a formal arrangement between Klobuchar and KARE 11 or is it simply an unspoken agreement? As Klobuchar was talking last night about this drunk (Sherman) who was fleeing from police in what proved to be another feeble attempt at escaping justice, I pondered the question, "Why doesn't KARE 11 drill Ms. Klobuchar about why this guy had the opportunity to drink excessively and get in a car for the 23rd time (that he's been caught) in the first place?" Isn't Ms. Klobuchar's job to prosecute people who the police identify as being a danger to the rest of us? So why after 22 DWI's didn't Ms. Klobuchar do something about it? Answer--there was no substantial media coverage until yesterday so it wasn't important enough to her. I realize there are legislative procedures that result in asinine laws to protect the idiots that are beyond Ms. Klobuchar's control, but step back for a minute and ask yourself why Sherman wasn't prosecuted after 22 DWI's? Are we to believe that number 23 will be different now that Klobuchar has come on T.V. and told us this time she's really mad? And more importantly, why didn't KARE 11 put the screws to Matlock, I mean Ms. Klobuchar for not doing her job the first 22 times? Her job is to prosecute. She didn't. I don't know if his first 22 DWI's were in Hennepin County but I'd guess that at least several of them were. Klobuchar always manages to make the time to provide a few seconds of video to KARE 11, and KARE 11 provides her with a free P.R. spot. Good deal, there are no victims, right? Until this guy hits a little kid playing in the street or rams his car into your living room, destroys your 42-inch plasma and spills your drink. Maybe instead of scheduling interviews, Ms. Klobuchar should re-evaluate how she spends her time and focus on prosecuting even the cases that aren't going to get her face time on KARE 11. My advice to the guy charged with his 23rd DWI, don't run from the cops next time, you won't be prosecuted anyway. By the way, what are Mike Hatch's daughter's up to these days? Labels: Politics-Local (04-05)
Vox Day, on the recent exposure of lesbian blogger Plain Layne as actually being 35-year-old married father of two in Woodbury:
This is news? I always thought the first rule of intersexual relations and the Internet is this: if a girl is on the Internet and you have no direct evidence of her sex, she's a guy. I guess I don't have enough experience in the world of intersexual relations on the Internet to know the first rule. Next you're going to tell me that there are pictures of nekkid ladies somewhere on the Web too. (Yes, I've heard rumors.) In any regard, I won't be fooled again. I trust no one. Virginia Postrel, Sheila O'Malley, Elaine Cassel, RobbL from Infinite Monkeys? Men. Let me state for the record that I have met Eloise from Spitbull and I can confirm she is a woman. ALL woman. Labels: Blogs-Local Saturday, June 26, 2004
We're only two weeks away from the 2004 MS75. Once again, Atomizer and I will be participating in the charity fundraiser, a seventy five mile in-line skate from Hinckley to Duluth to raise money to help fight multiple sclerosis. This year Fraters Libertas is "sponsoring" our team and we're trying to break all our previous pledge records.
If you wish to make a donation to our team you can do so here either through Pay Pal or through snail mail. Thanks for your support. Labels: Good Works Friday, June 25, 2004
Leave it to James to come up with the perfect definition:
To me "quirky" means "twitchy loner who collects sugar packets and watches TV with the sound off while making up his own dialogue in the voice of Gomer Pyle,"... Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
A chase ends with driver's 23rd DWI:
Stopped for drunken driving after a chase early Thursday in Eagan, Raymond Sherman knew the drill; he'd been arrested 22 other times for drunken driving. Sherman, 41, who hasn't had a valid driver's license since 1984, was released from jail in March after serving time for a drunken-driving incident in 2002. On Thursday, he was charged in Hennepin County District Court with impaired driving, refusing a blood-alcohol test and fleeing police. Not to make light of a fellow who obviously has a serious problem, but take a moment and think about the numbers here. Sherman is forty one years old. In Minnesota you can get a drivers license at age sixteen, which means he has been driving for twenty five years. In that time he has managed to rack up TWENTY THREE DWIs, averaging nearly one per year of driving. In you throw out the eighteen months he served after his 2002 DWI conviction (#22), it is just about one DWI for every year he was able to drive. Unless he was the most unlucky man on earth, he must have driven drunk dozens of times for each time he was caught. That adds up to hundreds, if not thousands, of occasions over the years when he was boozed up behind the wheel. That's a frightening, and rather sobering point to ponder as you hit the roads tonight. Labels: Drinking
This hits a little close to home. Mexico won't drop murder charge:
A Minnesota family's hopes for the release of their daughter from a Mexican prison were dashed Thursday when they learned that Mexican authorities will continue to press murder charges against the Bloomington woman, contrary to promises made by Mexican President Vicente Fox in Minnesota Friday. The arrests of Kiecker and Perzabal, a Mexican native, received banner headlines across Mexico because authorities alleged that they killed 16-year-old Viviana Rayas in a 'satanic ritual.' Later, however, the couple said they were tortured into confessing to the crime. Three witnesses against them also later said publicly that they had been tortured into testifying. There have been numerous demonstrations in Mexico over the case and the unsolved murders of as many as 370 young women in the last 10 years in the state of Chihuahua. Several people held in connection with murders reported similar torture. The victim's family has even sided with the Kieckers in the case. Contacted Sunday in Chihuahua City, where the couple is being held, their lawyer, Miguel Zapien de la Torre, said that if 'Fox would follow up on his promise, they could be out in days.'" A little too close to home. Labels: Mexico
The Plain Layne Internet saga seems to be coming to a conclusion. For those that aren't aware of it, Plain Layne was a personal web journal, written by a local girl struggling with romance, career, sexual orientation, and sanity in the suburbs of the Twin Cities. It was a real life soap opera, and from my description it sounds awful (which is probably why I don't write soap operas). But in reality it was compelling stuff. I casually read her for the past year or so and I must admit to have believed it. In character development and plausibility it was flawless in execution. According to unconfirmed reports, her site was getting up to 10,000 visits a day.
Now it turns out it was all a hoax. This twenty-something, hip, messed up lesbian is really a thirty-something, establishment, suburban dad. Here's the story of why he did it. (Check out Berg for more on the back story). Apparently he did it because of a brush with mortality, failed business ventures, art, and the meaning of life. Or so he claims. It again all sounds plausible and the guy's a hell of a writer. But given his serial hoaxing tendencies (this isn't the first time he's pulled this scam) and flair for writing fiction, it's hard to know what to believe. And the only rule for dealing with a habitual liar is to assume he's lying. Always. I suppose you couldn't blame him for embellishing his motivations a little bit. The alternative of simply telling people, "yes, I'm the guy who pretended to be a lesbian on the Internet for two years" isn't likely to enhance his real life prospects all that much. In any case, I think the this is a great story, and I hope more details are forthcoming on the truth behind the Plain Layne hoax. I believe Mitch Berg is going to try to get this guy on Northern Alliance Radio in the coming weeks. Stay tuned. Labels: Blogs-Local
Michael e-mails to provide some background for a Star Tribune story on the rumors about a military draft that I referenced in this post yesterday:
In checking your blog this morning, I noticed the brief paragraph on yesterday's draft story from the Star Tribune. The story was erroneous from the beginning. I sent the reporter [Libby George] the following email and links as proof at noon yesterday, but have not heard back and saw no correction printed today. Libby- In your article today regarding the possibility of a draft, you feature Nathan Mittelstaedt without giving his correct affiliations. Nathan has been a leader of the campus group Students Against War and they have been extremely outspoken against the current war on terrorism and in Iraq. To feature him as a typical college student is misleading. I had the chance to speak with Nathan last year when Students Against War held a campus-wide vote on the Iraq war. Although he was against the war --one of his reasons being that the United Nations did not support our actions--he admitted that he had not bothered to read UN resolution 1441 (supported unanimously in the Security Council) detailing the actions to be taken against Iraq for not complying with UN weapons inspectors. I felt the rest of your article was fair in outlining both sides and clearing stated that the rumors were nothing more than rumors, but that portraying Nathan as simply worried about the draft hid his true agenda. Here's a link on Mittelstaedt's participation in the vote on the war. This is how the Strib described Mittelstaedt: Although there hasn't been a draft in more than 30 years, 22-year-old Minneapolis college graduate Nathan Mittelstaedt is worried that he might be forced into military service. Just an ordinary, every day college graduate. Who also happened to be a prominent member of an anti-war activist group. Might that be a detail worthy of inclusion in your story? Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
Thursday night at Keegan's Pub is the occasion of their trivia challenge, undoubtedly the toughest in the city. And last night the Fraters Libertas produced another victory. A crushing one at that, 25 questions asked, 22 correct. The closet competitors (four scrappy teams all tying for second place) managed only 18 correct.
The victory was especially noteworthy given the high caliber of talent on hand. Because Keegan's was a stop on some free form jazz odyssey tour going on in Minneapolis last night, the bar was stocked with sophisticated, advanced degreed urban professionals (SAD-UPs). It was so sophisticated, a guy sitting at the table right next to us looked just like Mark Dayton (without the facial tics). Perhaps the biggest challenge of all came from Mitch Berg who recruited a team composed of the finest intellects in the greater Midway area to challenge us. (Their team, named the Minnehaha All Stars, was comprised of Berg, Anoka Flash from Centristy, PJZ from Tacitus, and an unnamed gentleman introduced to me as only "a doctor" who I assume was Mitch Berg's psychiatrist). They fought valiantly, but despite their efforts and pre-game bravado they too felt the wrath of the brains of the Fraters Libertarians. I trust there's no hard feelings and hope they show up again for the game. But from the looks on their faces after the results were revealed, I suspect they may be wearied by the enormity of the task they face. Which is of course understandable. In fact, I fear all bar patrons on Thursday may be losing their desire to continue the struggle. And some of them, including the plucky bar manager and trivia master Marty, may be wishing that the Fraters Libertas team would fall from the heights of victory, and recede back into the mob, just another team scratching and clawing for survival. My advice to those who yearn for such a day: Watch what you wish for. Earlier this week Opinion Journal published a brilliant essay by the historian Niall Ferguson. (Note, according to his CSPAN interview of a few weeks ago , his first name is pronounced "Neal", not "Nile". It's a Scottish thing, you wouldn't understand). In it he speculates on what the world might look like if the USA does not fulfill its responsibilities in being the (relatively) benevolent global hegemon. In summary: it's not pretty. (As good as my summary is, I encourage you to read all of Ferguson's piece. He fleshes out the argument a little more fully). And I think his scenario exactly parallels the absence of Fraters Libertas hegemony at Keegan's. Below the words of Ferguson, with a few strategic word replacements. What if KEEGAN'S is heading for a period when there is no hegemon? What if, instead of a balance of power, there is an absence of power? Unfortunately, the experience of TRIVIA CONTESTS with power vacuums is hardly encouraging. Anyone who dislikes FRATERS LIBERTAS hegemony should bear in mind that, instead of a multipolar GAME of competing great TEAMS, a TRIVIA CONTEST with no hegemon at all may be the real alternative to it. This could turn out to mean a new Dark Age of waning empires and religious fanaticism; of endemic rapine in the BAR'S no-go zones; of economic stagnation and a retreat by BAR MANAGEMENT into a few fortified enclaves. These are the Dark Age experiences that a TRIVIA CONTEST without a hyperpower might find itself reliving. Religious fanaticism, endemic rapine, and economic stagnation? That kind of sounds like the atmosphere at Keegan's Tuesday night trivia contest. But the ownership of Keegan's can breathe easy. We have no plans at this time to shirk our responsibilities in dominating Thursday night trivia. That is, if we can finally come to an agreement on the size of our appearance fee. Two free beers a piece ought to do it. A small price to pay for avoiding rapine. THE ELDER ADDS: Savvy bookmakers had installed the Fraters Foursome as three and a half question favorites heading into last night's competition. So now only did we win, we also covered. Labels: Trivial Pursuits
Pioneer Press to cut coverage, shift staff:
The St. Paul Pioneer Press will undergo a major newsroom reorganization this fall, eliminating its online staff and several high-profile news beats, reducing its Minneapolis presence and increasing coverage of the suburbs. As part of a redesign and refocusing of the paper to be introduced in mid-September, the Pioneer Press will reassign several writers, including TV/media critic Brian Lambert and religion columnist Steve Scott. It also will drop its Friday Eat section. Critic Kathie Jenkins will continue to review restaurants, but other food staff members will be reassigned. Without the Friday Eats section, Saint Paul's life just won't be the same. Labels: Media-Local (02-04) Thursday, June 24, 2004
There is NOT going to be a draft next year you frickin' idiots. So stop forwarding that ridiculous e-mail you ignorant children.
Don't believe me? Read this at Snopes. Still not enough for ya? Try this from today's Star Tribune: The warnings contain questionable assertions. For example, they claim that the Selective Service System received an additional $28 million from Congress in fiscal 2004, when there was no funding increase. They also claim that the White House is pushing to get the bills through, when in fact the administration opposes a draft. Pretty clear. Pretty straightforward ain't it? Still, the fact that bills exist in the House and Senate was enough to convince Michael LaBrosse, a 57-year-old leadership consultant from Minneapolis, that a draft is coming. After confirming that the bills were real, he said he forwarded the e-mail to more than 100 friends. "This is about as real a thing as I ever sent out," said LaBrosse. "It makes sense that if there's a bill like that out there under the radar, that there are other people getting ready for it." And you want to be my leadership consultant? To borrow a few lines from Glengarry Glen Ross: "You stupid f**ckin' c**t. You, Labrosse, I'm talkin' to you, sh**head. You're f**ckin' sh**. Where did you learn your trade? You stupid f**ckin' c**t. You idiot. Who ever told you that you could work with men?" Labels: Military
From a MoveOn.org e-mail titled "Candidates who need our support":
Finally, in Minnesota's 6th Congressional district, Patty Wetterling has recently emerged as one of the most thoughtful and courageous Congressional candidates of 2004. Since the 1989 abduction of her son Jacob, Patty has been a tireless advocate for missing and exploited children and wants to take her platform of child advocacy to Congress. Warren, a MoveOn member from St. Cloud, MN, writes: 'Patty Wetterling is a person of great integrity and compassion. Because of her work with missing and exploited children, she has already been instrumental in passing significant national legislation. She is liberal on all the issues that truly matter: ending the war and supporting those who have had to fight it, opposition to the marriage amendment, advocate for public education, strong support for progressive environmental and wilderness legislation, and advocate for working people and a living wage. Patty is smart, tough, but human.' Her Republican opponent Mark Kennedy is apparently a heartless android. UPDATE: King wonders how Warren arrived at his conclusions about Wetterling's liberal views on "all the issues that truly matter." Labels: Politics-Local (04-05)
A little Monkey told me that we're mentioned in Hugh's new book due out next month. Not bad for a site once described by Mark A. R. Kleiman as "a deservedly obscure blog."
From MSNBC:
A career CIA officer claims in a new book that America is losing the war on terror, in part because of the invasion of Iraq, which, he says, distracted the United States from the war against terrorism and further fueled al-Qaida's struggle against the United States. The author, who writes as "Anonymous", is a 22-year veteran of the CIA and still works for the intelligence agency, which allowed him to publish the book after reviewing it for classified information. Not unexpectedly, the media is playing up this authors opinion that the war with Iraq is a distraction in the fight against Al-Qaida. And, although I still support the decision to invade Iraq, this argument is by far the strongest case against it. What is not receiving as much attention is the CIA officer's contentions that we are not taking the threat from Al-Qaida seriously enough, that we refuse to acknowledge the true nature of the war, and that we have not pursued it aggressively or violently enough. From an interview (same link as above) with NBC's Andrea Mitchell: Anonymous: ...I think we are, for various reasons, loath to talk about the role of religion in this war. And it's not to criticize one religion or another, but bin Laden is motivated and his followers and his associates are motivated by what they believe their religion requires them to do. And until we accept that fact and stop identifying them as gangsters or terrorists or criminals, we're very much behind the curve. On what needs to be done militarily: Mitchell: "You call for some very tough actions here. You talk about escalating our war against them, and you say in your book that killing in large numbers is not enough to defeat our Muslim foes. This killing must be a Sherman-like razing of infrastructure. You talk about civilian deaths. You talk about landmines. Is that really what we have come to in this war on terror?" Anonymous: "I think we've come to the place where the military is about our only option. We have not really discussed the idea of why we're at war with what I think is an increasing number of Muslims. Which -- it's very hard in this country to debate policy regarding Israel or to debate actions or policies that might result in more expensive energy. I don't think it's something that we wanted to do, but I think it's where we've arrived. We've arrived at the point where the only option is military. And quite frankly, in Iraq and in Afghanistan we've applied that military force with a certain daintiness that has not served our interests well. Fallujah anyone? Advice to Bush: Mitchell: "What would you like to tell the president?" Anonymous: "I would like to tell the president, I think, and, and it's presumptuous of me, but I genuinely think that we have underestimated the scope of the enemy, the dedication of the enemy and the threat that it poses to the United States. I think someone should have gone to the president when the, when the discussion of going to Iraq was broached and have said, Mr. President, this is something that can only help Osama bin Laden. Whatever the danger posed by Saddam, whatever weapons he had, is almost irrelevant in that the boost it would give to al-Qaida was easily seen. And if that message wasn't delivered, then I think there was a mistake made. I also think that Mr. Lincoln's view that one war at a time is plenty is probably a good piece of guidance." More stick less carrot: Mitchell: "And what are you going to say to those who say that this is anti-American and that this is a really prejudiced approach? What do you say to those who say that your call for a war against Muslim people, is really only going to make the situation worse?" Anonymous: "I wonder how much worse the situation can be, in the first instance. We continue to believe that somehow public diplomacy or words will affect the anger and hatred of Muslims. And I'm not advocating war as my choice. What I'm advocating is, in order to protect the United States, it is our only option. As long as we pursue the current policies we have, until we have a debate about those policies, there's not a lot we can do. We won't talk them out of their anger, we won't convince them we're an honest broker between the Israel and the Palestinians. We won't convince that we're not supporting tyrannies in the Arab world from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. "It's the only option. It's not a good option; it's the only option. And I'm not saying we attack people who aren't attacking us. But in areas where we realize our enemies are, perhaps we have to be more aggressive." On weighing the costs of inaction: Mitchell: "Even if it means civilian casualties?" Anonymous: "That's the way war is. I've never really understood the idea that any American government, any American elected official is responsible for protecting civilians who are not Americans. My experience working against bin Laden was there was multiple occasions when we did not take advantage of an opportunity to solve the problem because we were afraid of killing a civilian, we were afraid of hitting a mosque with shrapnel, we were afraid of disrupting sales of arms overseas. Very seldom in my career have I ever heard anyone ask what happens if we don't do this. My own opinion is we should err on the side of protecting Americans first. And if we make a mistake in that kind of action, I think the American people will accept that..." Even though I've excerpted quite a bit of the interview, I still urge you to read the whole thing. You may not agree with all his assertions, but, unlike the silliness that is Fahrenheit 911, at least they are worth debating. Plus anyone who provides a reference like this deserves a chance to be heard: Anonymous: "If you're familiar with that wonderful Christmas movie, 'A Christmas Story', at the end of the day, Ralphie getting his air rifle even though his mother was worried his eye would get shot out. It's a terrific gift." Labels: Iraq, Ralphie, Terrorism
Lately I've had an increasing level interest in the 2004 Euro Soccer championships (an interest stoked by the Vox Day reports). This has led me to checking out the FIFA Web site. FIFA stands for the Federation of International Football Associations. In English, that means they're the world governing body for soccer. Didn't know we needed such a body, but we got one. Say what you will about your interest in the sport, but for stats freaks, geography nuts, and political junkies (and crystal meth fiends), I think they may have the best Web site in the world. And all because of this page, the FIFA World Rankings.
I don't know of any other milieu where every nation on Earth is subject to a rigorous, hierarchical ranking scheme. I love it. It tells every person alive exactly where their society stands in this world. To me, that knowledge provides some level of comfort in these uncertain times, even when the context is soccer. Makes we wish somebody would do the same thing with armed forces. I think seeing the USA on top by miles would make all of us all feel justifiably good. Plus, then I could finally prove my theory that Ecuador would fight Canada to an absolute standstill in a ground engagement. Their FIFA rankings, by the way, Ecuador #37 and an appalling #95 for Canada. Let's just hope our northern neighbors never have to run into relative powerhouse Togo (#94) and be thusly humiliated in a public exhibition. Because even soccer alone is an interesting measure of national health. For example, according to these rankings India (#143) would get its tail kicked by the Faroe Islands (#134). Population of India: 1 billion. Population of The Faroe Islands: 50,000. I realize soccer may not be India's national sport (I think it's cricket or bubble and squeak or something). But when you've got a talent pool roughly 20,000 times greater than your opponent, you ought to be able to find 11 guys who can be a little more competitive. These rankings also allow you to think about geographically goofy match ups you'd like to see. Like say, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan (#189) vs. Caribbean island paradise Montserrat (dead last at #212). Wouldn't that be fascinating? Well, wonder no more, because they actually held the match, back in 2002: Aptly named the "Other Final", the game saw the Caribbean side travel half the way across the world to face Bhutan to determine, as the Montserratians themselves put it, the "worst team in the world". The game, played in front of 10,000 fans some 2,000 metres above sea level in the Bhutan capital of Thimphu, finished in a 4-0 triumph for the Asians. The two sides then sat down together to watch the "real" Final between Brazil and Germany on TV. They may not be the best team in the world but the boys from Montserrat could certainly claim to be the best losers! The FIFA ranking is so exhaustive that it includes countries that aren't even countries, and never were countries. Like Palestine (#132). It would be nice if FIFA required that those folks stopped sponsoring terrorism and slaughtering Israeli women and children with human bombs before getting let into the club. But in the club they are, and actively attempting to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Sadly, things haven't gone so well for the Pals, who were thrashed 3-0 by Uzbekistan in a recent Asia Zone Group 2 qualifying match. Call me a dreamer, but I'd like to see the upstart Palestinians play a match against the scrappy Israeli squad (#57). Maybe settle this whole intifada thing on the pitch, as they say. I'm not sure what would happen. Either brotherhood and mutual understanding via the noble crucible of sport or a crazed, bloodthirsty riot. Either way it would be interesting. And either way I suspect the Palestinians would be the losers. (Something tells me they wouldn't be quite as good sports in defeat as Monserattians.) Speaking of which, yesterday the Elder updated us on his continuing fuedin' and fussin' with the island nations of the world. It all sounds like kind of a mismatch, a successful, savvy, celebrity blogger like the Elder, matching wits with the primitive denizens of various third world backwaters. But as FIFA shows us, sometimes the competition isn't always as it demographically appears to be. Given what the Elder has already faced and vanquished ( #65 Iceland and #114 Singapore), I still like his chances against Trinidad and Tobago (tied for #77 with Zambia). Island-wise, my prediction is he has nothing to worry about until he finally pisses off the Japanese (#23). That should be a war. Labels: Soccer
Sports writer Jeff Pearlman, of Sports Illustrated, had this to say about the nature of sports talk radio:
It started in Baltimore. Or was it Nashville? I am unsure because, quite frankly, my brain has morphed into a bowl of watery mashed potatoes. That's understandable because over the past six weeks I have exposed it to a toxic influence a million times more potent than crack, LSD, Twinkie goo and Menudo combined. I should not complain. It was my idea to write a book, and I knew I'd have to promote the damn thing. But when the PR department at HarperCollins presented me with a list of, oh, 80 sports-talk radio interviews, the impending doom made me crank up Hall & Oates real loud. To any scribe with half a brain, sports talk radio is Satan's spawn. It's the home to people nicknamed Mad Dog and Boss and Big Boy; men who believe communication is a synonym for "Scream your head off at the guy from Urbana who thinks the Cubs could actually trade Glendon Rusch for Albert Pujols." Talk radio is generally logic-free. There is little reporting involved. Sports talk hosts usually open the morning newspaper to get their information then pass it on. Oh, talk radio hosts aren't working hard enough for him? Harsh criticism coming from a sports writer, a profession employing some of the laziest human beings on Earth (Soucheray, Barreiro, Sansevere). His main complaint is that radio hosts don't read his book before having him on. I can understand his frustration with that a little bit. It would be nice for the interviewer to be familiar enough with the subject matter to ask good questions. (For an example of proper technique, listen to Powerline's Scott Johnson and his insightful interviews with authors every Saturday at 1:00 PM on Northern Alliance Radio, broadcast on AM 1280, the Patriot). But jeez Louise, this Pearlman thinks so highly of himself (he's a "scribe with half a brain") and demands such rapt attention to his work, yet his book is a historical account of ..... the 1986 New York Mets. Subtitle of his book: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo-chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, The Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets Cold reality check--outside of those living in Queens, nobody in their right mind (which, come to think of it, excludes those living in Queens) has any interest in reading about this boring, meaningless topic. Not even talk radio hosts want to read it. And the only thing that proves about their intelligence is that they have some. As opposed to the typical NARN featured author (prominent writers, attempting to educate or influence policy), obscure authors writing fluff about pop culture are lucky to get on the radio at all. Pearlman's attempting to sell a product, nothing more. Any station that puts him on is doing him a favor. Given his ingratitude, it's a favor that will not be extended by 1280 AM any time soon. (With this ban, there goes his sales in the greater Eagan metropolitan area. Take that Pearlman!) This week's featured NARN author interview will be Karl Zinsmeister. He's the author of the modern military classic "Boots on the Ground: A Month With The 82nd Airborne In The Battle For Iraq" and most recently "Dawn over Baghdad: How the U.S. Military Is Using Bullets and Ballots to Remake Iraq". So tune in on Saturday, it should be outstanding stuff. Granted, it's not going to be brawling, boozing, and bimbo chasing. But if that's what you're looking for, you can always tune into the Patriot at 11 AM for Rabuse on the Right. (You think you know boozing, brawling, and bimbo chasing?) Labels: Media-National (02-06), NARN (04-05) Wednesday, June 23, 2004
My intentional avoidance of all things Clinton related is equalled only by my aversion to discussing Michael Moore and the guano he produces that amazingly continues to qualify as documentaries, but I read something today that made me laugh out loud.
In defiance of the Motion Picture Association of America's refusal to remove the "R" rating from his latest work of fiction, Moore said this: "I encourage all teenagers to come see my movie, by any means necessary. If you need me to sneak you in, let me know." After a stop at H. Dumpty's for a trench coat large enough to conceal his ever expanding waistline, I do believe Mr. Moore could sneak an entire grade school past the ticket booth. Labels: Movies
This past week, I have made a conscious effort to avoid getting immersed in the seemingly endless coverage of the biggest story ever created by the media. I speak, of course, of the recent release of Bill Clinton's memoirs. Eight years of having to deal with the man as my Commander in Chief was hard enough so I'll be damned if I will subject myself to reliving the whole ordeal over the course of a few days.
That said, I did catch a snippet of Dan Rather's 60 Minutes interview in which Clinton revealed that the nickname he disliked most was "Slick Willie". I hope Bill wasn't listening to The Laura Ingraham Show this morning (broadcast locally, along with various other programs, on AM1280 The Patriot) when guest PJ O'Rourke referred to him as "Pudgy the Wonder President". Do you want to change that answer, Bill? Labels: Politics-National (02-04)
What is it with me and islands? Last December I managed to cheese off some folks in Iceland with comments I made after visiting the volcanic isle. Now I've raised hackles in Singapore with my opinion that the island nation is a not exactly a model of democracy. David e-mails to demand satisfaction:
As a permanent resident of Singapore, I must take you to task for your comparison between the PRC and the Republic of Singapore. To be sure, Singapore has had only one political party in power since independence. But this is the choice of the electorate, who participate fully in a parlimentary democracy, and a testament to the leadership of Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Furthermore, Singapore has an independent, English-style judiciary, something the PRC clearly lacks. I think you owe Singapore an apology. Sorry David, but no apology will be forthcoming. At the risk of a severe caning, I must direct you to this speech on the reality of the state of democracy in Singapore. Holding elections and having a judiciary does not make a country democratic if the elections are not fair and free and if the judiciary is nothing but an instrument of power for the sitting government. What are you looking at Trinidad and Tobago? You want some of this too? Labels: Singapore
While doing some background research on former Star Tribune sportswriter Dan Barreiro, I came across this picture.
I don't think it's the same guy (according to my sources, the school and age is wrong). But if you ever wondered what Barreiro looked like with hair, it's a pretty good approximation. I think this other Dan Barreiro's hair is real, but it still looks like a bad toupee. The poor SOB. To experience your time opportunity cost of the day, scroll down the entire list of 1984 Northern Illinois University Student Leaders for a seminar in great 80's hairstyles. Ahhh, Kate MacCrimmon (Kate enjoys performing as a dancer in coffeehouses...) and Avis Woods (She was named to "Who's Who in American High Schools" and was a finalist in the Miss Metro Chicago Pageant), where have you gone? Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
Rumor has it that Chuck Olsen, a local filmmaker who is working on the long awaited (it took less time to complete the LOTR trilogy) documentary film on blogging called Blogumentary, has decided to interview our Northern Alliance colleagues at Power Line as part of his project.
We welcome this chance for wider exposure of the right wing of the blogosphere. It's about time that the hoary stereotype of conservatives as wealthy, powerful, elitist, stuff-shirted, middle-aged, white men in business suits is laid to rest once and for all. Ummm...Guys? You might want to loosen up your ties for this one. Labels: Blogs-Local
Sorry to burst you bubbles Hugh but:
1. I was competing in the Under Forty Division. 2. I took home a bronze medal thank you very much. In fact had my partner been able to make the trip, I'm certain we could have sewn up a gold in the pairs competition. 3. I am actually quite happy. I was able to pick up a lovely new sequined silk outfit in Shanghai, which I will debut in my next competition at the State Fair. Try to get the story straight next time Mister "Voice of Reason." Labels: Ralphie Tuesday, June 22, 2004
One of things that surprised me most about my recent trip to Shanghai was the lack of governmental presence. From the customs and immigration posts at the airport to the bustling streets of the city, it was rare to see a uniformed government official or even so much as a flag of the PRC. The absence of flags was especially noticeable. It was almost as if there was an intentional effort to hide the identity of the country you were in. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if that actually was the case.
In Shanghai the emphasis is all on business. No one wants to talk about politics. The local people will tell you that Beijing is where the politics is, Shanghai is where the business is. Which is understandable up to a point. But after a while the act of tippy toeing around the eight hundred pound gorilla sitting in the corner of the room gets to be a bit ridiculous. I speak of course of the eight hundred pound gorilla wearing the cap with the Red Star. For although you can find people to talk about almost anything in Shanghai, the one word you rarely if ever hear mentioned is communism. Yes communism, as in the Chinese Communist government that rules over the most populous country on earth. Now you might think that no one wants talk communism for fear of reprisal. But, as far as I could tell, it wasn't as if the secret police were monitoring every conversation. In fact the environment appeared to be fairly open for sharing thoughts and opinions. Of course that may simply be how it came across on the surface. That certainly is the impression that I'm sure the Chinese government wants foreigners to have. And I was only in Shanghai for five days, hardly enough time to draw hard conclusions. But during my short stay I got the feeling that if someone wanted to express displeasure with their government they could have. I just don't think that most of them care. At this point it appears that they are happy with the tradeoff between freedom and security. In the old days of communism the tradeoff involved giving up political freedom in exchange for economic security. You didn't have freedoms of speech, religion, or assembly for example, but you were guaranteed a job, a place to live, and health care. Now, in China at least, the tradeoff is political freedom for economic opportunity, the ability to pursue and accumulate wealth. If you're busy pursuing material gain you don't worry much about politics. I'm not saying that this is the attitude of all Chinese people, just the ones I came across. And I fully understand the folly in extrapolating from my very limited experience. Trying to draw wider conclusions about China from visiting Shanghai would be like trying to claim that you understand America after spending five days in New York City. But it's what I got and I'm going with it. The key question becomes how long this situation will last. In some ways China today is similar to South Korea and Taiwan in the 60's, 70's, and 80's (although the Chinese government is much more repressive than either ever was). Both countries enjoyed prosperous, booming economies, but had limited political freedoms. Over the years they have transitioned slowly and sometimes painfully towards democracy. Today both boast relatively free and stable democratic systems. Economic freedoms eventually led to political freedoms. And it's possible that the same thing could happen in China, although it's hard to imagine it occurring without upheaval. Or China could decide to stick with the current formula and hope that its people will continue to be willing to sacrifice political freedom for economic gain. It seems to have worked for Singapore. Labels: China
I had previously mentioned that I was not alone on my recent trip to Shanghai. Yes, that little scamp Ralphie insisted that he accompany me on my journey to the People's Republic of China. He may be small in stature, but he's got a big heart and a strong will. And considering the beating that he's been taking while traveling lately, he needs plenty of both to keep on keeping on.
After an arduous journey there's nothing better than relaxing with a nice cold beer.  Ralphie was worried that he would lose contact with his hero and mentor while in China. Fortunately, Hugh's site was easily accessible and Ralphie read every pearl of wisdom posted by the light of his life.  More Travels With Ralphie later this week. Labels: Ralphie Monday, June 21, 2004
I dunno. He looks pretty quirky to me.
 (Thanks to Jim S. from Minneapolis for the pic. Click to enlarge.) Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
Last Thursday Hugh Hewitt revealed:
Finally, the Air Quality Management District of Southern California --full disclosure, I served a year on the Board of this agency until California Democrats threw me off-- is attacking the very dangerous problem of cow manure. Perhaps it can widen its scope to consider the work of the 9/11 Commission. Which lead Tim from Colorado to e-mail and ask: If you caught Hugh's blog last Thursday you would have discovered that he was removed (thrown off?) from the Air Quality Management District of Southern California, an agency that is currently discussing, as reported by Hugh, the urgent and fascinating problems of cow manure. I have three questions: 1) Why did the board wait until Hugh was gone to discuss the cow manure problem? If you listen to his show everyday, it is clear Hugh knows his crap. 2) One would assume a board such as this would attack problems in a logical order of importance, so it begs the question, what comes after the solution of the cow manure problem? 3) What could Hugh have possibly said at the meetings to get himself booted off of such an august body like the Air Quality Management District of Southern California? This group seems to be fairly benign. I bet there was fisticuffs involved. Or maybe Hugh kept parking his snowmobile in the chairman's parking spot. Good questions all Tim. Hugh's claims don't pass the smell test. We need to clear the air on these matters at once. What did Hugh know about cow manure and when did he know it? Labels: Ralphie
Jim Hake from Spirit of America is back from Iraq:
I'm back from my trip to Iraq. This message provides observations, conclusions, implications for Spirit of America moving forward, a few photographs and an interesting story or two. This is a long message so if you read no further please understand three things: (1) there is hope for Iraq, (2) the support of the American people can make a critical difference to the Iraqi people and their future, and (3) our job at Spirit of America is to help the American people make that difference. Read the whole thing. Labels: Good Works, Iraq
Many of the would be pundits in the blogosphere fantasize about what it would be like to turn their oddball obsession into a full time career. To be paid for the words of wit and wisdom that spring forth from their keyboards. To be a real honest to goodness writer. To be a columnist for a major daily newspaper.
But my friends you should be warned. Not all that glitters is gold. Sometimes the price that must be paid to maintain such a prominent position in the media hierarchy is high, and leads one to ponder if the gain is truly worth the pain. This morning my wife asked if the Star Tribune was having a hard time selling advertising. I was aware of no such difficulties at the local news organ and asked what brought on that particular query. She replied, "Well, they've got a half page ad for Lileks in today's Variety section." And indeed they did. I would have scanned it for your viewing pleasure, but it does takes up half a page of newspaper after all. It's fargin' huge. The ad is titled 'Get neighborly with James' and features a pic of Mr. Lileks, trying his best to force a smile, reaching over a prop white picket fence (representing the Backfence apparently) to offer us a measuring cup of what appears to be milk. Perhaps his lack of joy in the photo stems from the fact that his arms seem to be impaled on the fence posts. That may have been the only way they managed to get James to "agree" to the shoot. It is not exactly a Norman Rockwell scene of the friendly neighbor next door. In fact if I was the one on the receiving end of milk I'd be having second thoughts about the wisdom of taking anything from the grim faced neighbor whose sincerity in giving is at best questionable. You know on second thought I don't need that milk after all. Yeah, in fact my wife picked up a carton just today. Sorry to have bothered you James. Well, gotta go. The text on the left side of the ad invites us to: Go inside the mind of James Lileks, And you thought Being John Malkovich was an unusual trip. whose "Backfence" column is filled with humor, pop culture, and the adventure of everyday life. Nice build up. And now for the payoff: Perfect when you need to borrow a cup of quirky. Honey we're out of quirky again. Can you run next door to the Lileks' and borrow a little? James has plenty to go around. There are a lot of adjectives that a man doesn't mind being used to describe him. Quirky ain't one of them. Hell, I'd rather be called eccentric than quirky. At least eccentric contains the possibility of genius and even a hint of danger. Quirky implies more of a harmless oddness. In fact one of the definitions of quirky is "a peculiar trait." So there you have it America. You can spend years toiling in obscurity, finding your inner voice, and refining your writing style. Finally, your talent is recognized and appreciated. You're regarded as one of the best and brightest (at least among the blogosphere). You write syndicated columns, appear on a national talk radio show, put out popular books, and have a thrice a week gig at the daily newspaper in the city that you love. You're on top of the world. Until you open up said newspaper and see yourself warily extending a measuring cup of milk, with a pained expression on your mug, in an impossible to ignore ad that invites readers to experience your "quirkiness." And you ask yourself if it really is worth it. Maybe it would have been easier to just sell you soul to Satan all those years ago. At least he wouldn't call you quirky. Labels: Media-Local (02-04) Sunday, June 20, 2004
After a week in Shanghai, I returned home yesterday and got caught up on the local political scene. As the Warrior Princess reported, First Lady Laura Bush was in town on Friday. My wife was also in attendance at the affair, although she did not report any unintentional groping. She did notice a few protesters across the street, whom the Strib described thusly:
Two hours before she appeared, about 50 people gathered at a union hall a few blocks away and stood before a wrecked sedan plastered with Bush-Cheney bumper stickers (teeing off the Test Drive 4 W plan). 'We've test-driven George W. Bush for 3 1/2 years, and 3 1/2 years is enough,' said party Chairman Mike Erlandson. 'It's time for a change.' They marched to RiverCentre, where Bush was speaking, chanting 'JK all the way!' Separated from the John Kerry supporters by a busy Kellogg Blvd., Bush supporters waiting to enter the building laughed and waved across the street. 'JK All The Way'? Yeah, that'll ya carry to victory in November. I believe a more accurate report would be that Bush supporters pointed and chortled dismissively. I know that's how I react to hearing or seeing a motley crew lead by Mike Erlandson. On Friday our colleagues at Power Line mentioned a local fundraiser for John Kerry that sought to tap into the hatred that drives so many on the left these days. Yesterday the Strib dutifully picked up the story: Democrats apparently figure that the madder you are at President Bush, the more you're going to be willing to pay to beat him. That seems to be the strategy behind a Minneapolis fundraiser for John Kerry that's basing its ticket prices on whether you are angry, livid, or mad as hell about the direction of the country. The variety show, to be held Sunday night at the Southern Theatre, was organized by Mary's Grassroots Political Therapy Group -- nine women who call themselves progressive and who came together after a series of events, including the death of Sen. Paul Wellstone and the outbreak of war in Iraq. Events no doubt viewed as equally important in their eyes. Funny that 9/11 didn't move them to action. The show, 'Cabaret for Kerry,' will feature music, comedy and political satire. Entertainers include playwright and actor Kevin Kling, singer Prudence Johnson, actor Phyllis Wright and the Mojo Mamas. The show is sold out and is expected to raise about $20,000 for the Kerry campaign, said chief organizer and professional puzzle maker Mary Logeland of Minneapolis. Professional puzzle maker? Karl Rove must be shaking in his boots. Members of the audience of 250 are paying anywhere from $50 per seat if they are merely troubled to $500 if they are mad as hell. I think it's safe to say that anyone willing to spend their Father's Day attending this event is at least "troubled". 'We had some furious [$400], some livid [$200] and a lot of angry [$100],' Logeland said. No one ballistic will attend the show. To borrow a line from a local talk radio host: "Uh...We don't know that." A conservative political Web log, Powerline, posted the group's ticket categories Friday and opined that it was doubtful 'a party that defines itself by hate and anger can command the support of a majority of Americans.' Lighten up, Logeland said. "We just decided we wanted to do something a little bit funny," she said. "Rather than traditional sponsors, we'd just try to make it a little more interesting. ... It's a great marketing technique, and I can't tell you how many people have said that it's clever." Self-proclaimed "progressives" peddling hate as humor. Just who needs to lighten up here? Kudos to Power Line for capturing the paper's attention. Finally, something to keep in mind when you're listening to the next MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) pledge drive: Minnesota Public Radio star Garrison Keillor, whose homespun humor and songs sometimes take on a political edge, will head the bill for an unusual state House DFL fundraiser as a pivotal legislative election campaign opens next month. He will host an evening of music and comedy July 1 at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, preceded by a $250-a-person reception. Tickets for the main show will be priced at $100, $50 and a student rate of $25. Rep. Nora Slawik, DFL-Maplewood, recruited Keillor for the fundraiser when she attended a local DFL dinner this spring in Rochester, where he was the guest speaker. 'He's obviously interested in helping Democrats,' Slawik said. 'He agreed to do it on the spot.' Keillor did not return a reporter's call to his office on Friday. UPDATE: Giving credit where it's due, I see that Spitbull had the scoop on Powerline being mentioned in the Strib. Labels: Politics-Local (04-05)
The Warrior Princess reports in from her attendance at First Lady Laura Bush's speech in St. Paul on Friday. As a teaser, let me mention her piece does include reference to Sen. Norm Coleman's wife Laurie Coleman, and this line:
... minor unintentional groping inevitably occurs in crowd settings ... Happy Fathers Day from Fraters Libertas Ah, the campaign season. After an hour of standing in line outside the St. Paul Rivercentre the Republican Party faithful, of whom I am one, were ushered into a stuffy ballroom where we proceeded to stand for another hour and a half before the festivities began. It was tedious as expected, though amusing nonetheless. The woman behind me knew a good one about a Priest, a Baptist, and a Pentecostal, and there was a minor rift of excitement when not just one but two, count them two choir girls passed out on stage in quick succession. Well into hour three the MC was trying to space out speakers as long as possible, as our main speaker was running a mite bit late. The poor man ran out of material pretty fast, but I'd say we were a pretty gracious lot, and we continued to stand and talk amongst ourselves. It's always kind of interesting to hear people's stories. Where are you from, how'd you get invited, do you know my cousin Rufus from Wayzata, that kind of thing. And as minor unintentional groping inevitably occurs in crowd settings, it's a little more comforting for me to be assured that the woman behind me who keeps brushing my rear end is just Grandma Anderson, the retired schoolteacher from Maplewood. Our warm up speakers included Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, Governor Tim Pawlenty, and Laurie Coleman, wife of Senator Norm Coleman, all qualified and entertaining speakers in their own right. But we stood and waited for a different purpose. The goal of our fortitude was to get a glimpse of the First Lady of the United States. We were not disappointed. When the First Lady took the stage we forgot about our numb legs and our aching backs, and we listened intently. She gave a typical stump speech for the Presidential campaign seeking to invigorate the grass roots loyalists, but its predictability did not detract from our interest, because First Lady Laura Bush possesses a rare but dignified quality that draws in every ear within her reach. Grace. First Lady Laura Bush has a wonderful ability to connect with an audience because every air of her demeanor displays a message to the audience that she is one of us. Her tone is humble and jovial, her words unassuming, and her voice soothing. She exudes in a word, grace. In 2000, I had the opportunity to hear Hillary Clinton speak, and though I no longer remember the substance of her speech, I still remember the separation we felt as an audience. She was not one of us, and it was clear she did not desire to be, or want us to think she was. Her tone was edgy and hard. Her demeanor did not seek to invite us in, but to elevate herself in our eyes. The contrast between the two is astounding. Long after the majority of the crowd had left, First Lady Laura Bush continued to work the rope line, talking, joking, and taking pictures. The TV crews had gotten their shots, the PR muscle had stopped caring, there was no publicity reason for her to continue to take the time and energy to shake our hands and make small talk with strangers she would probably never set eyes on again. The only reason I can think of is that the attitude she displays on stage must be genuine, the humility of her words and demeanor sincere, and the grace in her air authentic. She truly must be one of us, and the best part of us at that. Labels: Politics-National (02-04) Friday, June 18, 2004
I take no small amount of umbrage at the Elder's claim that I have been drunkenly harassing a respected local columnist. I never call people when drunk, and I rarely make wild assertions.
First of all, I hate the telephone. When sober, this hatred simply manifests itself in ignoring the cursed thing when it rings. When loaded, however, I've been known to attack a ringing phone with a ball peen hammer and a welder's torch. The LAST thing I'd do when on a bender is intentionally get on the thing and prattle on. That would cut into valuable drinking time. Secondly, regarding the reported "assertions" I was to have been making, I have always been told that when you make assertions you only end up making an "ass" out of "ert" and "ions"...which is all well and good for those positively charged ions, but those negative ones can be quite surly when made an ass of. I, for one, always try to avoid getting bombarded by enraged subatomic particles. And don't even get me started about ERT. There's still a restraining order in effect from the last time I pissed those guys off. Environmentalists can be so grouchy. As for the implication that I was drunk last night...no comment. Labels: Drinking
The local media has made several attempts at breaking into the blogging business. And without exception they've been underwhelming efforts. The prime example is the Star Tribune's sad attempt at becoming Instandit, called 2 Cents. Not only don't I know anyone who reads it, I've never even heard a rumor of anyone reading it. Its tag line: "from kooky to conventional 2 Cents explores the universe of opinion." From it's links this week, the universe appears to be bounded by Atrios one on end and Joshua Michah Marshall on the other. Reminds me of that scene in The Blues Brothers where the waitress at the Bob's Country Bunk House is asked what kind of music they have and she explains "we have both kinds, country and western."
But perhaps the most pathetic of these big media blogs is Single in the Cities from the Pioneer Press. It's allegedly a chronicle of a single girl's dating exploits in the Twin Cities and it purports to give advice to the lovelorn. From its name and style, I think its trying to be a Sex and the City rip off. I don't get premium cable, so I've never seen that TV show and therefore it's tough to say how successful of a copy it is. But I do imagine the girls on Sex and the City actually have sex once in a while. Not to be cruel, but I'm not sure the girl that writes this (Ruby) has ever had a date before. It seems all of her social encounters end as follows: Soon, my friends are ready to go, and we say goodbye. In the car, one of my friends who knows the guy tells me he's not really my type anyway. But mostly I'm perplexed that I couldn't get any real read on him. Hell, I'd done everything short of rubbing my leg against a wall or peeing on his bar stool. No shame in being a shrinking violet, or a barstool peeing desperado (OK, there is shame in that), but when you're hired to comment on the social scene for a big time newspaper, I think it would help to actually have a social life. The tag line for Single in the Cities is "Get Hooked". Which made me initially think it was written by a hooker. Which would be some uncharacteristically edgy and interesting reporting for the Pioneer Press. But, it turns out they mean "get hooked" as in, if you read it, it will become an addiction for you. Unfortunately Ruby only sees fit to update the site once every two or three weeks. Meaning if some poor sap actually managed to get hooked on her stuff, they'd be perpetually suffering from withdrawal symptoms. (New slogan suggestion--Single in the Cities ... it sets your skin on fire!). Given the lack of commitment shown by Ruby I find it hard to believe anyone could get hooked on her, even if they wanted to. She writes so infrequently that she might be a good addition to the City Pages Babelogue. They're also a big media blog. And they have over 20 regular contributors (most of them professional writers, of a sort). And they can still go days without a single update from anyone. Getting hooked on Ruby is further hampered by the fact that her typical commentary on the dating scene consists of reporting like, "my friend said that his friend is coming with another friend and then we're meeting up with our other friends and maybe we'll watch Friends and then ...." Or to quote Ruby directly: A friend and I drive up north to help another friend celebrate her birthday. We get dressed up and have a nice dinner with about six other friends, then head to a well-known area bar. One of my friends has invited some of his co-workers to join us, and soon they arrive. I like the fact that she did substitute the word "co-workers" for friends in that last sentence. Either she's learning to use a thesaurus or maybe that's the work of some sharp editor, noticing Ruby was about to exceed her average of 1.33 friends references per sentence. She's a bad writer who doesn't know a lot about the subject she's hired to write about. Well at least the Pioneer Press is consistent, since that accurately describes their sports columnist (Bob Sansevere) and their political columnist (Laura Billings). For real insights into the world of dating, look no further than Vox Day (a former Pioneer Press contributor himself, back when they used to hire real talent): A few months ago, I was talking to two different single 30-something women. Both are well-educated and have good jobs, (one is an architect, the other is a mid-level manager at a glamorous company in NYC), both are flat-chested and have short hair but are otherwise attractive, and both have trouble getting dates. And both were astounded and distressed to hear me say that not five men in one hundred cared about either their education or their jobs. Now, what is interesting to me is how women know that men love long hair and large breasts--you seldom see a stripper or a porn star without them--and yet few women will seriously consider the first option, still less the latter. Now, no woman should go in for elective surgery unless she really wants to upsize on the topside, but it amazes me how these dateless wonders will sneer at the "tacky stripper hair" of the girl that every man on the street is trying, and failing, to avoid noticing. As I told both women, if you want more attention from men, grow your hair and get a boob job. Ruby, are you listening? Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
The Drunk called again last night.
Time to spring for caller ID James. He had no arguments, only assertions. Yup. Definitely A-dog. I suppose he was off on one of gin fueled Fugazi tangents again. Like all the members of the Northern Alliance, I've been on the receiving end of Atomizer's boozy, belligerent phone babbling more times than I care to remember. Take my advice James and hang up the phone. The last thing Atomizer needs is an enabler. Tough love baby. Tough love. Labels: Drinking Thursday, June 17, 2004
As I've mentioned before, I've been quite surprised by just how "normal" things are here in Shanghai. I'm able to access the internet easily and without apparent restrictions. I get my daily dose of biased news coverage by watching the BBC in my hotel. ESPN is also available. I could eat lunch at McDonalds or Pizza Hut if I so wished. Or grab a cup of Joe at Starbucks. If you don't like the local beer you can get a Budweiser, Corona, or Heineken almost anywhere. All the comforts of home. Even talk radio.
Yes, talk radio. And it should really come as no surprise to learn that the king of the talk radio market in China is none other than Hugh Hewitt. Yes, Hugh Hewitt. Apparently the Chinese authorities are well aware of Hugh's moderate, inoffensive political views (he was after all a self-proclaimed "Gerald Ford Guy") and consider his show harmless enough to allow it to be broadcast openly. It's not live of course due to the time differences. And I believe that the signal is being pirated (Intellectual property piracy in China? Imagine that...) so Shanghai is not officially considered part of the far flung Hewitt empire of affiliates. But Hugh is huge here. And I don't just mean the larger than life images of Hugh's face that are ubiquitous throughout the city. You almost can't go anywhere here without running into Hugh's goofy mug staring down at you vacantly. Big Brother is watching you. And he's wearing Dockers. It's really a bit frightening, this cult of personality that has sprung up around the bland, gray haired shock jock. It's rare to find people on the street without a copy of In But Not Of (Hugh's little white book) tucked under their arm. Hugh's influence has even spawned the formation of a group fanatically dedicated to the clumsy talk show host and his pedestrian way of life. These Gray Guards will stop at nothing, excepting an open bag of Cheetos in the street, to see Hugh's blurred vision of a utopian future realized. They sing stale folks songs as they march (tripping often over their own feet) into the public squares, holding aloft portraits of their beloved leader, and demanding retribution for the latest outrages against the people perpetrated by the counterrevolutionary running dogs at Fraters Libertas (derisively referred to as the 'Gang of Four'). But I am not afraid. Yea, though I walk through the valley of Hugh's pot bellied shadow, I will fear no evil: for Ralphie art with me; his glasses and his hockey stick they comfort me. When Ralphie is with me, who can be against me? I suppose these foppish followers of the ultimate fair weather fan mean well. They all want to change the world. But when you go carrying pictures of Chairman Hugh... Labels: Ralphie
Election time rapidly approaches and I know most of us want to do something to help our candidates of choice. That is, we want to help them without degrading ourselves too badly. Because when you volunteer to help a candidate or a party, and when you have no inside contacts or or high level political skills to offer, you get stuck with thankless stooge work. Working a phone bank and making cold calls to prospective voters, handing out flyers or glad handing at obscure public events, knocking on doors and spreading the good word to strangers, or cruising appropriately profiled neighborhoods on election day, looking to coerce the lazy into voting, then driving them to the polls.
For the most part, it's all ugly stuff for an adult to find himself doing. Which is probably why punk college kids are the main source of labor for these tasks. But I suppose these duties are important. In a close election they could make the difference between winning and losing. And for those hardy souls out there planning to do just this kind of work this year, you have more patience than I and I salute you. (Yes, first I insult you, then I salute you. That's tough love, friend.) But for those like me, looking to help out, yet retain some degree of personal dignity, there is another option. One that not only allows you to salvage your self esteem, but also to ennoble yourself with a title of respect. Yes, dear citizens, you too can be a judge. An election judge, to be precise. And there are now openings for this position. Our democracy needs you to fulfill a vital role. We need you to ensure the sacred franchise of the American people is sustained in an orderly and impartial and competent fashion. Getting more specific, we need you to sit in church basements or elementary school cafeterias and get paid to read books, make small talk, meet your neighbors, and, on occasion, hand out an "I Voted" sticker or look up somebody's address in a precinct finder reference book. Yes, reduced to its essence, that's election judging. Being trained in the procedures of running elections, being prepared to do great things if the need arises. Then pleasantly whiling away the day doing basically nothing. Minnesotans are generally fair, good-natured, responsible people who aren't prone to election-related shenanigans and that makes for a quiet day. (One judge last year told me after the primary election that he got more reading done that day than in any one day in his adult life.) Did I mention you get paid? Yes, and not minimum wage either. In Ramsey County, it starts at $8/hour. And if you're a head judge, you get even more. This money isn't going to change your life, but if you work both the primary and general election, it can make for a nice little check. Because you will be working many, many hours. That's the only hard part about election judging - the hours. Most people will be required to staff their precinct for the entire day. That is, on site by 6 AM (setting up for the 7 AM opening) through 8 PM (polls close) and a little bit beyond, until the votes are tallied and the precinct is taken down. You do get a lunch break. And last year, some folks were even allowed to do a half shift. But the elections officials prefer judges to be there full time, so that's who will get preference in appointments. (Yes, you get "appointed" doesn't that sound impressive?) More on money - by state law, your employer must give you the day off if you provide sufficient notice (20 days, I think). And it's a paid day off, your employer must match your daily wage, less what you're receiving in remuneration from the county. Or, if you're like me and wouldn?t think of imposing on your employer in this manner, you can take a paid vacation day and get your check from the county, for a little double dipping, payola-wise. Clearly it's a sweet deal. And it does actually provide a necessary function in society and for your party. By state law, the act of judging is a partisan activity. Meaning a mix of Democrats, Republicans, Greens, and independents should be on hand at each precinct, to ensure that nothing is amiss. (You don't have to actually be a member of the party, you just have to express a preference). Unfortunately, this mix isn't always achieved, because there simply aren't enough from a given party to spread throughout all precincts. This is particularly a problem for the Republicans in urban counties. From my informal observations in Ramsey County, it appears the good mix is sometimes defined as 2 Democrats and 2 Greens. In the past two years, I've worked four elections in my little corner of St. Paul, across 16 precincts (written about here, here, here and here - another benefit of judging, rich blogging material). And I must say I've never seen any problems of a partisan nature. The credit belongs to the Ramsey County elections staff (who are top notch), and the judges, who, though mostly liberal, have performed their duties conscientiously and in a completely fair manner. But that's not to say there couldn't be problems in the future - or that there weren't problems elsewhere in the city that I'm not aware of. The Florida election fiasco of 2000 is evidence that each party needs to have its eyes and ears located at each polling place. And that role can be played by YOU. For local Republicans, the Minnesota GOP is kicking off an election judge recruiting campaign. I encourage you to click on over to their Web site and sign up today. Or people from either party can go directly through their county of residence for appointment. For Ramsey County the site is here. (Good luck finding information from Hennepin County, their Web site is a user nightmare). However, I believe the party prefers you to go directly through them, so they know who you are and can provide you with support materials. (The counties don't share the names of judges with the parties, despite the partisan nature of the activity.) So, get involved, do your public service, have fun, get paid, and receive the respect you so richly deserve. Where else can you (with a straight face) do as I did last fall. Two women came in debating whether or not they were in the right precinct, and I leaned over and said: "Ladies, I'll be the judge of that." Labels: Politics-Local (04-05) Wednesday, June 16, 2004
From today's Minneapolis Star and Sickle comes this very disturbing story:
Passion turned to agony early Wednesday morning when a 43-year-old St. Paul woman locked in a kiss with her boyfriend bit off an inch and a half of the man's tongue, according to police. The woman, who told police that she has been victimized by men in the past, said she became frightened when her 47-year-old boyfriend squeezed her too tightly as they were kissing at her home in St. Paul. "I guess I bit down too hard," police said the woman told them after the incident. She "bit down" too hard? Why...in God's name...was this woman biting down in the first place? She's, presumably, supposed to be enjoying a tender moment with an intimate friend and, instead, she treats the man's tongue like a piece of overdone meat at the Ponderosa. To say this woman has issues is to cheapen the definition of issues. Reading on, we find that: The victim, also from St. Paul, walked with the woman from her home in the 400 block of Edmund Av. They went to a fast food restaurant in the 300 block of W. University Avenue to call police about 3:10 a.m. If all I had to eat was a bit of human tongue, I'd head to the nearest Taco Bell for a chalupa myself. If I had suddenly found myself without a tongue, however, I do believe that a quiet stroll with the new owner of said tongue would be the last thing on my mind! It doesn't end there, my friends. Here's the clincher: After talking with the couple, officers returned to her home to look for the tongue, but they couldn't find it, police said. The woman, who had been drinking with her boyfriend, told police that she doesn't remember what happened to the end of his tongue, which police estimate measured about 1.5 inches. Police say the woman might have swallowed it. I'm...simply speechless. Labels: Food
Some recent email from Fraters readers. First, Man From Silver Mountain, on Reagan's funeral:
My wife and I had the same reaction to seeing Scott Baio at Reagan's funeral. I think my quote upon seeing him was, "Where's Willie Aames?" James Phillips commenting on The Elder in China: I think you can forget about getting any useful info from The Elder. He has obviously been taken in by some Chi-Com Potemkin Village. You should worry that he seems on the verge of an singing the praises of some Chinese free market miracle or some such nonsense. PS: I really don't think he likes being reminded of that Bartolo "I think he'll help the Angels" Colon moment on Hugh's show. But maybe because some people just won't let it go. I know I can't. (FYI, Bart Colon is a stellar 4-5, with a hefty 6.24 ERA. Oh yeah, that'll help.) And finally, a member of the US military, on the letter by Chaplain Unger, printed here yesterday: Thank you for posting the letter by Chaplain Unger. It is a sad statement that letters or essays as good as his are so few and far between. Sadder yet, they never make the front page of the newspaper or the headlines of the news. Thank you also for getting in there and telling it the way it is and making it available to the people. Being from Minnesota, your takes on the Star and Sickle and the local media always gives me a good laugh. Labels: Fraters Inc
Der Kommissar has taken the Rocky Mountain Alliance of blogs to task for their coverage (or lack thereof) of the Colorado Senate race, and throws in a shot at THIS fine website to boot:
When is the Rocky Mountain Alliance going to get in gear with coverage of this race? (And what was MangledCat doing listening to KOA as opposed to KNUS this morning?) Summer comes to the cold lands, and the bloggers slow down to walk-in-the-woods pace. C'mon gents. This race matters, and the Alliance should be keeping us posted on the info, just as the South Dakota Alliance does for Daschle v. Thune. Seems the Fraters effect has taken hold, leaving the blogs lethargic, beery and obsessed with odd bits and exotic travel. The Fraters Effect? I like that...and, I have to say that I agree with Ralphie on this one, although it's not because I feel that the RMA is a pathetic bunch of slackers. I will not play a pot to anyone's kettle. No, I find that when winter finally ends here (on or about June 1st) thoughts uncontrollably tend to turn towards things a little less...indoorsy...than sitting in front of a computer and pounding out yet another epic tome detailing one's random thoughts on the most recent news cycle topic...or election. When you couple an excruciatingly long winter with a spring that brings 23 days of rain in a 30 day stretch, you've got yourself some mighty antsy bloggers. Not to mention the fact that we're undergoing some extensive remodeling here at Fraters Libertas World Headquarters. Due to an excessive amount of hate mail directed toward JB Doubtless in the past year, we've had to add a 5,000 square foot wing on to our existing sprawling suburban complex just to archive it all...and the place is an absolute mess. When the sun finally does decide to come out here in the just-recently-unfrozen north, most of us like to head outside and enjoy any number of "odd bits"...like a little yard work or perhaps some bird watching and, in the process, we must leave our computers behind. So, if you, like Hugh, think that the quality of our little corner of the blogosphere has taken a bit of a dip in the recent past, please take comfort in the fact that winter in Minne-so-cold is less than four short months away. We'll be back to normal in no time. And, just for the record, Hugh, we haven't been lethargic lately. We've simply been hung over. Labels: Fraters Inc Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Gary Larson looks at the similarities between the media invective against Churchill before World War II and Bush today:
Eerie parallels between the appeasement craze in the mid-1930s and today's denunciations of a war on terrorism are striking. Winston S. Churchill clashed with news media for warning of Nazi tyranny and for pitching resolve to meet the Nazi threat. President George W. Bush is skewered by media for the war on terror. Both confronted not only a smug and hostile press, but also a less-than-loyal opposition perhaps concerned more with winning an election than chasing down the bad guys. First things first? Because the contexts of the two men's times are poles apart, any comparison cannot be literal. Yet Churchill's thrashing by Fleet Street, the British national press, had all the earmarks of what's loosely called Bush-bashing today. Labels: Politics-National (02-04)
The picture in the upper left hand corner of this web site (Ronald Reagan wearing a Pabst Blue Ribbon apron, clowning outside the Last Frontier Casino in Las Vegas) has made a couple of appearances on this web site. With Reagan's death last week, it serves as an appropriate memorial to the light hearted, populist traits of the man which the country came to love.
True story, when it first went up (last year? a couple years ago?), I thought it was a vacation photo of the Elder and a group of his friends on some wild bender from years past. I'm not sure why I thought that, since the young Reagan looks nothing like the Elder (the resemblences don't kick in until Reagan reached the end of his second term). I guess in my peripheral vision scan of the picture, something about the decades out of style clothing, and the enthusiastic endorsement of cheap beer said "the Elder." But, upon further review, it turns out to be an authentic picture of Ronald Reagan. And a curious one at that. Why was his name on the marquee at an obscure casino? Why was he wearing a PBR apron with German writing on it? Who were those Slavic looking stooges next to him? What was everybody so happy about? To answer these questions, I turned to the definitive source of information--the Elder. Since he found the picture and posted it on Fraters Libertas numerous times, I was sure he'd be able to clue us in on its origins. I was sure he'd enlighten us on its many components and explain why their cultural symbolism still resonates with us today and makes us appreciate Ronald Reagan even more. The Elder's email response, direct from the People's Republic of China: Actually I don't know the story behind the Reagan pic. I think I have a magnet with it that I picked up somewhere along the way. I suppose I could research it a bit and find out. Nah. Now I know how Hugh Hewitt felt when asking him about Bartolo Colon. Or maybe the Elder is being held prisoner by the Communist government for spreading counter revolutionary propaganda and his uncharacteristic non responsiveness is a subtle cry for help? Or maybe the Elder just had too many Tsingtaos tonight to give the question the proper attention? Whatever the case, I did some of my own research and uncovered the following information on Reagan's two week stint as a Vegas Strip headliner in 1954. This from the Las Vegas Sun: In 1954, then-out-of-work actor Reagan came to Las Vegas to try his hand as a song-and-dance man and comedian at the Last Frontier Hotel on the Strip. During a two-week engagement before mostly packed houses in the Ramona Room, Reagan clowned with The Continentals quartette and danced with the resort's showgirl chorus line The Adorabelles. "Advance information would indicate that Ronald Reagan has no intentions of walking onstage unprepared," the Sun wrote in its Feb. 13, 1954, editions. "His shrewd showmanship ... has held him in good standing for many years." Harvey Diederich, then public relations director at the Frontier, said, "While he (Reagan) enjoyed doing the act, he knew he was no song-and-dance man. However, he was a very optimistic man." From MSNBC, a first hand report from someone who was in the audience opening night, February 15, 1954: "He was offered this gig, I guess you would call it, and they paid him $30,000 for the two weeks, and that was as much as he made on his last film. He came on and he did a couple comedy scenes with some girls. He came on like a clown, like a clown costume, chasing everybody around the stage and hitting them with a rolled up newspaper. It was good." Shrewd showmanship, packed houses, Reagan left optimistic afterwards, the audience enjoying themselves. Even with such a limited run, sounds like a success. Or was it? This from the Las Vegas Review Journal: Ronald Reagan's acting career was near rock bottom when he came to Las Vegas with a chimpanzee act in 1954. Then 43, he arrived at the Last Frontier Hotel as a story-telling emcee who also performed with a quartet called The Continentals while hamming it up with a group of chimpanzees. (Note, from the picture, the PBR apron appears to come from a German beer hall sketch with Reagan as the waiter. Although the picture credit names his cohorts at The Honey Brothers and not The Continentals.) Reagan's act was a spinoff of his chimp-themed B-movie "Bedtime for Bonzo." Reagan, who died Saturday at age 93, lasted two weeks on the Strip, then in its low-wattage infancy. Longtime Las Vegas publicist Harvey Diederich, then employed at the Last Frontier, recalls seeing Reagan's short-lived show. It was more conversational than humorous, said Diederich. His two-week vaudevillian routine was panned by critics. "The show was not much in either quality or quantity," said Bill Willard, the Las Vegas reviewer for Variety at the time. "It was an old song-and-dance routine and that was about it -- not memorable." This is from a story from the San Jose Mercury News, on Reagan's motivation for taking the Last Frontier gig: His acting career, though, was grinding to a halt. "I think I became too identified with the serious side of Hollywood's off-screen life," he wrote. But he also made dreadful choices: "The Voice of the Turtle" instead of "The Treasure of Sierra Madre," for example, and making eyes at Shirley Temple in "That Hagen Girl," her first grown-up role. The Vegas gig came in 1954, when his agents suggested a nightclub act as a way of making money. What would I do? he asked. "What do you do at those benefits?" they replied. Introduce the other acts, he said. And that's what he did. He worked up an act with a quartet called the Continentals, who sang and did comedy, that included a sketch for him. He opened with a self-deprecating monologue. It was, he recalled, "a wonderfully successful two weeks," but he did not care to repeat it. And this darker interpretation of his motivations, from self-styled investigative reporter Dan Moldea: At the end of Reagan's fifth term [as SAG president], he began to have serious financial problems, particularly with the IRS. In response, MCA negotiated a deal with the Last Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas--which was then operated by Chicago mobsters--for Reagan to host a song-and-dance show for two weeks and to receive enough money to cover his back tax debt. Reagan's clown and chimpanzee act in Vegas--sponsored by the Mafia? Hard to put much credibility in that report. Although I may yet contact Moldea about getting the REAL story on the Elder's trip to China. Something tells me the mob may be involved here too. Or maybe the Elder is also involved with some traveling chimpanzee act? Stay tuned. Labels: Political History
9:06pm Shanghai time and I'm once again sitting in my hotel room, tired as hell, sipping on a Tsingtao. The only way I made it through today was to down four cups of extra strong java at work.
Miserable weather here. Rained all day with a thick overcast and very low ceiling. A woman at work explained that it was the "rainy season". I asked if that meant it rained every day. "It could," she replied. Great. Just great. As I mentioned yesterday, the journey over here was not a picnic. Sitting in Northwest's World Business Class helped make it tolerable. Fully reclinable seats, lumbar massage, and a personal entertainment system were nice features, but a twelve hour flight is a twelve hour flight, no matter how comfortable you make it. I read quite a bit more of Reagan's autobiography An American Life, played trivia on the entertainment system, took a page from Mr. Lileks by watching MST3K DVDs (Boggy Creek II:The Legend Continues and Merlin's Shop Of Mystical Wonders) on my laptop, and took as much advantage of the free booze as I dared within reason. So far I have not been able to see much of the city. We arrived last night after dark and the offices here are only a few miles from the hotel. One thing that has struck me is how normal everything appears. China is the first communist country that I have ever visited, not counting Canada, and frankly I'm a little disappointed. I was ready to be greeted at the airport by stern faced Red Guards waving Kalashnikovs and demanding to see my papers. Instead I was greeted by excited drivers waving signs representing hotels and businesses and looking to deliver us to our destinations. It was easier to enter China than Mexico. And the huge iconic images of Mao, the banners decrying running dog capitalism, and red flags on every street corner? Nowhere to be seen. In fact the whole time I've been here I've only seen one Chinese flag. Granted I'm staying in Pudong, a business orientated part of the city designed to show China's best face to the world, but still can't they put on a little show for us newcomers to the land? Besides in some ways this facade of normalcy is actually more disturbing than the visible signs of state authority that were present in the past. You have to wonder what's really going on behind the curtain. Labels: China
Long time friend of Fraters, Gary Larson, passes on this letter from a US Navy Chaplain in Iraq. It's a bit lengthy but well worth the read:
30 May 2004 Dear Friends, This is my third letter from Iraq. I have been working myself into the right mood to do this. Today is the day. In my last two letters I have leaned toward being as upbeat as possible. This time will be different; today I want to talk about Memorial Day, but I will start off by giving my perspective on the Abu Ghraib prison problem. First off, the investigation into the abuses at Abu Ghraib began back in January. That is why the first court martial was ready for trial in May. The senior people here knew about the investigation; the rest of us didn't. By the time the media "broke" the story, the investigation was almost done and the soldiers who had committed the abuses had already been rotated home. Second, I (we) don't see all the news coverage that you in the states see. I do see some Fox News and CNN. Fox editorializes toward the right wing; CNN is the voice of the anti-war movement. I wonder that if CNN had been around in 1942 we might all be speaking German and Japanese. I can tell you this, everything I have heard on CNN is so biased, negative, and out-of-touch that I will never watch CNN for the rest of my life. That being said, when the rest of us found out about the abuses we were shocked and sickened. I think maybe more so than people back home because we are here; these are the people I see every day. The people I see every day who are going out to fix: schools, hospitals, reservoirs, power plants, and sewer systems. They do these things risking sniper fire and hidden explosives. These soldiers are not a handful of bad apples like those at Abu Ghraib, these soldiers number into the thousands. Now think for a second, how much have you seen about that on the news? I believe Abu Ghraib should have been reported, but when I see the fixation of the media on the actions of a few, when the courage shown in reconstruction and the restraint shown in combat by thousands of our people is never shown, I believe this is inexcusable. For the real story of what our people are doing here, go here Click on Coalition News and then Humanitarian Efforts. Third, what happened on that cellblock of Abu Ghraib is what happens when leadership is not out walking around. That is true in the military or in college dorms. I haven't seen it reported in the news, but other soldiers turned in the soldiers who did this. If the dirt bags that committed those abuses had been turned loose among the troops here it would've been ugly. I haven't heard any comments about them coming from soldiers that didn't express a hope that they would get the maximum punishment. A few leaders need to get demoted too. As per the "outrage", if you were "outraged" by this, good. I was. However, I would like to ask Arab governments and our own media elites, "Were you just as outraged by what happened under Saddam? If so, you didn't show it." Here is what people need to understand: the interrogation of prisoners of war is a little tougher than what the typical thug gets by the local police. I went to Survival, Evasion, Rescue, and Escape (SERE) School back in 1995. I am more proud of completing that course than anything I have ever done. Also, I would never do it again. After playing hide and seek with "bad guys" in California in March, we all got caught, knocked around, froze, went hungry, sleep deprived, threatened with worse, and then interrogated. Here's the deal: when interrogation is done correctly, people don't break so much as they leak. (The purpose of SERE is to teach you how not to leak. That is the classified part of the school.) The interrogator wants them to leak in a way so that the prisoner doesn't even know he is leaking. When someone breaks, as opposed to leaking, they usually give out a data dump of gibberish and then physiologically shuts down. A good interrogator avoids that. If you hurt them or scare them too badly, they quit leaking. Interrogators ask the same question about ten times, ten different ways. Disoriented people leak and they don't even know it. What most Americans think of when they think of POWs being interrogated is what they remember of our pilots in North Vietnam. The abuse our people went through in Vietnam wasn't to get intelligence; it was to exploit them for propaganda purposes. I mention this to put the term "abuse" in context. When a terrorist here in Iraq or jaywalkers back in the states report jailhouse "abuse," what does it mean? When we catch a guy red-handed restocking his weapons stock and question him, withholding his TV privileges isn't enough. He won't be happy, but neither will he be destroyed or scared for life. He will tell his buddies, "I didn't tell them anything." In fact he will have told us a lot. As I said, I had to work myself into a mindset to talk about this. To work around horror without out letting the horror seep into your soul is a spiritual battle. This week I worked with a National Guard soldier who had to clean up after a convoy of civilian aid workers were killed when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off on the road into Baghdad. He is a carpenter in civilian life, but this week he was out on a highway picking up arms and legs while watching out for snipers. He was cleaning up after monsters. Some other young Americans were put in charge of guarding monsters and then became monsters. Care of the soul is serious business. That is part of the reason why I became a Navy Chaplain. The other reason is the people. The folks I have known in the military are more interesting to be around than anybody else I know. This leads me to Memorial Day. Earlier this month I went to Camp Cooke at Taji. (To lend perspective, Taji is really north Baghdad; I am in west Baghdad.) The 39th Brigade (Arkansas National Guard) is stationed there. I didn't know any of them, but I wanted to see my home-state Guard here in Iraq. So I badgered my way into flying up there for two days. They are stationed in the old Iraqi army air defense school. Unlike downtown Baghdad, the old air defense school was turned into rubble. It is getting better, but it was like living in a junkyard. Their first month in Iraq was tough. These soldiers patrol the roughest part of Baghdad. While I was there, the Chaplain of the 39th told me this story: One of the old troopers who came was a 52 year-old Sgt. who had already done his 20+ years and had retired. But his son was in the 39th, and when the father found out they were coming over here, he reenlisted. On their first week in country, Camp Cooke was attacked by rockets and the first rocket that landed killed the father. I was born in 1958 and came of age when the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement were both in full swing. It has taken me years to put this into words, but I believe that as bad as that war was, the legacy of the anti-war movement was worse. The anti-war movement gave rise to the moral superiority of non-involvement and non-commitment. While that may have worked to help draft-dodgers sleep at night, it's not much of a strategy of how to go through life. Taken to its logical conclusion the message is: don't commit to your county, don't commit to your spouse, and don't commit to your kids, church, or community. Don't commit to cleaning up your own mess or any cause that demands any more from you than rhetoric. This was the mindset in which our country was firmly stuck. Until 9/11, some woke up. Kids came down and joined the service. To the dismay of some of their teachers, parents, and the media elites, they came down here and raised their hand in front of the flag. And they are still coming to the shock of the non-committers. The Marines have more enlisting than their two boot camps can handle. And we are all here together for Memorial Day 2004. Old National Guardsmen, grandfathers, and single moms, Texans and Mexicans, Surfers and Rednecks. A few weeks ago an Illinois National Guardsman, mother of three, was hit six times, saved by her body armor, but lost part of her nose. She stayed on her 50 caliber, firing on the bad guys, protecting the convoy. She said she was thinking of her kids and the guys she was with. Commitment is love acted out. It is sad that the non-committers missed that. They and their moral high-ground haven't been near a mass grave. The kids I see and eat with every day still want to help this country, in spite of getting shot at while doing it. That is love acted out. You either get it, or you don't. During my time in Iraq I won't be able to see any of the Biblical sites that are here. But a few weeks ago in Taji I got to stand on some holy ground, where a father died when he went to war just to be with his son. Sincerely yours, Steven P. Unger LCDR, CHC, USN Multi National Corps-Iraq Labels: Iraq Monday, June 14, 2004
In the midst of its Reagan funeral coverage on Saturday, the Star Tribune included an article called "In North Minneapolis, Not Everyone was Riveted to the TV" (which, strangely, is not available anywhere on their Web site). It consisted of interviews of average folks on the street, all condemning in various ways our dearly departed, just buried President.
This article had to appear, I suppose, because it wouldn't be balanced to cover a man's funeral without also covering the motivations of people urinating on his grave afterwards. I guess that's news, and give the Star Tribune credit for working hard to find it. They racially profiled a neighborhood they thought would be hostile to President Reagan and sent out a reporter with the express purpose of digging up negative quotes with ambush style interviews. And what do you know, they found some. Just goes to show initiative pays off when creating the news. Because none of these folks would have said anything if they didn't have a reporter hunting them down and prompting them with questions. Here's the quality of commentary received: "He destroyed this country," said Tim Strand, 46, a carpenter who wore a John Kerry button into Milda's Cafe. "I remember the high interest rates we had in the 1980s, but Reagan had a great sense of humor and I think he was one of the great Presidents," [restaurant owner James] Baker said. "But then again, I thought Nixon was a great president ... until he got impeached." [Hospice-care nurse] Lisa Gibson said she voted for Reagan twice but understands why others are uncomfortable with the ongoing coverage. "The country's already in mourning over poverty, no jobs and the new recession," Gibson said. In this random sampling of opinion we have one guy remembering that Reagan destroyed the country, one guy remembering how high the interest rates were under Reagan, and one woman not able to mourn Reagan because of the skyrocketing unemployment rates amid the new recession overtaking the country. Makes me wonder if the reporter for this story, Paul Levy, limited his interview subjects to people entering an insane asylum or a detox unit. Nice work Levy. I imagine his follow up question to each person had to be "what color is the sky in your world?" Last week the Elder commented on the Star Tribune's habit of printing letters to the editor from people exhibiting complete idiocy. Factually inaccurate, illogical, embarrassingly inarticulate arguments, all printed in the newspaper, without comment or correction. As the Elder noted: ... I read the letters [to the editor] because I'm continually amazed at the daily displays of poor reasoning and weak logic that the Strib deems worthy of inclusion. I could understand if they chose to print thoughtful letters that reflected the paper's left leaning ideological bent. What I can't understand is how some of these silly and, quite frankly, stupid arguments ever are allowed to see the light of day. Apparently their policy towards interview subjects is the same as for letters to the editor. Obviously inaccurate factual assertions, paranoid delusions, outright lies, doesn't matter. If the people say it, then it must be printed without critical review. That's news, it gets printed as fact, case closed. Seems ridiculous to me, but I'm sure they have their reasons. The most plausible one I can think of is that the Star Tribune has adopted Star Trek's Prime Directive as their corporate operating principle. The relevant section, straight from Star Fleet regulations: As the right of each sentient species to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred, no Star Fleet personnel may interfere with the healthy development of alien life and culture. Such interference includes the introduction of superior knowledge, strength, or technology to a world whose society is incapable of handling such advantages wisely. Sounds eerily similar to how Paul Levy treats his interview subjects in North Minneapolis, doesn't it? I'll be charitable and allow for the possibility that intrepid reporter Paul Levy doesn't treat his interview subjects like inferior life forms. Maybe he simply doesn't have any more superior knowledge than they do. He heard what these people had to say, dutifully nodded his head, wrote it down, and assumed it was true. Maybe he thinks the country actually was destroyed under Reagan (and he's been living a bizarre postmortem hallucination of life ever since). He thinks interest rates were a problem under Reagan (and not that the Federal Fund interest rate declined from 16.4 % in 1981 to 7.6% in 1988). He thinks the current economy is not producing any jobs and we're living under a new recession (and not that 947,000 new jobs were created in the US in the past three months and the current unemployment rate is a mere 5.6% (4.1% in Minnesota). And he doesn't know that the most recent quarter showed a 4.4% growth in US GDP, the tenth quarter in a row of US economic expansion). Even if Levy is operating under the same delusions as his interview subjects, you'd think there would be someone in an editorial capacity who actually knows something about history, keeps up with economic news, maybe reads a paper besides the Star Tribune once in a while. At least someone would be responsible for fact checking? Or at least someone would be responsible for reading articles for internal consistency before publication? But I can't take those assumptions as fact either. Check out these paragraphs from the Levy article: "He was a good President who stood up for the people,"said hospice-care nurse Lisa Gibson, 38, while waiting at the bus stop at Glenwood and Morgan Avs. Gibson said she voted for Reagan twice but understands why others are uncomfortable with the ongoing coverage. "The country's already in mourning over poverty, no jobs, and the new recession," Gibson said. She claims to be 38 years old and to have voted for Reagan twice. Paul Levy wrote it and the editors printed it. It's in the newspaper, so it has to be true, right? Wrong! (said John McLaughlin voice). According to my sources (the 26h Amendment to the US Constitution), you have to be 18 years old to vote in this country. And in 1980, during Reagan's first candidacy, Ms. Gibson would have been 14 years old! It would be impossible for her to have voted for Reagan twice. But there it is, in black-and-white (again, you'll have to dig out your hard copies from Saturday to see it for yourself, as it's been stricken from the Web site). How does this lazy reporting get into the paper? I again refer to the Elder's comments of last week: 1. Ignorance. They don't know what they don't know 2. Apathy. They simply don't care. I think both those factors play a part in this tale. But let me add a third possibility. Could it be ... bias!? (said in Dana Carvey Church Lady voice). In the course of running down the Bush economy with ridiculously dismal claims, Lisa Gibson was also claiming to be an ardent supporter of Ronald Reagan. My god, even the Reagan supporters have turned against this President! He's that bad! For the editors to take the time to bother to notice that Lisa Gibson also happens to be LYING (I submit to you that she's NEVER voted for Ronald Reagan) would kind of ruin this happy little story for them. The only reason she got in the paper was to allow the Star Tribune to make an editorial point about George Bush from within a news article. In fact, that's the only reason they sent Paul Levy out to the streets of north Minneapolis in the first place. The editorial decision had already been made, and they can't let something like the facts get in the way of their story. Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
I'm sitting in my hotel room here in Shanghai (it's about 11:15pm), knocking back a Tsingtao Beer, and preparing for a well deserved rest after about twenty hours of travel (including fifteen in the air) to get here. Flying bidness class beats the hell out of huddling with the masses in coach, but fifteen hours on airplanes is not pleasant, no matter how comfortable the seats are or how many drinks you imbibe.
Hopefully, I'll get a chance to throw up a couple of posts this week. Right now all I'm thinking about is crashing and crashing hard. I am happy to report that Fraters Libertas is available for reading by our Chinese brethren without any government censorship or interference. I had heard that other bastions of freedom, such as the Fox News web site, were blocked by the Chinese authorities. Apparently we slipped under their radar. Which means the whole totalitarian state gig cannot survive long here. When the oppressed peoples yearning to breathe free read the inspirational words of Atomizer detailing his heroic struggles to avoid birds and slug gin, you won't be able to hold them back much longer. Labels: China
On Friday afternoon I didn't feel like watching a funeral on TV. I loved Reagan, my first political hero, and knew the day would be of historical significance. But I watched much of the previous week's various ceremonies and wasn't sure the funeral itself was going to be of further benefit to me. Sitting around on a Friday and coming to terms with mortality and history and wearying political battles to come, all narrated by old politicians and tired journalists, it didn't seem enticing. Especially when I had a rare Friday afternoon off from work. But out of a sense of responsibility to something, I decided to give it a chance, and I'm glad I did.
Friday's funeral ceremonies for President Reagan were beautifully conceived and executed. It was a wonderful send off for the great man and I can't imagine it going any better than it did. First, the martial magnificence of the state funeral at the National Cathedral. It exhibited Western Civilization at its finest. The soaring architecture of the church, the glorious music (both classical hymns and secular standards), the unyielding discipline and flawless organization of the military guard, the respectful gathering of the contentious partisan factions of our government's leadership, the sermons and homilies celebrating our long history of individual liberty. And all of it under the aegis of Christianity, the golden crosses of Our Savior, held high throughout. I have to believe any antagonistic Islamicists viewing this spectacle had to shudder anew at the realization of the nature of the enemies they have chosen. Then it was off to California, for the family ceremony. From the moment they landed in Simi Valley you could feel the weight of institutional somberness lift. They were back in the land of blue skies, gentle rolling hills, the shimmering Pacific, and people wearing shorts and sunglasses waving from the side of the road. California, the mythical land of American dreams, and freedom, and the future. On this day California played it's part with bewildering beauty. Ron Reagan Jr's eulogy included this description of what his father's heaven would look like: Humble as he was, he never would have assumed a free pass to heaven. But in his heart of hearts, I suspect he felt he would be welcome there. And so he is home. He is free. Those of us who knew him well will have no trouble imagining his paradise. Golden fields will spread beneath a blue dome of a western sky. Live oaks will shadow the rolling hillsides. And someplace, flowing from years long past, a river will wind towards the sea. Across those fields, he will ride a gray mare he calls Nancy D. They will sail over jumps he has built with his own hands. He will at the river carry him over the shining stones. He will rest in the shade of the trees. Our cares are no longer his. We meet him now only in memory. But we will join him soon enough. All of us. When we are home, when we are free. Back in storm cloud-darkened nightfall in St. Paul, I watched on my TV as the sun started to set in California, creating what photographers call the golden hour. And I'll be damned if it didn't feel like paradise had descended on Simi Valley, if but for those fleeting moments. It was all magnificent, I honestly can't imagine it going any better. However ... there were two somewhat odd moments, both from the Simi Valley ceremony. Both involving dear, old Margaret Thatcher. The final sermon was given by the presiding cleric (Presbyterian Reverend Robert Wenning--an expatriate Brit, no less). At the beginning of it, he was telling some anecdote involving the Iron Lady and out of the blue he broke into a verbal impression of her voice. Unfortunately, it sounded more like the croaky falsetto members of Monty Python use when aping the voice of a geriatric housewife. I think he was trying to be funny. And it's tough for an amateur to do voice work under any circumstances. But in these circumstances, no one was expecting humor and thus weren't prepared to even think of giving a polite titter. It bombed in a most uncomfortable way, and came off as disrespectful the former British Prime Minister, who just happened to be sitting in the second row. The camera actually cut to Thatcher during his impression and she kept her stiff upper lift throughout, which indicated she was either not paying attention or bloody hacked off at the routine. (She was probably thinking, 'I flew 5,000 miles in declining health to honor a friend and now some half assed, colonial monk is zinging me!?') Then it got even stranger. As the broadcast was coming to a conclusion, the attendees were lining up for the final viewing of the now flagless casket carrying Reagan. At one point the camera then lingered on the Iron Lady. Margaret Thatcher, a seminal figure of the 20th Century and Reagan's primary ally in the the final, victorious days of the Cold War. It was a dignified, inspiring moment. Then the network (Fox, I think) smash cut directly to the face of ... Scott Baio. Yes, Chachi, Charles in Charge, that goofy SOB from the movie Zapped. From Margaret Thatcher. To Scott Baio. At first I didn't believe my visual identification. Too weird, I thought. But the camera stayed long enough on Chachi for me to be quite sure, it was him. Corroboration of this sighting is provided by the Sacramento Bee (the definitive source for all Scott Baio sightings): From veteran actor Mickey Rooney to "Happy Days" television star Scott Baio, celebrities from [Reagan's] early acting days and from later in his life came to pay their respects. Did Scott Baio ever act with Ronald Reagan? A cameo on Happy Days perhaps? Was there an undeveloped pilot in the 1970's called "The Gipper Loves Chachi"? It's hard to believe that Reagan and Baio became friends later in life. I suspect his attendance is a comment on the paucity of Conservatives in Hollywood. They needed some show biz presence and, sadly, he is in the first rank of non liberals. When your most prominent representatives are Tom Selleck, Wayne Newton, and Scott Baio, let's just say you do not have a deep bench. I'm not even sure Scott Baio has worked anywhere in the past 20 years. Which means, I suppose, he might have been at the Reagan funeral to park cars or sweep up afterwards. They did only show him from the neck up, so he could have been wearing a white jump suit and carrying a broom. That's not to say Scott Baio has been excluded from the important economic and political debates of the day. Back on September 30, 1998, he showed up in this observation by David Letterman: Top Ten Things Dumb Guys Say About The Economy 10. "Hey--betcha I can swallow a roll of quarters!" 9. "We need to worry less about our economy and more about the financial state of the country." 8. "Buy low, say hi." 7. "If you've ever wanted to burn money, this is a good time to do it, because there's a lot of it." 6. "Wall Street? So is it a wall or a street?" 5. "I recommend you buy CBS stock." 4. "Don't blame me, I voted for Scott Baio." 3. "Dow Jones--didn't he sing 'What's New, Pussycat?'" 2. "A penny saved is a penny you can use to scratch lottery tickets." 1. "Money good." I wonder if the copyright has expired on that one yet. It would make a great bumper sticker. Labels: Politics-National (02-04), Television Sunday, June 13, 2004
Our own Atomizer's continuing blood feud with the local avian community is well known. For whatever reason, birds hate him. But luckily for our fine feathered friends, he's a man of great patience. Despite their continuing provocations, he's not been moved to violence. He's held fast to his personal motto of "I only wish to be left alone (with my bottle of gin)" and seems to be willing to take a defensive posture.
But I fear he's only going to allow himself to be pushed so far before he explodes, as evidenced by some of his latest remarks. I stopped in my tracks and sternly fixed my steely gaze upon the creature, now sitting in the tree high above me, as if to say "WTF?" Sounds to me like he's a ticking time bomb. How many more smoke breaks and booze runs can be interrupted before he takes justice into his own hands? That I do not know. But before he does anything rash, I hope he reads this cautionary tale from the Star Tribune, entitled: "Man who attacked bird sentenced to community service": Anthony James Ellis, 53, had been sentenced to 120 days in jail but Orange County Superior Court Judge Susanne Shaw said she would allow him to complete the sentence as community service. Knowing the Atomizer as I do, he may not care about a mere 120 days in the jug when it comes to a matter of defending his honor. Remember, those birds drew first blood. They're literally taking the cigarettes and beer cans out of his mouth. But apparently there may be more to his punishment than the simple denial of liberty: Shaw also ruled that Ellis must pay $3,577.26 in restitution for surgery and care of the bird and cannot have pets or consume alcohol during three years of probation. Oh, cruel justice! To be denied the very sustenance for which he began the fight in the first place. But that's the story of our Atomizer, tragically haunted by irony, damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. Labels: Nature
Although he was unable to meet Senator Norm Coleman or Governor Tim Pawlenty, Ralphie's day at the Xcel Energy Center attending the 2004 Minnesota Republican Convention was not a complete wash. For Ralphie was able to pose next to a tribute to one of his heros, Minnesota's own Herb Brooks:
  Later today I depart for a week in China on a bidness trip, but hopefully I'll have a chance to post some thoughts on yesterday's convention in the next few days days. Until then I leave you with a look at a way not to make friends and influence people. I love America, support Israel, and distrust the U.N. as much as the next guy, but displays such as this, in the parking lot across from the Xcel Energy Center at a very busy intersection, do not serve to sway public opinion. (The Saint Paul Cathedral is visible in the background.)   Labels: Ralphie
Shawn e-mails to pick nits:
The State funeral was Wednesday evening, in the Capitol Rotunda. That is also when President Reagan began lying in state, as opposed to when he was at the Presidential Library where he lie in repose. Yesterday was the National Funeral Service, or perhaps some other title With Capital Letters. And, it certainly was wonderful. The California service also was beautiful, reducing us to tears in our living room. The final "Hail to the Chief," the eulogies by the children, the golden sun dipping below the California landscape, the folding of the flag and it's presentation to Mrs. Reagan and her last, final goodbye. While the National Funeral was held in a cathedral, and there were readings from the Bible, this interment service seemed, to me, to be much more religious. Beautiful hymns and national songs sung before the service; an opening prayer from the Reagan's pastor; Michaels testimony of his father's faith and his own acceptance of Jesus Christ as his savior and redeemer; and also Ronald Prescott's testimony of his father's unabashed religiosity, not to get votes, but because he was a human being. During the recessional, after the Reagan family had left the gravesite, the Air Force band (I believe it was an Air Force Band, but I can't trust Fox; they had, 2 times yesterday, indicated we were seeing an 'Army 21 gun salute' when it was clearly Marines rendering the salute) played selections of Lutheran Funeral Hymns: "Abide With Me," "Holy, Holy, Holy," "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." The last allows me to consider the selection Lutheran Funeral Hymns as the Reverend Martin Luther penned it. All in all, a lovely day. Labels: Politics-National (02-04) Saturday, June 12, 2004
The Northern Alliance Logo Contest has reached its final stage. Dozens of entries were submitted, and I must say I was knocked out by the quality of them all. Really, a fantastic job, all. I had no idea that much freelance graphic design talent lurked out there. Frankly, it's a little intimidating. All that professional quality talent working on the visual ID for a group of amateur political analysts on the radio. It just doesn't seem fair. In a perfect world there would be dozens of amateur political analysis radio shows competing for the design talents of each of these people. And somewhere along the line, somebody would be getting paid for something! A crazy dream? Yes! (This is radio we're talking about.)
Back in the real world, we have to deal with the conditions as they are, and that means deciding which entry is best among a slew of wonderful entries. After much acrimonious debate among the Northern Alliance members, we have winnowed the entries down to only five. Five staggering achievements in the world of radio logos. And we're looking for your help in deciding which is the best. Click on over to the Northern Alliance Radio site , check 'em out, and vote your consciences. (Of course, I don't want to bias the results in any way. I'm just saying if the sleek, moderne deluxe design by Amy Lopez doesn't win, it will be a crime against humanity.) Labels: NARN (04-05) Friday, June 11, 2004
I was fortunate enough to be not working today and so was able to watch and listen to the entire state funeral. It was beautiful, moving, and impeccably conducted. I can't possibly imagine a better send off for a man of Reagan's immense stature.
Tom from Minnesota e-mails to recount his trip to Washington D.C. to pay his respects to Reagan. It was to keep a promise he made years ago and demonstrates the incredible impact Reagan had on so many people's lives: Just returned from my trip to DC. What a memorable experience it was and always will be for me. A couple observations that I believe are important to pass along. The crowd on Wednesday was much younger than I had expected. I saw a lot of families with kids, but also many young twenty-something working professionals. It was good to see. I don't know what I was expecting, but since President Reagan was ninety three and basically out of sight for the last ten years with Alzheimers, I guess I thought the crowd would consist of those closer to age or nearer in generation to Reagan's. It did not. Second, the respect of the crowd was truly awe-inspiring. When the caisson came down to 4th & Constitution (where I was standing, and directly across the street from the Canadian Embassy. Notwithstanding their unwillingness to send over Prime Minister Martin, it was big of them to at least lower the Canadian flag to half mast), everyone shut up and even the littlest of kids dared not to make a sound. As soon as President Reagan's caisson went by us, a single F-15 screamed directly overhead, followed by five groups each of four jets. The final group carried the traditional missing man formation, with the last jet breaking off from the group of four and flying sky high, seemingly to the heavens. For me, this was by far the most moving part of the ceremony. When the missing man ascended out of the four plane alignment, it stirred emotions in me that are difficult to explain. Maybe it's because those jets, and specifically the men that fly them, represent the best of the best that America has to offer. In a way, their grace, strength, and harnessed power are entirely symbolic of the nation they have volunteered to defend. And on this day, they represented the core qualities of the man they flew over to honor. Finally, it will be interesting to see how history will view President Reagan. It's nauseating to hear the left-wing journalists suddenly fawn over a man they spent eight years denigrating. If they appreciated him then as much as they claim to now they wouldn't believe in the things they do. And newscasts would certainly contain a different perspective on current world affairs. I believe that President Reagan was the most important man of the 20th Century. People will claim that he never had to preside over a war in which hundreds of thousands of lives were lost (i.e. Lincoln with the Civil War and FDR/Truman WWII) but just imagine what could have happened to the world if anyone else but Reagan had been president in the 80's. More than likely, the Soviet Union would still have far reaching influence today, and certainly would have been at par or better with the United States vis a vis superpower status. If you look at American History, we have been blessed to have the right man at the right time leading our country. History has shown that if anyone other than Washington led our country at the time of its formation, it may not have ever formed; if anyone other than Lincoln led our country during the Civil War, the Union may not have held together; and if anyone other than Reagan led during the 80's, one can say with relative certainty that hundreds of millions of people would not enjoy living in freedom today because of him. Labels: Politics-National (02-04)
We Don't Care What They're Saying As Long As They Get The URL Right
Lots of chatter out there about our cadre of humble bloggers. Captain Ed reveals that we're in league with Big Tobacco: I hadn't realized that they were part of the tobacco cabal, although the Elder does remind me of the Marlboro Man at times, sans horse. Marlboro Man? I'll take that as a compliment. Better than the occasional comparisons to Conan O'Brien. Ed also believes that we're coo coo for Coco Puffs: This decision, no doubt, will delight the Fraters guys. If you read them or hear them on the air, you know they're certifiable. Are we Ed? Are are we so sane that you just blew your mind? Meanwhile, JB's post on conservative converts who at times stil revel in their liberal past caught the attention of Mitch Berg at Shot In The Dark, who agrees to disagree with JB's assessment: And it's there you're wrong, JB. Synchophantic commenters on Mitch's site concur: And frankly, JB's article offended me. I too felt a certain sting after reading J.B.'s post. ...that's a distinction that exists only in JB's head. Joe Carter from the evangelical outpost elected to eschew the rote JB bashing and instead offered up some advice: I'd like to leave my friend J.B. with this quote from Robert Louis Stevenson: "To hold the same views at forty as we held at twenty is to have been stupefied for a score of years, and take rank, not as a prophet, but as an unteachable brat, well birched and none the wiser." Unless of course the views you had at twenty were right all along. Finally, our good friend and radio mentor Hugh Hewitt counsels his readers to keep their eyes forward and ignore the train wreck: Pay no attention to Fraters. They've all been in the bottle again. After our disastrous decision to play trivia at Keegan's last night with split squads, and the resulting failure to win (one team tied for second, the other finished third) crawling into a bottle to drown the agony of defeat sounds pretty good right now. Labels: Fraters Inc
By the way, if you listened to the stirring renditions of Battle Hymn of the Republic, Amazing Grace, and Ode to Joy at the state funeral today and were not touched in some way emotionally, you are not human. The funeral program is available here.
Labels: Music, Politics-National (02-04)
Canadians should be proud of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's eloquent words today at Ronald Reagan's state funeral. Following Maggie Thatcher is a thankless task, and he performed it admirably. Great pipes too. Has he considered a career in radio?
SAINT PAUL ADDS: I agree on Mulroney, a fine job. Particularly the ending, some elegant verse by W.B. Yeats. From the poem "In the Municipal Gallery Re-visited" Think where man's glory most begins and ends And say my glory was I had such friends. Lines which, coincidently, were also featured in a poignant scene in the Seinfeld episode entitled "The Deal": Elaine: Oh, what is this? You got me something? Kramer: Yeah. Open it. Elaine: Oh Kramer... (She opens it) The bench! You got me the bench that I wanted! (Jerry looks irritated) Kramer: That's pretty good, huh? Jerry: Great. Kramer: Remember when we were standing there and she mentioned it? I made a mental note of it. Jerry: Well goody for you. Kramer: Oh yeah, I'm very sensitive about that. I mean, when someone's birthday comes up, I keep my ears open. So what'd you get her? Jerry: 182 bucks. Kramer: Cash? You gotta be kidding. What kind of gift is that? That's like something her uncle would get her. Elaine: (Reading card) Think where man's glory most begins and ends and say my glory was I had such a friend. Kramer: (To Jerry) Yeats. Elaine: Oh Kramer. (They embrace) THE ELDER ADDS: What is this? Power Line? Where are all the pageant pictures and George Will columns? Labels: Canada, Life Resembles Seinfeld Thursday, June 10, 2004
Fraters reader Tim writes in with a Gawker-like celebrity sighting. Of a gawky celebrity, no less, from right in here in St. Paul:
I was getting my hair cut the other day at Great Clips on Cleveland Avenue and Ford Parkway (artist sketch of the general location) and I saw Garrison Keillor walking into the Highland Theater with his daughter to watch Shrek 2. Our fine partisan friend, was wearing a gray sport coat, t-shirt, jeans, and red shoes (very strange). I wouldn't say his hair was combed, big glasses. The only way I knew it was him was because he looked so odd. He is the goofiest looking dude I have ever seen. I don't think he said anything, his daughter just kind of hopped/skipped along/around him as they headed in the movie (artist sketch of Keillor entering the movie theater). The thing I'd like old Garrison to explain is if Norm Coleman is such a "hollow man" why was he elected twice to be mayor of St. Paul? Our fine neighbors can be described as lots of things, Republican ain't one of them. I don't think Keillor is the least bit funny either. That's one of those things where you wonder if some of these DFLers are from another planet. And those red shoes. Bizarre. A chilling tale (and just one of the reason I stay away from Great Clips). I was prepared to chalk up Tim's speculation of Keillor and the DFLers as extraterrestrials to irresponsible rhetoric. But in the course of Googling for a map of the Cleveland-Ford Parkway district of St. Paul, I ran across a report of perhaps the oddest thing sighted at that intersection until Garrison Keillor showed up. A real live UFO sighting, from 1997. (From which, I must admit, I lifted all the artist sketches used in this post. With that admission goes my Bloggy Award for Best Graphic Design in a Post Featuring a Publicly Subsidized Radio Humorist and a Discount Hair Salon.) Based on the overwhelming preponderance of this half-assed, circumstantial evidence and hearsay, only one question remains. Is Garrison Keillor an alien or just an obsessive fan of the work of Zalman King? Either way, for our legal protection, I think the following disclaimer applies (again lifted from the UFO sighting report, with a few strategic word replacements). No additional witnesses are known to FRATERS LIBERTAS. However, the sighting occurred in a populated area. It is therefore likely that there were other witnesses to this ALLEGED HUMORIST. The witness also indicated that several other people were in the GREAT CLIPS when he was there. However, he indicated that felt uncomfortable with the idea of bringing a possible GARRISON KEILLOR sighting to the attention of these particular strangers. I can understand Tim's hesitance in calling out this sighting, you wouldn't want to start a panic. But as he proves, the truth is out there. I just never thought it would be found in Great Clips. Thanks for the report Tim. And remember, trust no one. Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
Over the years I've submitted a fair number of letters to the editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. And I've even had some published. I'd reckon that my hit rate is right around 10%. While that may not sound too impressive, fellow letter writers of a conservative bent assure me that it's actually above average.
With the launch of Fraters Libertas a few years ago, the quantity of my submissions has dropped dramatically. Why should I bother trying to slip one past the gate keepers at the paper when I have a platform that allows me to say anything I want, whenever I want? I still will dash off a quick letter of rebuttal to the Strib now and again when the spirit so moves me. And I read the letters on a regular basis. Not because they're interesting or informative. Most of them are not. No, I read the letters because I'm continually amazed at the daily displays of poor reasoning and weak logic that the Strib deems worthy of inclusion. I could understand if they chose to print thoughtful letters that reflected the paper's left leaning ideological bent. What I can't understand is how some of these silly and, quite frankly, stupid arguments ever are allowed to see the light of day. Here are a couple of choice examples from Tuesday: All about oil profits Thanks for the May 29 editorial on gas prices and the national petroleum reserve. While it's good for national security to hold back the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, it seems likely that President Bush is really out to hold back oil supply and raise prices. Whether by holding back the Strategic Reserve or trying to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Bush administration is out for oil profits, not the public interest. If you're going to rant about how "it's all about oil" you should try to stick to one side of the supply/demand argument. After first suggesting that Bush is seeking to "hold back the oil supply" to help his cronies in the industry by raising prices, the letter writer then goes after Bush for trying to open up drilling in ANWAR, which would undoubtedly increase the oil supply. Even though I realize that much of the left views Bush as some sort of idiot savant evil genius, it's hard to fathom how this master plan of his to both increase and decrease oil supplies would end up lining the pockets of the oil barons. It gets better. Smoke is smoke More than one recent letter writer has decried a lack of evidence that secondhand smoke, like firsthand smoke, causes serious health problems. To those folks I ask: What is the difference between the two? One is inhaled directly, the other indirectly. The secondhand variety may not be sufficiently hot to sear one's mouth and throat, but it is cigarette smoke nonetheless and thus contains the same harmful substances as firsthand smoke. Common sense therefore tells us that it also is toxic, not to mention the attendant stench. Common sense tells us that anyone unable to differentiate between cigarette smoke inhaled directly into the lungs through the mouth and throat and smoke exhaled and dispersed into the environment is brain addled. One of the reasons that smoking is so harmful is that lungs act as filters. Which means that many of the toxic substances in cigarette smoke are caught in your lungs when you smoke. It ain't about how hot the smoke is. I'm not trying to say the second hand smoke is not harmful, although I believe that its effects have been grossly exaggerated. But to try to argue that secondhand smoke is no different from firsthand smoke is ridiculous. Back to the question at hand. How can such letters (these are only the most recent examples of the crap that is published almost every day) be considered worthy of appearing in a major daily newspaper? Two answers immediately come to mind: 1. Ignorance. They don't know what they don't know, namely how lousy these letters are. 2. Apathy. They simply don't care. Neither response reflects well on the Star Tribune editorial staff. Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
That's why we drink it here. From The Economist (subscription required):
MAY should be a happy month for Norwegians. Warmer weather allows for the first utepils, or beers drunk outside. Newspaper readers (no other nation is so devoted to the press) venture out to balconies and outdoor cafes. The May 17th national day is celebrated with feasts of meat, cheese and fish. This year was especially jolly, as it marked 99 years of independence from Sweden. But another May tradition threatens the fun: strikes. Last week, nearly 3,000 workers at a dozen breweries briefly went on strike, leading the makers of Ringnes, the much-loved national beer, to talk of shifting production to Poland. Journalists also downed pens for several days, leaving newspapers nothing to publish but advertisements. A five-week strike by transport workers has left supermarket shelves bare of vegetables, eggs, milk, cheese, washing powder and nappies. "It's suddenly more like eastern Europe was," said one Oslo resident, unimpressed by empty shops in the capital of one of Europe's richest countries. Remind me again why we can't be more like Europe? Although an occasional newspaper strike might not be the worst thing in the world. Meanwhile in the Middle East the stock markets are booming according to The Economist (this time the content is free): WHILE the world worries about insurrection in Iraq and unrest in Palestine, an uprising of a different sort is bringing joy to executives and investors in the Middle East. Over the past year or so, especially since the removal of Saddam Hussein, stockmarkets across the region have soared. The SC Arab Composite Index, covering 12 markets in the region, is up by over 80% since March 2003, says SHUAA Capital, an investment bank in Dubai. Arab investors are far less rattled by political risks in the region than are foreigners, says Matthew Eyre of Blakeney Management, an investment firm. It only took the fall of Saddam--once the biggest source of potential instability in the Gulf--to catalyse a share-price boom, he says. So the fall of Saddam is in fact turning out to be good for the region, at least in economic terms? Imagine that. Labels: Beer
Birds dislike me.
I don't know why. I've never done anything to the avian community to rouse their ire. In fact, I think that I have been quite tolerant of their activities given that when I find the products of their defecation all over my car after work, or even all over the only open bench at the track, I tend to shrug and say to myself "Meh...what can you do." Yes, those who know me best will say I'm all about tolerance (if they know what's good for them, that is!). My tolerance, however, disappears when I am challenged. This particular challenge started a few years ago. I was meeting a friend of mine at his parents' lake place for a bit of muskie fishing and beer drinking (emphasis on the latter). I arrived early and started to lug my suitcase sized tackle boxes and other gear from my car to the boat, which was moored at the dock at the rear of the lot. As I approached the dock, a large black bird (species undetermined) flew uncomfortably close to my unprotected head. I thought this maneuver to be quite curious but continued on my way nonetheless. Seconds later, the little varmint made another pass. This time, it came so close to my melon that I could hear the thunderous beating of its wings in my ears. I stopped in my tracks. Well...first I swore loudly. Then I stopped in my tracks and sternly fixed my steely gaze upon the creature, now sitting in the tree high above me, as if to say "WTF?". We both stood silently for a bit and, when I felt satisfied that I had conveyed my message of physical dominance to the beast, I rejoined my quest to reach the boat. No sooner did I take a single step than that cursed little devil's spawn of a monster made a bee line towards my face. I immediately did my best Roger Thornhill impression and dropped face first to the ground. That bird was serious, and I was seriously outmatched. I jumped up from the dirt and, while thrashing my fishing rod about like a Star Wars fanatic with an out of control homemade light saber, made a very hasty and very ungraceful retreat to my car where I found no small comfort in the cooler of beer that I had left behind in my open trunk. Needless to say, when my friend arrived and I related my gruesome tale of horror to him, he laughed uproariously while we both walked to the boat without incident and spent the day drinking beer on the lake while catching zero fish. Since that fateful day, there have been several similar incidents...including today. While I was out having an incredibly rare smoke break at work (I only smoke a half a pack a week, sweetheart...seriously!) I noticed not one but four bird's nests tucked into the metal soffit above me. I also noticed at least four winged Satans in close proximity to me chirping with increasing frequency. I was apprehensive, but calm. When the first one dove, I became agitated. When the second one came at me, I instinctively ducked. When the third one flinched...I panicked, flicked my cigarette it, ran like a frightened turtle to the safety of the public corridor behind me and slammed the door shut tight. While sheepishly looking around for witnesses to this sad chapter in my life I told myself that this would never happen again. Tomorrow, I find a new smoking area. Labels: Nature Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Anyone Who Isn't A Socialist At Twenty Doesn't Have A Heart, Anyone Who Is Still A Socialist At Thirty Doesn't Have A Brain, Anyone Who Needs To Tell The World At Forty That They Met Both The Prior Descriptions Doesn't Have The Ability To Shutup!
The Elder and I have been emailing a bit back and forth about all the usual suspects who have chimed in on Reagan's death and how so many of our (now) fellow-travelers think it cool to add that they used to hate Reagan when they were young, but at some point began to realize that they were wrong about him. What is interesting is not only is it not considered shameful to admit you were an idiot, it is considered to be the mark of a political sophisticate: "You see my dear fellow, I USED to be on the other side, which shows you all how broad-minded I am. I'm not one of those people who has been a conservative all their life. Am I more acceptable to you now liberal friend? (please say yes please say yes)." Why don't we hear these people telling us what maroons they were on other serious matters? About how their judgement was (is?) suspect: "Yeah, I married her, but she turned out to be a man--isn't that funny? So I really understand BOTH sides of that issue." "Yup, I had a chance to buy Microsoft stock in '81, but I decided the whole Personal Computer thing would never really take off--hilarious, no? I would be retired by now, but I would have missed the deeper understanding of having been in the position of not buying--so I'm glad it happened." As the Elder has written, he has an immaculate record as a life-long conservative, going back to the Fourth Grade. I am the same way, undoubtedly influenced by him. Saint Paul the same and even our Atomizer--they've been on the team as long as they can remember. Does that mean we are cooler or better than those who embraced (or at least didn't denounce) leftist ideology in their youth? I would say yes, as a matter of fact I think it does! It is like those who were raised with religion their entire lives (the members of FL) as opposed to those who come to it later via a conversion or born-again experience: the recent converts won't shut the hell up about how Jesus Christ is their personal savior and flit around asking people if they "know" Jesus. Those who have always had religion know what they know and don't feel a need to convert anyone or let others know how they feel--Be Still And Know is a book my Ma used to read. So, to all my conservative brethren who can't seem to pass an opportunity to tell us how poor their judgement used to be, I have one request: CRAM IT WITH WALNUTS YA KNUCKLEHEADS! Ahhh...better. Labels: Politics-National (02-04)
Based on the overwhelming success of the "Deserve Victory!" campaign of last year, the Fraters Libertas executive staff has been generating some new ideas for a bumper sticker suitable slogan. Ideally it will be something which references the upcoming election season. Our standards require that it brilliantly capture the gestalt of the times, all in seven words or less. Something pithy, insightful, and poignant. It has to make you laugh, make you cry, and most of all make you think. So far the leading candidate is:
Ask Me About My Hemorrhoids I'm holding out the possibility that just maybe there's a better slogan out there, so we will delay any official announcement for now. In the meantime, we are soliciting other ideas and Man From Silver Mountain writes in with this suggestion: Given the new religion of Wellstone, maybe you could make some money on your next bumper sticker campaign. In the vein of the "What Would Wellstone Do?" bumper stickers, I'd suggest ripping off another Christian bumper sticker. Change "My Boss is a Jewish Carpenter" to "My Boss is a Jewish Senator" and you've got gold. Not bad, but maybe a little too esoteric. Although in Minnesota, this could attract Paul Wellstone cultists as well as Norm Coleman and Rudy Boschwitz cultists. Even so, we'd like to target a market slightly larger than that. Besides, our natural customer base consists of Rod Grams cultists, and if they're not buying, we've got trouble. (Our 2000 election season bumper sticker "Rod Is God" remains among our all time best sellers). We'll keep working on it, and if anyone out there thinks of something good, send it on in. We just love to profit form other people's ideas. If you don't send anything in, that's fine too. Just clear some space on your rear bumper and prepare your responses for what will no doubt be a long summer full of interesting questions. Ask Me About My Hemorrhoids Remember, you asked for it. Labels: Fraters Inc
...is a friend who can't lose. The great bloggers of Fraters Libertas are proud to give all four of our votes to the next Showtime American Candidate President of the United States...
Jim Strock. Stop by Jim's site and show your support. Labels: Ralphie
Does the triumph of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals mean that the future of hockey is bright in the Sunshine State? Consider what's happened to hockey in the last few years in other warm weather cities:
Anaheim supposedly proved that hockey works in California last spring, when the Mighty Ducks came within a Game 7 of the Cup. This March the Ducks had an announced crowd of 12,747 (capacity 17,174) for a rematch of the conference finals with the Wild. A scan of the crowd suggested more empty seats than occupied. Just Tuesday, Anaheim General Manager Bryan Murray bolted the Ducks to become head coach in Ottawa. In parting, he said, "I wanted to come back to a hockey country where hockey meant something." Carolina supposedly proved that hockey works in the South in 2002, when the Hurricanes advanced to the Cup finals. This season, they drew fewer than 10,000 fans to 25 percent of their home games. Attendance bottomed out on Jan. 25, when 7,596 showed up to see the Buffalo Sabres. I would love to believe that winning the Cup will bring success and security to the Lightning franchise for years to come. But I don't have much confidence that two years down the road Tampa won't be in the same boat as Carolina and Anaheim, with sagging attendance and little interest in the team. Labels: Hockey (02-05)
Gophers defenseman Keith Ballard is moving on:
The answer came Tuesday, when Ballard signed a three-year contract with the Phoenix Coyotes for the NHL rookie maximum of $1.185 million per year. Ballard said the money and opportunity were simply too good to pass up, which convinced him to skip his senior season. He ends his Gophers career with 33 goals and 67 assists in 123 games. Lucia knew Ballard and forward Thomas Vanek could turn pro this summer if offered substantial NHL contracts. Vanek is enrolled in summer school, and as of Tuesday, Lucia expects him to return for his third season with the Gophers. Though the coach is sorry to see Ballard leave, he understood. He understood just how difficult it's going to be to replace Ballard's stellar defense and offensive abilities, especially on the power play. Labels: Hockey (02-05) Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Last Saturday on the Northern Alliance Radio Network we had a lot of fun singing (if you could call it that) the lyrics to the insipid official song of the Paul and Shelia Wellstone Elementary School in St. Paul. It was the brainchild of our own Saint Paul and he provided background on the school and its song lyrics in this post.
Today in the Star Tribune we learn that Minneapolis has joined its twin city with its own Wellstone School: Sheikh, 20, is one of the many faces of Wellstone International High School, a Minneapolis public school that focuses on bringing recent immigrants up to speed in their new country. While the school existed before, the class of 2004 is the first to graduate under the school's new name, taken last year in honor of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone. A Minneapolis PUBLIC school. Keep that in mind. Last week, as the school year came to a close, Sheikh and his fellow students took their seats in American history class while teacher Carol Dallman popped in a video detailing the Vietnam War. While they secretly passed around a thank you card for her, Dallman paused to elaborate and answer questions. "They always have so many questions," she joked. She never gets past the Vietnam War each year because of it. A fair and balanced presentation of the Vietnam War no doubt. The school is true to the Wellstone mission, said Bill Lofy, communications director of Wellstone Action and one of the speakers at Monday's graduation. Wellstone Action is a nonprofit organization dedicated to continuing the work for economic- and social-justice causes embraced by Wellstone and his wife, Sheila. A public school that is "true to the mission" of one of the most partisan, ideologically driven Minnesota politicians in recent memory? Another public school that is. On Monday, Sheikh and 25 other seniors in shiny green caps and gowns marched toward their seats to the sound of family and friends' applause heard over the traditional "Pomp and Circumstance" graduation march. Wellstone's face was projected on a large screen behind them. Smiling broadly, Sheikh took home a leadership award and was recognized for his role as a peer mediator for the school of 180. He also was among six students who have college scholarships that total about $25,000. He plans to attend Normandale Community College in Bloomington in the fall. And then? Back to Somalia. "After college I will go back with my education and help teach," he said. "The benefit is ... to teach how to be a better person, be nonviolent." Okay naming the school after Wellstone is one thing. Having the school embrace his "mission" is really pushing it. But a gigantic, iconic Wellstone visage staring down at the kids as they receive their diplomas? The Cult of Wellstone is definitely getting out of hand. After his untimely death in 2002, it was obvious that his supporters would need time to grieve and honor Wellstone. The refusal to take down the lawn signs, the still ubiquitous green Wellstone! bumper stickers, the WWWD (what would Wellstone do?) t-shirts, the memorializing of the green bus, the unending speculation about how things would have been different if Wellstone was still alive, heck even the pieces of bizarre tribute art are understandable, if increasingly annoying, ways for Wellstone's faithful to remember their departed hero. But lately if seems as if the efforts have moved from remembrance to a disturbing, religious-like sanctification even approaching deification of Wellstone. This is a bit ironic considering the way that most Wellstone supporters probably feel about mixing religion and politics, to say nothing of religion and public education. Over the years conservative commentators have often observed that one of the reasons that many leftists become so passionate about their politics is that they are trying to compensate for the absence of religion in their lives. At the end of the day you have to believe in something. And if it's not going to be God then maybe socialism is where you place your faith. Now it appears that some of these folks in Minnesota have found a new altar to worship at. And their god is Wellstone. If you think I'm making much ado about nothing consider what the reaction might be if a few names and words were changed in the story from today's Strib: Sheikh, 20, is one of the many faces of Reagan International High School, a Minneapolis public school that focuses on bringing recent immigrants up to speed in their new country. While the school existed before, the class of 2004 is the first to graduate under the school's new name, taken last year in honor of the late President Ronald Reagan. Last week, as the school year came to a close, Sheikh and his fellow students took their seats in American history class while teacher Carol Dallman popped in a video detailing the Cold War. While they secretly passed around a thank you card for her, Dallman paused to elaborate and answer questions. "They always have so many questions," she joked. She never gets past the Cold War each year because of it. The school is true to the Reagan mission, said Peter Robinson, communications director of Reagan Renewal and one of the speakers at Monday's graduation. Reagan Renewal is a nonprofit organization dedicated to continuing the work for economic- and political-freedom causes embraced by Reagan and his wife, Nancy. On Monday, Sheikh and 25 other seniors in shiny green caps and gowns marched toward their seats to the sound of family and friends' applause heard over the traditional "Pomp and Circumstance" graduation march. Reagan's face was projected on a large screen behind them. Smiling broadly, Sheikh took home a leadership award and was recognized for his role as a peer mediator for the school of 180. He also was among six students who have college scholarships that total about $25,000. He plans to attend Normandale Community College in Bloomington in the fall. And then? Back to Somalia. "After college I will go back with my education and help liberate," he said. "The benefit is ... to teach how to be a better person, be free." Labels: Politics-Local (04-05)
Brian Lambert interrupts his fair and unbiased entertainment column in the Pioneer Press for this promotion of a Democratic party fundraiser:
Other than Jon Stewart, few satirists have had as much fun at President Bush's expense as Garrison Keillor. Just think what he'll feel free to say when he speaks July 1 at a fund-raiser for the House DFL Caucus at the College of St. Catherine. "Invitations" are being sent out next week. But if you've got political connections, hit 'em up now for a chance at tickets. I'm thinking Norm Coleman's ears are already burning. Look out folks, it's Garrison Keillor, uncensored! ("It's been a quiet f*ck*ng week in Lake Woebegone!") Not sure what's going to go down at St. Kate's but it's hard to believe Keillor can get anymore partisan than he does during his weekly cornpone rants against George Bush on MPR's A Prairie Home Companion (and all brought to you by ... your tax dollars!). One thing that is certain, it won't be funny. It will be a name calling temper tantrum, under the guise of humor. And that's close enough for a vengefully partisan audience just dying to laugh at the opposition. Lambert's reference to Norm Coleman reminds us of the last time Keillor dragged his atrophied satirical muscles into the political ring. It was just after the 2002 Minnesota Senate race, Norm Coleman vs. Walter Mondale and the ghost of Paul Wellstone. Keillor's witty contribution to the dialog, a vengeful, name-calling temper tantrum. Hold on to your funny bones for corkers like these (original text from the subscription edition of Salon and ripped off in it's entirety by this blog): St. Paul is a small town and anybody who hangs around the St. Paul Grill knows about Norm's habits. Everyone knows that his family situation is, shall we say, very interesting, but nobody bothered to ask about it, least of all the religious people in the Republican Party. It was a dreadful low moment for the Minnesota voters. To choose Coleman over Walter Mondale is one of those dumb low-rent mistakes, like going to a great steakhouse and ordering the tuna sandwich. But I don't envy someone who's sold his soul. He's condemned to a life of small arrangements. There will be no passion, no joy, no heroism, for him. He is a hollow man. The next six years are not going to be kind to Norm. Hee-haw. But, I have no doubt this will have them rolling in the aisles at St. Kate's on July 1, forced as it may be. I also notice Lambert comparing Keillor's routine to the satire of John Stewart, which is perhaps the most laughable thing in this entire story. As opposed to Keillor's comedic stylings, Stewart is a real talent, a legitimately funny guy. Despite his liberal orientation, he's probably the funniest guy on TV right now (the only competition being Conan O'Brien). One thing I've noticed over the past few years is that liberals love John Stewart. Talk to any of them about pop culture and soon their undying fealty to Stewart will be invoked. They say it with pride, like it's a line from their resume. They love John Stewart, adore him, cleave him tight to their bussoms (hell, the even based an entire talk radio show network on his image - poorly, I might add). Lambert's gratuitous reference to Stewart is his attempt to gain status by telling everyone he's hip to what the kids are doing. But jokes alone cannot be the cause of this much ardor from the Left. No, I believe it goes much, much deeper than that. My intensive observations and knowledge of the human condition tell me they love him because he represents the ideal of how they'd like to view themselves. Younger, smarter, funnier, and hipper than the uptight, establishment "suits" in the Republican party. ("Suits" a term Lambert has actually used in previous columns). The problem is, that most Democratic humor isn't John Stewart. It's shrill, obscene buffoonery coming from the likes of Garrison Keillor, Al Franken, Michael Moore, Jeanine Garafalo, and Margaret Cho. These folks are much closer to typical Democratic party rhetoric than anything you'll get from John Stewart. The reason being, Stewart's priority is the joke and not the political posturing. When he's performing, he doesn't care about influencing elections, he cares about influencing laughter. If it's funny, he'll zing Bush, he'll zing Kerry, he'll zing anybody. And that makes all the difference. (That, plus tons of talent, of course). This past weekend C-SPAN broadcast live from BookExpo America. On Sunday morning John Stewart showed up on a panel along with Tom Wolfe and a couple of non entities hawking their latest anti-Bush tomes destined for the best seller's list. During the question-and-answer portion, some Lefty from the crowd got up and reverently asked Stewart: "If there were one person living or dead you could put on the Democratic ticket along side John Kerry who would it be?" Stewart's response (I'm paraphrasing): "You want me to consider dead people? Isn't it enough that there's one dead guy on the Democratic ticket already?" (Huge laughs) "Well, if I had to choose one dead person, maybe it would be Abraham Lincoln. Then Kerry could point to him and say 'you thought I was grotesquely lanky, get a load of this guy.'" (Huge laughs) Suffice to say, you won't hear anything like this at a Garrison Keillor performance. And I'm not just talking about the huge laughs part. Labels: Politics-Local (04-05) Monday, June 07, 2004
The Warrior Princess checks in from New York City with these observations from the recently completed Fleet Week:
60 years ago, members of the Greatest Generation stormed the beaches of Normandy to fight for freedom and democracy. The courage shown by our nation and by members of the armed services during World War II has always fascinated, inspired, and humbled me. However, I had long ago resigned myself to the fact that self-sacrifice of this kind is dying with the generation that displayed it so resolutely 60 years ago; that the self glorifying unadulterated pursuit of self interest permeating our culture today has corrupted us as a nation beyond redemption. I was mistaken. Last week I took a much needed vacation to New York City. It so happened my time there coincided with "fleet week". For my friends from the south, no it was not a week devoted to enemas. During fleet week, ships from our U.S. Navy travel to New York Harbor and dock at Pier 88. For one week, members of our Navy and Marine Corps take the time to give us civilians a peek into their world. They give us tours of the ships they call home. They explain the equipment and its purposes. They show us some of the vehicles and artillery that help them protect our nation. They tell us about their jobs, their experiences, their training, all the things I've always been curious about, but never had someone to ask. The Seamen and Marines I spoke to hailed from places like Norfolk, VA, Baltimore, MD, Baton Rouge, LA , and my hometown of Sacramento, CA. Their jobs ranged from encoding and decoding messages on navy vessels to flying marine combat helicopters. The professionalism, respect, and honor they displayed gave me a newfound admiration for the uniform, and the men and women who don it at home and abroad. At one point I was standing in line, and behind me two Vietnam Vets were reminiscing about their time in the military, and their experiences coming home to anti-war protests and a nation turned against them. I hope, rather than believe, that those fighting today will be shielded from the animosity that those Veterans experienced when they came home. Especially if the nation they come home to is one that elects a President whose contempt for the military has been so consistently displayed throughout the last 30 years. Our nation was founded with principles and values. Governmental institutions like public education, and the military were originally infused with these moral values to promulgate character qualities our founders thought necessary for the success of the nation. Any consideration of character training has long since exited the public education system. I'm thankful that the character qualities the Founding Fathers believed were so essential for sustaining our nation are still taught, if not to the general population, at least to those we would choose to protect it. Labels: Military
There's a pretty compelling Stanley Cup Finals going on between Tampa Bay and Calgary. The Cup winner will be determined tonight in Tampa in a game seven showdown. The last two contests have gone to OT, and the way the series has gone so far it wouldn't be surprising to see another sudden death finish. Go Flames.
Labels: Hockey (02-05)
A number of the posts that I've read on the passing of Ronald Reagan from conservative bloggers have noted that at the time of Reagan's presidency they did not support him, but have since realized the error of their ways. In Joe Carter's look at What I Didn't Know About Reagan he explains:
When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981 I was outraged. Reagan wasn't just a Republican (which would have been bad enough), he was a conservative Republican. That made him even worse than the despicable and hated Richard Nixon. When I heard the election results I was shocked. I couldn't believe so many Americans were stupid enough to choose this mean old geezer over the kind, sprightly President with whom I shared a last name. And Mitch Berg admits: When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, I was a senior in high school. The seeds of doubt in my left-of-center upbringing were already there; Jimmy Carter's "national malaise" speech had already affected me with a deep sense of "how dare you?" But I couldn't quite see becoming a Republican. I couldn't quite see myself supporting that man, that being so reviled by so much of my family's social circle, and so many of my own in college. James Lileks was far too smart to fall for Reagan's schemes as a writer at his college newspaper: Reagan was worse than stupid - he was conspicuously indifferent to our futures. It was generally accepted that he either wanted a nuclear war or was too dim to understand the consequences. It went without saying that he didn't read Schell's "Fate of the Earth." It went without saying that he didn't read anything at all. Considering that Reagan himself underwent a political transformation, it would be a bit hypocritical to criticize those who once were lost but now are found. Let's just say that I'm glad that I never viewed Reagan in that manner. I was a Reaganite from the get go and I'm proud of it. For I never underwent the sort of political turning that numerous, especially in the blogosphere, present day conservatives have. I recounted some of this last year in a post called Right From the Start. I'm not going to rehash the whole thing here (you're welcome), but do want to make a couple of points on the influence that Reagan had in my political development. When I was young I developed an early interest in history and current affairs. I read just about every military history book I could get my hands on, especially if its subject was the Second World War. By the time I was ten I was regularly reading my parent's weekly U.S. News & World Report magazines and keeping a scrapbook on current events filled with clippings from the local newspaper and USNWR. In 1980 I was twelve years old and actively following politics. I supported Reagan in the GOP primaries because of his promises to rebuild America's defense and jump start the economy with tax cuts. The "malaise" in America that Jimmy Carter was largely responsible for was, by that time, so pervasive that it even affected my life. I can still recall excitedly watching the news that an attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran had been launched, only to be devastated shortly afterward when the inglorious failure of the operation was reported. Once again our country looked weak and impotent. The economy was racked by high interest rates, inflation, and unemployment. It was not a good time to be an American. And then Reagan was elected. The 1984 Reagan campaign commercials featuring the "It's Morning Again in America" slogan have been widely lampooned, but that's what it felt like for me after the 1980 election. It was okay to be proud of America again. We had a President who exuded strength, confidence, and hope for the future. Baby we were back. Not that everything was rosy immediately. It took a couple of years to pull the economy out of recession and there were some hairy moments in foreign affairs when it appeared that war was a distinct possibility. But Reagan weathered these storms and so did the country. I continued to be a strong supporter of President Reagan. In 1984 I protested an appearance by Geraldine Ferraro in Minneapolis, and had one of my first experiences with the open minded, tolerant leftists who clamor about how much they support "dissent". Most of the crowd was hard-core feminists and they were none too happy to see a sixteen-year-old boy decked out in Reagan-Bush regalia. I also wrote an opinion piece (scroll down to find it) in 1986 for my high school newspaper supporting Reagan's decision to strike Libya. At college, instead of having a portrait of Over the years my understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of conservatism has deepened and my knowledge of its foundations has expanded. But my core principal political beliefs have largely remained unchanged. And so has my admiration, respect, and support for Ronald Reagan, the man who defined, clarified, and championed those beliefs during my formative years. I lived, breathed, and loved the Reagan Revolution. And I doubt that I will ever experience the same level of commitment, passion, and excitement for a president again in my lifetime. A great man has passed on. I'm thankful that I was able to appreciate his greatness during his years in the White House as well as being able to look back fondly on them now. Labels: Political History, Politics-National (02-04)
We like to bash the mainstream media as much as the next guy (or gal) for their liberal bias. But so far the media coverage of Ronald Reagan's passing has been, for the most part, commendable. Last night was the first time in recent memory that I was able to watch the entire hour of "Sixty Minutes" without once getting my dander up about what I viewed as slanted reporting. I've heard some conservatives nit picking here and there about perceived slights to Reagan's legacy, but I have not come across such instances myself.
Today Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is running some Center of the American Experiment (a local conservative think tank) programs on Reagan. Mitch Pearlstein, the CAE President, will be on live at 11 a.m. And from noon until 1 p.m. they will air portions of two American Experiment Forums: Dinesh D'Souza's in 1998 and Peter Robinson's in 2003. Labels: Media-National (02-06), Politics-National (02-04)
James Phillips e-mails to offer some advice on remembering Reagan:
I saw your post this morning about getting back in touch with Ronald Reagan. If you haven't read it, I recommend Peter Robinson's "How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life". I thought it would be some clichéd guide for teenagers, but it is a wonderful book. I also recommend doing what I did this weekend. Took my computer outside to do some work on, poured myself a beer (Young's Double Chocolate Stout), a few cigars, and listened to Reagan's speeches from the 5 CD "Speaking My Mind." It was refreshing, funny, and at times surreal. "A Time For Choosing", his memorable 1964 speech for Goldwater, still holds up today. One D-Day speech was particularly moving, not only by its nature, but because it was from the 40th anniversary, yesterday being the 60th. And of course, the speeches on national defense and the Cold War could be given today, and should be. Listen to any one of them, think of Reagan's opposition in the 1980's, and you'll see that the Left has not changed a bit, only grown more vitriolic. Right now I am reading "Recollections of Reagan", a short book of short comments about Reagan. Two of my favorites. George H.W. Bush tells about how Reagan used to feed the squirrels outside the oval office. The Veep told him that his dogs Millie and Ranger liked to chase the squirrels, and when they caught them, they finished them (aside: no catch and release for Republican dogs!). Bush said that when he became President shortly thereafter, Reagan had made up a little sign and left it where he used to feed the squirrels: "Beware of Dogs." And Lee Edwards tells of writing a biography of Reagan, that was updated in 1981 up to, and including the assassination attempt. The book had a bright big yellow slash across the front advertising this last point (which the author said was probably in poor taste). When he presented Reagan with a copy, Reagan looked down at it and said "sorry I ruined the ending for you." Someone on NRO's The Corner this weekend said that Reagan's death should not necessarily be a time of mourning, but a time of reminiscing. An Irish Wake. That sounds about right. Robinson's book is on my Amazon Wish List along with Peter Schweizer's Reagan's War : The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism. I have a feeling that this summer a lot of people are going to catching up on their reading of Reagan related works. Labels: Books, Politics-National (02-04)
The passing of Ronald Reagan has helped me prioritize my reading backlog. Right now I'm reading Shorter Summa by Saint Thomas Aquinas, but was looking to start another book in my waiting stack. It just happens that I have two works on Reagan in the pile. And so yesterday I dove into Ronald Reagan An American Life, his autobiography. After that my attentions will turn to Reagan A Life In Letters.
For some time I've been wanting to go back and reaquaint myself with the man who restored America's pride and purpose. Now seems like the perfect time for it. Labels: Books Sunday, June 06, 2004
Time once for our semi-regular Sunday cruise through the Star Tribune. Let's start off in the Arts and Entertainment section this time.
In Quick Spins, a rundown of music news, we are advised to: Look for a Pearl Jam concert tour this fall, playing in 'swing states' for the presidential election. Look for me to flip the bird to Eddie Vedder if one of their tour stops happens to be Minnesota. Bono, Michael Stipe, Sting, and John Cougar Mellencamp are full of themselves and the seriousness of the various causes (almost without exception left leaning) that they promote, but they can't hold a candle to the Pearl Jam frontman, easily the most self-important, pretentious artist in the land. Do his delusions of grandeur actually lead him to imagine that he can influence the outcome of the election? "Yes Peter, it appears the factor that tipped that scales in Ohio for Kerry was that Pearl Jam concert in Cleveland last Saturday." Next stop is the Books area where we find A liberal dose of Minnesota liberals: No, the University of Minnesota Press isn't itching for another fight with Bill O'Reilly and Laura Schlessinger, both of whom were among the most vocal conservative critics of the press when it published the prize-winning book "Harmful to Minors" a couple of years ago. But yes, that was an ad for the press that recently ran on the liberal radio network Air America, taking a shot at O'Reilly and Schlessinger and asking its listeners, "Are you looking for the liberal media? Look to the University of Minnesota Press." Are you looking for an ideologically driven, publicly supported publisher to use your tax dollars (they proudly claim to receive "less than $300K" of such funding) to advertise on a left wing radio network? While admitting the spot's opener is "pretty aggressive," he said that the ads made sense for the audience. "It's always a question, of course, and in this case it's sort of taken to the extreme, but you are always to some extent matching an ad to the publication, and in this case the publication is Air America. Obviously when we're advertising in the New York Review of Books, we're not doing this sort of ad. But it represents a part of our list." The ads focus on the Shevory book as well as two books by and about Sen. Paul Wellstone, his "The Conscience of a Liberal" and photographer Terry Gydesen's "Twelve Years and Thirteen Days: Remembering Paul and Sheila Wellstone." Something tells me we won't be seeing U of M Press spots on AM-1280 The Patriot anytime soon. Speaking of tax dollar supported, liberal radio: Anyone who has heard "A Prairie Home Companion" since George W. Bush was elected, or who followed the flap after Garrison Keillor lacerated U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman following the 2002 election, will not be surprised to hear that Keillor is 1) a liberal and 2) jumping into the fray of electoral-season political books with "Homegrown Democrat," published by Viking in mid-July. "I am a Democrat, which was nothing I decided for myself but simply the way I was brought up, starting with the idea of Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, which is the basis of the simple social compact," he writes in the book's first chapter. The book celebrates liberalism as "the politics of kindness," but it has fangs for Republicans, who Keillor writes "are determined to cripple" that same social compact "by cutting taxes so as to starve government and kill off public services through insolvency and reduce us to a low-wage no-services plantation economy run by an enclave class that I do not wish to be part of." Damn. He's on to us. When I head down to the X-cel Energy Center next weekend for the Republican State Convention much of our discussion will focus on our plans to implement this "plantation economy" that Keillor speaks of. I'm angling to get me a big spread up in Blaine so I can sit on my porch sipping Mint Juleps, stroking my shotgun, and keeping an eye out for any uppity prols who might cause trouble. Interesting to note that Keillor claims he does not want to be part of an "enclave class". It sounds like a fairly accurate description of a rich liberal writer who produces programs for NPR and has spent chunks of his life living in Europe and New York. Finally we conclude with this puffiest of puff pieces by Eric Black on a novice voter who backs Kerry: Ross Dybvig celebrated his 18th birthday Friday -- the day he attained voting age -- by going to hear a speech by Sen. John Kerry, who will get Dybvig's first-ever vote for president. Truth to tell, the Massachusetts Democrat is not Dybvig's first choice. That would be former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, whom Dybvig supported during the early stages of the primary season. Nor is Kerry exactly the second choice of the Burnsville High junior. After Dean dropped out, Dybvig preferred North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. An eighteen year old junior in high school? And, by way of demonstrating that he is not a Democratic partisan, Dybvig mentions in passing that he would "vote for John McCain in a minute, if I had the opportunity." That's because trust is the number one quality Dybvig looks for in a candidate, and he trusts McCain, the Arizona Republican and archetypal straight shooter. Get that? He has demonstrated that he is not a Democratic partisan by saying he likes McCain. I've never been a big fan of the Arizona senator and the more I read of support for McCain from Democrats like this kid, the more I grow to dislike him. Wait, Dybvig is not a Democratic partisan according to the article right? Dybvig came two hours early to the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion. When Kerry appeared at noon, he wore a classic candidate's outfit of navy suit with red tie. Dybvig, by contrast, sported a Paul Wellstone memorial T-shirt ("Stand up. Keep fighting."), a Wellstone button, a Mark Dayton button, a Dean button, a Kerry button and, just to make it an even five, a generic DFL button. And yet he's not a Democratic partisan? I'm not sure what more Black would need to reach that conclusion. Would a tattoo of Hillary Clinton's face on his ass have been enough? Dybvig attended the rally on a day off from his summer job selling Cinnabons at Burnsville Center. He is a serious, stolid young man who gives the strong impression that, contrary to the stereotypes about his generation, he reads the paper, knows politics and knows his own mind. He reads the paper? THE paper? The Star Tribune no doubt? This kid reads the Star Tribune, hates Bush, and is going to vote for John Kerry. Sounds like a perfect mentoring opportunity for Eric Black. And he could probably score some free Cinnabons too. For all that, he is firm in his intention to vote for Kerry. In fact, he says he has persuaded his parents -- who typically vote Republican --to break from their usual ranks, and he is working on his more rock-ribbed Republican grandparents. If Kerry carries Minnesota narrowly, he will know whom to thank. If Kerry carries Minnesota narrowly, he will know whom to thank. But it won't be Ross Dybvig. Labels: Media-Local (02-04) Saturday, June 05, 2004
As I write this, I'm looking into my back alley and I spy a certain blue Subaru pulling out of its garage into the alley. Yes it's that same Subaru I magnanimously pushed out of a snow drift last winter. The one sporting the Wellstone! bumper sticker.
Due to the enduring adoration from people like my dear elderly neighbors, the sobering fact is, in St. Paul, the two term senator who never got a majority of the votes in any election (Wellstone!) will always be with us. Locally, he's a religious, cult-like figure, imbued with all the hopes and dreams of the aging, radical 60's generation and their fellow travelers in the modern era. His brand of controversial far leftism is so worshiped that the city government of the Saintly City even saw fit to name a public elementary school after him and his wife. Right in downtown St. Paul is the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Elementary School. Yes, Wellstone!, perhaps the most ideological divisive figure in the state's political history, and he's being embraced and idolized by the public education system. This confluence of extreme ideology and tax funded educational indoctrination is abhorrent to your humble correspondent, as I'm sure it is to any right thinking American, no matter their political orientation. The public school system, funded by all of us, by the dictate of the government, is giving tacit endorsement to the philosophy of a violently partisan politician. For shame, St. Paul, for shame! But I fear there's nothing I can do about at this point. The school has been up and running and indoctrinating all year long. As I mentioned on the third hour of today's Northern Alliance Radio Broadcast (12 - 3 on 1280 AM, The Patriot), since the deed is done perhaps the only thing we can do is look for a way to bring us all together again. And my suggestion for this is the mass singing of the official song of the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Elementary School. The Northern Alliance Chorus (Captain Ed, Mitch Berg, the Elder and yours truly from Fraters Libertas) let it fly on NA Radio today, with a poignant, heartfelt rendition of the song. Afterwards, Paul from Plymouth, an astute caller, commented that the lyrics sounded like some Maoist or Stalinist ditty from a gulag reeducation seminar. I'm not sure about that, but due to overwhelming popular demand, below I reprint the lyrics, so you too can raise your voice in song and get your frame of mind in sync with the government education system: The Wellstone School Song Chorus: My school is Wellstone I go to Wellstone I learn at Wellstone I grow at Wellstone My school is Wellstone I go to Wellstone And Wellstone is the school for me. There's a school called Wellstone That I'm telling you about I think that it's terrific Of that there is no doubt. You can find it in St. Paul The nicest city in the land I'd like to tell, all the world Wellstone school is grand. (Chorus) Both the teachers and the students I think are pretty great We are working hard to be The finest school in all the state. We have vision for the future You can put us to the test I think Paul and Sheila would agree We're going to do our best. (Chorus) We are confident and caring We are hard working and true The principal and all the staff Will work quite hard for you. Send your children here to Wellstone Education they'll receive We'll do our best to teach them all In that you can believe. (Chorus, two times or more) The cult of St. Paul Wellstone, it's not just for liberals any more. Labels: NARN (04-05)
The man who symbolized America and conservatism during my formative years has passed this vale of tears. Ronald Wilson Reagan, R.I.P.
Labels: Obit
Fraters reader Jim Styczinski has an advanced degree in Nick Coleman studies (and the chronic migraines and blurred vision to prove it). He forwards this observation from Nick's latest piece:
Hanging out with World War II veterans for the last week or so seems to be having an effect on Nick Coleman. In yesterday's column, he includes a passage that could be taken as a swipe at John Kerry: "In the thick of fighting, it was two days before he could stop and examine the wound, which was covered in dried blood. When he was told he'd get a Purple Heart, he rejected the idea. 'Give it to somebody who got hurt,' he growled." I predict that he will be back to normal in a column or two. Jim is probably right. Or maybe Nick has gotten fed up with Kerry's recent pro-American defense rhetoric and support for military veterans. Could this be the beginning of a Nick Coleman led splinter group--Vietnam War Protester Veterans Against Kerry? We shall see. Labels: Media-Local (02-04) Friday, June 04, 2004
Last night's trivia victory at Keegan's was a little extra special since the pub's manager and trivia night master of ceremonies, Marty had promised an extra round of free drinks to any team that could dethrone us as champions. Of course when we once again crushed all opposition and successfully defended our title, Marty was forced to buy us drinks. Unfortunately, we had to accept his drink of choice which turned out be a shot of Jagermeister set up in a glass of Red Bull depth charge style. I can't recall what Marty called the concoction last night, but some quick Googling revealed that it goes by many names including "Jager Bomb," "Up All Night," and "Blaster." After consuming my regular Thursday night allotment of beer it wasn't exactly what I had in mind to cap off the evening.
Shots are not my preferred method for imbibing. If I wish to drink liquor I like to savor the taste, not pound it into my gullet. And shots have a tendency to catch up to you in a hurry and lead to poor buzz management decision making (some time I will chronicle the tale of my friend's quest for the "perfect buzz"). But in this case there really was no choice. The shots were a visible symbol of our triumph that had to be consumed. Marty had made the offer in good faith and had carried through on his end of the bargain. We had to complete the ritual transaction or risk dishonoring Marty and losing face ourselves. And so we threw 'em back. And they were actually pretty good. Not my first drink of choice by any means. The spoils of victory cannot always be chosen. Yet they must always be enjoyed. And so I loved the smell of Jagermeister and Red Bull at Keegan's last night. It smelled like victory. Labels: Drinking, Trivial Pursuits
Matt Rosenberg's piece at NRO on Bill Cosby's remarks and the blogosphere includes this observation:
Enter the humble blogger. True, the percentage of Internet users who report they view blogs regularly is still low. But even then, we're talking some 31 million regular blog viewers. Admittedly, some blogs are about knitting, snow-boarding, or origami. Others are authored by navel-gazing college students, polyamorists, vegan anarchists, or self-declared alcoholics detailing each wretched night's debauch. But watch out for many of the rest. Their reach grows. I believe that some of the blogs I frequent resemble those remarks: Your home for diets, cooking, roasting your own coffee beans, and knitting. This dude is gnarly on the half pipe. Origami is a breeze for this Renaissance man. The college boy intently focused on his navel. I don't know if polymorist is entirely accurate, but he has had an awful lot of dates in the last few years. The vegan anarchist is fairly easy to identify. But by far the most obvious is the self-declared alcoholics detailing each wretched night's debauch. Are you guys ever going to grow up and get serious about life? Labels: Blogs-Local
At lunch today, I heard a caller to Dennis Prager's radio show express her disapproval at the provocative clothes that teenage girls are allowed to wear to church. Which reminded me of this e-mail that I received from Abigail regarding my post decrying the way that the girls were dressed at my newphew's high school graduation ceremony and wondering how their fathers could allow it:
To quote your graduation themed entry: "Finally a question for the fathers of teenage girls out there. What are you thinking when you let your daughter out of the house in an outfit like that?" Thank you. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm shocked at what girls wear in public. Yes at school functions but also...at church and youth groups. Now, it's been less than 10 years since I graduated HS, so I'm not a stodgy old woman or anything, but I understand how men think, as you implied in your posting...and to answer your question, I would guess that the fathers are somewhat oblivious and just don't get it. I think the girls are sometimes oblivious as well. I've seen young teenage girls show up at youth group in tight tank tops and not think twice about the effect it has on the young men in the group. This is made worse when one of said girls is the daughter of the youth director/church elder. I think part of the problem is that when parents dress younger girls in certain clothes they have a hard time changing the clothing patterns later on. Example: Another elder in my church has a daughter who's about twelve. She's sort and (admittedly) not skinny or even curvy...she's just quite chunky. I still think she's adorable and sweet, but she wears tight short skirts (well above the knee) and tight shirts. Now, that may be fine and not excessively attractive *now* but five years from now when she's a foot taller and she's lost all her baby fat, how are her parents going to say "well, NOW you can't wear tight clothes and short skirts because it's too enticing." They wouldn't really be able to do it, and worse yet, I don't know that they would think to do so. You're exactly right. Fathers need to get a clue. Maybe in Honor of Father's Day we should stay a special prayer that God will open their eyes and tighten their clothing requirements. Which reminded me of a post that Captain's Ed had on Wednesday covering the subject of young girls who are bucking the trend of wearing immodest clothing: Ella Gunderson and her peers, who have made their displeasure known at the streetwalker-style outfits that abound these days, somehow have thus far avoided being brainwashed into believing that women become more free and more respected in direct relation to the amount of skin they show. Of course, Ella and her friends still have to negotiate the rocky shoals of adolescence, but hopefully her values will remain unchanged. It would be good news indeed if we can raise a generation of young women who refuse to sell themselves short. At the least, pressuring retailers, designers, and magazines to give them a broader range of options demonstrates their savvy at standing up for themselves -- and that's a great start. The news that the some young sisters are doing it for themselves and not succumbing to the pressure of "skin to win" is indeed a great start. A little encouragement (or censure if necessary) from the parents, especially the dads, would go a long way to reversing this trend towards the sexual objectification of increasingly younger girls. Labels: Culture
Compassion Equals Compensation
John Kerry is in town today, calling together his band of brothers in an attempt to convince the American populace that veterans and members of the military just love a guy who calls them war criminals, throws his service decorations to the ground, and leads the movement to undermine the will of the American people to support a foreign war. According to his press release: Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry Friday rallied fellow veterans in Minneapolis to kick off a nationwide effort to organize 1 million veterans behind his campaign for the White House. With state Veterans for Kerry coordinators now in place in all 50 states, todayâ??s rally marked the beginning of a grassroots push by veterans across the country to elect John Kerry President. One million veterans organized for Kerry? Seems implausible. I've not talked to a single veteran yet that has anything but disdain for John Kerry and his record toward the military. But I'm sure he's able to draw some support from your yellow dog Democrat types among the veteran ranks. And I'm sure Kerry's rhetoric today won't address his anti-war activities which account for most of his political prominence and stature in the Democrat party (face it, without these radical bona fides, he never would have been nominated in the first place). Instead, we'll get lots of general rhetoric about keeping America strong and allied with the rest of the world (no matter what stance they take). And we'll also get to Kerry's real strong point, doling out money in exchange for political power. Because when it comes to veteran's issues, the only strength of the Democrats is promising to pay more in benefits than Republicans. No matter how much they're promised, there's always room for more - that's the Democratic way, when votes are at stake. This from the Kerry's press release: As President, Kerry will keep America's promise to our veterans. His plan includes mandatory funding for VA healthcare to properly care for over 500,000 veterans who are currently excluded from the system and revoking the Disabled Veterans Tax, which deducts disability pay from military retirement pay. "The first definition of patriotism is to keep faith with those who have worn the uniform of the United States" Kerry said. "And the first duty of a commander in chief is to make America strong and keep Americans safe. It's time do what it takes to build an America that is respected in the world once more." Because no self-respecting 3rd World tyrant respects a country that deducts disability pay from military retirement pay. Hopefully once the radical Islamists around the world hear of Kerry's tax plan, they'll fold like a tent. Far be it for me to begrudge anyone a tax cut. And when it comes to veterans, I support it even more. Cut, cut, cut. But the blurb about "mandatory funding" for "proper medical care" makes my wallet start to twitch and I suspect that's where Kerry's real priorities are. Spending increases in any programs possible, above and beyond any already scheduled spending increases. Basing one's pro-military, strong defense platform on increased social spending seems a little disingenuous, yet entirely consistent with Kerry's character and political pedigree. For proof, look no further than today's Pioneer Press, which included the tale of another ardent Kerry supporter, and how she got that way: Thousands are expected in for his rally. Among them was Linda Wilkinson of Inver Grove Heights, who feels a very personal connection to Kerry. Last year she was on a conference call with Kerry and told him her story: Her husband, a Vietnam veteran, died of cancer in 1998. She believes it was connected to his exposure to Agent Orange during the war. While she and her four children received some money to help with expenses, she didn't have the funds to continue her quest for a college degree. Kerry told her he would help her find the money to pay for her education, even if he had to pay for it himself. "That day changed my life," she said. After that conversation, she said, all her tuition has been paid. She also became a political activist and will be a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and is an ardent Kerry supporter. "I saw the compassionate side of John Kerry that a lot of people don't see," Wilkinson said. That's Democratic party compassion defined: ostentatiously giving away thousands of dollars of someone else's money (in this case, Kerry's 2nd wife's dead husband) for political gain. Ms. Wilkinson is correct on one account, I haven't personally seen that compassionate side of Kerry. Truth be told, he lays 20 grand on me, he's got my vote too. Let the bidding war begin.
Kennedy Gets Moored
In today's Star Tribune we read that Rep. Kennedy pans Moore film editing: Rep. Mark Kennedy has unhappy memories of his filmed encounter with leftist moviemaker Michael Moore, an encounter featured Thursday in a trailer for the upcoming U.S. release of the film 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' 'I was walking back to my office after casting a vote, and all of a sudden some oversized guy puts a mike in my face and a camera in my face,' said the Minnesota Republican. 'He starts asking if I can help him recruit more people from families of members of Congress to participate in the war on terror.' Kennedy said he told Moore that he has two nephews in the military, one who has just been deployed in the Army National Guard. But to Kennedy's annoyance, his response to Moore was cut from the trailer (and from the film, according to a spokeswoman for the movie). 'The interesting thing is that they used my image, but not my words,' Kennedy said. 'It's representative of the fact that Michael Moore doesn't always give the whole story, and he's a master of the misleading.'" Two things stand out in this story. 1. Moore is properly identified as a leftist moviemaker. While the Strib is usually quite zealous about applying labels such as "rightwing" or "conservative", they have avoided using the equivalent labels for people on the other side of the political spectrum. Progress? 2. Mark Kennedy's description of Moore as "some oversized guy" has to be the understatement of the year. Thursday, June 03, 2004
Keeping It Real...And Not TOO Bloody
A few weeks ago, I regaled you all with the tale of my move to the sprawling but quite sub-Capuan suburban estate called Balsawood. Since that time, I have been growing accustomed to, and have become very wary of, some of the responsibilities that are attached to home ownership. One of these has to do with lawn maintenance. Until last week, I hadn't mowed a lawn since I lived in my parents' house (no, Hugh, that wasn't just last year). It had to have been going on twenty years since I last pulled that rip cord and set myself upon the task of violently tearing the tops off thousands of precious blades of Mother Earth's own outdoor carpeting. I have to say that it felt good. Nevertheless, as I was walking behind my brand new mower (complete with the innovative Personal Pace system, variable speed rear wheel drive and the patented Recycler cutting system...with an Atomic blade, mind you) on the slightly damp hill in my new backyard, I had a horrifying vision. I saw myself losing my footing on the hill and falling to the ground while watching several of my newly detached toes sail out of the mower's side discharge chute. Just for the time being, I think I'm going to let the grass on that hill grow...because I'm all about the preservation of Mother Earth's fragile forest floor and all that, of course.
(His Picture Is) Still In Saigon
My uncle (A Vietnam vet who spent six years as a POW in North Vietnam) sent me an e-mail with a link to this story at WinterSoldier.com detailing how John Kerry is honored by the Vietnamese Communists: In the Vietnamese Communist War Remnants Museum (formerly known as the "War Crimes Museum") in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), a photograph of John Kerry hangs in a room dedicated to the anti-war activists who helped the Vietnamese Communists win the Vietnam War. The photograph shows Senator Kerry being greeted by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Comrade Do Muoi. Jeffrey M. Epstein of Vietnam Vets for the Truth acquired the photograph over the Memorial Day weekend as America was commemorating its military heroes. Jeff Epstein explains the importance of the photograph: "This photograph's unquestionable significance lies in its placement in the American protestors' section of the War Crimes Museum in Saigon. The Vietnamese communists clearly recognize John Kerry's contributions to their victory. This find can be compared to the discovery of a painting of Neville Chamberlain hanging in a place of honor in Hitler's Eagle's Nest in 1945."
The Most Interesting Theory That I've Heard So Far...
Tim e-mails to offer an explanation for John Kerry's interview yesterday on a local all sports radio station: Not that I would ever stoop to name calling, but I wonder if Mr. Kerry's appearance on KFAN was because he is, as I have begun to suspect, a jock-sniffer. Again, I don't want to resort to name calling; I'm trying to stay above the fray. I am just wondering. Tim is correct to urge restraint from engaging in idle speculation that John Kerry is a jock-sniffer. While it has been established that he is a jock-buyer, at this point the jury is still out on whether Kerry is also a jock-sniffer, and it would be improper for us to leap to the conclusion that he is a jock-sniffer based on the evidence currently before us. So please, when you hear reports that John Kerry is a jock-sniffer take them with a grain of salt, and don't allow the rumors of Kerry's jock-sniffing to prejudice your views of the man's character. While it certainly is possible that John Kerry is indeed a jock-sniffer, it is also possible that he is not. A jock-sniffer that is.
Baby, He's Back!
Tan, rested, ready, and apparently with a lot on his mind Hugh Hewitt returns to the trenches with a mustard gas (as in blistering) attack on the media. Welcome back Commish. The airwaves just weren't the same without you, although Duane did a commendable job in his turn at the helm. Thanks to the fine folks at Spitbull, you should soon by receiving a bevy of gifts from Amazon to show how much we all missed you. I'm still torn between getting you the Levi's Dockers Adjustable Waistband Pants and the "Be A Friend To Trees" book. Decisions, decisions.
The Soft Underbelly?
Iraq may well be the central front in the war against Islamist terror as the President claims, but neighboring Saudi Arabia could be the theater where the most critical battles are being and will be fought. And yes, it is all about oil as this article in the Economist on the possible impact of terrorist attacks on Saudi oil facilities demonstrates: Oil traders report that fears of terrorist attacks that might disrupt Middle-Eastern oil exports may account for as much as $8 of the current per-barrel price. That may be because what was once unthinkable now seems possible, perhaps even inevitable: a major terrorist attack, or series of attacks, on oil facilities within Saudi Arabia. While the Saudis don't command as large a share of the worldwide oil market as they once did, they still are the top dog. And it's not so much what they do today, but what they could do that makes their oil supplies so critical: The Saudis not only export more oil than anyone else, but they also have more reserves than anyone else--by a long shot. Fully one-quarter of the world's proven reserves lie in Saudi Arabia. Four neighbours--Iran, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait--each have about one-tenth. Russia, Nigeria and Alaska put together do not match Saudi reserves. Even more important is Saudi Arabia's role as swing producer. Unlike other countries, the Saudis keep several million barrels per day (bpd) of idle capacity on hand for emergencies. Today Saudi Arabia is the only country with much spare capacity available (see chart 1), though the precise amount is a matter of intense debate. Nansen Saleri, an official at Saudi Aramco, the country's state-owned oil company, will say only that Saudi output will rise in June to about 9m bpd, and that the country can raise its output above 10m bpd "rapidly". Right now the Saudis are the only one with the ability to impact the price of world oil. They could step in and help ease the pain if oil exports from other OPEC countries were limited by political instability or conflict. But if something happened to the flow of Saudi oil, no one else could pick up the slack: Amy Jaffe of the Baker Institute, at America's Rice University in Texas, observes that in 1985 OPEC maintained about 15m bpd of spare capacity--about one-quarter of world demand at that time. In 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, OPEC still had about 5.5m bpd of spare capacity (about 8% of world demand). That, argues Ms Jaffe, meant that the cartel could easily and quickly expand output to absorb several disruptions at once. That is simply no longer true. Today's fast-shrinking spare capacity of about 2m bpd is less than 3% of demand--and it is entirely in Saudi hands. So how safe are the oil facilities in Saudi Arabia? Some are confident that they are relatively safe from serious attack: Nawaf Obaid, an adviser to the Saudi royal family, argues in the latest issue of Jane's Intelligence Review that the risk of a successful attack on oil facilities remains "very low". He explains: "At any one time, there are up to 30,000 guards protecting the Kingdom's oil infrastructure, while high-technology surveillance and aircraft patrols are common at the most important facilities and anti-aircraft installations defend key locations." Mr Obaid claims that the Saudi government has added $750m over the past two years to its security budget (which totalled $5.5 billion last year, according to him) specifically to fortify the oil sector. Kevin Rosser of Control Risks Group, a business-risk consultancy, agrees. He observes that there is plenty of redundancy built into the Saudi network--through multiple ports, pipelines and excess capacity--that should ease the blow from any attack. Besides, he insists, to do any real damage terrorists would have to hit bottlenecks, not just blow up random bits of pipeline. Others are worried: James Woolsey, a former head of America's Central Intelligence Agency, is unimpressed by talk of improved security: "Guards and fences are easy to put up, but they don't defend against the real threats." Trucks have to come in and out of facilities, he observes, and Aramco employees and security guards have to move about. He thinks that several attacks, if co-ordinated by terrorists who have infiltrated Aramco, could cripple the Saudi system. How, exactly? Robert Baer, an intelligence expert, offers some suggestions in his disturbing recent book, "Sleeping with the Devil". He reckons that Ras Tanura, a port on the Gulf, is a vulnerable terrorist target. With an output of perhaps 4.5m bpd, this is the biggest oil-exporting port in the world. Mr Baer thinks a small submarine or a boat laden with explosives (as happened in October 2000 with the attack on the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen) could knock out much of Ras Tanura's output for weeks, or even longer. An even scarier possibility raised by Mr Baer is the crashing of a hijacked aeroplane into Abqaiq, the world's largest oil-processing complex. If done with the help of insiders, he speculates that the facility's throughput (nearly 7m bpd, on his estimate) would be choked off to as little as 1m bpd for two months?and might remain as low as 3m bpd for seven months. You have to figure that the Al Qaeda folks are well aware of these possibilities. The problem is that in the near term future there isn't much we can except try to protect the Saudi facilities, spoil planned Al Qaeda attacks by disrupting their network in Saudi Arabia, and hope to hell that they are not able to succeed in interrupting the flow of oil: A witch's brew of soaring oil demand, private-sector destocking and lack of investment in new production capacity by OPEC has left the world with an extraordinarily tight oil market today. There is less spare capacity than at almost any point in the past 30 years. As Edward Morse, an energy expert at HETCO, an oil-trading firm, puts it: "The world has been living off surplus capacity built a generation ago, and thought it could get by. It turns out not to be the case." Building a new surplus will inevitably take a long time. Until then, the potential instability of Saudi Arabia's oil supply will remain a strategic weakness for the world economy. There has been speculation that Al Qaeda would try to follow up their apparent success in influencing the outcome of the Spanish election through the train bombings in Madrid with an attack in the United States designed to achieve similar results. The conventional wisdom is that such an attack would probably help President Bush more than hurt him, with the American people rallying around their president. A far more prudent way for Al Qaeda to influence the outcome of the election would be to seriously disrupt Saudi oil production. Sharp increases in oil prices would put a brake on the economic recovery, cause sticker shock at the pump for consumers (can you imagine the whining if gas were to top $3 a gallon?), and lead even more Americans to question the wisdom of the war in Iraq. The media would be screaming that if we hadn't attacked Iraq, the Saudi oil facilities wouldn't have been attacked, and gas would still be cheap. Can you say President Kerry? Wednesday, June 02, 2004
While driving home from work today I was listening to a replay of Hugh Hewitt plowing through the highlights of Western Civilization in six hours with Professor Larry P. Arnn from Hillsdale College. During a commercial break
I just about drove off the road when I realized who it was. John Kerry. Yes, presumptive Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry appeared on a local sports talk station today. Granted, Kerry is visiting Minneapolis later this week and obviously wanted to get some advance pub. And without appearing on MPR, he could not have picked a less threatening venue on the local airwaves. But still, The Dan Barreiro Show hardly seems like an appropriate place to hear a man who might well be the next President of the United States. "Coming up in the third hour, an interview with John Kerry followed by our weekly update from Wolves mascot Crunch." Labels: Media-Local (02-04)
Roll Out The Red Carpet For Kerry
If you live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and would like to help "welcome" John Kerry to town this Friday, Laura would love to have you: Please join Veterans for Bush Co-Chair, Lt. Colonel Joe Repya (U.S. Army Ret.) as he speaks out against John Kerry's visit to Minnesota for his National Veterans Coalition Roll Out. When: Friday, June 4th at 9:45am Where: Coffman Memorial Union (Front Steps) at the University of Minnesota Minneapolis Campus. Parking is available at East River Road Ramp , exit from Washington AVE onto East River Road just south of Coffman Union, please see link to map: TC: Coffman Memorial Union Details: We will cheer and chant until 11am or our voices give so please come when you can. Wear your Bush Gear. To purchase Bush-Cheney hats, t-shirts, buttons, jackets, etc. go to The George W. Bush Online Store There will be a large media contingency there and we do not want Senator Kerry to have it all. We need as many people as possible to come show support for the President. If you plan on attending please take a moment to RSVP to Abby Bacak at abacak@georgewbush.com. Banners, posters and flip-flops will be provided.
A Voice In The Crowd
John Hawkins at Right Wing News asked one hundred prominent conservatives if they read blogs, and if so, which blogs they read. Many familiar names were mentioned, along with a few surprises. Thanks Vox. Tuesday, June 01, 2004
In order to try to keep up with our esteemed Northern Alliance colleagues over at Power Line, I've spent the night boning up on one of the most pressing issues of the day. The ties between Al-Qaeda and Iraq? John Kerry's choice for VP? The ramifications of U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton's permanent injunction against enforcement of the partial birth abortion ban?
Nah. The Miss Universe Pageant, which Hindrocket is now live blogging. I'm not in a position to pick a winner, but for my money Miss India was world class. She can outsource my call center any day. Labels: Television
Too Much Pomp Considering The Circumstances
A few observations from my nephew's high school graduation ceremony last Saturday in The People's Republic of Boulder: - The last high school graduation that I attended was way back in '88 when J.B. Doubtless matriculated (and here you thought he was a GED guy). I seem to recall that in those days the usual protocol was to have a commencement speaker and the class valedictorian address the assembled masses. At this particular ceremony, in addition to the commencement speaker and valedictorian, at least six, perhaps seven other students also rose to speak. And with the exception of one young man who was moderately amusing, the speeches were God awful. For the most part the delivery was fine (if a bit hurried), but the content was devoid of anything original or in any way the slightest bit thought provoking. Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh. It's just that the number of clichés and trite sayings was overwhelming. I felt like I was trapped in a 'Successories' infomercial. The only way I could survive the nearly two hour long ceremony with my sanity intact was to mentally Fisk the speeches. Like shooting fish in a barrel it was. - If you doubt the accuracy of Michael Barone's characterization of Hard America and Soft America, attend a high school graduation. There were somewhere around four hundred and seventy students in my nephew's class. Forty seven were honored for receiving some sort of special "international baccalaureate" diplomas. Ten percent of the class? That seemed legitimate to me. Next they asked the honor students to stand. At least 40%, possibly as high as 50% of the class stood. When nearly half your class is made up of "honors" students it sort of loses its meaning doesn't it? I'm sure there are those who wish that "all the kids could be honors students". Unfortunately, that's not the way things work in "Hard America", a lesson that many of these kids will learn the hard way in a few years. - For some reason I continue to stubbornly cling to the notion that we are at war despite evidence to the contrary that I witness every day. Silly me. There was no mention of the war against Islamist terrorism at all at the graduation. No mention of the challenges that face our country in this struggle now and in the future. No mention of the sacrifices that will have to made, perhaps by some of the men and women in attendance. The closest thing was a passing reference in one of the speeches that, "...some of us will go to college, some of us will join the military..." The same thing could have been said in 2000 or 1995 or 1990. I realize that graduating from high school is a high point in the lives of these young people and their parents. They're happy and want the focus to be positive and forward looking. But the proceedings struck me as absurdly pre-9/11 in tone. I hate to throw a wet blanket on the celebration, but the reality is that these kids will be entering a very different world than did the class of 2001. Some of the those who are joining the military will likely end up fighting and possibly dying in the war. Even those who do not enter military service will still face the prospect of terrorist attacks (either overseas or at home-possibly involving WMDs) for years to come. They will also have to deal with the economic and political uncertainty resulting from the war. The fight against Islamist terror will be a part of these kids lives, whether they like it or not. Is at least a brief mention of it really that much to ask? - Finally a question for the fathers of teenage girls out there. What are you thinking when you let your daughter out of the house in an outfit like that? The short short skirts, bare midriffs, and plunging necklines on display at the graduation was unbelievable. And this was a ceremony that started at 10:00am in the morning. It appeared as if most of the girls in attendance did their shopping at Sluts-'R-Us. Too little clothing and too much skin on women is not a complaint that you run across too often from men, but we're talking about high school girls here. Men are visual beasts and, even if we know that it's not right, our brains are hard wired to respond to such stimuli. Here's a rule of thumb for the dads out there. Imagine an eighteen year old woman wearing the outfit that your daughter has on. How would you react? Now imagine that all the other men out there are going to be responding the same way to your daughter. Act appropriately. I realize that you can't watch your daughter at all times and control what she wears. But, as my wife likes to say, you can at least have a say in what she wears when she leaves your house. Try not to make it so easy for her. On behalf of unwitting dirty old men everywhere, I thank you.
Everybody's Talking 'Bout Pop Culture
Joe Carter at the evangelical outpost continues to seek input for The Pop Culture Literacy Project that he's managing. Watching every episode of Seinfeld and The Simpson's (at least seasons two through six) seventeen or eighteen times is my suggestion.
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TALK O' THE TOWN 
Listen to the Northern Alliance Radio Network on Saturdays from 11am 'til 3pm on AM 1280-The Patriot:
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