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Inspired by McCain's "Quote HEALTH":

Getting bent out of shape for the wrong reasons

Plymouth, Minnesota is a large, financially well-off suburb of the Twin Cities. In fact, it was named Money magazine's #1 place to live in 2008.

In this idylic corner of America a problem is brewing. People are angry. The city hall's phone system has been overloaded. What is the crisis?

The city might change their recycling vendor!

That's right. While we are at war and the economy tanks and civil liberties are but a memory and our schools are falling apart and in Minnesota frickin bridges are falling apart and gas is expensive and we're having a bad mosquito year, this is what the good citizens of Plymouth have chosen to get enraged about.

Why, you ask? Two reasons. Citizens are going to be asked to separate their recyclables by the new vendor. (The old vendor asked recyclables to be separated but evidently didn't do anything about it when people shoved their office paper, empty beer cans, and peanut butter jars all together.) And, due to rising fuel costs, the new contract will cost the city nearly 50 cents a month per household!

I mean, my goodness! A community where the median family income is $111,631 is being prayed upon by nasty politicians who want to pry $6 a year out of their hands. I mean, that's a whole 0.005% of their income. A giant five thousanths of a percent! Much is at stake!

For six dollars a family would, um, well...

Well, they might have to do two less visits to Starbucks.

They might have to forego a popcorn at least once a year when they go to the movies.

They might have to say no for once to one of their children's request for a crappy plastic toy at Target.

They might have to stop playing the slots at the Grand Casino Mille Lacs fifteen minutes earlier than they otherwise would have.

Instead, the government will take $6 of their hard earned money for that dirty word: recycling.

Over thirty seven years ago President Kennedy told the nation: "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

Obviously no one ever made JFK sort his recycling. The line has to be drawn somewhere.

Brett Favre: What's up?

UPDATE: According to one media source, this information about Favre using a team phone is allegedly incorrect.

Hey, I love Brett Favre. But he's acting a bit stupid these days. From today's Star Tribune:

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that a source said Favre continued to use a Packers-issued cell phone after his retirement and that when the team checked the phone records, there were "repeated calls to coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell."

OK, that's just dumb. He should know much better than that. I don't think he's going to end up with the Vikings anytime soon.

Friday the 13th

It's days like this when I don't miss living in Washington, DC:

• Power Outages Reported Throughout Downtown DC

If I was superstitious, I'd point out that it's Friday the 13th. But everyday in DC (and indeed our country) is a bad luck day with the Bush administration still running the show.

Lame-o argument

So there's been a big brouhaha in Seattle over the fact that two women kissing at a baseball game were asked to stop because it made someone uncomfortable. It's been a mild shocker that there are still nasty attitudes in gay-friendly Seattle.

I'm not going to go into the whole public displays of affection, gay or straight, debate.

What I'm compelled to respond to is the lame argument from the other side. The argument is encapsulated with this quote gathered by the Associated Press:

"I would be uncomfortable" seeing public displays of affection between lesbians or gay men, said Jim Ridneour, a 54-year-old taxi driver. "I don't think it's right seeing women kissing in public. If I had my family there, I'd have to explain what's going on."

Big whoopin' deal! "Oh no! I have to explain something about the world we live in to my child!"

Jeepers creepers! They should be happy; it gives them an opportunity to talk about gay people and pass on their homophobic hate to their children!

Seriously. I see things all the time that I have to explain to my child. Some I'm happy about, some I'm not. For instance, when my daughter sees someone smoking outside the grocery store, she shoots me all sorts of questions about smoking. It's a teachable moment. Do I tell the person not to smoke because I'll have to answer my daughter's question? Uh... no!

Kids aren't stupid. They know things happen in the world that their parents don't agree with. A parent can try to keep their children blind to gay people, but they will still reach adulthood knowing that gay people exist. (I know, the horror!)

If having to explain something to your child is the best you can come up with, you really don't have an argument. What's clear is that you think it's gross and the world revolves around you so you tell the usher to get them to stop.

I'll tell you what. Due to my upbringing, I find just about all, even mild, public displays of affection kind of gross. But I deal. It's like passing a dead skunk on the road. It's smells terrible, but you respond by closing your windows and not sniffing for a couple of seconds. If you see a PDA you don't like, here's a tip: Don't look!

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?

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 ?

"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!

Franken and California tax returns? Whatever...

I was critical of Al Franken following the discovery that his company had not been paying workers' comp insurance for a number of years in New York. A $25,000 fine was levied against his company by the state of New York.

Now, the Republicans have found that he didn't pay owed state taxes in California. Bad day for Al Franken.

Is this a real controversy? Does it matter?

I had a problem with the New York state matter, but the more recent discovery does not rise to the same level. It appears that Franken got bad advice and did not submit a filing dissolving the corporation in California when he moved it to New York in 2002. (We assume he paid taxes in New York.) It a sloppy mistake, but an excusable one. Not paying legally-required workers compensation insurance for several years, that is pretty big deal in my book.

Lots of corporations let their registration lapse and don't file dissolution papers. A quick search of Minnesota corporations with "Minnesota" in their name reveal 23 of 40 corporate entities (or trademarked names) on the first page that are "inactive." Inactive means they haven't filed registration renewals or officially dissolved. It's a common oversight.

This is not worth the news coverage it's received.

Priorities

Exhibit 1: University of St. Thomas invites, disinvites, then after dithering around and demoting a professor, they decide to reinvite Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He declines their final invite.

Exhibit 2: The student government decides not to invite and fund an anti-abortion speaker nominated by a group of conservative students. The St. Thomas administration swiftly steps in and invites and pays for the speaker, because they know better than their students.

Why? Because they were concerned that the students' decision had "diminished the university's position on pro-life issues."

The University of St. Thomas, an academic institution, has demonstrated it is more important to display their pro-life cred than respect student-made decisions on speakers or to host a Nobel laureate to discuss world peace.

Pandering

The Democrats have been pandering on free trade. Now it's John McCain's turn:

• McCain Proposes Gas Tax Holiday

Making mountains out of molehills

It is the presidential election after all. It's time to make mountains out of molehills! (Or children into monkeys...)

• Illinois delegate for Obama resigns after 'monkeys' remark
  

She complains to her neighbors about their children climbing in the tree, which she sees as dangerous. She tells the father "the tree is not there for them to be climbing in there like monkeys." The mother calls the police, she gets a $75 ticket, and is now resigning as a delegate to the national convention because she has been labeled a racist.

Referring to children of another race climbing in a tree as monkeys is apparently verboten.

Urgent update on lefties

• The dangers of left handedness

Idea via MNSpeak.

In other news:

• Television kills
• Sushi is unsafe
• New research uncovers the dirt on bellybutton lint
  
• Polka music popularity remains steady
  
• Disease in the wolf population
  
• Be wary of French people
• Passive aggressiveness is on the rise
• Fundamentalists increase their flock
• Drink beer every day
• Be nice to your mother
• Celebrity-driven news ever more popular
• Conspiracy theorists assail skeptics
  
• The Internet is your friend
  
• Hummers are dangerous
• New species of worm discovered
  
• The downside of safe sex [adult content warning]
• Comprehensive sex ed saves lives
  
• Time marches on
• Americans urged to get better sleep
• Weekly World News will be back on newsstands
  
• Public service announcement on itchy pants

• And finally, new disturbing intelligence is partially declassified! [You heard it here first!]