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Palin Announces She'll Leave Office

In a surprise announcement this afternoon, Sarah Palin announced that she would resign her office as Governor of Alaska by the end of the month. Her breathless manner and rapid, almost forced speech seemed to indicate that there was more to her decision that she told.

Perhaps we'll find out, shortly, what the real reason was. One thing seems certain, however. Quitting the Governor's office mid-term isn't conducive to a run for the Presidency. Americans don't like quitters; we never have.

Combined with the scandal that has causes serious problems for Mark Sanford of South Carolina, this puzzling announcement throws the GOP's Presidential options into a tizzy. What fun! I love Friday news dumps.
7/3/09

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Franken Wins! SCOMN Rules!

The Supreme Court of Minnesota has issued it's ruling. The bottom line, as written in the opinion is:

For all of the foregoing reasons, we affirm the decision of the trial court that Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast and is entitled under Minn. Stat. § 204C.40 (2008) to receive the certificate of election as United States Senator from the State of Minnesota.

You can read the entire opinion at This Link.

Congratulations to Senator Al Franken!
6/30/09

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Republicans Shoot Selves in Feet -- Again!

Since the election in November, 2008, Republicans seem to be engaged primarily in self-destructive activities. They're duking it out over leadership, with the ultra-conservative rightists combating the "neocons" in a series of battles that seem aimed at splitting the Republican Party into at least two incompatible factions.

Led by Rush Limbaugh and other neanderthalers, the ultra-right wing appears to have the lead, but is thwarted by the current Congressional Republican Caucus. Mostly, we're hearing from out-of-office has-beens on the Right, while the elected Republicans seem to be ducking their heads as fast as they can.

In the meantime, the battle against President Barack Obama goes on apace. Ridiculous arguments about his status as a "natural" citizen take up the imaginations of the tinfoil hat brigade. Radio talk show hosts are still emphasizing the "Hussein" in Obama's name, as if that meant anything.

Adding to the mix are the smattering of reactionary discussion forums on the internet, which perpetuate this nonsense...and worse. Sites like Free Republic, full of angry voices who cannot accept that a Democrat, much less a black Democrat, now holds the office of President of The United States. That both houses of Congress now have a majority of Democrats, and will soon have a supermajority of 60 in the Senate is simply incomprehensible to the denizens of those forums. But, they're so busy dealing with the rash of psychopathic right-wing murderers out there right now that they're scrubbing their sites clean so often they squeak. You see, those psychopaths are heroes to some on those forums.

Shallowly buried in all of this right wing insanity is the fact that Barack Obama is a black man. That throws the whole thing into a cocked hat for the caveman set of the GOP. Sly comments, carefully made, draw attention to the President's race in discussions on the web. Emails containing veiled racist references are forwarded, Twitters about gorillas being related to the First Lady are posted, and more similar nonsense appears on "conservative" web sites and blogs.

So, now we have an aide to Tennessee State Senator Diane Black sending out a racist image to an email list. Sherri Goforth, the aide, sent the image, below, to the wrong list. She's sorry that she made the mistake of sending the image to the wrong list, but not that she sent the image. Have a look for yourself:

All of the Presidents in one picture. But wait...what's that in the bottom right corner? It's in image of a pair of gaping eyes on a black background. That's Barack Obama, according to whomever created this picture. Does it look vaguely familiar? It should. It's the iconic representation of a black person in a dark room...and it's been used in racist cartoon images for many decades. This is a blatantly racist image and an insult to the hallowed office of the Presidency.

So what happened to Sherri Goforth for using a state computer to send out this racist image? Well...her Republican employer put a "reprimand" in her file. That's it. No doubt she'll be fired or resign soon, but the immediate reaction by this State Senator was to "reprimand" her. Senator Black was probably chuckling as she did it.

Well, GOP... What next? Keep it up and your party will never hold a majority again. Now, that's just fine with me, but you might want to clean house there pretty soon. People are noticing your stupidity.
6/16/09

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Who Killed George Tiller?

By now, everyone has heard that Dr. George Tiller was shot to death yesterday, inside the church he attends. Police have one Scott P. Roeder in custody, after arresting him in the car described by witnesses. There will be a trial, and it's likely that he is the killer.

However, it's not that clear that he's the only one culpable in this horrifying murder. Dr. Tiller performed abortions, including late-term abortions. Abortion is a legal medical procedure in this country. He has been anathema among the radical anti-abortion, anti-woman crowd for years. He's been shot before, but survived. His clinic has been bombed. Scott P. Roeder did none of those things, so it's clear that Dr. Tiller has been targeted in the past, as he was yesterday. This time, he was murdered.

So, where else can we look, other than directly at Roeder, who appears to be a right-wing nutcase of the first order. He was a "Freeman," one of those weirdoes who think that they aren't citizens of the United States, but a nation unto themselves. He's been convicted of having bomb components and served time for that.

I believe we can, and should, look closely at those who encourage such wackos to carry out terrorist acts like murdering people in churches. I'll start with web sites run by organizations like Operation Rescue. They've been targeting George Tiller for years, and even have a section called "Tiller Watch" on their website. Right now, the site is down, as they attempt to scrub away the evidence of their virtual complicity in this murder. Scott P. Schroeder had posted several comments on that site. Randall Terry, who is closely involved with that site, is among the most rabid opponents of legal abortion in this country. Shame on you, Operation Rescue and Randall Terry!

Then there are even more rabid web sites, like the Army of God site. I recommend avoiding this site, as it is obscene in its calls for, and celebrations of, the murder of abortion providers. The site idolizes another murderer, Paul Hill, who preyed on abortion providers. Shame on you, Army of God!

There are other "Christian" right-wing sites that vilify medical professionals involved with providing legal abortions to women. In fact, they are almost beyond number. Most do not directly call for people to go out and murder abortion providers, but encourage hatred of those people.

Then...there are more prominent individuals, whose names you know. Media newsblabbers are among this group. Bill O'Reilly is among these. For some time now, he has called George Tiller "Tiller the Baby-Killer" on his radio and television shows. He'd never directly encourage murder, but he does foment hatred. Shame on you, Bill O'Reilly!

Right-wing websites and discussion forums are full of nasty anti-choice, anti-woman rhetoric, too. One of the largest, Free Republic, has a coterie of rabid anti-choice members, who post their hatred and bile on a regular basis. After George Tiller's murder, long message threads were full of thinly-veiled celebrations of his death. The owner of that site, Jim Robinson, has pulled some of those threads, but not all of them, and the hatred and bile goes on, unabated. Shame on you, Jim Robinson!

You're going to see a lot of the above-named sites and people "condemning" George Tiller's murder over the next few days. Some will be frantically trying to get rid of the evidence of their encouragement of hatred in the past. They won't succeed, because the internet has repositories of old material. These can be, and are being, accessed and the truth is beginning to appear about sites, even after they've tried to scrub their sites clean.

Who killed George Tiller? Well, the individual killer was probably Scott P. Roeder. Those who spread hatred online, on the radio, and on television, however, do not have clean hands. Some of them may be more directly implicated. Investigations of the most rabid of the hate mongers will begin shortly.

We should no longer be tolerant of those who encourage murder and other terrorist acts against people who provide legal abortion services. We should call them out, point our fingers at them, and cry "Shame! Shame!" If anti-choice people want to ban abortion, let them proceed through our system of government. When they resort to violence, let's put them away where they can do no further harm.
6/1/09

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Memorial Day at Fort Snelling

My wife and I took her mother out to Fort Snelling yesterday to visit her husband's gravesite. He served during WWII and Korea as an enlisted man in the army and returned to live to the age of 86 years. I am always in awe when I visit any national cemetary and see the rows and rows of markers for some of those who served their nation in the military. As an aging USAF veteran, I'm always aware of the sacrifices those men and women made during their youthful years.

While standing in front of my father-in-law's headstone, I looked around at some of the other markers. Flowers and flags abounded, as you would expect on Memorial Day weekend. But, atop a marker near my father-in-law's I spotted a couple of coins. A quarter and a penny. I tried to imagine what that 26 cents meant to whomever had visited the gravesite. Or was it just a coincidence of some kind?

Looking around further, I noticed another headstone with something atop it. Walking over, I saw that someone had put three small stones on the marker. They were not smooth pebbles, but jagged rocks of limestone, with small fossils imbedded in them. I imagined that they came from a place the man had lived or visited.

I began to look further among the memorial cemetery, to see if there were more such items left on the tops of headstones. Indeed there were. On one, two nickels were placed carefully. On another, eight pennies, arranged in groups of two, and punctuated with a single hazelnut.

I was deeply and inexplicably touched by these headstones. Their meanings were incomprehensible to me, but obviously had symbolic importance to the family members who came that weekend to remember someone who had served the nation.

I would have liked to have walked more of the Fort Snelling cemetery. I would have looked for and examined more of these impromptu memorial items. I would have tried to puzzle out their meanings, but would have failed, I'm sure, as I did with the few I did see.
5/25/09

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Aquacide Company Runs Horrible Radio Ad

White Bear Lake, MN, is the home of Aquacide Company, a purveyor of lake weed control products. Recently, they've started running an ad on local radio stations that is misleading and may result in lakeshore owners violating Minnesota laws and subjecting themselves to some serious fines.

In the ad, which never mentions once that there are regulations regarding using chemical lake weed control measures in Minnesota lakes, the claim is that lake weeds are nasty, useless things that need to be killed. According to the ad, weeds are of no use to humans or the planet, and must be destroyed.

In the first place, plant growth in lakes is essential for the health of the lake. They support the fish and other life in the lake. That's why there are strict and detailed regulations for weed control measures, along with permit requirements, and other details not mentioned in this noxious radio ad.

In the second place, shoreline property owners on most lakes in Minnesota do not own the lake. They own only the land down to the normal high water line. The lake, including its weeds, belongs to the State of Minnesota. The company never discloses in the ad that people must learn the rules of lake weed control and apply for permits to use chemical controls. For shame, Aquacide Company! For shame!

For information on Aquatic Plant Regulations, Click Here to go to the MN DNR web page.

Let them know how you feel about this. You can Email them, or call them at 1-800-328-9350.
5/11/09

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First They Came for The Smokers...

Well, we're in for it again. In the desperate quest for more money, legislators want to tack yet another 54 cent tax on each pack of cigarettes sold in the State of Minnesota. We just had a 62 cent tax added per pack by the Federal Government. And those are on top of other recent tax increases.

"It's for the children," they say. "It will cut down on smoking," they say. "It'll bring a bunch of bucks into the treasury, and only about 20% of the population smokes, so they won't be able to stop us." Oh....they don't say that, do they?

Yes, smoking is a nasty habit. It'll probably kill me someday. That'll save some money for Medicare and Social Security, since I'll probably die a few years before my non-smoking peers. But...that's not really good enough. I smoke. Therefore I am a filthy person, and should pay for my bad habit. Now. The state coffers are running dry, so they might as well tax the smokers one more time...while they still can.

Enough! You cannot balance the state budget on the backs of smokers. No. We will go and buy our cigarettes somewhere else. We probably won't quit smoking, but we are taxed enough already, thanks.

Old Pastor Martin Niemöller started his teaching on the evils of ignoring mistreatment of one group because you do not belong to that group with a similar statement. It still holds true. You don't mind them taxing smokers, since you don't smoke? OK. How about when they tax your favorite wine? Or your Venti Decaf Latte? How about a dollar tax on every gallon of chocolate milk? Let's add a 50 cent tax to each condom sold. How will that be, folks?

Think about it. Your secret pleasure may be the next to be taxed.
4/21/09

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Million Moron March Is a TEAse

Besides being tax day, yesterday marked the date for protests across the country. It was billed as a protest against taxation by its wealthy corporate sponsors and Faux News. Faux New has been in a tizzy over the past few days promoting this "teabagging" event and making their already worn-out "Fair and Balanced" motto one of the best jokes of the century.

Well, how did it all go? Well, most of the gatherings were made up of a couple hundred angry old white guys, most of them of Social Security and Medicare age, ironically protesting "socialism." A few protest crowds managed to exceed 1000. Disclaimer: I am an old white guy on Social Security, myself, and I recognize that my checks come from the government.

Wearing hats festooned with tea bags and other colorful garb, the participants sported homemade signs saying seemingly random things. Grammar and spelling errors abounded. A motley crew, the gatherings included the aforementioned angry old white guys, along with young "libertarians," Ron Paulites, racist folks from Stormfront.org (No link. Don't go there), and "out of my cold, dead hands" 2nd amendment advocates. The nutty "birthers," who claim that President Obama isn't a natural citizen were there, too, since their efforts in court aren't working out so well.

Perhaps more taxes would
have taught this one in Durango, CO
to spell "enough."

More tax money in Austin, TX for education, please!

Some of the protests didn't go so well, particularly the ones in Washington, DC. In one of those, a plan to watch a million teabags getting dumped in front of the U.S. Treasury building, no permit had been obtained, so the protest did not take place. Another, at Lafayette Park, across from the White House ended when some clever person tossed a box of Lipton Tea bags over the White House fence. "Ricky-ticky-ticky," the Secret Service arrived and shooed them all away, ending the demonstration.

No good figures exist for total turnout, nationwide, but even if it reached a million, that's less than 0.3% of the population. Heck, more than that turned out in one place for President Obama's inauguration.

And so it goes...
4/16/09

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Franken Wins! It's Official. Go Away, Norm!

The three-judge panel has finally issued its ruling, and the verdict is a clear win for Al Franken. One-by-one, they demolished the Coleman team's arguments and found that Franken had received the most votes.

As expected, Coleman and his team have announced an appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court. That's going to end up with the court affirming the decision of the three-judge panel. I don't think there's any question about that. So, what does that mean?

It means that Coleman and his cronies are simply obstructing the results of the election. They are doing this at the behest of some in the Republican Party, in a vain attempt to prevent the Democrats from having a 59 vote majority in the Senate. That's their only reason for this obstructionism.

It's over, GOP. Done. Finito. Stop the obstructionism and let Minnesota have its full complement of Senators. You don't like that? Who cares? Continuing on this path will assure the GOP of losing even more seats in 2010. Will Republicans like that? Of course not, but that is what will happen.

And Governor Polenta? Once the Minnesota Supreme court rules in Franken's favor, you have only one responsibility: Sign the certification. This is a state issue, and the state's highest court is the final word as far as you are concerned. You are not a federal official. You are the Governor of Minnesota. Deal with it. Your party lost. The voters of Minnesota have spoken. Do your job. Don't continue to be Dim Polenta. Step up to the plate and I'll resume calling you Governor Pawlenty.

To the GOP: Some you win. Some you lose. You lost this one. Don't make your problem worse by attempting to obstruct this election further. If you do, you will feel the consequences in 2010. Lick your wounds, reorganize, and come back fighting. Obstructionism is cowardice.
4/14/09

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Latest Stuff

Republicans Shoot Selves in Feet -- Again! -- 6/16/09
Who Killed George Tiller? -- 6/1/09
Memorial Day at Fort Snelling -- 5/25/09
Aquacide Company Runs Horrible Radio Ad -- 5/11/09
First They Came for The Smokers... -- 4/21/09
Million Moron March Is a TEAse -- 4/16/09
Franken Wins! It's Official. Go Away, Norm! -- 4/14/09
AM1500 KSTP Goes On Firing Spree. Whee! -- 4/8/09
Give It Up, Norm...You're Done! You Too, Dim Polenta! --4/7/09
Minneapolis Murder -- One in Custody -- 3/22/09
OK, Enough Winter! I'm Going To Chase It Away -- 2/6/09
Another Shooting Death -- Northeast Minneapolis -- 1/29/09
First 2009 Murder in North Minneapolis -- 1/27/09
SUV Crashed into Planned Parenthood Center -- 1/22/09
Nursing Home Abuse Suspects Arraigned -- 1/22/09
Family Mourns 15 Year Old Murder Victim, Unborn Child -- 12/30/08
Why No Info on Frozen Body in North Minneapolis? -- 12/29/08
Multiple Gunshot Murder on Christmas Day -- 12/28/08
AM1500, KSTP Gives Willie Clark, K Xmas Gift: You're Fired! -- 12/18/08
2 New Homicides for Minneapolis -- 12/16/08
Green Roof for Target Center Just A Symptom -- 12/14/08
Say It Ain't So, Joe! Mischke's Been Let Go -- 12/07/08
North Minneapolis Shooting Death is 35th Homicide -- 12/06/08
Local Teen Girls Sexually Abuse Helpless Seniors -- 12/2/08
Another Car-to-Car Murder in North Minneapolis -- 11/29/08
Kudos to The Saint Paul Police Department! -- 11/28/07
Ambush Murder in North Minneapolis -- 11/26/08
Excess...Glorious Excess! -- 11/17/08
Bass Fishing Santa -- 11/12/08
Homicide in North East Minneapolis -- 11/6/08
Remembering My Cars And Other Vehicles -- 10/20/08
Joe Soucheray's Savory Tomato Pie -- 10/12/08
Young Murder Victim in South Minneapolis -- 10/12/08
Another Somali Man Murdered in Minneapolis -- 9/30/08
21 Year Old Volunteer Tutor Murdered -- 9/23/08
Starting a Clinton-Made 5hp Outboard Motor -- 9/9/08
SPECIAL FEATURE: Deep Pit Barbeque -- Minnesota Style -- 9/02/08
Man Dead in Minneapolis Shooting -- 8/28/08
Bowfishing for Sharks -- A Blast from The Past -- 8/22/08
A Nightcrawler Experiment -- 8/22/08
Try This Tactic for Panfish from Shore -- 8/14/08
Shots Ring Out In North Minneapolis -- Two Dead -- 8/10/08
Double Northside Shooting -- One Dead -- 8/08/08
Another South Minneapolis Murder -- 8/07/08
Homicide in Homeless Camp -- 8/04/08
A Day with The Griz -- 7/30/08
Two Murders Mar North Minneapolis Weekend -- 7/28/08
The Old Man And The Kid -- 7/24/08
How A Northern Pike Strikes -- 7/18/08
Retro Fishing -- What's Old is New Again -- 7/17/08
Hey! I'm Fishing Here! -- 7/16/08
Mom & Dad Fish at Valdez, Alaska -- 7/15/08
Mr. Toad's Wild Adventure -- 7/11/08
North Minneapolis Murder/Suicide -- Boy Injured -- 7/11/08
Six Species on The Fourth -- 7/6/08
Local Man Catches Big Muskie on Owasso -- 7/6/08
Murder Near Augsburg, U of M -- 6/18/08
Double Murder -- South Minneapolis -- 6/12/08
South Minneapolis Shooting Death -- 6/11/08
New Minneapolis Homicide -- Arrest -- 6/9/08 (Update -- 6/10/08)
Bowling Ball Case Over -- Sentences -- 6/6/08

Previous Months' Archived Stories

Bubba Lives!

Remember Bubba, the satirical spoof of Microsoft Bob, written back in the mid 1990's? That was my freeware program. I finally found a copy, and have put it on the server. It actually still runs in Windows XP and Vista. To install it, download the zip file at the link, then extract all the files into a single directory. Right click and drag the bubba.exe file to your desktop and drop it as a shortcut. If you don't remember Microsoft Bob, or Bubba, just ignore this. Runs in all versions of Microsoft Windows, from 3.0 to Vista. Harmless to your PC.

Download bubba.zip