Do We Need A Deck Of Cards For Texas Democrats?
Long time reader and FOF Rick from So Cal brings to our attention the pathetic tale of Democratic legislators in Texas fleeing the state in a desperate attempt to stall votes on legislation that they were against.
Rick sees deeper implications in the actions of the dashing Dems:
I see this as a man-on-the-street reference of exactly when and how the Clinton infected Democratic party collapsed? Do you think that, with the exception of the 4 Dem legislatures who stayed in session, ALL of the rest of the Democrats in Texas are going to be called YELLER for slinking across the border? To Oklahoma no less? We have Karl Rove, those wily Dems have Terry McAulliffe. If this is what they come up with as strategy, we'll never beat these guys...
We grew up in a society where the liberal party controlled near super-majorities on a consistent basis. Are we, or rather, have we experienced generationism? A flip-flop in politics and social mores nearly consistent as a generational marker? I can't believe the way the Dems appear to be just laying down and taking it, or more appropriately, giving us the prize. (Reminds me of the Wild, 2 short handed goals last night?)
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Monday, May 12, 2003
Selected Not Elected
The fact the he's now trying to claim credit for the success of the Wild will not halt the building momentum of the campaign to recall Hugh Hewitt as Minnesota's Hockey Commissioner. Rather than trying to circulate a petition to the many thousands of you who have expressed an interest in joining the campaign we have decided to post a text, a declaration of our desires if you will, that you can easily copy and paste and e-mail to Governor Pawlenty. Be sure to copy Hugh on your e-mails as well to give him an idea just how restless the natives of Minnesota are getting.
Dear Governor Pawlenty:
When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the bonds which have connected them with their Hockey Commissioner, and to ask for another more suitable Commissioner to be appointed, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self evident, that all Hockey Commissioners are not created equal, that the people of Minnesota are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of hockey happiness, that whenever the Hockey Commissioner becomes destructive of these ends the people of the state which claims hockey as its sport and whose governor himself plays the game has a right to alter or abolish the office of Hockey Commissioner and institute a new Hockey Commissioner.
The history of the present Hockey Commissioner Hugh Hewitt is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over the state of hockey in Minnesota. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has never played hockey and has little understanding or appreciation of the finer points of the game.
He has mocked and belittled the hockey accomplishments of teams in the state even going so far as to compare the Gophers 2003 NCAA hockey title with synchronized swimming.
He has aided and abetted the enemy while the state is even now in the midst of hostilities by his support of the hated Ducks of Anaheim and his talking smack about our beloved Wild.
He lives in California.
Finally and perhaps most egregiously of all, he has continued to use the lame and tired expression "Minne-so-cold" when describing our state. It was marginally amusing the first time. Now it is beyond the pale and is an affront to the good people of Minnesota and anyone with a sense of humor.
We, therefore, the people of the great state of Minnesota, appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of this state, solemnly publish and declare, that this state, ought to appoint a new Hockey Commissioner; that we are absolved from all allegiance to Hockey Commissioner Hugh Hewitt, and that all connection between us and Hockey Commissioner Hugh Hewitt, is and ought to be totally dissolved. And for the support of this petition, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. Game on.
The fact the he's now trying to claim credit for the success of the Wild will not halt the building momentum of the campaign to recall Hugh Hewitt as Minnesota's Hockey Commissioner. Rather than trying to circulate a petition to the many thousands of you who have expressed an interest in joining the campaign we have decided to post a text, a declaration of our desires if you will, that you can easily copy and paste and e-mail to Governor Pawlenty. Be sure to copy Hugh on your e-mails as well to give him an idea just how restless the natives of Minnesota are getting.
Dear Governor Pawlenty:
When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the bonds which have connected them with their Hockey Commissioner, and to ask for another more suitable Commissioner to be appointed, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes that impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self evident, that all Hockey Commissioners are not created equal, that the people of Minnesota are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of hockey happiness, that whenever the Hockey Commissioner becomes destructive of these ends the people of the state which claims hockey as its sport and whose governor himself plays the game has a right to alter or abolish the office of Hockey Commissioner and institute a new Hockey Commissioner.
The history of the present Hockey Commissioner Hugh Hewitt is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over the state of hockey in Minnesota. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has never played hockey and has little understanding or appreciation of the finer points of the game.
He has mocked and belittled the hockey accomplishments of teams in the state even going so far as to compare the Gophers 2003 NCAA hockey title with synchronized swimming.
He has aided and abetted the enemy while the state is even now in the midst of hostilities by his support of the hated Ducks of Anaheim and his talking smack about our beloved Wild.
He lives in California.
Finally and perhaps most egregiously of all, he has continued to use the lame and tired expression "Minne-so-cold" when describing our state. It was marginally amusing the first time. Now it is beyond the pale and is an affront to the good people of Minnesota and anyone with a sense of humor.
We, therefore, the people of the great state of Minnesota, appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of this state, solemnly publish and declare, that this state, ought to appoint a new Hockey Commissioner; that we are absolved from all allegiance to Hockey Commissioner Hugh Hewitt, and that all connection between us and Hockey Commissioner Hugh Hewitt, is and ought to be totally dissolved. And for the support of this petition, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. Game on.
Attorneys General As Head Hunters?
Interesting piece in yesterday's NY Times on the trend for state attorney generals to step in and appoint board members and administrators for charity and non-profit groups that have run into difficulties. And who should be on the leading edge of this movement but Minnesota's own Mike Hatch:
No other attorney general has drawn more attention for such appointments than Mike Hatch of Minnesota, who has conducted two high-profile investigations of nonprofit health care organizations accused of profligate spending and lax board oversight.
Not everyone is happy about this practice.
"It's like state-mandated supervision, and fraught with potential conflicts of interest," said Michael W. Peregrine, a lawyer who frequently advises nonprofit institutions.
"This is a role that belongs to the courts," said Marion Fremont-Smith, a former assistant attorney general for charity oversight in Massachusetts who is now a senior research fellow at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University. "The attorney general has the clout to force people to let him do it, but he has no legal right to do it."
Even some attorneys general agree. "We really don't have the authority to say to a board, you must hire or appoint someone," said Greg Abbott, the Texas attorney general, who recently succeeded in having the directors of a Dallas foundation removed the old-fashioned way, by filing a lawsuit. "That's a decision that belongs to the courts."
Conflict of interest you say?
Four of the appointees had been contributors to Mr. Hatch's campaigns. Theodore Deikel, a multimillionaire businessman whom Mr. Hatch named as chairman of the Medica board, had been host of a fund-raising event for Mr. Hatch two weeks before his appointment. Mr. Deikel and his wife, Beverly, had also contributed $500 each to Mr. Hatch's political campaigns, and three of his four children contributed $1,000 apiece, the maximum allowed under Minnesota law.
But at least Hatch is clear and straight forward on the matter.
Asked whether those contributions and the contributions of other Medica appointees posed a conflict of interest, Mr. Hatch said, "It could, but I don't think it does."
You don't THINK it does? Well that's reassuring Mike.
Hatch has overstepped the bounds of his powers as attorney general time and again. Currently he’s trying to strong arm HealthPartners, another Minnesota non-profit health care firm, to force them to allow him to appoint two new members to their board. HealthPartners is not caving in to Hatch’s demands and is taking him to court to block his efforts. Let’s hope that the court slaps Hatch down and restores some boundaries to the office of attorney general.
Interesting piece in yesterday's NY Times on the trend for state attorney generals to step in and appoint board members and administrators for charity and non-profit groups that have run into difficulties. And who should be on the leading edge of this movement but Minnesota's own Mike Hatch:
No other attorney general has drawn more attention for such appointments than Mike Hatch of Minnesota, who has conducted two high-profile investigations of nonprofit health care organizations accused of profligate spending and lax board oversight.
Not everyone is happy about this practice.
"It's like state-mandated supervision, and fraught with potential conflicts of interest," said Michael W. Peregrine, a lawyer who frequently advises nonprofit institutions.
"This is a role that belongs to the courts," said Marion Fremont-Smith, a former assistant attorney general for charity oversight in Massachusetts who is now a senior research fellow at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University. "The attorney general has the clout to force people to let him do it, but he has no legal right to do it."
Even some attorneys general agree. "We really don't have the authority to say to a board, you must hire or appoint someone," said Greg Abbott, the Texas attorney general, who recently succeeded in having the directors of a Dallas foundation removed the old-fashioned way, by filing a lawsuit. "That's a decision that belongs to the courts."
Conflict of interest you say?
Four of the appointees had been contributors to Mr. Hatch's campaigns. Theodore Deikel, a multimillionaire businessman whom Mr. Hatch named as chairman of the Medica board, had been host of a fund-raising event for Mr. Hatch two weeks before his appointment. Mr. Deikel and his wife, Beverly, had also contributed $500 each to Mr. Hatch's political campaigns, and three of his four children contributed $1,000 apiece, the maximum allowed under Minnesota law.
But at least Hatch is clear and straight forward on the matter.
Asked whether those contributions and the contributions of other Medica appointees posed a conflict of interest, Mr. Hatch said, "It could, but I don't think it does."
You don't THINK it does? Well that's reassuring Mike.
Hatch has overstepped the bounds of his powers as attorney general time and again. Currently he’s trying to strong arm HealthPartners, another Minnesota non-profit health care firm, to force them to allow him to appoint two new members to their board. HealthPartners is not caving in to Hatch’s demands and is taking him to court to block his efforts. Let’s hope that the court slaps Hatch down and restores some boundaries to the office of attorney general.
Sunday, May 11, 2003
Hugh Throws Down
In response to my post yesterday questioning his sports allegiance, renowned talk radio show host Hugh Hewitt, takes a break from book signing and offers this rebuttal:
Elder: I spent a good amount of my on-air time yesterday arranging for the Gov and Senator Coleman to sit with the Mayor of Anaheim in his box at the Pond this Wednesday, and this is the thanks I get. I suppose I could have arranged for one more seat, but it’s a little late for that now. Still a little bitter over the Twins rough handling at the hands of the Angels, eh? You are in the middle of a play-off daze, something I realize is rare for Minnesota sports fans, so I will explain a few things for you.
First, the best professional sports fans in the world are from Northeast Ohio. The Cleveland Browns are the most storied franchise in NFL history, and if it wasn't for the low-rent man-who-must-not-be-named, the dominance of the team in the late '90s would have made that clear even to a Vikings fan.
That the Indians fans are the best is simply attested to by the fact that no other franchise has entered the bottom of the ninth of the seventh game of the world series, lost the game, and still been greeted rapturously by their fans.
Next, Jim Tressel has built a dynasty in a single year. Maurice Clarett is from Warren, Ohio, home of the best high school football in America. Deal with it.
You may not know that Ohio State also won the synchronized swimming championship, which is on a par with the hockey championship, since the hockey championship doesn't really matter compared to the Bean Pot.
The other significant college football franchise, Notre Dame, is basically an Ohio expansion club. Just so you have a note in your files, when ND plays for OSU, I pull for ND.
This is because in sports affections, as in politics, there is a hierarchy of allegiance. Sure, I like the Angels, unless the Tribe is in town. The backyard clubs aren't the hometown clubs, but they have to do.
Now, you may have missed it, but the Gov. did name me Commissioner of Minnesota Hockey on air a few weeks back after neglecting to review my application to become DNR Commissioner. In that capacity, I could ban you for life from Minnesota hockey in all its forms. So watch your step.
And I am sorry about the big whack that is coming the Wilds' way. I am not much of a Ducks fan, just an objective observer of that mysterious force called momentum.
Hugh
So you're saying there still might be a chance to get me into the mayor's suite on Wednesday night?
I have to admit that Hugh does have a point about the Browns. They once were a dominant football team. And then the forward pass was invented.
Twins fans don't know much about choking away the World Series in Game Seven since the last couple of times our squad has been there we've won the big game. In the Indians defense they were playing one of the more storied teams in baseball history. The Florida Marlins. Yeah, no shame in losing to that baseball dynasty.
As for the two time defending national championship Gopher hockey team what more needs to be said other than that they became the first team in over thirty years to win back-to-back titles. Put that in your Beanpot and smoke it.
Finally the fact that Governor Pawlenty named Hugh as the Hockey Commissioner of Minnesota is a travesty and I believe that we see the negative reaction to it reflected in Pawlenty's sliding approval ratings. The good people of Minnesota will not allow this disgrace to stand. We cannot have a Hockey Commissioner who knows next to nothing about the sport, has never played hockey (at least Dwayne had the guts to get on the ice at last winter's Hugh Hewitt on Ice event unlike Hugh who very conveniently claimed to have a shoulder injury), and worst of all is a Ducks fan (admittedly a lukewarm one at that).
In response to the enormous public outcry the crack legal staff here at Fraters is at this very moment burning the midnight oil to draft a recall petition to rescind the appointment of Hugh Hewitt as Hockey Commissioner of the North Star State. The draft is scheduled to be finalized tomorrow and we expect to get the required 10,000 signatures within hours of its release to the public. The petition will then be hand delivered to Governor Pawlenty's desk and we expect him to officially reverse his appointment shortly thereafter.
Sign it early. Sign it often.
In response to my post yesterday questioning his sports allegiance, renowned talk radio show host Hugh Hewitt, takes a break from book signing and offers this rebuttal:
Elder: I spent a good amount of my on-air time yesterday arranging for the Gov and Senator Coleman to sit with the Mayor of Anaheim in his box at the Pond this Wednesday, and this is the thanks I get. I suppose I could have arranged for one more seat, but it’s a little late for that now. Still a little bitter over the Twins rough handling at the hands of the Angels, eh? You are in the middle of a play-off daze, something I realize is rare for Minnesota sports fans, so I will explain a few things for you.
First, the best professional sports fans in the world are from Northeast Ohio. The Cleveland Browns are the most storied franchise in NFL history, and if it wasn't for the low-rent man-who-must-not-be-named, the dominance of the team in the late '90s would have made that clear even to a Vikings fan.
That the Indians fans are the best is simply attested to by the fact that no other franchise has entered the bottom of the ninth of the seventh game of the world series, lost the game, and still been greeted rapturously by their fans.
Next, Jim Tressel has built a dynasty in a single year. Maurice Clarett is from Warren, Ohio, home of the best high school football in America. Deal with it.
You may not know that Ohio State also won the synchronized swimming championship, which is on a par with the hockey championship, since the hockey championship doesn't really matter compared to the Bean Pot.
The other significant college football franchise, Notre Dame, is basically an Ohio expansion club. Just so you have a note in your files, when ND plays for OSU, I pull for ND.
This is because in sports affections, as in politics, there is a hierarchy of allegiance. Sure, I like the Angels, unless the Tribe is in town. The backyard clubs aren't the hometown clubs, but they have to do.
Now, you may have missed it, but the Gov. did name me Commissioner of Minnesota Hockey on air a few weeks back after neglecting to review my application to become DNR Commissioner. In that capacity, I could ban you for life from Minnesota hockey in all its forms. So watch your step.
And I am sorry about the big whack that is coming the Wilds' way. I am not much of a Ducks fan, just an objective observer of that mysterious force called momentum.
Hugh
So you're saying there still might be a chance to get me into the mayor's suite on Wednesday night?
I have to admit that Hugh does have a point about the Browns. They once were a dominant football team. And then the forward pass was invented.
Twins fans don't know much about choking away the World Series in Game Seven since the last couple of times our squad has been there we've won the big game. In the Indians defense they were playing one of the more storied teams in baseball history. The Florida Marlins. Yeah, no shame in losing to that baseball dynasty.
As for the two time defending national championship Gopher hockey team what more needs to be said other than that they became the first team in over thirty years to win back-to-back titles. Put that in your Beanpot and smoke it.
Finally the fact that Governor Pawlenty named Hugh as the Hockey Commissioner of Minnesota is a travesty and I believe that we see the negative reaction to it reflected in Pawlenty's sliding approval ratings. The good people of Minnesota will not allow this disgrace to stand. We cannot have a Hockey Commissioner who knows next to nothing about the sport, has never played hockey (at least Dwayne had the guts to get on the ice at last winter's Hugh Hewitt on Ice event unlike Hugh who very conveniently claimed to have a shoulder injury), and worst of all is a Ducks fan (admittedly a lukewarm one at that).
In response to the enormous public outcry the crack legal staff here at Fraters is at this very moment burning the midnight oil to draft a recall petition to rescind the appointment of Hugh Hewitt as Hockey Commissioner of the North Star State. The draft is scheduled to be finalized tomorrow and we expect to get the required 10,000 signatures within hours of its release to the public. The petition will then be hand delivered to Governor Pawlenty's desk and we expect him to officially reverse his appointment shortly thereafter.
Sign it early. Sign it often.
And the Award For Abusive Aliteration Goes to...
Melinda Roger's story on the governor's fishing opener in today's Star Tribune titled:
Pawlenty Plucks A Pike Promptly
Ouch.
Melinda Roger's story on the governor's fishing opener in today's Star Tribune titled:
Pawlenty Plucks A Pike Promptly
Ouch.
A House Made of Straw
The guys over at Power Line mentioned the story yesterday about the 'innovative' house insulated with straw in Minneapolis that had to be destroyed after the straw began to rot. It is a story about how easily good intentions can go bad especially when the hand of government is involved.
This was no ordinary house. It was a house stuffed with straw -- in the walls, in the foundation, and, under the original plans, in the attic.
The nonprofit developers boasted that the house was only the third straw-insulated house erected under the Minnesota building code. They touted it as a groundbreaker for sustainable and affordable construction.
Then the straw began to rot.
The words sustainable and affordable give you an idea of the mindset of the folks involved in this project.
Two Minneapolis nonprofit agencies, Southside Neighborhood Housing Services and the Community Eco-Design Network, teamed up in the mid-1990s and worked together on the straw-bale house.
Eco-Design co-founders Eric Hart and Rick Peterson said they could deliver a house with prefabricated modular construction for less cost than standard city-subsidized housing.
These nonprofit agencies are heavily subsidized by the city and state and are, in effect, merely an extension of the government.
One preconstruction budget for the project totaled $91,000, but the house ended up costing more than $200,000, Hart said. The state contributed $20,000, and other nonprofits committed more. Southside absorbed the brunt of the costs, selling the house to Simmons for $83,000.
Hmmm....That doesn't seem to quite meet the definition of either sustainable or affordable.
Construction began in 1998 and dragged on for months. Visitors recall seeing power tools being charged with solar cells, and rain soaking into straw bales. Jim Buesing said he had a gut feeling that although the crew was strong on enthusiasm, there were complications from weaving together alternate building techniques.
"I've been around the alternative movement enough to know that what they were trying to do was beyond their capacity," said Buesing, who leads a nonprofit housing agency that contributed a small amount of money.
There were signs that the project was running out of funds. Volunteer workers helped to cut costs.
"When you have volunteers involved, you're not necessarily going to have quality construction," said Shawn Young, who worked on the house early on.
Who needs quality when you have enthusiasm? The really sad aspect of the story though is the woman who moved into the straw house.
Simmons fit the Southside criterion of earning less than half of the region's median income when she and her two children moved in. She was a graduate of Southside's homebuyer education program. She started a day-care business, soon buying several houses, including one next door, for her enterprise.
She did everything that she was supposed to do. And now?
She remains on the hook for six mortgages on the property. The biggest was for a $66,400 loan made by U.S. Bank. Rogers said some parties to the financing are trying to work out debt relief for Simmons, but multiple target dates for wrapping up a deal have come and gone.
Rogers said Simmons continued payments on the house even after demolition, until settlement talks began.
All she wanted was a house. And if these agencies had just built her a regular old house (the kind that have proved effective in Minnesota for many years) she would have one today. But in their desire to pursue "alternative" methods they have left her with nothing but mortgage payments for a house that doesn't exist. Another proud day for the taxpayers of Minneapolis.
This was no ordinary house. It was a house stuffed with straw -- in the walls, in the foundation, and, under the original plans, in the attic.
The nonprofit developers boasted that the house was only the third straw-insulated house erected under the Minnesota building code. They touted it as a groundbreaker for sustainable and affordable construction.
Then the straw began to rot.
The words sustainable and affordable give you an idea of the mindset of the folks involved in this project.
Two Minneapolis nonprofit agencies, Southside Neighborhood Housing Services and the Community Eco-Design Network, teamed up in the mid-1990s and worked together on the straw-bale house.
Eco-Design co-founders Eric Hart and Rick Peterson said they could deliver a house with prefabricated modular construction for less cost than standard city-subsidized housing.
These nonprofit agencies are heavily subsidized by the city and state and are, in effect, merely an extension of the government.
One preconstruction budget for the project totaled $91,000, but the house ended up costing more than $200,000, Hart said. The state contributed $20,000, and other nonprofits committed more. Southside absorbed the brunt of the costs, selling the house to Simmons for $83,000.
Hmmm....That doesn't seem to quite meet the definition of either sustainable or affordable.
Construction began in 1998 and dragged on for months. Visitors recall seeing power tools being charged with solar cells, and rain soaking into straw bales. Jim Buesing said he had a gut feeling that although the crew was strong on enthusiasm, there were complications from weaving together alternate building techniques.
"I've been around the alternative movement enough to know that what they were trying to do was beyond their capacity," said Buesing, who leads a nonprofit housing agency that contributed a small amount of money.
There were signs that the project was running out of funds. Volunteer workers helped to cut costs.
"When you have volunteers involved, you're not necessarily going to have quality construction," said Shawn Young, who worked on the house early on.
Who needs quality when you have enthusiasm? The really sad aspect of the story though is the woman who moved into the straw house.
Simmons fit the Southside criterion of earning less than half of the region's median income when she and her two children moved in. She was a graduate of Southside's homebuyer education program. She started a day-care business, soon buying several houses, including one next door, for her enterprise.
She did everything that she was supposed to do. And now?
She remains on the hook for six mortgages on the property. The biggest was for a $66,400 loan made by U.S. Bank. Rogers said some parties to the financing are trying to work out debt relief for Simmons, but multiple target dates for wrapping up a deal have come and gone.
Rogers said Simmons continued payments on the house even after demolition, until settlement talks began.
All she wanted was a house. And if these agencies had just built her a regular old house (the kind that have proved effective in Minnesota for many years) she would have one today. But in their desire to pursue "alternative" methods they have left her with nothing but mortgage payments for a house that doesn't exist. Another proud day for the taxpayers of Minneapolis.
Saturday, May 10, 2003
A Flurry Of Faux Fans
The Wild's improbable playoff run has started to attract a lot of attention here in Minnesota, even from folks who normally pay no heed to hockey. Heck even long in the tooth sports columnist Sid Hartman wrote about the Wild today:
But the only local pro sports team achievement that compares with what the third-year Wild has done -- going to the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs -- was accomplished by the Minneapolis Lakers.
A Detroit Gems team that finished on the bottom of the National Basketball League at 4-40 in 1946-47 -- and sent only one signed player when it moved to Minneapolis -- was transformed into a championship team in its first year of operation as the Lakers in 1947-48. And then when they moved to the NBA the following year, they won again, finishing with a total of six championships in seven years.
Yeah Sid that's exactly the comparison I was thinking of. Besides Sid himself, there are probably eight or nine other people in the entire Twin Cities who actually might have witnessed the '47-48 Lakers and only half of them can still remember anything about it. That Sid, he’s right on the cutting edge.
And the Star Tribune published a “Hockey 101 primer” apparently for those readers who don’t know anything about the game. How fargin’ embarrassing! This is Minnesota not frickin’ Anaheim. If you live here and you don’t know hockey then don’t bother learning now. There are plenty of real hockey fans in Minnesota already.
Speaking of Anaheim I’ve received a few e-mails from readers informing me that the notoriously fickle Southern California sports fans are now pushing each other out of the way to try to jump on the Ducks bandwagon, much in the same manner as last year when come October suddenly everyone was an Angels fan. Even esteemed talk radio show host and FOF (friend of Fraters) Hugh Hewitt is now claiming allegiance to the Ducks and trying (without much success) to talk smack about the Wild. We love Hugh’s show and he’s done a lot to promote our blog but when it comes to sports his loyalties are questionable at best. He’s supposedly an Indians fan at heart (don’t look now Hugh but Detroit is now only two and half back of the Tribe) but when they’re not competitive he’s a big Angels backer, attending playoff and World Series games and dissing the Twins. When Ohio State won the college football national championship his gloating was nearly insufferable but yet I have a hunch if USC or UCLA made a run he’d be wrapping himself in their colors in a heartbeat. Good thing the NFL doesn’t have a team in So Cal are we’d have to listen to Hugh whine about the bad calls that got just like we do every time the Browns are “robbed”.
If you want to stay true to your roots Hugh you really should be a Dallas Stars fan.
Or have you already forgotten the glory days of the Cleveland Barons? The club that merged with the Minnesota North Stars, who, despicably abandoned Minnesota to become the Dallas Stars.
Besides how can you cheer for a team called the Mighty Ducks? There’s something very unmanly and vaguely French about that name.
The Wild's improbable playoff run has started to attract a lot of attention here in Minnesota, even from folks who normally pay no heed to hockey. Heck even long in the tooth sports columnist Sid Hartman wrote about the Wild today:
But the only local pro sports team achievement that compares with what the third-year Wild has done -- going to the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs -- was accomplished by the Minneapolis Lakers.
A Detroit Gems team that finished on the bottom of the National Basketball League at 4-40 in 1946-47 -- and sent only one signed player when it moved to Minneapolis -- was transformed into a championship team in its first year of operation as the Lakers in 1947-48. And then when they moved to the NBA the following year, they won again, finishing with a total of six championships in seven years.
Yeah Sid that's exactly the comparison I was thinking of. Besides Sid himself, there are probably eight or nine other people in the entire Twin Cities who actually might have witnessed the '47-48 Lakers and only half of them can still remember anything about it. That Sid, he’s right on the cutting edge.
And the Star Tribune published a “Hockey 101 primer” apparently for those readers who don’t know anything about the game. How fargin’ embarrassing! This is Minnesota not frickin’ Anaheim. If you live here and you don’t know hockey then don’t bother learning now. There are plenty of real hockey fans in Minnesota already.
Speaking of Anaheim I’ve received a few e-mails from readers informing me that the notoriously fickle Southern California sports fans are now pushing each other out of the way to try to jump on the Ducks bandwagon, much in the same manner as last year when come October suddenly everyone was an Angels fan. Even esteemed talk radio show host and FOF (friend of Fraters) Hugh Hewitt is now claiming allegiance to the Ducks and trying (without much success) to talk smack about the Wild. We love Hugh’s show and he’s done a lot to promote our blog but when it comes to sports his loyalties are questionable at best. He’s supposedly an Indians fan at heart (don’t look now Hugh but Detroit is now only two and half back of the Tribe) but when they’re not competitive he’s a big Angels backer, attending playoff and World Series games and dissing the Twins. When Ohio State won the college football national championship his gloating was nearly insufferable but yet I have a hunch if USC or UCLA made a run he’d be wrapping himself in their colors in a heartbeat. Good thing the NFL doesn’t have a team in So Cal are we’d have to listen to Hugh whine about the bad calls that got just like we do every time the Browns are “robbed”.
If you want to stay true to your roots Hugh you really should be a Dallas Stars fan.
Or have you already forgotten the glory days of the Cleveland Barons? The club that merged with the Minnesota North Stars, who, despicably abandoned Minnesota to become the Dallas Stars.
Besides how can you cheer for a team called the Mighty Ducks? There’s something very unmanly and vaguely French about that name.
Friday, May 09, 2003
You Gotta Have Faith
Recently Steven Den Beste had an interesting series of posts on atheism. Here, here, and here. Yes they're lengthy but if they weren't it wouldn't be Den Beste would it? What I found compelling was that while Den Beste describes himself as an atheist he believes that it is not possible to disprove the existence of God anymore than it is possible for a believer to prove that God does exist. I find this sort of atheism refreshing for in the past when I've had discussions about religion with atheists or agnostics I've usually found myself being asked to prove that God exists as if I could just walk over to a chalkboard, scratch out a few theorems, and win them over. When the discussion boiled down to the root cause of my beliefs and faith was my explanation I usually got the "that's what you always say" response as if us true believers were expected to come up with better talking points after all these years. Den Beste acknowledges that his atheistic beliefs are just as much based on "faith" as are someone's who believes that God exists.
What was missed in Den Beste's discussions was that, in fact, one man has proved quite conclusively that God does not exist. He just needed to get that crayon removed from his brain first:
Homer: Hey, Flanders, heading for church? Well, I thought I
could save you a little time.
Ned: Oooh, found a new shortcut.
Homer: Better. I was working on a flat tax proposal and I
accidentally proved there's no God. [shows Flanders a
sheet of paper with complex figuring on it]
Ned: [flustered] We'll just see about that. [reads the paper]
Uh-oh. Well, maybe he made a mistake. [checks it again]
Nope, it's airtight. Can't let this little doozy get out.
[uses a lighter to burn the "proof"]
[in the background, Homer puts more copies of his no-God
paper on the windshields of nearby cars]
Recently Steven Den Beste had an interesting series of posts on atheism. Here, here, and here. Yes they're lengthy but if they weren't it wouldn't be Den Beste would it? What I found compelling was that while Den Beste describes himself as an atheist he believes that it is not possible to disprove the existence of God anymore than it is possible for a believer to prove that God does exist. I find this sort of atheism refreshing for in the past when I've had discussions about religion with atheists or agnostics I've usually found myself being asked to prove that God exists as if I could just walk over to a chalkboard, scratch out a few theorems, and win them over. When the discussion boiled down to the root cause of my beliefs and faith was my explanation I usually got the "that's what you always say" response as if us true believers were expected to come up with better talking points after all these years. Den Beste acknowledges that his atheistic beliefs are just as much based on "faith" as are someone's who believes that God exists.
What was missed in Den Beste's discussions was that, in fact, one man has proved quite conclusively that God does not exist. He just needed to get that crayon removed from his brain first:
Homer: Hey, Flanders, heading for church? Well, I thought I
could save you a little time.
Ned: Oooh, found a new shortcut.
Homer: Better. I was working on a flat tax proposal and I
accidentally proved there's no God. [shows Flanders a
sheet of paper with complex figuring on it]
Ned: [flustered] We'll just see about that. [reads the paper]
Uh-oh. Well, maybe he made a mistake. [checks it again]
Nope, it's airtight. Can't let this little doozy get out.
[uses a lighter to burn the "proof"]
[in the background, Homer puts more copies of his no-God
paper on the windshields of nearby cars]
Formula For Success
(Warning to Mitch. This post and probably any other posts of mine today will focus on hockey. No baseball. No bagpipes. No bread baking banality. Perhaps later this summer I'll compare the relative merits of the American and National leagues, Great Highland bagpipes versus North Thumbrian Smallpipes, and the differences between short mix, improved mix, and intensive mix but for now it's hard core hockey baby.)
I have adopted a rather strict regimen while watching Wild playoff games. One beer per period. This forces me to conserve the precious nectar of life and makes me aware of my consumption. Otherwise the tension of a hockey playoff contest would cause me to raise my glass early and often. When the Gophers won the 2002 National Championship in overtime I probably averaged a beer per shift at Tom Reid's Hockey Pub.
I also have become rather superstitious in my choice of brews. On Monday while preparing for Game Five I was about to reach into my frig and pull out a Sleeman's Cream Ale when I suddenly had a revelation. I can't drink no Canadian beer while my squad is playing a team from Vancouver. Back went the Sleeman's and out came the Belgian Primus Lager. Not a strong pro-Wild choice mind you but neutrality was good enough at that point. I saved a Summit Pale Ale for my third period selection figuring that a St. Paul brewed beer would be a nice karmic touch. The pattern was repeated with much success in Game Six. Last night I had to hustle off to the local beer merchant before the opening face off to restock my Summit supplies. Once again my beer per period formula proved effective. To mark the improbable Wild victory and the elimination of the Canucks I capped the night off with a celebratory Scotch.
Now that the next opponent is the Anaheim Ducks I am once again free to enjoy my Sleeman's Cream Ale. Thanks Vancouver! Now we all now what the C on your sweater stands for. If you can take your hands off your throat for a moment let's have a toast. This one's for you.
And the next one's for Todd Bertuzzi. He had a great regular season and is a damn good hockey player. But he's also an incredible bonehead at times, demonstrated for all to see last night with his mindless interference penalty at the end of the game that pretty much sealed the deal for the Wild. Thanks Todd! Have fun playing golf.
If you enjoy a little schadenfreude you may wish to check out this Canuck fan site. Opinion among Vancouver fans seems to be split among four camps:
Cloutier sucks (hard to argue with this one)
Crawford sucks (he's no Jacques but then who is?)
The Canucks suck (it has a nice sound to it)
Or... let's be happy the Canucks got as far as they did and celebrate their achievements. I call this the loser group. Let's see, you blow a two goal lead in Game Seven at home and a three to one series lead in the second round of the playoffs to an expansion team that's only three years old and you're okay with that? These are the kind of people who are just as happy winning a consolation trophy as the real thing. But the Canucks tried hard and that's all they can do right? Yes they tried and they failed. It's now time to feel shame.
Finally why do Canadian fans feel the need to elevate every contest into a national showdown with the U.S.? The way the Vancouver fans were waving their Canadian flags around last night during the O'Canada you would have thought we were watching the Olympics. The series was Minnesota versus Vancouver not the U.S. versus Canada. There's just something desperately pathetic about a country so lacking in national self esteem that its people leap at any opportunity, however inappropriate, to demonstrate their patriotism and wave the flag. I guess that's the kind of thing that happens when you become militarily, politically, and economically irrelevant. Word to the French.
I have adopted a rather strict regimen while watching Wild playoff games. One beer per period. This forces me to conserve the precious nectar of life and makes me aware of my consumption. Otherwise the tension of a hockey playoff contest would cause me to raise my glass early and often. When the Gophers won the 2002 National Championship in overtime I probably averaged a beer per shift at Tom Reid's Hockey Pub.
I also have become rather superstitious in my choice of brews. On Monday while preparing for Game Five I was about to reach into my frig and pull out a Sleeman's Cream Ale when I suddenly had a revelation. I can't drink no Canadian beer while my squad is playing a team from Vancouver. Back went the Sleeman's and out came the Belgian Primus Lager. Not a strong pro-Wild choice mind you but neutrality was good enough at that point. I saved a Summit Pale Ale for my third period selection figuring that a St. Paul brewed beer would be a nice karmic touch. The pattern was repeated with much success in Game Six. Last night I had to hustle off to the local beer merchant before the opening face off to restock my Summit supplies. Once again my beer per period formula proved effective. To mark the improbable Wild victory and the elimination of the Canucks I capped the night off with a celebratory Scotch.
Now that the next opponent is the Anaheim Ducks I am once again free to enjoy my Sleeman's Cream Ale. Thanks Vancouver! Now we all now what the C on your sweater stands for. If you can take your hands off your throat for a moment let's have a toast. This one's for you.
And the next one's for Todd Bertuzzi. He had a great regular season and is a damn good hockey player. But he's also an incredible bonehead at times, demonstrated for all to see last night with his mindless interference penalty at the end of the game that pretty much sealed the deal for the Wild. Thanks Todd! Have fun playing golf.
If you enjoy a little schadenfreude you may wish to check out this Canuck fan site. Opinion among Vancouver fans seems to be split among four camps:
Cloutier sucks (hard to argue with this one)
Crawford sucks (he's no Jacques but then who is?)
The Canucks suck (it has a nice sound to it)
Or... let's be happy the Canucks got as far as they did and celebrate their achievements. I call this the loser group. Let's see, you blow a two goal lead in Game Seven at home and a three to one series lead in the second round of the playoffs to an expansion team that's only three years old and you're okay with that? These are the kind of people who are just as happy winning a consolation trophy as the real thing. But the Canucks tried hard and that's all they can do right? Yes they tried and they failed. It's now time to feel shame.
Finally why do Canadian fans feel the need to elevate every contest into a national showdown with the U.S.? The way the Vancouver fans were waving their Canadian flags around last night during the O'Canada you would have thought we were watching the Olympics. The series was Minnesota versus Vancouver not the U.S. versus Canada. There's just something desperately pathetic about a country so lacking in national self esteem that its people leap at any opportunity, however inappropriate, to demonstrate their patriotism and wave the flag. I guess that's the kind of thing that happens when you become militarily, politically, and economically irrelevant. Word to the French.
A Team The British Bulldog Would Love
"Never, never, never, never give up." -Winston Churchill
Down three games to one for the second straight time in a best of seven playoff series?
Trailing 2-0 more than halfway through Game 7 in your opponents building?
No problem if you're the incredibly gutty Minnesota Wild. Don't start fretting about that library just yet Jay. We've got another playoff series ahead of us. How very sweet it is.
"Never, never, never, never give up." -Winston Churchill
Down three games to one for the second straight time in a best of seven playoff series?
Trailing 2-0 more than halfway through Game 7 in your opponents building?
No problem if you're the incredibly gutty Minnesota Wild. Don't start fretting about that library just yet Jay. We've got another playoff series ahead of us. How very sweet it is.
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Another One For The Shelf
Add Mona Charen's Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got It Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First to the voluminous collection at the recently expanded Fraters Library.
Useful Idiots is a devastating and biting indictment on the left's moral relativism in the Cold War. You'll recognize a lot a familiar faces as Charen liberally (no pun intended) sprinkles damning quotes from well known lefties throughout the work. She also covers the continuing post-Cold War anti-Americanism that infuses much of the left with sections on the Elian Gonzalez fiasco and the war on terrorism. The recent actions of the left before, during, and after the war with Iraq perfectly fit the "If America's For It, We're Again It" leftist template that Charen exposes in this book.
One of my favorite passages concerns the media's reaction to some of their members showing their patriotism after 9/11:
It isn't objectivity or neutrality that journalists like Westin guard so jealously. They do not hesitate to condemn their country when they think censure is justified (namely constantly). No, what shames them among their peers is to be caught sympathizing with their country, or indulging patriotic feelings. Still, those feelings did surface after September 11-if only briefly. (After all, if the French were momentarily pro-American, it isn't altogether surprising that liberals were as well.)
The only bone I have to pick with Charen's writing is admittedly a minor one. The word tendentious has a nice ring to it and is an apt choice when describing many of the statements made by prominent leftists in this book but to use it SEVEN times in 263 pages seems a little bit over the top. Instead of ruminating on the outrageous claptrap uttered by some windbag lefty you instead can't help but ask yourself, "Didn't she just use that word ten pages ago?". Again a minor distraction in what is otherwise an excellent recollection of the disgraceful role that much of the left played in the Cold War.
Add Mona Charen's Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got It Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First to the voluminous collection at the recently expanded Fraters Library.
Useful Idiots is a devastating and biting indictment on the left's moral relativism in the Cold War. You'll recognize a lot a familiar faces as Charen liberally (no pun intended) sprinkles damning quotes from well known lefties throughout the work. She also covers the continuing post-Cold War anti-Americanism that infuses much of the left with sections on the Elian Gonzalez fiasco and the war on terrorism. The recent actions of the left before, during, and after the war with Iraq perfectly fit the "If America's For It, We're Again It" leftist template that Charen exposes in this book.
One of my favorite passages concerns the media's reaction to some of their members showing their patriotism after 9/11:
It isn't objectivity or neutrality that journalists like Westin guard so jealously. They do not hesitate to condemn their country when they think censure is justified (namely constantly). No, what shames them among their peers is to be caught sympathizing with their country, or indulging patriotic feelings. Still, those feelings did surface after September 11-if only briefly. (After all, if the French were momentarily pro-American, it isn't altogether surprising that liberals were as well.)
The only bone I have to pick with Charen's writing is admittedly a minor one. The word tendentious has a nice ring to it and is an apt choice when describing many of the statements made by prominent leftists in this book but to use it SEVEN times in 263 pages seems a little bit over the top. Instead of ruminating on the outrageous claptrap uttered by some windbag lefty you instead can't help but ask yourself, "Didn't she just use that word ten pages ago?". Again a minor distraction in what is otherwise an excellent recollection of the disgraceful role that much of the left played in the Cold War.
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