Category Archives: Uncategorized

Barn tours — free, every half hour, starting in front of the poultry building — rank high on my list of good things about the State Fair. I grew up on a farm, in daily contact (and sometimes combat) with chickens, but I never knew where the chicken’s ear was located until I took the barn tour. The guides are full of fascinating information and stories about the animals at the fair. Even though Barn Tours is a California operation, they can still fill forty minutes with fun facts. Continue reading →

The 4-H building at the State Fair brings back memories – upstairs are the dormitories where we slept, that end is where our demonstrations (“how-to,” not politics) were scheduled, here are the clothing and canning entries and entomology entries. I still remember the thrill of winning a trip to the State Fair, on the strength of my demonstration skills – I think the topic was “Making Dairy Delights.” Continue reading →

Seed art is a long tradition at the Minnesota State Fair. This year’s crop includes some pointed, political entries.

GOP Sideshow – AnnaConda, Snakewoman

GOP Sideshow – World’s biggest ego, world’s thinnest skin

GOP Sideshow – Madame Michelle’s Zany Predictions

Michele Bachmann, Patron Saint of Wingnuts

Obama Birth Certificate – Birthers, Move On!

Michelle’s Precious Moments

Precious Moments Close-up

“I’m not blaming [swine flu] on President Obama. I just think it’s an interesting coincidence.” Michele Bachmann

(I see gay people from the bushes.)

“[T]he science indicates … that nature is the cause [of global warming], with solar flares, etc. ”

“The global hoax … [is] all voodo, nonsense hokum, a hoax.”

“I’m a foreign correspondent behind enemy lines. ”

“The Lord said, Be submissive to your husband. ”

“[T]ake a good look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-American or anti-American? ”

Due to Drupal 6 migration issues at TC Daily Planet, News Day is on hiatus for at least the next few days. News Day is my “spare time” blog, and between the Drupal 6 issues at work and some family medical issues (not serious, but time-consuming), I do not have time to post right now. Expect to see the blog resume before week’s end!

Ted Kennedy dies “For five decades, virtually every major piece of legislation to advance the civil rights, health and economic well-being of the American people bore his name and resulted from his efforts,” said President Obama, in a statement expressing loss and sorrow on the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. “An important chapter in our history has come to an end. Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States Senator of our time.” Kennedy died at the age of 77, after a battle with brain cancer.

The “Liberal Lion of the Senate” served Massachusetts and the nation since 1962. His leadership in the current battle for health care reform was the last in a long line of progressive causes he championed, beginning with civil rights, anti-poverty legislation and Medicare in the 1960s, described here by NPR. His was one of the few voices in the Senate that vigorously opposed the 2003 war in Iraq.

The Kennedy family issued a statement on his death: “We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever. He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it. He always believed that our best days were still ahead, but it’s hard to imagine any of them without him.”

City Council vs. Park Board Although the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board collected enough signatures to get its proposal for more independence and taxing authority on the November ballot, the Minneapolis city council may refuse to allow a vote. The charter commission will send the proposal to the city council today. According to the Star Tribune, unnamed council members are “irked” at the Park Board’s try for greater independence, and have obtained a city attorney opinion saying that the council has the right to prevent a November 3 vote on the question. Park Board backers disagree.

The proposal’s supporters have offered the council a letter from University of Minnesota Prof. Fred L. Morrison, a specialist in local government law, arguing that the council has a duty to put the charter amendment to the voters. Morrison said the Legislature has authorized charter commissions to create any scheme of local government not inconsistent with the state Constitution.

Gang Strike Force IDs, hearing Responding to a request by St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington, Andy Luger, chair of a state investigative panel, said he would meet with local police authorities next week to give them information on the identity of officers accused by the panel of criminal activity, reports the Star Tribune. The Star Tribune, citing “a source close to the investigation,” said that the 10-12 officers come from Minneapolis, St. Paul, Ramsey County and possibly one suburban department.

This afternoon, a joint hearing by four legislative committees will review the panel’s report and hear from Luger and public officials who have investigated the Metro Gang Strike Force. The hearing is scheduled to be carried live on the Senate television channel, http://www.senate.mn/media, at 2:00 p.m.

RNC arrests, one year later One year later, the TC Daily Planet offers a scorecard detailing what happened to all of the 856 RNC-related arrests. Unsurprisingly, more than 600 cases were dismissed or declined by prosecutors, while a handful, including the RNC 8, still awaiting trial. To date, five people have been found guilty after trials. Some others have either pleaded guilty or agreed to pay a fine or do community service and have the case continued for dismissal after a year.

The RNC 8 trial date has not yet been set, and the scheduling conference set for August 19 was postponed, with no new date set as of yet.

World/National News

Honduras An Organisation of American States delegation – consisting of foreign ministers from Argentina, Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama and the Dominican Republic – failed to persuade the de facto coup government in Honduras to make any concessions, reports BBC. Instead, the ruling officials said they will proceed with an election in November, without allowing President Manuel Zelaya, ousted June 28, to return to the country. While BBC recognized Zelaya as a right-wing politico when he was elected in 2005, since the coup he has been reclassified as “Left-wing President Manuel Zelaya.”

War Report

Afghanistan Car bombs in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar killed more 41 people yesterday, reports NPR. At least 66 people were wounded, and the death toll could rise higher. The bombs were detonated near a foreign-owned construction company, according to NPR, and near the city government offices, according to BBC.

CIA Reports Want to read the recently released CIA reports for yourself? Just click here to see the PDF documents, courtesy of NPR:

The 2004 Document (PDF)
The 2006 Memo (PDF) on overseas prisons
The 2007 Reply (PDF).
The 2005 Report (PDF).

Bad boys in blue Some 10 to 12 Metro Gang Strike Force cops committed crimes reported the special state panel headed by Andy Luger, a former assistant U.S. attorney, and retired FBI agent John Egelhof. The panel has turned the information over to the FBI, whose investigation into criminal activity by the Strike Force continues. The Star Tribune reports:

The state inquiry into the disbanded Strike Force uncovered “substantial evidence of misconduct” that went well beyond revelations previously reported by news media or uncovered in earlier government investigations.

The panel’s report, issued Thursday, said that Strike Force employees repeatedly took home seized property for personal use and that many of the seizures themselves were improper.

Luger characterized the behavior as “serious misconduct — misconduct that was appalling and outrageous.”

Licensure? We don’t need no licensure! The St. Paul Public Schools said that Suzanne Kelly will continue as superintendent, even though the Minnesota Board of School Administrators refused to reconsider its ruling this spring. In June, the TC Daily Planet first reported the story that the Board said that the Board ruled that Kelley was unlicensed, that she did not qualify for a waiver of licensure rules, and that she was not authorized to serve as an interim superintendent.

According to the Pioneer Press:

Kelly, chief of staff to former superintendent Meria Carstarphen, was selected as interim because of her detailed knowledge of district initiatives and because she made it clear she will not be a candidate for the permanent job, district leaders said.

Two other administrators in the top tier of Carstarphen’s administration — chief academic officer Valeria Silva and chief of schools Nancy Stachel — have superintendent licensure, as do 21 other district employees, according to the state Department of Education

Unemployment down slightly For the first time in 12 months, unemployment fell slightly in Minnesota. Figures from the Department of Employment and Economic Development showed July unemployment at 8.1 percent, down from 8.4 percent in June, with employers adding 10,300 jobs in July, though there are still 7.7 jobseekers for every unfilled job.

Eight of the state’s 11 industry sectors gained employment during the month, led by leisure and hospitality, which added 3,900 jobs. Other gains were posted by government (up 2,800), manufacturing (up 1,700), professional and business services (up 1,700), education and health services (up 1,200), construction (up 700), logging and mining (up 200), and financial activities (up 100).

Job losses occurred in trade, transportation and utilities (down 1,300), information (down 500) and other services (down 200).

AP describes one consumer strategy for coping with the recession: “ditching items before they are rung up.”

Hard numbers are difficult to come by, but Burt P. Flickinger III, a retail consultant, estimates that in 25 percent of shoppers’ trips to the store, they’re ditching at least one item. In the recession of the early 1990s, it was 15 to 20 percent. In good times, it’s more like 10 percent.

The Star Tribune warns that people need to be careful about another recession-busting strategy, selling household surplus at garage sales. A new federal law makes it a crime to resell anything that has been recalled by the manufacturer, and feds are cracking down on resale of children’s toys and other items that could put kids at risk.

Electric Fetus hit hard by tornado Wednesday’s tornado activity damaged the roof of the Electric Fetus, and the store has to reamin closed until the roof is repaired. That’s bad news in tough economic times, but you can still shop online, says the Fetus:

We hope to be at least partially up and running in the next 4-7 days. Web orders will take a few extra days to ship, so thanks for your patience. You can also shop our digital store at Think Indie. Thanks for your support these past 41 years. We couldn’t be here without you!

(Hat tip to Erica at Fresh MN for the heads-up.)

The much-esteemed BBC reports that two Canadian universities teamed up on research showing that:

If zombies actually existed, an attack by them would lead to the collapse of civilisation unless dealt with quickly and aggressively. …

To give the living a fighting chance, the researchers chose “classic” slow-moving zombies as our opponents rather than the nimble, intelligent creatures portrayed in some recent films.

And the Pioneer Press reports that a Minnesota woman once arrested at a “Zombie Dance Party” is now charged in Texas with sending an email threatening the life of an FBI snitch Brandon Darby, the community activist-turned-informant. No info available about what the email actually said, but the PiPress has fascinating detail about the 2006 zombie arrest during the Aquatennial Parade:

Members of the group said they intended the display as performance art and social commentary on “what they believed to be the mindless nature of consumer culture,” U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen later wrote in a court ruling. They used their sound system to broadcast “silly mock advertisements like ‘brain check on aisle five,’ ‘get your brains here,’ and ‘brains,’ ” Ericksen wrote.

Police originally told them to turn down their music, but the confrontation escalated into arrests. The zombies were taken into custody for alleged disorderly conduct and for allegedly violating a law passed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that made it a crime to alarm the public with simulated weapons of mass destruction.

They were never charged, but they sued the city and Hennepin County for false imprisonment, assault, battery and defamation.

And I thought August was a slow news month!

FBI to investigate in MPD video beating case Invited in by Minneapolis police chief Tim Dolan, the FBI will investigate the February police beating of a man who had been thrown to the ground by an officer after a traffic stop. The chief’s invitation looks like damage control, after the release of the squad car video shows the apparently unresisting Darryl Jenkins being kicked, punched and tased by six cops.

MPR interviewed a former MPD officer, who confirmed that the use of force shown in the video looks “completely out of line:”

Mike Quinn is a retired Minneapolis police officer. During his 23 years on the force, he spent four years as head of the police academy. Many of the officers he trained are still on the force.

Quinn reviewed the video of Jenkins’ arrest and immediately saw some red flags.

“You’ve got a guy who’s down on the ground — passive resistance. He’s not fighting back. He’s not punching or kicking at anybody,” said Quinn. “Clearly there’s multiple punches being thrown by the officers, and kicks. From what I can see and just from the video, I would say somebody needs to investigate this because that appears to be completely out of line.”

Rhetorical question: How long will it take for the Minneapolis Police Department to change the departmental culture that tolerates and excuses this kind of behavior?

What’s with the dead trees? Unseasonably brown trees are one sign of stem girdling roots, which are killing hundreds of St. Paul trees, reports the TC Daily Planet. Maples are especially hard-hit, and the cause is bad planting practices. Because trees were planted too deep, roots are now choking the trunks, shortening life spans and thinning the urban forest:

Life for a street tree is tough. The average life for a boulevard tree is 25-35 years, a number Johnson calls terrible. “Box elders, in their native sites, live to 100-125 years,” he said. “Silver maples live 125 years or more. Burr oaks live 250-450 years and we have trees dying in 25-30 years. That is such a waste of time and money.”

How health care works The Minnesota Independent reports on one of the current health care “systems” identified by Ed Kohler who blogs at The Deets: “Tack up a poster for a fundraiser at a local cafe.”

MN (sort of) military news In Fridley, a defense contractor will lay off 314 of its 1,319 workers, reports the Star Tribune. BAE Systems said that, “These layoffs come as a result of the partial termination notice and stop-work orders the company received for its Future Combat Systems (FCS) manned ground vehicle program contracts.” BAE is a subcontractor for Boeing.

And in Arden Hills, the city council now supports making most of the four-square-mile Army munitions site into a regional park, reports the Star Tribune. The mayor opposes the plan, saying that more of the site should be redeveloped into manufacturing uses, though no new developer is in sight after the pullout of Ryan Companies earlier in the year. The flat parcel of land now has Army buildings on it, which would have to be torn down, and a contamination clean-up is also needed.

World/National News

Largest identity theft U.S. authorities have arrested Albert Gonzalez, 28, and two un-named Russian co-conspirators in the theft of 130 million credit card numbers, reports BBC. The trio used something known as the “SQL injection attack.”

According to BBC, consumers can do little to protect themselves from this kind of attack. The best advice is to check bank and credit card statements carefully and report suspicious transactions immediately.

Honduras Protests against the de facto government installed after the June coup continue, and so does violent repression of protest. In recent days:

• August 11-12 – “The armed forces and police attacked tens of thousands of Hondurans in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, the industrial center of the country, resulting in two days of terror and fear in Honduras. Hundreds of people have been arrested, beaten, and many are wounded, according to reports from different human rights organizations. The nation’s two principal cities have been militarized.”
• August 12 – After curfew, unidentified individuals drove past the office of Vía Campesina located in the Alameda neighborhood of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, shooting into the office.
• August 14 – Protesters blocked vehicle traffic along the highway between San Pedro Sula and Puerto Cortés. After protest leaders and police reached an agreement to disperse peacefully, police instead chased protesters, arresting 27 severely beating many of them. Five protesters were hospitalized.

War Reports

Afghanistan A suicide attack on a NATO convoy on the outskirts of Kabul killed seven people and injured 50, reports NPR. The Taliban has denounced national elections, which will take place Thursday, and warned that people going to the polls will be putting themselves in danger. Rockets also hit the presidential palace and police headquarters in Kabul, according to the New York Times, which said those attacks caused no injuries.

President Hamid Karzai, who faces 30 opposing candidates, is seen as the front-runner.