Minneapolis / St. Paul News Blog

The ways and means committee of the Minneapolis City Council voted to toughen up the city's living wage ordinance this afternoon. The measure passed 4-2, with council members Barret Lane and Dan Niziolek in opposition.

Under the new ordinance companies that contract with the city to provide services or that receive financial subsidies from the city will be required to pay 130 percent of the federal poverty level. In current dollars that works out to $12.09 per hour--or just over $25,000 a year. If the company provides health insurance, the wage requirement drops to 110 percent of the poverty level, or $10.23 an hour.

The ordinance will come before the full council for a vote on Friday, but passage is already assured. Nine council members have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, a veto-proof margin.

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Elaine Cassel discusses the importance of Scooter Libby's indictments at Civil Liberties Watch.

Jim Walsh has this week's must-have songs at The Walsh Files.

THESE DAYS

House Republicans voted to cut student loan subsidies, child support enforcement and aid to firms hurt by unfair trade practices as various committees scrambled to piece together $50 billion in budget cuts.

Toddlers who are skinny at age two, and then rapidly put on weight, are up to three times more likely to develop coronary heart disease as adults than their chubbier playmates, a new study suggests.

Carl Levin of Michigan, the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, vowed to defeat President Bush's choice for chief Pentagon spokesman, citing an op-ed article the nominee wrote in April accusing American television networks of aiding Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Tucker is back in Minneapolis after spending a bit of time in Canterbury. Read about his efforts to retrieve his bride from Scotland, using words like "lorry" and "arse-hole" at The Life and Times of an Ex²-Pat Yank.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Desperate Housewife Felicity Huffman plays Stanley, a conservative trans-sexual who's about to take the final step to becoming the woman he always wanted to be, until he finds out that he is the parent of a long-lost 17 year old son in TransAmerica.

The classic Match Game nipple slip-up

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"You know you are really famous when becoming a comic character."

-- 87-year-old anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, on a new series of comic books chronicling his life created to get more young South Africans to read

A federal trial taking place in Iowa this week could determine the future of faith-based initiatives, or at the very least, the future of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative, a Bible-based prison reform program offered at prisons in Iowa, Texas, Kansas, and Minnesota. The IFI program has been offered at Lino Lakes Correctional Facility, just north of the Twin Cities, since July 2002.

The lawsuit filed against Iowa's Newton Correctional Facility by the D.C.-based organization Americans United for the Separation of Church and State contends that IFI is unconstitutional because it uses state and local tax dollars to promote Christianity. The Iowa Legislature has appropriated $310,000 from the Healthy Iowans Tobacco Trust for a value-based program at Newton. In Minnesota, 22 percent of IFI's funding comes from the state.

The lawyer for Americans United told the AP that the program has turned an entire unit of a state prison into an evangelical church. The lawsuit also claims that prisoners who sign up for the program get preferential treatment such as separate living quarters, special visits from family members, and access to computers. And according to prisoners who have testified, in order to be adopted into the program they must sign an agreement that they will subscribe to the teachings of InnerChange, which only promotes Christianity. In other words, Jews, Muslims, and anyone else who isn't Christian must convert in order to be a part of the reform program. The trial is expected to continue through next week.

County commish, er, clarifies position *cough, cough*

For some folks, the biggest issue in a rather indistinctive Minneapolis mayoral race is the smoking ban. There are actually two of them: One banning smoking just about anywhere indoors in Minneapolis, and one banning smoking just about anywhere indoors in Hennepin County.

Much ado was made over the summer when Hennepin County decided to "review" the ban after bar owners suffering from a deep downturn in business intensely lobbied the seven county commissioners. All eyes were on Peter McLaughlin, likely the swing vote for any kind of repeal, and a mayoral candidate who had sought to distinguish himself from his foe, incumbent R.T. Rybak.

Anyone who's spent a decent amount of time hanging out in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis knows Patrick Ashang. For years the 47-year-old Nigerian-born flower salesman has been a fixture in area watering holes like the Viking Bar, the Red Sea, and Palmer's Bar, notable for his ever-present grin.

"He's a West Bank-er," says Russon Solomon, co-owner of the Red Sea. "He came here at least twice a day. He would take a rest here. It's very sad what happened to him."

On October 18th, Ashang was peddling flowers on Cedar Avenue when he was accosted by a 29-year-old man named Zaki Mohamed Sugule. According to a criminal complaint subsequently filed in Hennepin County District Court, Sugule demanded that Ashang sell him a rose for less than the standard price. When Ashang refused, Sugule allegedly picked up a large rock and threw it at the flower salesman's head, knocking him unconscious.

Okay, just short strokes this morning:

Raw Story reports that Patrick Fitzgerald will hold a press conference today at 1 pm central time. It's a foregone conclusion that Scooter Libby will be indicted.

Not Rove, however. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the investigation will be extended--and that Rove's lawyers have been advised he won't be indicted today, but "remains in legal jeopardy."

The NYT and WashPost, meanwhile, are diametrically opposed as to whether the Fitzgerald investigation will be extended. Times says yes; WashPost says no.

I'm betting the confusion stems from the matter of whether this grand jury will be extended (maybe not, since it has already been extended before) or a new one impaneled.

(Fitzmas card graphic from azstarnet.)

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco at Couch Pundit has some great vintage comic book covers in honor of Halloween.

A local country station has won the CMA Award for Best Major Market Country Station, and that gives Jack Sparks something to chew on at the Other Side of Country.

THESE DAYS

The Washington Post reports the NFL will consider relocating the Saints to Los Angeles if New Orleans is unable to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said Thursday high oil and natural-gas prices helped its third-quarter profit surge almost 75 percent to $9.92 billion, the largest quarterly profit for a U.S. company ever, and it was the first to ring up more than $100 billion in quarterly sales.

The Wyrd Sisters, a little-known Winnipeg folk group, allege that Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire contains a scene with a musical group bearing their name, and have secured a Nov. 4 court date to apply for an injunction barring distribution of the film.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Bruce Scroggins is a Virgo who proudly calls himself a simple man who loves Jesus. Visit this Minneapolitan's political and religious blog at The Truth in LOVE.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

The Village Voice: 50 Covers/50 years gallery

Yes But No But Yes ranks the Top Ten Female Streakers of all time. [NSFW]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I think that the Republican Party fairly recently has been taken over by the Christian conservatives, by the Christian right. I don't think that this is a permanent condition, but I think this has happened, and that it's divisive for the country."

-- Former Sen. John Danforth, a Missouri Republican and an Episcopal priest, after meeting with students at the Bill Clinton School of Public Service, a graduate branch of the University of Arkansas on the grounds of the Clinton presidential library

"Messed-up teeth are so sexy."

-- Elizabethtown actress Kirsten Dunst

At around 3:15 on Tuesday afternoon a guy who seemed to appear from the cracks in the pavement darted across Nicollet from 27th Street. It looked like he was attempting to evade two oncoming cop cars, and another that was stopped on 27th. One cop car, going north on Nicollet, screeched to a rolling stop before hitting the black late-teen/early-twentysomething male. There was a thud, the suspect rolled to the ground, and then wobbled on bent ankles as he tried to pick himself up and run again.

A few staggering half-steps later, he again was brought to the ground by the cop who struck him with his car, though by this time the cop was out of the car and using his hands to wrap the man's arms around his back. The suspect lay face-first on Nicollet as the cop cuffed him, picked up something that had fallen from the young man's pocket, and then placed him in the back of the cop car and drove off, two other cop cars in tow. So why was this guy sprinting from the cops, only to literally run into them? According to the 5th Precinct, there is no record of the incident or the arrest.

Ward rejiggering still taints council races

With less than two weeks to go before a citywide election cycle culminates in Minneapolis, it's clear that the new ward boundaries that go into effect in January still loom large in this year's campaigns.

While much has been written in City Pages about the practical effects of the redrawing of electoral maps based on 2000 Census data--the pitting of two lefty incumbents against each other in the new Sixth Ward, and two black incumbents having to square off in the new Fifth--no one has spoken candidly about the intent behind the process.

(A prescient primer by CP's Britt Robson--from three and a half years ago--is here.)

But one source with close knowledge of the the backroom wheeling and dealing recently spoke with City Pages about what politicos involved hoped to gain from it.

What do these three stories about health insurance add up to?

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that Wal-Mart is pondering ways to cut its benefits costs by hiring healthier workers and imposing policies that make working for Wal-Mart less attractive to people who can't get or stay healthy. The Journal's site is subscription-only, but here's a taste:

The Wal-Mart memo to the company's board of directors proposes incorporating physical activity in all jobs to discourage the infirm from applying. For example, the memo suggests that Wal-Mart arrange for "all cashiers to do some cart gathering." The memo also promotes health-savings accounts, which are funded by workers' pretax dollars and can be diverted to retirement accounts or rolled over to pay for health care the following year. Health-benefits specialists say these accounts are most appealing to younger, healthier workers. "It will be far easier to attract and retain a healthier work force than it will be to change behavior in an existing one," says the memo, which was previously disclosed in the New York Times yesterday. "These moves would also dissuade unhealthy people from coming to work at Wal-Mart."

Donna Gimbut, principal owner of Living Out Media Group and Three Dollar Bill, has filed for federal bankruptcy protection. The Minneapolis-based companies published gay and lesbian service directories in at least six cities around the country, as well as Living OUT, a local bi-weekly newspaper.

In August I wrote an article detailing the companies' dubious financial practices. Numerous advertisers, both locally and around the country, alleged that they had paid for advertisements that were never printed. In addition, former employees claimed to be owed hourly wages and sales commissions.

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Dylan Hicks and his toddler will have to agree to disagree about Black Eyed Peas's "My Humps" at Hicky's Infrequently Updated Blog.

We congratulate Diablo Cody on reaching the 21st century at Pussy Ranch.

Peter Scholtes has photos from Saturday's Samba Mapangala show at the Blue Nile at Complicated Fun.

THESE DAYS

President Bush today "reluctantly accepted" Harriet Miers' withdrawal from her nomination to the Supreme Court, according to a statement from the White House.

Hall of Famer Joe Morgan bemoans the declining racial diversity in Major League Baseball as the Houston Astros become the first team in 50 years to not have an African-American on their World Series team.

Variety reports that the Weinstein brothers' newly formed studio, The Weinstein Co., will develop a TV series based on the graphic novel-turned movie Sin City which will follow the 2006 big screen sequel.

The Ku Klux Klan plans to rally in Austin, Texas, to support the anti-gay marriage amendment set for the Nov. 8 ballot.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Help welcome St. Paulite Darlene to the blogosphere. The writer and proofreader is honing her craft at Human Nature Nuggets, which also happens to be a part of a balanced breakfast.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Wacky and painful bloopers from Nintendo's Mario

How to Become a Republican [via Andrew Sullivan]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"As for Mr. Cheney: He will be remembered as the vice president who campaigned for torture."

-- From an editorial in yesterday's Washington Post

Northwest Rebuts Star Tribune Investigation

There's a statement from Northwest Airlines Executive VP for Operations Andy Roberts in today's Star Tribune taking the paper to task over an October 2 front-page story about maintenance during the two-month-old mechanics' strike. It appears on the opinion page, even though it reads like the kind of letter newspapers--this one among them--often get from corporate public relations staffers following the publication of a long and damaging article. It's looooong on details and technical jargon and probably intended to look like a laundry list of errors made by the reporters, but to be so dull and impenetrable that most readers won't absorb anything other than its size.

St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly's endangered re-election campaign is ratcheting up the rhetoric. In a mailing received by St. Paul voters this week, his opponent Chris Coleman is pictured with his mouth zippered shut. The headline on the piece reads, "Chris Coleman has a plan to raise taxes and spend your money. He just won't tell you what the plan is before the election."

The piece then goes on to use some fuzzy math to portray Coleman as a truly terrifying menace to taxpayers. For instance, the mailing notes that when the city council voted to raise St. Paul's property tax levy by 67 percent more than what was proposed by Mayor Kelly, "Chris Coleman was silent!" Of course, this is another way of saying that the city council voted to raise the property tax levy by 5 percent, whereas Kelly wanted a 3 percent boost. But that doesn't sound nearly as menacing.

Patrick Fitzgerald and Co. arrived at the courthouse in Washington today shortly before 9 a.m. The Financial Times reports that "Indictments in the CIA leak investigation case are expected to be handed down by a grand jury on Wednesday" [read story], but that conflicts with the word from ABC's The Note this morning, and possibly with a story in Roll Call that hints Fitzgerald may extend the investigation past the expiration of this grand jury's term on Friday. Here's what The Note has to say about both:

ABC News' Jason Ryan has this guidance from a Justice Department official: NO ANNOUNCEMENT FROM FITZGERALD IS EXPECTED TODAY. (Though, it should be Noted, that it is possible that the grand jury could return an indictment today placed under seal--or a myriad of non-announcement developments.)...

This might or might not be a tea leave as big as all Rancho Cucamonga: Roll Call's Mary Ann Akers, in the only scoop of the cycle, hears that Fitzgerald paid a visit to Patton Boggs yesterday to see Karl Rove's attorney Robert Luskin. Akers says the hallways of the firm were abuzz with rumors that Fitzgerald will have to ask for an extension on the investigation.

Go to The Note.

It's no wonder the press is at such loose ends over what Fitzgerald will do, and when--just consider the discrepant possibilities the Roll Call story suggests. First, we do not know whether Fitzgerald really met with Robert Luskin, and if so, whether Fitzgerald told him the investigation might be extended. If he did, we do not know whether he meant that a) the investigation is not finished, or b) Rove should come to the table on a plea bargain now, lest Fitzgerald keep the whole Bush crew on the hot seat even longer.

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Paul Demko wrote a song called "Dollar Store." Give it a listen at Live Nude Weblog!

Steve Monaco has a pretty dyspeptic president at Couch Pundit.

Peter Scholtes has more background on the recent Soul Asylum show, as well as a Stinson/Westerberg collaboration at Complicated Fun.

THESE DAYS

At least 21 detainees who died while in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan were the victims of homicide and usually died during or after interrogations, according to an analysis of Defense Department data.

The 2,000th American solider has been killed in Iraq.

For the first time since the fall of the Taliban's Islamic government four years ago, a journalist has been convicted by a Kabul court under Afghanistan's blasphemy laws.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Happy anniversary and happy bloggiversary to the dharma blog.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Fred Thompson sends Albert Brooks to India and Pakistan to find out what makes Muslims laugh in Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World.

A classic from the British game show Catch Phrase.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"We could make so much money if we would just write scripts like that and go shoot them and put big stars in them. But, first of all, we hate actors. And second, I just can't imagine being on a set of a movie like 'Deuce Bigalow.'"

-- South park co-creator Trey Parker, on why he and Matt Stone shy away from making live action movies

Back in the Carter and Reagan eras there were stories about "dusters," unruly teens so wacked out on PCP they'd jump through windows five stories high or sail a rusty Ford Granada over a cliff just to feel what it's like to fly. In 1980, two doctors did a study on PCP's image as perpetuated by the media and found, among many questionable and oft-repeated stories, 17 newspaper accounts of a duster gouging out his/her own eyes, nine accounts of PCP user cutting off a various body part, and five stories about a user wandering onto the highway to do push-ups. The doctors don't deny that PCP is a dangerous drug for the user; but the study focuses only on how anecdotes become apocrypha, cobbled-together and interchangeable stories that resemble horror tales and folklore from the past. In many cases, these angel-dust scare stories were unfounded or only held kernels of the truth.

In the last few years, meth undoubtedly has replaced PCP and marijuana before it as the new drug that supposedly turns users into demons who are prone to cause unspeakable harm if provoked. According to all the hype, meth users are scary and unpredictable creatures, like startled deer with antlers made of rusty knives and hooves soaked in batter acid. In a program about meth called "MPD Cops" that recently aired on the Metro Cable Network, the Minneapolis Police Department detailed what to do when approaching a "tweaker." Is it a cautionary tale or a repeat of Reefer Madness?

"Safety Tips When Approaching a Tweaker"

1. Keep your distance--seven to 10 feet away and call police.

2. DO NOT shine bright lights at him/her. They are already paranoid and if blinded they are likely to run or become violent.

CITY PAGES BLOGS

City Pages staff writer and musical raconteur Jim Walsh has recently launched The Walsh Files, a weekly mix of 20 must-have tunes that will finally make your life worth living.

An open letter to Hugh Hefner's girlfriend from Diablo Cody at the Pussy Ranch.

Peter Scholtes has some photos from Freestyle Fridays at Digital City Music at Complicated Fun.

THESE DAYS

Rosa Parks, who helped trigger the civil rights movement in the 1950s, died Monday. She was 92.

The New York Daily News states Bush usually reserves his celebrated temper for senior aides because he knows they can take it, but lately some junior staffers have also faced the boss' wrath during these dark days.

A man named Don Harper in a knockoff Elmo costume was taken down by a special task force created to combat a growing nuisance in the Hollywood tourist district: famous costumed characters who try to be photographed with tourists and sometimes badger them relentlessly for tips.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Check out the newly-redesigned Alt Text blog by blogger Ben Edwards while he's vacationing in California.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Withdraw Miers Page

The Singing Glaucoma Page

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I hope what this did is make them relax. We've been talking about having more fun around here."

-- Vikings Head Coach Mike Tice, in yesterday's Strib, probably not talking about that kind of fun

It's seemed clear for more than a week now that Scooter Libby will probably fare worst when Patrick Fitzgerald concludes his CIA leak investigation; the main question in the minds of a lot of people I've talked to about the case in recent days is whether Karl Rove will face similarly grave charges. I doubt it, myself. But if what Jason Leopold and Larisa Alexandrovna have posted today at Raw Story proves to be an accurate summation of the case Fitzgerald has built, then it appears to be a blockbuster with or without a slew of charges against Rove. They write:

Those familiar with information provided to Fitzgerald say that shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, [Cheney staffer Donald] Wurmser was handpicked by Harold Rhode, a Foreign Affairs Specialist in the Office of Net Assessment, a Pentagon "think tank," and Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith to head a top secret Pentagon "cell" whose job was to comb through CIA intelligence documents and find evidence that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States and its neighbors in the Middle East so a case could be made to launch a preemptive military strike. Wurmser largely invented evidence that Iraq had close ties to Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden, sources knowledgeable about his work told RAW STORY.

Although the CIA documents that Wurmser and his staff pored over never showed Iraq as being an immediate threat, Wurmser was dead set on finding and presenting evidence to Vice President Dick Cheney that suggested as much even if the veracity of such intelligence was questionable, sources close the probe said. Wurmser had met with now discredited Iraqi exiles who were part of the Iraqi National Congress, headed by Ahmed Chalabi, the infamous single source of Judith Miller's explosive columns published in the New York Times that said Iraq was acquiring nuclear bomb components, who is now the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, they added.

Read the Raw Story post.

Incidentally, I'm on vacation this week, so the updates here may be fewer and further between than usual. I'll certainly pop in if indictments are announced this week, as expected, and meantime keep an eye on Raw Story and firedoglake.

Last week we asked readers of The Blotter, to try their hand at turning Kersten's prose into haiku (that's three-line verses with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third), taking as their fodder her 10/17 column on the Vikings' booty cruise and her 10/20 "money doesn't buy happiness" homily. We even promised prizes consisting of City Pages gear and movie promo swag to the winners.

Find out who won after the jump...

The company that publishes The Village Voice and five other alternative newspapers [including City Pages] is to announce today an agreement to be acquired by New Times Media, the largest publisher in the market. The deal would create a chain of 17 free weekly newspapers around the country with a combined circulation of 1.8 million.

The merger--coming in the same week as The Voice's 50th anniversary--will undoubtedly raise questions about whether The Voice and its siblings can preserve their anti-establishment roots as part of a growing corporation.

But in an increasingly rocky media landscape, an equally important question is whether conglomeration will give the chain--which would include LA Weekly, SF Weekly, Miami New Times and The Dallas Observer--the editorial and financial muscle to compete against free competitors, both online and in print.

--NYT

Read David Schneiderman's memo to VVM staffers here.

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has your Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

Check in with The Blotter later this morning to find out who won the Katherine Kersten Haiku Contest!

Find out which famous dead person Diablo Cody portrayed at a recent Halloween soiree at Pussy Ranch.

THESE DAYS

Category 3 Wilma makes landfall in southwest Florida.

The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday unanimously struck down a state law that punished underage sex more severely if it involved homosexual acts, saying "moral disapproval" of such conduct is not enough to justify the different treatment.

Joseph Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame are preparing to file a civil suit against Bush administration officials who may have disclosed Plame's identity and scuttled her career as a covert CIA agent.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Minneapolitan Gopher-Goof wonders how Bush reconciles his faith with his deeds at The MN Life.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

North Country co-stars Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand re-team to bring MTV's animated freedom fighter Aeon Flux to the big screen.

Coffee shop employee Lev Yilmaz has created a terrifically droll animation about his more-successful friends. [via Drawn!]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I beat Mike Wallace on that. Mike gets his suits from funeral homes."

-- 60 Minutes correspondent Morley Safer, 74, on being labeled a "fashion icon" by Time Magazine, and why co-star Mike Wallace is not

"Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the First Amendment."

-- Pundit Ann Coulter, working the crowd at the third annual Ronald Reagan Black Tie and Blue Jeans BBQ in Alachua County, Florida

The worst kept secret in Minnesota politics will be formally let out of the bag Monday afternoon when Attorney General Mike Hatch will announce his candidacy for governor. Hatch will make his announcement at 1:30 p.m. at the Riverfront Ballroom at the St. Paul Radisson, where he will speak at the Minnesota Nurses Association convention.

 

From today's Los Angeles Times:

"OH MY GOD!!!!!!! I just ate an MRE [military rations] and crapped in the hallway of the Superdome along with 30,000 other close friends so I understand her concern about busy restaurants."

--Text message sent two days after Hurricane Katrina by Marty Bahamonde when he learned that an aide to his boss, Michael Brown, was fretting over dinner reservations.

There's an article associated with this, but really the quote says all you need to know.

On Wednesday the St. Paul City Council approved paying out $115,000 to resident Patrick Fearing and his attorneys to settle a civil rights case filed three years earlier.

In July, Fearing won a rare victory in U.S. District Court when jurors determined that officers Jason Bain and David Stokes used excessive force while arresting Fearing on New Year's Eve of 2001. The officers were cleared on additional claims of assault and battery, while a third cop was determined to have done nothing wrong.

William McGuire, the CEO of the Minnetonka-based HMO United Health Care, should have another bountiful Christmas. Naturally, as chieftain of the second largest HMO in the nation, McGuire is handsomely compensated. But how, um, handsomely? According to Joel Albers, a health care economist with the organization Minnesota Universal Health Care Action Network, McGuire is the highest paid CEO in the history of Minnesota. Last year, McGuire reaped salary and stock options worth approximately $124 million; a hefty leap from his $94 million compensation package in 2003. By Albers' calculations, if McGuire were to accept a paltry $19 million for his past two years labors, there would be enough money left over to insure the 77,000 Minnesota children who currently lack coverage.

Finally, just as she goes down in flames, a reason to like Harriet Miers.

Today's Slate contains several interesting articles about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, but my hands-down favorite is one by a former securities analyst that points out that at 60, Bush's longtime crony has nowhere near enough money for a secure retirement. Yep, that's right, consigliore to George W. Bush, the man who decreed that his (now squandered?) political capital would be spent privatizing Social Security.

When Miers left Dallas law firm Locke Liddell in 1999--and the $624,000 salary she earned as a managing partner--her IRA (then a firm profit-sharing account) contained between $500,000 and $1 million. Every year since, however, this account balance has mysteriously declined, so much so that it now totals the aforementioned $207,000...

...So, where has all that retirement money been going? Perhaps to another expense category depressingly familiar to most Americans: health-care costs. According to the Journal and AP, Miers is the primary caretaker for her 91-year-old mother, who has required in-home and nursing-home care since the mid-1990s. That a decade of her mom's health care could consume several hundred thousand dollars set aside for Miers' own retirement won't come as a surprise to anyone who has had (or paid for) a long-term illness in recent years.

I possess a uterus, and damn strong feelings about retaining control of it, but I daresay the spectre of abortion becoming illegal in this country is softened considerably by the thought of a justice who has some recent experience with what it's like to find that being middle class has diddly to do with financial security.

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Peter S. Scholtes profiles Gino Washington and Geno Washington at Complicated Fun.

Corey Anderson has Dar Williams, John Hartford, and Hayseed Dixie in the Friday Random Ten at American Idle.

THESE DAYS

A recent State University of New York study showed that women who are directly exposed to semen are less depressed. The researchers think this is because mood-altering hormones in semen are absorbed through the vagina.

Marty Bahamonde, a FEMA regional director, told a Senate panel investigating the government's response to the Katrina disaster that he gave regular updates to people in contact with then-FEMA Director Michael Brown as early as Aug. 28, and was met with silence.

Actor Alexis Arquette, brother of Rosanna, David, and Patricia, is planning on broadcasting his sex change operation in a two-hour special on the A&E network.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

The trio of Memberblogger, Truth and Justice, and MnSky search the web for a little honesty at Truth Surfer.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Never invite Scorpy to a tail-touch game.

Tom Delay's mug shot

An unaired nude scene from the marital counselling episode of Family Guy. [NSFW]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH [POLITICAL PARTY PARSING EDITION]

"Republican politicians are the same as Democratic politicians in that they like to spend money. Democrats want to raise taxes to pay for it, and Republicans allow the next generation to pay for it."

-- Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), in a speech to the George Washington University College Republicans [via The Hill]

"That's a difference between Democrats and Republicans -- we don't want them next door molesting children and murdering women."

-- Republican DA and New York senatorial candidate Jeanine Pirro, on the Democrats's love of child molesters and murderers

From an e-mail with the subject head: "Don't Be a Loser With Your Powerball Winnings":

Dear G.R.,

It's official. One lucky person holds the only winning ticket for the $340 million Powerball jackpot. Once the identity is known, the first question will certainly be what are you going to do with all that cash?

Jerry Webb, CFP, Chairman of Minnesota-based Webb Financial Group says that those who come into money should be careful of their first steps. "There is an inherent excitement that comes with the receipt of unexpected money and many make foolish mistakes."

Webb explains, "Take your sweet time. Sit down with professionals including a good financial advisor, lawyer and accountant to determine goals and create a sensible plan. In the meantime, place the windfall in a money market account where it will be safe until an action plan is in place."

Most of all, Webb advises against rash decisions such as immediately quitting one's job. "Remember, there's no rush. You'd much rather take your time in the beginning then turn around in a year or two and have loss a large of amount of money," asserts Webb.

Speak with Jerry Webb to discuss what individual's [SIC] should do with a large financial windfall. For an interview contact Bradd DelMuto at 610-642-8253 or email Bradd@GregoryFCA.com.

Thank you for your consideration.

Nothing personal; all in a day's work.

It's pretty clear now that Scooter will go down--but who's still sure that Rove will too? If a perjury charge for initially failing to disclose some of his Plame-related conversations to the grand jury is all Fitzgerald's got on KR, it may not be the stake through the heart for Rove's political career that everyone supposes.