Liquid or Gas? Or, Just Damn Cold.

It has been -20 degrees Fahrenheit for a week here in Minneapolis.  And, to prove it, this lady instantly turns water into vapor:

Death Knell for Print News

There is a lot of hand wringing about the decline and fall of print newspapers.  I canceled my subscription to the Minneapolis Star Tribune over a year ago because good writers and local content were harder and harder to find (not to mention the dearth of international news).  But instead of giving up on print entirely, I subscribed to the NYTimes whose $660 annual subscription is feeling a bit too luxurious in these times.  

Meanwhile, I spend way too much time reading news online.  I love to get local news from MinnPost (where most of the good writers from the Strib went anyhow), the NYTimes online edition (nicely formatted on my iPhone for reading on the train), Slate, the Economist, Time, and myriad other blogs whose RSS feeds crowd my Google home page (not to mention podcasts).  Is $660 really worth the tactile joy of opening the paper over a cup of coffee, when I’m overwhelmed with up to the minute news at my desk?

It’s no wonder people are writing the obituary of print news (to read it you’ll have to go to www.legacy.com).  Craigslist and Monster took away the want ads, advertisers are less and less interested in the demographic that still subscribes to papers, and worst of all good writing is hard to find.

As Jack Shafer points out in Slate, they did see it coming but tried to create walled gardens of content which required subscriptions.  Alas, this too has failed.  The last bastion of hope is the sports section. Mark Cuban writes in his blog that pro sports teams should come to the rescue of local papers.  Even though the Internet has infinite shelf space, the quality of local sports coverage is poor.  Maybe the Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press should ask the Vikings, Twins, Wild, Timberwolves, and Gophers for a little help. 

Potential Fight Club selection: Pablo J. Boczkowski’s 2004 book, Digitizing the News: Innovation in Online Newspapers.  Also, check out this interview with Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google “Eric Schmidt wishes Google could save newspapers“.

Jan 13 update: Interesting chart from eMarketer on where people get their news:

Truth, Lies, & Taboos… how dearly do they cost us?

I have been doing a lot of think lately about several of our societal taboos… specifically talking about religion, politics, and money.  I have always been a fan of the quote “Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, which refers to the benefits of openness and transparency.  There was a further suggestion from Louis Grumet, Publisher of The CPA Journal, who offered “We should not only accept criticism and suggestions, we should embrace them.  If questions from constituents, the public, or the media make leaders or other responsible parties obfuscate, the questions are usually valid and the answers are not.  People who feel uncomfortable under the bright light of scrutiny and criticism often have something to hide.”

I am suggesting that this impartive not only holds true for politicians but for all of us and that by conforming to the norms and labeling subjects as taboo we are supporting prejudice, hatred, misinformation, lies, deceit, and unaccountability – we are letting these lies survive in the dark alleyway between Truth & Freedom.  When women like Gayle Quinnell of Shakopee suggested that she didn’t trust Senator Barack Obama and called him “an Arab” at a Lakeville, MN, McCain rally we all thought wow… did she just say that in public?  My next question was, where had Gayle been “hiding” this racism?  Hasn’t she talked with others about the candidates?  Doesn’t she know that Barack is actually a Christian?  If her friends, family members, or fellow parishioners had heard her mention this idea before did no one speak up?  Did no one correct her on the facts?  When we avoid discussing our religious and political beliefs with others who do not agree with us we are protecting ourselves from having difficult or uncomfortable questions that we may not wish to face.  The latest of these taboos is the belief that we should not talk about money with friends, neighbors, or family.  A couple of stories that I thought I would share… 1) two years ago in a local fast food establishment I overheard a couple talking about how their daughter and son-in-law planned to file for bankruptcy immediately after returning from the cruise trip that they were on, 2) a year and a half ago friends were trying to sell their condo and plan for a down payment on their house – they had almost no money in savings but drove new Cadillac and Audi vehicles and spent lavishly on expensive clothes and purses, and finally 3) this weekend I overheard a few patrons talking in a restaurant about how one of them had four different vehicles in four years but had no money.  Where was the sense of responsibility from these people?  Did no one question their actions?  Did no one question their sense of accountability?  We need to again talk about our beliefs and actions… we need to expose them to the light of day… and we need to be more accepting of those who might question us or our motives… or we will continue to provide safehavens for prejudice, hatred, misinformation, lies, deceit, and unaccountability.

Jesse to decide about running for MN Sentate seat…

Jesse Ventura, Minnesota’s 38th governor from January 4, 1999 – January 6, 2003, is back at it again… he is going to announce on Monday night on CNN’s Larry King if he will run as an independent in Minnesota’s US Senate race.  Anyone want to place a bet on how this one will turn out?  If he does jump in, this should one wild ride for Norm Coleman’s US Senate seat.

Update 7/14: Whew… dodged a bullet… Jesse has announced that he will not run for the US Senate.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Alas, after 122 years, the South St. Paul stockyards have closed.  The story made it onto the front page of the NYT on Monday (check out the audio slide show).  Can’t say I’ll miss the smell.

On NPR’s Morning Edition this morning, there was a story about the rising cost of food worldwide (deadly rioting in Haiti and Egypt – take a listen here). 

All this reminded me of two great essays by Michael Pollan and Wendell Berry about eating as an agricultural act.  Here’s an excerpt from Berry’s essay:

Eating ends the annual drama of the food economy that begins with planting and birth. Most eaters, however, are no longer aware that this is true. They think of food as an agricultural product, perhaps, but they do not think of themselves as participants in agriculture. They think of themselves as “consumers.” If they think beyond that, they recognize that they are passive consumers. They buy what they want — or what they have been persuaded to want — within the limits of what they can get. They pay, mostly without protest, what they are charged. And they mostly ignore certain critical questions about the quality and the cost of what they are sold: How fresh is it? How pure or clean is it, how free of dangerous chemicals? How far was it transported, and what did transportation add to the cost? How much did manufacturing or packaging or advertising add to the cost? When the food product has been manufactured or “processed” or “precooked,” how has that affected its quality or price or nutritional value?

 

Darth Vader does the Brass Monkey

Hilarious!  Minneapolis’ very own Spricket24 does the Running Man and Gene Kelly with a light saber.

Plane? Train? No, it’s MN’s SuperDelegates!

Read Doug Grow’s article in MinnPost on what it’s like to be a Super-Delegate.

Also read Joe Klein’s recent Time article “The Barack Blowout” on why Obama will be a better executive based on how he is managing his campaign.

The Fierce Urgency of Now

I, along with 20,000 of my friends, went to the Obama rally at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Saturday.  We weren’t smart enough to wait in the skyways, instead we waited for 2.5 hours in 20 degree weather and watched the new Twins ballpark being built (just north of the Target Center). 

You may ask yourself, what would cause a man to drag his three young sons out into the cold and wait for 2.5 hours to hear a politician?  Obama answers this by quoting Martin Luther King: because of “the fierce urgency of now.”  

George Will wrote that “if you get the girl up on her tiptoes, you should kiss her.”  Obama has America on her tiptoes with hope for a new direction.  Will goes on to repeat the warning of William Butler Yeats: “All life is a preparation for something that probably will never happen.”

Unless you make it happen.

So, last night I went to my precinct caucus where 217 of my neighbors showed up - more than twice the number that showed up in 2004 (which was a big turnout).  Across Minnesota 206K voted in the DFL caucuses and 62K voted in the Republican straw poll (with 86% of precincts reporting).  This compares to 56K DFL’ers who showed up on March 4, 2004.  Almost 4 times the turnout!  Norm Coleman must have cried himself to sleep last night.

 For you data junkies, here are some charts from the MN Secretary of State’s office

All Statewide Party Results

Independence Party    United States President   Candidate Totals Pct      Graph   Michael Bloomberg 0 0.00%     Sam Nunn 0 0.00%     Write-In 0 0.00%       Republican Party    United States President   Candidate Totals Pct      Graph   Mike Huckabee 12365 19.88%     Alan Keyes 364 0.59%     John McCain 13646 21.94%     Ron Paul 9729 15.64%     Mitt Romney 25819 41.51%     Write-in 279 0.45%       Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party    United States President   Candidate Totals Pct      Graph   Joe Biden 80 0.04%     Hillary Clinton 65761 31.93%     Chris Dodd 73 0.04%     John Edwards 946 0.46%     Dennis Kucinich 352 0.17%     Frank Lynch 121 0.06%     Barack Obama 137278 66.66%     Bill Richardson 91 0.04%     Uncommitted 1251 0.61%       Green Party    United States President   Candidate Totals Pct      Graph   Jesse Johnson 0 0.00%     Cynthia McKinney 0 0.00%     Kent Mesplay 0 0.00%     Ralph Nader 0 0.00%     Kat Swift 0 0.00%     None of the Above 0 0.00%     No Candidate 0 0.00%     Undecided 0 0.00%     Write-in 0 0.00%       Constitution Party    United States President   Candidate Totals Pct      Graph   Hillary Clinton 0 0.00%     Jerome Corsi 1 1.22%     John Edwards 0 0.00%     Rudy Giuliani 0 0.00%     Mike Huckabee 3 3.66%     Alan Keyes 3 3.66%     John McCain 0 0.00%     Roy Moore 0 0.00%     Barack Obama 0 0.00%     Ron Paul 65 79.27%     Mitt Romney 2 2.44%     Undecided 7 8.54%     Other 1 1.22%       Back to Top Results and statistics shown are for the selected district only.All results shown have been reported by the political parties of Minnesota. Reporting districts and categories reported may differ by party.The Secretary of State does not canvass or certify caucus results

Why I will NEVER live in Edina…

Thought I would share a story from today’s StarTrib on the political fight that is intensifying throughout Minnesota at the local level.  Susan Covnick, a republican, from Edina tells us that “I grew up in Edina.  I am very protective of it.”  She said that the Edina of bygone years didn’t allow Laundromats or car washes, and that “we get National Geographic, not the National Enquirer.  We don’t even like buses coming through.  But the Democrats are moving in from Kenwood and downtown condos.”

This statement leaves me with a few questions?  What sort of shallow person would stereotype as such?  Where the F#$% does she go to get her car washed then… to those working class neighborhoods?  Does her superior intelligence come from reading National Geographic (a great periodical for the record)?  Is that the same superior intelligence that told her to vote for George W. Bush in the last 2 elections?

Ms. Convick please put your rose-colored glasses back on and take another hit from your sanctimonious crack pipe.  And let’s all remember why they called it Edina – Every Day I Need Attention!

A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale

Super Duper Tuesday is a week from tomorrow February 5, caucuses start at 7PM.  Are you ready?  Did you see the Kennedy clan endorsed Obama over the weekend?  As long as I have the pulpit, and for as much as you care, I’m all in for Obama and Franken. 

Alright – so, where do you go?  For those of you in Minnesota, click the links below to find your caucus location: 

• Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (binding “presidential preference ballot”)
• Republican Party (straw poll, non-binding)
• Independence Party
• Green Party Green Party caucuses will be on March 4.
• Constitution Party caucuses will be on February 2 in Hopkins, MN

 For those of you outside of the great state of Minnesota, go to your state government’s website and look for the secretary of state – if they’re doing their job they’ll have instructions on what to do.  If not check the national party sites: Democrats, Republcians, Independence Party (interestingly, the Minnesota IP site comes up ahead of the national site in Google), Green Party, Constitution Party.

What’s the point?

• Cast your Presidential Preference Ballot (results determine how many delegates each candidate gets at the national convention).
• Show your support for your favorite candidate for U.S. Senate in 2008.
• Have your say in your party platform.

Uh, what is a Precinct Caucus anyway?

A precinct caucus is essentially a neighborhood meeting where you gather to choose a candidate for President, to show their support for candidates at all levels, and to have a real voice in the your party’s platform. At more than 4,000 precinct caucuses on February 5, Minnesota DFLers will:

• Vote for their favorite candidate in the Presidential Preference Ballot
• Elect delegates to Senate District or County Unit Conventions
• Sign up to become election judges
• Pass resolutions to help develop the platform. 

Do I have to be a card-carrying partisan to be eligible?

Any Minnesotan can participate if they are: eligible to vote by November 4, 2008 and not an active member of an opposing political party (or attending another political party’s caucus in 2008).

How Do I Find My Precinct Caucus?

Click the party links above or visit the Secretary of State’s website to find out your precinct caucus information.

I can’t get enough of this!  How do I become a delegate?

To be a delegate at the state or national convention, you start by running to be a delegate at your precinct caucus. As a delegate to your Senate District or County Conventions, you can run to be a delegate to both your Congressional District and State Conventions. You can also volunteer for your favorite candidates.

What if I can’t attend my precinct caucus?

You can submit a letter to your caucus asking to be elected as a delegate to your county unit convention. The letter must include your contact information, and your affirmation that you are eligible to participate (as described above).