Business

Ford Completes Sale of Hertz to 3 Private Equity Investment Firms
Ford will receive $5.6 billion in cash for Hertz, the nation's largest auto rental company. The total transaction, including debt, was valued at $15 billion. The deal includes a cash tender offer of up to $2.3 billion. The infusion of cash comes at a time when Ford's cash reserves are shrinking.

Ford and Visteon Reach Agreements on Deal
Ford Motor Co. and auto-parts maker Visteon Corp. said Tuesday that they have reached definitive agreements to transfer unprofitable plants back to the automaker. Visteon has failed to make a profit nearly every year since it was spun off from Ford five years ago. Visteon, the No. 2 U.S. auto parts supplier behind Delphi Corp., relies on Ford for 64 percent of its business. Visteon has blamed its financial woes on production cuts at Ford, lower prices for parts and high labor costs it inherited after its spin-off from Ford. Goal: savings on auto parts.

Oracle to Pay $5.85 Billion for Siebel
Oracle, the giant database-software maker, announced on Monday that it would pay $5.85 billion to acquire Siebel Systems, its largest competitor in the market for sales automation programs. The deal will bolster Oracle's effort to topple its German rival SAP as the leading seller of business applications software for big corporations.

EBay to Buy Skype for $2.6 Billion
EBay said yesterday that it would buy Skype Technologies, the Internet phone provider based in Luxembourg, for $2.6 billion in cash and stock, a move that eBay hopes will bolster trading on its online auction site.

Labor
* Boeing machinists are on strike.
* Delta asks pilots' union for second round of cuts in wages and benefits.

Suddenly, Those Solar Panels Don't Look So 1970s
Solar power used to be pie in the sky. It’s still expensive, but technology is progressing. Without subsidies, solar panels for your home cost $20,000 to $25,000. Giants like BP and Royal Dutch Shell in the energy industry, or Sharp and Kyocera in electronics, make most solar gear.

New Approach From Gap to Cut Down on Clicks
"Gap's new sites leapfrog every other retail site out there today," said Carrie Johnson, a retail analyst with Forrester Research, an online consulting firm. "They're providing a customer experience that other retailers will quickly try to figure out how to copy."

Samsung Unveils New 16GB Flash Memory Chip
This is great news.

What the hell is flash memory?

Storm God

Is global warming responsible for the hurricanes experienced in the past few years?
Your credulity amazes me. Look at 1881-1890 or 1941-1950.

U.S. Hurricane Strikes by Decade

The word hurricane is derived from the name of a native Caribbean Amerindian storm god, Huracan, via Spanish huracán.

In Europe, High-Tech Flood Control, With Nature's Help
All you need is a Dutch boy.

Alarm Growing on Storm's Cost for Agriculture

Barbara Bush Calls Evacuees Better Off
Class Warfare
"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas," Barbara Bush said in an interview on Monday with the radio program “Marketplace.” "Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway," she said, "so this is working very well for them."

Kanye West's Torrent of Criticism, Live on NBC
"George Bush doesn't care about black people!"

Jay-Z backs Kanye West's telethon outburst

The perfect storm and the feral city

Houston Finds Business Boon After Katrina

Big Red

On Saturday Klinker, Chanda, and I traveled sans AC in the Saturn down to Lincoln for the Huskers' 6pm game versus the impious deacons of Wake Forest. My sister joined us and we joined more than 77,300 big red fanatics. The number of consecutive sellouts in Memorial Stadium was extended to 270; a streak that dates back to 1962. In Osborne we trust.

Nebraska 31 - Wake Forest 3

The blackshirts (Nebraska defense) scored three touchdowns.

Land Speed Record

5.72 miles
16:24
20.93 mph

I shocked the world.
I will never break this mark.

In other news:
Next summer will feature two duathlons. The first will be the Dundrearies Duathlon; the winner will hold the title of Lord Dundreary until the following year. Later in the summer athletes with mettle and moxie will compete in an event of gravitas, an event with a hoary history: the 2nd Annual Mustache Duathlon. Tell your friends. Details to follow.

BWCA: Day 4

We rose early Sunday morning with hopes of canoeing on calm water. Marye and I had broken down our tent and were packing up when we heard one of the more quotable quotes of the weekend come from Andrea, Megan, and Tim’s tent: “Once this tent broken down there will still be one tent standing.” The ode to morning wood caused a little shrieking. As we paddled off into Big Sag it became apparent that the night did not quell the wind. We struggled across Big Sag toward the reprieve east of Camper's Island. Whereas yesterday we were facing a headwind, today we were facing crosswinds. It is difficult to control the direction of the canoe in large waves and strong wind. It is also a little unnerving when waves are crashing into the canoe parallel to the keel line. We paddled to the leeward side of Clark Island to recuperate before we hit the big waves. And they were big. We rose up onto crests and down into troughs, the starboard side of the canoe rising and then dipping, vulnerable if a second wave arrived too quickly. Tim said he looked over at Marye and me and saw only our heads when we were riding in the trough of a wave. I’m glad I didn’t know that. We made it. We went gently down the Sea Gull River, to Gull Lake, and to the boat ramp. We were at the end of the Gunflint Trail. We called the lodge and waited for the pickup van in the chilly wind. We packed up the MV (minivan) and headed to Sven and Olie’s. Take it back to the city. There was a traffic jam in Two Harbors, so we stopped at DQ to mollify the road rage within. When we parted from Megan’s house, we wished each other good showers. The end.

BWCA: Day 3

On Saturday morning we weathered another little shower. The clouds released the sun, we strung up the tents, and settled down around the stove to eat pancakes. Fires were not allowed because of the smoldering forest fire between Alpine Lake and Seagull Lake. By late morning we shoved off for Big Sag. Peeps ran the first rapids, but as a novice in the canoe I opted for the driest strategy: tie nylon rope to the stern of the canoe and walk it down. The canoeing in the Boundary Waters is very intimate and very nice. Marye and I successfully ran some easy rapids, walked the canoe at the Granite Portage point, and ran the rapids at the Gneiss Lake Portage point. We lunched at Gneiss Lake Island. Peeps were tired but we had a long way to go; we weren’t even to the long straightaway leading to Big Sag, a more-exposed straightaway into the strong northwest wind we had already been struggling against. Onward. Monotonous, strenuous paddling. No enjoyment of pristine surroundings. General disenchantment with romantic ideas of simplicity and wilderness. After I navigated the canoes through Blowdown Portage, we sat motorless at the beginning of the straightaway. Eventually we made it to the rocky Horsetail Portage. We walked the canoes on a nylon leash and carried the kayak. Finally, we portaged at Saganaga Falls and paddled out onto Saganaga Lake, affectionately known as the Big Sag. We decided to call it a day and we stopped at a campsite on Conner's Island. We dined on pasta mixes, of which the Nacho Cheese got mixed reviews and caused concerns about tent gas. We sat around the flameless campfire, drained the box of red wine, and ate smores. Joe Crookston sang Fall Down As the Rain again on Grand Marais community radio. A big moon was rising in the east.

Intelligent Spaghetti

My sentiments exactly. Please read this article.

But Is There Intelligent Spaghetti Out There?
Bobby Henderson, a 25-year-old with a physics degree from Oregon State University, had a divine vision. An intelligent god, a Flying Spaghetti Monster, he said, "revealed himself to me in a dream."

"We are willing to pay any individual $250,000 if they can produce empirical evidence which proves that Jesus is not the son of the Flying Spaghetti Monster."

An iPod Cellphone Said to Be Imminent
Apple + Motorola, marketed by Cingular

Destroying the National Parks
Good, parks are communist.

Recommended by Andrea:
The Vietnamization of Bush's Vacation
My excerpt: “The Leo Burnett advertising agency has been handed $350 million for a recruitment campaign that avoids any mention of Iraq.”

Historical Bush Approval Ratings
Hmmm.

Bush Approval Rating Continues to Drop
President Bush's job approval rating is now at 40%, the lowest of his administration. Bush has averaged 43% across three Gallup Polls conducted in August, marking a slow but steady decline since the beginning of the year. Bush's approval rating has dropped among independents, and has also dropped modestly among Republicans. Bush's August average rating is the lowest for any re-elected president since World War II at a similar point after their re-election, with the exception of Richard Nixon. Only 34% of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States today -- the lowest satisfaction rating since January 1996.

In other news, New Orleans and Mississippi were punished by God.

Intelligent Falling Theory

Relax, Bill Gates; It's Google's Turn as the Villain
Google is a powerful business that offers a shitload of services, such as search engines, email (gmail), maps, news aggregation, and digital photo management (Picasa). Google will foray into instant messaging, mobile phone services, online payment services, and perhaps, ultimately, an operating system for your computer. People are complaining about Google. Google has so much power. Google hurt my feelings. Google hires all the most talented computer science people by offering them huge salaries. Google is arrogant. Google has a big penis. The people complaining are business people, free market people, laissez-faire people. Most of those people are pussies.

Summer Fading, Hollywood Sees Fizzle
Hollywood relies on summer blockbusters. Less people are going to movies. Why? Movies suck. Other entertainment. DVDs. Home theater.

Study Finds 29-Week Fetuses Probably Feel No Pain and Need No Abortion Anesthesia
The finding poses a direct challenge to proposed federal and state laws that would compel doctors to tell women having abortions at 20 weeks or later that their fetuses can feel pain and to offer them anesthesia specifically for the fetus.

About 1.3 million abortions a year are performed in the United States, 1.4 percent of them at 21 weeks or later.

The federal legislation, introduced by Senator Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, in 2004 and again this year as the "Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act," says there is "substantial evidence" of "substantial pain to an unborn child" during abortions performed after 20 weeks. The bill includes a script doctors must read to women, offering to deliver anesthesia directly to the fetus and stating, "The Congress of the United States has determined that at this stage of development, an unborn child has the physical structures necessary to experience pain."

Must read. Funny.

Rumsfeld Makes Surprise Visit To Wife's Vagina

Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory

Met Council

What's with growth management and regional planning in the Twin Cities.

The Metropolitan Council is the regional planning agency serving the Twin Cities seven-county metropolitan area and providing essential services to the region. The Council works with local communities to provide these critical services:

* operates the region's largest bus system

* collects and treats wastewater

* engages communities and the public in planning for future growth

* provides forecasts of the region's population and household growth

* provides affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income individuals and families

* provides planning, acquisitions and funding for a regional system of parks and trails

* provides a framework for decisions and implementation for regional systems including aviation, transportation, parks and open space, water quality and water management.

Governance

The 17-member Metropolitan Council has 16 members who each represent a geographic district and one chair who serves at large. They are all appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the governor. The State Senate confirms Council member appointments.

Washington state has a Growth Management Act.

Policy Brief from the Washington Research Council.
Washington's Growth Management Act: Goals and Promises

Regional Growth Management in Seattle

Federal Reserve

We should all make a resolution to read once a week from the Federal Reserve Bank.

Main page: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

The Twelve Federal Reserve Districts: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco.

You can find conferences that discuss such things as: Revived Bretton Woods System: A New Paradigm for Asian Development?

Featuring interesting summaries such as: Dollars and Deficits? Where Do We Go From Here? (Europe is screwed)

By the way...

I read that Minnesota's biggest trading partners are:
1. Canada
2. Ireland
3. China

Exports are burgeoning. Read the article.

From ATOL:

China's Kazakh prize: The expert opinion
PetroKazakhstan will be a good acquisition for China's CNPC: oil industry experts tell ATol it has a relatively new refinery and some top-quality fields; it produces high-quality light, sweet crude; and it's strategically located near the Chinese border. But it's not a solution to China's growing oil demand: PetroKazakhstan represents about 30% of one year's demand growth in China.

How Iran's oil bourse could kill the dollar
Oil is priced and traded in the greenback, entailing huge transaction costs for non-dollar countries that have to buy these dollars. The oil bourse that Iran plans to start next year would change all that. It would make transactions cheaper, and it could drive a nail into the dollar's coffin, because a large part of the currency's clout stems from the fact that resources are quoted in it.

BWCA: Day 2

Friday morning we rose and drove back into Grand Marais to Gene's IGA to buy a few more groceries, among them the most important camping viand: peanut butter. We also visited the World’s Greatest Donuts. I devoured old fashion glazed and chocolate glazed donuts. Next time I will have the skizzle. At our last stop in Grand Marais, we picked up our BWCA permits, which we did not receive until we watched a video and passed a test. Then we drove up the hill and followed the Gunflint Trail until the turnoff for Gunflint Lodge. We rented two canoes and offered ourselves the lodge’s hot chocolate as a lagniappe. Megan and Andrea were in one canoe, Marye and I were in another, and Tim was in his kayak. We pushed off into Gunflint Lake and paddled toward Magnetic Lake. I visited Canada for the first time. It sucked, but the U.S. side of the border was beautiful.

The first portage was short and provided a buena vista of the Granite River squeezed tightly into a fast, glassy flow before it proceeded into frothy rapids. We stopped at Blueberry Portage for lunch and shortly thereafter completed the 100 rod Pine Portage to bring us to Clove Lake. We paddled across the lake to a beachside campsite; sand courtesy of the low water levels naturally found from July until the replenishing snow melts. Tim practiced Eskimo rolls in his kayak. Andrea made sure Tim didn’t drown. I engaged myself in a game of footbag (hacky sack). Marye was the big chillin’. Megan read Cosmo. Dinner consisted of beans, rice, peppers, onions, and mushrooms in tortillas. Decadence was the theme; smores and box wine followed. We weathered a rain shower after dinner by listening to a Grundig hand-crank generator-powered radio under a tarp shelter fashioned by Tim "Koolhaas" Pavlish. At the end of the night we crushed the hopes of all bears by setting a personal record for height of a suspended food sack.

And the winner was...

That's right folks. I am #1. In a breathtaking display of raw power, unmatched natural ability, and lots of EPO, I dominated the rest of the 1st Annual Mustache Duathlon field, setting a course record at 57 minutes and some seconds.

Hopefully more people can join me next year.

1st Annual Mustache Duathlon

On Saturday August 27, duathletes sporting a mustache grown for at least one week gathered at the residence of the Big Fundamentals (pictured left) for the 1st Annual Mustache Duathlon. The race commenced at the intersection of 32nd street and 46th avenue, where competitors mounted their bicycles and cranked away across the Lake Street bridge to St. Paul's river road, south past the Ford Furlough Plant, over Highway 5, and down the hill into Crosby Park, covering a distance of about 6.25 miles. At this point competitors suffered high transition times because of the need to lock up their bicycles. The run was an exciting 3+ mile route, which began with a leg through the woods and then wrapped back around the lake. The most difficult segment of the race was the transition from running to cycling up the big hill. Then it was time to cruise, north on river road to the Ford bridge, across to the Minneapolis side, and back to the Big Fundamental's house.

BWCA Trip: Part 1

I'm going to a GIS workshop tomorrow. So here's tomorrow's post.

Last Thursday at 6pm Andrea, Tim, Marye, and I gathered at Megan’s house, point of departure for our BWCA excursion. Tim secured his kayak atop Megan’s minivan, we loaded our packs, and we were off. Tim provided fresh beats while Megan drove to Two Harbors, where we refilled with black gold and stopped at Dairy Queen. Tim took down a blizzard and a foot-long. Impressive. I drove from the birthplace of Soren Anderson to a location on the north shore about twelve miles north of Grand Marais. As we drove along the giant freshwater lake, we were graced by a particular cloud arrangement that filtered the moonlight into a single stream illuminating the water below with a conical spotlight, raising the expectation of seeing the Son of God commencing the Second Coming by walking across Lake Superior. Alas, deism won the battle again and the clouds began to clear. The moon had swelled to within a day of full. Aided by the moonlight, we hiked over the rocky shore and turned west into a small inlet where we pitched our tents on a beach of small pebbles, a most excellent bed and a most excellent source of a unique sound. The crashing waves pick up myriad pebbles and then set them down gently, creating a faint sound like the tide racking thousands of miniature billiard balls.

The Gods Must Think I'm Crazy

Pete Dillon has a blog, which he promises to update infrequently. For now, you can visit and look at pictures from his bicycle trip from Albuquerque to Greyhound, Utah.

Did God tell Pat Robertson that the U.S. should assassinate President Chavez of Venezuela? I don't think so. God told me that Pat Robertson is crazy.

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and look at what else Mr. Robertson has said to boost his credibility. What better place to start than September 11th.

Robertson agreed with Falwell that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were caused by "pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbians, the ACLU and the People for the American Way."

During ABC's This Week, on April 30, 2005, Robertson was speaking about judicial activism when he said, "Over 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that’s held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings."

In 1998, Robertson warned that hurricanes and other natural disasters would sweep down on Orlando, Fla., because gay men and lesbians were flocking to Disney World on special "gay days." Robertson claims to have used the power of prayer to steer hurricanes away from his companies' Virginia Beach, Virginia headquarters. He took credit for steering the course in 1985 of Hurricane Gloria, which caused millions of dollars of destruction in many states along the east coast. He made a similar claim about another destructive storm, Hurricane Felix, in 1995.

Robertson has described feminism as a "socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."

Robertson’s net worth is between $200 million and $1 billion USD according to the 2002 book The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast. Through his ostensibly charitable organization, Operation Blessing International, Robertson claims to have spent $1.2 million bringing aid to refugees in Rwanda. His critics, such as Palast, claim the money was actually spent to bring heavy equipment for Robertson's African Development Corporation, a diamond mining operation. He has purchased thoroughbred race horses, although he has stated on many occasions he is opposed to gambling. Robertson claims he bought the horses because he is "amazed by their athleticism".

In the late 1980s, Pat Robertson sued Congressman Pete McCloskey and Representative Andy Jacobs for libel. McCloskey, who served with Robertson in Korea, made claims that Robertson was spared combat duty when his powerful father intervened on his behalf. Jacobs repeated these statements publicly. During pre-trial depositions, another veteran who had served with Robertson, Paul Brosman, Jr., spoke of rumors during the war that Robertson had been carousing with prostitutes and hassling Korean women. Brosman stated that Robertson himself talked about his exploits with prostitutes. In the end, Robertson dropped his lawsuit claiming scheduling conflicts between court dates and his 1988 presidential campaign, and was ordered to pay part of McCloskey's court costs.

Should Pat Robertson Be Assassinated?

Televangelist Calls for Assassination of Chavez
Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested on-air that American operatives assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop his country from becoming "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."

China Ups the Ante in Its Bid for Oil
China's biggest state-owned oil company, the China National Petroleum Corporation, announced on Monday that it would pay $4.18 billion for a Canadian oil company with shares traded in New York and substantial reserves in Kazakhstan.

Trade wars can lead to shooting wars
U.S. vs. China, currency, trade, jobs, standard of living, military

Republican Myrmidons and Co.

From Clever Peasantry
The War the South Won

Using your tax dollars, the government created an admirable piece of propaganda.

2005 Republican Freedom Calendar: Celebrating a century and a half of civil rights achievement by the Party of Lincoln

Why should you take the time to read it?
Ostensibly, you should read it if you wish to be better informed about our national heritage. Honestly, you should read it if you are a minority who holds a low opinion of the Republican Party’s recent civil rights record.

What will you learn?
It is not possible for the ethos of a political party to change over time. What does this imply? The Republican Party was organized in Ripon, Wisconsin on February 28, 1854, as a party opposed to the expansion of slavery into new territories. The first Republican Party President of the United States was the guy who freed the slaves. Therefore, the Republican Party has always been a tireless advocate of civil rights. In the 19th century, the Democrat Party consisted of racist, slave-owing southerners and conciliatory northerners. Ever since, the Democrat Party has assailed civil rights with a vengeance befitting a kung-fu movie where the father of the Democrat Party is killed by Civil Rights.

From Wikipedia

… The post-war emergence of the United States as one of two superpowers and rapid social change caused the Republican Party to divide into a conservative faction (dominant in the West and Southeast) and a liberal faction (dominant in New England) – combined with a residual base of inherited progressive Midwestern Republicanism active throughout the century. A Republican like U.S. Sen Robert Taft of Ohio represented the Midwestern wing of the party that continued to oppose New Deal reforms and continued to champion isolationism [not to be confused with free trade]. Thomas Dewey represented the Northeastern wing of the party that was closer to Democratic liberalism and internationalism. In the end, the isolationists were marginalized by those who supported a strong U.S. role in opposing the Soviet Union throughout the world, as embodied by President Eisenhower. However, this development did not represent the end of the story. The seeds of conservative dominance in the Republican party were planted in the nomination of conservative Barry Goldwater over liberal Nelson Rockefeller as the Republican candidate for the 1964 presidential election.

One element of the New Deal coalition was the "Solid South", a term describing the Southern states' reliable support for Democratic presidential candidates. Goldwater's electoral success in the South, and Nixon's successful Southern strategy four years later, represented a significant political change, as Southern white protestants began moving into the party, largely in reaction to national Democratic Party's support for the Civil Rights Movement. The remaining pockets of liberal Republicanism in the northeast began to die out as the region turned solidly Democratic. In The Emerging Republican Majority, Kevin Phillips, then a Nixon strategist, argued (based on the 1968 election results) that support from Southern whites and growth in the Sun Belt, among other factors, was driving an enduring Republican electoral realignment.

If Republican Party propaganda were a pill, it would be Rohypnal.

Only Libertarians should be allowed to talk about freedom.

Andrew Rock

Results from the 2005 IAAF World Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Helsinki

Andrew Rock, whilom DIII LaCrosse runner, finished 2nd in the 400 (44.35) to Athens Olympic gold medalist Jeremy Wariner. Mr. Rock then ran the lead leg of the USA's gold medal 4x400. I finished 3rd in the 400. View the photo finish to see my speed suit.

*

Articles I might read:

Building a Virtual Microbe, Gene by Gene by Gene
Have You Heard? Gossip Turns Out to Serve a Purpose
Wal-Mart Says Oil Prices Held Down Profits for Quarter

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Marye and I borrowed the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? from the library. I enjoyed it. The picture show is directed by St. Louis Park, Minnesota, natives, The Coen Brothers, who incorporated themes from The Odyssey into the movie. The soundtrack is mossome.

I must read more about:
Greek Mythology
Roman Mythology

*

Waste Yes, Want Not
Is there want of landfill space? No.
Regulations created conditions for enormous landfills to create economies of scale and new compacting technology has allowed landfills to save space by increasing density.

To Woo Students, Colleges Choose Names That Sell
Beaver College no more.

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The Male Condition
Read this. The article talks about the difference between male and female brains. It also talks about autism.

morning

A few things...

This morning two pileated woodpeckers, also known as log cocks, were hammering away at an elm tree outside our kitchen window across the street. Pileated woodpeckers are slightly smaller than crows and are notable by their red crest. One of the woodpeckers hewed a twelve-inch strip of bark off the elm. Sweet.

We have all seen the style of jeans young American women wear; low-riders accentuating yeasty love handles that bulge and hang over the sides. There is a name for what you see: muffin tops.

We are growing a Thai dragon pepper plant along the side of our garage. The plant is burgeoning like a mo-fo, pencil-tip peppers everywhere. I chopped one up - one, mind you - and sprinkled it over a plate of pasta. Very hot. Then my nose started to run a little bit. I rubbed my nose. The dragon got all up in my nose. It was sensational. I will keep some of the seeds and try to grow more plants next year.

I finished reading Order of the Phoenix and the Half-Blood Prince. I also just finished reading America (the book), produced by the folks at Comedy Central.

Dad, what's a cracker

Marye and I went to La Grolla on Selby for dinner last night. When we were walking back to our car on Marshall, I heard a couple of young (<10 years old) black kids talking.

"Anthony. Anthoneeeeee. Where's Anthony?"

"He's back there playing with the crackers."

Sure enough, Anthony was further down the sidewalk playing with the crackers.

Senator Coleman Announces Support for Terrorists

This survey question is on the Unctious One's website:

"Do you share Senator Coleman’s concerns that a new proposal to require all Minnesotans traveling to Canada to get passports, at a cost of $100 apiece, would create an unnecessary burden for northern Minnesota families and businesses, and would not substantially improve United States homeland security?"

Tendentious Analysis

Minnesota sychophantic Senator Norm Coleman opposes the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. When Senator "Dastard" Coleman's opposition to terrorism prevention was aired on Al-Jazeera, what kind of message did it send to the terrorists? Senator Coleman's stance portrays Minnesotans as cowards running from the War on Terror. As a result, terrorists are heartened by our foundering resolve and porous security.

Why doesn't the dastard support terrorism prevention? A passport costs $100 and expires after 10 years. So, terrorism prevention would cost an individual $10 per year. It is despicable to consider a nominal ten dollars per year unworthy of preventing an attack on the Mall of America. Norm Coleman, you perfidious pussy, why do you hate America?

Bipartisan Profligacy

There are days in Congress when everyone is a prodigal liberal.
But really, don't we elect you to bring home the pork and slop out the largesse.

Energy Policy Act, H.R.6

Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2005, H.R.3

Chemistry

Structures and Reactivity of Non-heme Oxoiron(IV) Compounds
Eric J. Klinker

Angewandte Chemie

Anderson, Adrian B.; Ciriacks, Chanda M.; Fuller, Kathryn M.; Arriaga, Edgar A.. "Distribution of Zeptomole-Abundant Doxorubicin Metabolites in Subcellular Fractions by Capillary Electrophoresis with Laser-Induced Fluorescence Detection." Analytical Chemistry (2003), 75(1), 8-15.

Chanda M. Ciriacks and Michael T. Bowser. “Monitoring D-Serine Dynamics in the Rat Brain Using Online Microdialysis-Capillary Electrophoresis” Anal. Chem., 76, 6582-6587 (2004).

Flex

Okay, big weekend. I had the day off on Friday. I went for a run, hacked away at the Highland Park driving range, climbed around in the basement of Midwest Mountaineering, and then played tennis with Tim and Marye. After tennis, we made a stop at DQ, where I enjoyed a Dilly Bar. Later I fired up the Weber and Megan and USGS employee Eric Smith joined us for grilling. Then we went to DQ, where I enjoyed a hot fudge sundae. We progressed to Molly Quinn’s Deserted Irish Pub, which proved that there is not always whiskey in the bar. Steve and Yarrow were going to meet us inside, but they were delayed by road construction and didn’t arrive until we were walking out the door. We called it a night and went our separate ways. We watched with a smiles as Steve and Yarrow drove away ahead of us, Yarrow’s head just barely high enough to be silhouetted in the middle of the pickup truck, banjo music drifting through my head.

On Saturday, we met Megan, Holly, Steve, Yarrow, and Liz at the Birchwood Café for lunch. Afterwards, Marye and I went to the Powderhorn Park Art Fair. We walked around the lake, looking inside each vendor’s white tent, which contained either sculpture, jewelry, clothes, photography, clay, or mixed media. I bought a Coke. It was good. Actually, it was great. We also listened to a band called the Brass Minstrels. We left the art fair to pick up Marye’s Mom at the airport. We went to Champs by Ridgedale Mall to eat dinner. We were sitting on the patio when Marye pointed to the parking lot and said something like “That looks like Kevin Garnet.” It was. KG. The Big Ticket. He was tossing around a football with some other dudes in the parking lot. Things I learned about KG: He is tall. He is playful. He drives a white Land Rover with tinted windows. He wished the Wolves had drafted me instead of Rick Rickert.

Paul and I couldn’t meet for our Sunday morning run because Mary was running the 5K at the Hennepin Lakes Classic, so I decided to run the 10K, joining Yarrow, Megan, Holly, and peeps. Marye and I biked down the Midtown Greenway to Lake Calhoun, smooth. I didn’t pay to enter, so I dropped out at mile six, which suited me just fine because I was desperately sucking air. Splits: 6:02 – 5:54 – 5:50 – 5:53 – 6:01. Justin Pavlish ran a 17:18 5K. That’s right, Tim’s dad’s brother’s son who rents a room from Tim ran a 17:18 5K. Tim isn’t the fastest Pavlish in the house. In even more exciting news, Paul ran the Richfield half marathon in 1:22.38, a blazing pace of 6:16, good for 9th place. Machine.

After the races, we biked back home in time to meet my Mom, who brought us a few tomatoes, and my Grandma, who made us a lemon meringue pie. Laura joined us and we ate lunch at the Longfellow Grill.

I coasted through the remainder of Sunday by delving into Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix. I actually already read a bootleg copy of the seventh and final Harry Potter book, which I procured in Nebraska. It’s called Harry Potter the Mexican Standoff. Spoiler Warning!!!!! Everybody dies.

Dallas-Fort Worth

Marye and I flew to Texas last weekend for my cousin Dacia's wedding. We arrived at DFW airport Friday night. My Mom picked us up at the airport and we rode through Irving, past Texas Stadium, which is home of the Dallas Cowboys, past a mega-church (did I just repeat myself), and arrived at our hotel, the Wyndham Anatole, juxtaposed to the Trinity River, which is basically a runoff ditch flanked on each side by an undeveloped 15 meter earthen levee that prevents flooding. This is the most luxurious hotel room I have ever stayed in. We had a king-size bed, couch, table, desk, 14th-floor view, and a phone on the poop deck – that’s right, a phone on the wall by the toilet (hello, ass-wiping service). Concierge - fancy French word for slave. Anyway, the hotel room was approximately the same size as our old apartment. The hotel featured a private art collection with an eastern Asian theme: Buddhas, elephants, pagodas, etc. The hotel complex was huge: two enormous atriums, the tower where we stayed, a beaucoup of boutiques (offering gewgaws such as $190 princess fairy Halloween costumes for your 5-year-old), extensive outdoor grounds, indoor and outdoor pools, restaurants, convention centers, and $15 overnight parking. The hotel also featured hundreds of rather corpulent, heavily veneered Mary Kay women in their 40s.

On the way to the wedding we drove by the American Airlines Center, home of the Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks. The wedding ceremony was at a church next to Southern Methodist University. Each bridesmaid, wearing a dull pink dress with a brown sash, carried a different white flower: lilies, snapdragons, tulips, roses, hydrangeas, calla lilies. In a survey conducted after the wedding, nobody could recall whether there were groomsmen. Anyway, 1 Corinthians 13 was read and Jesus sighed in relief, as the streak was kept intact. A clarion soprano squeezed her butt cheeks together and hit all the high notes in the Lord's Prayer. Impressive. The reception was at the Dallas Museum of Art. Art highlights: mosaic, crazy floor, posing next to statues, riding the camel (pictures please). Back to the wedding... I drank a Shiner Bock. It sucked. I switched to Tanqueray and tonic. Then I ate myself into somnolence, only to be roused by some fresh beats, my shoulder wouldn’t stop twitching.

A little about Dallas...

Air conditioning is used to produce extreme contrast.
Hotel - 70 degrees, Ambient - 98 degrees, Church - 64 degrees, Body – flummoxed.

Dallas is the second-largest city in Texas, eighth largest in the United States. The DFW Metroplex is the fifth largest metro area in the U.S. and one of the fifty largest metro areas in the world.

Minneapolis is almost 2.5 times as dense as Dallas.
US cities over 400,000 ranks by population density in 1990

Major/Notable Companies Based in the Dallas Area:
7-Eleven
American Airlines
Blockbuster
BNSF
Dr. Pepper
Electronic Data Systems (established by Ross Perot)
Exxon Mobil
Frito Lay
Greyhound
JC Penney
Kinko's
Mary Kay Cosmetics
Neiman Marcus
Pier 1
Pizza Hut
Radioshack
Southwest Airlines
Texas Instruments

Dallas, Texas - home base of Anywhere, USA.

Mary Kay, enriching Women's lives (TM), founded in 1963, number one best-selling brand of skin care and color cosmetics in the U.S.

Faith first.
Family second.
Career third ;)
Revenue fourth? 2004 revenue: $1.8 billion

Are you old and wizened?
Do you have derelict eyes, lips, cheeks, and nails?
We have the anti-aging answer: cleansers, moisturizers, foundation, concealers, powders.

Does fast food have you smelling like beef tallow?
We have fragrance.

By the way…

Twin Cities-Based Companies:
Target
U.S. Bancorp
Marshall Field's
Xcel Energy
Piper Jaffray
3M
Ecolab
St. Paul Travelers
Lawson Software
Land O'Lakes
Aveda
Northwest Airlines
Supervalu
Dairy Queen
Medtronic
General Mills
UnitedHealth Group
Imation
Best Buy

Cargill

Links to Old News

South Korean Scientists Create World's First Cloned Dog
The cloning of a dog posed unique challenges. Up next, a manticore.

Adidas Agrees to Acquire Reebok in $3.8 Billion Deal
Competition for Nike.

King Abdullah is the new leader of Saudi Arabia, replacing the less-than-pious King Fahd.
A steady Saudi hand - for now

How Wall Street Wrecked United's Pension
I need to go back and read this, but from my skim it looks like United, lured by the possibility of lucrative returns, pursued a strategy of higher risk investment and gambled away workers' pensions. United is probably locked in by contract, but it would be a good idea to switch to a 401k or IRA match program.

Why Bill Gates Wants 3,000 New Patents
What are the patents for?

Mind games over Iraq
Soldiers are returning from the global struggle against violent extremists with mental health problems, and the government is not prepared to help these veterans.

Waiting for a tsunami
This is a classic doomsday column about the U.S. economy. The earthquake is credit. The tsunami is a wall of debt. Have you seen the movie Seven. Remember gluttony, the dude who was tied to the table and stuffed with food until he died.

Who will eventually drag down U.S. per capita income.
Asia: the best bet for businesses
Leading in consumption

Wu-Tang
I was reading about the clan on Wikipedia.
I need more nicknames.
Bane
Bain
Crazy Leg

List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
What do other people think is popular.

Alive and Thriving in the Midwest: Brawling in Cages
This article is about three years late.

The weather rained 37 inches on Bombay, India, the other day. Wow.

Who's Afraid of China Inc.?
Wal-Mart with an army.

The Rap on Puffy's Empire
Sean John Combs, Puff Daddy, P-Diddy

This guy is a force. I wonder how he writes an article. The articles are so long, which happens when you digress into an explanation of dialectical materialism.
Scarcity economics and overcapacity
by Henry C K Liu
Trade in the age of overcapacity
by Henry C K Liu

The secret Downing Street memo
Who cares.

Minnesota Swamp Ass

New Minnesota State Record Dew Point Set Saturday July 23rd

Pipestone, Minnesota, recorded a temperature of 93 degrees at 5pm, and combined with a dew point of 86 degrees, the heat index reached 125 degrees. Butt sweat was rampant.

Paul Singh Is a Machine

Yesterday on my bike ride home from work I crossed paths with Paul along the river road near the Washington bridge by the U of M. Paul is training for Twin Cities Marathon this October. Jude, just so you know, Paul looks tough. He cannot be persuaded be the entreaties of fatigue. He cannot be stopped.

While I'm speaking of Paul...

Here's his Geography Honors Project:
Unrecognized Potential Along Twin Cities Commercial Corridors

Abstract
The economic vitality of the commercial corridors in Minneapolis and St. Paul is imperative to the well-being of inner-city neighborhoods. In order to assist community groups with redevelopment along the corridors, this publication identifies commercial revitalization using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) model. One commercial corridor that was found to be experiencing greater success than was predicted by the GIS model is the section of Nicollet Avenue known as Eat Street. The history of Eat Street highlights several strategies that can assist community groups with their redevelopment efforts.

I will waste your time too

This article from yesterday's Star Tribune gets the "Biggest Pile of Shit" and Biggest Waste of Space" journalism awards.

President is way too pumped up about exercise
by Jonathan Chait

Summary

The President has an obsession with exercise; apparently, exercise = obsession.

The President spends too much time on exercise; up to one hour, oh my deity.

The Press Secretary said "The president finds (exercise) very healthy in terms of ... keeping in shape. But it's also good for the mind."

What does Jonathan "Shitting Pen" Chait have to say about that?
"The notion of a connection between physical and mental potency is, of course, silly."

Wow.

Why can most of us not exercise?

"Unfortunately, most of us have more demanding jobs."

Again, wow.

Mirror, Water, Energy

Main Street in the Cross Hairs
Wireless identity theft by means of intercepting stores' credit card transactions.

Who's That Strange Monkey in the Mirror?
Self-recognition. Who recognizes the reflection in the mirror. Apes, dolphins, humans. How do we recognize ourselves, especially our faces.

With a Push From the U.N., Water Reveals Its Secrets
Scarcity.

Lawmakers Reach a Deal on New Energy Policies
This should be good.

Crime in Minneapolis

From the City of Minneapolis
2002 Annual Report

About
Uniform Crime Reporting

Part I Offenses
which include crimes against persons and crimes against property

1) Criminal Homicide
2) Forcible Rape
3) Robbery
4) Aggravated Assault
5) Burglary
6) Larceny Theft
7) Motor Vehicle Theft
8) Arson

Part II Offenses
includes narcotics, prostitution, and gambling
Categories reflect proactive enforcement action and are not indicators of criminality.

Forgery/Fraud/Embezzlement
Possession of Stolen Property
Vandalism/Property Damage
Weapons
Prostitution
Sex Offenses Other Than Rape
Narcotics
Gambling
Family Offenses
Driving While Intoxicated
Liquor Laws
Disorderly
Vagrancy
All Other Offenses
Curfew and Loitering
Juvenile Runaway

Understanding Crime Statistics

Minneapolis
382,618 people

There are no per capita statistics.

page 40 of the annual report pdf

Calls for Police Service Processed by the Emergency Communications Center
Service: 71%
Crime: 29%

Service Calls
Disturbances: 42.1%
Traffic: 35.9%
Alarms: 7.6%
Medic/Welfare: 6.9%
Assisting People: 6.9%
Hazards: 0.7%

Crime Calls
Property Crimes: 42.4%
Domestics: 19.8%
Assaults: 17.6%
Miscellaneous: 16.9%
Robbery: 2.7%
Sex Crimes: 1.1%

All crimes traced their roots back to atheist single mothers profoundly influenced by the 60s.

For Jose

From Minnesota Public Radio
All Things Considered
July 20

11 Books That (Might) Make a Difference

Dr. Jon Hallberg, regular medical analyst on All Things Considered, recently surveyed 4,000 medical practitioners in the University of Minnesota system and asked them about what books they would recommend to an incoming medical student.

"Tuesdays with Morrie," by Mitch Albom

"The Plague," by Albert Camus

"Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies," by Jared Diamond

"The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down," by Annie Fadiman

"Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science," by Atul Gawandee

"The Kite Runner," by Khaled Hosseini

"Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World," by Tracy Kidder

"Arrowsmith," by Sinclair Lewis

"The House of God," by Samuel Shem

"The Lives of a Cell," and other books by essayist Lewis Thomas

"The Tennis Partner," and other books by Abraham Verghese

London, China, Grand Theft Auto, Bolivian Wrestlers, Johnny

For me to read later:

British Police Evacuate 3 Subway Stations After Explosions

China Says It Will No Longer Peg Its Currency to the Dollar

Video Game Known for Violence Lands in Trouble Over Sex

In This Corner, in the Flouncy Skirt and Bowler Hat...

In Takeover Dance, the Chinese Miss a Step

Court Nominee's Life Is Rooted in Faith and Respect for Law

Land Speed Record

I set a land speed record on the way to work, which has never been done before.
17:24
5.72 miles
19.7 mph

Made in China

Business

Bid by Chevron in Big Oil Deal Thwarts China
Not so fast with that headline. On August 10, Unocal sharholders will vote on offers. The current CNOOC offer, which is higher than Chevron's, was rejected because of political risk. To accept the CNOOC offer, Unocal wants financial guarantees if CNOOC walks away from a deal or if the offer is blocked by the U.S. Congress.

Chinese End Maytag Offer; 2 Suitors Left
Whirlpool has the highest offer.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are resurgent lately.

Who's doing well? Intel, Yahoo, US Bank, Wells Fargo, International Paper, Merrill Lynch, IBM.

Kodak, Posting Another Loss, to Lay Off 10,000

G.M Posts Third Straight Quarterly Loss

Ford Motor's Earnings Decline 19% in the Quarter
Ford's financial arm is responsible for an infusion of revenue into the struggling company. What exactly does Ford's financial arm do? Car loans. Ford's Premier Automotive Group includes Jaguar, Aston Martin, Land Rover and Volvo.

Johnson and Johnson will probably delay its purchase of Guidant.

Northwest Airlines is anticipating a action that may precipitate a 30-day countdown until a strike by mechanics. Northwest is renegotiating labor contracts to avoid bankruptcy. Pilots already made concessions.

Caribou, a coffee house started in Minnesota, may put forth an IPO. Only on two occasions has Caribou had a year in the black.

What did the Fed Chief say?
Greenspan Signals Further Rate Increases

Olympic bomber gets life in jail
I'm afraid of white males.

And the Supreme Court Justice nominee is…
Johnny G. Roberts

Headlines

From the NY Times:

Tired of Prying Off Stickers? Tattooed Fruit Is on the Way
P.L.U. (price look-up) days are numbered. Names, identifying numbers, countries of origin and other information that helps speed distribution are burned onto the outer layer of the skin. Sell advertising space on food skin.

Hewlett-Packard to Lay Off 14,500 to Save $1.9 Billion

U.S. to Broaden India's Access to Nuclear-Power Technology

A Gene for Romance? So It Seems (Ask the Vole)
This article is a good read. If you need more convincing: "The male mouse's rule for dealing with strangers is simple - if it's male, attack it; if female, mate with it. But male mice that are genetically engineered to block the scent-detecting vomeronasal cells try to mate rather than attack invading males."

Hunting for Life in Specks of Cosmic Dust
Looking for another Earth, I recommend reading Rare Earth.

Housing Goes Frothy to Flat in Denver Area
Five years ago, median house prices were rising at an annual clip of nearly 17 percent. By the first quarter of 2005 the increase had slipped to 3 percent.

How Costco Became the Anti-Wal-Mart
Good article. Please shop at Costco. Costco was founded with a single store in Seattle in 1983.

From Nate’s Site:
While eating irony pizza, Norm Coleman speaks, presumably with unction, about others playing partisan politics.

Star Tribune article
Roots of gang violence feed off 60s
by Katherine Kersten, Minnesota’s Worst Writer (trademark)
You must read this article. Katherine Kersten's brain is a shit-brown think tank. Obfuscation. Dark brown shit in the way. From Latin ob- in the way + fuscus dark brown.

Spengler from ATOL:
Harry Potter and the Decline of the West
Spengler is always amusing.

Why Martyrdom

From ATOL:
Suicide Bombers: Allah's New Martyrs
by Farhad Khosrokhavar

"Khosrokhavar's psychoanalytical exegesis, drawn from numerous interviews of hardcore Islamists, is compulsory reading for persuasively rationalizing the irrational actions that dot the terrorist map of the 21st century. It provides madness a much-deserved reason and context."

Here's my doggerel summary of what I've heard on the subject:

Why do suicide bombers suicide bomb?
1. They hate freedom.

who knows how you started hating freedom
perhaps you were Muslim
beset with a modern reality of futility and meaningless in the wake of hegemony
overcome by life's indifference and ambiguity
a derelict human being
suffering from divine neglect
facing military superiority, material superiority
facing pervasive cultural decadence, shamefully tempting
by many measures, you are inferior
as a result, you are humiliated
you are in extreme crisis
you are extreme Islam
you find recourse in moral superiority
succor in self-assertion
restoration of dignity through offensive martyrdom

I am reminded of a book I read a few years ago.
The True Believer
by Eric Hoffer

In other news, I saw Kung Fu Hustle on Friday and I swam in a refreshing 88 degree pool yesterday.

Add another to the axis of evil

Chinese General Threatens Use of A-Bombs if U.S. Intrudes

Soliciting

Last night while I was chilling in the basement, watching TV, I decided to create a list of products being peddled to me.

Fox
Thursday July 14
about 7:40-8:50
That 70s Show
The OC

Commercial Products

Select Comfort sleep number bed

Garnier Fructis shampoo
Mabelline mascara
Biore skin care
Playtex tampons

Levis

Chevy
Volkswagen Jetta
Mitsubishi Eclipse
Toyota RAV4
Suburu Tribeca

KFC
McDonalds
Wendys
Dominos
Olive Garden
TGI Fridays

Mountain Dew
Pepsi
Coca Cola
Gatorade

Juicy Fruit

Verizon
Sprint
Quest

Excedrin
anti-drugs

Pier 1
Target

upcoming shows on Fox
movies
Blockbuster

Valley Fair amusement park
Camp Snoopy

Visa

At some point in my life, I have patronized all those listed in bold.

Vacation/Wedding

The trip, good.
The wedding, good.
Seattle, good.
The details, later.

In Bane We Trust

Below are two cases regarding the display of the ten commandments of Moses in public places.
You ask, what about the seventeen commandments of Bane. More on that later.

McCreary County, Kentucky, et al., v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, et al.
Questions Presented
Oral Argument
Syllabus and Opinion of the Court

Van Orden v. Perry
Question Presented
Oral Argument
Slip Opinion

Guest Post 2: At the movies

On Sunday afternoon, the S.O. and I traveled to Block E to see the new Tom Cruise flick, The War of the Worlds. The action was excellent, and I recommend seeing this film on the big screen. Supposedly this film has made over $100 million in less than one week. Tom Cruise is dreamy.

A movie I haven't seen (yet) is Batman Begins. Supposedly, this film promotes free markets and small government and is becoming a hit with the Atlas Shrugged crowd. Apparently, both Jesus and Batman are libertarians.

klink

Guest Post 1: Great Moments in Freedom

In the absence of Dr. Bane, currently touring the Great West, I have the fortunate opportunity to guest blog. I am honored. For the next week, pardon the capitalization and punctuation.

But I digress. On the heels of the country's 229th birthday, I thought I would share an account of my Independence day. I rolled out of bed around 10 AM, scratched myself, and went to the dog park at Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis. Neither my future wife nor I have a dog, but my S.O. (significant other) used to live with a girl who had a dog, and occasionally we still like to see the dog. I dressed in my red, white, and blue swim trunks, a similarly colored t-shirt, and my freedom visor. I was the only person at the park in celebratory colors. Clearly the liberal moonbats of Minneapolis hate America. After about 2 hours at the dog park, I took the S.O. home and was on my way to the house of Bane when I was waved down at an intersection. The man who stopped me was clearly of middle-eastern ethnicity, but I stopped anyway. He asked if I could jump start his car. I said I didn't have cables, which was a lie. He had cables, so I felt obligated to help because the tone of my first response implied that I would help if I did have cables. In a thick Syrian (as I learned later) accent he said his car was dead, 3 houses down, in the alley, behind the house. Hmmmm. To many men, this might cause alarm. But to me, dressed as I was, I sent a clear message- Don't fuck with freedom. Anyway, I gave him a jump, we made small talk, and he was very grateful. He wanted to reward me for my kind deed, and offered me some crafts of his trade, 4 lighters and an ashtray. (The kind Syrian man works in a tobacco shop). The lighters were quite normal, 3 bics and one novelty lighter that looks like a stack of 5 poker chips. The ashtray is quite a different story. The tricolored tray boasts a marijuana leaf in the middle, with the word "LEGALIZE" curved underneath the leaf.

The message was clear. This was a sign on Independence Day, an Independence Omen. What says 'I love freedom' more than an ashtray proclaiming the futility of the war on drugs, calling for the legalization of drugs so that our prisons won't be filled with young men and women who committed victimless crimes, crying out for the right to own yourself. Thank you kind Syrian, for your message of freedom.

klink

Viajar

Tonight Marye and I fly to Seattle. We'll rent a car and tour the Oregon coast, northern California, the Oregon and Washington Cascades, and arrive in Mazama for Steve and Yarrow's wedding on July 9.

Places we'll be camping:
* Beachside
* Harris Beach
* Del Norte
* Jedediah
* Crater Lake
* Viento
* Alta Lake
* Mazama

Why do you hate freedom

President Bush spoke last night.

Transcript of President Bush's Speech

Tito Puente

On Friday evening we dined at Tryg's near Lake Calhoun to celebrate Megan Kelly's birthday. I ate a pork shank and drank two Summit EPAs. Then we went to Dulano's where we drank two pitchers of Premium while listening to live bluegrass music. The live music continued at Liz's apartment when we forwarded to the end of the Wedding Singer and sang karaoke.

Saturday, Marye and I helped her Mom paint the outside of her store. Later that afternoon I played basketball with Klinker at the court on St. Clair and Prior. Over the course of several games, we played with psychos, thugs, skanks, and slim shady ballhogs. There is much to tell. Maybe later. After the game we enjoyed a couple beers and fries at the Groveland Tap. The beer did not help prevent stiffness induced by lateral movement.

I ran with Paul on Sunday morning. Paul informed me that he ran nearly 21 miles on Saturday. Huge.

I picked up several more CDs at the public library.
* Tito Puente
* Miles Davis
* Wynton Marsalis
* Abba
* Brazilian hip-hop
* Beethoven

We went to the Ha Tien Market (Thai grocery store) on University. It was great. I bought jasmine rice, sticky rice, and fish sauce. I was wearing my "I Love America" shirt. You don’t know me.

Sunday evening, we met Andrea, John, and Tim at Bowl Park near the Lake Harriet band shell. Liz joined us. We ate dinner and then played bocce. Good times.

Liberal Media and Civil Rights

I was watching the Lehrer News Hour the other night. A conservative hetero perverter was censuring PBS and the liberal media. Apparently, Bill Moyer and a homophile rabbit essentially represent PBS. This bereft analysis left me wondering what the liberal media is. Usually, I read the sports and business sections of the Star Tribune, but now I have started to look at the opinion page and record the topics. Next week I will begin reporting on my vigilance for liberal media.

I read my first Katherine Kersten column the other day. I was surprised Cleaver Peasantry did not comment on the article.

Hair-braiding restrictions needed untangling

* Area woman wants to open hair-braiding salon
* She is trammeled by a requirement to obtain a state-issued cosmetology license
* The license requires 10 months of training and costs up to $14,500
* The Institute for Justice helped change the law
* Individual liberties are restored

Then the article gets interesting...

quote

What's next for the Minnesota chapter of the Institute for Justice? McGrath said it emphasizes economic liberty, school choice, private property rights and free speech.

Of these, economic liberty and school choice may be the most important for Americans striving to enter the middle class. That's because, to do so, it's essential to have both a good job and a good education.

Yet today, millions of poor children are trapped in failing public schools. So long as publicly financed education remains a government monopoly, that's where they'll stay.

Nationally, the Institute for Justice is known for its defense of Milwaukee's ground-breaking school choice program, which lets low-income students choose a private or parochial school if that's where they can get the best education.

For now, Anderson and McGrath not only have opened the door of opportunity for African hair-braiders, they've also revealed the true meaning of "civil rights."

Too often, we believe we can adequately address the plight of the less fortunate by doling out ever larger sums for government benefit programs, government schools and a host of other "we'll take care of you" efforts.

But Anderson and McGrath know that real civil rights are a product of economic and educational freedom -- the freedoms that unleash the creative power of the human spirit.

unquote

* Economic Liberty
* School Choice
* Private Property Rights
* Free Speech

Who knew problem solving could be so easy.

A Defeat for Private Property Rights

Justices, 5-4, Back Seizure of Property for Development
The Supreme Court today ruled that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses - even against their will - for private economic development.

Case Background
Susette Kelo, et al. v. City of New London, Connecticut, et al.
No. 04-108

Opinion, with links to concurrence and dissents.

Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
... nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

National Security Threat

I read this news in the business section this morning. Here's the article from the NY Times:

Chinese Oil Giant in Takeover Bid for U.S. Corporation

Chevron was going to by Unocal for $16.4 billion. Then the China National Offshore Oil Corporation made an unsolicited offer of $18.5 billion.

Minnesota Taxpayers

Federal Budget (2004 Estimate)
Health and Human Services - 24.2% (mostly Medicare and Medicaid)
Social Security - 23.8%
National Debt - 17.5%
Defense - 16.0%

Those four items total 81.5%.

Minnesota State Budget (04-05 Biennium)
Education - 41.1% (E-12 and higher)
Health and Human Services - 28.1%
Transportation - 11.1%

Those three items total 80.3%.

An Overview of State Government Spending
Minnesota Department of Finance
October 2004

Excellent general information and summary of a biennium budget:
MN State Budget Summary (02-03 Biennium)

Great link to all funding categories:
MN Governor's Operating Budget Recommendations (06-07 Biennium)

Do you ever wonder where your money goes, how much goes where, and what the programs are?

MN Department of Education

MN Department of Human Services

Polygamy

On Monday evening, Klinker, Chanda, Ziyad, and Jenny joined us for dinner. I grilled artichoke heart stuffed chicken breasts. Ziyad brought back some beers from Salt Lake City, Utah. Polygamy Porter, to be exact. Why have just one? Bring some home for the wives. Fellow patriot Dr. Klinker brought me a t-shirt that read "I Love America." God bless you.

Nothing Much

I borrowed four CDs from the Merriam Park library.

music by:
Wynton Marsalis
Muddy Waters
Atmosphere
Gustav Mahler

I am currently reading Faster by James Gleick.

Cyclist Tests Positive for Bear Claw

My parents visited me last weekend. We walked to Izzy's on Friday night after a pasta dinner. I ate a Mini B, a miniature banana split. My Mini B had chocolate, sour grapefruit, and maple butter nut scoops; chocolate, caramel, and raspberry sauce; whip cream, crushed M&Ms, and two miniature bananas. It was disgusting. On Saturday we drove down to Wabasha to visit my Grandma. On Sunday we helped Laura prepare for the opening of her flower/plants/landscaping business in Wayzata by painting the inside.

In other news, I set a new land speed record on the way home from work yesterday.
5.74 miles
17 minutes 27 seconds
19.7 mph

How did I do it? Simple. I ate a bear claw earlier in the day.

After the bike ride home, I ran along the river, crossed the Franklin bridge, ran up to the witch's hat in Prospect Park, and then cruised back home. I'm training for the 1st Annual Mustache Duathlon, which will be held sometime this summer. Competitors will grow a mustache starting at least one week before the event. The race will commence at my house, from which point we will bike to Crosby, run through the woods and around the lake, and return to my house. Upon completion of the duathlon, participants will have there picture taken and relax in the backyard while drinking Premium.

Words worth investigating the etymology:

Jingoism

we don't want to fight, yet by jingo if we do
we've got the ships, we've got the men
we've got the money too!

Jingo is a euphemism for Jesus. Funny.

Fusty - this wine tastes like cask.

Desultory - a desultor was a circus performer who jumped from horse to horse.

Brummagem - goods produced in the English city of Birmingham were often counterfeit and tawdry.

Billingsgate - a fish market in England notorious for the vulgar language in the air.

Rathskeller - council cellar: a tavern in the basement of a town hall.

Capricious - hedgehog head. Really.

Amish

We lost electricity at 4am Wednesday morning.
We took our one and only car to the garage Wednesday evening.

We picked up our car after work on Thursday and went home to find electricity restored. I appreciate electricity.

Back in 2002 I decided we should have an annual "No Energy Day" during the winter. That means no flipping the switch for lights, no stove, no oven, no microwave, no toaster, no hot water in the shower, no television, no phone, no internet, no computer, no stereo, no radio. Just candles, cold cuts, and sweet love.

However, we did not turn off the heat or the refrigerator.

People who romanticize the simplicity of the primitive past are full of shit.

Uber Ultra

Jude, you’ll enjoy this post.

Kurt Decker of the Runner’s Edge on Grand Avenue recently competed in a 24-hour race around Lake Nokomis. Kurt set the Minnesota 100-mile record. Congratulations Kurt.

Three emails recounting the race are below.

For those who haven't heard, Kurt got the state 100-mile record, previously held by Brian McCollor, a little after midnight on Sunday morning. I don't have all the details, but imagine averaging 6 and a quarter miles for 16 hours. That's amazing. I went down and ran with him for a couple of the 2.5 mile laps on Saturday afternoon. He had already run over 50 miles by the time I saw him at 8 or 9 hours into it. To think that he kept up that pace for another 8 hours is mind-boggling. He never took any real breaks aside from a quick stop at his tent to grab some food. The hour before I saw him, he had taken a mandatory weigh-in and was a bit down on his weight. So his brother Kevin got him a DQ hot dog and a vanilla shake (or two) and he downed them along with a Nut Roll on the run. Needless to say, when I saw him, none of the other energy foods looked good to him.

I was struck by how Kurt could maintain his game face for so long. I must admit, I jumped in thinking I was just joining Decker on one of his long runs. Not so. This was truly a race. He was very methodical, running at about 8 minute pace and breaking the loop up with 3 short, quick walks. He kept up this same regime for every loop for over 16 hours. It is no wonder he was able to break the 100-mile record. Sean was with him when he broke it. When they found out how close he was to breaking it, they picked up the pace considerably. It sounds like they went to a sub-7 minute pace for a couple miles as Kurt broke the record by only a minute.

Not long after that, Kurt's legs began to loose strength. (Go figure.) He was able to conquer an additional 10 miles or so in the next few hours, but despite the fact that he was probably still leading the race after 19 hours, he called it quits. The winner, Scott Eppleman, ran 129 miles.

I always thought it was pretty incredible what ultra-marathoners could do, but I have a newfound respect for this end of our sport which requires more mental toughness and more race tactics than I ever imagined.

That was a heroic effort, Decker. Way to go.

-Matthew Waite

*********************************

Matt pretty much hit the nail on the head, but for those of you who couldn't be there here's my story of what Kurt did.

So I jumped in with Kurt when he had just under "four" laps to go to 100. He was 19 minutes or so ahead of pace. Or so we thought. Kurt was clipping off his 8-minute miles and walking at his designated spots. Each lap got a little bit quicker.

With "three" laps to go, it was in the bag. But Kurt continued to pick it up ever so slightly. His "39th" lap was in 22 minutes, a minute quicker than the lap before. As we approached the secondary checkpoint on the SE corner of the lake, the spot where the runner officially crosses 100 miles during their 41st lap, I announced proudly to the checkpoint personnel that Number 17 was coming and he had "one" lap to 100 miles.

The reply back was startling, befuddling -- "No he's got two laps to go," the timer said. "How could that be?" I thought. We continued on, but I was sure the timer was wrong, but we continued to pick up the pace, just in case.

We crossed the main checkpoint and they confirmed that Kurt had just under two laps to go and only 30 minutes to do it. It was time to see how hard Kurt could push. Sean Mulheron and I were running shoulder to shoulder ever so slightly picking up the pace. We hit one of Kurt's designated walking areas and I told Kurt we need to keep moving, it's only another lap and a half. Words coming from someone who wasn't at their 96th mile.

By now we were clipping along at 6:15 to 6:05 pace. We hit the secondary checkpoint. This time he did really have one lap to go. I shouted to the timer, "How much time do we have?" The reply "I don't think he's going to make it." I'm sure Kurt didn't hear it, but Sean and I did and it wasn't going to happen on our watch. Kurt had worked too hard for this and he sure as hell wasn't going to miss it by mere seconds.

It was time to throw the hammer down. Sean and I kept gradually increasing the pace. Jacob Hallen was running next to Kurt, helping him increase his stride. Sean and I were the tow cables. We got to the main checkpoint, with just under 10 minutes to go. We were flying.

"Weight Check!!" Shouted one of the race personnel. "You gotta be kidding me!!" I thought. Kurt flew on and off the scale. "Weight's good, let's go!!" We had no time to spare, let alone time for a weight check. Kurt caught up to Sean and I, Jacob at his side. We whisked by the Crew tent, we knew time was tight. We continued to accelerate on the backstretch. Time was running out.

"Come on Kurt!!" We shouted to him. "Let's go." We got to the south side of the lake, legs in overdrive, 400 meters, 300 meters. We rounded the bend and could see the checkpoint lights. Kurt's breathing was strained. He was running probably the fastest ever 100th mile. This was it!! This was to be his moment. I could see the eyes of the checkpoint personnel as we steamed into the line. They look bewildered, I yelled to them "What's our time???"

"16 hours . . ."

"Yes!!??!" I shouted.

"16 hours, 8 minutes."

"WOOOO . . . HOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"

It was unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. Kurt literally ran his last mile at sub-6:00 pace. It was probably 5:45-5:50, maybe even faster. But without a doubt, THE toughest mile I've ever seen anyone run. He beat the record by 50 or so seconds. I think the timers are still wondering, "How the hell did he do that??" Everyone there was wondering, "How the hell did he do that??"

Hell, I even quietly wondered, "How the hell did he do that?" This is by far the toughest I've ever seen Kurt run. I was there when Kurt first subbed the 5:00 mile. I was there for his first marathon. I was there for his Marathon P.R. I was with him at his first 100 miler and Western States. Nothing compares to what he did this Saturday.

And it was an absolute privilege to be part of it. WAY TO GO Kurt!!
Congratulations and may that record last a long, long time!!

-Steve Hibbs

*********************************

Well what can I say huh. It was a very strange but so so wonderful day. As many of you know I have been training very well all winter and spring. I guess when you feel like you are in a good place in your life that can happen. Let me start by saying thanks so much to everyone who sent e-mails, called my phone for race day updates or all the people who came out to watch and or run with me on race day.

As for the race I can say without a doubt that was one of the best days I have ever had running wise. I felt great from the gun. I new what I had to do per lap to have a chance at the 100 mile state record and the 24 hour record. I thought well let's get close to the 100 and go from there after I saw how I felt. I figured I would run like 24-25 min laps. I was running 23-24 min laps and feeling very good. I had so many people out there running with me and cheering from the tent. It was great. Then came the d-day decision where to go after the 100 mile record. Well let's just say we miss counted a lap and I thought hell I am going to crush it. That was not the case. With just two laps ( 5 miles ) to go I need to haul ass to get it. Well with the help of Steve Hibbs, Sean Mulheron and Jacob Hallen we started running 6 min pace then with a huge 5:45 like last mile we dipped under the record. I could not have pushed that hard without them. Thanks guys !!! After that I new that I put my body in a bad place. I was able to walk like 10 more miles but then at 18 hours in said let's call it a day. No need to hurt myself. Maybe I could have kept walking and still won the race but maybe not. I know I did the right thing and know I can go back and get that state record of 136 miles. Plus heck I got to do my last walking lap with Sonya, my bro Kevin and my good friend Paul.

Now I have no idea how I was able to run that pace after running 95 miles before that. But I learned something that day. Sometimes you need to just turn your head off and just believe with all your body in what you can do. We all say that but myself included do not always do it. We humans and amazing and can push ourselves in many parts of our life to place we thought are not there. Thanks for believing in me and do not ever stop believing in yourselves !!!

-Kurt Decker

Tits

'Lactivists' Taking Their Cause, and Their Babies, to the Streets
Bar-bar Walters said on The View that she felt uncomfortable when she was sitting on a plane next to a mother who was breast feeding her baby. Women took to the streets with their babies to protest. That makes for a good news story. Actually, it is a good news story. A few states have passed laws allowing women to breast feed wherever they roam. Many people are freaked out by a woman publicly bearing a highly sexualized object to participate in the natural feeding of her innocent child.

Bolivian President Offers to Resign
Same story from the BBC, but with links to additional resources.

Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada was elected president in June 2002 with only 22.5% of the vote. Rabble rouser Evo Morales was second with 20.9%, Reyes Villa was third with 20.9%, and Paz Zamora was fourth with 16.3%. And here's a good read about the elections. Goni resigned in October 2003. Carlos Mesa took over. Now it appears he will resign.

Class and Culture Series
This is a series from the New York Times. It's not very good.

two thousand zero zero

... we relaxed at Tim's house while John napped. Then we met the ladies at Sweeney's for food and drinks. Then we drove to Macalester for our class dinner. Father Rock O'Connor and former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer were the speakers. We sat next to the unattended (self-serve?) wine table. Dinner, served by Bon Appetite, was actually quite good. After dinner, I urinated in a Prestige port-a-pot. The luxurious portable shitter was adorned with silk flowers and furnished with temperature control, a sink and mirror, and carpet. Holly streaked Olin-Rice with the class of ’55. Old balls. We talked to economics professor Vasant Sukhatme. Then we walked over to a big tent where I consumed many Premiums. Then I received a message to meet Tim Pavlish under the bell. When I arrived, Tim was holding a can of beer and a Dutch Masters cigar in one hand. Nice. Then we walked to the courtyard behind Janet Wallace. The DJ didn't show, so John plugged his iPod into a system provided by Media Services. Let's get this party started quickly. Two Mac students showed up with a computer and took over the DJ duties. Nick Balster, rugby player among other things, provided the performance of the night when he dipped two balls (which were attached to cords which were attached to handles) into kerosene, lit them, and began a stunning nighttime dance. Fire balls, circular, up and down, around, all good things. Then we went streaking again. Klinker graced us with dynamic stretching. Tim jumped into the warm and murky steeplechase pit. Then we danced. Then I became very inebriated. Kevin fell off a cart and banged his head. The night progressed. Et cetera.

On Sunday we walked Grand Old Days. We watched part of the first annual strong man competition. In the first event we watched, which was a timed event, participants had to flip a 1200-pound tire over twice, stand up and push over an enormous iron pipe, and then drag an oil supertanker anchor chain over a certain distance. The next event was the axle dead lift, 500 pounds for lightweights and 550 pounds for heavyweights. No lightweight could lift the bar off the ground. Then a severely beastly man did seven reps. Huge.

Later that afternoon we grilled at Tim's house. Brandon showed us pictures from his summer in Pakistan last year. Steve and Yarrow were there.

Updates

Brandon is earning his PhD in epidemiology at the University of Washington. This coming fall Kevin will start pursuing a Masters degree at the Berkeley Planning and Development Department. In addition, Mr. Shively is competing in an Olympic distance triathlon in July and plans to run the Seattle marathon in November. Resident John Anderson wants to buy a really big and really awesome television. Gordon is attending law school at the University of Minnesota.

Class of 2000 Reunion

After departing on the red eye from San Francisco, Kevin Shively arrived at our house Friday morning at 6:45, just as I was leaving for work. Holly Harris took the red eye from Los Angeles. Kyla Hayford arrived later that morning from DC. Brandon arrived from Seattle around noon. As of the end of May, Dr. John Anderson has been a Minnesota resident. Other Minnesota residents attending the reunion included Tim “The Tool Man” Pavlish, Gordon “This Water Tastes Like Hose” Hague, Andrea Sternberg, Liz Connors, and Megan Kelly.

After work, I traveled to the campus center to pay homage to the class of 2000 with gifts of gold, frankincense, and beer - two twelve packs of local beer, Summit Grand and Summit EPA.
After exchanging brief histories, we progressed to Olin-Rice for appetizers, margaritas, and mariachi music. We supplemented the food and drink with Taste of Thai and some beers. As it does, the sun went down. As it happened, the clothes came off.

Naked 400.

The pace started slow, like a championship race. Brandon opened the throttle with 150 to go and reigning naked 400 champion John Anderson remained complacent until 80 meters, when he displayed an awesome burst of speed. However, the kick came too late, and Brandon barely escaped the strong close.

Saturday started with a long run at 10am. Let’s mosey. Brandon had to band-aid his toes, which were torn on the track the previous night. While we were sauntering five miles, Marye made pancakes and fruit salad. There was also sausage and doughnuts aplenty.

Later we met outside Weyerhaeuser to go on a Summit Brewery tour. However, we missed the tour because of a schedule misprint. But Colin Mothupi came to the rescue with two cases of warm Miller High Life from his trunk. I love warm beer. We started drinking and it started raining. Some peoples went to drink under the chapel. We went to the porch of 63 Mac. I noticed an unlocked window, so I looked around. Memories. After one warm High Life, I was ready to drink my own urine, so we left and I took peeps on a driving tour of the development boom riverside in downtown Minneapolis and then along the river near downtown St. Paul. John slept through the tour, but after two High Life’s and a doughnut coup de grace, who can find fault.

To be continued…

this beef tastes like fumigant

The EPA is proposing to add the Garvey Elevator Site in Hastings, Nebraska, to the National Priorities List, or NPL. The NPL is a published list of hazardous waste sites that are eligible for clean-up action under the Superfund Program. Grain has been stored and processed at the Garvey Elevator since 1959. Carbon tetrachloride, a common grain fumigant, was used at the facility until the mid-1980s. Past releases of carbon tetrachloride from the facility have contaminated ground water near the facility. That ground water is used as a source of drinking water.

References:
Fact Sheet for Garvey Elevator
NPL Site Narrative for Garvey Elevator

My Dad hauls corn to Garvey.
I have a red Garvey hat.

Fumigant on corn.
Corn in cow.
Cow in human.

I advocate grass-fed buffalo, or Kobe beef if you can afford it.

United States of Europe

Dutch vote on Europe constitution

The EU constitution must be ratified by all EU members in order to be implemented. France said non and now 60% of Dutch voters are expected to say nee. However, in the Netherlands, any rejection of the constitution is unlikely to have the same impact because the Dutch vote is non-binding.

Already ratified treaty:
* Austria
* Germany
* Greece
* Hungary
* Italy
* Lithuania
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain

What the EU constitution says

Constitution full text (1MB, 325 pages)

In other news:
N Korea ridicules Rice, Rumsfeld
In what media watchers are calling a first for North Korea, state radio in Pyongyang has turned to the medium of the comic sketch to mock two of the leading figures in the US administration.