Local News

Coming up at 10 on WCCO channel four news...

* cosmetic beauty tips
* how to keep mosquitos away
* Tom Cruse's new, extremely young girlfriend
* tiger mauls human
* People magazine's 50 most beautiful people

My evaluation:
beauty = good
mosquitos = bad
Tom Cruse = short
young girlfriend = hot
tiger mauls human = cool
beautiful people = good
local news = bad

Also, we had a few snow flurries here on Wednesday.
Later.

Dim Sum, Fusion, Militarism, Sea Bass

Dim Sum Under Assault, and Devotees Say 'Hands Off'
Alf, did dim sum drive you onto a treadmill at your yuppie health club.

Itty-Bitty and Shrinking, Fusion Device Has Big Ideas
Scientists have produced nuclear fusion in a footlong cylinder five inches in diameter.

Henry Liu is a force.
Series: World Order, Failed States and Terrorism
Article: Militarism and failed states
Militarism is the doctrine that military might is the basic source of all security. The doctrine leads inevitably to the militarization of peace as a form of permanent preparation for war. Militarism is not exclusive to dictatorships or authoritarian states - liberal democracies are frequently proponents and willing victims of militarism. - Henry C K Liu

Sea Bass Update

This summer Sebas will be interning at the Inter-American Dialogue in DC. Claudio Loser is a visiting senior fellow there. If I knew enough Spanish, I would read a book Sebas told me about.
Enemigos: la Argentina y el Fundo Monetario International. Also, Sebas is studying in Brazil for a semester starting in August.

The Right to Bare Arms is All I Need

Florida Expands Right to Use Deadly Force in Self-Defense
Formerly, Floridians had the right to defend themselves against home intruders, the castle doctrine. Now, Floridians have the right to defend themselves in public places without first trying to escape, the right to stand your ground.

This leads me to believe that people either have an inordinate faith in their reaction time or they have the conception that criminals will announce their intentions well in advance. What is an announcement of criminality? Skin color. Is it legal to pull the trigger before determining criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt? Is preemptive force legal? Do prejudice and fear affect threat assessment?

And on a related note, why can I not buy a shoulder-to-air missile launcher to protect myself against the government?

Why does the United States show so much concern over proliferation in other countries? I guess we consider certain nations as felons.

Minnesota experienced a nation-leading 13.2% increase in its inmate population last year. The only other state with double-digit growth was Montana.

Despite rising interest rates, home sales grew 12.2% in March to a record high. Housing bubble, where are you?

On the heels of a big deal with Air Canada, Boeing agreed to a $6.9 billion deal with Air India. Airbus better recognize.

Doctors’ prescriptions are influenced by drug commercials.

The Hubble is celebrating 15 years of discovery.

Tiny, Plentiful and Really Hard to Catch
There is a giant neutrino observatory an hour north of Duluth.

Hesse, JC, and Ted

There is a lot to talk about today.

I bought three books at half price books on Saturday. Two were written by Herman Hesse. I have read Siddhartha and Steppenwolf already but I bought Siddhartha regardless. I also bought Narcissus and Goldmun. I plan to read The Glass Bead Game too. The other book I bought was Nostromo by JC, Joseph Conrad. I have read Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, and The Secret Agent. JC is a masterful writer. He has deft diction and superb syntax. JC was born in the Ukraine and thereafter lived in Russian-occupied Poland. The man didn't learn English until he was twenty years old. Wow.

So, I was doing a little reading on Wikipedia about JC and I clicked on the link to The Secret Agent, which had only a sentence for an entry: Theodore Kaczynski read this book over a dozen times. Interesting. We know him better as Ted, the Unabomber (university and airline bomber). Ted is a brilliantly smart mathematician. He graduated early from high school, received a BS from Harvard, and received a PhD in mathematics from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Ted was hired as an assistant professor at Berkeley. Then he quit and moved to Montana. Then he killed three people and injured 29. Ted claimed he would end his terrorism if newspapers printed his manifesto, Industrial Society and Its Future. The liberal bastions of the New York Times and the Washington Post obliged. The Unabomber Manifesto views technological progress negative. Let's go back to those simpler, happier days. Primitavist. Anyway, an English professor read Ted's manifesto and noticed similarities between Ted and Verloc, the novel's protagonist. I haven’t read Ted’s manifesto, but I identify him with the professor in The Secret Agent, not Verloc. Ted Kaczynski was an anarchist. Propaganda of the deed.

Sports

A new proposal for a Twins stadium was unveiled yesterday. Hennepin County will finance the stadium with tax-exempt 30-year bonds, which will be repaid with a sales tax of three cents on every twenty dollars (.15%). The bonds obtain tax-exempt status because the sales tax will be used to repay the bond. Tax-exempt bonds have a lower interest rate and cost the county less money. Coors Field in Denver was financed using 20-year tax-exempt bonds repaid with a .1% sales tax; the debt was paid off in ten years.

And where will the stadium be located. Go to Map Quest and search for a map of 417 N 5th Street in Minneapolis, zip code 55401. The stadium will be located on the rectangular plot directly south of the red star. I work in the red star. The proposed Northstar commuter rail will arrive from the northeast and terminate at the red star. The light rail will be extended down 5th Street. The waste-to-energy facility known as HERC is located directly west of the red star. Trash is burned to create energy. Burning trash smells. The stadium will be an open-air stadium, unless the state wants to provide an additional $100 million for a retractable roof.

In other news, the NFL draft was last weekend. The Vikings picked speedster WR Williamson, DE James, and RB Fason, among others. I now feel compelled to watch the Vikings again.

Clips

From the New York Times

At CSI: Wendy's, Tracking a Gruesome Discovery

China Looms as the World's Next Leading Auto Exporter

Report Backs Plan to Reduce Mercury Waste

From the Asian Times Online

Double trouble for Halliburton
Giant US corporation Halliburton is accused by the US State Department of "poor performance" in its US$1.2 billion contract to repair Iraq's southern oilfields. At the same time, Defense Department audits apparently show additional overcharges totaling $212 million were concealed from UN monitors by the Bush administration.

THE ROVING EYE
It's terror when we say so
Last year in its annual report, the US National Counterterrorism Center listed 175 "significant" terrorist attacks in 2003. This year, the report found a sharp increase to 624 such attacks for 2004. However, this figure will not be included when the report is officially released at the end of the month. Why? Ask Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. - Pepe Escobar

THE NEW AMERICAN MILITARISM
The normalization of war
In the first of two excerpts from his new book The New American Militarism, Andrew J Bacevich, a Vietnam veteran and self-described conservative, shows how the US view of war has evolved from that of a bloody, horrifying failure of diplomacy to something that is a good, glorious, necessary part of imposing and maintaining a morally superior world order.

Woe is the future

Maryland passed a bill that requires organizations with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health benefits - or put the money directly into the state's health program for the poor. Coincidentally, Wal-Mart is the only firm with more than 10,000 employees.

Md. Passes Rules on Wal-Mart Insurance

Americans continue to spend money on important things, such as the future...

Who Pays $600 for Jeans?

I don’t know anything about education, but I do know that No Child Left Behind is a great name.
Districts and Teachers' Union Sue Over Bush Law

GM and Ford are in trouble. Rover is dead.

Oil Companies Lose Effort to End Suits Over Contaminated Water
Re: methyl tertiary-butyl ether (the gasoline additive MTBE)

Alf is a pirate, but he has not been arrested

On the record, Alf was not arrested on piracy charges.

Although, with my imagination and the possibility of Alf's use of Mr. Thrash as a pseudonym, you make the call.

In Briefs

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigned.

In other news, Alf Hickey was arrested for piracy.
2 Americans Sentenced in DVD Piracy in China

Also, water from a whirligig.
Why pumping water is child's play

From the Onion:

* In the interim between Pope John Paul II's death and the election of his replacement, unsupervised Catholics seized the opportunity to sin without fear of reprisal, sources confirmed Tuesday.

* Dreamcatcher on rearview mirror protects sleeping driver.

JC Incarnate and Eggs Benedict

If I am the truth, the way, and the light, am I wrong?
Psst... Justice Scalia... You Know, You're an Activist Judge, Too

Cardinal Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI. I don't know much about original Saint Benedict, but I know his first name was Eggs. I also know that I have the Benedictine Eucharist about once a month at a restaurant. Am I now eating the pope, am I receiving the pope in a spiritual manner, is it merely symbolic, or is it an act beyond human comprehension. Transubstantiation, spiritual presence, symbolism, or pious silence. The hollandaise is telling me pious silence.

And

In other news, Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard will be hosting a show designed to pick the next pope.

I forgot to mention to non-MN peoples that a casino has been proposed for the Mall of America.

Democracy prevailed as Amy Blenker won election to represent Ward 1 on the Rochester City Council.

Minneapolis

Previously, I talked about development in St. Paul. The Riverfront Corporation website and the St. Paul Department of Economic Development website are good references, especially the former. Also, a new project proposal has been unveiled for a site east of the Robert Street bridge.

Now it is time to talk about development in Minneapolis. Let’s start close to my house. There used to be an abandoned gas station on the corner of river road and Lake Street. Leaks from a former gas station at this site contaminated the soil and ground water. An Environmental Response Fund grant from the Hennepin County Department of Environmental Services was used to remove the contaminated soil and provide a vapor barrier for a multi-story mixed-used (commercial/residential) building called West River Commons, which provides space for the Longfellow Grill, Dunn Brothers coffee, a dry cleaner, Papa Murphy's take-and-bake pizza, and buena vista housing.

From here let’s continue northwest on river road toward downtown Minneapolis. Remember the railroad bridge that crosses the river between Lake Street and Franklin? Phase III of the Midtown Greenway construction will complete the conversion of rails to trails, leaving a continuous bike path from river road to Lake Calhoun and beyond. Marye and I biked the completed portion of the Midtown Greenway, which commences at Hiawatha and Lake Street (by the Green Institute).

While you are biking the Midtown Greenway, you will pass the second largest building in Minnesota, the old Sears building. Allina agreed to move into the abandoned monolith, sparking redevelopment in a project known as the Midtown Exchange. With Allina as the keystone, the site will feature office space, retail, loft-style condominiums, townhomes, rental apartments, and a hotel.

Anyway, let’s go back to the river road heading northwest into downtown. The riverfront has been developed north of the Washington bridge. A railroad track crossing the river has been converted to pedestrian bridge. Then we crest the hill and behold not the skyline, but all the development along the river by the stone arch bridge. Holy shit.

The new Guthrie Theater is looming in blue, featuring a bridge to nowhere, which juts out of the building and over the river road. It’s impressive. Next door we find the Mill City Museum topped by the Gold Medal Flour sign. Part of the mill was also converted to luxurious loft-style condominiums. The old Milwaukee Depot was renovated into an ice skating rink and hotel. There are a lot of nice lofts and apartment buildings too. If we continue further northwest along the river, we find ourselves in the warehouse district, which consists of lofts, lofts, lofts, apartments, lofts, and apartments. Wow, it’s nice.

There is still a good sense of history: Pillsbury, Grainbelt, Advance Thresher Co., Emerson-Newton Implements, Co., the Lumber Exchange, and the Vu.

The architecturally stunning downtown Minneapolis public library is under construction. Block E by the Target center is a nice mix of restaurants, retail, and entertainment. Target Corporation built a corporate high-rise and a store on Nicolet. Two grocery stores are planned for downtown. There is a lot of development scheduled to break ground by the convention center. The renewed Walker (by the sculpture garden) opened last weekend. There is an enormous Menards on University. And of course, the University of Minnesota keeps changing and building.

The Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development Department is a good reference.

Snap

I need to make this blog more personal. That means more talk about me. Me. Me. Me.
I am preparing for summer basketball with my intimate male partner - el Klinker. Yesterday I grabbed my basketball, mounted my road bike, and cycled over to the playground on 35th and 42nd. I was snapping the nylon, so much so that a weathered eyelet snapped off the rim. I pity you, eyelet. I think my deft touch is forever programmed into my neurons. Other things, however, are not so permanent. Take the vertical leap for example. During the fall of my junior year my vertical leap was measured at 29 and one half inches. Then I started running seriously. The spring of my senior year my vertical leap was a dismal 23 inches. Then I really started to run. Now my vertical leap is abysmal. So, I thought I should jump rope. I did. Then I did pull-ups on the tree. Three sets of eight. My goal is to be able to do twenty pull ups by September. Now is a good time to give encomium to monkeys. Monkeys, you impress me; I can't hang by one arm for more than fifteen seconds.

In the News This Morning

Minnesota state Senator Koering from Fort Ripley (near Brainerd) publicly announced that he has chosen to be gay, and has done so since high school.

Also in the news...

Television, unfortunately, is humanizing gays through parasocial contact.

The bare-chested Mac Pack graced the cover of the Villager.

Naked Suspects: No Laughing Matter

I received the following in an email from one of my previous coworkers. The article found its home in an official law enforcement publication. On a related note, tonight I will be running around St. Thomas with my willy hanging out...

II. NAKED SUSPECTS: NO LAUGHING MATTER

When you're dispatched to a call of a naked person out in public you'd
be like a lot of officers if you thought the matter was amusing.

But you'd probably be wrong-and in the worst of circumstances, dead wrong.

Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Research
Center at Minnesota State University-Mankato, has been tracking
encounters between officers and naked adults for more than 20 years.

"Every year or two, an officer is killed by a naked person," he says.
"If someone is naked in public and is not drunk, not making a radical
political or social protest, or not a paid professional like a
stripper, the chances are overwhelming that they're in the midst of a
full-blown psychotic episode. In the vernacular, they're really,
really crazy...and potentially very dangerous.

"The vast majority of police contacts with mentally ill subjects, of
course, are nonviolent. But naked people are among those categories
that are particularly difficult."

Lewinski, a behavioral scientist with a strong interest in mental
illness, became intrigued by this category of offender in the early
1980s after reading about an officer who was called to deal with a
naked man singing from atop a street sign. "Flip remarks that the
officer made back to his dispatcher indicated that he took the
incident as a joke," Lewinski recalls. "A lot of officers would
consider it humorous."

In a matter of moments, the subject was down off the sign and the
officer was in a fight for his life. His attempts at empty-hand
control were ineffective. When he drew his impact weapon, the suspect
grabbed it away and beat him with it. When he ran toward his patrol
car, the naked man pursued him, disarmed him of his gun and killed
him. "Things weren't so funny any more," Lewinski notes.

"Some of the most dangerous people cops run into are naked offenders.
They're usually beyond your ability to influence verbally. They have a
heightened capacity to resist OC, impact weapons, even a Taser.
Indeed, where Tasers have failed it is most often in circumstances
where the subject is severely emotionally disturbed and/or chemically
altered.

"If you don't acknowledge nakedness as a danger cue and approach the
situation with a strong officer-safety component, you are placing
yourself at great risk. More likely than not, these people are in a
delusional state and may perceive you as a threat to themselves."

Lewinski recommends a strong show of force at the outset by having
multiple officers respond. "The more officers you have present, the
safer the subject and the officers are likely to be. More officers
equal fewer injuries," assuming, of course, the cops are tactically
astute. If your agency has a mental health communications team, a
member of that unit ideally should be among the first to arrive.

"Stay away from the subject initially," Lewinski stresses. "Cops tend
to want to close distance, but people in the midst of a paranoid or
schizophrenic episode need greater space. Moving close puts you at
greater risk because it heightens their agitation and fear.

"Get some object or barrier between you and subject which can slow him
down and buy you time if an assault against you erupts."

Unless there is immediate danger, you'll want to attempt dialog,
although you will probably need an unconventional "intervention
strategy" in order to break through the subject's psychosis to a
better level of rationality.

"One of the simplest and most effective techniques was worked out at a
mental health facility in Michigan," Lewinski says. "If you're the
primary contact officer you let out a sudden, loud scream while
dramatically clapping your hands, creating a loud burst that causes
the naked person to focus on you. This may momentarily distract him
from his psychosis and snap him back to reality. You may then be able
to engage him in conversation, build rapport and coax him into
cooperation and compliance.

"The only chance this has of working, however, is if you can present a
calm face and gentle demeanor by the time the suspect focuses on you.
This change has to be immediate, so that by the time he looks at you
you appear placid and nonthreatening.

"This may not work. There are no guarantees. At best, it will open a
brief door for intervention, which may close again without warning."

Ultimately a use of force may be necessary. Gary Klugiewicz, a popular
DT trainer and a member of FSRC's National Advisory Board, teaches an
empty-hand control method called the Star Technique for controlling
EDPs. But this requires training, teamwork and practice and is not
currently available in most departments.

Given the high risk of injury with unpracticed group hands-on methods,
the unpredictability of aerosol and electronic weapons, the incapacity
for meaningful dialog characteristic of psychotics, and their known
capability for explosive violence, realize that deadly force may end
up being necessary.

"Although a happier outcome is hoped for," Lewinski says, "the mental
and physical preparation to use lethal force should be present in
these circumstances from the beginning."

(For a gripping account of how 2 officers dealt with a naked father
and his 3 naked children on a major thoroughfare in Kenosha, WI, one
morning last week, go to www.PoliceOne.com and click on the article,"
Officers Share Dramatic Details of Deadly Encounter With 300-lb. Naked
Ex-Con" in Chuck Remsberg's column area listed on the right side of
the front page. This report, based on an exclusive interview with one
of the officers involved, vividly illustrates the dangerousness and
unpredictability that Lewinski describes. It was written by Charles
Remsberg, a member of FSRC's National Advisory Board.)

The Man Date

Klinker, I also read the man date article yesterday. I was going to post about it, but I didn't have much time. And I don't right now either. So here's the best I have:

The Man Date

man date = rendezvous between two straight men

It's the male version of girls getting together for girly one-on-one talks.
It's beyond male bonding, it's male intimacy - or as some like to say, homoerotic.

Man Date Criteria
* No bars
* No televisions
* No sports
* No beer
* No physical activity, such as running, golfing, etc.
* No simply prepared animal meat
* No sitting apart at the movies
* No mention of the Huskers

So what can you do.
Stroll, emote, talk about feelings, discuss art.
Go to a restaurant featuring: wine, cheese, candles, string quartets.

I'm sure each list can be extended.

I just want to be myself, and I am incredibly manly.

Trivia

It's time for a game I call: Who Introduced This Minnesota Bill

SF2184

Search for it

A bill for an act relating to health...

Author's home: placid H2O

Any guesses?

The Treasury

Recently, I was imagining a Venn diagram of freedom, justice, and democracy.

In other news, I found a great read, the Report on Foreign Portfolio Holdings of U.S. Securities as of June 30, 2003, published August 2004.

From the report... Foreign Holdings by Country

Japan: 771
United Kingdom: 390
Luxembourg: 297
Canada: 260
China, P.R.C.: 255
Belgium: 242
Cayman Islands: 242
Switzerland: 180
Netherlands: 163
Germany: 154
Country unknown: 388
Rest of world: 1,637

Before you write a letter to Mr. President expressing your desire to invade the rogue states and nuclear outlaws such as Luxembourg, consider that England, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Cayman Islands are financial centers in which substantial amounts of securities owned by residents of other countries are held in custody.

I have been shopping at Whole Foods since the middle of 2002, and by shopping I mean buying viands, not stocks.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFMI)
Beginning of 2000 - <$20
July 2003 - $46
April 2005 - $100

Wow. Overpriced? You would think.

Now it's time for a boring read about U.S. Treasury products. Most foreign central banks buy treasury notes.

Treasury Products
1. Treasury Bills
2. Treasury Notes
3. TIPS
4. Treasury Bonds
5. I Bonds
6. EE/E Bonds
7. HH/H Bonds

1. Treasury bills, or T-Bills, are short-term securities, usually 13 or 26 weeks.

2. Treasury notes, sometimes called T-Notes, earn and pay a fixed rate of interest every six months until maturity. Fixed-principal notes are issued in terms of 2, 3, 5, and 10 years.

3. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPS, guard your savings from inflation. TIPS pay a fixed rate of interest. The value of the principal of a TIPS is adjusted semiannually, based on changes in the Consumer Price Index. The interest rate is applied to the inflation-adjusted principal, not the original face value. So, if inflation occurs throughout the life of your security, every interest payment will be greater than the one before it. The converse is true however, in the event of deflation. Upon maturity, Treasury will pay the greater of either the inflation-adjusted principal or the original face value. TIPS are issued in terms of 5, 10, and 20 years.

4. The Treasury Department stopped issuing fixed-principal Treasury bonds, sometimes called T-Bonds, in October 2001. Nonetheless, many are still unredeemed and earning interest, with a significant number of years remaining until maturity. Treasury bonds earn and pay a fixed rate of interest every six months until they mature. Bonds are a long-term investment, maturing in up to 30 years.

5. I Bonds are a low-risk, liquid savings product. While you own them they earn interest and protect you from inflation.

6. Series EE savings bonds are safe, low-risk savings products that pay interest based on current market rates for up to 30 years - series EE bonds purchased May 2005 and after will earn a fixed rate of return.

7. Unlike EE bonds, HH bonds are current-income securities. You paid face value, and receive interest payments by direct deposit to your checking or savings account every 6 months until maturity or redemption.

Senator Cornyn Made Me Do It

First, I read an editorial in the New York Times.

The Judges Made Them Do It
Senator Cornyn (who puts the sin in insinuate) made remarks insinuating recent courthouse violence is linked to frustration with decisions by activist judges. You reap what you sow, beeatch.

Then, I wondered what Senator Cornyn really said. At Thomas, you can browse the congressional record and read transcripts from speeches given on the floor.

You can find the tour de force here. Insinuating, paraphrasing, and tantamounting – all are important to tub-thumping, rhetorical, demagoguery. Seriously, this is impressive.
Now, I will paraphrase.

Senator Cornyn Says

Good
* Executing the mentally retarded
* Executing juveniles
* Murdering activist judges
* Judicial interpretation and application of the law, as opposed to creating law
* American people

Bad
* Sodomy
* Evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society
* European human rights laws
* Outsourcing American law – the disconcerting tendency to rely on the laws of foreign governments and treaties in the application and enforcement of U.S. law

I thought of two more categories:

Very Good
* Capital punishment

Very, Very Bad
* Sodomy

More paraphrasing…

America is rapidly approaching a day when foreign governments make decisions about our economic policy, foreign policy, and domestic security. Activist judges are undermining the sovereignty of the United States of America by attempting to further a liberal political and ideological agenda. Did we not fight a War of Independence to free ourselves from subjugation to foreign governments. Do we not still value a democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people. I’m afraid of what I see in Federal courts. I see radical legal elites who disrespect our constitutional democracy, disrespect the American people, and disrespect of America itself.

Senator Cornyn goes on to say he respects judges. He even respects international law when treaties are ratified by Congress, the great treaty ratifier.

The following day after Senator Cornyn spoke so contemptuously, he felt a need to quench any criticism and insinuations about his insinuations.

Bullet points from his follow-up speech:

* There is no possible justification for courthouse violence

* There is no evidence linking recent acts of courthouse violence to the various controversial rulings

* The judicial confirmation process is broken

* Rhetoric about the judiciary and about judicial nominees must be toned down.

Hmmm.

Democracy Hates Freedom

It's time for a little segment I like to call "Democracy in Action."

Minnesota State Constitutional Amendments Considered
1865 - Amendment to authorize Negroes to vote - Rejected
1867 - Amendment to authorize Negroes to vote - Rejected
1868 - Amendment to authorize Negroes to vote - Accepted

What can we learn from this?
a) Democracy wins out in the end.
b) Freedom wins out in the end.
c) The bible was amended between 1867 and 1868.

A. Democracy did not win in the end, democracy won every single time.

B. Freedom won, but it also lost. That leaves freedom at .500. African Americans gained the right to vote, which is freedom. However, bigots lost the freedom to oppress African Americans, a resounding loss of freedom.

C. Ephesians 6: 5-8 still says "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free." And that's in the New Testament.

So, what have we learned. Personally, I have learned that it is a good idea to let the hoi polloi vote on minority rights.

Illegal Immigrants Are Bolstering Social Security With Billions
I don't believe it. Illegal immigrants are evil. Sometimes, I don't know who to blame more, illegal immigrants or gays… actually, I do know who to blame: illegal gay immigrants. If I were a lawmaker, then I would hold business liable for hiring illegal immigrants by allowing any third party in the United States to sue those businesses for damages, which would be summed using my red, white, and blue calculator.

Satellite Radio Takes Off, Altering the Airwaves
XM and Sirius are the two big satellite radio companies. Comedy (Chris Rock) is very popular. Howard Stern will be heard. XM radio will broadcast every Major League Baseball game. Traditional radio, Clear Channel and Infinity, are taking notice, reducing commercials, increasing variety, crying.

Google Feature Incorporates Satellite Maps
Not impressive compared to GIS images. The county has color aerial photos with six inch resolution. And they took the photos when there were not leaves on the trees or snow on the ground.

I had looked at TerraServer-USA before. Images are in black and white.

Smoking, April Fools, Trade Deficit

Minnesota News

Yesterday, smoking bans went “into effect in several cities and counties in the Twin Cities area, namely: Ramsey County (including the City of St. Paul), Hennepin County, the City of Minneapolis, the City of Bloomington and the City of Golden Valley. Each ordinance differs in the range of facilities required to be smoke-free. However, they all have provisions for smoke-free restaurants, some bars, and in some cases cover outdoor smoking as well.”

On the record, I am against the smoking ban.

In other news, the SuperAmerica by our house is selling gas for $2.19/gallon.

Funny

An Old Baseball April Fools' Hoax
Sidd Finch, almost the greatest pitcher ever.

Very Interesting

Trade war: US vs the rest of the world

The article from the Asian Times Online refers to the 2004 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers from the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

“The 2004 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE) is the nineteenth in an annual series that surveys significant foreign barriers to U.S. exports. The report provides, where feasible, quantitative estimates of the impact of these foreign practices on the value of U.S. exports. Information is also included on actions taken to eliminate barriers.”

The report is fascinating. It has a pdf report on every with whom we have beef, including Bolivia, China, European Union, Ghana, Japan, Norway, and Peru. I should try to find similar reports about United States trade barriers.

If you don’t have time to read all these reports, let me summarize: gays are responsible for the colossal U.S. trade deficit.