Here comes another round of happy-face headlines with the word "surplus" in them to describe the current condition of the Minnesota state economy. You're going to hear and read that the state's latest forecast has uncovered an extra $88 million, even after paying off the $93 million Minnesota borrowed from its public schools four years ago. When you do, keep a couple of salient facts in mind that might provide a more realistic appraisal of the state's current financial health.

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On February 20th, Thomas Clayton Cadwell reported to the Dakota County Jail, in Hastings, to serve a sentence for driving after his license had been revoked. At approximately 7:30 p.m., while searching the 45-year-old Northfield resident's leather jacket, an officer allegedly discovered a plastic bag containing a white powder substance. Upon being questioned, according to a criminal complaint filed in Dakota County District Court, Cadwell admitted taking crystal meth within the previous week. He also stated that he had checked his property roughly 20 times to make sure that he wasn't bringing any illegal substances into the jail. The powder in his jacket tested positive for meth. Cadwell faces one count of fifth degree possession of a controlled substance. According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, he has 10 prior criminal convictions, including four citations for driving while impaired.

THESE DAYS

Effa Manley became the first woman elected to the baseball Hall of Fame when the former Newark Eagles executive was among 17 people from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues chosen Monday by a special committee.

Abortions, pornography, and contraceptives will be banned in the new Florida town of Ave Maria created by Tom Monaghan, a former marine who was raised by nuns and is the founder of the Domino's Pizza.

A conference sponsored by a group that claims immigration is a global threat to whites is being held at the Dulles Hyatt in Herndon, Virginia, prompting criticism of the hotel for hosting the event. [via AmericaBlog]

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

When was the last time you read a good peeing-on-a-raccoon story? Kevin M at the Insomnia Report doesn't let us down.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Malcolm Gladwell's blog

Steve Buscemi directs Casey Affleck as a failed writer who returns to his hometown in Indiana and falls for Liv Tyler in Lonesome Jim.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"We find an organization that is deeply troubled by bad management, by sex and corruption and by a growing lack of confidence in its ability to carry out missions that are given to them."

-- U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, on the United Nations

Guess which former Minnesota congressman is de-scandalizing the scandal?

Talking Points Memo has a scoop about the Gopher state's connection to the United Arab Emirates/Dubai Ports World issue. Which state politico would have the kind of reach into the higher echelons of Washington right-wing think tanks and policy firms required for such prestige?

That's right, it's Vin Weber! Weber, a six-time congressman from Minnesota who's been a busy little beaver since he left office, is working for Clark and Weinstock--a DC-based "consulting firm" that apparently has mastered the art of spin. Weber's firm will essentially deal with damage control.

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CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has the latest Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

Britt Robson breaks down last night's Timberwolves game at Balls!

Molly Priesmeyer profiles local artist Jaron Childs at Culture To Go.

THESE DAYS

Jason Kottke, the web designer who quit his job to run his blog full-time, has abandoned his plan to make a living through blogging after exactly one year.

The internal logs of at least 40 touch-screen voting machines from Florida reveal that votes were time and date-stamped as cast two weeks before the 2004 election, sometimes in the middle of the night.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Five contributors discuss all things tech, from laser pointers to Xbox to RSS feeds and more at Technology Evangelist.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Cute and hurt: 50 Animals in Casts

President Bush's Thanksgiving 2003 trip to Iraq has been commemorated with this classy Turkey Dinner George W. Bush Action Figure.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"My view is that neither England or America are democratic societies. You can't really speak your mind and if you do you're investigated."

-- British rocker Morrissey, after being interrogated by FBI and British intelligence after speaking out against the American and British governments

Obfuscation and half-truths have been the norm from the outset with regards to the U.S. military's assessment of what's happening on the ground in Iraq. But the quotes from Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, as reported by Knight Ridder today, would seem to set some kind of new standard for disingenuousness.

Here's the money quote:

"We're not seeing civil war igniting in Iraq. We're not seeing 77, 80, 100 mosques damaged. We're not seeing death in the streets."

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In recent years, the juggernaut that is the Minnesota real estate industry has inspired plenty of jeremiads. It's no mystery why. Minnesotans have long taken pride in the natural beauty of the place, and it is vanishing before their eyes at an appalling pace. With so much formerly pristine countryside being subdivided, paved or otherwise degraded, the time to act is now. Actually, the time to act was a decade or two back. But, as the man says, better late than never.

All this is addressed in considerable detail in a 56-page report released yesterday by the Minnesota Campaign for Conservation. The report opens on an optimistic note. The first passage, titled "Minnesota's Past Points the Way to a Proud Future," makes the usual high-minded points about the state's legacy as a leader in conservation and its ample natural resources.

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CITY PAGES BLOGS

Britt Robson has an interview with legendary rocker John Fogerty at Culture To Go.

THESE DAYS

Virgin Mobile says cellular phones "are now the cause of a reported 3.8 million cases of repetitive strain injuries per year" in Great Britain.

Palestinian beermaker Nadim Khoury has developed a nonalcoholic microbrew named after the Islamists of Hamas.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Brad Bellaver blogs on internal communication, knowledge management, and corporate blogging at The Memo.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Athiest Pin-Ups

Time 4 Bed: My bear's on my hip and I'm tucked in tight!

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Danish flags are good, or posters reading 'Stand By Denmark' and any variation on this theme (such as 'Buy Carlsberg/Havarti/Lego')."

-- Slate contributor Christopher Hitchens, organizing a supportive rally to be held today in front of the Danish Embassy in response to the Mohammed cartoon fracas

Robbery rate increases citywide for first weeks of 2006

This summer saw one of the better media larks in recent memory, when a local TV station did an expose on crime in Uptown: Purse-snatchings, wallet-grabs and register-lootings were so widespread that some businesses pooled their resources to hire off-duty cops for extra security in the area.

Soon other media outlets bit on the story without checking one simple fact: According the Minneapolis Police Department's own statistics, robberies hadn't increased in the area significantly for the last three years.

But if things were relatively the same in Uptown, it was not so in the rest of the city. Robberies have been on the steady increase in all precincts for more than the last year and a half.

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THESE DAYS

Lovers know that men usually need a "recovery period" after orgasm, and that sexual intercourse with orgasm is more satisfying than an orgasm from masturbation alone. Now scientists think the two phenomena might be linked.

Recent statistics show that the fastest-growing jobs in the U.S. also happen to be those with the lowest compensation. At the same time, the minimum wage is, in real dollar terms, the lowest it has been since its enactment in 1947.

A garbage hauling company that collects San Francisco's trash will begin a pilot program under which it will use biodegradable bags and dog-waste carts to pick up dog poop which will be tossed into a methane digester, a tank in which bacteria feed on feces for weeks to create methane gas. [via Sploid]

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Vox Verax is a group blog recently launched by retired U.S. Foreign Service officer Tom Maertens, writer and former DFL House candidate Leigh Pomeroy, former Strib columnist Jim Klobuchar, and retired school teacher and Rochester city councilman Joe Mayer. Their stated goal is to analyze political issues from the left, right, and center.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Vote for Lando: Napoleon Skywalker

Dick Cheney: A Big Bowl of Bad

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"It was great to have an opening act that was also us. That way if we got booed off, we'd just go right back again."

-- Actor Michael McKean, on NPR, discussing his faux folk trio, featuring Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer, opening for their more famous fake band, Spinal Tap, on a tour