May 2006

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Lourey to name Tim Baylor as Lieutenant Governor choice

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

State Senator and candidate for Governor Becky Lourey has scheduled a press conference for 10 o'clock this morning to announce that she has chosen North Minneapolis businessman and former pro football player Tim Baylor to be her running mate as the prospective Lieutenant Governor. Baylor accepted Lourey's offer more than three weeks ago but needed some time to put his business affairs in order before making the decision official.

In an exclusive interview with City Pages yesterday, Baylor said that he was most consonant with Lourey in her ambitious initiatives to enhance education and health care, and in her support for conceal and carry gun legislation. As for Lourey's opposition to recent legislation that provides public funding for a Twins stadium, Baylor initially said, "Because I am a sports guy, we disagree on stadiums," before amending it to say that he and Lourey have a common concern about first providing funding for more important priorities such as education and health care.

Born in 1954, Baylor is founder and president of JADT Development Group, a residential and commerical construction firm. He also operates two McDonald's franchises located in North Minneapolis and Robbinsdale. He served on the Minneapolis Planning Commission from 1992-2001. Before that, he played football for the Baltimore Colts and Minnesota Vikings.

Baylor is not the first African American to run for Lieutenant Governor. In 1998, Republican Allen Quist chose African American businessman and minister Dan Williams to be his running mate. "While I may not be the first from a historical perspective, I certainly think the time is right to have a different type of candidate in the office," he says.

"One of the things Becky wants of me is to be totally involved and opinionated and responsive," Baylor adds. "We've got to educate our kids. Childhood development is so key and funding for education is part of that. Health care for all citizens needs to be made a priority. Those are the two key issues. If there is a third, it is the mixed message coming from the current Governor's office as far as where taxes are coming from and how they are derived.

"I am a black man but I have a variety of experience that transcends race and culture. I've been a businessman since I stopped playing pro football in 1980. My wife and I have always demonstrated a holistic approach to building community--housing, education, and economic development--and that is much broader that attracting black voters. I can relate to the conservative rural businessman trying to grow a business as well as the urban family trying to grow their income. And I certainly look forward to this opportunity."

Posted by Britt Robson at May 31, 2006 9:41 AM | Comments (0)

 

5/31: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

A war widow who wants the government to put a Wiccan religious symbol on her husband's memorial plaque held an alternative service Monday as a protest, hours before an official Memorial Day ceremony nearby.

1970s pop star Marie Osmond has launched a personal crusade to clean up the Internet after learning her two teenage daughters have been posting sexually explicit correspondence on their MySpace pages. Sounds like cleaning up the Internet begins at home, Marie.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Web and print designer Ryan Bickett blogs on marketing, music, and photography (with the occasional pet photo thrown in) at RhynoDesign Blog.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

The National Review's 50 greatest conservative rock songs

Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I would give the entire Congress, of which I'm a member, an F for results."

-- Sen. Mark Dayton (D-MN), cutting loose as his political career draws to a close

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 31, 2006 6:10 AM | Comments (2)

 

5/30: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has this week's movie quiz at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS

Reporters pretending to be teens on the Internet to bust pedophiles may make for great reality TV, but the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled it isn't enough to get their targets arrested.

A British study suggests the Roman Catholic Church-approved "rhythm method" may kill more embryos than other methods of contraception.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

The pseudononymous Pauline Kilar sifts through internet detritus, picking out the good stuff and posting it at Dodging Invisible Rays.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time

So dark the comedy of man: The Norman Rockwell Code

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"She's had damn rapists, child molesters and lying authors on her show. And if I'm not a rags-to-riches story for her, who is?"

-- Ice Cube, on being snubbed by talk show queen Oprah Winfrey

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 30, 2006 6:17 AM | Comments (0)

 

Name The New Twins Ballpark!!!!

Filed under: Business

Name the new Twins ballpark!!!

Posted by Jim Walsh at May 28, 2006 9:13 AM | Comments (40)

 

Deal or no deal?

Filed under: Q&A

Stadium expert weighs in on Twins ballpark

If anything was sorely missing from the recent stadium debates at the Capitol, it was a dutch-uncle figure to bring some much-needed reality to the proceedings. Lawmakers, in fact, would have been wise to consult Neil deMause. In 1998, deMause co-authored Field of Schemes, the authoritative book on stadium boondoggles across the country. Since then, deMause has tracked stadium deals on his web site of the same name, and through various stories on the business and politics of sports in numerous publications.

More recently, deMause contributed to a new book from Baseball Prospectus called Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong, where he dispassionately dispels the many myths surrounding the economics of new ballparks. DeMause watched the Twins deal closely, and did this Q&A with City Pages via e-mail.

City Pages: The projected cost of the newly approved Twins ballpark is $480 million, with another $42 million in financing costs. The Twins will pick up $130 million of that. How does this compare with some of the newer stadiums?

Neil deMause: The three most recent stadiums to open, San Diego's Petco Park, Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park, and St. Louis' Busch Stadium III, all cost in the $400 to $450 million range. Of those currently in the works, though, Washington, D.C.'s new stadium for the Nationals is somewhere north of $600 million, and the Yankees are looking at one that'd be $930 million even without land and infrastructure, so the Twins stadium will likely miss out on the record for the most expensive open-air park ever built.

Stadium construction costs have been on the rise, in real dollars, for 20 years, thanks largely to the fact that every new stadium needs to have all the bells and whistles (and cavernous concessions malls) of the ones that went before it. On top of that, though, the Katrina Effect--the skyrocketing price of steel and construction labor thanks to the ongoing rebuilding of the Gulf Coast--has added around 20 percent to stadium bills, which is surely having an effect here.

CP: How much more can we expect this stadium to cost, construction-wise, and why?

deMause: Given that Carl Pohlad is on the hook for overruns in stadium
construction, I think they'll find a way to come in under budget, even if it means making fans bring their own armrests. Though when the Seattle Mariners were in a similar situation, they tried to claim that the extra $100 million on Safeco Field's price tag wasn't a "cost overrun" but an "unanticipated capital expenditure," and so the public should pay for it. So anything's possible.

CP: Another hidden fee is land sale prices. The land in question here is owned by four entities: Hennepin County, the state of Minnesota, Burlington Northern Railroad (air rights, too) and a private developer. Hennepin County has earmarked some $90 million for site acquisition, clean up and "development costs" without naming a figure for land purchase. How often does simply buying the land jack up the overall cost?

deMause: In the 21st century real-estate market? How about "always"? This is what almost torpedoed the Nationals stadium last year--after the deal had been signed, the estimated land cost went through the roof, and suddenly the city council balked, before MLB arm-twisted them back into line.

In short, if the total public cost doesn't break $400 million, I'll be very surprised.

CP: You write in the book about the inevitable rise in ticket prices with new stadiums. Explain how and why it works.

deMause: Teams invariably take advantage of the flood of curiosity-seekers generated by a new stadium by raising ticket prices by 20 percent or more; the record was set by the Detroit Tigers, who jacked up prices by an incredible 103 percent when they moved into Comerica Park. It's a trend that's exacerbated by the fact that new stadiums are packed with "premium" club seats and luxury suites to sell to corporate buyers, squeezing the cheap seats into a tiny space up near the rafters.

The revenue opportunities the Twins are looking for here, though, are less about selling tickets than about selling everything else. Stadiums aren't just stadiums anymore, as they were when the Metrodome was built --these days, they're also shopping malls, with cavernous food courts and souvenir stores. And while in the Metrodome the Twins had to share concessions money with their public landlords, in the new place Carl Pohlad will keep every penny.

This is the part of the deal that's been widely overlooked: The Twins will be going from one of the most taxpayer-friendly leases in baseball to one where the public will put up almost all the costs, and get none of the benefits. You could make a case, in fact, that the main reason Pohlad wants a new stadium is to get the sweetheart lease that comes along with it.

CP: Just as inevitably, attendance flat-lines at the new ballparks. How soon can we expect that to happen, and why?

deMause: The "honeymoon period" for new stadiums can last anywhere from about three to eight years, depending mostly on how well the team does on the field. (A shiny new stadium is only a draw for so long before people start actually watching the game and noticing the score.) After that, it does worse than flat-line - it generally regresses quickly to the levels seen in the old park, which in the Twins' case would mean big crowds when the team is winning, acres of empty seats when they're not. They'd better hope that Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser are the real thing, or else 2012 in the new stadium could look an awful lot like 2000 in the old one.

CP: Now that the deal is done, there's a theory that the Twins don't
necessarily have to put the best product on the field. This season is a disappointment, and trade rumors abound. How real is the possibility that the team may starve the talent to maximize its profit before and after the ballpark opens?

deMause: I'd say low, if only for the reason I just mentioned: The Twins execs know that they need to hit the ground running in the new park, or else risk turning into the Brewers or the Pirates, teams that squandered any excitement from the new stadium by fielding the same old yawn-worthy teams. To go on the cheap now would take incredible short-sighted addiction to the quick buck and ... okay, we are talking Carl Pohlad here, but still.

CP: The normal reasons cited for building a stadium--civic pride, the team will leave, job creation, rejuvenating a part of a city--are refuted by you in the book. Explain.

deMause: All available data show that the economic arguments for building stadiums are just hogwash - they don't generate new tax dollars, they don't "rejuvenate" anything more than a block or two away, and the jobs they create are few and low-paid. And as for the Twins moving, I think we all saw how realistic that was when they played the North Carolina threat card in 1998 - there simply aren't any other available markets close to the size of the Twin Cities, and Pohlad knows it.

The best line on this came from Allen Sanderson, an economist at the
University of Chicago, who said, "If you want to inject money into your local economy, you'd be better off going up in a helicopter and throwing it out the window." They're really just awful, awful economic development projects.

CP: Overall, then, how does this deal look from where you are?

deMause: One of the things that is all too often overlooked in stadium deals is the lease, and I think that's what's happened here as well. If Hennepin County were putting up three-quarters of the stadium cost but getting back rent and a cut of stadium revenues, like at the Metrodome, this wouldn't be such a bad deal--but with Pohlad putting up next to nothing up front and reaping all the rewards, this could go down in history as one of the great taxpayer muggings of all time.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at May 26, 2006 3:37 PM | Comments (7)

 

5/26: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

The evidence from NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft, shows the outer boundary of the solar system distorted as though it has been punched from below.

The Hercules (CA) City Council voted unanimously to take the unprecedented step of using eminent domain to prevent Wal-Mart from building a big-box store on a 17-acre lot near the city's waterfront.

Durex has launched New Zealand's first ever National Condom Week in conjunction with Family Planning, to celebrate the condom.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

If you're finding it difficult to live without your Norwegian blogging fix, a Minneapolis secretary who goes by the name Norwego may be able to help.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS (ANIMAL EDITION)

Rate My Kitten

10,000 workers on Amazon's Mechanical Turk were each paid two cents to draw a sheep facing left

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"We hired campaign organizers, and it was very much like a political campaign. Instead of 'get out the vote' it was 'get out and hold hands.'"

-- Hollywood promoter Ken Kragen, reminiscing on the 20th anniversary of Hands Across America

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 26, 2006 6:16 AM | Comments (0)

 

News quiz: There's a great future in plastics?

Shed a tear for Citibank. Send an e-card to MBNA. A front-page story in today's Wall Street Journal suggests that the major credit issuers are feeling the pain of lower profits. The American consumer--better known as the American debtor--has begun to pay off a greater chunk of her balance each month.

In fact, repayment rates, according to some measures, are at their highest level in 10 years. Home-equity loans and monthly balance-shifting have helped the plastic warrior to hold down payments. (It would be unpatriotic to just stop spending.)

The interest payments of "revolvers"--customers who fail to pay off their balances each month--have long represented the most profitable part of the credit card industry. To maintain profit levels, your friends in consumer banking have considerately boosted the rates they charge to their most indebted customers and jacked up late fees, which now routinely run to $39.

Here's where the quiz comes in. Though card-issuers continue to bait the mailboxes of Americans with introductory rate offers, the average monthly rate has climbed steeply in recent years.

What, according to the Nilson Report, a credit-tracking firm, is the average monthly interest rate on an American credit card?

And for entry in the plastic hall of fame: What was the average rate five years ago?

(If you don't submit a guess by tomorrow, you'll owe us five answers on Monday.)

Posted by Michael Tortorello at May 25, 2006 2:09 PM | Comments (1)

 

5/25: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Americans spent more than four billion dollars last year on Internet gambling, despite a de facto prohibition on such wagering in the United States.

As Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie await the birth of their first child, they have apparently given Namibian Governor Samuel Nuuyoma the honor of picking its name.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Could someone encourage Mark Wheat or Jill Riley to update Current Cue, the blog from Minnesota Public Radio's sister station?

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

An illustrated variation on The Caine Mutiny

Scooby Doo and crew meet their match when they run into Jason at Camp Crystal Lake in an episode of Robot Chicken

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I feel a bit silly in that outfit but, believe me, my wife, really, really likes it."

-- X-Men 3 star Hugh Jackman, on his wife's preference for Wolverine in the bedroom

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 25, 2006 7:23 AM | Comments (0)

 

Critical condition

Lack of insured patients endangers clinics

When La Clinica en Lake shuts down on July 14, roughly 5,000 people will lose their primary healthcare provider. The overwhelming majority of the five-year-old Minneapolis clinic's clients are poor and Hispanic.

Mavis Brehm, executive director of West Side Community Health Services, which operates La Clinica, says that it simply wasn't economically feasible to keep the facility open. She notes that last year alone the clinic ran a $900,000 deficit.

The primary problem is that most of the clinic's customers have no means to pay for its services. Last year 79 percent of the organization's clients lacked medical insurance. "The amount of uninsured was much higher, consistently higher, than we anticipated," says Brehm.

La Clinica is not the only medical facility catering to low-income Minnesotans to close this year. In January, the Family Health Care Center, in Moorhead, shut its doors, citing similar economic difficulties. The clinic had 2,500 customers. "They were seeing more and more uninsured and weren't able to get any more grant funding to support services," says Rhonda Degelau, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers (MACHC).

The mounting number of uninsured patients is a problem throughout the state. According to the MACHC, 33,163 uninsured clients received treatment at its 16 member clinics in 1999, compared to 48,396 in 2004--a 46 percent increase. Statewide, 41 percent of community health center patients lacked insurance in 2004. "I'm really concerned that this could keep happening to other clinics," Degelau says. "I do know from talking to our clinic directors that everybody is struggling."

During the just concluded legislative session, the MACHC lobbied for $1.5 million to help health clinics deal with the mounting number of uninsured patients seeking care. But the initiative was rejected. "We knew it was a long shot because it was a non-budget year," Degelau says. "I'm hoping we can really make a strong case this next session that we really need state support."

Posted by Paul Demko at May 24, 2006 3:21 PM | Comments (0)

 

5/24: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

For the three of you who haven't seen it yet, Corey Anderson reveals the shocking myths uncovered in the motion picture The Da Vinci Code at American Idle.

Peter S. Scholtes has some great photos from Art-A-Whirl at Complicated Fun.

THESE DAYS

Tampa police say a man and his girlfriend were arrested after investigators found ecstacy hidden in a baby's crib.

15-year-old South Carolinian Candice Hardwick led a small protest march Monday against her high school's ban on Confederate flag clothing.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

WCCO reporter and all-around lovable scamp Jason DeRusha dishes on his personal life and delivers behind-the-scenes anecdotes at Jason's Talking About...

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

A short film featuring everyone's favorite drinky crow

Nike+iPod

Greg Kinnear stars in the movie version of Eric Schlosser's polemic Fast Food Nation.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Here's LL Cool J. Don't call it a comeback. He's been here for years, rockin' his peers, puttin' 'em in fear, makin' tears rain down like a monsoon, explosions overpowerin' the competition. LL Cool J is towerin'."

-- XM Satellite Radio's newest DJ, Bob Dylan, introducing "Mama Said Knock You Out"

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 24, 2006 6:29 AM | Comments (2)

 

We're all bloggers now

Filed under: Minneapolis

Minneapolis city council members to join the blogosphere?

The Minneapolis City Council's Ways and Means/Budget Committee debated the merits of blogging yesterday. Specifically, the issue at hand was whether the city should provide software and allow council members to have blog sites on the city's web site.

The issue is being presented as the most up-to-date way for council members to engage with the great unwashed. The move was initiated by Second Ward rep Cam Gordon's office, and his assistant Robin Garwood stood before the committee for questioning. A good number of city staffers have been involved in putting together parameters for elected-official blogging, and five council members authored the resolution that, among other things, allows "Elected Officials to use City funds, supplies, equipment, and personnel to create and maintain a blog related to their official duties as Elected Officials ... [that] serves a public purpose."

(The cost, Garwood noted, was negligible.)

Perhaps not surprisingly, four of the five authors are first-term council members. Some of them, like the Eighth Ward's Elizabeth Glidden, expressed excitement about being able to communicate with constiuents in a manner more fluid and immediate than, say, electronic newsletters. And others, like Gordon's aide Garwood, pointed out that with a comments section, the blogs would be more of a forum for council members to hear from the people for a change.

This was what concerned some of the more luddite-leaning members of the ways and means committee. Diane Hofstede (Third Ward), for instance, worried about defamation of character lawsuits. And Sandy Colvin Roy (12th Ward) joined in with a chorus of concern. "My ears are still ringing," Colvin Roy said, "from the lawsuit we're still facing on the red-light cameras."

Still, most concerns were assuaged--comments sections can be patrolled and controlled, after all--and the committee approved the resolution and sent it on to the full council.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at May 23, 2006 2:08 PM | Comments (1)

 

The bad girls of Sunset magazine

Filed under: Crime

From today's Washington Post:

Two elderly women devised a complex plot in which they befriended homeless men, took out life insurance policies on them, and then killed the men in hit-and-run accidents in alleys around Los Angeles to collect $2.2 million in payments, police said Monday.

Don't ask any questions the next time grandma slips a $1,000 bill in with your birthday card...

Posted by Michael Tortorello at May 23, 2006 12:19 PM | Comments (3)

 

5/23: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

The Pussy Ranch has temporarily become Graceland while Diablo Cody goes through her Fat Elvis phase.

THESE DAYS

The USS New York is being built in New Orleans with 24 tons of steel taken from the collapsed World Trade Center. [via Raw Story]

When a pump at a Hammond, Indiana, gas station malfunctioned, opportunistic motorists were able to buy gas for 29 cents per gallon.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

St. Paul resident jamwall brings the Onion-esque funny to his blog Banana Blograma.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Photo series on China's controversial and enormous Three Gorges Dam

Morning Wood: From the makers of Slowdance Chubby!

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"The swimming."

-- Seven-year-old Braxton Bilbrey, when asked what was the hardest part of his successful swim from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco's Aquatic Park

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 23, 2006 6:30 AM | Comments (0)

 

Spotted: Minnesota's future revealed in a pastry, and it doesn't include a weeping Jesus!

Filed under: Spotted

Last weekend, we spotted what looked like the Son of God outlined in grease/rain/beer/urine on a 35W underpass. It was a sign that, surely, the highway will be infinitely awash in God's good blessings and Milwaukee's Best. A few days later, Minneapolis muffin makers Sanja Petrovich and Sara Troy happened upon another sign about the future of Minnesota, this time slightly less theistically themed and in a homemade baked good. During the days last week when the U of M Gopher stadium debate was heating up, a distinct and pain stricken gopher face emerged from one of their blueberry muffins. Perhaps it was an apology from the ashamed Gopher gods, or an ominous threat. Either way, the gopher didn't lie. And as to be expected, the $10.3 million price tag the state will have to fork over for the new Gopher stadium never did appear on their pastries. Afer all, who would've been able to swallow that?

Posted by at May 22, 2006 3:28 PM | Comments (0)

 

Crime blotter: (not so) Lucky Rosenbloom

Filed under: Crime

Last Thursday police officers were dispatched to a residence on the 3100 block of 18th Ave. S. in Minneapolis to investigate an assault. At the scene officers met with Jovan Badillo, who claimed to have just been attacked by his girlfriend's father.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court, Badillo told the cops that he went to the address to visit his girlfriend, Chelsea Weber. However, her father, Maryland Reynolds Rosenbloom--better known as Lucky Rosenbloom--answered the door.

Rosenbloom then went back inside the house before allegedly returning with a gun. According to the criminal complaint, Rosenbloom pulled the firearm from his waist area and pointed it at his daughter's boyfriend. Badillo responded by backing away from the house with his hands up, insisting that he didn't want any trouble. Rosenbloom then purportedly threw the man to the sidewalk and punched him. "I was in the army for six years," he declared. "Nothing will happen to me."

Lucky Rosenbloom is the son of St. Paul icon Jack "Tiger" Rosenbloom, who for fifty years sold candy, firewood, and various other items from his tiny shack at the corner of Dale Street and St. Anthony Ave. Tiger Jack died in 2001.

In recent years, Lucky has run unsuccessfully for numerous political offices. The 49-year-old is currently a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mark Dayton. Since his father's death, Lucky has taken over the Dale Street property, plastering the area with signs endorsing firearm ownership (particularly for women), Christianity, and the Republican Party.

Rosenbloom has been charged with second degree assault. If convicted he could face three to seven years imprisonment and/or a $14,000 fine. A call to Rosenbloom's home was not immediately returned.

**UPDATE**

Lucky Rosenbloom left me a voicemail message this afternoon stating that he will be on KSTP (AM-1500) Friday morning at approximately 9 a.m. to provide his account of this incident.

Posted by Paul Demko at May 22, 2006 3:15 PM | Comments (9)

 

Random acts of kindness slated for MSP in 2007

Filed under: Religion

The Acts 1:8 Ministry, based out of Green Bay, Wisconsin, recently received a $30,000 grant to expand their work to Milwaukee, and plan to open a regional office in Minneapolis/St. Paul next year. According to their website, Acts 1:8's mission is to "create a culture for Christians to care, share, and connect people to Christ worldwide through Christian kindness." Recent acts have included 99-cent gallons of gas at the Stadium Shell on Lombardi Access for two hours one Saturday afternoon, and serving 200 kolaches at the Green Bay Farmers Market. Jeff Van Beaver, chairman of the Board of Evangelism at Pilgrim Lutheran Church states, "One image about church is that we're a lot of talk, but no action. We want to show that it is possible to get something for nothing and expect nothing in return." Speculation that Zigi Wilf has inquired about stadium giveaways is unfounded.

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 22, 2006 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

 

5/22: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has the Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS

The mayor of Waldron, Arkansas, was released on a signature bond last week after being accused of soliciting two women for sex after they fell behind on their water bills.

A bear has been reported in Germany for the first time since 1835, police in the Bavarian Alps said, following the discovery of seven sheep carcasses.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is re-examining Amazon.com's patent for "one-click" online shopping at the request of New Zealand actor Peter Calveley who says he's upset over slow book delivery.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Minnetonka Felix lives in Deephaven, writing and photographing topics of interest relating to Lake Minnetonka at Minnetonkascenes.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Full-screen panoramas from Harrod's grand staircase, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's H.O.G. Pod, an Armenian monastery, and more.

Biblical tale as teen romance: 10 Things I Hate About Commandments

The pro-carbon dioxide commercials from the Competitive Enterprise Institute: CO2: We Call It Life [via Andrew Sullivan]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I really think this book should be made into a musical. And once this is done, it should play in the heart of his enemy's country, on Broadway."

-- Journalist and translator Itsuko Hirata, on the Japanese release of "Get Out of Here, Curse You," the novel written by Saddam Hussein

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 22, 2006 6:38 AM | Comments (1)

 

Welcome to the Nanny State

Filed under: Legislature

This week the Minnesota House voted 114-to-17 to prohibit minors from purchasing or renting mature- or adult-rated video games. In nearly every state where a similar law has been passed, a federal judge ruled such government restrictions as unconstitutional.

But Sen. Sandy Pappas (DFL-St. Paul) doesn't believe kids have First Amendment rights. In an article last year in CP, Pappas said the First Amendment was irrelevant to the issue, and that the law wasn't intended to criminalize kids buying video games, but simply to educate parents: "This is to let them know that the state says it's inappropriate for children to play these video games." And it's the state's job to inform parents of what's appropriate for their children, right?

The ironic thing about this bit of nanny-state legislation is that not only is it unconstitutional for the state to define and prohibit violent content, but that the kids would be fined $25 if caught buying or renting the games. This is a carefully planned attempt to keep at bay those with money to fight the bill, like the major retailers and game manufacturers, for example. In other states (such as Michigan, Illinois, and Missouri) where similar bills were introduced and subsequently knocked down, it was the retailers who would've borne the brunt of the law by racking up state-imposed fines.

The video game industry has the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, an organization similar to the Motion Picture Association of America and the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board, that reviews and rates video games. But there's no law criminalizing kids or the film and television industries for not adhering to the movie or TV guidelines. So while there's nothing unlawful (for now) about a 14-year-old buying a ticket to the movie See No Evil, Minnesota lawmakers want to make it illegal for anyone under 17 to buy the Dungeons and Dragons-like nerdfest that is Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.

Posted by at May 19, 2006 1:33 PM | Comments (5)

 

Twins stadium passes conference committee

Filed under: Legislature

Proponents of a new Minnesota Twins stadium received another significant boost this morning when the House-Senate conference committee agreed on a voice vote to legislation that overwhelmingly favors the version passed by the House earlier this month.

The stadium bill that will appear for a final floor vote before the House and the Senate before the Legislature adjourns on Monday does not contain a roof, nor a referendum, nor, most significantly, a statewide sales tax to fund transportation and new ballparks for both the Twins and the Vikings. Senate conference committee chair Steve Kelley (DFL-Hopkins) essentially threw in the towel this morning by agreeing merely to have the committee recommend to the House-Senate transportation conference committee that the sales tax for transportation be considered as part of their bill. Without any quid pro quo, there is very little likelihood that the conference committee on transportation will heed that recommendation.

The lone no vote on the stadium conference committee came from Sen. Don Betzold (DFL-Fridley), who said he supported the Twins stadium but felt it wrong to exclude funding in the bill for a Vikings stadium.

With the final bill coming so close to the original Twins stadium bill in the House, passage in the House is not expected to be a problem. The only remaining hurdle for Twins stadium proponents could be in the Senate, where some members who voted for the bill on the basis of its transportation funding component and the inclusion of a referendum, may now oppose it.

Meanwhile, a conference committee looking into funding for a new Gophers football stadium on campus, has not resolved their differences as of this morning.

Posted by Britt Robson at May 19, 2006 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

 

MPR affiliate plays hardball with Gatheroo

Filed under: Business

The legal battle over the right to Gatheroo.com has gotten messier. In March, Gather, an online social networking company affiliated with Minnesota Public Radio, sued Warecorp, a Minnetonka-based company, for trademark infringement. The dispute is over the right of Warecorp to operate Gatheroo.com, a web site that was started after meetup.com began charging for its services. The case is pending in U.S. District Court, in Massachusetts, where Gather is based. (For more background, see this previous Blotter post.

Warecorp has argued from the outset that the Massachusetts court has no jurisdiction over the company since it has no business operations in that state. However, in April the judge assigned to the case issued a preliminary injunction barring Warecorp from further use of the terms "Gather" or "Gatheroo."

At that point, Warecorp decided that its only reasonable fiscal choice was to settle the case. "It takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to win a trademark case," notes Chris Dykstra, who runs the Gatheroo web site, in an email. "It doesn't really matter if you are right or wrong. In these cases, the biggest wallet wins."

In April, the two sides engaged in settlement talks. According to legal filings, Warecorp agreed to change the web site name and cede all future rights to the domain. On April 19, a blog entry was posted on Gatheroo.com announcing the pending name change.

However this was apparently not enough to satisfy Gather. The company insisted that Warecorp must also pony up $80,000 to cover its legal costs and acknowledge that it had misused the Gather trademark. "During these negotiations it became very clear that Gather was (and is) as aggressive as it is possible to be and is very intent on extracting the most extreme punishment possible," writes Dykstra.

Just two days after Gatheroo had posted on its web site the company's intention to change its name, Gather filed a motion seeking to hold the company in contempt of court. It asked the court to initially fine Warecorp $10,000 for its continued use of the gatheroo name, with the fine doubling every 24 hours. Gather also sought a court order mandating that Warecorp's Internet service provider eliminate the company's access to the Gatheroo.com site.

The two sides are now in legal limbo. Warecorp is back to arguing that the Massachusetts court has no jurisdiction in the matter. Gather is seeking to have the preliminary injunction made permanent. In its most recent court filing the company claims that it will cost between $200,000 and $500,000 to undue the damage caused by the alleged trademark violation.

It's uncertain when the judge will rule on these issues.

Posted by Paul Demko at May 19, 2006 11:28 AM | Comments (0)

 

The quest for Sabo's seat

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

Is the 5th Congressional District still up for grabs?

With the DFL endorsement of Keith Ellison to run for the U.S. House seat vacated by the retiring Martin Sabo, the race itself would seem to be a foregone conclusion: No DFLer could manage to lose in what is perhaps the most liberal district in the nation.

But is it? Since he received the old gray party's nod two weeks ago, Ellison, a state rep from north Minneapolis, has faced a measure of scrutiny. Most of this tends to center around the fact that he's a black Muslim.

In one moment last week, Ellison found himself defending the Koran in the conservative talk-radio confines of KSTP-AM, a discussion that lasted a good half hour after his appearance was over.

It would be easy to dismiss that, but there emerged a trend this week about Ellison's past in what would seem to be far friendlier waters for him: The Minneapolis Issues e-forum. There list members repeatedly posted critiques and defenses of Ellison, who apparently will have to outrun his past as a brash young attorney before he was elected to the house four years ago.

None of this would matter much if it were just typical DFL infighting and navel gazing. But it turns out a couple of little-noticed (thus far) candidates are still running in the Fifth, and they have the backing of their respective parties.

(Minneapolis City Council member Paul Ostrow and former state Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge are running without the DFL endorsement; former Sabo aide and party chair Mike Erlandson is in limbo, apparently.)

For starters, there's Jay Pond, the Green Party candidate who received his party's endorsement last weekend. Pond's issues are exiting Iraq, finding renewable energy resources and pushing for single-payer universal health care. It may sound like Green business as usual, but all issues will play well in the Fifth.

Pond's bio notes that he is HIV positive, has lived in Japan, and ran as a Green for congressional seat in California against Nancy Pelosi in 2002, getting 10,000 votes. More than that, Pond ran against Sabo two years ago, and garnered a respectable 18,000 votes.

Then there is Tammy Lee, who received the Independence Party endorsement last week. Lee, who lists eliminating the national deficit as her top priority, says there are all sorts of centrist enclaves in the district. Because of this, perhaps, she similarly plays up universal health care and renewable energy as campaign issues.

Lee is not exactly an unknown either. She has an extensive background in the private sector--you may know her from her days as the spokesperson for Sun Country Airlines. She also served as communications director for Skip Humphrey's failed 1998 gubernatorial campaign and press secretary for U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan.

The upshot is, it's Ellison's race to lose. Certainly the Independence Party doesn't have the appeal it had when Jesse Ventura became governor in 1998, and the Green Party has lost oodles of credibility since Ralph Nader's infamous bid in 2000.

But there hasn't been a non-Democrat representing the Fifth since 1960, and it would seem that if anything's going to give, this would be the year.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at May 19, 2006 9:25 AM | Comments (0)

 

5/19: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Pizza Man's cell phone becomes a double-edged sword on the Streets of Pizza.

THESE DAYS

Researchers at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale measured people's attitudes about obese people, finding that the thinner folks are, the more they dislike fat people.

In a Fristian act of contrition, New Zealand's Xtra internet network offered it's customers $3.25 following a series of recent outages.

Iowan Trenton Camacho called the cops this week to report the theft of a blow-up doll fashioned to resemble porn star Jenna Haze.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

A blogging kitty named Aloysius Katz, despite a lack of thumbs, muses on feline folklore and behavior at Catymology.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Who wouldn't want a pocket-sized naughty school teacher? Bids are open for your very own Pamela Rogers action figure.

College Humor's 25 Un-Sexiest Women

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms."

-- Televangelist Pat Robertson, trying his hand at meteorology

"Well, folks, if you earn $40,000 a year and have a family of two, you don't pay any taxes. So you probably, if you don't pay any taxes, you are not going to get a big tax cut."

-- Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, trying his hand at macroeconomics

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 19, 2006 6:34 AM | Comments (1)

 

A blue wall of silence

Filed under: Media

At the end of February, the Minneapolis Police Department adopted a new policy for dealing with the media: henceforth all inquiries are to be directed to the "public information officer." In addition the new policy states that no police officer is to initiate a media contact without first consulting the PIO and prohibits employees from representing their opinions as facts.

Ron Reier, the PIO in question, argues that the prior policy for dealing with media inquiries was too chaotic, describing it as "any media person could contact any person about any issue." He says that the change, which was initiated by recently departed Police Chief William McManus, simply brings Minneapolis into line with how St. Paul deals with the press. "The police department's job is to do police work and not to do media work," he notes.

Cynics, of course, will suggest that this is simply an attempt by the MPD to dictate what gets reported in the press, but Reier insists otherwise. "While you may look at this as we're trying to control the message that wasn't our purpose at all," he says. "We by no means are trying to control the media."

Posted by Paul Demko at May 18, 2006 3:20 PM | Comments (0)

 

Another bad omen for the Pi Press?

Filed under: Media

The St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce certainly sounds pleased as punch over the impending acquisition of the Pioneer Press by the Denver-based Media News Group. As a general principle, such giddiness among business folk should alarm working stiffs. But for Pi Press staffers, there are more substantial reasons for nervousness than mere class bias. Despite his recent image makeover, Media News chieftain "Lean" Dean Singleton retains a reputation as a ferocious cost-cutter; with the considerable debt incurred by his spending spree on various Knight Ridder properties, it's a fair bet he'll be more focused than ever on the bottom line when he finally assumes control of the Pi Press this summer. Additionally, the financial performance of Media News has been underwhelming of late. According to this report from the San Jose Mercury News, the privately held company reports losses of $3.6 million in the first quarter of 2006. That compares to a $2.3 profit in the same quarter in 2005.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at May 18, 2006 2:42 PM | Comments (0)

 

City Pages news quiz: The craven gladhanders edition

Match, if you will, the state Republican politician with her five leading campaign donors. (Note: The companies themselves have not filled the candidate's coffers. Rather, donors are required to disclose their employers on federal forms.)

1. Norm "Kitty" Coleman
2. Mark "Money" Kennedy
3. Michelle "Warbucks" Bachmann
4. John "Cash" Kline

A. Target
B. Crown Holdings [product packaging]
C. UnitedHealth Group
D. ECA Marketing
E. Cargill
F. Lakeville Motor Express
G. BAE Systems [defense contractor]
H. Desert Caucus [U.S.-Israel relations]
I. Wells Fargo
J. Becker Furniture World
K. U.S. Bancorp
L. Frauenshuh Companies [commercial real estate]
M. Metro Gem Inc. [corporate finance]
N. TCF Financial
O. 3M
P. National Beer Wholesalers Association

Hint: Target, U.S. Bancorp, and United Health appear on the top-five list for more than one hungry-pocketed pol. All records come from the fund-tracking site opensecrets.org

Posted by Michael Tortorello at May 18, 2006 12:15 PM | Comments (0)

 

The 20 megaton news quiz, answered

Having been chased out of the New York Times with a pillowcase full of severance money to salve her wounded pride, Judith "The Phantom Menace" Miller has reappeared in... yes, the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal. Her calling card, I believe, would be the unnamed "experts" and "analysts" who believe that Libya was on its way to becoming the next nuclear superpower. Her piece, quoted below, comes from the May 16th edition.

Many analysts no longer doubted that Libya could have made a bomb, eventually, if the program had not been stopped and it had found a way to supplement its limited technical expertise. Though most of the rotors for the centrifuges were initially missing (many turned up months later on a ship near South Africa) experts said that had the centrifuges been properly assembled in cascades--always dicey in a technologically challenged state--Libya could have produced enough fuel to make as many as 10 nuclear warheads a year.

Miller, it seems, has accepted Lewis Libby's invitation to "come back to work--and life." Can we expect to see the reporter uncovering an anthrax program in Tehran? A sarin factory in Caracas? A gas station in suburban Ottawa?

Posted by Michael Tortorello at May 18, 2006 12:14 PM | Comments (0)

 

5/18: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Children's author Sonya Hartnett (Thursday's Child) has been revealed as the author of Landscape with Animal, an explicit erotic novel that's expected to be the sex-lit hit of the year.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) wants to start planning for a blimp, three times the size of Goodyear's, that would keep watch over an entire city.

A 44-year-old woman escaped serious injury from a gunshot Sunday thanks to her seat belt and a thick bra strap.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Jae, Olive, Kay, and smartyspark discuss electronic surveillance, the Moussaoui verdict, and other hot-button political issues at jaebrysonblog.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Visitors to InfoScotland can upload photographs of their faces, list their birthdates, and provide e-mail addresses to receive an image transformed by wrinkles, bags, sags and age spots.

Order your very own Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush today!

Two Port Authority police officers become trapped under the rubble during the events of 9/11 in Oliver Stone's new movie, World Trade Center, starring Nicolas Cage, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Nicholas Turturro.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"A--I don't watch porn. And B--I don't want to see someone I've known forever having sex. I mean, that's gross!"

-- Nicole Richie, in this month's Vanity Fair, denying her fued with Paris Hilton started when the heiress walked in on Richie and other friends viewing Hilton's sex tape

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 18, 2006 6:38 AM | Comments (0)

 

Rybak's lawful assembly

Filed under: Minneapolis

Hizzoner picks police chief panel

The mayor of Minneapolis has unveiled his plan in the search for a new police chief. According to a press release from R.T. Rybak's office, citizens are encouraged to offer input via a survey on the city's web site and the city's "311" phone line.

The plan also reveals some of Rybak's "principles" in selecting a chief, including such radical ideas that the future chief must be a "strong leader" who will "keep Minneapolis safe."

And there is an advisory committee made up of elected officials and community activists. The list is more notable for who's not on it.

For instance, none of the usual rabble rousers have been invited to participate--folks like Spike Moss, Ron Edwards or even Urban League president Clarence Hightower. Some might see this as an indication that Rybak will not kowtow to grandstanders and agitators, but it's also a sign that the mayor won't involve some of the people who have been most intimate with police-community issues over the years.

(The press release notes that Rybak will make his selection sometime after Labor Day.)

In fact, the list doesn't include a single member of the Police Community Relations Council, the group of cops and citizens that meets regularly as a result of a federal mediation agreement brokered by the Department of Justice two-and-a-half years ago. That's a striking omission on the mayor's part; those meetings have fostered a consistent, if protracted, dialogue between police and community leaders.

"It seems to be business as usual," notes PCRC member Mark Anderson, saying the issue came up in this morning's PCRC meeting. "Apparently [Rybak] called co-chair Bill Means and said he would be in touch on an informational basis. But you're ignoring enormous expertise--on both sides. The police union needs to be involved in this too."

Jeremy Hanson, Rybak's spokesman, says the committee was picked by Rybak and is a "diverse group." Hanson adds that "the advisory committee is one of the tools" the mayor will use in his search, pointing out the online survey and the phone line.

Who is on the 12-person list? Notables include state Senator Linda Higgins, state Rep. Frank Hornstein, Minneapolis school board member Peggy Flanagan, and City Council member Don Samuels. There's also the Rev. Al Gallmon, former head of the Minneapolis NAACP, Roberta Englund of the Folwell/Webber-Camden Neighborhood Organization and Duo Lee of the Southeast Asian Community Council.

Not exactly a Rainbow Coalition, but as a nod to whatever might be called diversity, it's sufficient. It just happens to exclude a number of people who have been on the front lines in recent years. And, as Mark Anderson notes, the PCRC springs from a "a signed federal agreement that was passed by the City Council. It's a serious process. It didn't come out of nowhere." Then again, Anderson also points out that Rybak has been to a grand total of three PCRC meetings.

Hanson, speaking for the mayor, says, "The PCRC will play an important role" in the search and that "the mayor does value" the group. Still, it looks like a snub. When asked why the mayor didn't simply include one PCRC member, Hanson offers, "I don't know what else to tell you," and that the advisory committee is "just one piece" of the process: "There's nothing preventing the co-chairs of the PCRC from calling him up and offering input."

One of Rybak's "principles" in a chief is one who "builds partnerships with the community," but the mayor, it would seem, is excluding a notable faction of that community at the start.

"The mayor has these other relationships in the community based on political considerations," Anderson concludes. "They're systematically excluding the PCRC, and we're the ones who really care about this stuff."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at May 17, 2006 3:00 PM | Comments (2)

 

The Rise of the Can Thieves

Filed under: Crime

If you've spent any time on the streets of Minneapolis--hell, the streets of any decent sized city--you've witnessed the spectacle: a bedraggled-looking guy shoving a grocery cart bearing an enormous lode of aluminum cans. For the homeless and/or chronically unemployed, collecting cans has long been one of the easiest ways to raise funds for a jug of vodka, cheap meal or other fix. Easy, actually, isn't the best word. Can guys work hard for the money. Between the mean dogs, irate homeowners, and long distances hikes, they put up with more than their share of hassles.

Still, there is no denying the scrappers' lot has improved of late; mainly, this is because aluminum prices have reached historic highs. Kelly Dobson, a veteran outreach worker, observes that the better prices haven't made the street guys he knows wealthier. "They're not really getting a windfall," he offers. "They're just working less."

The rising scrap prices have introduced an element of unwelcome competition, says Susan Young, director of Minneapolis' Recycling and Solid Waste Program. "About a year ago, we started to see more and more people coming in from suburbs on recycling day, going through the alleys with a pickup truck and pulling all the aluminum," she says.

Technically, both the shopping cart guys and the suburban poachers are violating the law. Under Minneapolis ordinance, the moment cans are placed in a recycling bin, they become the property of the city; thus, anyone who takes them is guilty of theft.

Young doesn't think the homeless crowd has done much damage to the city's bottom line. But she suspects that the people in the pickup trucks--who collect cans much more efficiently than the shopping cart guys--are making a substantial dent. Young estimates that the city is now losing at least $700 a day to can thieves; at a minimum, that means the city coffers will be lightened by more than a quarter million dollars this year.

"When we can, we get license plates and vehicle descriptions and send letters to those folks," Young says. Would she like to see offenders busted? Yes. But, she adds, can theft is low on the police priority list; in fact, she says she knows of no cases where anyone been prosecuted for can poaching. (It's a different story in Japan, where the Yakuza is said to have recruited homeless people to gather cans).

Posted by Mike Mosedale at May 17, 2006 12:19 PM | Comments (2)

 

5/17: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Peter S. Scholtes discusses the upcoming Suicide Commandos reunion at Culture To Go.

THESE DAYS

The Las Vegas-based Pink Taco Mexican Restaurant is scheduled to open its second location in downtown Scottsdale in June and the locals are freaking out about it.

The answer to Canada's health-care woes does not lie in the "insane" system in place south of the border, former U.S. president Bill Clinton said Monday.

A baby is to be monitored by a network of microphones and video cameras for 14 hours a day, 365 days a year, in an effort to unravel the seemingly miraculous process by which children acquire language.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Will's got extensive stats and analysis on our troubled hometown crew at Will's Minnesota Twins Page.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

A collection of Soviet Union propaganda and advertisement posters from 1917 to 1991

Minneapolis native Brian Beatty brings the funny to the jokes section of Dave Eggers's McSweeney's.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"See you later, Mom."

-- Richard Hatch, who won $1 million in the debut season of "Survivor," following his conviction for failing to pay taxes on his reality TV prize and committing perjury on the witness stand. Hatch was sentenced to 51 months in prison.

"I don't want to hug the tar baby of trying to comment on the program."

-- Press Secretary Tony Snow, at his first briefing, refusing to elaborate on the NSA wiretap and phone traffic database programs

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 17, 2006 6:31 AM | Comments (0)

 

5/16: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

Author and CP TV critic Diablo Cody will be at the Downtown Minneapolis Borders today at 12:30 to sign copies of Candy Girl.

THESE DAYS

Some residents of London now have the ability to monitor their own neighborhood with live footage beamed onto their televisions.

German engineers think they've found a way to use wind power to desalinate ocean water.

ABC News correspondents Brian Ross and Richard Esposito report at their "Blotter" that senior federal law enforcement officials are tracking the phone numbers ABC News calls in an effort to root out confidential sources.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

St. Paulite John Wilson has an affinity for nitrous oxide that I couldn't respect more. Read John and his co-contributors at Crazy But Able.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

A belated Happy Mother's Day, courtesy of Mr. T

20 Things You Didn't Know about Leonardo da Vinci

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"It's just been a fun run for me."

-- 43-year-old Doug Flute, announcing his retirement from the NFL. His last play was converting the league's first drop kick for an extra point since the 1941 NFL title game.

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 16, 2006 6:35 AM | Comments (0)

 

We hear Gilbert Gottfried was the prize for the Kentucky Derby

A cutline from yesterday's Star Tribune:

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro grazed in the paddock Wednesday. He will try to win the second jew of the Triple Crown on Saturday.

Posted by Paul Demko at May 15, 2006 1:14 PM | Comments (1)

 

5/15: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has the Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS

New Zealand is not for sale, despite somebody in neighboring Australia trying to unload the nation of four million to the highest online bidder on eBay.

General Motors Corp. said Friday that the 2006 model year will be the last for the H1, which has been the foundation for the automaker's Hummer brand.

China's leading web search company has launched an online, user-generated encyclopedia modeled after Wikipedia, which is blocked by Beijing.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Paul Allen is an elementary school teacher living in Minneapolis and blogging record reviews at 3 Minutes, 49 Seconds.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Bonk! Bang! Glipp! Screen-caps from the old Batman television series of the fight scene sound-effect cards [via Incoming Signals]

Owen Wilson pays yet another man-child, this time screwing up the lives of Matt Dillon, Kate Hudson, and Michael Douglas in You, Me and Dupree.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"The story we tell is loaded with all sorts of hooey and fun kind of scavenger-hunt-type nonsense."

-- Tom Hanks, dismissing the Catholic Church's boycott of his new movie The Da Vinci Code

Posted by Corey Anderson at May 15, 2006 6:31 AM | Comments (0)

 

MPLS city council: Booty shaking now legal!

Filed under: Minneapolis

City leaders delete ordinance prohibiting dancing in the streets

Little more than an hour ago, it was illegal to "dance upon any public street" anywhere in the city of Minneapolis. In a move unparalleled for its leadership and bravery, the City Council just deleted ordinance 427.240, reportedly on the books since 1960.

This pressing issue came to the fore last September, when it was widely reported that the MPD had indeed ticketed a man for dancing downtown. The would-be Denny Terrio had his dance fever cured by the fuzz.

In this frivolous spirit, council member Don Samuels (Third Ward) noted today at the regular bi-weekly meeting that colleague Lisa Goodman (Seventh Ward) and Mayor R.T. Rybak had been seen doing a little boogie at an intersection downtown.

That icky image aside, Cam Gordon (Second Ward), the sponsor of the amendment to the city's code, got serious for a moment. "This ordinance has only been used to arrest homeless people," he said, revealing his motivation behind the change. "It's time to get it off the books."

Buzzkill! In his amendment's "supporting information," Gordon offered to delete the language of the entire ordinance: No person shall dance or engage or participate in any dancing upon any public street or highway in the city; and no person shall provide for, promote or conduct any dance or dancing upon any public street or highway in the city, except at a block party.

Gordon's amendment also cited several ordinances already in place "that serve to provide recourse against individuals obstructing traffic."

With that, the council voted unanimously in favor of Gordon's motion. No word on whether the opera music blared outside of Block E will be replaced by the P-Funk catalogue.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at May 12, 2006 11:54 AM | Comments (0)

 

Big Love or Big Chattel?

Filed under: Media

The Sudden Inflating and Slow Debunking of a Popular Myth, Chapter 978

Is it just me, or have we been a nation nurturing a minor obsession with polygamy ever since, oh, about mid-March, when HBO began airing "Big Love," in which a Salt Lake City home improvement magnate simultaneously attempts to placate his three wives and a passel of less urbane polygamist relatives confined to the hill country?

The first installment was a round of tighty-righty handwringing whether recognizing gay marriage would lead to demands for the legalization of polygamy. (Exhibits #1 and #2.)

The second, predictably, has been a flurry of "concern" about the "abusive practices" of renegade polygamist cultists not unlike the ones caricatured by "Big Love." Just a little fishing this morning turned up 404,000 examples of said hand-wringing, but your time is probably better used reading one prototypical (and admittedly fascinating) example, like this one.

Isn't it amazing how we as a nation are able to come up with things to distract us from real news? Admittedly, one of those messianic fringe leaders is a more palatable media boogeyman than the other one, right?

But I digress. The real point of this post was to circulate a link to a fascinating and timely polygamy FAQ that's worth a scan whether or not you, like me, spend your Sunday nights guessing just what's going to put Bill Henrickson in the cardiac ward by the season-ender, Nicki's little Anthropologie habit or the Viagra apparently required to live up to his priestly obligations.

Polygyny is not usually associated with a high status for women, and in many cultures it involved very young women being forced to marry older men. Still, in a society where gender roles are very rigid and women do most of the work around the farm and household, some women like having a co-wife. In Botswana, women have an interesting twist on the old saying "a woman's work is never done." They say "without co-wives, a woman's work is never done." Such women claim that having other wives to help meet some of their husband's demands and to share the child-rearing gives them more freedom than women in monogamous unions.

Polygyny is not so much about sex as it is about hoarding the productive and reproductive labor of women. It has often been used to deny younger men access to wives and hence to adult status, increasing the authority of older men over younger ones. There are easier ways for a man to get sex, if that's all he wants, and cheaper ones too, in societies where women's labor is not essential to family subsistence.

It's a fun, illuminating read. Check it out, here.

Posted by Beth Hawkins at May 12, 2006 11:41 AM | Comments (0)

 

Crime blotter: concrete solutions

Filed under: Crime

On May 4, at approximately 7:46 a.m., Lakeville police were called to a construction site on Hughes Avenue. A concrete crew working at the location had dialed 911 to report that a female in a nearby house was pointing a rifle out of a window and firing it in their direction.

Upon arrival, the Lakeville cops were in the process of gathering information from the construction workers when they heard a loud "pop" come from the address in question. The police then called for backup.

Officers got no response after knocking on the front door of the house from which the rifle was apparently fired. They then broke down the door and went inside. The first person they enountered was Joseph Maciewski, age 26. Subsequently they also arrested 21-year-old Brooke Seekins.

In addition the police discovered what at first appeared to be a high-powered rifle, but upon closer inspection turned out to be a replica pellet gun. It was not loaded.

According to criminal complaints subseqently filed in Dakota County District Court, both Maciewski and Seekins admitted dry firing the gun out the window. They allegedly told the police that they'd been up all night and wanted the noise from the construction crew to cease so that they could sleep.

Maciewski and Seekins have each been charged with one count of making terroristic threats.

Posted by Paul Demko at May 12, 2006 11:40 AM | Comments (1)

 

Eisenbeis, The Rake part ways

Filed under: Media

After four-plus years as editor of The Rake, Hans Eisenbeis has confirmed his departure from the free local monthly mag launched by former City Pages publishers Tom Bartel and Kris Henning in 2002. "It was a good run, we had a lot of fun," Eisenbeis stated in an e-mail to City Pages. "I'm a little heartbroken to leave the magazine I cofounded, but I wish all the best for Kris, Tom, and the entire talented staff." So far, no announcements as to the Rake's future staffing plans.

UPDATE: The Star Tribune is