Minneapolis / St. Paul News Blog

Driving back from the Lake Of The Isles dog park just now, I saw a guy in a minivan give a couple bucks to a guy standing on the corner holding a cardboard sign. It struck me that it was one of the few times I've seen that happen since this or even this. It made me curious: When you see someone asking for money, do you give or not? Why or why not? Do you have rules? Does it depend on your mood? Your cash-in-pocket? How do you feel if you do or don't? Please do tell anything helps God bless.

Popular progressive bloggers Jerome Armstrong (MyDD) and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, left, (DailyKos) will be bending elbows and signing books at a special Tuesday edition of Drinking Liberally on May 2. The co-authors of a new book, Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics, will join the usual unsavories at the 331 Club in Northeast Minneapolis from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The confluence of local and national lefty bloggers is also rumored to be attracting the presence of Bitch Ph.D. and Pharyngula blogger PZ Myers.

 

UPDATE: Rew from Drinking Liberally has commented below that just Kos will be attending the festivities, and not Armstrong.

 

After all the amendments to the Twins stadium bill had been considered, members of the Minnesota House engaged in about an hour of debate, culminating a marathon, seven-hour session on the issue. What follows is the majority of that final testimony, with just a few gaps due to a tape running out and requiring replacement.

THESE DAYS

A Georgia gubernatorial candidate, Secretary of State Cathy Cox, accepted the resignation of her campaign manager after he was accused of changing the Wikipedia biography of an opponent in an upcoming Democratic primary.

A recent survey discovered that British women find domestic chores "mentally therapeutic," and many prefer house cleaning to making love.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Find out for yourself what made a Pentagon employee spend over an hour combing through the archives at Saucy Dame Delux.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

From McSweeney's: Old Jokes, Updated to Make Them Even Older

Minnesota writer David Erickson has 2006 NFL draft prospects video highlights to get you prepped for this Saturday.

The theme to Hawaii 5-O played with hands

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"There were many people who said Apple would go bankrupt if they went ahead with the logo."

-- graphic designer Rob Janoff, credited with designing the now-famous multi-colored Apple Computer logo

"Minnesota is such a fabulous state to live and work, it's a stretch to think people would choose not to live in Minnesota because our laws continue to reflect that marriage is between a man and a woman."

-- State Sen. Michele Bachmann, dismissing the theory that a gay marriage ban in Minnesota would make it more difficult for businesses to recruit employees

Folks, I want to step in here again and say that I appreciate all the comments you've submitted to the thread from yesterday's post, the slams as well as the defenses of the item. But actually I have to disagree with one of our defenders, the commenter named Rob--I don't think people are, for the most part, stupid. I think that, in many respects, their instincts are ahead of those of most journalists most of the time. I would say instead that one of the biggest problems with the news media is that they usually presume their readers to be stupid.

Having read a lot of comments and emails in the last 12 hours from readers who've seen the lives of loved ones wrecked or ended by meth, I think the readers were ahead of us on this one. We believed that there was a legitimate point to be made about the dangers of overhyping meth or any other drug of the hour, as I said yesterday. That was why I approved the item. But if you're going to make that point regarding meth, it deserves some careful qualification--clearly, meth is not just any drug in the way it takes hold of many users--and in retrospect, casting it as a gag item in the Best of the Twin Cities issue was not the way to raise the point. For the record, we think it would be a bad idea to go out and try crystal meth, in much the same way it would be a bad idea to go out and try a round of Russian roulette.

What I wrote in my initial note yesterday was prompted in part by the fact that of the first 10 or 11 responses we got at our office, no fewer than five were from TV reporters or radio producers looking to generate an easy one-day media story. I don't have a lot of respect for follow-the-leader feeding frenzies, in journalism or anywhere else.

But since I wrote that, as you can see from the Blotter comment thread below and the one attached to the item itself, we have heard from a number of people whose firsthand experience is palpable, horrendous, and undeniable. If you've read this paper to any extent at all, you know that there are plenty of people whose feet we relish putting to the fire. Drug casualties and their loved ones aren't among them. What makes me feel worse, frankly, is that we have always worked hard in our news and features section to avoid the class biases and blind spots that shape way too much of the news coverage available today. What I mean is that we try regularly to tell stories that cast a light on people most media don't bother with, since those people don't belong to the most desirable ad/demographic niches.

And we blew it on that score here, in my view. Would we have published a satiric item about meth if it were tearing through the city neighborhoods where we live in the way it's tearing through many small towns and suburbs? No, I can't imagine we would; I can't imagine it would even occur to us to do so. We're sorry for the blind spot we put on display, and for the pain it clearly caused for many readers.

Last summer, the St. Paul City Council voted to forgive a $750,000 loan to the Minnesota Business Academy, an experimental charter school that enjoyed the backing of many prominent politicians and business people. At the time, there was considerable skepticism voiced over the bail out. The school--which aimed to immerse its "associates" in the business culture--had struggled financially from its inception six years ago, largely because of the more than $9 million it expended on start up costs.

In what is being described by organizers as "the largest youth antiwar demonstration in Minnesota since the Vietnam era," thousands of students are planning to walk out of classes tomorrow in protest of the war in Iraq and military recruitment in schools. But at least two area schools (Central and Jefferson) are threatening students with suspension. The students will hold a press conference this afternoon at 3:30 at Minneapolis Technical and Community College (1501 Hennepin Ave., Mpls.), the site of a proposed peace concert for tomorrow that also got unplugged. Here are the students' statements:

THESE DAYS

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore's son and three Democratic campaign workers were sentenced Wednesday to four to six months in jail for slashing tires outside a Milwaukee Bush-Cheney campaign office on Election Day 2004.

Telecom giant LM Ericsson AB is offering buyouts to up to 1,000 of its employees in Sweden, a voluntary package that is only being offered to employees between the ages of 35 and 50.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Outreach worker Kelly photographs and writes about the Twin Cities homeless population at No Permanent Address.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Average Homeboy: White Rapper

Web Comics in Tattoo Form

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I kind of have to get back to my life, go back to making some money."

-- "Lost" actress Michelle Rodriguez outside a courtroom after pleading guilty to driving under the influence. Rodriguez has opted to pay a $500 fine and spend five days in jail versus 240 hours of community service.

In response to a series of inquiries and complaints--a vastly disproportionate share of them from reporters in other media--City Pages editor Steve Perry made the following statement about this week's Best of the Twin Cities blurb for Best Cheap Thrill, which named crystal meth the winner:

"Though it may come as a shock to talk radio tubthumpers and even a few of our readers, every Best of the Twin Cities issue we've ever done has contained items that were mainly satiric in intent. This is one. If you actually read the item, you can see that it calls methamphetamine a nasty drug we'd be better off without. In May 2003, City Pages published the first extensive local print feature [1] [2] on the toll meth has taken in rural Minnesota.

"The point of the item is not to advocate that people consider trying crystal meth when they're planning a cheap evening's worth of fun, and we think only a seriously dense person could conclude that it was. (That probably explains why the topic was such a hit on Twin Cities drive-time talk radio this morning.) The point of the item was that it's possible to make entirely too much of the drug hype of the hour--unless you're in radio or television, of course."

UPDATE: Best Cheap Thrill: a postscript and, yes, an apology

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

The Best of the Twin Cities 2006 issue is live!

THESE DAYS

Del Mar College in Texas has blocked MySpace.com in response to complaints about sluggish Internet speed on campus computers.

A recent study by economists of the Bank of England and the universities of Heidelberg and Bonn showed psychologists displaying greater success at picking stocks than physicists, mathematicians, and economists. [via Undernews]

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Raven had the flu and has an IMDB listing. Maybe you can figure out who Raven really is by reading her blog, Narcoleptic Squirrel.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

1984 Newsweek advertising insert from Apple (go to page 10 to see a certain Microsoft founder giving his endorsement)

Fluffer Nutter: the six-toed kitten

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Democrats are trying to stir up crap."

-- Republican consultant Joe Gaylord, commenting on the New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal that continues to reverberate after more than three years

It's been more than three years since Minneapolis police officer Duy Ngo was shot numerous times by a fellow officer while working undercover. (See my 2003 CP cover story for the full background.)

Ngo filed suit against the city and Charles Storlie, the officer who shot him, in June of 2003, seeking $9 million. After months of gathering evidence and taking depositions, the case has reached a climactic point.

There is hardly a shortage of speculation as to how the Minnesota Twins managed to convince so many lawmakers to finally grease the skids for a publicly funded ballpark. In one commonly held view, the Twins owe their success mainly to their freakish persistence. Returning to the Capitol year after year, the thinking goes, the Twins simply wore down exasperated legislators until they caved, battered palookas too weary to go another round. But there is a much more unseemly--and likely--explanation, too: the gobs of money the Pohlad clan has stuffed into politicians' coffers in recent years.

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Peter S. Scholtes discusses the 1961 debate between James Baldwin and Malcolm X at Complicated Fun.

A call for comment on the recent CMT Awards sends Jack Sparks on a rant at the Other Side of Country.

THESE DAYS

The Vatican is preparing to publish a statement on the use of condoms by people who have AIDS, a senior Roman Catholic official has said.

Statistics from security firm Sophos show that China will soon surpass the U.S. as the largest source of junk e-mail.

A South Carolina bill, proposed by Republican Rep. Ralph Davenport, would make it a felony to sell devices used primarily for sexual stimulation and allow law enforcement to seize sex toys from raided businesses.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Minneapolitan Paul Schmelzer blogs on net neutrality, rising oil costs, and architecture at Eyeteeth: A journal of incisive ideas.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Draw a little sketch, and Retrievr will do lousy job of finding Flickr photos that match.

Featuring performances by U2 and Rufus Wainwright et al, director Lian Lunson profiles a musical icon in the documentary Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, coming in June.

The evolution of the Netflix envelope

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"The facts are there that we have created, man has, a self-inflicted wound that man has created through global warming."

-- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, discussing climate change on the Earth Day edition of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos"

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has your Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

Jack Sparks discusses country music heirs Hank III and Shooter Jennings at the Other Side of Country.

THESE DAYS

Sex is more satisfying in countries where women and men are considered equal, according to an international study of people between the ages of 40 and 80 by researchers at the University of Chicago.

Police in Colombia are training Lola and Espejo, two whiskered, red-eyed rats, to sniff out bombs and land mines.

Malaysia's National Space Agency is trying to determine how its astronaut candidates will practice Islam in space. Three of its four astronaut candidates are Muslim, and two will be selected for a future Russian space flight.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Forty-three-year-old Minneapolitan Randy Wylde blogs about GLBT issues, the effects of online arguing, and scootering at Too Much Information.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

All 29 episodes of Chris Ware's NYT Magazine serial, Building Stories, are available for download in PDF form.

A graphical look at the state of the planet

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I picked her because she knew the whole alphabet."

-- Merv Griffin, on Vanna White, who was recently honored with the 2,309th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

City's budget guru dispels the myths behind T-Paw's bashing

Governor Tim Pawlenty was in full campaign mode this week, popping up on talk-radio shows of all kinds. Aside from hitting his talking points for re-election--calling for immigration reform, walking a fine line on any new stadiums, pumping up the state's employment numbers--Governor HockeyPuck gently poked at evil Minneapolis, always good for shoring up the state's conservative base.

Appearing on MPR on Tuesday, Pawlenty got specific on how Minneapolis should save money and put more cops on the street. Trouble is, the Governor's spouting had almost no relation to reality, let alone good governance.

The boys at Powerline have fallen in love with the adjective "execrable." They just can't stop, um, excreting the word. Maybe this is due to a garden variety case of pundit fatigue. Between their daily blog posts, regular cable TV appearances and ceaseless efforts to combat the sinister forces of liberalism (not to mention their day jobs as high powered attorneys), Minnesota's leading conservative bloggers certainly keep a very busy schedule. They probably don't have the time to pry open a thesaurus in search of a synonym. Or maybe their use of the term is simply symptomatic of being in a state of constant indignation--an affliction evident to even the most casual Powerline reader.

Whatever the explanation, there can be no question that the Powerliners have developed a peculiar and extreme reliance on this ten dollar swear word. Scott Johnson--aka "the Big Trunk"--was the latest to deploy it. In a post yesterday, he angrily denounced an "execrable paper" about the Israel lobby penned by professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. It was, it turned out, the second time in as many days the Big Trunk used the word as a descriptor of the Mearsheimer/Walt paper.

CITY PAGES BLOGS

What news won't send oil prices soaring? Find out at American Idle.

THESE DAYS

A 76-year-old man has been arrested in Florida after alleged victims said he told them he was a doctor and offered them free breast exams.

The boyfriend of a Kentucky college student expelled for declaring his homosexuality on the Internet called Wednesday for a halt to $10 million in state funding for the private Baptist school.

A constituent of Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) received a letter from Emerson's office that contained the sentence "I think you're an asshole."

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Help local alt-country rocker Marlee MacLeod ease into her forties by checking out her blog at Marlee MacLeod's "In Other News..." Acknowledge The Peeper while you're there.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

100 interesting science facts... for those of you still interested in science.

Chinese-Canadian Baun Mah examines ethnic stereotypes in cosmopolitan Toronto in the documentary A Chink in the Armour. Those Canadians... what word won't they add a "u" to?

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"[It] was a creative workplace focused on generating scripts for an adult-oriented comic show featuring sexual themes."

-- California Supreme Court Justice Marvin Baxter, in a 7-0 decision to throw out a sexual harrassment case by a former assistant on "Friends" predicated on the vulgar language used by the sitcom's writers

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Britt Robson breaks down the final game of the Timberwolves's sorry season at Balls!

Chuck Terhark shares a couple of thoughts about last night's Twins game at Balls!

Condoleezza Rice demands Iranian compliance and braaaains at American Idle.

THESE DAYS

The International Monetary Fund forecasts that the world economy would expand by 4.9% this year.

The majority of web users don't participate online, preferring just to passively read information presented to them, according to new research.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Mat Ollig will be attending my alma mater MCAD this fall. Check out his art and his words at Mat Ollig's Blog.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Cool items for sale at Cartoon Network's online auction [via Boing Boing]

Put yourself in a vintage Chinese propaganda poster [via Sploid]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I'm the decider, and I decide what is best."

-- President George W. Bush, defending Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

The latest numbers from SurveyUSA show Gov. Tim Pawlenty with a 52% approval rating from the citizens of Minnesota. Forty-two percent of those polled disapprove of the job T-Paw is doing. The most popular governor in the U.S. appears to be Jon Huntsman (R-UT) with an astounding 76% approval rating and a 16% disapproval rating. The numbers aren't so rosy for Fearless Leader, as Bush's numbers in Minnesota hover at 36% approval/61% disapproval. New York and Rhode Island tie Bush's lowest approval ratings at 24%. Bush can seek comfort in Utah and Wyoming, where his approval ratings are 55% and 54% respectively.

County commissioners delay the inevitable

At the Hennepin County Board meeting yesterday afternoon, commissioners Penny Steele and Linda Koblick offered no fewer than 13 amendments to the county's proposed ballpark deal with the Twins. The idea was to derail the plan. It didn't work.

For more than three hours, Steele offered up printouts of proposed changes to the "principles of agreement" between the county and the team that will be the basis for legislative hearings slated to start today and sure to run over the next two weeks. Each time the "main motion"--that is, the proposed agreement--came before the body, Steele (pictured left) chimed in with her refrain of the day: "Mr. Chair, I have an amendment."

Bucking industry trends, the Pioneer Press is reporting that daily circulation is up 2 percent, or 3,730 copies, in its most recent filing with the Audit Bureau of Circulation. Sunday circulation is up as well, by 1.6 percent, or 4,070 additional copies.

The filing covers a 26-weeek period that ended on March 26th. The Pi Press' daily circulation for that period was 194,105, while on Sunday it was 251,565.

(On a side note, Lean Dean strikes again.)

THESE DAYS

Ginger could kill ovarian cancer cells and may help fight the disease, says a new study but researchers warn more work is required to draw a firm conclusion.

A member of the Texas House of Representatives has put forth a resolution to honor Bush political strategist Karl Rove. [via South Texas Chisme]

New research reveals octopuses stiffen their arms to form humanlike joints to guide food to their mouths.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Erik was raised in Duluth, then spent a few years in the Twin Cities, and has since returned to the Twin Ports to find garbage collection, panhandling, and unemployment problems at Almost Home on the Range.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Scenes from the lost episodes of Ren & Stimpy

Help Harry the Hamster on his quest for the Golden Hamster Wheel

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I think we have taken a terribly important document, which I wish every American would read, and done it in a way that makes it far easier for people to grasp."

-- Publisher Thomas LeBien of Hill and Wang, on turning the 9/11 Report into a graphic novel

The endless push for a new Twins stadium finally wore out Strib columnist Doug Grow, who waved a sheepish white flag in favor of the Hennepin County sales tax deal in this morning's paper. The Hennepin County commissioners are in the midst of another marathon song-and-dance this afternoon that will almost certainly culminate in the county adding another $20 million in inflation-adjusted cost to the public investment in the proposed ballpark, bringing the tab for taxpayers up to $349 million.

But the watershed (Waterloo?) moment for the latest stadium money-grab will happen later this week, as the House Tax Committee takes up the bill that, as currently written, would authorize Hennepin County to levy bonds and implement the sales tax without seeking public approval through a referendum, as is currently required by state law. Chaired by Rep. Phil Krinkie (R-Shoreview), one of the staunchest fiscal conservatives at the Capitol, with Hennepin County legislator and stadium opponent Rep. Ann Lenczewski (DFL-Bloomington) also a prominent force, the committee probably represents the most formidable obstacle in the path of Twins stadium proponents.

Krinkie has shrewdly scheduled his committee's hearings on the bill as a two-part process. Those in favor of a stadium will be testifying beginning tomorrow at 3 p.m. in Room 5 of the State Office Building. Opponents of the ballpark will get their say beginning at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Oak Grove Middle School, 1300 W. 106th St. in Bloomington. Thus, the opponents get the final testimony, at a time more accessible in the schedules of most taxpayers, and in a Hennepin County location that also happens to be in Lenczewski's district. And if you think the Hennepin County hearings have been lengthy, just wait until Krinkie and Lenczewski start loading up proposed amendments to the bill around 9 or 10 on Thursday night.

Reuters and the San Jose Mercury News reported over the weekend that MediaNews is in final negotiations to purchase four former Knight Ridder papers, including the Pioneer Press.

The good news? MediaNews is a privately held company, meaning it's not beholden to greedy stockholders demanding outlandish profit margins, as was the case under Knight Ridder.

The bad news? The Denver-based newspaper chain is run by William Dean Singleton. Unflatteringly known as "Lean Dean," Singleton has accrued a deserved reputation over the last three decades for decimating and destroying newspapers.

In his hour-long appearance on Minnestoa Public Radio's Mid-Morning show today, Governor Tim Pawlenty displayed two of the gifts that make him an effective politician: a relaxed, confident manner and a wonkish capacity to marshall statistics that bolster his arguments. But in sparring with host Kerri Miller on the health of the state economy, Pawlenty unleashed one fairly spectacular whopper. Citing the growing number of employment vacancies in the state, the governor declared, "Basically, everyone who wants a job can have a job."

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Diablo Cody muses on her recent amateur porn viewing at Pussy Ranch. You'll never hear Lollipop the same way again.

Steve Monaco has the answer to last week's Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS

In the biggest highway privatization deal in U.S. history, state officials last week signed an agreement to turn the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road over to a Spanish-Australian consortium that will operate it for a profit for the next 75 years.

Leonardo da Vinci's famous sketch Vitruvian Man -- which features a naked man superimposed with an extra set of arms and legs in a square and circle to illustrate proportion -- is one of the central images being used on shirts, hats and other merchandise for the film version of The Da Vinci Code. What won't be featured, however, is the sketch's, um, central images: Vitruvian Man's genitals.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Life with baby Lila has been all peeing, pooping, eating, and sleeping for poppa Shawn at Adventure in Parenthood.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

McDonald's hamburger recipes

Unnecessary Censorship courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I'll never speak an ill word about him because he means so much to America. But, yes, you're right. I couldn't support him for president."

-- The Rev. Jerry Falwell, on former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) appears to be the front-runner in receiving Falwell's blessing

The level of new H.I.V. infections statewide remained almost level last year, according to statistics released by the Minnesota Department of Health today. There were 304 cases of H.I.V. reported in Minnesota last year, compared to 307 in 2004.

But there was a serious jump in reported cases involving men who have sex with men. New H.I.V infections in gay men jumped by 21.5 percent, accounting for roughly 60 percent of all new cases.

In the last few months, there has been a distinct uptick in the incidence of disgruntled Star Tribune staffers leaking internal memos to other media outlets. Much of this phenomenon is attributable to a concurrent increase in silly edicts imposed by the bosses at Portland Avenue. As Blotter reported on March 9, for instance, Strib management recently enacted a policy barring the paper's employees from helping themselves to free copies of the company product. In the wake of that decision, Strib VP Steve Alexander issued a subsequent and much derided memo decrying the continued problem of employee "pilferage" of the paper. Not surprisingly, that memo was also leaked (both to Blotter and the media gossip website, Romenesko).

According to today's New York Times, Strib bigwigs are quite dismayed by these leaks. So dimsayed, in fact, that they have vowed to hunt down and punish the leakers. Writes NY Times media columnist David Carr: "When the memo landed on Romenesko, the journalism site, the company, rather than realizing that it had stepped in something unwholesome, began telling employees that the leaker would be found out and dealt with."

Time magazine lists Mark Dayton as one of the five worst senators

Touted as "those who make a difference in the U.S. Senate--and five Senators who are falling short," Time magazine last Friday released their list of America's ten best senators and their five worst, the latter list including outgoing Minnesota Senator Mark Dayton. Time chided Dayton for his October 2004 office closing, citing an unspecified terrorist threat, as well as his disregard for the entire state of South Dakota. Dayton declared Rochester's Mayo Clinic "worth a hell of a lot more than the whole state" when a SoDak company attempted to expand its railroads into Rochester, sending dozens of trains passing by the clinic each day.

 

Dayton, whom Time labeled "The Blunderer," was joined on the Worst List by Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Wayne Allard (R-CO), Jim Bunning (R-KY), and Conrad Burns (R-MT).

CITY PAGES BLOGS

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

THESE DAYS

The family of "Henry" cartoonist Don Trachte revealed the discovery of an original Norman Rockwell oil painting concealed behind a false wall in their deceased father's house. The 1954 painting, "Breaking Home Ties," had been hidden in the secret compartment for three decades, just inches from where Trachte, who owned the picture, had displayed his facsimile of the iconic image.

Swedish geologists have found fossilized poop from a worm that lived some 500 million years ago. [via Pharyngula]

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Last week was a week of gastly GI issues for PikaPikaChick at PikaPikaChick's Sparkly Happy Fun Page of Doom (and destruction).

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Duct tape in movies

The world's tallest buildings all shown together in one skyline

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"People who have these liturgical resonances in their bones, they go to a U2 concert and they just get it."

-- Christian Scharen, 39, a Lutheran pastor and professor at Yale Divinity School, on the popularty of the "U2 Eucharist," a communion service punctuated by the Irish rock band's music that Episcopal parishes from California to Maine have hosted