Legalectric

So there I was, minding my own business working on an awfully horrendous project, and I noticed it sounded like airplanes were trying to modify my chimney, which is pretty odd, sitting here half-way up the bluff in Red Wing. About the fifth time, I stuck my beak out, and saw an old biplane, don’t know enough to say anything more about it, and then a little bit later saw something a LOT bigger and louder that had a distinct military air about it.

Turns out there’s an airshow today and tomrrow here in Red Wing, Wings of Freedom 2005, sponsored by Treasure Island. After it was over for the day, Kenya and I snuck in and had a look around.

Tomorrow, Sunday May 29th, is the last day, from 9-5 at the Red Wing airport. Click for ticket info.

From the Red Wing Visitors and Convention Bureau website:

These two had just landed, and then the little one turned right around and took off again:

I wonder if they’ll be practicing the Tora, Tora, Tora bit over the Prairie Island plant?

Yes, it’s true, we’re in obedience school. It’s taught by Natalie Faas Gerber, of Faas Kennels & Pet Supply at All Creatures Veterinary Clinic in Lake City (also Red Wing and Goodhue).

Ken’s a rescue dog that my friend David in Wisconsin found for me at his German Shepherd rescue organization. Like all rescue dogs, she comes with some “issues.” She was a wuss, who would roll over on her back with any eye contact, and would barely wag her tail. Now she’s achieved her dogness, stands up to other dogs, and won’t stop talking, saying “Hey, pay attention to MEEEEE, I’m a dog!” wagging, but some people don’t see her grin. Hence doggie school.

School is good socialization for Kenya. Part of our homework is to go to many different locations and practice, though I don’t like to go out in public with a pocket full of hotdogs, it’s bad enough having to buy them and bring them in the house! In Duluth, we went to the Radisson, and the Aquarium. Today we went all over Red Wing, first to Memorial Park and checked out all the vistas, nicely, no barking, of course.

We toured the Treasure Island marina (Hastings Marina yesterday on the way home from Duluth), and my favorite, Lock & Dam #3 with a scenic view of the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant. An eagle is nesting at the Treasure Island turnoff, there are new ducks and geese everywhere.

If you’re looking for a dog, try the Humane Society of Goodhue County in Red Wing — here are their dogs — look at Junior! (FYI – Junior now has a new home!) Or try Northfield Animal Shelter or the Rice County Humane Society. For sheps in Minnesota, contact German Shepherd Breed Rescue of Minnesota
They have the perfect dog, Libby, waiting for you!

Somebody’s a pooped pup now:

Kelly Doran, my little bro’ David’s friend from junior high and high school, is running for Senate!

Here’s the MPR report. With Jesse’s John Wodele and a pocketfull of money, he’s got potential. And he’s getting good coverage, WCCO, The Business Journal, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Duluth News Tribune…

Run Kelly, Run!

The False Objectivity piece, by Scott Schumacher, and Can we democratize knowledge from Rob Brown, got me thinking about blogging, the purpose and uses, and I realized I regard it as I do Community Radio, not to be confused with staid ol? Public Radio, i.e., MPR, yawn… Community Radio, and Independent Public Radio too, is radio of the people, epitomized by the title of a program at KFAI run by the women?s collective ?We Want You to Know!? Good radio tells you those things you need to know, but don?t want to know ? those things you wouldn?t encounter in a typical day that shake you up and leave you twitching. Good blooging should do the same. (Does that mean I shouldn’t bore you with transmission? Naaaaaaaa, that’s stuff you NEED to know! But I probably got more people riled up before I even went online. OK, I’ll sharpen it up, bare my teeth. Manana.)

Segue back to my friend Jay, who sent the following piece from the Advocate. He has just discovered blogs, and as a 1890?s hippie faggot born in the wrong century, he is now making peace with his computer, having realized that trying to make a computer do something need not be painful for either party. This is a guy who grew all his own food in Prestigious East Phillips, a class A chef from Faegre’s and Loring, rehabbed his house mostly with hand tools, sews his own clothes ? this is a guy who a grandmotherly black woman in Richmond stopped on the street with an appreciative, ?Honey, you sure have STYLE!?

Jay?s been thinking about the power of blogs, as have I when I want to 86 the ?deals? of Bill Grant of the Izaak Walton League, or when ATC?s attorney Jeff Rauh said he found me through my blog. It?s a one person operation, cheap and easy, it harks back to the days of the early printing presses and papers that spurred the American Revolution. Could this be the advent of another? BLOG ON!

From Jay from the Advocate: Jeff vs. the bloggers. I had trouble getting to it, you may have to do a search of the title.

John Aravosis, the blogger who outed Jeff Gannon/James Guckert, the prostitute cum ?White house reporter,? regards his work as a necessary moral equalizer — here’s a quote from the Advocate:

Aravosis says he thinks a lot about the consequences of what he?s doing and that so far he is happy with the political fallout?
Asked about the ethics of outing people, he adds, ?I don?t jump up and down and say ?Yeah!? when I learn these things about people. I still feel guilty?particularly since some of them clearly have a lot of issues. But I asked my mom about it. I told her I worried about what my information could do to people, and she said, ?Do you really think someone like Dr. Laura is asking if the hateful things she?s saying against gay people are going to hurt my John? Of course not.? You are not really being nasty if you have a higher purpose of exposing people for who they really are.?

We’ve got a lot of work to do, don’t we, folks?

p.s. A comment to a post was all about dog training… cute … yes, it’s true, I am going to obedience school (Kenya is going too).

This is a Mother’s Day musing, “things mother did right.” Somewhere between shlepping me from meeting to event to cause and filling up the back seat with books, she taught me that it is my responsibility to stand up for what’s right, that’s it’s an imperative, not an option.

I’m astounded at the number of people who go through life without participating — the folks stuck wondering “why they’re here,” or who regard action as “controversial” and “not nice,” or who think passively attending meetings suffices (A trend: my divorce clients almost uniformly are not socially active, hmmmmmmmm… but that’s blog for another time). What’s the point if your actions and life are contrary to claimed values? Learning is doing, life is living, get to work!

Social action can come from any perspective, and there are so many stark needs. My struggle is one of prioritizing, along the lines of Viktor Frankel’s notion that each of us has unique gifts and it’s our job to get out there and use them. How can each of us be most effective using the gifts we have?

Studying and doing go hand in hand. Some draw the distinction between the Yiddish and Hebrew interpretations of mitzvah/mitvot, “good deeds” and “commandment” but it’s not binary — I take it to mean the imperative to act responsibly to improve our world.

There was a great talk the other day on Midday, always more meaningful on a bleary-eyed drive home after a long long day… Here’s how it was billed on the MPR site:

Robert Putnam, the Harvard political scientist who has tracked the
declining membership in everything from bowling leagues to rotary clubs, wants Americans to start doing things in groups again. Putnam says that people who socialize have longer lives, better health and are better citizens.

Here’s the link to Putnam on-line, just scroll down to that program.

Putnam is very disturbed about the trend of ignoring our civic and social responsibilities. Participation is at an all time low. This was determined by asking questions about organizations people participated in, voting and helping on campaigns, and social action. Even church attendance was measured.

Putnam found that a major influence on this negative trend is television — DUH! Off your TV.