Boyd Drive Follies

Teleprompter Jesus to speak at Notre Dame, Bishop upset (link here)

2009-05-17T23:59:00.004-05:00

I couldn’t agree with the bishop more.
If a religious sect represents itself as being the one true organ for the dissemination of God’s truth, then adherents to that faith should reasonably be expected to adhere to those tenets of God’s Word. The public proclamation of following that faith, and the public attendance of services would be an affirmation, if any was needed, of that expectation.
If one is to align oneself with a particular religious sect, that in this case has been around since, so to speak, day 1, then one should be somewhat pliant and seek to conform oneself to the tenets of that sect, one would suppose.
If it is agreed that abortion is the taking of life from a human, no matter the stage or progression of that life in or out of the womb, it can also be agreed that that is a violation of the Commandments.
If the hierarchy has spoken of its disdain of government support or sanction of a policy such as abortion, and that message has been faithfully broadcast from the pulpit to the congregations in an election year, then a thinking person should be cognizant of the ramifications of publicly speaking at cross purposes to the message.
If one were to regardless speak or write in a public forum of one’s support, whether in a passive or direct manner, of those who are in favor of abortion, then that person is rejecting not just God’s word, but would seem to be putting themselves at odds with the law as well. The basic rights and guarantees put forth by the founders of our country as being God given- that of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness- would certainly be in jeopardy for the life being terminated. All rights, responsibilities, opportunities, etc. flow from that one.
When we are urged to retain “perspective” in the matter of the President of the United States addressing Notre Dame, does Ms. Kerian think the “singular lens” of abortion is not a sufficiently weighty criteria to judge the appropriateness of the offer by? If the President does not judge human life still in the womb to be worth protecting, what assurance are the rest of us to take that our lives may not also someday be judged not worth consideration?
Speaking to the origin of this controversy, the invitation by the head of Notre Dame to the president to speak, it also would seem to send very conflicting messages to those in and outside of the Catholic faith as far as what real order exists and what degree of thought is given to these kinds of actions. If down through the years the Catholic church’s concern for the downtrodden and afflicted in society has caused the formation of allegiances with certain political philosophies, then perhaps it is time to re-examine those ties.
In this current climate of moral decay, entire generations now have been raised without many of the built-in restraints of only a few years ago. Not many years back even those raised completely away from any church were instilled with some concepts of right and wrong (natural law as the Bible calls it) just by virtue of being exposed to society at large, most of who were God-fearing and law-abiding. The corrosive effects of the sexual revolution, and the general relaxation of society’s taboos have in many parts of our country removed even this little restraint. Attempts by well-meaning politicians on both sides of the aisle since then have seemed to only make things worse, laws and the application of money never being able to take the place of what was once common sense. If church congregants and by extension, churches, have bought into many of these social engineering schemes- and many have- they must now work to extricate themselves.

HOPE AND CHANGE OMMMMM HOPE AND CHANGE OMMMM

2008-04-12T08:05:00.002-05:00

In a recent speech to a group of left-coast liberals, Obama said the following:

"But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
Um, now these are in some communities, you know. I think what you'll find is, is that people of every background -- there are gonna be a mix of people, you can go in the toughest neighborhoods, you know working-class lunch-pail folks, you'll find Obama enthusiasts. And you can go into places where you think I'd be very strong and people will just be skeptical. The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing"

Didn't that last sentence sound positively... Clintonesque? Or maybe all liberals just sound the same to me?
Anyway, why Obama felt the need to try to characterize US to THEM thusly is beyond me. He seems to have been trying to tell them that while he certainly isn't one of us, he understands what motivates rural and small town people's voting patterns. And he of course doesn't.
To paint us all as disgruntled hayseeds with feelings of abandonment by the government is to flatter himself and all the big government types he identifies with. We don't get up in the morning and with our first cup of coffee set about grumbling to ourselves about how we missed life's lottery, and how the government has abandoned us. Me personally? I could give a rat 's patoot if government knows I exist. While I have grave concerns about the bloated government we have, I hardly make that the focus of my day. Good people didn’t sit and bemoan the fact that the economy where I grew up went in the toilet (thank you, farm programs, Byron Dorgan, et al). People moved, went to school to learn a new trade, did whatever it took to keep moving in life. To paint us with the same broad brush strokes as those unfortunate losers standing in front of the burned-down post office in Compton, waiting for their welfare checks, is to categorize us as something we are not.
While he is certainly entitled to his opinion, I must say I don’t know what in his background would qualify him to give an accurate portrayal of rural people’s lives and feelings to a group of Left coast liberals. Looking at his life history on Wikipedia, I don’t see where he ever lived anywhere that had good deer hunting. Indonesia, Hawaii, Chicago, New York City- none of these are terribly rural.
The fact that a lot of us ARE cynical towards government gives him heartburn- we don’t seem to want to TRUST him when he says he can fix it all, if we just believe in him. Hope and Change Hope and Change Hope and Change is the mantra that will get it done. In a pig’s eye, I say.

Origins of genius?

2008-03-08T08:53:00.002-06:00

Thoughts while staring into a campfire-
What did it take to be a genius in caveman days? What represented an IQ of 100 or 100plus twenty thousand years ago?
If there was little common knowledge beyond killing bison and building fire, what made an exceptionally bright Cro-Magnon stand out? Or Homo Sapiens for that matter? A straighter spear shaft with better balance? What if like genius stereotypes of today they had knowledge but no practical skills? Oogmar Einstein would have to communicate his theories of spear flight to Boog Villa who would then whittle out something. Oh yeah, can you see that happening with no spoken language- just grunts and gestures? And just how did metal smelting ever get off the ground? The first crucibles made of wood probably caught fire. ''O darn. Now me have start over. Wonder why me no get pass this point every time me try? Me get discouraged, go drink juice from smelly grapes in pile over there. That work pretty good last time I try it. Ho Ho!"
Its a wonder "survival of the fittest" as a concept ever got any traction. Given mans tendency to say screw it, let's get drunk, its hard to believe we got past discovering fermentation.
Anyway where was I? Oh yeah. Genius. Has the mind's ability to reason and learn grown over the years? Its so easy to be smart today. There is so much accumulated knowledge today that we have access to and actually absorb in a kind of intellectual osmosis as we age and grow. We aren't aware of much of it. Granted there's a lot that is a part of the modern mans life that would have no relevance outside of our modern life.
But if half our kids are writing computer code in high school, what if we took those same kids and transplanted them back just 300 years ago? Could we have skipped steam locomotive and gone straight to electric ones? Would they have done any better than Ben Franklin for example?
Artistic genius would have had an easier time of it. I know that's maybe not what my daughter would guess, but its most likely true. So an aspiring Van Gogh could pick up a carboned end of a charred stick and get right to representational depictions of the last hunt. Sure it took a few tries, and maybe a while to figure out that Ochre is good for more than face painting before a raid on the neighboring tribe. You know, the more I think of it, maybe art was in some respect the awakening of genius? Easier than the dynamics of what makes a good spear head material, thats for sure.

Dorreen, We Are Not All Killers

2007-05-06T10:26:00.000-05:00

Dorreen Dorreen Dorreen.
Dear heart, why do you belabor yourself so with thoughts of gun laws? In your latest screed in the Herald (May 3rd) we are scolded for our gun laws having a low rating by the Open Society Institute, that being funded by the far left Soros Foundation. Why on earth should we care what George Soros or his foundation think of us? Keep this up and soon we won’t care what you think of us. As it stands now, I care deeply what you think, and so I take the time to scold you back. Pay attention.
Would it not be more useful to ask how do we stack up in murders, assaults with a gun, school shootings, whatever, per one hundred thousand, some way to measure the actual -what-? quality of life or something, rather than how we are behind the curve on impinging upon our citizen’s rights?
I’ll grant you, there may be things that need to be done in other, lawless, environments, but why should we Nord Akotans bother ourselves with that? We as a group of people seem to be able to keep our poop in a group sufficiently that we don’t have a lot of drive-by shootings or cold blooded murders. Why go looking for solutions to problems we don’t have? When I go into the Open Society website, I see that the states that rank highest in their eyes are those bastions of safety containing cities such as Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. Blue states, all. In light of this, I am quite happy to live in a state that ranks a minus 5.
It has been an observation of mine down through the years that, when those in a society exhibit a lot of common sense, fewer laws are required to define acceptable behaviour. As our modern society has descended into liberal- driven chaos, however, we seem to have had to pass laws to make up for that deficiency. That our plethora of laws have fallen woefully short of accomplishing that task should be testimony to the usefulness of passing more.
You state in your article that your own siblings have guns. They seem to be stable enough that they don’t pose a problem- why project onto them or the rest of us qualities you fear some others may exhibit? Perhaps the bluer states have degenerated to the point where people have insufficient inhibitions to bad behaviour to exist side by side with one another. Voting blue would be my first indication of this, but I digress. In any case, you are asking us to burden ourselves with unconstitutional laws of questionable efficacy and I have to ask why? As is pointed out repeatedly to liberals- it is already against the law to kill someone or to shoot at them in other than self- defense. Since a criminal is by definition someone who already scoffs at the law, what effect other than burdening the law abiding do additional laws have?

Increase your wealth- buy a house in GF

2007-05-04T20:36:00.000-05:00

To my faithful reader- sorry I haven't been posting for a while. I've been up to my ears in supporting the capitalist agenda at work (and loving every minute of it), and thus have been preoccupied. Get over it. Anyway, what I wanted to comment on today:

I was pleasantly surprised to see I grew richer in assets over the last year- I got a notice from the taxing authority that my humble abode here on shady Boyd Drive grew in value AGAIN this year- to the tune of $7000. This on top of some $12000 last year. I did not realize real estate was such a lucrative enterprise here in Lesser Grand Forks. Here I am living in this shanty, doing nary a thing save bare maintenance, and the value is skyrocketing! Only in America, huh? Well, the city did fill that little pothole there where the road bends- I suppose that had something to do with a higher valuation. And maybe my house is more valuable because there is an as-yet-unrevealed plan to make Simplot quit stinking up the place. Hope truly springs eternal, doesn't it?

I'm open to suggestions as to why I was granted such a phenomenal return on my investment in this little house of mine. Until someone shows me different, I'll just be content to think someone really likes me at the Courthouse. How's that?

Okay, one more time..

2007-03-08T22:14:00.000-06:00

Okay, we'll try it again. I took the word verification off my comments section. I knew it was a pain in the butt, but I got spammed something terrible one time, and I was looking to avoid that if I could.
Anyways, it should make commenting a little easier for the people that care to make comments. Both of you.

Sticks and Stones...

2007-03-08T20:19:00.000-06:00

Well, I've listened and I've read and I've pondered. This whole deal about Ann Coulter calling John Edwards a faggot has EVERYBODY'S undies in a bundie- Left, Right, everybody is tripping over one another to denounce her, distance themselves from her, and call her down. For what? Calling some lawyer a bad name? Get over it, everybody.
First thing, why is it the gays can call each other "faggot" and straight people can't? That's a BS double standard, just like blacks calling each other the "N" word. I'd spell it, but I don't have time to argue with all the PC crowd about it again. Why do we have a show called "Queer eye"? Isn't that derogatory, too? Oh wait, some queers are making money doing it, so we'll let that one go by this time. R-r-r-right... You're victims when it suits you, but the rest of the world isn't supposed to be in on the joke. This is hypocrisy at its worst.
Second thing, why does a big tough guy who thinks he can be President of this country need defending from the words of some skinny little girl? If he's such a momma's boy that he needs our help, why on earth should we let him lead the country?
I'll grant you that Ann Coulter is over the top at times, but that is her schtick, and people pay her money to do it, buy her books, hear her speeches all the time. You're telling me the collective frontal lobotomies at Air America haven't said things about our President and others on the right? And people don't even want to pay to hear them, judging by how that enterprise is going.
I suggest you all take a deep breath, left and right, and repeat after me-"It's just entertainment, Eddie Murphy has said worse. It's just entertainment, Al Franken IS worse. It's just entertainment, Rosie O'Donnell WAS worse"
Sometimes I think some of my fellow travelers on the Right fail to see what they are doing in cases like this. They complain of how the media gives kooks and radicals a free forum to broadcast their nonsense to the world, then turn around and in a case like this, churn up more chatter about someone they purport to now deplore.
Well, enough of that. I gotta find some ice for a drink....

UPDATE: I corrected Ms. O'Donnell's last name spelling, as per my daughter's gracious indication in the comments. Thank you Lucy. I shall try to be more observant in the future.

Bogus science? You tell me

2007-03-08T06:11:00.000-06:00

I came across this on Yahoo!-

"Abigail W. Leonard, in a special to LiveScience writes:

Deep below the ocean's surface, blue whales are singing, and for the first time, scientists think they know why. Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography recorded the sounds and say they offer new insight into the behavior of the passenger jet-sized animals...
Using tags suctioned to the whales' bodies, researchers tracked the whales and found that as they feed, they send out calls to let each other know where they are, each group employing a different sound.....
A related study, also by Scripps researchers, found that there are distinct "dialects" of whale-speak in different regions of the ocean. The finding could have implications for preservation efforts. "

I read all the way to the bottom, but I didn't see anything about Southern whales telling funnier jokes. Or any efforts by Hillary Clinton to "reach out" to different groups of whales by speaking to them in a poor rendition of their dialect. So maybe the story is bogus, huh? We blog, you decide.

International Incident Avoided

2007-03-03T21:34:00.000-06:00

THIS from Fox News:

ZURICH, Switzerland — What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.
According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers from the neutral country wandered more than a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.

This all reminded me of a time thirty some years ago when a small force of Pembina County rednecks invaded Canada by mistake. I and some friends were out driving around one warm summer eve in Pembina County, enjoying a few cans of spoiled grain juice, when it was perceived that we were being pursued by the local 5-0. I say perceived because we were in a state of mostly cognitive dissonance at that early hour, and probably confused an ambulance with a police cruiser. But being convinced we were far more important, and therefore worthy of pursuit, than we really were, we decided to evade capture by taking a quick exit from the paved road. The fact that we were kicking up a dirt cloud on those back roads escaped us at the time. At sun-down on the flat, treeless bottom land west of Pembina we were on, our trail had to be discernible from several miles, at least. Oh well.
As we made our way along, zig-zagging north and west along township roads, we found ourselves on a very high, very rough road headed west, the lights of a small town to the west beckoning us. We understood these lights to be Neche, a small town on the US-Canada border, where we could blend in and avoid the long arm of the law. We were the Dukes of Hazzard, before there were any Dukes of Hazzard. In a red Oldsmobile with two white doors....
When we finally came to this small town, we did not see any landmarks that we recognized, so we decided to simply take the paved road we came upon, and turned south. Imagine our surprise when we came across the border crossing sign at the station of Gretna, Manitoba! One small porch light was on in the now-closed-for-business tiny M.P. station there, and a series of orange traffic cones across the road, in the south-bound lane only. Sort of Homeland Security on the honor system, if you will.
We were at once struck by the absurdity of our situation. A bunch of under-age drinkers, here we were inadvertently smuggling inferior US beer into Canada, now having to figure out how to smuggle it BACK into the U.S. We could not see who or what may have been awaiting us at the U.S. station just down the hiway. After doing our best to lighten the load of smuggled goods, we finally were imbued with enough grain alcohol fortitude to go forth with the dash across the border. Two of my fellow revelers took the now lightened cooler and walked it across the border, away from any street lights glare, and I drove back across, professionally avoiding the cones in the way, thus avoiding any chance of our contraband being taken by any Federales that may have been lurking. A quarter mile later, drunks and drink were re-united, and what could have been an ugly border skirmish was avoided.
A short time later, we all decided against service in the diplomatic corps, there being no more we could do for our country than what we had just done. I whole heartedly sympathize with the Swiss, as it is embarassing to say the least that one has strayed from the arms of his Motherland, whether armed with folding pocketknives or Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

Welcome to another blogger

2007-02-11T16:16:00.000-06:00

I was just made aware of yet another blogger in the Grand Cities Blogosphere, a gentleman who goes by the moniker "Gustave". http://www.areavoices.com/gustave/ is where he can be found under the title "EGF Opinion Maker".
Welcome to you, sir, and rest assured I shall list your blog along with the others. I happen to know he enjoys an occasional debate, so let the fun begin!

NORD AKOTA NICE NOT ENOUGH?

2007-02-11T15:44:00.000-06:00

If all goes according to plan, we will soon have a local chapter of the NAACP, according to the Grand Forks Herald (02/10/2007) "Pastors to start NAACP chapter". It's needed, Nord Akota Nice not being sufficient according to the pastors interviewed. Well.
I suppose there's no good way for me to refute that need, not being a person of color myself in this PC world. But let me posit this one question anyway: Why?
We're told in the article that Rev Henry Passmore believes "If you watch the treatment of people in the area, it's not what it should be”, refering to I guess, how we treat...... who? Blacks, possibly Native Americans? Maybe just each other?
Is there any room in this debate for the possibility that maybe we as humans just aren't nice to each other sometimes- regardless of skin color? I would think Christian pastors would be most acquainted with this proposition- man's inhumanity to man reaching clear back to Cain and Abel, who were obviously the same skin color. Maybe I'm missing something here...?
Anybody got an opinion? Anecdote?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! HOPE YOU CAN AFFORD IT!

2007-01-01T14:41:00.000-06:00

Well, I got shoveled and snowblowed out, spread a little ice-melt, so I'm ready for the New Year.

I guess we'll have to see what it brings- I hope you all personally experience a good and prosperous year in 2007. I do have my concerns for our nation however, what with a horde of radical Democrats coming in to power and all, but hey, can they make any bigger mess of things than the Republicans did?

Well, yes and no. We know from past experience they certainly can, and the past profligate spending of our Compassionate-Conservative-in-Chief gives little reason for hope in checking their action. With Budget Hawk Conrad keeping an eye on our checking account, any sign of deficit spending will be met with- what? Budget cuts? Not bloody likely. It's not in the liberal's DNA. You selfish workers will simply have to give more of your ill-gotten gains to the cause of budget balancing. So unless the remnant of Republicans in Congress can garner some discipline in their ranks and stick together on a few key fiscal principles, it's not looking so good on this front.

How about the Mideast thingie-ma-bob? Maybe that will work out okay? Eh, same thing there- no matter what the Equivocater-In-Chief may want to do, He most likely will be met with resistance from those who seek to make political gains, future results be damned. Again, this will most likely be a bi-partisan botch-job, with a majority unable to muster the cajones to stand up to the rest of the America-hating world and do what is right, rather than what is popular. Nukes all around! For everybody! Bummer again.

Well, at least the fishing's been trending up. Looks to be a good winter for it. Oh wait- global warming, thinning ice caps....... Well, looks like I need a drink- see ya later.

Keep smilin'!

A letter from the front..

2006-12-25T07:38:00.000-06:00

"Dear Mom and Dad,
Merry Christmas!
Hope everything is well and fine back home. I'm doing okay here in France, all things considered. The weather has been kind of crappy, but I understand General Patton will have that fixed for us here real soon. The snow isn't as pretty when you're marching through it day after day. And I used to think fog was kind of neat, but now it's keeping our airplanes from flying over the Krauts.
But you know what does look good? When those new diesel tanks start up in the morning! They kind of rumble and shake, and the snow falls off the sides like when the bull back home gets up after a snowfall. Then they smoke and go Rrrr...rrrr...rrrr until they warm up. They say the diesel doesn't explode so easy from a spark or a shell hit, you see, so they're safer. The tank crews are happier, and if the tank crews are happy, us foot soldiers are happy.
My buddy Alvarez is on one of them, says they're powered by TWO of those new GMC diesels- they call them Screamin' Jimmies! And boy, when they put the pedal down, they do scream! Too bad the Germans can't hear that, it'd put the fear in them!
They say the German tanks are better, but we have more of them and that's fine by me. When this war is over they won't have any left. And if they ever do build any, I bet they'll have Screamin' Jimmies in them- no more Mercedes and whatnot running around, no sirree.
Boy, listen to me- I sound like some big shot industrialist- I'm Walter P. Chrysler! But if I had my way, that's how I'd do it. America can outdo those other countries any way you look at it!
Well, we gotta march again, so I better say goodbye. Tell the kids I send my love. I'll be home next Christmas, me and General Patton, together."
Your son,

AN AMAZING WOMAN

2006-12-19T22:54:00.000-06:00

Last week we bid goodbye to an amazing woman who was dear to all our hearts. She was finally granted the peace and rest she had earned years before, and had waited patiently for. When she had all her children gathered to her one last time, she bid this world farewell, and we her. Reunited now with her Lord, and her husband of fifty years, peace and joy are hers.
Of all the memories I have of her, the ones that always come first are those of being on the farm. This little woman could work right alongside any man on the farm, rain or sun, whether it was shoveling grain from trucks, tossing alfalfa bales, milking cows, or whatever. She did those things for years alongside her man, on a half section of land in Park Township. Rosie the Riveter had nothing on my Mom, let me tell you.
Wearing jeans and galoshes, she could do chores in the morning, be a farmwife all day, and milk cows again at night. And still have the energy to whack you a good ‘un if you got out of line. As was said of many of her generation, she was made of better stuff than any of us ever will be.
She was born into near abject poverty, and was raised by a foster family when her mother couldn’t take care of all the kids her wandering dad left behind. This probably explains her affinity for orphans and strays all her life, be they human or animal.
We weren’t allowed to have pets inside, save for those times when our entry washroom to the old farmhouse teemed with sickly lambs, boxes of baby chicks, new-born puppies, rabbits, or what-have-you. Most of the time, these special cases were nurtured back to health and returned to the outdoors. I’m sure it was sufficient to consider us kids running around like animals to be the house pets.
I could go on forever about a life of eighty three years, and never do her justice. Suffice it to say we will all miss her, who gave us life each in our turn.
Goodbye Mom. I love you.

Let capitalism ring!

2006-12-02T15:07:00.000-06:00

Red and I went shopping for a Christmas tree at Lowe's the other day- as we walked in the store, it made this old capitalist's heart sing. There was Christmas stuff- ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE.. And trees up the wicky wacky woo. Beautiful trees, not all smooshed up, either. You could see what you were getting! After you pick yours out, THEN they smoosh it up so you can transport it. And you know what? I didn't see one there that said "Made in China"on it! Brought it home, and it was beautiful!
I am not a Christmas person- not like Red is. But I was overcome with the whole capitalist/ Christmas deal, and ended up buying lights to decorate the house, and even went back and got more. And a pole thingie to string the lights up safely on the eave trough. It was great.
Today the Good Ol' Boy & Co. are going to make an all-too-infrequent trip to Columbia Mall to Christmas shop. See you there! More news later on this fast-breaking event!

Good Bye and Good Riddance

2006-11-05T12:56:00.000-06:00

I wrote this a while back- when it first came out in the news that Saddam was writing poetry in his jail cell, and I shared it with a few people, then forgot about it. News today of Saddam being sentenced to death brought it bubbling to the murky surface of my conscience once again:

Found in a jail cell, somewhere in Iraq:

I think that I shall never see
A despotic ruler quite like me
On oil and blood I was drunk
But now I'm sitting on this bunk

O sons of Babylon I confess
Mesopotamia's now a mess
I had the Westerners by the balls
Never happy, I wanted it all

They really liked me 'way back when
"A regional balance to Iran"'
Til Kissinger began to muse
"It's too bad they both can't lose"

To refuse help, would take a fool
How else was I going to rule?
Those pesky Kurds, they had to go
Swamp Arabs, Shi'ites, gas them, no?

In Allah now I must believe
Bush says this world I soon must leave
Truth has won, justice is served
I guess I'll get what I deserve

I dream sometimes of Hell, so hot
And always after is the thought..
Truth is some lessons I have learned
"Don't f**k with America, you'll get burned"

copyright-2006 by The Boyd Drive Follies

NATIONAL CLICHE DAY!

2006-11-03T19:36:00.000-06:00

No, this isn't another diatribe about the Democrats- holster that sidearm, for Pete's sake! In a moment of weakness, I composed a drinking game this morning to commemorate this national day of banality:

It’s National Cliché Day!
Here’s a cool office drinking game I made up- as you read this aloud, everyone takes a drink when they recognize a cliché. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did making it up. And don’t drive after playing!

Good morning

I hope everyone is firing on all cylinders this early in the morning. As we move forward, it is important for us all to recognize that the ball is in your court now. We need to recognize that we all need to be on the bus with the changes going on in the business world. While there has been a large amount of turmoil around us, we need to see the big picture. This means getting our arms around the problems facing us while yet thinking outside the box. A hands on approach is not enough to knock the ball out of the park anymore.

Recent changes in personnel in the company, while painful, have been necessary to wipe the slate clean and allow us as a company to do more than pick the low hanging fruit. We have to run lean and mean, as survival of the fittest is imperative. It has been necessary for a few members to take one for the team, but please remember, all’s well that ends well, and hope springs eternal, even for those long in the tooth or cannot see a light at the end of the tunnel. We did not want to kill one and scare the rest, as has been bandied about, either.

To this end, management has been circling at thirty thousand feet, not swimming with the sharks, as has been rumored. The strategic moves we have recently made will grow the company by using a new paradigm. The synergy of our two companies’ core competences will help us shut out the competition. This was not a shotgun wedding of our two companies, or a wet dream, as some may have characterized it.

We need employee buy-in to make this work, and to refer to it as drinking the Kool-Aid is not helpful. A boy howdy attitude will take you far in this new venture. Remember, there is no “I” in team. You play for the name on the front of your jersey, not the one on the back.
So please take this time to reflect on your part in all this. And if you are still employed here at Five O’clock, congratulations!

(Any resemblance to any company, real or virtual is unintentional, no employees were harmed in the writing of this, offer not valid in Minnesota and Illinois)

There it is! If you can still walk after this, you must be from Pembina County! Tell me how many cliches YOU found..

Too Much or Too Little?

2006-11-02T09:02:00.000-06:00

As election nears, the political ads are becoming near-unbearable. I only half-listen, preferring to get my information other places- a trait that separates me from most of the electorate, it seems. But I have noticed two ads that I feel I have to comment on.
The first is an ad criticizing Rep. Tom Brusegaard for the sin of not attending 19 of 22 interim legislative committee meetings. Rep. Brusegaard defends this by saying that the meetings accomplish little other than costing money, a sentiment I would tend to agree with, having sat through more than a couple meetings in my life.
The other ad is, again, a Democratic (not that there's anything WRONG with that) challenger who is saying that Rep. Ken Svedjan has spent TOO much money on legislative junkets, fact- finding missions, and so on. Rep Svedjan in turn defends his actions by saying they have benefited those he represents by the increase in networking and contacts he has made, nation-wide.
I may have my doubts about that, but let's set that aside for now, to ask this question of the Nord Akota Democratic party: Which way do you want it? Too much travel and participation, or not enough? Do you guys talk among yourselves when cooking up those ads?
Discuss among yourselves.
Any similar dissonance noted in the Republican ads? Tell us here.

It's beginning to look a lot like.....blleecchh.

2006-11-01T10:21:00.000-06:00

Is there anything that can drag the Good Ol' Boy's normally sunny, cheerful countenance down like a snowfall? Not much, let me tell ya. As winter wraps its icy fingers around my heart and squeezes the joy out like so much lemon juice, darkness wraps itself around me like a wet carpet. Seasonal Affective Disorder is real, I'm here to say.
Driving around ice-slickened streets in four wheel drive the last two days, seeing a slushy icy cityscape is just a total bummer. This is not the beautiful white blanket of Christmas-card scenes, oh no. This stuff made our beautiful Boyd Drive look like winter had been here and was leaving already. Oh if that were only true, huh?

Speaking of weather, I found another GF blog- someone calling herself the Weather Gal has a blog, called "Tales From the Sunflake City" you should all visit and say hello to. I have linked to her blog at the right. No way to tell if she is regaling in this weather or not- ask her when you go to her blog. And remember, mind your manners! The weather is not her fault.

Also newly linked is the Lone Prairie Blog, from a Julie R. Neidlinger. She is blogging from the prairie setting of Hampden, ND, and is always entertaining. I will refrain from comparisons of Hampden to my native Pembina county. To the outsider the two settings would differ little, but Hampden is, you see, "Up on the hill" and that makes a difference, weatherwise, cropswise, and I'm convinced, peoplewise. Not better or worse, just different. So say hello to her, too.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find my sun lamp....

Public Safety Comes in a Building?

2006-10-17T07:08:00.000-05:00

And now in a handy $5.8 million reusable box! Just add water and serve!
So the City Council has approved looking into designs for a new building to be built in the Industrial Park? This building will purportedly serve several purposes- Store mosquito chemicals, have a firing range, have an emergency responder training center, house a fire station, provide a police outpost to ward off hostile and abusive Indian attacks- OK, I made that one up- and who knows what else...? A crib for the X-Men to hang out at?
"Public Safety" can be used to justify a lot of things that are of questionable efficacy. I would urge council members to go back to the drawing board on this. Is there enough what- crime-? in the industrial park to warrant a police station? Isn't there a fire station straight up on Demers, just a ways from the Industrial Park?
How much mosquito spray do we have to stockpile for Pete's sake? What do aerial spray contractors do with their sprays?
The concept of a training facility that would draw responders from around the area, and generate revenue? Doesn't that sound a lot like "housing federal prisoners to offset the cost of a jail"? I guess I'm not willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt when it comes to this kind of thing. It was nice of the Feds to give us a robot and a new SWAT truck, etc. , but now we see the cost of storing and maintaining this all come to light.
*Sigh* A curmudgeon's work is never done.

UPDATE: Search no more! There is a 30,000 sq ft building west on Gateway that could be had for quite a bit under a million, nicely insulated, partition it out as you need, and there it is! Even the City council couldn't manage to spend more than 1.5 milion on it, I bet..

A CONSERVATIVE YAHOO?

2006-10-13T23:04:00.000-05:00

Greetings go out to another new blogger in the GGF area.
"Conservative Yahoo" has a blog now. You can find him at http://2mdh.blogspot.com/ Has had for a few weeks, apparently- just too shy to mention it, I guess. He's been a faithful commentator to other blogs for some time now, must have finally realized all the fun he was missing out on. Sshhh! Don't tell him about the hate mail part- let him find out on his own.
Anyway, welcome to the blogosphere ! Enjoy!

Son of... STUCK IN STUPID

2006-10-11T20:57:00.000-05:00

Or, Beneath the Valley of Stuck In Stupid, or Stuck In Stupid Eats Detroit....

Call this post what you want, I'm writing because of something Tu Uyen Tran had on his "City Beat" blog:

"Eliot said utilities are already regulated so that's not much of an argument. He suggested that sometimes businesses are so stupid they need the government to tell them what to do, the example being the management teams at Ford and GM who wouldn't be in the mess they're in now if they'd been forced to make more efficient automobiles."

When recounting councilman Eliot Glassheim's comments Monday night on the 20/20 initiative, he related this illustration, albeit not verbatim, of the councilman's philosophy of what government is good for. Or at, I guess. Mr Glassheim seems to be in favor of the initiative to mandate "renewable energy", and believes that same guiding principle would be applicable elsewhere in the business world. I'm not going to touch renewable energy here, however. My heartburn today is caused by his view of what ails the American auto industry. He believes that had the government intervened however many years ago, and FORCED the American automakers to build tiny fuel efficient cars, they would not find themselves in the dire straits they are in now.
I laugh.
In making so preposterous a proclamation, Mr. Glassheim is in effect saying we consumers who chose to buy and drive large SUVs and pick-ups are wrong to want or need more interior room, more safety, more visibility, more traction, more MORE. Or... maybe we're....stupid.
In Eliot's world, merely forcing the automakers to build cars no one at that time cared to buy would have saved them from- what? The crushing costs of unionized labor's wage and pension demands? Sky-high health care costs? Mandated employer contributions (taxes) ? Short-sighted policies that emphasize shareholder returns vs. long-term growth? What?
We can argue all day (and sometimes I do) about what is killing GM or Ford. But what surely DIDN'T was building what Americans wanted to buy. What good are a thousand acres of Chevy Cavaliers or Ford Aspires sitting unsold? Even when a smaller vehicle is sold, profit per unit is lower because of certain fixed costs per unit. A larger, more expensive vehicle is going to naturally have more profit per unit both in absolute terms and in percentages.
When I read of things like this being said, I cannot help but think that this betrays a certain...arrogance on the part of those who would dictate to others what vehicles we should choose. That this is the way a businessman/ councilman thinks is disturbing indeed.

By the way, I AM glad you're getting better, Eliot. We would miss you if you were gone, and we will always need a few liberals to kick around.......

61,000 POUND NASCAR TRUCKS

2006-10-03T12:27:00.000-05:00

Er, I mean, beet season is here. Get the women and children off the streets! Every year, we put civilians into overloaded beet trucks, change their sleep patterns, and then tell everyone else to be careful of mud on the road. What's wrong with this scenario?
Most of these drivers spend 50 weeks of the year driving cars and pickups that don't weigh a tenth of what these trucks do, and then have to learn the dynamics of stopping a loaded juggernaut of a truck. And if they're lucky enough to be driving a farm truck licensed in North Dakota, there are no annual safety inspections required- nope, none. Whatever bald or recapped tires you want, no problem! Brakes shot? Still no problem. But hey, look at that $3000 paint job, and we have the farm name on the door!
And in the name of excitement, run those trucks down south Washington, onto DeMers, and through downtown! Boy, that'll piss off those city folk! The kids at Sacred Heart can pick the beets off the road along the curve in front. Watch for traffic kids!
I know the response: Beets bring umpty buctillion dollars into our communities, yada yada yada. I tell you what- that don't mean a thing to the families of those people killed or maimed in an accident involving one of these things.
Here endeth the sermon for today. In the name of American Crystal, Ag subsidies, and the Family farms. Go forth and vote for the Democrats who perpetuate this insanity. Amen.

UPDATE: Some have taken exception to my views, citing everything from me being a subscriber to the NIMBY principle, to being a city slicker, to a *gasp* liberal! That last one hurt, let me tell ya.
Look, folks, its all about safety- we have established a uniform set of laws that govern the operation and behaviour of professional freight haulers in this country, based on science and practical experience. Those laws govern the condition of the equipment, safe loading practices, the hours of operation, the qualifications, background, physical condition, and knowledge of the operators, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting.
Why, in the name of misty-eyed nostalgia, are those engaged in raising one of the most lucrative of all crops, exempt from all this? Are the laws of physics suspended for the month of October so this particular crop can be harvested? Why aren't potato farmers clamboring to dig all night? I'm sure the argument could be made that their "window of opportunity" to harvest is narrow also, maybe more so.
I await your answers.

GEEZERVILLE HERE I COME

2006-10-02T21:01:00.000-05:00

As my latest birthday fades in the rearview mirror, I reflect on the absurd little conversations that happen when working with a younger generation.
One day, I recited along perfectly with the opening lines of the Guns N Roses song, "Civil War"- the part spoken by the Warden from the movie "Cool Hand Luke". One of the young guys was amazed to find those lines were from a movie. And who was Paul Newman? We never got to the fifty eggs part.
Then I mentioned one day a tribute song by the Drive By Truckers- "Steve McQueen" So we had to have a history lesson about him. And the chase scene from "Bullit" And how hot Faye Dunaway and Ali McGraw were. Back in the day.
Oh well. I never understood much of what passed for the pop culture of my parents' generation, either, I guess. Although, I have always liked the Andrews Sisters and Red Foley's music....
*Sigh* Where's my Mason jar? I need a drink.

STUCK IN STUPID GEAR

2006-09-26T09:07:00.000-05:00

This has got to be the dumbest thing I've seen lately, and that's counting Olberman's rant about Bush the other day :

"California is suing the auto industry over tailpipe emissions, marking the first time a state has sought monetary damages for the impact of global warming by vehicles, The Associated Press said. Attorney General Bill Lockyer last Wednesday sued the six largest U.S. and Japanese automakers, claiming they have caused millions of dollars in damage by creating greenhouse gases, AP said.
Lockyer is suing on the theory that greenhouse gases are a "public nuisance" under both California and federal law, an argument similar to one being pursued in a case before the 2nd U.S. District Court of Appeals in New York, AP said. Vehicles are the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in California, AP said.
The lawsuit names Chrysler Motors Corp., General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor North America Inc., American Honda Motor Co. and Nissan North America Inc., AP said."
- Light & Medium Truck report

The idea of a government entity suing a manufacturer for selling a legal product that consumers want is nothing new, though. Witness the Big Tobacco settlement of a few years ago, of which our own Heidi Heitkamp was a proud participant. Global warming is just the new grievance du jour. This stretches credulity to the breaking point, however. I hope for the sake of all society that some judge swats down the idiot lawyers that cooked this one up, in both New York and California. I won't hold my breath, though.
This brings to mind a situation of a few years back. Various police departments around the country sued Ford Motor Company over some defect in the Crown Victoria car- and then complained when Ford wouldn't sell them any more units the following year!
In a state like California- that is responsible for the phenomena of car culture as much as or more than Detroit and totally dependent on the automobile, what possible good can come of this? Should a lawsuit be won by the state, the most hopeful outcome might be simply a dramatic increase in the price of cars sold in California. the worst outcome would be a huge cutback in the number of cars sold there. And since California cars in many cases have different emission equipment than 49 state cars, consumers will not be able to simply buy their cars out of state.
Morons. Simply morons.

Thanks to Sean Gleason

2006-09-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

You will notice I added a new feature to the right side of my blog- a left side! I perceive that I have been pegged as a right wingnut, so to give the balance and "fairness" so much desired in today's world, I added Sean Gleason's "Autorantic Virtual Moonbat Generator". If you tire of reading my sensical rant, just go to the A.V.M.G. and get a nonsensical one. Any resemblance to The Daily Kos is, I'm sure, intentional. Scroll down to see it.

If you want an A.V.M.G. yourself, click on the "ABOUT" button, go to his website, and be the first kid on your blog to get one. Thanks again, Sean!

That's all today, kids! Be safe!

Take my taxes- please!

2006-09-22T05:59:00.000-05:00

I read in the Herald this morning Tax Commissioner Cory Fong's proposal to rebate (good a name as any for it) a portion of our property taxes. A total of $116 million to go back to the taxpayers of North Dakota. To put that in a real world way, a typical $120,000 house would see a credit of $217 a year against the tax bill, presumably each year until a large surplus no longer exists.

Now, at the risk of encouraging the liberals out there, I have to say this- that's hardly supper for our gang at Sanders. Less than $20 a month. I have more change in the ashtray of my truck. Can we instead just find a use for that money we've already sent to Bismarck?

Might I suggest an alternate use for that money? How about we fix the damn roads in this state? No one could make the argument we don't need it- city or rural. The roads and bridges in the rural areas could certainly use some repair. This beautiful city of ours has roads that are badly broken up. As Commissioner Fong says in his viewpoint article, we are experiencing an economic boom in our state. What booming economy can get along without infrastructure?

Now I know the same argument can be made in reverse- $116 million doesn't buy a lot of road repair, either. And we don't know how many years this will go on- my guess is not many. But instead of me going to the movies with the wife and spending my rebate once a month, I'd like to see the money spent on one of government's few legitimate purposes.

DILBERT'S WORLD OR WALMART'S?

2006-09-21T21:43:00.000-05:00

I came across this on National Review's "The Corner" blog the other day. An excellent little posting by a fellow curmudgeon I look up to- John Derbyshire. He writes:

Brave New Wal-Mart [John Derbyshire]

"I have got way behind with email, am struggling to catch up. Had several emails about my saying that reading George Will's Wal-Mart column started a chain of thought that ended up at Brave New World. Several readers were baffled....

Well, if I go into too much detail here I shall get into trouble of the PC sort; but the main idea was, that any society ought to offer useful and productive lives to its epsilons i.e. to citizens over on the left-hand side of the Bell Curve. The postindustrial West has been depressingly bad at this. Our basic approach to our low-IQ fellow citizens has been "Let them eat cake." It's hard not to get the impression that we have been busily building a society of law-school elites, by law-school elites, and for law-school elites; the "Yale or jail" society. Wal-Mart, with its simplified, stripped-down training programs that concentrate on a few easily-mastered skills and disciplines, is a small reversal of this deplorable (to my mind) trend.
Whatever you think of the society imagined in Brave New World, at least there was a place for everyone in it, bright or dim. That is not the case with present-day Western society, except in pockets like Wal-Mart."

Good stuff, Derb. As my dear departed Dad used to say to me, "Son, we need ditch diggers in this world, too". It was his way of saying that if any of his kids didn't choose to go to college, well, that's OK. As long as a means of living is attained honestly, it is honorable, too.

To paraphrase a succesful businessman I know- A college degree doesn't necessarily mean you know anything useful in your field, it just means you were willing to sit still and be taught SOMETHING for at least four years. Sobering words , there. Of course, in the business world, that little piece of paper has come to mean a lot- enough that the merits of a long career of experience don't mean as much as they used to. Thus we get the Dilbert world we live in.

THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND

2006-09-18T21:32:00.000-05:00

Dakota Huseby posted a notice on her excellent, informative, well-written (wink wink) blog that the Great City of Grand Forks, led by Councilman Hal Gershman is looking into a collaboration with the students of that hallowed institution of drinking, er, learning, the University of Nord Akota. Said proposal is to look into the possibility of the City and the students sharing costs in extending bus service past the normal 6PM ending, to also run from 10PM until 2:30 AM Friday and Saturday nights.

The objective in this is apparently to enable students to get much drunker, much later than is possible now. No word on whether this was the conclusion of a scientific study, or just "a rilly cool idea", but according to the Dakota Student, did come about as a result of meetings between the student Senate and City Council.

Details regarding funding of the whole thing are still being fleshed out. Proposed is a $1 rider's fee to cover the estimated $275 extra it will cost to run the bus an additional 4 1/2 hours. Any shortcomings in funding after that will be split between the city and the student body. There is no word yet how this will sit with students already complaining about tuition costs, etc. who do not wish to participate in drinking downtown.

A point for Grand Forks taxpayers to consider is this: every mile that a bus spends hauling drunken students around is one less mile it can haul someone going to a job, the grocery store, music lessons, whatever. Buses have finite life spans, and are money eating monsters while they live. 6 tires at $300 a pop, brake jobs at around $1000, a motor now and then at $15000. Diesel at 3MPG and $2.50 a gallon- pretty soon you're talking real money.

The question can be asked, fairly, I believe-don't we spend enough, in terms of money and aggravation, to finish the job of raising someone else's kids when they come here to go to school?
Is it worth it to us to subsidize student drinking?

Update: Willie Nelson is rumoured to have tendered an offer to help with bussing....

GF City Beat moves

2006-09-02T10:48:00.000-05:00

Congrats to Tu-Uyen Tran on making the move to his new site on Area Voices, City Beat v2.0. Go see him there at http://www.areavoices.com/gfhcitybeat/ and say hello.

I LOVE CEMENT TRUCKS

2006-09-02T09:31:00.000-05:00

I was watching the cement trucks the other day backing up and unloading into one of those cement pumper trucks at a building site. Watching them, I thought to myself, "What a sign of progress and commerce". Now the sun didn't break through clouds and shine on me , and no heavenly choirs were singing as I pondered, but it was a good thought regardless, as thoughts go.

Everywhere you look around town, cement trucks are haulin' ass somewhere with a load of soon-to-be smooth fresh concrete for my feet to walk on. I saw one of those big Advance mixers lift the inside front tire going around a corner,even. Building going on everywhere. I wonder if a city's economic progress could be charted by cubic yards of concrete poured in any given year? Maybe Tu Uyen would know where to look for something like that.

Anyway- Strata, Porta-Mix, Concrete Inc- keep up the good work!

NEWS FLASH! GOOD OL' BOY TRAMPLES FREE SPEECH!

2006-08-27T11:06:00.000-05:00

As anyone who knows me will affirm, on those admittedly rare occasions when I screw up, I am quick to acknowledge it. That is, if someone points it out to me. If not, then I am just like the rest of you, I will stumble along in blissful ignorance of my folly.

This task most of the time falls to my patient and long-suffering wife. In this case, however, it didn't, because she doesn't read blogs, least of all mine!

Turns out I messed up some settings on my "comment" section, and my diatribe on speech below was not showing the comments made. My apologies to those who read and took time to respond- I did not mean to censor your speech. I have made the corrections, and the posts should appear now. So to all of you, please feel free to kick me in the figurative butt. Whether we agree or not, I consider this great fun, and encourage everyone to make a comment- hello, yes, no, kiss my ass, whatever....

Thanks again for visiting!

Odds and Ends Department

2006-08-26T21:33:00.000-05:00

Odds and Ends Department..

Well, the Good Ol' Boy fan club just grew the other day by one person. I'd like to welcome the new member- you know who you are, no need to embarass you here. Your secret decoder ring is on the way, and thanks for taking the job as treasurer, by the way. We're a happy bunch here on Boyd Drive, unshackled as we are by PC notions, so enjoy!

Next up- File this under "Did Ya ever notice?" Do you ever notice when you take your car in for service how the more modern, progressive shops- not just dealerships- have clean, well-lit waiting rooms. With a few brochures, some comfy chairs, coffee, and magazines? Soccer Moms don't mind sitting with the kiddies in a place like this waiting for an oil change. All in all, its a positive thing for our industry and its image in the public eye.

No more do you really see the old style grease pit place, with a dark office full of oil signs, stools made of car rims, and maybe a pin-up on the wall. And an old rusty wrecker parked out front. You know where all that stuff went? Just look around the next restaurant you go into- that's where most of it seems to be! What they didn't get, some bar probably has now.

Borrowed Bucks has all the old signs, gas pumps, and an old wrecker out front you would expect to see on the Rez. And the Long Haul Saloon has that Mack Truck inside. Talk about your ambience- what do you call it- "Garage Chic"? Somewhere along the line these icons of auto repair got hijacked by the upscale crowd, but I guess they're welcome to it.

And on a sadder note- UND is back in session. *Sigh* We'll have a few weeks of twits in their IBJCs (Itty Bitty Jap Cars) with fart pipes ripping up and down the chicanes of Boyd Drive, until they:
A) Get tired of it or get a ticket (quit laughing- it could happen).
B) Hit a parked car or a tree- check the bark on the trees lining the street about two feet off the ground, you'll see what I mean.
C) Realize school's hard work, and drop out.

UPDATE: 9/4/06-It didn't take long- a car full of twits plowed up onto a lawn late last night. No word whether they were of collegiate age or not. The gendarmes were summoned, and it is supposed that justice was dispatched. One can be thankful it was not the daylight hours, and someone's babies were not out playing in their yard.

That's it for Odds and Ends!

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

2006-08-15T21:18:00.000-05:00

My colorful language is your hate speech.....

The new apartments built behind Hansen Chrysler are called "North Boyd Apartments". Hmmph. Why not name them "South Simplot Apartments"? Nice view of ol' Stinky from there, I bet! Open them windows and let the north wind blow!

As long as we're on the subject, just what is in a name, anyway? I was recently taken to task for the injudicious use of an abbreviated form of name of an ethnic group. In a sincere effort to praise the automotive products of the Land of the Rising Sun, I referred to the little metric cars I used to drive in a way that did not meet the civility and PC standards of those I was corresponding with. This usage was equated with other racial slurs, the "N' word to name one.

Now I can understand the passions associated in some circles with THAT word, even while I wonder how some are allowed to use it. It's just an all-around good idea to avoid that word in polite company. There is a lot of suffering and struggle associated with purging what it represents from our society, and I respect that, even if I do not think some who benefitted from that struggle do.

But let's leave that issue alone for now, and move on to discuss degrees of offense as they apply to usage of other names.

How do we as a society define the parameters of what is acceptable? It seems that right now we are giving the task of defining the parameters to those who hear the words, and not at all to those who say them. Let me just throw this out- is that where we want to end up? Is every perceived slight going to be labeled as hate speech? Where can we draw a reliable line that society can say of- "Here we stop, and shall go no further"?

Does suffering in slavery count for more than being conquered in a World War? How about TWO World Wars? How about belonging to an Abrahamic race (there are two of them)? What weight do we add for skin color in this? Percentage of the general population? What other grievances can be brought to bear in this? How many generations can it go on? I'm just asking a question here- what hurt, real or perceived, do you want to frame in your accusation of hate speech?

Is it possible to raise the question- "What part does the one saying the word get to play in this?" If I do not intend to hurt someone, if I harbor no ill feelings toward the hearer of my words, am I
culpable? What part do cultural differences get to play here? If I am from a rough-and-tumble world where one is expected to suck it up and be a man, and you are, well, not- then what of it? Does cultural sensitivity only cut one way? (Insert Klingon reference here...)

Let me toss this out. Sometimes I come across someone speaking of a "Good Ol' Boy" mindset, usually implying a negative connotation. As a fat old cracker myself, do I have the right to take offense at this and cry "foul" because I was on the receiving end?

Or should I just recognize that all down through human history, people have disagreed about things, not liked each other, and entertained bad thoughts of others, never mind what race, color, or political persuasion each may have been? And no matter how civilly they address each other, they may not agree or even like each other? The real issue is how one really feels, not necessarily what he says. It would be nice if we could judge people by what they say, but the smart money goes on what they mean. And that can cut both ways.

Enough Already with the Commercials...

2006-08-12T17:53:00.000-05:00

First up- sorry I haven't been venting here lately. At least I know two people check here once in a while- they both wondered what was up. Guess I slipped into a moment of contentedness and got lazy. Well, that and the two weeks on either side of the first of the month is always busy at work for yours truly.

So to my adoring public- get over it. Here you go:

Anyway, I am really getting frosted lately over a couple of radio commercials that hammer at me incessantly. The first one was really cute the first four or five times, but after a few thousand times, well, it loses its luster. I am speaking of course of the Mountain Dew "Junk in the Trunk" ad. Great stuff, funny as all get out, but come on- enough is enough..... and take your "Pepsi Smash" ads when you go, too. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Oh for Pete's sake.. there it is on the radio again, even as I type.... oh the ignomy of it all. And now it's on another station I switched over to! Must....reach...for....CD....uunnghh..

Now, I must say I understand the importance of getting your name out in advertising, building brand recognition, and so on. Lord knows I spend enough on radio ads (there Mike- is that a good enough plug to make your boss happy? No problem, glad to do it buddy) trying to achieve that golden objective of top of mind awareness with the public. Went to seminars, even. But the last thing I ever want to hear is someone saying they are sick of hearing one of my ads every ten minutes on any radio station they may try to escape to. Well, unless it was one of my competitors- they can take a flying stab at a rolling donut.

So the problem as always, Grasshopper, is how to achieve balance in one's life. Let your potential customers know you are out there, ready and able to serve them, but don't piss them off with incessant yammering in their ear. Like the waitress who comes back to the table too many times to see how you're doing. Well, okay, I made that one up- but it could happen in GF. I think you know what I mean, though.

Well, off I go now, in search of other topics to rail on. In all honesty, life has been pretty nice lately, judging by the topics here, wooden shoe say?

Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married and...

2006-07-24T06:07:00.000-05:00

Now for something different... some time has passed since the occasion described below, and my writing of it, but I just thought in place of my usual diatribes, I'd post it. Get over it.

Setting aside my usual snide remarks about the godless socialists around me, I would like to say that my heart is filled with nothing but love after this weekend. What's that you say? "Gee, Mr. Good Ol' Boy- how can you take time from slaying the anti-capitalist dragons to regale us with tales of love? The walls of ignorance are closing in about us, and you are all starry-eyed in love?"

Yes, dear child, its true. Come, sit on my knee and let me tell you what happened this weekend past. You see, the Good Ol' Boy got himself RE-married this weekend to the fair Red One. As a condition of her continuing journey back to being a Catholic in good standing, Red One had to have her marriage blessed in the Catholic Church. Since that existing marriage was to me, I was invited. Not being a Papist myself, I found the idea intriguing.

We had attended several sessions with the good Father Braun at St Mike's, to look into whether we may be compatible as a couple. Turned out we were, Red having had 31 + years to knock the rough edges off me. We were pleased he found us to be so. As was the case the first time around, it was slated to happen, with or without dissenters. Father Gerard was thought to be a good sort of fellow, moreso ever after his findings.

Come the Saturday of the blessed union, we found ourselves gathered with select friends and family at St. Mike's. We exchanged vows, and the normally gruff visage of yours truly had to give pause partway through to compose himself. Sneaking a quick kiss from Red fortified my constitution enough to get through the vows, while the brother-in-law who was the groomsman understood me to be only pausing to burp.

What memories remain of the original ceremony 29 odd years ago do not include choking up in that fashion. I have no doubt that at that tender age and period of inattention I failed to completely comprehend the daunting task before me at that time. In fact, as I contemplate the outright shit-headedness I displayed to all the world in those days, I doubt I had really any idea what I was getting into. How this can work I have scarcely any idea, save through the Grace of God.

We can never know what the future holds, and that is a good thing, as I am convinced we would run away screaming, or hide under the bed in the face of some of it. To know the tender moments of love, together with your betrothed, or holding the child that is the result of that love is a fine thing, and would draw one in. But to know the other, soul-wrenching parts in advance would dissuade all but the most stalwart. Or foolhardy.

Of course, we did not know that. We knew only that marriage was the course of action, the details to be settled upon later. That it has worked out as well and as long as it has is a testimony to God's love, and, well, to some degree, to our lust for each other. At this point it could be imagined that our child would put her finger in her throat and make gagging sounds. I smile.

It has been a wonderful journey Red and I have made. I persist in my insistence that we met in a sandbox or some equivalent mechanism, when my sister Patricia and her aunt Mary Veronica were chumming around with us in tow. As I encountered her through the intervening years of grade school, I found myself wondering who would ever marry such a homely little girl. I know I will suffer for that last sentence, but I say it in love. Who indeed. Who knew that collection of big googly eyes, gangly limbs, and blond hair could become such a thing of beauty?

I hope that Father Gerard's blessing of "thirty more years" was noted at the highest levels. I would leave this mortal life willingly should I have to, only with the assurance I will be re-united with this girl some day. Of her final destination I am certain, of mine I can only hope, so I will make do with that. She certainly is my better half, and I will love her forever.

"I do."

GOREBAL WARMING...?

2006-07-17T12:13:00.000-05:00

Someone should tell this silly S.O.B. that it's not smart to wear a heavy jacket in the tropics. No wonder he thinks there's global warming.

(I know it's a staged picture- doesn't change anything in my view)

Having a good time, wish you were there...

2006-07-12T09:11:00.000-05:00

We're having a hey-o time over at Dakota's blog and at Tom Dennis's Prairie Pundit blog. Come on over. I'm the sole advocate in the comments sections, it seems, for the school board's recent vote on standards for behaviour amongst the board members. One board member, Tim Lamb, doesn't think he needs to abide by the wishes of the majority, and everyone's got a lot of scrotal torque going on over all this.

A whole lot of B.S. is flying over supposed violations of some imaginary person's First Amendment rights.

So check it out. Even you, Coffee Guy.

Bring it on!

2006-07-11T07:53:00.000-05:00

I got this news item from The Light and Medium Truck Report:

Drivers Face Stiffer Penalties for 'Move Over' Law Violations
Motorists who fail to make room on Tennessee roads for emergency vehicles and law enforcement now face fines as high as $500, The Associated Press reported. Gov. Phil Bredesen, state safety and transportation officials, the Tennessee Trucking Association and local law enforcement unleashed a statewide media blitz last Friday to inform drivers of the new "move over" law penalties, AP said. Drivers caught violating the law now face fines of between $100 and $500, up from $50, and up to 30 days in jail, AP said. The law, which was enacted in 2004, requires drivers to move over a lane if there are police, emergency or service vehicles on the shoulder of the road. If drivers cannot safely move over, they are required to slow down until they pass the site, AP said. It applies to stopped law enforcement vehicles, fire trucks, tow trucks, state HELP trucks and vehicles belonging to companies contracted by state or local government Since the law was enacted, Tennessee Highway Patrol personnel have ticketed about 2,000 drivers, AP said. L&MT

Along with people screaming on by traffic stops, I have also been amazed at the number of times I have seen emergency vehicles flying through the streets of Grand Forks and motorists continue on their happy way without stopping to let them by. This was demonstrated in a big way recently, when a car pulled out from 13th Avenue onto Columbia in front of a police cruiser. The officer, to his everlasting credit, swerved to avoid the hapless fool, sliding his car into a curb and ending up with over $5000 damage to the undercarriage of his car.

What is particularly frustrating in cases like this is that the Emergency Response people already have something important they are on their way to, and cannot stop to address the problem of ignorant motorists. These guys already have tough jobs to do when they arrive on scene, do we need to make the journey there dangerous, too? Come on, Grand Forkers.

What to do, what to do? Any suggestions, officers?

"FOR THE POOR YE SHALL HAVE WITH YOU ALWAYS..."

2006-07-07T22:18:00.000-05:00

Quick, who said that quote above? What, you say? Jesus? Yes! You're our winner today!

I know, somebody (forget who, I have a few critics) a post or so back got his undies in a bundy because we Grand Forkers are blogging about each other too much, but Peder Rice went and got the Good Ol' Boy riled up again. In his new blog, which by the way looks great : http://progressivepalette.blogspot.com/ he says we Americans make it too hard for the poor to get rich. Being the defender of capitalism that I am (where the heck is my cape? Lois! where's my cape?!) I have to say something about that. But first go read his post. Go on, I'll wait.

You back now? Great.

We were not what anyone could consider well to do, growing up on a farm, so I hope that gives me some street cred here. My Dad always told me, "There's no shame in being poor, son, it's just damn unhandy".

Having said that, Peder, I must say that you lump a lot of things together there alongside being poor. Domestic abuse, wrong skin color, environment, depression, drug abuse, all seem to occupy the same place when you speak of being poor. And although all CAN be mitigating factors, many many people rise above those same obstacles to succeed here in our United States. Indeed, in many of those people, those factors drive them to escape the poverty and wasted lives they see around them. Do you KNOW this because you are/were poor, or do you THINK this because you watch "Cops" and read a lot? Don't rich people drink, abuse their wife/kids, get addicted to drugs? How does that affect them?

Yes, you may have heard of a "rich Republican" saying those things; my understanding is that Ronald Reagan once said the poor are that way because they want to be. And I'd say as usual, he was pretty much on the money. I would dare say that you are also as likely to hear a Democrat express his "bigotry of low expectations" in the form of support for an entitlement or some affirmative action program. Now in the end, which is worse? To criticize someone for their truly bad choices-i.e. having too many babies, not having/ holding a job, or for having addictions? Or to in effect say, "You're too stupid/lazy/dark-skinned to succeed, so we'll just give you a leg up on everyone else? I wouldn't mind being told I was doing something wrong, but I would mind being insulted the other way.

As far as growing up in a bad environment, around drugs, etc.. that would tend to establish the possibility of a bad attitude toward the world, yes. But when a person reaches the age of majority, society cannot let those excuses stand any longer. There comes a time when an adult has to answer in some way for his actions. To stomp your foot and say you can't succeed because society won't let you doesn't cut it. You are an adult now, like it or not. No one else is accountable for you but you.

As far as your contention that the United States is a bad place to be poor, I'm sure that literally billions of people would disagree, if they could just get here. Opportunities still abound here in this day and age. To treat life as a zero sum game is to forever limit yourself. You may not end up Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, but neither will five billion other people. Get over it.

Having been less than well to do at times in my life, and lived and played and worked among people of similar background, I think I can say all this with some assurance. People are not necessarily looked down upon because they are poor in material things. If they are "looked down upon" it may more likely be because they ARE engaged in destructive behaviour, well past a time in life when they can be excused for it. I can guarantee you that if people put that behaviour behind, they can begin to climb out of poverty. I did.

If the first generation doesn't make it to the Hamptons, well, perhaps the groundwork can be laid for the next to do so. People DO live vicariously through their children, and want better for them, whether that's always evident or not.

Well, there's more, but that's long enough. Now I'll stand here and take a few bullets for conservatism........

A bleg.. for landfill solutions

2006-06-30T21:48:00.000-05:00

As regarding this landfill problem we are faced with- does anyone know where some good information can be found on the web regarding large scale incineration of trash? My impression is that, while more expensive short-term, the long term benefits of not soiling our nests, and not having to constantly re-locate as they fill, should offset. But I'd like to know more.

Actually, I'd like our council to know more, too. Wooden shoe?

First Amendment groupies

2006-06-30T20:49:00.000-05:00

I was going through my daily blog list when I came across a regular love-fest, Kumbayah and all, over at GF Teenview blog. Just below where he brags about the little girl dying in the van making it on Drudge, he has a little hoorah for flag burning and the New York Times.

Now I think he may be a decent kid, this Rick, but he just wasn't really thinking when he wrote the post on the little baby. I'm sure others read his wording and cringed, as I did. If a baby dying makes it to Drudge, how about not exalting in the national newsworthiness of it, OK kid? Some things are better not pointed out, alright? And speaking of not pointing things out, about that NY Times thing.....

The lovefest I witnessed was in the comment section, where Dave Miller, Tu Uyen Trang and this Rick kid are busy high-fiving each other over the fact that the NY Times "broke" a story that will now alert terrorists to take more care in their financial transactions, thereby further eluding justice.

Apparently you guys got your secret First Amendment goggles from the box tops you sent in, and now you can view your life and the entire world through them. That everything has to be weighed and judged by that one standard alone crowds out other worthy considerations, like the need to win a war by using tools available to us like the Swift program. Just like the other manufactured scandal about phone conversations, all this latest act of dubious reporting will do is frustrate those charged with winning the war on terrorism. This program, like the other, is completely legal, subject to screening and review by all three branches of the government. A little in-depth "research" would reveal that.

Given that, what's left to celebrate? Borderline treason? Aiding and abetting the enemy? Bush bashing? Go ahead. Doesn't do much for your credibility, in my eyes and those of others. What you come off looking like is a bunch of Woodward and Bernstein wannabes, looking to come up with the next big "-gate". Guess what? Ain't gonna happen. And you'll wear out your own righteous indignation and the public's patience trying. Bush isn't Nixon and Swift isn't Watergate.

In the eyes of the public, there's a line between reporting and partisan commentary. Live in one world or live in the other. Cross at your own peril. Does "Dan Rather" mean anything to you?

At the end of the day, you all need to realize that what you do is create a product for consumption by "customers". If that product is of good quality, well researched, and in the case of reporting, free of bias, it should sell well. If not, well, folks will look elsewhere. If in a fit of arrogance you refuse to accept that, you'll get a pass for a while, but it will eventually catch up to you. The market will not be denied. But what the hell do I know?

Not another gasoline e-mail !!!!

2006-06-27T20:37:00.000-05:00

So I got another one of those "Don't buy gas for a week, we'll show those greedy gas companies! e-mails tonight. And from somebody who knows better (you know who you are). But don't worry- I still like you. Maybe you accidentally hit 'send' instead of 'delete' after you put everyone's name in the TO box. I'm just kidding, OK? I'm just kidding....anyway.. it was the one that compares high-priced eggs to gas and assumes that chickens just keep dropping eggs long past the time the demand is satisfied.

Truth is, you chop their heads off when they outlive their usefulness. But I digress. After telling how everyone bought fewer high-priced eggs, the story wraps up thusly:

"Eventually, the egg farmers cut their prices because they were throwing away eggs they couldn't sell. The distributors started buying again because the eggs were priced to where the stores could afford to sell them at the lower price. And the customers starting buying by the dozen again. Now, transpose this analogy to the gasoline industry. What if everyone only bought $10.00 worth of gas each time they pulled to the pump. The dealers tanks would stay semi full all the time. The dealers wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the huge tank farms. The tank farms wouldn't have room for the gas coming from the refining plants. And the refining plants wouldn't have room for the oil being off loaded from the huge tankers coming from the Middle East. Just $10.00 each time you buy gas. Don't fill it up. You may have to stop for gas twice a week but, the price should come down".

You of all people should have read this and said," But wait a minute, it is a pull market, not a push market". Your simple act of buying gas pulls the commodity through the system, thereby setting prices, not the other way around. Not a gallon of gas would move through a pipeline anywhere if someone at the other end wasn't demanding it.

Setting aside infrastructure cost considerations for the moment, let's see how the market works:

If a million gallons of gas are at the end of the pipeline and one consumer at the other end, the price of gas would be very very low- there is only the demand of one guy in a Subaru. He looks at the price on the pump and says, no, too much money. The owner of the station has bills to pay, and says, tell you what, how about this much? And the Subaru guy says, "Still too high. Look, I'm a decent kind of guy- I'll be fair, how about I give you 99 cents a gallon?" Gas station guy is sweating, but what's he gonna do? "Okay, sold."

Now picture the same million gallons are sitting there, and one hundred thousand consumers are at the other end. Now everybody only gets ten gallons. The guy in the Subaru is happy, he can go a long ways on that ten gallon allotment. But the guy in the Suburban needs thirty gallons to get somewhere and back. What does he do? He realizes that the market is at work! He offers to pay the gas station owner a little more per gallon, say two bucks, for the privelege of buying what he wants/ needs. If Mr. Subaru doesn't want to raise his bid, well, tough luck. No gas for him. By this effect, gas is "pulled" through the pipeline, and the price is determined. A million little decisions like this are made every day with commodities in a capitalistic system. Its what is called the invisible hand at work in economics. Now to address the concept of buying only what you need.

If we lay aside the impracticality of buying gas ten dollars at a time and focus on the end effect, we'd see that still nothing changes. The net effect of everybody buying gas ten dollars at a time would not change a thing on the market.At the end of the week, the same amount of gas would still have been sold, or "pulled" through. The market does not look at consumption in so narrow window of time as to be affected by this sort of action. What did you accomplish? Let's see:

In summation,you felt good doing it, but nothing substantive changed. In fact, you ran your tank low for too long and burned out your $500.00 fuel pump, and now have unintendedly made things worse for yourself. Congratulations! You now qualify as a liberal !

AND THE WINNER IS...

2006-06-19T06:11:00.000-05:00

The winner of today's lyric competition is the line from Jethro Tull's "Skating Away":

"Skating away, on the thin ice of a new day..."

Watching the sun come up on this Monday morning, doesn't that just paint a picture in your mind?

Thank you Steven Pastis

2006-06-16T06:47:00.000-05:00

Couldn't resist this from "Pearls Before Swine", one of my favorite comics at www.comics.com

Go Sioux Go Sue!

2006-06-15T19:13:00.000-05:00

Dakota Huseby mentions the issue of the impending Fighting Sioux/ NCAA legal battle today in her blog. And I am happy to see she considers the NCAA's action to be hypocritical, as do I. She goes on to say that as an issue, this is not the most pressing thing we could be expending private and public funds, time, and energy on.

Well, yes, you could make that argument- there may be higher priorities. There's always a higher priority lurking in the bushes somewhere. But maybe settling this will allow us to get on to those higher priorities. To wit:

When it comes down to it, maybe it is time to hash this out in the liberal's favorite forum- the courts. Their second-favorite forum, the Herald Letters page isn't really working, is it? Public opinion isn't turning their way, either, as most people dismiss it as so much liberal claptrap. However, the seemingly never-ending dredging up of this issue does serve as a constant distraction to UND administration, the State Board of Education, and students interested in an education, and it takes away from more important issues in the context of Native American lives. High unemployment, alcoholism, tribal government corruption, retention of talent on the reservation, where to get good fry bread- these are far more pressing issues,and addressing the root causes of these should have a much higher priority than something like a nickname. Now the NCAA inserting itself in this issue accomplishes nothing, save poking a stick in the eye of UND's greatest benefactor's memory.

There seems to be no end of agitation amongst the guilt-ridden liberals who are constantly regurgitating grievances, and who seem to always be ready at a moment's notice to bring this issue back to life. Maybe its just never over for this group? I wonder about that sometimes, too. I made a comment some time back about the group that signed a letter protesting the Sioux name, and I'll say it again- If you people are so torn up inside, so incensed, so indignant over this issue of a school mascot name, then show us the true depth of your convictions:

Leave your posts right now, your tenured positions, everything, behind. Resign in protest of this horrible injustice, this cruel and abusive treatment of the gentle indigenous people that once roamed this land. Give all your possesions and money to the cause of changing the name Fighting Sioux. Show us you really mean it, that you are ready to spend yourselves in the cause of liberation. After all, what caring human being could bear to see their name yoked to a racist, oppresive institution like UND?

If you are unwilling to do this, if you are happy to only write an occasional letter to the editor when Mike Jacobs feels like reviving the issue, if talking amongst yourselves about this outrage salves your guilt-ridden liberal sensibilities, then what good are you? Apparently your station in life, comfort, and income, truly means more to you than you can bring yourself to admit. What oh what has become of you children of liberation, fighting against the systemic oppression of freedom? I'd guess probably you've grown fat, happy, gray, and spoiled by the system you enjoy railing against now.

That the legal bills for the pro-Sioux name side will be funded by private money tickles me no end. Here somebody is putting their money where their mouth is- a trait sadly lacking on the other side. Somebody who went to school and is proud to be part of the Fighting Sioux tradition. People who have gone out armed with their wits and a UND education and made something of themselves. Fight on, Sioux!

Disclaimer: The Good Ol' Boy did not attend UND. He is just tired of race hustlers in his back yard.

More Forum Flogging

2006-06-12T06:02:00.000-05:00

Not to blog a dead horse (I had to say it), but more thoughts on Forum buying the GF Herald:

A letter to the editor published in today's Herald makes a good point- but not, I believe, the one the letter writer intended. Lois Wilde writes to say that the FCC should look at how the morning news is done on WDAZ. She points out that nothing on WDAZ in the morning has anything to do with Grand Forks or Devils Lake. I think her intention is to register her disapproval of the purchase of the Herald, but she unintendingly makes the case against it being an anti-trust issue.

As an early morning watcher of First News on Channel 8, I have always been slightly annoyed by the fact that the news we are given is almost totally Fargo-Moorhead oriented. Starting with the delivery of the news from Fargo studios, to the canned weather reports for us "Up North" by the Weather Elf, to the Fargo-centric news reports that start the day, one is left with the impression that not much happens up here that is worth devoting resources to reporting.

I guess outsourcing your news delivery makes budgetary sense, but it leaves the GF viewer with a feeling that we really aren't much of a "Home Team". Nothing unique here, I suppose, when I think about how WDAZ also supposedly has studios in Devils Lake- how much news reporting is generated out of there?

My point, and yes I am getting to it, is that with so much of the delivery of regional content- news, sports, weather, "outsourced" to Fargo, can we really consider WDAZ a Grand Forks media outlet in any meaningful sense anyway?

I can see it now, poorly lit, grainy video and all: "And now, your Home Team news, with Apu Sivadanggarrarojivitava and Jepo Bogadishnu. Storm Tracker Weather by Yastopol Spodblotnik."

Herald employees- be afraid, be very afraid......

Forum badges? We don't need no stinkin' Forum badges!

2006-06-10T07:58:00.000-05:00

GF City beat has a little dustup between Tran and Milo Smith in the comments section that was kind of fun to read. I'm on the outside (WAY OUTSIDE) looking in on this matter, but the possibility of the two having to share resources seems remote to this hayseed.

As pointed out, the two media types work through different delivery systems to present information in very different ways. This would necessarily change much of how a story is processed and delivered. As a consumer of news, I look at both types of delivery, and I expect different things from each. Same with radio. The worst thing a media company could do would be to become intellectually inbred to the point of print and broadcast news pumping out the same party line. (*coughing sounds*Time*Warner*CNN*cough*cough*)

So if the Forum were to sponsor, say, maybe a tug o' war across the Red between WDAZ and the Herald, loser cleans the bathrooms for the other for a week, I think that would be cool. Maybe Milo Smith and Mike Jacobs can do some grain alcohol shots and arm wrestle beforehand to get the crowd going. I'm just throwing ideas out here.....

Red Light Bandits

2006-06-09T13:05:00.000-05:00

Good Griefus- What is with people in this town? I cannot believe the way people flaunt the law at traffic lights. To ensure your own safety, you need to practice a three-second rule: After the green, wait three seconds to proceed. This gives those drivers a half a block away time to squeeze through. If you have your window rolled down, you can actually hear them floor it at the yellow.

I'm not just talking about little airheads driving their Cavaliers with one hand on the wheel and the other holding a cell phone to their ear, either. This is all kinds- semi drivers, people in company cars and trucks, pricks in Hummers, white trash in Delta 88s, you name it. And its everywhere- East side, GF, Gateway, Downtown. The only constituency that seems under-represented is soccer moms- I think maybe they are at least concerned about safety enough to follow common sense about what a yellow light means.

I can hear it now- "W-eh-eh-eh-hellllll..... Mr. Good Ol' Boy. You are such a freakin' hick- you come from a place that only had one stoplight in the whole town. You don't understand that I am in a hurry to get to my job that I hate. Or that I can't stop this Escalade from 30 MPH in only half a block when the yellow comes on. Besides, if it turns red when I'm in the intersection that's a freebie..." To that I say B.S. I may be a hick, but you are NOT in that big a hurry and you CAN stop that Blingmobile and NO you and three others went through after my light turned green.

I would dearly love to see our Police Depts on both sides of the river clamp down on this for a month or two. That would help for, oh, say, six months or so. But that's better than nothing, and better than what we see happening now. How about it guys? Is it do-able?

Another question I have about this- if something terrible did happen in an intersection because of some fool running a red light, it can't even be called an accident, can it? Accidents are unplanned, and running a red light is a deliberate act. What could a good lawyer do with that? Anybody know?

Zarqawi- May he rot in hell

2006-06-08T21:54:00.000-05:00

Not much to add to THAT thought-

No matter what you may think of our war on terrorism- for it or agin' it- you have to admit killing this animal was a good thing. We can debate endlessly on what effect it may have on the outcome of events, and I'm sure we will, but for now, let's give our military a big thumbs up for a job well done.

They'll report- We'll decide?

2006-06-04T08:23:00.000-05:00

The GF Herald in an editorial today, announces it will no longer endorse candidates in elections. While it remains to be seen how that will ultimately work out, I certainly applaud the change. If indeed there is more space given to coverage of candidates' views and intentions, versus editorial pontifications, I say Hoo-Rah!

I can't help but notice (cue music from Twilight Zone) that this is eerily parallel to Fox News' stated policy. Despised though it may be, this apparently is working for Fox News, at CNN's expense, among others. I would love to see this happen at my hometown newspaper. I resent being told what to think, whether outright in an editorial, or in a subtle fashion, through carefully considered keywords and phrases.

As long as I'm damning with faint praise here, might I make a suggestion? Why don't the employees of the Herald buy the paper? Nothing cures a socialist bent like being self-employed. It worked on me all those years ago, I can tell you that. I'm just saying.....

Otis the Drunk......

2006-05-29T09:46:00.000-05:00

The other day I needed a snap-ring for a project I was working on at home. No problem, I thought; I have a huge snap-ring assortment of my own at work, I'll just run fetch it up. When I got there to pick it up, I discovered that someone had dropped the assortment box and contents and not bothered to tell me. Nice. Just dumped everything back inside and squeezed the lid shut. Bastiges.

So now I'm sitting, sorting through a thousand snap-rings, by size, shape, type of use, etc., and I have some time to think. Once I have settled on the type of slow lingering torture I shall visit upon whoever did this, I still have some time left over. So I start wondering....

Why is it that Altru has to admit every drunken slob the PD brings in for de-tox? Whatever happened to the drunk tank in jail? Did somebody choke on their puke and die in jail, and their relatives sue? What is behind this? They can't be left to sleep it off and get tossed out the next day? Now, they get a nice soft bed, meals delivered, all the finest care, and if they're there first on days when the hospital is full, priority over people with legitimate, urgent needs. Do you see anything wrong with this picture?

These people seldom can pay for their care, so Altru gets hit for their care. Which means I get hit, through my insurance, and if I have to go there for some legitimate purpose, I have to hope Ol' Otis the Drunk isn't taking up a bed I need.

I'm not talking about some teen being admitted for alcohol poisoning here, by the way. There are legitimate needs to be met, to be sure. But the overwhelming number of admits are repeat offenders, some on a first name basis with staff by virtue of their frequent-flyer status. When society undertakes to tax itself for the means of providing law enforcement, then offenses against the peace and dignity of society like public drunkenness should be a part of that formula. The kind of low-urgency care needed (deserved?) by drunks could, I think, be more affordably provided for by an institution of public incarceration than of public health.

What do our City Fathers and County Comissioners have to say on this? It would be interesting to hear their reasons for this situation having developed.

Bonanza Farms?

2006-05-23T07:26:00.000-05:00

In a viewpoint article in Sunday's Herald, Kevin Hall of Hoople gushes on about the mega-farms he saw on a trip to Brazil, then proceeds to lament the fact that Ramsey County officials want to regulate hog farms. He gets a comeuppance today in the Heralds Mailbag from a Ramsey County development official, who makes some good points.

A glaring inconsistency I had noticed in Hall's article was something I see a lot in farmers' attitude. He at one point wants government off the farmer's back, then in the next breath says we need more government incentives like tax breaks, programs, etc. So, which is it- do you want government in your business, or not?

Boys and their Hogs

2006-05-22T14:26:00.000-05:00

A thought while drivng in traffic: Why do middle-age guys on full-dress Hogs run straight pipes? I mean, what's your point? You're not driving a drag bike, carrying around that extra 400 pounds of fairings and bags, are you? Why not stick to a mellow set of duals, and enjoy the ride? It reminds me of what my wife said about the way a gal was dressed one time- "I don't know what look she was going for, but she missed it"

If you're running a stripped-down machine, OK. I can see that, even though its kind of obnoxious to folks in your residential area. I ran straight pipes on my old bob-job Flattie for years, but I lived out in the country and didn't cruise around town much. No one would ride on the right side of me, they didn't care for the noise and the flames all the time. The bike was so old, that was all I could find/ afford.

My current bike, a 73 Shovel, has a nice set of pipes with mufflers- a little louder than original, maybe, but not totally obnoxious. I don't like drawing attention to myself in that way anymore.

Maybe I'm gettting old?

And a warm thank you goes to....

2006-05-19T22:22:00.000-05:00

Dakota Huseby, who graciously asked me to blog here. I am a fan of her radio show, and appreciate her pursuit of stories and people that actually matter. Although I am much too shy to call in to the show, I have assailed the comments section of her blog to the point she probably felt she should get me out of there. Smart woman.

Keep doing what you do, Dakota. You have entertained the people who listen more than you can know. I hope I can post something intelligent from time to time. Thank you again!

Mexican conservatives

2006-05-19T21:56:00.000-05:00

A Reuters News article says that conservative candidate Felipe Calderon is leading in the polls 38 percent to 33 over his opponent Andres Obredor. Both are running to take the place of President Vincente Fox, who cannot run again.

No clear word on their views on illegal immigration. Hmm. Maybe it just didn't come up? Maybe Mexican politics are the anti-matter of American politics- a strange world where everything is backwards and nothing is as it seems. Where a conservative candidate for president is actually in favor of immigration, though his party generally isn't. And if the two collide, everything blows up.

Oh, wait a minute.