Date

Save the last dance for me

barbara — Mon, 01 May 2006 14:03:02 -0500

By Barbara Miller
Oh, frabjous day! The first week of May. Time to commemorate spring, revolution and the pairing up of political odd fellows. Yes, once again, Karl Rove reigns supreme in the match-making biz. And this year, that crafty Beltway Yentl has his eye on our very own Minnesota governor, Tim Pawlenty.
Tim is slick, sleek and young as politicians go. He is the conservatives conservative. Hes an earnest-sounding, articulate D.C. outsider"unless you count co-chairing Bushs Minnesota Campaign and having Rove raise funds for him insiderish.
Tim has Big Plans for himself. Four years ago, he was poised to run for the U.S. Senate. Rove said no. Chances are he offered Tim the possibility of an even juicier run somewhere down the road. Say, maybe, the vice presidency? In 2008? Now all Tim needs is someone to invite him to the dance.

When (the holy) father doesn't know best

susan — Wed, 03 May 2006 00:30:46 -0500

by susan lenfestey
Shortly after the archdiocese of Boston announced that they were shutting down their century-old adoption agency rather than place children in homes with gay parents -- a practice the Vatican deemed "gravely immoral" in 2003 -- the Vatican took up debating the morality of the condom.
I suppose that the past "gravely immoral" behavior of a whole slew of priests shouldnt condemn the rest of the pack to having no moral leg to stand on, but the churchs institutional response " or lack of one " well, thats another story.
So how is it that the Catholic Church thinks their ideas about condoms or what makes a normal, healthy family should result in anything other than sidesplitting laughter?

The Emperor's New Pick

barbara — Mon, 08 May 2006 10:22:51 -0500

by Barbara Miller
Here we go again. Bush is trying to foist another iffy pick on the American people.
General Michael Hayden is being tapped by Bush to head up the CIA. Hayden is John Negropontes principal deputy in the National Intelligence Agency. Bush appointed Hayden to that position, too. So clearly he is Bushs boy. Foxes and henhouses, don't you know. It is the way of things in Bush World.
So do we know who Michael Hayden is? Until yesterday, probably not. But every time George W. Bush claims that his appointee du jour is "supremely qualified," stand back for a stunning display of red flags. (Wikipedia says that red flags are the international symbol for "blood of angry workers." Yeah, pretty much.)

A Mothers' Day Gift of Sleep

susan — Wed, 10 May 2006 13:06:47 -0500

Published on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 by CommonDreams.org
by Susan Lenfestey
A recent issue of Newsweek revisited the age-old question of Why Women Can't Sleep. Late one night, after my bath and other sleep-inducing routines failed me again, I leafed through it to see if there was anything I didn't already know. Over the years everything I've read has pretty much concurred that it's our destiny, something as relevant to protecting our young as our vestigial tails are to hanging from the highest limb.
Hormonally, it seems, we are all mothers. So while the men are snoring by the fire after a hard day of the hunt, we women are sleeping with one eye open, gathering the twitching, dreaming children into our soft folds -- even if the children are now 40; even if we never had any.

Is anybody listening?

barbara — Fri, 12 May 2006 10:58:22 -0500

by Barbara Miller
Remember party lines " where multiple families shared the same phone line? Remember how good we got at sliding a finger under the receiver to hold down the button while we carefully removed the receiver from its cradle? How we tucked the mouthpiece end under our chin so our breathing couldnt be detected? Then we let the button come up verrrry slowwwwly.
Turns out the Bush administration has been giving us the finger for several years. This is not a new thing, but the most recent example has set off a perfect storm of furious and justified indignation.
Our government (i.e., the Government of the United States of America) has been tracking domestic phone calls by collecting records from AT&T, Verizon and Bell South. Those are just the ones we know about. We are told that these three behemoths collectively deal with nearly three-quarters of U.S. telephone transactions.

Mother's Day Advice

lynnell — Sun, 14 May 2006 16:28:40 -0500

by Lynnell Mickelsen (originally published in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Sunday, May 14, 2006)
I'm only 18 years into the motherhood, so what do I know? (In truth, less and less.) But still, assuming I live to be 85 Im one-third of the way through the marathon. And let me tell you, when it comes to endurance contests, motherhood trumps the Ironman. I mean, swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles? Big deal! Young moms do the emotional and physical equivalent every day. (Its called raising toddlers.) And then, the next morning, they get up and do it all over again. Day after day. For years..

Is this the time for optimism?

barbara — Mon, 15 May 2006 04:36:31 -0500

by Barbara Miller
There is a fine line between optimism and eyeball-popping spin. New York Times columnist David Brooks has crossed the line.
Last week, Brooks blathered on about the sunny political landscape. "Look around at all the green shoots of political renewal," he wrote.
The calendar tells us it's May, but I would respectfully submit that it's actually harvest time. And guess what. Republicans are reaping what they have sowed.
What Brooks described in his breathless monologue as "a sense of flexibility and promise" is actually incumbents bending over backward trying to distance themselves from their own broken promises and their indicted colleagues. May their numbers increase, beginning at the top.

Divine retribution

barbara — Thu, 18 May 2006 07:24:44 -0500

by barbara miller
Scary God stories.
Wickedness will be punished.
Goodbye, George and Dick.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Listen up, everyone. That national emblem of intolerance, Pat (Ariel Sharons stroke is divine retribution) Robertson, announced he has it straight from God that there will be major storms and a tsunami in the U.S. this year. For once, Robertson has it right (trending left).
On November 7, twin tsunamis will rage in from east coast and west coast. Heck, maybe from the Gulf of Mexico, too. Trifecta! There will be tremendous snarling and moaning and gnashing of teeth.

When Citizens Get Snarky

lynnell — Thu, 18 May 2006 19:08:56 -0500

by Lynnell Mickelen
Last week, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune published a poll
showing most people, are still dead-set against proposals to subsidize pro-sports stadiums with their tax dollars. Now the Strib and the rest of the local McMedia have spent years whoring for these stadiums, dramatically announcing that unless taxpayers pick up the tab, our oppressed billionaire-owners will be forced to take their teams elsewhere. But all the spin hasnt made much of a dent in public opinion.
And if the letters to the editor today are any indication, the citizens are getting snarkier by the day.

The Robertson/Bush twins

susan — Fri, 19 May 2006 11:55:15 -0500

Some caffeinated yammering from Susan
Thanks to Barb for pointing out Rev. Pat Robertsons weather alert about the twin tsunamis divinely destined to hit the west coast this fall. Probably due to all those gays wanting to get married. Did you see that hes also issued a terror alert about Planned Parenthood trying to carry out a genocidal birth control campaign against the black community? (No word yet on Darfur.) And in case you thought the Commie threat was so, like, outr, hes also exposed the "Communist Internationale" and the American Civil Liberties Union's takeover of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. Maybe the NSA has been tapping his conversations with god, and thats where all our lousy "intelligence" is coming from. And all this time we thought it was Curveball.

Gone, but not forgotten?

barbara — Sat, 20 May 2006 13:15:54 -0500

Did you know that Lew Anderson died this week? I just found out.
Think Howdy Doody. Think Mr. Bluster, Chief Thunderthud, Princess Summerfall Winterspring, Flub-a-Dub, Dilly Dally and Buffalo Bob. Most of all, think Clarabell Clown.
Yes, its true. Anderson, who was the last man to play Clarabell (after Bob Keeshan, no less), has gone to that final horn toot roundup under The Really Big Top. Kids everywhere are safe now from seltzer bottle spray.
Actually, theyve been safe for a long time. Howdy Doody left TV in 1960 after a pretty amazing 12-year run. But that silly show was part and parcel of my childhood. The era of huge TV sets with tiny little screens. Everything was broadcast in black and white. No room for gray in the early 1950s. Apparently color showed up in about 1955, but who knew?

Heckuva new library

susan — Tue, 23 May 2006 00:27:21 -0500

On another note, I went to the library opening the other night, and though there's not enough money to operate the joint, it was quite beautiful. And the good people of this town, the petty burghers, were out in full force, self-congratulatory and why not? It's a lovely deal to celebrate a place for books instead of say, football, even if no one reads anymore, other than Somali immigrants and we're not letting any more of them in, that's for sure. It does seem a bit of odd timing, a temple to books -- but also with a g'zillion wireless computer terminals, which tells the tale.
Still, I was moved by all of it, and the way they had the Gay Men's Choir sing, which was by lining them along the tiers of the three balconies, at one end, with the rest of us looking on, and to see these guys in all shapes and sizes, as normal or nerdy as anyone can be, holding hands on their final number, well, it made me cry. It was reminiscent of the civil rights movement to me and how idiotic it is to treat these guys differently, the separate-but-not- quite-equal and no-marriage-for-you thing.
Libraries have pretty much always been egalitarian portals to information and delight, thanks largely to Andrew Carnegie, who scattered pretty little libraries all over this country like apple seeds, and had the words, "Free to All" carved over the door of his own Pittsburgh library. This one's a beaut, soaring spaces filled with books and computers and imagination. And though not open long enough hours, it is still free to all. Every one of us.

It's a wonderful life for the CEO crowd

lynnell — Tue, 23 May 2006 15:46:33 -0500

by Lynnell Mickelsen
Its A Wonderful Life for the CEO crowd..
Especially if you look at the last couple days of Minneapolis Star-Tribune headlines. On Sunday, billionaire Carl Pohlad got himself a brand-new, publicly-financed $522 million stadium, courtesy of the good citizens of Hennepin County who will be paying extra sales tax so that Carl can maximize his profits.
Then on Monday, the Stribs front page announced that the Median pay for the states top 100 CE0s rose 59 percent. The story told how the top 100 CEOs in Minnesota brought home an average pay of $1.79 million in 2005 year. Heres the lead..

On the Other Hand . . .

susan — Tue, 23 May 2006 21:17:49 -0500

by susan
I confess to being oddly neutral, or dispassionate when it comes to the Twins stadium. Neither side lobbied me hard enough to get me to care, tell the truth. I could see both sides I guess is more like it. And I also confess that I remember those thrilling years when the Twinkies were good and we went to the World Series. Literally went, as in, me and my family took in those heart-stopping, ear-splitting final games. In fact I was hired to help arrange a very primitive photo developing scheme for Sports Illustrated and the NYTimes that involved my son and his friends, some on the field, some in the exit ramps, some on bikes, carrying cannisters of film after every three innings down to the Pillsbury building where an old Black's Photo shop, pioneers in instant processing, stayed open late to develop the pics, and then the boys rode them back to the dome where the editors, housed in a trailer in the parking lot, could see what sorts of shots they were getting so they could plan the late night as well as the next day's edition. Though in the second series, I believe it was, they were experimenting with electronic transmitting of photos, a slow laborious deal which we all found miraculous. That was then.
But it was exciting and the whole town caught the fever and so I always have had a soft spot for what a good team in a beautiful stadium (or even an ugly one) can do. But so could good schools, libraries that stay open, research dollars for the U, more trees, etc. And yeah, I still don't get why private individuals get this sort of a public financing deal, especially when CEO's are making a g'zillion dollars more than ever before and the working stiff can no longer afford a ticket to a game. I do get why the library does, as well as the Walker, Guthrie et al, cause they're NON-profit, and in some cases even free to the public, whereas the filthy lucre the sports teams rake in . . . well, at that my romance for the deal kind of fizzles. And yet, when the new park opens am I going to want to check it out? You betcha. After all, I helped pay for it.

Strange but true....Bill Frist and hot man-on-gorilla action

lynnell — Thu, 25 May 2006 10:43:29 -0500

by Lynnell Mickelsen
Oh. My. God.
This Washington Post story is so bizarre, you almost think it has to be parody.......i.e. a talented hacker snuck this satire onto the Washington Post website, in a comic move right up there with Stephen Colbert at the White House Press Correspondance.

Open letter to an LA Times columner

barbara — Thu, 25 May 2006 21:27:10 -0500

by barbara miller
Dear Jonah Goldberg:
You will notice that I salute you with the generic colon vs. the personal comma, thereby distancing you with one keystroke. A small but satisfying thing.
I just read your snarky little piece about Al Gore in Thursday's LA Times.
In one short screed, you offended people who think, people who are environmentally responsible, and France. Trifecta! And that's just for starters.
Lets review some of your targets du jour:

Yeah, but can he ride a bike?

barbara — Sun, 28 May 2006 18:05:04 -0500

by barbara miller
Full disclosure: I am not the official poster woman for Al Gore in 2008. But I could get that way with very little prodding.
I am sick nigh unto death of variations of the following reaction to the possibility of Al Gore running for the presidency again:
"But hes so BORRRRR-ing."
Hello? What are we after here? A leader of the free world or an entertainer?
Give us someone with both local and global expertise and great instincts. Heck, any instincts! Someone who does not necessarily press for English as this nation's only language, but who can at least speak it. Someone with a limited number of colleagues headed for the slammer.

June is busting out all over which has absolutely nothing to do with this piece

barbara — Wed, 31 May 2006 20:17:24 -0500

by barbara miller
I drove to my favorite coffee shop this afternoon for a caffeine infusion. While I was waiting for it to be assembled, I headed for the loo.
Standing in the dark, I waited for the light to go on. I finally realized I had to flip the switch myself. Then, to flush or not to flush became the question. No lever. Automatic flusher. Peered under the sink faucet for a motion sensor. Then I noticed the knobs. A do-it-yourselfer.
I approached the hand towel dispenser with no small amount of trepidation. High tech. Waved my hands around, trying to trick the little red all-seeing eye. Suddenly had a yard of hand towel, and no matter how many times I told it "no," it kept spitting out more. It was very stressful.