June 2006

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Overheard

Filed under: Overheard

Eastbound on the 16 bus, 6:25 p.m., Friday, University Avenue, just past Snelling. White guy and black guy, both middle-aged, both well into their holiday binge drinking, sharing a seat.

"I'm going down to see Alice Cooper," announces the white guy.

"Alice Cooper?" responds his seatmate. "Who's she?"

Posted by Paul Demko at June 30, 2006 6:52 PM | Comments (0)

 

The poor get poorer

A couple of recently released studies underline just how grim times are for folks on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder.

The federal minimum wage has reached a 51-year-low in terms of purchasing power, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Since 1997 the minimum wage has remained at $5.15 an hour. Last month Senate Republicans rebuffed efforts to increase the hourly wage to $7.25 over the next three years, voting the proposal down by a 52-46 margin. Over the last decade the buying power of minimum-wage earners has decreased by 20 percent.

"The decline in the value of the minimum wage is part and parcel of a disturbing feature of the recovery from the 2001 recession: its failure to significantly improve the well-being of most workers," the report, authored by Jared Bernstein and Isaac Shapiro, notes. "Instead, the benefits of our impressive productivity growth rates have largely flowed to those at the top of the income and wealth scale."

The Economic Policy Institute also released a study showing that in 2005 the average CEO earned 262 times the pay of the average worker. The average business executive made $10,982,000, according to the study, while the average worker earned $41,861. This is the second highest ratio recorded in the 40 years for which such data is available.(The largest gap was recorded in 2000, when CEO's earned 300 times as much as the average worker.)

The discrepancy between executive salaries and the people they employ has gone up dramatically over the decades. In 1965, the average CEO made just 24 times that of the average working stiff, while by 1989 the ratio had creeped up to 71.

Posted by Paul Demko at June 30, 2006 3:01 PM | Comments (1)

 

The ethanol conundrum

Filed under: Environment

For Minnesota politicians, ethanol is the classic no-brainer issue. You are either pro-ethanol or don't want to get re-elected. For Minnesota environmentalists, it is a more complicated matter. While everyone with any green in their blood agrees on the need to develop alternative fuels, ethanol remains controversial because of the long running debate over whether its production requires more energy than it actually creates. "What I would really love is to get all the researchers in the same room and watch them duke it out and see who convinces me," says Jeanette Brimmer, legal director of the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.

Given such ambiguities, it is hardly surprising that the MCEA does not have a global position on the virtues of ethanol. "There are some good ways to do ethanol and there are some really bad ways. We're still trying to sort through that," explains Brimmer. "So our approach is a devil's in the details approach."

With rising gasoline prices fueling an unprecedented ethanol boom, those details are suddenly more critical than ever. Currently, there are 16 ethanol plants operating in Minnesota, which can produce about 600 million gallons of ethanol annually (or approximately 13 percent of the national capactiy). With eight new facilities in the planning stages, that output could triple by 2008.

To date, most proposals have zipped through the state's regulatory process, which is administered mainly by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. That's not to say there hasn't been controversy. As Dennis Lien of the Pioneer Press has reported, ethanol production requires a lot of water--between four and five gallons per gallon of ethanol. Because many of these proposals call for plants to be built in areas with problematic or otherwise diminished water supplies (mainly, in agricultural zones in the western and southwestern parts of the state), water use has become a highly contentious matter.

For Brimmer, an equally disturbing trend is the push to use coal--instead of natural gas--to power ethanol plants. Economically, the rationale isn't hard to see. One 2004 study showed that plant operators can save 70 percent on fuel costs by using coal; since then, natural gas prices have only continued to soar. But among environmentalists, even so-called "clean coal," is an anathema (or as Brimmer puts it, "an environmental oxymoron").

That's why the MCEA sued the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency after the agency granted a permit to the Heron Lake BioEnergy LLC, which aims to build a $97 million coal fired ethanol plant in the southern Minnesota town of Heron Lake. The Minnesota Court of Appeals is expected to rule on MCEA's lawsuit Monday. However that suit plays out, Brimmer anticipates more skirmishes because of the economic attractiveness of coal.

She also lays some blame at the feet of the MPCA, which, she says, has routinely fast-tracked ethanol proposals and cow-towed to the agendas of ethanol backers. That said, Brimmer adds, there is considerable uncertainty how the MPCA will process applications in the future. Earlier this month, the MPCA replaced its entire ethanol team, even the lawyer.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at June 30, 2006 2:22 PM | Comments (3)

 

Most Expensive Hand-Job Ever?

Or: Unsafe at Any Speed

Today's Star Tribune carries a story about a lawsuit against Timberwolf Eddie Griffin filed by a man who claims his car was damaged in a traffic accident he says was caused by Griffin. The ostensible point of the story is that the plaintiff has a videotape that shows Griffin in a convenience store after the accident staggering and telling people he's drunk. And it shows two Minneapolis police officers saying that Griffin was not getting a DWI, that they were driving him home to St. Paul.

All news, but this is the most amusing allegation in the piece:

The suit alleges that Griffin was watching a pornographic DVD in his SUV and masturbating when he crashed about 2:30 a.m. on March 30. Griffin, 24, had told the Star Tribune a day after the accident that a dropped cell phone caused him to crash.

Here's what I say: Of course he dropped his cell phone.

Posted by Beth Hawkins at June 30, 2006 11:06 AM | Comments (3)

 

6/30: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Reynolds Tobacco has begun marketing watermelon-, coconut-, berry-, and pineapple-flavored cigarettes to people who I'm sure are 18 or over.

A new Business Roundtable report says that "the United States is not sufficiently prepared for a major attack, software incident or natural disaster that would lead to disruption of large parts of the Internet."

A Marine who was dubbed the Marlboro Man after appearing in an iconic photograph from the Iraq War has filed for divorce less than a month after dozens of Americans contributed to a dream wedding for him and his bride.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Bob Schaefer is the pastor of First Lutheran Church of Litchville, North Dakota, and Spring Creek Lutheran Church of Hastings, North Dakota. When he's not preaching, he's blogging at Musings of a Young Pastor.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Not currently on Bravo: Inside the Porn Actor's Studio

It's slithering ever closer: Snakes on a Plane Trailer 1

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Valerie Plame was not a CIA Agent."

-- Former Congressman Tom DeLay (R-TX), discussing the do's and dont's of government leaking on Hardball

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 30, 2006 6:56 AM | Comments (0)

 

6/29: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

The native language you speak may determine how your brain solves mathematical puzzles, according to a new study out of Dalian University of Technology in China. Brain scans have revealed that Chinese speakers rely more on visual regions than English speakers when comparing numbers and doing sums.

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Arlen Specter, said Tuesday that he is "seriously considering" filing legislation to give Congress legal standing to sue President Bush over his use of signing statements to reserve the right to bypass laws.

Vancouver residents can now pay parking meters from their cellphones, get a text message warning the meter is about to expire, and even top up the meter without going outside.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Posts on climate change, natural resources, and energy consumption can be found at Organic Blue.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Get a good start on that first coronary: The Twinkies Cookbook

The Wet T-Shirt World Cup

Teenage Mutant Ninja Lebowski [via Boing Boing]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I think that's been a tradition for a long time."

-- Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R-KY), discussing why, at the end of the day, he leaves his Capitol office, climbs into a Lincoln Town Car driven by a state trooper, and returns to the Governor's Mansion--which is just across the street

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 29, 2006 6:05 AM | Comments (0)

 

My unforgivable journalistic offense

Filed under: Media

At the wee hour of 3:46 a.m., I received the first response to my profile of Jim Fetzer, professor emeritus at University of Minnesota Duluth and noted conspiracy theorist. The email came from none other than Fetzer himself. Given both the tone of the profile and what I gleaned of Fetzer's nature, I anticipated he would object to some aspect of the story. I just wasn't sure which passages in particular would raise his ire. As it turned out, it was this one:

[Fetzer] has edited three JFK-related anthologies, most recently one titled The Great Zapruder Film Hoax. In Fetzer's estimation, his work on "Jack" has been nothing short of revolutionary. "These books I have published are the most important in establishing the objective and scientific evidence of the existence of conspiracy and cover-up in the assassination of JFK. Bar none. No other books come close. Remotely. None. They're in a category by themselves," he says. "This shattered the whole goddamn cover-up!"

I know the quote is accurate because I used a tape recorder. So what's Fetzer's beef? Basically, that I failed to make it sufficiently clear that he wasn't just tooting his own horn. As he put it in his email:

I can forgive you everything in this piece except for the paragraph in which you discuss my attitude toward my (edited) books. I told you at the time that I could be enthusiastic about them because they brought together the work of other experts on different aspects of the case. I EMPHASIZED THAT TO YOU! Instead of making it clear that I am extolling THEIR virtues, you make it look as if I am extolling MINE! That was inexcusable. I ask that you make a formal apology in the paper at your earliest opportunity. You should name David W. Mantik, Robert B. Livingston, Jack White, John Costella, and others, not turn me into some narcissistic, self-absorbed turkey. That was cheap and petty and unworthy of you and City Pages. Thanks.

After contemplating this, I concede he has a point. I could and should have made it more clear that Fetzer was referring to a collaborative, not solitary, effort. That said, I'm not sure I would ever write the passage in quite the same manner Fetzer proposed in his follow up email. But I'll let you be the judge of that. Here's his preferred version:

You should have said, "As in the case of 9/11, Fetzer brought together experts on different aspects of the case, including a world authority on the human brain, a Ph.D. in physics who is also board certified in radiation oncology, a physician who attended the moribund president and, two days later, his alleged assassin, and a legendary photoanalyst. In his opinion, their work on JFK has been nothing short of revolutionary."

Posted by Mike Mosedale at June 28, 2006 3:40 PM | Comments (4)

 

6/28: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

Buy Diablo Cody's house

Jim Walsh sings the praises of local chanteuse Joy Divine at the Walsh Files.

THESE DAYS

Randy Jackson, of Nampa, Idaho, checked "The Joy of Gay Sex" out of the public library and says he has no intentions of returning it due to graphic content he worries could be viewed by the younger library patrons.

A Japanese boy burned down his home, killing his stepmother and two younger siblings, for fear his parents would find out he had lied about his score on an English test.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

MN Publius noticed Congressman Mark Kennedy (R-MN) has removed a number of references to President Bush on his congressional website.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Hitler Cats [via Dependable Renegade]

CreativeBits takes us back to a simpler time, 1990 to be exact, for a recollection of Photoshop Version 1

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I'd rather be at home making love to my wife while my children are asleep."

-- Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), speaking to supporters of his leadership PAC about his presidential aspirations

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 28, 2006 6:26 AM | Comments (0)

 

Crime blotter: spitting mad

Filed under: Crime

On Sunday afternoon Minneapolis police officers Dave Ulberg and David Elliot were dispatched to the Harrison neighborhood to investigate a report that three teenage girls were being harassed by an adult male. When the officers arrived on the scene, the girls pointed out the man and they attempted to speak with him. According to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court, the man--subsequently identified as 43-year-old Steven Maurice Abrams-- responded by asking "What the fuck do you want?" When Abrams was asked to put his hands on the squad car, he allegedly shoved Ulberg with both hands and spit on him. He then declared "I'll kill you. I have AIDS." While being transported to the jail, Abrams continued spitting all over the rear of the squad car while repeatedly threatening to infect the officers with H.I.V. At the jail it required five Hennepin County Sheriff's deputies to remove Abrams from the squad car. They then placed a "spit mask" on him, but not before he was able to spit in the eye of one of the deputies. Abrams has been charged with two counts of assault in the fourth degree and one count of making terroristic threats. According to records maintained by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Abrams has four previous misdemeanor criminal convictions in the state.

Posted by Paul Demko at June 27, 2006 3:56 PM | Comments (1)

 

Juan Valdez wants to save your life

Filed under: Health Care

Earlier this month, researchers at Kaiser Permanente reported that alcoholics reduce their chance of getting cirhossis of the liver by a whopping 80 percent if they drink four cups of coffee a day. Today comes news that drunks aren't the only ones who stand to reap health benefits from routinely gulping large amounts of joe. In an 11 year study involving some 28,000 subjects, scientists at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health have concluded that women who drink six cups of coffee a day cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 33 percent. All hail the bean!

Posted by Mike Mosedale at June 27, 2006 9:16 AM | Comments (3)

 

6/27: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Having several older brothers increases the likelihood of a man being gay, a finding researchers say adds weight to the idea that there is a biological basis for sexual orientation.

The Walt Disney Co., which had denied permission to grieving British parents to put Winnie the Pooh on their child's gravestone, has had a change of heart.

A former handyman has won more than $400,000 in a lawsuit over a penile implant that gave him a 10-year erection.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

News on local artists, their shows, and arts-related events can be found at the MN Artists blog.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Page 2's Bill Simmons gives us the 33 clips in his YouTube Hall of Fame

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin punching some mouthy guy in the face [via Fazed]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"You don't make so much on the first one."

-- Superman lead Brandon Routh, longing for those sequel paychecks

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 27, 2006 6:18 AM | Comments (0)

 

6/26: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

Paul Demko has returned from Germany with World Cup photos and stories at Live Nude Weblog.

THESE DAYS

Called2Action, a North Carolina Christian activist group, is calling on Wake County school officials to remove books by Toni Morrison, Maurice Sendak, and Alice Walker from required reading lists and the school library.

Fifty-seven Ground Zero workers have died and thousands of others have been sickened by exposure to a noxious mix of chemicals released when the World Trade Center was reduced to smoldering rubble, according to lawyers.

Saddam Hussein ended a brief hunger strike after missing just one meal in his U.S.-run prison, a U.S. military spokesman said Friday.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Album reviews, album reviews, and more album reviews (and show highlights) await dear readers at Perfect Porridge.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

SNL castmember Amy Poehler's 8 Simple Rules for being a civilized New Yorker

AskMen.com schools us on Six Common Sex Myths

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Yeah, they should let Ann Coulter do it instead."

-- Bruce Springsteen, sarcastically responding to CNN's Soledad O'Brien when asked about those who say musicians shouldn't discuss politics

"There's another force that wants to keep us from going to Washington, D.C. It's the devil is what it is. I don't want you to print that, but it feels like that's what it is."

-- Republican Third District candidate John Jacob, running against five-term Utah Congressman Chris Cannon (R-UT)

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 26, 2006 6:30 AM | Comments (0)

 

The Great Minneapolis Crime Wave: Numbers don't lie, do they?

Filed under: Crime

A few Fridays back, the Star Tribune ran an above-the-fold story about a supposed 35 percent jump in the violent crime rate in Minneapolis in 2005. As it turned out, that eye-popping number was based on flawed data submitted to the FBI by the Minneapolis Police Department. The actual increase, according to the MPD, was a more modest 15 percent. Still, 15 percent is pretty alarming. So, after the correction was duly noted, the editorial boards resumed their fretting, the bloggers continued to roar, and the politicians returned to their usual posturing. Everybody, it seemed, agreed on one point: Minneapolis is mired in a crime wave.

But what if that isn't the case? What if the reported "surge" in crime is mainly a function of statistical variation? That possibility should not be over-looked, says Candace Kruttschnitt, chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota. "It may be premature to get all up and arms about Minneapolis. This could just be a short term fluctuation," Kruttschnitt offers.

Kruttschnitt acknowledges she could be wrong. But from a criminologist's perspective, she says, a one or two year spike in numbers doesn't establish a trend; she would like to see a five year pattern before drawing a definitive conclusion.

Even if there is an actual crime wave, Kruttschnitt cautions against the urge to embrace zero tolerance policing, tougher sentences and other harsh public policy remedies. In the course of the 1990s, she notes, crime rates plummeted across the U.S. and much of the western world. While some places where this occurred had indeed initiated get-tough-on-crime policies, she observes, many others did not. She cites the example of Canada, where crime trends there have long mirrored those in the U.S. despite the considerable differences in criminal justice approaches.

Kruttschnitt's contrarian views may not hold much appeal for some crime-weary Minneapolis denizens. But she is not alone in urging people to turn down the heat when discussing crime statistics. Steven Leavitt, the economist and Freakonomics author, argues that much recent reporting has grossly over-stated the significance of the national crime numbers (which, it should be noted, were considerably less dramatic than the Minneapolis figures).

Writes Leavitt: "So the actual increase in violent crime from 2004 to 2005: 2.5%. Given that violent crime has fallen 40-50% since its peak, this hardly seems like reason to panic. And I find it very interesting that none of the headlines I could find made any mention of the fact that property crime fell 1.6 percent. I guess after so many years of falling crime, more falling crime just isn't newsworthy."

Posted by Mike Mosedale at June 23, 2006 12:31 PM | Comments (13)

 

Hatch to announce running mate Sunday

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

Attorney General and DFL-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch will finally announce who will join him on the ticket as lieutenant governor Sunday afternoon at his Burnsville residence.

Hatch's announcement will occur a day after the Independence Party is expected to nominate former MPS Superintendent Peter Hutchinson as its standard-bearer for Governor at its convention at Midway Stadium before the St. Paul Saints minor league baseball game Saturday night. Opposing Hutchinson is former Jesse Ventura aide Pam Ellison.

Posted by Britt Robson at June 23, 2006 12:01 PM | Comments (0)

 

6/23: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Chief executive officers in the United States earned 262 times the pay of an average worker in 2005, the second-highest level in the 40 years for which there is data, the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute said this week.

According to a study by the University of Washington, condoms protect women against cancer- and wart-causing human papillomavirus (HPV) infections.

The National Academy of Sciences, after reconstructing global average surface temperatures for the past two millennia, gave the panel "a high level of confidence that the last few decades of the 20th century were warmer than any comparable period in the last 400 years."

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Gay blogger Fila1974 has some thoughts on Pride Month and why he won't be attending the MSP Pride festivities this weekend at Everything Duluth 2006.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Who said it: Ann Coulter or Adolf Hitler?

The folks at Office Pirates proudly present the 10 People Who REALLY Don't Matter

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"It just isn't in me to sit around doing nothing."

-- Dan Rather, on leaving CBS after 44 years following a break-down in contract talks

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 23, 2006 6:04 AM | Comments (0)

 

6/22: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Eating plenty of green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach, and collard greens could decrease skin cancer risk, according to a recent study.

House Republican leaders on Wednesday postponed a vote on renewing the 1965 Voting Rights Act after GOP lawmakers complained it unfairly singles out nine Southern states for federal oversight.

Researchers at Southwestern University speculate that intake of caffeine might enhance the sexual experience among females.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

PiPress tech writer Julio Ojeda-Zapata posts hardware information and software reviews (as well as a shout-out to the Disney Channel's High School Musical) at Your Tech Weblog.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Painter Steven Keene has rendered four Hüsker Dü album covers using paint on wood. You can bid on them at eBay.

Maybe I could play the wacky neighbor: Feldman and Haim reunite in The Coreys

Director Aaron Russo began a quest to find the law that requires American citizens to pay taxes, and reveals the vast erosion of our civil liberties in America: From Freedom to Fascism.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"There probably are not 72 virgins in the hell he's at. And if there are, they probably all look like Helen Thomas."

-- Congressman Steve King (R-IA), joking about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's fate to GOP delegates

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 22, 2006 6:29 AM | Comments (0)

 

6/21: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

Peter S. Scholtes has more photos of local band Faggot from this week's cover story at Complicated Fun.

THESE DAYS

Numerous federal and local law enforcement agencies have bypassed subpoenas and warrants designed to protect civil liberties and gathered Americans' personal telephone records from private-sector data brokers.

According to a professor at the University of Southern California, the pleasure of grasping a new concept triggers a biochemical cascade that rewards the brain with a shot of natural opium-like substances.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Bunny Edelman walks the streets of Minneapolis everyday and reports on her findings at I Can Walk the Walk.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS (PUPPIES IN PERIL EDITION)

The sad story of Skeeter the Narcoleptic Poodle

Duo the Two-Nosed Bull Terrier needs a home

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"So you know you're being used, but in a way you kind of like it because it's good pictures."

-- CBS News contributor and U.S. News & World Report contributing editor Gloria Borger, on CNN's Reliable Sources, discussing President Bush's recent visit to Baghdad [via Media Matters]

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 21, 2006 12:27 AM | Comments (0)

 

The other big winner in the stadium "debate"

Filed under: Business

The fact that sports moguls like Carl Pohlad and Zygi Wilf stand to benefit from getting the public to foot the bill for their stadiums is news to...well, no one. But there is another big winner in the stadium wars that doesn't get name checked nearly often enough. I speak here of the local media.

Want evidence? A report today from the Associated Press tallies the gobs of money Wilf spent on this year's effort to build support for a new Viking stadium. According to the AP, the Vikes shelled out a total of $748,000 on the stadium push in just the first five months of 2006. All but $41,000 of the aforementioned sum was expended on a big, glitzy advertising campaign; in other words, it went directly into the coffers of the Strib, Pi Press and various broadcast outlets.

From a financial perspective, there is a critical difference between the respective interests of the Vikings and the media. The Vikes want a new stadium. The media are content with a continuing debate. The general public wants neither. But, of course, that's not really relevant.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at June 20, 2006 2:59 PM | Comments (2)

 

Forgive me father, my face got in the way of my boyfriend's fist

Filed under: Spotted

A thousand-dollar pickup stops in the middle of the street outside 22nd Avenue Station, Nordeast's neighborhood strip club. The woman in the driver's seat rolls down her window and hollers toward an older lady in a Subaru.

"Are there any churches around here?"

Subaru must be baffled. Is the woman with the sloppy Sunday pony-tail looking for a Ukranian Catholic or a Polish National Catholic church? Maronite or Greek Orthodox? Because you can find all of them, and a dozen others, within 10-odd blocks.

The woman in the red pickup elaborates, then. "My boyfriend just hit me," she says. She turns her head and points to her right eye. "I want a church."

God help her. And if that doesn't work, there happen to be a couple of bars in the neighborhood, too. Her boyfriend may be familiar with a few of them.

Posted by Michael Tortorello at June 20, 2006 2:45 PM | Comments (0)

 

6/20: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Just weeks before the release of a movie about the death of the electric car made by General Motors, the Smithsonian Institution has removed its EV1 electric sedan from display and replaced it with a high-tech SUV. GM happens to be one of the Smithsonian's biggest contributors. [via Undernews]

Scientists in Italy have uncorked a new finding about grapes: The fruit might be packing melatonin, a sleep hormone.

A real estate transaction last December left House Speaker Dennis Hastert with a seven-figure profit and in prime position to reap further benefits as the exurban region west of Chicago continues its growth boosted by a Hastert-backed federally funded proposed highway.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Thirty-eight-year-old suburban dad "Sean Aqui" lends voice to the silent majority known as the moderate middle at Midtopia.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

For your child's next birthday party or David Lynch movie: The animatronic panda suit

For the little playa on your Christmas list: Baby Hip Hop

Connie Chung ensuring she never works in broadcast journalism ever again. [via Drudge]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"It's, you know, another boy, another girl, which country, which race would fit best with the kids."

-- Actress Angelina Jolie, on "Anderson Cooper 360," discussing the various criteria for adopting another child. Jolie currently has three children.

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 20, 2006 6:10 AM | Comments (0)

 

6/19: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

Steve Monaco has an audio-only Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS (INTERNATIONAL EDITION)

France has launched a huge project to remove silt linking the mainland to Mont Saint-Michel - a national landmark - and make it an island again.

An Australian company has developed a system that would allow parents to know when their teen drivers are speeding.

Russia plans to send up a space exploration capsule to analyze the surface of Mars and collect test samples from one of the red planet's moons in 2009.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Arthur Willoughby's Admin Worm blog is kaput. Arthur Willoughby's My Name is William Smythe blog is now open for business.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Cookie Monster vs. Martha Stewart

Larry the Cable Guy: Also not funny when he was a khaki-wearing, mullet-sporting preppie

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Some of these old people are probably wonderfully wise and some of them, maybe, should have retired a long time ago."

-- Stephen Hess, a congressional scholar at the Brookings Institution, commenting on the fact that more than one-third of the U.S. Senate's 100 members are age 65 or older

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 19, 2006 6:24 AM | Comments (0)

 

Daddies Dearest

Filed under: Family

Father's day tribute breaks the Hallmark mold

H.J. Cummins' work/life column in today's Star Tribune is a short, sweet ode to the influence our fathers have on our career choices. This one actually broke me up, especially the bit about Ray Wells Jr., who, Cummins reports, "was 18 and a Golden Gloves boxer when his daughter, Tene, was born."

As far back as she can remember, Tene Wells had regular Saturday outings with her dad. Her mother put her in a dress and sent the two of them out, to leave her to clean the house in peace.

They would go where the men go, to bars and pool halls. Tene remembers feeling the men's respect for her father, which only later she learned had to do with his boxing, his strong sense of responsibility, and his speaking out for civil rights.

The column had me revisiting a couple of CP's greatest fatherhood stories: Britt Robson's grittily honest examination of his and his father's masculine bond; and Peter Scholtes' awesomely tender writings about his father, a priest who was active in the civil rights movement in Chicago. They're both poignant reads, well worth revisiting this weekend.

My own Dad? He's not nearly the cynic I am. Quite the opposite, he encouraged my brother and I to embrace our square-peg tendencies and to leap on even the most unconventional opportunities. And I dare say the impact of the early part of his career as a professor of sociology (he's no longer an academic) is evident in these pages.

Posted by Beth Hawkins at June 16, 2006 12:56 PM | Comments (0)

 

Speed kills (but not as often as you think)

Filed under: Drugs

As anyone who reads the Strib, watches the TV news or listens to the pronouncements of their local legislators knows by now, methamphetamine is the deadliest drug Minnesotans have ever encountered. At this very moment, it is racing across the state like a prairie fire, leaving its victims hopelessly addicted and making all previous drug scourges look like petty vice.

Or not.

This week, the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit the Sentencing Project issued a fascinating, 44-page report entitled The Next Big Thing? Methamphetamine in the United States. Aggregating data from a vast array of sources, the report paints a picture of the meth problem starkly at odds with conventional wisdom. It begins with a rather startling assertion: from an acturial perspective, there really isn't much of a meth epidemic. According to the report, there were more first time meth users in the early 70s than there are today and, more recently, there has been a pronounced decline in use among at least one key demographic, teenagers.

Anyone with serious interest in the issue ought to check out the full document, but here are a few of the major conclusions:

Methamphetamine is among the least commonly used drugs. Only .2 percent of Americans are regular users of methamphetamine. Four times as many Americans use cocaine on a regular basis and 30 times as many use marijuana.

Rates of methamphetamine use have remained stable since 1999. The proporition of Americans who use methamphetamine on a monthly basis has hovered in the range of .2 to .3 percent between 1999 and 2004.

Rates of methamphetamine use by high school students have declined since 1999. The proportion of high school students who have ever used methamphetamine (lifetime prevelance rates) declined by 45 percent between 1999 and 2005, from 8.2 percent to 4.5 percent.

Methamphetamine use remains a rare occurence in most of the United States but exhibits higher rates in selected areas. Only 5 percent of adult male arrestees tested positive for methamphetamine, compared with 30 percent for cocaine and 44 percent for marijuana.

Drug treatment has been demonstrated to be effective in combating methamphetamine addiction... Methamphetamine abuse has generally been shown to be as receptive to treatment as other addictive drugs.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at June 16, 2006 12:40 PM | Comments (4)

 

6/16: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

Jack Sparks has reposted his Top 100 country songs and wants to know what you think. Head over to the Other Side of Country, give it a read, and give Sparks your two cents.

THESE DAYS

Indianapolis police have made an arrest following a bank robbery in which officials said the robber left behind his birth certificate.

New documents obtained by conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch suggest that the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers may have publicly lied regarding the involvement of the Vice President's office in awarding a 2003 multi-billion dollar, no-bid contract to Kellogg Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton.

Actor Michael Madsen, best known for his roles in Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, has thrown his weight behind a web-based campaign to save Union 76 petrol station signs, otherwise known as the "76 Ball."

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

A pair of epicures nosh their way through Twin Cities restaurants at Two MN Foodies.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS (iPOD EDITION)

The portable music player and toilet paper dispenser: iCarta

The hottest thing in feminine protection: iPad

Apple develops multiple-user music player: iPod Maxi

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business."

-- Frederic Rouzaud, managing director of Louis Roederer, the company that produces Cristal, bemoaning its association with hip-hop culture in The Economist, prompting rapper Jay-Z to announce a boycott of the Champange

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 16, 2006 6:37 AM | Comments (0)

 

Making Omelets

Filed under: Media

Don't clutter up the page with pesky details

We realize context is pretty darn hard to sneak into something as short as a Star Tribune metro section column these days, but you'd think that a spare inch or two of newsprint might be made available when one is confronted with the kinds of troublesome details that tend to rob a news commentary of its credibility. Case in point, Katherine Kersten's column today on the thoughts of one Minneapolis Police Sgt. Jeff Jindra vis a vis possible causes of the city's rising crime rate. Kersten reruns the week's news--crime is up--and then quotes Jindra, currently assigned to the Metro Gang Strike Force, complaining about two overlooked causes: Hennepin County's drug court, which he feels is too lenient; and cops reduced to bystanders for fear they'll be charged with racial profiling or brutality.

"The incentives to do aggressive police work have been taken away," he says. Today, thanks to the focus on "racial profiling" in law enforcement and to "overreaching" by the Minneapolis' Civilian Police Review Authority, which reviews claims of police misconduct, it sometimes seems that police rather than defendants are on trial, he says.

The result is that police may hesitate to investigate some suspicious behavior for fear of complaints of racial bias or brutality. "As a cop, you don't have to make traffic stops, which helps get guns off the street, or go the extra mile in proactive policing," says Jindra. "In fact, it's easier not to. But if cops don't do these things, neighborhood safety will suffer."

Let's set aside Jindra's dislike of drug court for the moment. And let's skip, too, the obvious argument about "proactive policing." Instead, let's consider the reporting Kersten either didn't do, or didn't feel obliged to mention in these 572 words.

If Jindra's name rings a bell, it's because he has frequently been named in association with some of those irritating misconduct investigations he grouses about. In the fall of 2003, Jindra was one of several officers named by Stephen Porter, a Minneapolis man who claimed that police had sodomized him with a toilet plunger. Following a seemingly thorough federal investigation, Jindra was exonerated in that case. And he was acquitted by a jury in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in which he was alleged to have roughed up the grandson of one of Minnesota's most revered civil rights activists in May 2003. A third incident, also from May 2003, is still pending: In another federal suit, Jindra is accused of kicking a suspect, Philander Jenkins, in the head and breaking his jaw. To complicate matters just a little further, Jenkins was charged with filing a false report in another incident in which he claimed jail officials had sexually assaulted him.

(For the record, neither of those agencies returned City Pages' calls today; in the past Sgt. Jindra's MPD personnel file and his record with Civilian Review have been without meaningful blemish.)

Of course, none of this could be explored in any meaningful way in 572
words. But maybe those are fights Kersten just doesn't want to pick.

Posted by Beth Hawkins at June 15, 2006 3:53 PM | Comments (0)

 

Radio Latino

Filed under: Media

Ratings for spring 2006 give snapshot of Spanish-language market

A follow-up to last week's CP story about the emerging Latino media market: One of the questions left unanswered at the time was whether the Twin Cities had enough Spanish-speaking listeners to support not one, not two, but three Spanish-language stations.

The Arbitron ratings for this past spring weren't out yet, but they are now.

In the story, longtime Twin Cities radio vet Lupe Gonzalez, founder of Radio Rey (630-AM), maintained that there isn't a broad enough audience to support more than one Latino station. Of course, Gonzalez had reason to assert as much--there is suddenly some serious competition to his reign as the latin radio king.

La Invasora (1400-AM) went on the air just seven months ago--and the ratings show a divided listenership.

In spring and summer 2005, Radio Rey pulled a 1.1 and 1.4 share of the more than 2.6 million listeners in the Twin Cities market. For this past spring, that number had dipped to .9, while La Invasora posted a .4 for its first-ever ratings period--coming in at 25 out of 25. (Another Latino station that broadcasts out of Burnsville doesn't register in the ratings.)

Does this mean Gonzalez is right, and there's a ceiling on the Latino market? Not so, according the Alberto Monserrate, CEO of the Latino Communications Network, which runs La Invasora.

"That audience is less than half the potential Spanish radio audience," Montserrate says in an e-mail to Blotter. "There are at the very least 100,000 potential Spanish radio listeners (I'm being very conservative). We are working very hard to double the current Spanish radio audience, which would put us smack in the middle of the ratings instead of the bottom in all Twin Cities Radio."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at June 15, 2006 12:29 PM | Comments (0)

 

City Pages takes eight Page One Awards

Filed under: Media

The Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists presented its annual Page One Awards at a banquet last night. In the only annual contest that pits City Pages against the local dailies, CP took home eight citations in all--including five first-prize entries: Long Feature (Safe Child Syndrome by Beth Hawkins); Investigative Reporting (The Hit Parade Revisited by Paul Demko and G.R. Anderson Jr.); Best Website Special Report ( "New Orleans Survivor Stories"); Sports Feature ("King of the Hill"; and Graphics/Art & Illustration ("Everything You Know About Taxes is Wrong").

There's a full list of winners following the jump.

FIRST PLACE WINNERS
Best Website Special Report: New Orleans: Survivor Stories by City Pages Staff
Newspaper - Long Feature: Safe Child Syndrome by Beth Hawkins
Newspaper - Investigative: The Hit Parade Revisited by Paul Demko and G.R. Anderson Jr.
Newspaper - Sports Feature: King of the Hill by Britt Robson
Newspaper Graphics - Art and Illustration: Everything You Know About Taxes is Wrong illustrated by Dan Picasso and Nick Vlcek

SECOND PLACE WINNERS
Best Website: citypages.com
Newspaper Photojournalism - Feature: Safe Child Syndrome photographed by David Fick

THIRD PLACE WINNER
Newspaper - Sports Column: What Happened? by Britt Robson

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 15, 2006 11:05 AM | Comments (0)

 

6/15: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

The White House has announced that President Bush is taking Japanese Prime Minister and big-time Elvis fan Junichiro Koizumi to Memphis for a pilgrimage to Graceland.

A Fort Lauderdale nanny who was arrested after police viewed hidden camera video recordings that appeared to show her shaking a 5-month-old baby is suing the recording system's manufacturer.

A retired farmer in Millard, Wisconsin, who says he served in a branch of a German paramilitary unit in World War II, is turning some of his property into a memorial to Adolf Hitler.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Citizen journalists post hometown news and events at Northfield.org.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

New York Times puzzle editor Will Shortz and crossword puzzle fans Jon Stewart, Bill Clinton, Indigo Girls, and Bob Dole are featured in Patrick Creadon's documentary Wordplay.

The Incredible Hulk doing his best Denny Hecker impersonation

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I find her--I wouldn't put her--well, she doesn't pass the Chris Matthews test."

-- MSNBC pundit Chris Matthews, on Hardballing with conservative pundit Ann Coulter

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 15, 2006 6:23 AM | Comments (0)

 

U of M conducts ruthless persecution of Baha'i

Filed under: Religion

The drunk-vs.-stoned softball contest--that perennial college showdown--has a new variant: the agnostics vs. the atheists. The former, according to an April Minnesota Daily survey, outnumber the latter two-to-one on the U of M Twin Cities campus. The study, which polled 799 undergrads, graduate students, staff, and faculty, found that 14.9 percent identify their "current religious or belief system" as "agnostic"; 7.5 percent 'fessed up that they're not waiting for Santa Claus (the poll calls them "atheist.")

Curiously, only 3.7 percent of U of M students and staff reported having grown up in a godless home. It would seem that the University of Minnesota is responsible for shaking the faith of almost a fifth of its campus community. No data were available on precisely which course convinced students that the universe is a cold and utterly lonely place. May we suggest statistics?

Another April, 2006 study, by U of M associate professor of sociology Penny Edgell, found that only 3 percent of the U.S. population own up to being atheists. The study also found that most Americans revile these individuals as self-interested and a theat to shared morality and civil society. Potential advertising slogan for the American Atheists: "At Least We're Not Child Molesters.")

That level of loathing is nothing compared to the acute persecution suffered by the university's Baha'i caucus. So oppressive is their lot, it would seem, that a mere .25 percent can be found cowering anywhere near Coffman Memorial Union. Doubling their numbers are worshipers of Goldie the Gopher--that is, believers in "animism/shamanism."

Posted by Michael Tortorello at June 14, 2006 12:08 PM | Comments (8)

 

6/14: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

Peter S. Scholtes discusses one of the most-sampled backbeats in popular music at Complicated Fun.

THESE DAYS

The Department of Homeland Security allowed a man to enter its headquarters last week using a fake Matricula Consular card as identification, despite federal rules that say the Mexican-issued card is not valid ID at government buildings.

Sander Daselaar of the Netherlands' University of Amsterdam and Roberto Cabeza of Duke University studied 14 healthy young adults and found that the healthy brain may still hold memories that are believed forgotten.

U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. rejected a lawsuit from an atheist who said having the phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins and dollar bills violated his First Amendment rights.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

MPR's Stephanie Curtis discusses new releases and reviews DVDs at the Movie Maven.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Help Screech save his house

It's Cho vs. Smokey in this episode of Ultimate Cat Fighting

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Maybe you can wear jeans for a living and make out with Teri Hatcher."

-- Desperate Housewives plumber James Denton, delivering the commencement speech at his nephew's eighth-grade graduation in suburban Nashville

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 14, 2006 6:33 AM | Comments (1)

 

MPD update: FBI meets with chief

Filed under: Minneapolis

As expected, MPD interim Chief Tim Dolan met today with the FBI over allegations of police misconduct at Little Earth that surfaced last week.

What came out of it? Well, it's a no-news-is-no-news sort of thing.

According to the press release from the MPD this afternoon, no conclusions have been drawn, and more time is needed to "enhance video and photos of the incident."

There is also a case being put together by the MPD for presentation to the Minneapolis City Attorney's office for "possible criminal charges." That's expected to take two weeks.

"During this time, Lt. Richard Thomas and Lt. Michael Fossum will remain on paid administrative leave," the press release concludes. "Their leave status will be reviewed after the case has been submitted. The F.B.I. has reserved the right to further review the final investigation for possible civil rights violations."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at June 13, 2006 3:47 PM | Comments (3)

 

6/13: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Prof. Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire, did an online experiment in which 300,000 people from around the world took part in LaughLab, where they voted for the world's funniest joke. And here it is.

American schools are considering emulating math and science teaching systems in Asia that produce better results, amid concerns over a drop in performance of students in the two subjects.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Becca begins a new life caffeine-free. Follow her progress at The New Beccablog: Because I Said So.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

As Jim Walsh mentioned last week, musical rabble-rouser Billy Bragg has a bone to pick with Rupert Murdoch over the rights to music posted at MySpace.

Darth Vader: Intergalactic Sad Sack

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I did it with my dad. I'd sit on his lap and I drive. We're country."

-- Britney Spears, in an upcoming Today show interview, defending the potential use of her son as an airbag

Posted by Corey Anderson at June 13, 2006 6:41 AM | Comments (0)

 

Minneapolis by the numbers: For the dogs

Filed under: General Archive

As part of the research for a story I'm working on, I recently called Tom Doty, one of the managers at Minneapolis Animal Control, and asked him how many pit bulls live in Minneapolis. Doty said he wasn't sure but he'd run the numbers. Today he sent me a spreadsheet with all registered dogs in Minneapolis, broken down by primary breed. Most of this information is not particularly relevant to my research. But since Doty billed me $25 for his numbers crunching service, I figured I might as well post the data and engage in a little amateur sociology.

Here, then, are Minneapolis' top ten most popular breeds, with raw registration numbers in parenthesis:

Laborador Retriever (1,711)
German Shepherd (498)
Golden Retriever (479)
Siberian Husky (243)
Pit Bull (233)
Beagle (233)
Border Collie (162)
Cocker Spaniel (155)
Rotweiller (152)
Boxer (152)

Here are the ten most popular breeds nationwide, according to the American Kennel Club:

Labrador retriever
Golden retriever
Yorkshire Terrier
German Shepherd
Beagle
Dachshund
Boxer
Poodle
Shih Tzu
Miniature Schnauzers

To me, the most striking aspect of the comparison is the fact that neither the pits nor rots made the national list. Does this mean that Minneapolitans are (A) more bad ass than the nation as a whole or (B) just damn fearful. I suspect the answer is B. What do you think?

One aside: Yeah, I know the term pit bull doesn't describe a single breed, but refers to several distinct breeds, among them: American Pit Bull Terriers (presumably the 233 beasts identified by the city as "pit bulls"), Staffordshire Terriers (50 of which are registered in Minneapolis), American Bulldogs (36), and Bull Terriers (10). That fact--along with my suspicion that pit registration numbers are probably artificially low because a considerable subset of pit owners aren't paperwork folk--only serves to amplify the Minneapolitans-sure-do-like-bad-ass-dogs hypothesis. Again, the question is, Why?

Posted by Mike Mosedale at June 12, 2006 3:39 PM | Comments (10)

 

6/12: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS AND NEWS

Jim Walsh has the strangest review of last night's Springsteen concert at the Walsh Files.

Steve Monaco has last week's Monday Movie Quiz winners at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS

The House Appropriations subcommittee approved a $115 million reduction in the budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that could force the elimination of some popular PBS and NPR programs.

Coca-Cola, fearing Wal-Mart would launch its own sports drink to rival the beverage giant's Powerade if it didn't agree to the ret