So long Harvey Korman

We've learned that comic actor Harvey Korman has passed away. He was 81 years old.

Korman is known best for his long stint in the Carol Burnett show. I liked him best in Blazing Saddles as Hedley Lamar. ("That's Hedley"--not Hedy.)



"...bull dykes..." ?

Something amiss in the DFL?

The Star Tribune reports how some notable DFLers have openly expressed concern regarding a sexually-explicit satirical article Al Franken wrote for Playboy in 2000. I have no comment on whether the article does or should prevent a problem for Al Franken. (I'd have to read it first.) But I think it's noteworthy that Reps. McCollum, Walz, and Ellison have expressed different amounts of concern.

Associated Press reporter Frederic Frommer notes: "McCollum, Ellison and Walz are up for reelection in the fall."

But is that what this is really about?

It makes me wonder if something is amiss. Can we assume that McCollum and her congressional colleagues know something we don't? McCollum tells the Associated Press she hasn't urged Ciresi to get back into the race and notes she hasn't endorsed anyone since Ciresi left.

That doesn't rule out whether Ciresi has told her he'll jump back into the race. It also doesn't rule out whether another candidate will jump in before or after the upcoming DFL convention. McCollum herself has been suggested as a candidate (as well as Walz). I still think that's unlikely. But maybe they know or hope Ciresi or someone else will challenge Franken.

Keep your eyes open!

Second couple arrested for online "baby for sale" posting

A second couple were investigated and the father arrested, but not charged, for putting their child "for sale" online. The parents say it was a hoax.

The story begs some questions.

• Should authorities check out a case where a baby for sale ad is put on the Internet? Yes.
• Is it a stupid thing for a new parent to do? Yes.
• Should the appropriate response be to put the child in temporary protective custody and arrest one or both of the parents? No!

If you see a baby for sale on eBay or Craigslist, it's probably a hoax.

Bringing a newborn home can be a pretty stressful time for new parents. Posting a nearly-obvious fake ad is probably a way to blow off some steam, albeit not the smartest way to blow off steam.

But do authorities really need to take the child away in protective custody? Do you need to drag the new parent down to jail?

It is unfortunate that police were forced to waste resources to investigate this fake ad. The scrutiny that comes from a visit from the police and the ensuing publicity is probably enough to dissuade a repeat offense. Why arrest and separate a week-old from their parents?

McCain running mate thoughts

We all know that McCain hosted Charlie Crist, Mitt Romney, and Bobby Jindal and guests this weekend. A flurry of commentary followed on whether this was the short list.

Obviously not. I think we can take that these three may be under consideration, but McCain is still probably considering others.

One name that has been up on the top of various lists is Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty. The youthful, but experienced governor would appeal to social conservatives without alienating mainstream voters. Minnesota is allegedly a swing state.

Still, there's an argument against Pawlenty.

I remain doubtful Minnesota will truly be competitive, and I don't think that Pawlenty would help much here or any other swing state. Who knows who McCain will pick, but I think its less likely everyday that it will be the Minnesota governor.

Not worth the paper it's printed on

I feel for professional writers who work for newspapers, especially those with regular columns. You have to come up with something new or novel to write ALL THE TIME. We can't expect each piece to be a winner. There are going to be some dud columns.

But where do our standards lie? Is there a point where something is so pointless it shouldn't be printed or posted online?

The current issue of the Star Tribune's Withering Glance provides a test case. It is a weekly feature by Rick Nelson and Claude Peck, where they "dispense unasked-for advice about clothing, relationships, grooming and more."

This week's topic: Same-sex marriage in California

The column is simply a long stream of worn-out stereotypes about gays and lesbians. Seriously, why should a trusted daily newspaper like the Star Tribune feel it makes sense to print this tripe? It's not that it is offensive; it's just dumb.

• Withering Glance: Gay marriage, California style

Quote: Joe Biden

Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) said this on national television on the Today Show:

“Twenty percent of our party really is anti-war almost under any circumstance, just like 20 percent of the Republican Party is probably ready to go to war on any circumstance."

It's probably not the most politically savvy thing to say--and right before Memorial Day to boot--but I'd guess he isn't too far away from the truth. I may even suggest the number is a little higher on both sides.

The more things change

One will find widespread agreement to the assertion that the Republican Party of today is a very different beast than the one of 100 years ago during Teddy Roosevelt's era. The same could be said of the Democrat Party.

And yet, here's a snippet from the beginning of the Democratic Party Platform in 1908:

We rejoice at the increasing signs of an awakening throughout the country. The various investigations have traced graft and political corruption to the representatives of the predatory wealth, and laid bare the unscrupulous methods by which they have debauched elections and preyed upon a defenseless public through the subservient officials whom they have raised to place and power.

The conscience of the nation is now aroused to free the Government from the grip of those who have made it a business asset of the favor-seeking corporations. It must become again a people's government, and be administered in all its departments according to the Jeffersonian maxim, "equal rights to all; special privileges to none."

"Shall the people rule?" is the overshadowing issue which manifests itself in all the questions now under discussion.

Thank goodness we no longer have to worry about politicians making government "a business asset of the favor-seeking corporations" and we can have faith that we are free of "debauched elections."

Oh wait a minute.

The platform goes on to address:

• the Republican mismanagement of the economy
• the abuse of power of the Republican Speaker of the House
• the federal budget deficit under Republican rule
  
• Republican misuse of patronage
• campaign finance reform
• the rights of states
• tariff reform
• trusts reform (a call to break corporate monopolies)
• railroad and banking regulation
• calling for the federal income tax
• labor and legal injunctions reform (including "We favor the eight hour day on all Government work")
• the merchant marine
• the Navy
• the right of U.S. citizens abroad
• civil service
• pensions
• the establishment of a federal health bureau
• the establishment of agricultural and mechanical colleges
• the popular election of Senators
• Oklahoma is welcomed as a state
• support for the ongoing Panama Canal
• regulations of federal grazing lands
• federal management of navigable waterways
• federal aid for maintenance of post roads
• regulation of the telegraph and telephone industries
• conservation of natural resources ("the enforcement of which Mr. Roosevelt has vainly sought from a reluctant party")
• the Philippines ("We condemn the experiment in imperialism as an inexcusable blunder which has involved us in enormous expense, brought us weakness instead of strength, and laid our nation open to the charge of abandoning a fundamental doctrine of self-government.")
• "Alaska and Porto Rico"
  
• Pan-American Relations
• Asiatic Immigration ("we are opposed to the admission of Asiatic immigrants who can not be amalgamated with our population")
• Foreign Patents

Hey, with just a couple minor changes, the Democrats can reuse this 100 year-old platform for 2008!

Getting what you pay for

Bridge collapse report critical of transportation agency

We can take several lessons in the aftermath of the 35W bridge collapse. One of which is that keeping taxes low and starving government can have negative implications. The independent report suggests that the funding situation at the Pawlenty/Molnau Department of Transportation was part of the blame with mistakes in the inspection process and tainted decision making on what to do with the substandard bridge.

This is what the no taxes, smaller government argument gets you. Governmental agencies incapable of performing vital tasks for the welfare of the people. Is there government waste? Hell yes. But the more constructive discussion is over what spending is important, where is the waste, and how can the revenue be properly and fairly raised? You can't get something for nothing with government too.

Remember, the reason Pawlenty put his Lieutenant Governor in charge of the Department of Transportation in 2003 is that he had made "cutting waste" at the DOT a priority in his campaign. Retrospectively, we can see this was an ill-advised policy that had a role in a major disaster.

Clinton's numbers

Clinton says she has the popular vote lead.

First, the popular vote doesn't matter. The party uses delegates. This is another clear attempt to change the rules not even mid game, but in the closing seconds. It's like if a losing basketball team says seconds before the buzzer, "Wait! we shouldn't count points, but number of baskets."

Second, the so-called popular vote win includes Florida and Michigan (where her opponent wasn't even on the ballot), and it excludes Iowa, Nevada, Maine, and Washington! Because caucuses don't count! (See the breakdown here.)

So when Clinton recently said that the nomination shouldn't be determined by 48 states, what she secretly meant is that it should be determined (with new rules) by 46 states.

Making currency accessible

The United States is alone in the world with it making all paper currency the same exact size. Naturally, this makes it difficult for the legally blind to distinguish bill sizes. The District of Columbia Federal Circuit Court has ruled this amounts to discrimination.

Court says money discriminates against blind people


The Treasury Department could go ahead and change bill sizes, but that would probably be the most expensive option and would entail a huge outcry from the people with the habit of getting bent out of shape over unimportant things. Other solutions that have been suggested entail having raised numbers, having rounded or cut-off corners (smaller bills would have more missing corners so you wouldn't be able to "convert" $1 bill to a $100 by ripping off corners), or notches on the top or bottom edge (with the same principle as the corners).

I don't know how blind people see these options and whether any seem much better. I would think that the notches seem the most attractive. It should be easy to implement. With the corners, one would have to be careful that a worn-down bill simply hasn't had a corner folded over.

It could work like this:

• $1 bill - 4 notches on top left edge
• $2 bill - 3 notches on top left edge
• $5 bill - 2 notches on top left edge
• $10 bill - 1 notch on top left edge
• $20 bill - 3 notches on top right edge
• $50 bill - 2 notches on top right edge
• $100 bill - 1 notch on top right edge

This assumes there is a way to feel what the front of the bill is. It still works if the bill is upside down (it's just the reverse and on the bottom). Another possibility would be to have different type of notches on the right and left; perhaps the left is a 'V' notch and the right is a curved, 'U' notch, or the left has thin notches and the right has wide notches.

Perhaps this could be simplified by eliminating the $1 bill (and even $2 bill). It would take an act of Congress, but we should switch to a $1 coin. The Canadians have $1 and $2 coins, and their money is even more valuable than ours these days.

We're number 60! We're number 60!

Twin Cities' airport ranks last in customer satisfaction

I'm sure this has nothing to do with the fact that it is the hub for Northwest Airlines.

Sometimes you have to go for broke

I'll first start with the acknowledgment that one should be careful to not put too much stock into poll results, especially 6 months before an election. Even so, Al Franken's continuing lag behind Norm Coleman should give DFL delegates pause before endorsing him. Consider today's Star Tribune poll. You can see the overall trend from all public polls at Pollster's Minnesota Senate page.

Why should we think these polls should have bearing on this fall?

Usually, six months before the election you have people largely undecided and not really paying attention to the election. Many people who will end of voting don't even know the names the candidates. This year we have a very attentive electorate, both for the presidential and congressional races. Minnesotan voters generally pay attention to campaigns more closely. Lastly, a very high number of voters know who Norm Coleman and Al Franken are, and have probably made up their minds about both candidates. Voters will be swayed in different directions between now and November, but I suspect the number of persuadable voters is narrower than usual in this match-up.

I don't think Franken's tax troubles will blow over too much. Two years ago Keith Ellison was battling his problems on parking tickets and campaign finance reports up to election day despite the news coming out months earlier. (Yes, Ellison did win the overwhelmingly Democratic seat, but it did damage him at the polls.) Franken's tax problems are more serious and will be used by 527 groups and party committees to run television and radio ads throughout the campaign.

This is not to say Franken can't beat Coleman, but it is an uphill battle. This should be a good year for Democrats nationwide, but Minnesotans are a contrary bunch. When Democrats swept the nation in 2006, Pawlenty was elected in Minnesota. Two years after Rod Grams won the Senate seat in Minnesota, Paul Wellstone won reelection for his seat. Meaning: Thousands of Minnesota voters voted for Wellstone and Grams, just two years apart. Those two men were very different politically. It is quite possible, and perhaps most likely, to have Minnesota go strongly to Obama in the presidential race, but reelect Coleman by a comfortable margin.

If I were a delegate to the DFL convention, right now I'd be considering if there is a candidate that could do better than Al Franken against Coleman. I'd want to think creatively. Here are some people I'd consider:

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer: The only other candidate in the race now and going for the endorsement. Nelson-Pallmeyer is behind Coleman in the polls even more than Franken, 15 points, but he is not yet the well-known figure that Franken is. Delegates need to keep in mind that anyone who gets the endorsement will get lots of media coverage and that voters over the summer will start to pay attention. If it isn't someone they don't already know, many voters will approach the candidate with an open mind. Nelson-Pallmeyer is a good campaigner. While he is a liberal (or progressive), he has sincerely held positions that match up well with voters. Nelson-Pallmeyer can claim he is of the Paul Wellstone mold more than just about any other candidate or likely candidate. (Even some of the people who voted for Coleman last time around have positive views on the late Senator.)

Mike Ciresi: Has dropped out of the race, but is almost as close to Coleman as Franken. Ciresi is not as well-known as Franken obviously, but he has run for statewide office before (unsuccessfully). It is hard to see him impressing a majority of voters. He's not an inspiring campaigner, he has yet to show he can put together a decent campaign, and he comes off as too politicky. (He panders a lot.)

Rebecca Otto: The current state auditor is one of the DFLers who has recently successfully won a statewide election. As a current elected official and someone who was on the ballot two years before, voters are somewhat familiar with her,. But she's the state auditor, i.e. Otto is a fresh face. Otto is a good campaigner. She knows how to talk to middle-of-the-road voters. She has a lot of energy. Her burgeoning political career has been built on focus on responsible and competent government. It's not sexy, but it is a way to sway some important swing voters this year.

Mark Ritchie: The current secretary of state also was a successful DFL statewide candidate two years ago. He had the small scandal involving appropriating a public list in sloppy way, but I don't think that will hurt him too much. The biggest mark against Ritchie (and Nelson-Pallmeyer) is that he lives in Minneapolis.

R.T. Rybak: Talk arises now and then of Rybak seeking higher office. My guess is that he wouldn't be interested. Rybak is a dynamic person and would run an energetic, and well-funded, campaign. If Ritchie and Nelson-Pallmeyer's problems are they are from Minneapolis, the mayor of Minneapolis would run into some problems with both suburban and rural voters.

All these candidates are a bit more of an unknown than Al Franken when it comes to their prospects for the general election. But when things aren't looking very good for the leading candidate, perhaps the answer is to shake things up and go for broke? Somehow Paul Wellstone got elected by Minnesotans twice. (And I believe he would have won in 2002 had he lived.) You don't need a Wellstone clone. You do need to consider that going with a lesser-known, obvious under-dog is not necessarily giving up. It might be the better way to go. You also need to consider that you don't need to be a centrist to win in Minnesota.

If I were to bet money, at this point I'd guess Franken is probably going to lose to Coleman by about the 7 points he is currently behind in the polls. If the candidate were Nelson-Pallmeyer, Otto, or one of the others, I don't know what I'd predict. It could be a 15 point win--in either direction. Not super encouraging, but better than a most likely loss.

Question to readers: If the DFL candidate isn't Al Franken, who do you think it should be? Why?

What would Jesus do?

After warning, family of autistic teen attends different church

The gist: Church of St. Joseph bans autistic teen from church and has received a restraining order against him. Arrest of mother was threatened if restraining order was violated. Mother considers violating restraining order, but decides to go to a neighboring community's Catholic church instead. They have no problem there.

I'm sure that's what Jesus would have done: file a restraining order.

In fairness, the accounts of the teen sound fairly disruptive. Some members of the church felt their safety was in danger, though that could have a lot to do with people not fully understanding autism. It sounds like the church did not even try to offer any accommodation to resolve these concerns beyond banning the kid when their tolerance ran out.

Smackdown!

I'm not a fan of Chris Matthews, but this is entertaining as hell. It is worth watching all seven minutes.



Apt line: "When you're in a hole, stop digging."

Via Salon's 5 Things

Ventura says Bush "looks pretty gay"

Jesse Ventura was on the radio today for an interview with MPR's Gary Eichten. If you have some time, take a listen to it. Ventura is hilarious. He talks about not having problems with "brown people." He talks physics with his "questions" on how the World Trade buildings really fell. He suggests that he could single-handedly turn the presidential upside down, if only he had ballot access. And Jesse gives his own explanation of global warming that he observed at the U.S.-Mexico border.

But this, 30 minutes into the interview, takes the cake...

"And I'll tell you this Gary. You know, for our current president for being such a tough guy from Texas and anti-gay like he is and all that. What looks more gay that when he comes out of a meeting with the Saudis holding hands with the guy with robes on. To me that looks pretty gay."

Gary Eichten has done interviews with Ventura for a decade now and is fairly accustomed to it. But even he was thrown off by this, asking Ventura if that was a "cheap shot." Ventura first responds that he didn't think so and latter points out he was being "tongue in cheek."

Breaking News

This wonderful news brings tears to my eyes...

• California Supreme Court overturns ban on gay marriage

Okay, we now have two states that recognize that GLBT citizens should be treated with equality. Only 48 more to go!

Seriously, this is a huge victory. My only wish would for this decision to NOT happen in a momentous election year. But what can you do?

Setting aside his other faults, Gavin Newsom deserves a lot of credit for this.

Featured podcast: Living the legal life

Perhaps my favorite podcast over at Quick and Dirty Tips is Legal Lad. The Legal Lad podcast is a weekly feature where the Legal Lad addresses some area of law and explains it in easy terms. It's accessible and interesting and takes about five minutes. He'll address legal issues that you very may well encounter, as well as stuff from the news and listener questions.

The most recent episode is a response to a question I submitted about entrapment. I was curious about a case in Minnesota where a court victim and witness advocate was charged for selling private witness information, but was able to argue entrapment. The ensuing podcast episode is here, along with a transcript:

• Entrapment, episode 65

My only complaint about the series is that the advertising within the podcast is a little heavy handed. But you can easily skip it if you read or wait out the 30 seconds or so in the podcast.

Another Obama endorsement

Obama got another endorsement today. This time it is not from another Superdelegate, but from the political arm of the pro-choice movement, NARAL Pro-Choice America.

NARAL Pro-Choice America has waited out their endorsement decision for a bit, but it is clear as can be now: Obama is the presumptive nominee. Both Clinton and Obama are firmly pro-choice and NARAL was wise to stay out of the primary contest. (Edwards, Richardson, Dodd, Biden, etc were pro-choice too.) NARAL has rightly recognized now is the time to move forward and ready for the general election marathon.

McCain is a conservative Republican. He may buck the party on some hot issues now and then (immigration, campaign finance, etc). But the guy's entire career has been as a social conservative. He has voted 100% their way, including on abortion and birth control, even when he was calling evangelical leaders nasty names.

Here's NARAL Pro-Choice America's scrappy announcement:



NARAL Pro-Choice America has a site devoted to McCain's shameful record on women's reproductive options and health:


* Necessary disclosure: I formerly worked for NARAL, but have been out of their employ since June 2007.

The press corps

In the second paragraph of Dana Milbank's mildly humorous Washington Post column, This is an ex-candidate, he gives us a window into the campaign press corps. They are waiting for their flight from DC to West Virginia to cover the Clinton primary victory.

Let's just say they aren't in a flurry of professional activity in the run up of their journey to West Virginia...

"During the security sweep at Dulles, some [journalists] play Hacky Sack with a cigarette carton. Awaiting the candidate on the tarmac, two guys from CNN toss a football. Aboard the plane, one member of the press corps entertains his colleagues by flopping down the aisle on his belly, like a fish." [Emphasis mine.]

First, I want to know which reporter is flopping like a fish. I think this is hilarious. We suspect that television reporters are secretly crazy, attention-seekers, who realized their acting career wasn't going to take off so they went into TV journalism. Print reporters are those slightly imbalanced policy nerds who don't believe they ever receive enough attention or respect. So, who is this journalist that sees fit to entertain his colleagues by acting like an attention-starved 15 year-old? I love it!

Second, this makes me hunger for more insights into the campaign press corps. My visions are mostly informed by West Wing episodes, Doonesbury strips featuring Rick Redfern and Roland Hedley, and highly unreliable, old Hunter S. Thompson portraits of the campaign trail. What's the real deal?

It is pretty tiring to hear the press talk and write about the press. But this is an area that merits an exception. Next time I want names of those acting like buffoons. I might develop a bit more respect for these journalists; or maybe not.

Perhaps this guy has a career in journalism...

Even more poo

With the yogurt and poo stuff and the fact that I have to collect a poo sample from my 4 year old for the doctor, I got poo on the mind. Here's one more video. It has a song!



This will be the last mention of poop here for a while. I promise.

More yogurt and poop

Yogurt makes you poo right

Yogurt is for women only.

The best part is the end.



Thanks to Salon's Broadsheet blog.

You know we need new people in charge when...

You know we need new people in charge of our school systems when something like this happens:

• Teacher fired for "wizadry" after performing magic trick in class

What is this, medieval Europe?

Of course this happened in Florida. Maybe we should consider whether we want to keep Florida part of the United States. Perhaps we could give it back to Spain? Or better yet, it can be part of a new arrangement to Cuba: Have free elections and we'll give you the state of Florida!

Thanks to Majikthise for pointing me to this story.

Waiting for Clinton

On March 3rd, I predicted the imminent end of the Clinton campaign. I asserted that "at the very latest" Clinton could hold out long enough for a unlikely win in Pennsylvania.

Shows what I know.

Still, after yesterday's results in Indiana and North Carolina, it's hard to see how Clinton could stay in. Clinton has begun to argue more forcefully for the inclusion of Michigan and Florida delegates from their unauthorized primaries. Looking at the Slate's Delegate Calculator, even with the inclusion of Florida, Clinton would have to have substantial wins in the remaining primaries and pick-up a bunch more superdelegates than Obama.

Members of the media have essentially declared her candidacy over. One doesn't want to put too much stock into what Tim Russert says, but in this case he might be right.

I say even odds, Clinton will be out by the end of the week. If she doesn't withdraw by next Monday, I don't know what the heck to expect. Most likely scenario is that we'll get an announcement late Wednesday or on Thursday.

Slate also doesn't have a lot of faith in Clinton's ability to pull anything off:

Coincidence?

Is it a coincidence that the McCain campaign made this statement on Tuesday, when many Democrat and independent voters were paying attention to the Democratic contest in Indiana and North Carolina?

• McCain says he would appoint conservatives to Supreme Court

McCain holds up Bush appointees Alito and Roberts as model justices. McCain is taking a page from the Bush play book. First, talk in terms that your base can understand you but doesn't freak out the mainstream. Second, talk to your base when the rest of the country is paying attention to something else.

Anna Quindlen's current Newsweek column happens to assert the most important single decision a president can make is a Supreme Court pick.

Who do you want picking the next members of the Supreme Court?

Another reason for smoke bans...

Study: Restaurant tobacco bans influence teen smoking

Teens in communities with smoking bans were compared to teens in communities with no bans or weak bans. The conclusion? Smoking bans make a big difference.

Key quote:

"The study found that having a smoker as a parent or a close friend was a factor in predicting whether children experiment with cigarettes. But strong bans had a bigger influence on whether smoking grew into a habit, reducing their chances of becoming smokers by 40 percent."

Forty percent is significant. Think of the enormous savings in terms of public health. Do we need more reasons why smoking bans are no-brainers?

What we've come to

Yes, what every kid (six years and older) needs! Motorized Sidewalk Paint Sprayer! It's available from just about every retailer out there for $10-18.

From Crayola:
"Create amazing sidewalk designs with the new Crayola Motorized Sidewalk Paint Sprayer. Choose between one of two colors or mix both, spray thick or thin lines to make unique effects that are all completely washable – just spray with water and start again!"



Whatever happened to simple sidewalk chalk?

DFL delegates should take note

Delegates will undoubtedly wince to see that 51 percent off polled Minnesotans say Franken should withdraw from race.

While the Al Franken people are right in faulting the poll question for not pointing out Franken overpaid taxes in Minnesota and New York, it is still a troubling result for DFLers wanting to boot out Norm Coleman.

It remains to be seen if similar results will be replicated in another poll. If anything close to the 51 percent comes out, DFL delegates would be wise to endorse someone other than Franken, whether it be Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer or a new candidate.

I believe Nelson-Pallmeyer could be a very effective candidate against Coleman. Simply put, a DFLer without baggage will be competitive against Coleman. If delegates aren't as confident in Nelson-Pallmeyer prospects as I am, they could pick a dynamic DFLer that has won a statewide election. Perhaps Mark Ritchie or Rebecca Otto?

OR ?

What should be in your local paper

One of my favorite cartoonists is Keith Knight. For years he's drawn and written the weekly K Chronicles, a semi-autobiographical weekly comic that I never miss a chance to read at Salon.com.

Today is the first day of his new daily strip, The Knight Life.

The Knight Life has started to run in a handful of newspapers around the country, but probably not yet yours. Check it out over the next few days at http://comics.com/comics/knightlife/ and request it be run in your local paper if you think it is better than Mallard Fillmore, Apartment 3-G, F Minus, or whatever other crud that inexplicably is printed on the comics page.

Here's the first strip, run on May 5. Click on image to see full sized strip.

"Balancing" at St. Thomas

What is up with the University of St. Thomas? The St. Paul Catholic institution just can't seem to stop making bad news for itself as it makes interesting interpretations on how to retain a Catholic identity but respect freedom of thought. Their conclusion seems to be that you can't be Catholic and respect freedom of thought.

It's only been three weeks since the last incident, but this week the dean of the St. Thomas law school declared that a student could not get credit for the school's community service requirement when they were volunteering to help out with STD/STI and cancer screening, because it was at the evil Planned Parenthood.

The service approval process is governed by a student committee that had indeed approved the student's project at Planned Parenthood. Dean Thomas Mengler simply over-rode it. This is another trend at St. Thomas, give students authority to make decisions surrounding their academic experience, but over-rule them whenever they make decisions you don't like. It's very patronizing.

It's like the time when I was eight years old and my mom asked if I wanted to take a bath. I said no. And then she told me that I needed to take a bath anyways. It's just like that.

What's the point of being permissive in the first place if you're just going to butt in at your fancy?

The best part of the Star Tribune article on the matter is the very end:

Mengler, who issued his letter after receiving complaints from faculty, students and alumni, said Thursday he plans to meet with Borton soon, but he's not changing his mind.

"My decision is final," he said

This is great because, first, it implies that he made the initial decision without any dialog with the student (which would be a jerky thing to do); second, he is taking the George W. Bush approach to conflict resolution,* that is: You can feel free to talk to me, but it's not like I'm going to listen or it's going to matter at all.

The article notes this is part of the "latest philosophical wrestling match" on "the school's attempts to balance religious and academic values." (Emphasis mine.) We can't really say that the school is trying to "balance" Catholic values and scholarship. It's pretty clear that the school is an arm of the Catholic moral police first and foremost and not a place that values democracy or freedom of thought or speech.

* The George W. Bush method is a variation of the Dick Cheney method. Cheney, when facing conflict, will simply tell you to "fuck yourself." Bush's method is to tell critics to fuck off, without actually using the words "fuck off."

Go North, Young Man

Cheers to Sean Bloomfield and Colton Witte for taking on an ambitious and promising journey. The two high school grads have embarked on a nearly 3 month canoe journey from the Minnesota River to the Hudson Bay. The two were inspired after reading Eric Sevareid's book about going from Fort Snelling in Minneapolis to the Hudson Bay in a canoe in 1930.

I too was inspired by reading that book, as well as the book, Distant Fires, in which the author did a Duluth to Hudson Bay canoe journey in 1987. Unlike Bloomfield and Witte, I have not turned that inspiration to action in the form of an 1800 mile canoe journey. As a teenager, I did 10 days in the Boundary Waters. I recall doing about fifty portages, but less than 100 miles over that week and a half. Not nearly the same scale.

So, I really want to praise these two for undertaking this adventure and having the foresight of doing it while they still can. (Before college.) Still, one tiny thing nags at me. That is the picture of them heading off that accompanied Nick Coleman's column in the Star Tribune.

I know they are just pushing off and are probably just starting to place their paddles in the water. But canoeists in the know don't paddle on the same side of the canoe. It's a very inefficient way to canoe.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. They're pushing off. It is probably early in the morning. Who knows what rocks or logs lay submerged on the other side of the canoe. And if they don't know much about proper canoeing despite several years of experience, I'm sure they will end this trip much stronger and smarter canoeists than a lot of us. So props to them!

More signs of spring

Happy May Day!

I'm celebrating spring with every opportunity I can. One of my favorite spring arrivals occurs this Saturday. The Midtown Farmers' Market begins the season!

Since we've had snow in a matter of days within the market, I don't have high hopes for a lot of seasonal produce. But we're close enough to start going through the motions. Plus my favorite market will have coffee, hothouse tomatoes, Wisconsin cheese, and some live music. To mark the first market of the season, this Saturday will feature some sheep shearing! My dog isn't the only one getting rid of her winter coat.

The Midtown Farmers' Market is a much smaller affair than the big downtown St. Paul or Minneapolis markets. I love it because it is a true neighborhood affair. When it's not too cold or hot, I can walk there. I get to bump into neighbors. I don't have to battle rude crowds with my stroller or wagon. And, the live music is usually better. How many stalls of lettuce and tomatoes does one really need to choose from anyways?

So, to all my south Minneapolis neighbors, I hope to see you this summer at the farmers' market!

Something to look forward to later in the season!