Transmission – it’s everywhere!
September 15th, 2005
Do you know that up by Duluth, the Arrowhead Transmission Line runs parallel, and directly over, the Willard Munger Trail in some places?
In Mendota Heights, the SE Metro line runs right over a playing field and next to a school (in South St. Paul and Sunfish Lake it runs right over and right next to houses).
These just came in from a concerned mom in the wealthy suburb of EDINA(!) in the Metro… here’s where they play soccer — Garden Park near Vernon and Hansen. Can you believe it? Given SE Metro and this, there goes the class argument. Check the size of this line!
Is this where you’d want to take a leisurely stroll? Sure, with a gauss meter for company!
And mom says I have to post this “kid with an attitude” or she’s dropping the kids off at my house for a week! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGH, ANYTHING BUT THAT!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Then again, my little pups love kids… for lunch…
OH NO! There goes the neighborhood!
September 14th, 2005
First it’s Bill, the math teacher/golf pro, who didn’t think there was enough room for him and the 8 raccoons he trapped in his house, so he went on up to teach in the Chisago schools… then Mr. Wadley died and Mike’s mom moved over to the hi-rise a few blocks away… and now Kathy and Dawn are moving. They’ve been the best of neighbors!
That’s Dawn on the left, Kathy on the right. Not long after I moved in, Kathy’s son got the dead squirrel out of my dryer, and they helped power up my house when I was experiencing “technical difficulties.” I’ve got a communal lawnmower, and their dog beats up my dogs regularly (mine are just being nice with the little bitch, yeah, that’s it).
The good news is that they’re buying their first house (about time!) and are just moving down the block and around the corner a ways. Now the houses on both sides are up for sale — I wish I could buy up the neighborhood.
Congratulations! I’ll miss having the cops come and shine flashlights on you and your friends tossing each other fully clothed into the pool in the wee hours! And Zoe… join us at doggie school! It’s taught by Natalie Faas Gerber, of Faas Kennels & Pet Supply through All Creatures Veterinary Clinic in Lake City (also Red Wing and Goodhue).
Dave Bicking goes on to Mpls. Ward 9 General Election!
September 14th, 2005
What’s happening in Prestigious East Phillips, Ward 9, my old neighborhood?
Green Candidate Dave Bicking got 565 votes in the Minneapolis City Council Primary for Ward 9, and will go on to the General Election! Here’re all the Minneapolis Council election results.
Yea, Dave! He’s a Mechanical Engineer turned Mechanic who I met through my friend Jan Nye, who I’ve known forever, they’re also friends of Ed, who taught me the value of being “outside, way outside.” Dave’s son, Ian, has a great “Why should you support my father?” pitch on his site. If Dave can pick up votes from the two candidates who didn’t make the cut, and take votes from Gary Schiff, he’s in!
RUN, DAVE, RUN!
Intellectual Outtake and the Yuck-yyyyyyy-est girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl in the whole UUUUUUU-S-AAAAAAAA!
September 13th, 2005
Well DUH! Remember that press conference the Center of the American Experiment had? Here’s coverage…
Conservative website aimed at college students
Meeks said the site was the brainchild of Katherine Kersten, former chairwoman of the center’s board and now a columnist with the Star Tribune.
Coverage… I wonder why…
While most of the site is informational, it also has an edgier feature called the “Daily Dish.” The debut item targets St. Olaf College in Northfield, which has declared sustainability as a theme for this school year. The website says Prof. Jim Farrell’s paper on sustainability, which is posted on St. Olaf’s website, “assumes we’re burning too much fossil fuel, we’re not eating healthy foods, we’re not respecting workers’ rights, we’re wasteful, and we’re spoiling the environment. Those are serious and controversial charges against our culture.”
Farrell, a history professor and director of American studies at St. Olaf, was puzzled by the criticism. Conservatives have a tradition of conservation, he said, pointing to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Richard Nixon, who created national parks and signed the first significant environmental legislation.
“I just don’t see how this is a liberal agenda,” Farrell said. “Most people on campus are pretty excited about it.”
But here’s the funniest part:
“The point is not to indoctrinate students,” she said, but to “expose students to points of view not readily available in the classroom.”
If that’s true… why is there an “Ideas to go” page, shades of “Commissioner” Yucky, that says, and yes, this is for real:
Need quick ideas and arguments? Ideas To Go are quick one-page issue summaries that you can take to class or use as a quick reference for other school work. There are at least two sides to every issue and Ideas To Go conveniently lays out the competing arguments side by side. Maybe you?re online and in class right now. Quick access to arguments is at your fingertips.
Really… here’s the “Ideas to Go” link. So, all professorial sorts who are working to educate, and not indoctrinate, assign this page and ask them to explain these ideas! All answers will be googled for originality!
FYI – they’re soliciting contributions — send copy!
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And in the “Oh my Dog!” department:
Run, Yucky, Run!
Yecke is running in Florida! www.yeckeforcongress.com CLICK THAT LINK!!! REALLY!
Wait… Yecke is running in Minnesota’s 6th District! From Florida…
What? Huh? Where am I? …oh, spelling bee… c-a-r-p-e-t-b-a-g-g-e-r, carpetbagger… this is a dream, right? 2008, against Hillary… yes… why not? Right Georgie?
Barbara J. Miller in the New York Times!
September 13th, 2005
Barbara J. Miller, one of those progressive sorts in Eagan, got an LTE in the New York Times today! Click here and scroll down, she’s the one in there between Bly & Keillor.
To the Editor:
David Brooks poses this challenge: “Liberals who think this disaster is going to set off a progressive revival need to explain how a comprehensive governmental failure is going to restore America’s faith in big government.”
Restore faith in big government? Mr. Brooks, it is only in the years since George W. Bush assumed the presidency that faith in our government has plummeted. Americans do not trust him. Americans do not trust his merry band. Americans do not trust their motives or their strategies, at home or abroad.
And now this administration has failed Americans yet again. Our federal government is only as effective and competent as its governors. Cause and effect. The big question is whether there will be anything salvageable by 2008.
Barbara J. Miller
Eagan, Minn.
