Big Al evading the taxman

Haven't done any political posts in awhile...

Democratic Senate candidate and former SNL actor Al Franken has been running into trouble with various issues involving not paying worker's comp claims. Now, it has been found that he owes $70,000 in back taxes to 17 different states.

I wonder if this will actually derail his Senate run. At the moment, he doesn't have any serious opposition in the DFL, so he might still get the nomination. Can you name any current DFL opponents off the top of your head? It will be interesting to see if someone else on the Dem side of things decides to swoop in and try to get Franken out before the primary. If not, this definitely makes things slightly easier for Norm Coleman. I say slightly because I think that at least 40% of the electorate in this state will dismiss this whole thing as either not a big deal, or a partisan witchhunt (that includes 97% of people in my neighborhood and about 85% of all Minneapolitans). Although, if the most recent Rasmussen poll (found via this post on Power Line) is any indicator, Sen. Coleman is not in bad shape.

Time will tell. This race was going to be interesting from the get-go. Now, it will be downright fascinating to watch unfold.

Draft analysis

Analyzing draft picks less than a day after the draft is generally an exercise in futility. But, if Mel Kiper can do it, so can I.

I want to focus on the Packers, because in Stinger Nation, the Packers are the only NFL team that matters. Over the past few years, Ted Thompson has made some picks that I have found to be rather questionable, and this year is no exception. At this point, I do not know enough about the individual players to say anything about them, but I do wonder why two WRs and two QBs were drafted by the Packers. Wide receiver is a position of relative strength, and drafting two QBs doesn't seem to send the right message to Aaron Rodgers. I also would have preferred if the Pack had signed a veteran to be Rodgers' backup. I do like the pick of Patrick Lee of Auburn, who projects as a physical corner who will play well in the Packers secondary, where jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage is a big part of their coverage.

However, Thompson has made some pretty good picks, and the 13-3 record the Packers posted in 2007 is evidence of this. So, while I am not sure why Ted Thompson drafted two WRs and two QBs, he has earned the right to not be maligned right away for his picks.

A threshold was crossed today

So I did something today I didn't think I would have to do for at least a few more years...I actually paid over a buck for a candy bar. Granted, there were two mitigating factors here. One, it was a Superamerica, and they mark things up like crazy. Two, it was on the corner of Grant and LaSalle downtown, so I probably chipped in a little more towards the Twins' new stadium. But, even without sales taxes, that Reese's peanut butter cup package was 95 cents!!! I don't want to get into the reasons for this just yet, but I thought it was worth noting.

Fortunately, SA is not the only game in town in my neighborhood anymore. And really, I shouldn't be buying candy bars anyway.

Oh crap!! Or maybe not?

So I'm at work today, and some guy comes up to me and says, "It's official! You can pencil in the Vikings at the top of the division at the very least...we have Allen." It was something like that. So yeah, the Vikings sent a bunch of draft picks to Kansas City for defensive end Jared Allen. No doubt this makes the Vikings a better team, and there is no question that the Vikings have upped the ante. And, with Brett Favre being retired, the Packers are no longer the odds-on favorite to win the NFC North this year.

So, it was nice to read this Kevin Seifert article to give a dose of reality to the fans of the Purple-Helmeted Pricks. While Jared Allen will make that defense much better and take some pressure off the secondary, the quarterback is still Tavaris Jackson. And, he still doesn't have all that many options at wide receiver. The point of the article is, Tavaris Jackson will be the biggest difference-maker. If he develops into a solid QB this year, with a healthy Adrian Peterson running for 1,600+ yards, then yeah, the Vikings are probably going to at least win the division. But, if Jackson makes a bunch of mistakes, and Peterson gets hurt (which does happen...check his history), then the NFC North is up for grabs.

If that happens, watch for a young Packers squad with a pretty good defense of its own and a young QB with a plethora of options at WR and an emerging Ryan Grant to be right there.

So, bottom line to Queens fans: don't book your flight and hotel for Tampa-St. Pete just yet. And, you may want to wait until at least week 10 before ordering your division championship sheet to hang in the Jiffy Pop Dome. The Vikings are better than before, but nothing is for certain.

You can go home again

So many things change in our world. That field that used to be behind your house now has a 16-screen movie theater. Your old high school puts FieldTurf on its football field. The high school you graduated from in the 90s had 600 students. Now, it has 1200. Your hometown gets a performing arts center with touring Broadway shows. So many things change. But, in the Fox Cities, some things remain the same. In the local paper, religion comes up fairly frequently. Now, the Fox Cities are fairly conservative, and pretty heavily Catholic. So, when the Pope came to the US, a lot of people there consider it to be a big deal. Then, at his lonely post representing atheism, is Robert Nordlander. It's a lonely existence to be atheist in the Valley. Especially considering it's small enough that everyone who pays attention knows you are an atheist, despite most of them never having met you. But, he keeps plugging away with letters to the editor, the occasional call to It's Your Call (highly recommended reading for hilarity, with the linked example being about the hot topic of raw milk), and now this. Scroll down a bit to get to Mr. Nordlander's question. I wonder if he actually would ask Pope Benedict XVI the questions he posted.

Now, I don't come to bash Mr. Nordlander's beliefs...he is entitled to them. Frankly, I had a stretch where I was at least agnostic. I just take comfort knowing that in an ever-changing world, I can set my watch to Bob's lonely fight against the forces of religion in the Post-Crescent. Thank you Bob, and may you never change.

Coming soon: Odes to Merv Farmer and Florence Courtney (people in the Valley know of whom I speak)

Runnin' mad games as if your name was Scott Skiles

The headline was actually a lyric in "The Infamous Date Rape" by A Tribe Called Quest. Who? Never mind, non hip-hop liking readership. Anyway, former Buck Scott Skiles was named the new coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. Apparently new GM John Hammond went right after him from the moment Larry Krystowiak was canned. I maybe would have preferred Rick Carlisle, but Scott Skiles has had some success as a coach, so again I am cautiously optimistic that Skiles can right the ship. Skiles can be blunt in his assessment of players, and hopefully will bring some discipline to a team that really wasn't a team in 07-08.

My guess is that the Bucks off-season will be fairly active, despite not having much room under the cap.

Inspiration strikes!!!

Just when I thought it would be a few more days before I posted anything, one of the KC crew sends me to this place, where there is a link to the most unwanted song. It's long, has opera singer rapping, and children singing advertising jingles!! It's so horrible, it's awesome!!!

Hat tip: The Stencil

Oh, you should actually see the post on The Stencil for background on the project that produced this gem of a song.

Almost a week...

...since my last post. I haven't seen anything out there lately that made me want to post. But, I'm still around, and as soon as something comes up, I will post on it. In the meantime, I added a couple of links to the roll:

The Antiplanner - A blog written by someone who wants to debunk the idea that Portland, Oregon is the urban planning utopia that proponents believe it to be. I have done research on Portland, so I have read this with some interest. Definitely some unintended consequences over there...of course, the flood of people moving from California doesn't help.

Demographia - Not a blog, but a promising source of information on demographic trends, which interest me. Probably not a lot of other people, but it's an interesting way to look at how people respond to climate, government policy, etc. People vote with their feet. I like to look at the trends.

Like I said, if anything comes up where I can come up with a good take, I will post.

Delta-NWA merger

So, the long-rumored, long-negotiated merger of Minnesota's hometown airline and Delta looks like it just might happen. I think it's too early to speculate on exactly what will happen, although it does not look like the hub at MSP will be eliminated. However, the combined airline will be headquartered in Atlanta. This is causing a lot of anger here, given various favors and bailouts given to NWA by state government over the years. I will be interested to see if Tim Pawlenty and the state legislature try to get some of that money back, or if it will even be worth it to try.

As for losing the HQ to Atlanta, that is a blow to civic pride as well as a loss of a good amount of high-paying jobs. But buck up Minnesota, you are just getting started in the world of losing things to Atlanta. Over in Wisconsin, we have lost the Milwaukee Braves, the Milwaukee Hawks (via St. Louis), Rayovac, and probably a few paper companies to Atlanta. I think Georgia would still be a southern backwater with Coca-Cola by itself if it hadn't raided Wisconsin time and again.

Hey, one potential bright side: there is a decent possibility that Delta/NWA will have to give up some gates at MSP. Maybe, if we dare to dream, some actual competition may show up!!

Sark off, feudal lords

Sark, an island in the Channel Islands chain, has decided to stop being a feudalisitc society. I thought this was funny. I figured feudalism went the way of the dodo centuries ago.

This world never ceases to amaze me. A feudalistic society in Europe in the 21st century...crazy.

Nation-building update

I haven't done anything too major to this point, but I have added a few links to blogs and other media I read. I did it quickly, so there is a lot more to add. Mostly the blogs I added are based in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and they are all conservative. I am guessing that as the year goes on, I will add more links as I find places of interest on the Internets. Again, I am open to suggestions on potential additional links across the political spectrum.

I wanted to find some blogs that had posts regarding cities and their development, but with little luck. I know there are people like me who are geeks about this stuff (like 5 or 6 in the rest of the world), but so far they are not easy to find. That search will continue as well.

Bucks new GM....it isn't Bill Simmons

One of my first posts talked about The Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, lobbying to be the new GM of the Milwaukee Bucks. I used the occasion to lament the state of the Bucks and how things could get really bad soon, even worse than it already is.

However, I have to say I am cautiously optimistic about the guy the Bucks picked to be the new GM, John Hammond. He was Joe Dumars' right-hand man in Detroit, and the Pistons are about as close to a model franchise as you'll find, at least in the Eastern Conference. He has helped Dumars build consistent winners, with a few NBA Finals appearances and one title. He has inherited a mess of bad contracts (Bobby Simmons, Dan Gadzuric, etc) and a meddlesome power structure above him in the organization. He is going to need a couple of years to right the ship in Milwaukee. But, like I said, I am cautiously optimistic that he can do it.

So, while Bill Simmons put a nice "campaign" together, and he is one of my favorite sports/pop culture columnists out there, I am glad that a guy like Hammond was plucked from the class of the Central Division. Good luck, John...you'll need it.

Gee, you think?

An article on ESPN.com talks about emails revealing that there was private talk about the Seattle Supersonics moving to Oklahoma City in 2007. Well, let's do the math...first, a group of people from Oklahoma buys the team after the Hornets have a successful run there after Hurricane Katrina. The team is in the smallest arena in the league, and no one seems willing to foot the bill for a new arena. Then, add in the successful run for the Hornets with an arena in Oklahoma City looking for an anchor tenant. Frankly, the Sonics looked like a team ripe for the taking. This revelation was about as shocking as the sun rising this morning.

I don't think this will change anything. I still think the Sonics are going to Oklahoma. And, I still think it sucks for Seattle.

Cake Eaters: Let them eat cake....but not ours

As a resident of Minneapolis, I believe one of my duties is to bash suburbs at any opportunity. I think there is something in the city charter about this, but I am not certain. This is especially true of Edina (Every Day I Need Attention). This is a city full of people with craploads of money who live in huge houses, who allegedly look down their noses at everyone else. Now, I don't know if that last part is true, being that I have met only one Edina native in my life, and he was pretty cool. But, there is a reason Edinans are referred to as "cake-eaters."

The title of this post stems from the tone taken by a lot of the residents quoted in this article. Edina, like many suburbs, especially of the first-ring variety, is fully developed. And, like all cities in the metro, Edina is putting together a ten-year plan (a five-year plan would be Communist, you know) for planning and managing growth. The city council is planning for things such as affordable housing and more dense development, particularly in one area by I-494 and MN-100. As you would suspect, many Edinans are up in arms. It's understandable. In the Twin Cities area, Edina has a certain cachet. Preserving that seems to be pretty important to them. However, Edina has to recognize that they don't have the final say on this; the Met Council has it. They can ask Lake Elmo about how that works. I think they are going to have to plan for some affordable housing and some denser development. If you believe in a regional development strategy, like the Met Council does, you know that cities are going to have to accept some things that may be undesirable. I think the Edina city council may have a better understanding of that than the citizenry. Also, I don't think that some denser development and cheaper housing is going to destroy what makes Edina the city it is. But, the people of Edina have a point. People move to Edina because of what Edina is. Wanting to preserve that is entirely understandable. Plus, there is the very valid argument of cities controlling their own destiny.

I am torn on this. Cities should be able to control their own destiny. And, in the Twin Cities, the fact that the regional planning commission has a lot of power (and taxing authority) while not being elected is troublesome. However, I think a lot of suburbanites feel they can simply throw the larger cities that made their suburb possible under the proverbial bus. It's almost like people think, "Sure, we need people to work as cops, teachers, service employees, and the like in our town. But at the end of the day, those people can go right back to Minneapolis or St. Paul where they belong."

I try to not be anti-suburb. I have calmed down considerably on this over the years. I don't care much for what is popularly known on the right as class warfare. But, reading articles like this really make it difficult to not relapse a bit.

Dinna-ninna-ninna-neh

The writer of the song popularly known as "The Chicken Dance" has died. I think most everyone who has attended a wedding reception anywhere in Wisconsin has done this dance, and had fun doing it (anyone who says otherwise is lying). So, a man who made a small but important contribution to cheeseball fun is no longer with us. But, his dance lives on forever!!

What, you don't know the Chicken Dance?!! But, everyone does! Even Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil knows the Chicken Dance.

I....I....I, I got work to dooooo....

Over the next few days, I would like to start doing a couple of things over here. Nation-building, if you will (and I will). I will add links to some blogs, papers, and other stuff I read online. I may check out some other features of Blogger and see if anything they put out there will help make this place a little more appealing. Of course, I take suggestions, as I am new at this whole thing. In the meantime, keep coming by for more scintillating commentary...or inane blather, whatever floats your boat.

Strong out of the gate

I don't think I have talked about music since I started this here blog thing. So, here's my first go at it. I have had this conversation with a few people before, but I wanted to get some more opinion on this.

These days, it seems like the album is dead. However, in the past most of us who attached ourselves to any musical act would snap up their albums as soon as they came out. To my mind, listening to a new album (or older album for the first time) is one of the simple pleasures of life. Especially when the first track is great. That is what I want to discuss: first tracks on albums.

Here are a few I like to start out with (this will also provide a glimpse into my taste in music):

"Bone Machine" by the Pixies, off the album Surfer Rosa. It basically tells you what the album is going to be in the first few measures. A steady buildup, then the song. Really great track.

"Red Rain" by Peter Gabriel, off the album So: This song has such a big sound, it is almost anthemic.

"Waiting Room" by Fugazi, off the self-titled EP, also the opening track off 13 Songs: As a buddy of mine says, this song announces that Fugazi is going to throw down, and not waste any time doing so. This song serves as a cure for me for times that bad songs get stuck in my head.

I know I am missing a lot of great ones, so I open the floor. If I come up with others, I will post them in the comments.

4 AM boozin,' for our elephant friends

I have to say that I am very surprised that this might happen in a state where not too long ago, bar time was 1 AM. There is a possibility that bar time will be pushed to 4 AM around the time of the GOP Convention in St. Paul late this summer.

Given the tee-totaling history of this state, with its 3.2 beer and no liquor sales on Sundays, one wouldn't think this would even be a possibility. But, here it is. I for one will do my darndest to take advantage of this rule at least once, despite my having nothing to do with the convention.

Are Republicans big partiers? Are people like James Dobson, Gary Bauer, Pat Robertson, and the like going to be kicking it at Billy's on Grand until 4 AM? I guess we just might see.

Actually, the really interesting thing to potentially see will be if drunk GOPers and drunk lefty protesters will have any drunken brawls at 4:30 in the morning....

Rock Chalk fundamentals

Congrats to the Kansas Jayhawks, who just won the NCAA basketball championship, beating the Memphis Tigers in OT. Kansas came back from a 8-point deficit by hitting shots and sending Memphis to the free throw line. All season, that was the Achilles' heel for the Tigers. When they were beating the crap out of C-USA and the likes of Michigan State and Texas in the tournament, it didn't matter much. But, Kansas kept sending them to the line, and Memphis kept missing. This obviously kept KU in position to win or force OT. Mario Chalmers hit a great 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation to force that OT.

So here's the moral of the story: Dunks and 3s will get you on Sportscenter, but boring things like defense and free throws win championships. You gotta hit your throws. If Memphis makes 2 that they missed, they win in regulation, and I'm congratulating them (for what that's worth). Meanwhile, KU made 14 of 15 from the line.

Either way, congrats to the Jayhawks. Having spent some time in Kansas City, I know the fans are pretty rabid, so cheers to them. Hopefully the fans in KC don't tear up places like Tanner's, Coach's; or closer to campus in Lawrence, any place on K-10, especially the Rock Chalk Car Wash. I enjoy referencing (and by referencing, I mean making fun of) that place.

East metro growth

Saw a couple of interesting articles (here and here) about future growth in Washington County. It is expected that there will be 366,000 people over there by 2030, compared with a current population of around 201,000. One article features current landowners and the pressure to sell to developers. It also mentions the internal battles in some of these towns poised for growth. The other article talks about what will happen to the stretch of I-94 between the 694-494 interchange and the Wisconsin border.

As someone who has been on that stretch of road many times going to or coming from Wisconsin, the evolution has been fascinating. Woodbury has steadily marched north to I-94, while the north side, Lake Elmo, has largely remained rural. The juxtaposition of all the big box retailers, lifestyle centers, and the like south of 94 vs. Dolan's Marine and not much else north is somewhat strange. Well, the Met Council changed all that. Now, Lake Elmo will have to bear some of the burden of expected growth in that direction, and that continues to cause a lot of consternation over there.

This brings me to the other article, about how to solve the future transportation problems that will inevitably come with all this growth. As it stands currently, traffic moves along rather well on I-94 east of the 494-694 interchange. It has six lanes, and meets the needs of the area for the most part. But, as growth continues to happen (not to mention the leapfrogging of people over the river to St. Croix County), it seems inevitable that I-94 will need to be widened, regardless of plans for other modes of transportation. Apparently WisDOT believes there will be a need to widen the bridge over the St. Croix River at some point soon to accommodate traffic to and from Wisconsin, thus expediting the need for widening in Minnesota. This wasn't mentioned enough in the article, but it is likely that planning for this will have to include projections for growth in St. Croix County. It has already exceeded its 2010 population projection of 80,779 (Wisconsin Dept of Administration) and stands at 81,331 (2007 estimate, Census Bureau). Without much knowledge of how these are calculated, I would expect that St. Croix County will have at least 115,000 residents by 2030, with another 80,000 in Pierce and Polk Counties. The majority of these people will likely work in Minnesota, in continuance of current commuting patterns.

I guess I don't have much more of an opinion on things at this moment, but I will continue to be interested in watching how things work out over there. My only concern is making sure that corridor allows me to high-tail it out of Minnesota when necessary.

RIP, my NCAA bracket

Well, my bracket fought valiantly, putting 3 of 4 teams in the Final Four (I missed on Memphis, took Pitt instead). But, between the beating it took in Tampa, and now this, I am officially done. Stupid UCLA not using their experience to their advantage. Oh well, maybe next year.

$8 cover charge for The City

I can't quite put my finger on why this bothers me, but it does. I don't mean the fact that someone in the New York Assembly is not gung-ho about the idea of charging all vehicles $8 for the privilege of driving in parts of Manhattan, but the idea itself. Of course, it's partially for the environment, so in many eyes that makes this GOOD. But, I just see all sorts of unintended consequences for a lot of people who live and/or work on that island. They don't ship groceries to stores on the A train. There is something else that bugs me about it, but I can't quite put it into words.

Oh, I just figured out part of the reason it bugs me. This bothers me because if this is successfully implemented in New York, you just know that some idiot alderman in Minneapolis, like perhaps this one, will try to do it here. And she'll do it with my best interests in mind, I am sure. After all, she is my rep in City Hall. And, she cares about my needs.

Disclosure: I am not anti-public transit. In fact, I use it often. Also, I don't really care for people in this town like Jason Lewis who have sort of a "let them eat cake" view of people who use public transit. But, a proposal like the one in New York just seems punitive. OK, that's one other thing that bugs me about it. It seeks to punish people who drive themselves around.

Nausea, here I come

This is a microcosm of why I sometimes really really hate Minnesota. "Look at us, we're so much better than you. We have a smoking ban, and you don't." Just another example of a superiority complex this state has, which is pretty much without merit. By the way, beating your neighbors to creating a full-on nanny state is nothing to be proud of, Minnesota.

If I had the dough, and if the Bible-thumping do-gooders wouldn't get all angry, I would put up a billboard on the east side of the St. Croix River with a big middle finger aimed at Minnesota. Perhaps putting a Super Bowl ring or three on it would make it better.

This guy ran several TV networks?!!

Wow...just wow.

Hat tip: Althouse

Crean to Indiana...doesn't look like April Fools either

There are several reports, including this one, this one, and this one, that say Marquette coach Tom Crean is set to take the Indiana coaching job. I have to say I was surprised at this. I don't think Indiana is the elite job it used to be, and Crean pretty much had it made at MU. You can't be certain that this is a big step up. However, Indiana is a legacy program, so I guess I can see why Crean would take it, if in fact he is. And, there is a lot to be said for taking on new challenges...and Indiana is certainly going to be a challenge.

The question here is, what's next for Marquette? This coaching search will be very interesting. Marquette is a pretty good job for someone coming up or trying to come back. So far, I haven't seen any names, but this is not a surprise just yet. On the JSOnline link, a lot of people seem to think bringing Bob Knight or Rick Majerus into the fold would be a good idea. Others think Tony Bennett might want to come back to the state of Wisconsin and coach at MU. Frankly, I don't see any of these scenarios happening. But, I wonder if Marquette won't try to get a name coach, to essentially do what Indiana did. I also wonder if they can pull it off. I guess we'll see.

I forgot to mention the other aspect of this for Marquette...does this mean that Dominic James and Jerel McNeal are pretty much gone? I wonder if this will make MU try to get a coach more quickly.