tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49559850245099532472024-03-13T15:42:37.605-05:00reforming observer insomniacabigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-72383327101011599412009-02-26T00:13:00.004-06:002009-02-26T00:18:47.461-06:00I'm glad people like this are out thereI was feeling unsettled this evening for no reason I can discern, so I sought some distraction in the internet. I ended up spending several hours wandering around this site:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://www.actionsquad.org/index.html"><span style="font-size:180%;">Action Squad: Minneapolis</span></a><br /></div><br />I think I may have posted it before, but it merits a reposting. I especially recommend these entries (mostly found on the missions, misc. page):<br /><ul><li>Bridge to Dimension Zed (I can't believe I've been driving under this bridge for years and never once thought how weird it is that it comes from and goes to nowhere),</li><li>Inside the Wabasha Street Bridge,</li><li>Max Action's Crawlspace, and</li><li>Cobb Caves.</li></ul>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-72439604606197167842009-01-15T22:49:00.005-06:002009-01-15T23:10:10.059-06:00I keep telling myself it will get better soon.So Paul makes fun of me for having my radio alarm set to MPR news. Yes, I awake to the smooth voice of Cathy Wurzer. Geeky banter with Paul Huttner the meteorologist and all. It's hilarious to him. He won't listen to my explanations.<br /><br />HEY PAUL HERE'S WHY: for about 7 months of the year, it's a preview of my workday. Like today, when it reminded me about the state of the state address (we always have Savoy's pizza while we watch so I didn't have to pack a lunch) and Tuesday, when I awoke to "...state finance officials will issue a report Thursday on spending from the 35W bridge collapse victim compensation fund..." and realized I am one of only three people who might be issuing such a report and it certainly wasn't on my to-do list this week. (Crisis averted: I sent an email around when I got to work, and luckily one of the other two people had read a similar statement in the Pioneer Press over the weekend and had initiated said report. He squeaked it in under the wire today. That's about how it's going these days.)<br /><br />I rest my case. It's not just hopeless nerd-dom (but I might qualify for other reasons).abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-54129672544096315962009-01-15T22:41:00.005-06:002009-01-15T23:10:36.055-06:00Here I am. Is there a roadmap?Friends, I have now entered the iPod nation. This means years of being totally behind on music can come to an end. Paul wasn't ever behind on music, but he's joining the iPod nation for the convenience. Apparently there's a LOT of reggae on iTunes, so he's in heaven.<br /><br />We are slowly learning our way around iTunes, and I even tried out the Amazon.com music shop today (they have rotating free downloads! plus they gave me a $5 credit for something I bought at some point). We have mostly mastered the iPod boombox I purchased for his birthday. Sometimes I can get my iPod radio tuner thingy to work in my car. So here we are!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Now I need your help. What should I download? I need song suggestions. Lots of them.</span><br /><br />Thanks, team.abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-86749590882056765432008-12-30T22:54:00.003-06:002008-12-30T23:06:37.461-06:00Happy (almost) new yearI find this really entertaining and possibly concerning. What if your job was determining when to add a second to the world's time? And is the Earth's rotation really slowing down? Should I be concerned about this?<br /><br /><h1><span style="font-size:78%;">Just a second: 2008 needs one more before it ends</span> </h1> <p class="timestamp">December 29, 2008</p> <div class="sidebar"> <div id="featuredCommentBlock" class="featuredCommentSmall"> <div class="articlefcRow1"> </div> Eager for the new year to begin? Well, you're just going to have to wait a second.</div></div> <!-- End Sidebar --> <div class="storyBody"><div class="articlePageDiv" id="pageDiv1"> <p>On New Year's Eve, a "leap second" will be added to the world's clocks at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time, the U.S. Naval Observatory announced.</p> <p>For Minnesotans, that corresponds to 5:59:59 p.m. Central Standard Time on Wednesday, just in case you want to adjust your own clocks accordingly.</p> <p>The extra second will be inserted at the observatory's Master Clock Facility in Washington, marking the 24th leap second since 1972 to be added to UTC, a uniform time scale kept by atomic clocks around the world.</p> <p>The leap second is necessary because the Earth's rotation is gradually slowing down. Leap seconds have been added at intervals varying from six months to seven years, with the most recent being inserted on Dec. 31, 2005.</p> <p>The observatory's mission includes determining the position and motion of the Earth, sun, moon, planets, stars and other celestial objects, providing astronomical data, determining precise time and measuring the Earth's rotation.</p> <p class="noteText">Paul Walsh, Star Tribune<br /></p> </div> </div>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-33412519132248372072008-12-29T23:13:00.001-06:002008-12-29T23:15:02.537-06:00Maybe the future is bright afterall?What if they were all like <a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98786631">this</a>? (definitely listen to the 7 minute story to get the full effect of how great this girl is)abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-41888244716512920132008-12-28T21:31:00.001-06:002008-12-28T21:33:48.236-06:00They did it<span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">Go Vikes!<br /><br />On to the Eagles...</span></span>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-62272547824209475402008-12-22T23:05:00.002-06:002008-12-22T23:14:51.280-06:00Crap PackularDamn Packers. We ask just one thing of you all season. Beat the terrible-looking Bears. Take the game that was practically handed to you and win it.<br /><br />Now we need everyone to send positive energy to the annoyingly named Houston Texans. Let's hope they forget they're less than .500 and have been giving games away. Guys, focus on your recent record of 4-1 and your home record of 5-2. Get it done.<br /><br />Thanks.abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-75587568066573614052008-12-18T23:03:00.001-06:002008-12-18T23:04:42.951-06:00ShoesPaul gets credit for stumbling upon this little <a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;" href="http://play.sockandawe.com/">game</a>. I was really terrible at first but worked up to a score of 10 after a few tries.abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-26998809304956554732008-12-01T21:48:00.003-06:002008-12-01T22:17:34.000-06:00Parties and the economyThe Strib has been running some really excellent commentary on the two main topics that are occupying my mind these days: the plight of political parties (and elections) and the federal government's approach to the economic troubles. So I thought I'd share.<br /><br />As you can probably tell from these selections, I'm not too keen on how the bailout is being handled. I'm hoping the Democrats will not be dragged down by the mistakes already made, and can turn massive government intervention into something good. I'm not yet sure how I would define "good" intervention, but I know it doesn't include bailing out specific industries and encouraging the same kind of economic decision-making that led to the crisis in the first place.<br /><br />I'm also not a fan of the current two party monopoly. On our way through the vast expanse of North Dakota, I talked the ears off of Paul and his mother about how our system is too focused on the individual candidate and not enough on the party platform. In our system, parties exist mostly to elect individual candidates who generally identify with a subset of their party principles, rather than to produce coherent, differentiated policy platforms and be the machinery that runs government efficiently once elected. In parlimentary systems, people typically elect the party (platform), so there is typically more policy differentiation and a party can ditch dud candidates more easily without losing power (bet the Republicans would love some of that right about now). Plus the whole party coalition-building thing is cool. So, I really like the discussion of "fusion" below, and the explanation of how it differs from IRV. If we're stuck with the individualistic/candidate focus then I'm all for IRV. But it would be nice to move the other direction.<br />____________________________________________________________________<br /><p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">To profit in this market, go long <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state></p> <p class="MsoNormal">And short the market economy, especially with Democrats consolidating their power.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state> Post </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><st1:state st="on">WASHINGTON</st1:state> - In the old days -- from the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Venetian</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Republic</st1:placetype></st1:place> to, oh, the Bear Stearns rescue -- if you wanted to get rich, you did it the Warren Buffett way: You learned to read balance sheets. Today you learn to read political tea leaves. You don't anticipate Intel's third-quarter earnings; instead, you guess what side of the bed Henry Paulson will wake up on tomorrow.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Today's extreme stock market volatility is not just a symptom of fear -- fear cannot account for days of wild market swings upward -- but a reaction to meta-economic events: political decisions that have vast economic effects.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As economist Irwin Stelzer argues, we have gone from a market economy to a political economy. Consider seven days in November. On Tuesday, Nov. 18, Paulson broadly implies he's only using half the $700 billion bailout money. Having already spent most of his $350 billion, he's going to leave the rest to his successor. The message received on Wall Street: I'm done, I'm gone.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Facing the prospect of two months of political limbo, the market craters. Led by the banks (whose balance sheets did not change between Tuesday and Wednesday), the market sees the largest two-day drop in the S&P since 1933, not a very good year.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The next day (Friday) at 3 p.m., word leaks of Timothy Geithner's impending nomination as Treasury secretary. The mere suggestion of continuity -- and continued authoritative intervention during the interregnum by the guy who'd been working hand in glove with Paulson all along -- sends the Dow up 500 points in one hour. Monday sees another 400-point increase, the biggest two-day (percentage) rise since 1987. Why? Three political events: Paulson's weekend Citigroup bailout; the official rollout of Obama's economic team, Geithner and Larry Summers, and Paulson quietly walking back from his earlier de facto resignation by indicating he would be ready to use the remaining $350 billion (with Team Obama input) over the next two months.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">That undid the market swoon -- and dramatically demonstrated how politically driven the economy has become.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We may one day go back to a market economy. Meanwhile, we need to face the two most important implications of our newly politicized economy: the vastly increased importance of lobbying and the massive market inefficiencies that political directives will introduce.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Lobbying used to be about advantages at the margin -- a regulatory break here, a subsidy there. Now lobbying is about life and death. Your lending institution or industry gets a bailout -- or it dies.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">You used to go to <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">New York</st1:state></st1:place> for capital. Now Wall Street, broke, is coming to <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state>. With unimaginably large sums of money being given out by <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state>, the Obama administration, through no fault of its own, will be subject to the most intense, most frenzied lobbying in American history.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">That will introduce one kind of economic distortion. The other kind will come from the political directives issued by newly empowered politicians.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">First, bank presidents are gravely warned by one senator after another about "hoarding" their bailout money. But hoarding is another word for recapitalizing to shore up your balance sheet to ensure solvency. Is that not the fiduciary responsibility of bank directors? And isn't pushing money out the window with too little capital precisely the lending laxity that produced this crisis in the first place? Never mind. The banks will knuckle under to the commissars of Capitol Hill. They control the purse. Prudence will yield to politics.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Even more egregious will be the directives to a nationalized <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Detroit</st1:city></st1:place>. Sen. Charles Schumer, the noted automotive engineer, declared "unacceptable" last week "a business model based on gas." Instead, "We need a business model based on cars of the future, and we already know what that future is: the plug-in hybrid electric car."</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Chevy Volt, for example? It has huge remaining technological hurdles, gets 40 miles on a charge and will sell for about $40,000, necessitating a $7,500 outright government subsidy. Who but the rich and politically correct will choose that over a $12,000 gas-powered Hyundai? The new <st1:city st="on">Detroit</st1:city> churning out Schumer-mobiles will make the steel mills of the <st1:place st="on">Soviet Union</st1:place> look the model of efficiency.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The ruling Democrats have a choice: Rescue this economy to return it to market control. Or use this crisis to seize the commanding heights of the economy for the greater social good. Note: The latter has already been tried. The results are filed under "History, ash heap of."<br />____________________________________________________________________</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><h1><span style="font-size:12;">Just say no deal to a new New Deal<o:p></o:p></span></h1> <p class="precede">FDR's program may have actually prolonged the Great Depression.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="byline">By George F. Will <o:p></o:p></p> <p><st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">WASHINGTON</st1:place></st1:state> - Early in what became the Great Depression, John Maynard Keynes was asked if anything similar had ever happened. "Yes," he replied, "it was called the Dark Ages and it lasted 400 years." It did take 25 years, until November 1954, for the Dow to return to the peak it reached in September 1929. So caution is sensible concerning calls for a new New Deal.<o:p></o:p></p> <p>The assumption is that the New Deal vanquished the Depression.<o:p></o:p></p> <p>Intelligent, informed people differ about why the Depression lasted so long. But people whose recipe for recovery today is another New Deal should remember that America's biggest industrial collapse occurred in 1937, eight years after the 1929 stock market crash and nearly five years into the New Deal. In 1939, after a decade of frantic federal spending -- President Herbert Hoover increased it more than 50 percent between 1929 and the inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt -- unemployment was 17.2 percent.<more></more><o:p></o:p></p> <p>"I say after eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started," lamented Henry Morgenthau, FDR's Treasury secretary. Unemployment declined when <st1:country-region st="on">America</st1:country-region> began selling materials to nations engaged in a war <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> would soon join.<o:p></o:p></p> <p>In "The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression," Amity Shlaes of the Council on Foreign Relations and Bloomberg News argues that government policies, beyond the Federal Reserve's tight money, deepened and prolonged the Depression. The policies included encouraging strong unions and wages higher than lagging productivity justified, on the theory that workers' spending would be stimulative. Instead, corporate profits -- prerequisites for job-creating investments -- were excessively drained into labor expenses that left many workers priced out of the market.<o:p></o:p></p> <p>In a 2004 paper, Harold L. Cole of UCLA and Lee E. Ohanian of UCLA and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis argued that the Depression would have ended in 1936, rather than in 1943, were it not for policies that magnified the power of labor and encouraged the cartelization of industries. These policies expressed the New Deal premise that the Depression was caused by excessive competition that first reduced prices and wages, and then employment and consumer demand. In a forthcoming paper, Ohanian argues that "much of the depth of the Depression" is explained by <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Hoover</st1:place></st1:city>'s policy -- a precursor of the New Deal mentality -- of pressuring businesses to keep nominal wages fixed.<o:p></o:p></p> <p>Furthermore, <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Hoover</st1:place></st1:city>'s 1932 increase in the top income tax rate, from 25 percent to 63 percent, was unhelpful. And FDR's hyperkinetic New Deal created uncertainties that paralyzed private-sector decisionmaking. Which sounds familiar.<o:p></o:p></p> <p>Bear Stearns? Broker a merger. Lehman Brothers? Death sentence. The $700 billion is for cleaning up toxic assets? Maybe not. Writes Russell Roberts of <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">George</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Mason</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">University</st1:placename></st1:place>:<o:p></o:p></p> <p>"By acting without rhyme or reason, politicians have destroyed the rules of the game. There is no reason to invest, no reason to take risk, no reason to be prudent, no reason to look for buyers if your firm is failing. Everything is up in the air and as a result, the only prudent policy is to wait and see what the government will do next. The frenetic efforts of FDR had the same impact: Net investment was negative through much of the 1930s."<o:p></o:p></p> <p>Barack Obama says the next stimulus should deliver a "jolt." His adviser Austan Goolsbee says it must be big enough to "startle the thing into submission." Their theory is that the crisis is largely psychological, requiring shock treatment. But shocks from government have been plentiful.<o:p></o:p></p> <p>Unfortunately, one thing government can do quickly and efficiently -- distribute checks -- could fail to stimulate because Americans might do with the money what they have been rightly criticized for not doing nearly enough: save it. Because individual consumption is 70 percent of economic activity, <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">St. Augustine</st1:place></st1:city>'s prayer ("Give me chastity and continence, but not yet") is echoed today: Make Americans thrifty, but not now.<o:p></o:p></p> <p>Obama's "rescue plan for the middle class" includes a tax credit for businesses "for each new employee they hire" in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> over the next two years. The assumption is that businesses will create jobs that would not have been created without the subsidy. If so, the subsidy will suffuse the economy with inefficiencies -- labor costs not justified by value added.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Here we go again? A new New Deal would vindicate pessimists who say that history is not one damn thing after another, it is the same damn thing over and over.<br />____________________________________________________________________</p><h1 style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:100%;">How to have minor parties that are more than spoilers</span></h1> <p class="precede">Reintroduce the concept of fusion, and add a dash or two of instant-runoff voting.</p> <p class="byline"> By DAVID MORRIS </p><div class="sidebar"><div id="featuredCommentBlock" class="featuredCommentSmall"><div class="articlefcRow2"><div class="r2b1"><div id="featuredComment" class="commentRow">Minnesota went from election night to recount watch so quickly that we had little time to reflect on the implications of one of our mostly hotly contested races.</div></div></div></div></div> <!-- End Sidebar --> <div id="pageDiv1" class="articlePageDiv"> <p>In the Sixth Congressional District, Michele Bachmann beat Elwyn Tinklenberg by 2 percent. The Independence Party candidate garnered 10 percent of the vote. That much has been widely reported.</p> <p>Less widely known is that the Independence Party actually endorsed Tinklenberg at its convention. Its members believed that Tinklenberg best represented the party's platform and values. But Minnesota law doesn't permit multiple parties to nominate the same candidate. The Independence Party could be on the ballot only by nominating someone less acceptable than Tinklenberg, a move that effectively defeated its preferred candidate.</p> <p>A little more than a hundred years ago, Minnesota and the rest of the nation allowed third parties to grow without simply being spoilers. The process is called fusion politics. Third parties can ally (fuse) themselves with major parties (or vice versa). But in the 1880s and 1890s third parties like the People's Party and the Populist Party allied with the Democratic Party and won a number of elections. Which led the minority Republican Party, when it controlled state legislatures, to pass laws that banned fusion. One Republican Minnesota legislator was clear about his party's goal: "We don't propose to allow the Democrats to make allies of the Populists, Prohibitionists, or any other party, and get up combination tickets against us. We can whip them single-handed, but don't intend to fight all creation."</p> <p>By 1907, fusion had been banned in 18 states. Today, it is legal in only seven states: Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Mississippi, New York, South Carolina and Vermont.</p><div id="pageDiv2" class="articlePageDiv"> <p>In 1994, it returned to the national spotlight when Andy Dawkins ran unopposed for the Minnesota House of Representatives in the Democratic primary but also accepted the endorsement of the fledgling New Party. Minnesota's secretary of state sued. The New Party argued that Minnesota's ban on fusion voting interfered with its members' constitutional right to free speech. The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed. In 1997, the court ruled upheld Minnesota's right to forcibly maintain its two-party monopoly.</p> <p>The New Party disappeared, but other parties arose and survived in Minnesota. One result is that the winners in statewide and federal elections are elected with fewer than 50 percent of the votes. Since 1994, no gubernatorial candidate has won a majority of the vote. When this year's results are complete, two congressional seats and one Senate seat will have been won by a minority candidate. Except for the unique candidacy of Jesse Ventura, third parties in Minnesota now only play the role of spoilers.</p> <p>While fusion has fallen out of the spotlight, another voting innovation has gained traction: instant-runoff, or ranked-choice, voting. In this process, voters assign a numerical rank to each candidate. After the election the candidate with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated and his or her second-place votes are redistributed. The process continues until only two candidates remain and one is declared the winner by majority vote. Such voting is now in effect in several cities. In 2006, Minneapolis voters overwhelmingly endorsed the process, but a lawsuit may stall its implementation.</p> <p>Instant runoff is an important and useful innovation. Based on the country's limited experience, it changes the tone of campaigns for the better because candidates are angling to be not only the first choice of their backers but also the second choice of someone else's. Wider political diversity should result when voters have second and third choices.</p><div id="pageDiv3" class="articlePageDiv"> <p>Instant runoff and fusion address different ends. Instant runoff focuses on the candidate. Its goal is to ensure that the winner has gained a majority of the votes. Fusion's goal is to build political parties. By allowing minor parties to ally with major parties, it enables them to gain an influence on the major party similar to the influence minor parties exercise in European parliaments where parties that gain more than a certain percentage of the vote earn seats based on the proportion of the vote they win. Political parties are now in disrepute, but they can serve an important and enduring role when they develop a coherent and stable value-based program that offers voters a different framework for policymaking.</p> <p>Instant runoff should be widely implemented. But we should not ignore the benefits that come from having third parties whose members can nominate the candidate who best represents a party's values and, by doing so, can gain a maturity and influence that will never come if they can only play the role of spoiler.</p> <p>David Morris is vice president of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, based in Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.</p> </div> </div> </div>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-31283236051401874322008-11-16T22:26:00.006-06:002008-11-17T22:38:59.503-06:00POTUSYes <a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://daughterb.blogspot.com/">Rachel</a>, I do feel a little like we're living the <a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/arts/television/30wing.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=west+wing&st=nyt&oref=slogin">West Wing</a>. Watching the 60 Minutes interview tonight, I got to thinking how nice it will be to have a president that isn't embarrassing. I also really liked that Michelle Obama kept interrupting him when he trailed off or wasn't getting to the point quickly. I hope she keeps doing that.<br /><br />I am also enjoying all the news stories about normal people transitioning to White House life. It's been awhile since we've had a new president, and even longer since the new president's family were normal-ish people, so perhaps this is standard practice journalism and I just don't remember. For example, I had never given <a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Obama-BlackBerry.html?scp=1&sq=obama+blackberry&st=nyt">this transition issue</a> any thought until now.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SSDyowp9mCI/AAAAAAAAALU/DThtBUsL59M/s1600-h/ww.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 244px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SSDyowp9mCI/AAAAAAAAALU/DThtBUsL59M/s320/ww.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269478346093074466" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(photo courtsey of whitepaper.org.uk)<br /></span></div>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-48352640022577723552008-11-04T22:52:00.003-06:002008-11-04T23:00:59.062-06:00Just to checkSo, just to check if I voted for the right people, I did the <a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/ongoing/select_a_candidate/">Select a Candidate</a> quiz on MPR.org tonight. I'm happy to report I voted for the right candidates for president and U.S. senate. According to MPR, I agreed 100% with my senate choice and about 62% with my presidential choice. If you haven't done it already, it's almost more interesting <span style="font-style: italic;">after </span>you've voted.<br /><br />And yes, I'm totally crying as I watch the speech.abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-6242127435911625472008-11-04T21:42:00.002-06:002008-11-04T23:06:36.028-06:00Did I mention it's a big day?<script src="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://cqueries.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/queries_1.2.xml&synd=open&w=560&h=430&title=Candidate+Queries+Map+from+Google&border=%23ffffff%7C3px%2C1px+solid+%23999999&output=js"></script>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-23415320903315836692008-11-04T21:36:00.003-06:002008-11-04T23:05:50.830-06:00A REALLY big day<script src="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://general-election-2008.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/results-gadget.xml&up_state=us&up_race=President&up_countdown=1&synd=open&w=520&h=380&title=2008+Election+Results+from+Google&lang=all&country=ALL&border=%23ffffff%7C3px%2C1px+solid+%23999999&output=js"></script>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-76398521316456636222008-11-04T21:27:00.004-06:002008-11-05T00:01:53.899-06:00A big day<!-- MPR.org Election Results Module Configuration --><br /><script type="text/javascript"> var display_races="E,P,S,C6,C3,T,N"; var major_parties_only=true; var include_default_stylesheet=true; </script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/2008/campaign/results/widget/results.js"></script>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-19215401048572776832008-10-29T23:24:00.003-05:002008-10-29T23:26:58.312-05:00I did find the random photographer curious at the timeHere I am on the <a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.pizzaluce.com/locations/?loc=seward">Pizza Luce website</a> (you have to watch the slide show for a few minutes)<a href="http://www.pizzaluce.com/locations/?loc=seward"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"></span></a>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-54579470611046472462008-10-27T21:11:00.003-05:002008-10-27T21:17:40.615-05:00How Wars EndPublic Radio International - The World recently aired a series called <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://www.theworld.org/?q=how_wars_end">How Wars End</a> that I think is must-listen radio. The trailer reads:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;" class="featuretext">The war in Iraq has now lasted more than five years. "Tell me how this ends," General David Petraeus said famously early on in the conflict. In her five-part series The World's Jeb Sharp is looking at how wars end. They don't end quite the way we imagine they do. And sometimes they don't end at all. She looks to the past for some clues.<br /><br /></span><span class="featuretext">The five-part series looks at the American Civil War, World War I, the first Gulf War, and the Bosnian conflict, drawing parallels and lessons for our current situation. You can download the audio or look at the transcript with pictures.</span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="featuretext"><br /></span>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-62474487343826766682008-10-26T10:49:00.005-05:002008-10-26T11:46:07.018-05:00Additional thoughtsSo Laura W told me <a href="http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/33243874.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:UthPacyPE7iUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiU"><span style="color:#660000;">the Strib endorsed Coleman</span></a> (<a href="http://www.twincities.com/opinion/ci_10813986"><span style="color:#660000;">so did the PP</span></a> but that's not a surprise)--oh if only I could get the Strib to deliver my Sunday paper to Paul's house instead of mine! But anyway, it prompted me to continue my research on whom to vote for, despite <a href="http://abigailemerson.blogspot.com/2008/10/can-i-abstain.html"><span style="color:#660000;">my despair</span></a> from earlier this week. Some thoughts:<br /><ul><li>I find the Strib's argument about how well Coleman would be positioned to reform the Republican party and advance moderate legislation much more compelling than the Clinton ad about voting for Franken because we need to strengthen the Democratic majority. When we have a Democratic president, the need for a stronger majority diminishes. Judging from our experience here in Minnesota, I think there's real value in having to sell some of the other party's moderate members in order to pass major legislation. Also, Americans typically do not consider a congressional member's seniority enough in their voting decision. For a relatively small state, seniority makes all the difference in getting our issues heard. For example, South Dakotans made a really moronic move in voting Tom Daschle out of office in 2002. Coleman has only one term, but the Strib makes a good point--Republicans are retiring in droves and when McCain is defeated the party will hopefully be looking to its more moderate members to help rebuild.</li></ul><p></p><ul><li>Comparing the "issues" sections of the Coleman and Franken websites, I think Coleman gets the edge. I feel like I agree with more of Franken's positions but don't agree with him on the issues that are most important to me: health care reform and balancing the federal budget. Former Sen. Dave Durenberger has endorsed Coleman's position on health care which is a big deal because Durenberger is one of the foremost voices on reasonable health care reform. Coleman also supports "pay go" which is getting rare among Republicans since it was tainted by Democrats during the Clinton administration--but this is really the only way we're going to balance the budget. I know a big economic crisis isn't the time to decrease federal government spending and all that blah blah but I'm not too keen on current retirees and near-retirees rebuilding their nest eggs by borrowing against mine. But then he did vote for the bailout, which Franken opposed. So I just don't know.</li></ul><p></p><ul><li>But then there's gay marriage. Coleman opposes legalizing gay marriage or civil unions. That's just dumb. But given the composition of Congress and a Democratic president with a lot of other things on his first 100 days agenda, plus the economic and health care crises, it's unlikely the federal government will be doing much on gay rights during the next 6 years.</li></ul><p></p><ul><li>Coleman is well-known for questionable morality and putting a pretty face on a troubled family life. I'm not a big "morals" voter so this isn't a huge issue for me, but it's disturbing when people run the shiny-happy family campaign ads when the entire world knows that's crap. I do believe the big blow ups about his apartment and clothes are really much ado about nothing--but still, stuff like this comes up about him all the darn time. Oh, but I thought he had a good response when his dad got caught doin' it with a lady of questionable morals in the Savoy's parking lot.</li></ul><p></p><ul><li>Coleman supported the invasion of Iraq and has been generally supportive of Pres. Bush's policies regarding the war. Can possible future good deeds outweigh this colossal mistake? I'm leaning towards no.</li></ul><br />Sigh, any one else have helpful thoughts?abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-84669746963970132602008-10-23T22:01:00.005-05:002008-10-23T22:04:38.554-05:00Way to go "Have You Heard" blurb guy (or gal) at the Strib!<span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Parents in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania are returning Fisher-Price's "Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo" doll claiming that it mumbles, "Satan is king," and "Islam is the light."</span>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-29720975088913757002008-10-23T21:31:00.004-05:002008-10-23T22:05:16.110-05:00Can I abstain?I sincerely believe in the value of voting. Taking a stand, making a choice, representative democracy and all that. But I'm sitting here watching a recent debate with the Minnesota candidates for the U.S. Senate and I just don't want to vote for any of them.<br /><br />I know this sounds terrible, but I honestly think I'm more qualified than all of them. That's not a good sign. And Norm Coleman is the only one of them that sounds like he has a brain on his shoulders. That's a really bad sign.<br /><br />So if you want to feel my pain, there's a <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://www.mncampaignreport.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=CA2A79B4A30DA2636401C73E3DEBB5C2?diaryId=1935">great website</a> that breaks down the debate by question (so you can skip over the questions that don't interest you much and fast forward through the candidates you find annoying).<br /><br />If anyone has compelling reasons to vote for any of the candidates feel free to share--I need some help here. So far the only one who has made a good pitch to me is the new Hillary Clinton TV ad in favor of Al Franken. It was such a clear textbook appeal to independents. They must be really worried about the Barkley factor.abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-26216951574868208942008-10-12T20:33:00.004-05:002008-10-12T21:34:13.422-05:00Yes, I'm still aliveThe Strib managed to put together a decent opinion section this week, despite the fact they're hemmorhaging staff. I particularly liked this <a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/30810334.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:U0ckkD:aEyKUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiU">commentary</a> on ingenuity and hope. And then Sack's gem:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SPKmILagGzI/AAAAAAAAALM/TNU0gxKq1QA/s1600-h/sack.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SPKmILagGzI/AAAAAAAAALM/TNU0gxKq1QA/s400/sack.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256446374527900466" border="0" /></a>Uh, yes. It turns out smear tactics work really well with Republican audiences and not so well with Democratic ones. That's why many Republicans think Obama is a terrorist while many Democrats think McCain is a decent, heroic guy who wouldn't make nearly as good a president in terms of decision-making and policy knowledge/beliefs. Is it just me or do Republicans mostly smear with untruths and Democrats mostly smear with truths (the U.S. Senate race in MN excepted because it should be excepted from all lists)?<br /><br />This <a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/30810329.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:U0ckkD:aEyKUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU">commentary</a> on teen pregnancy was interesting also. Just this week one of the budget ladies was lamenting how crazily Puritanical we are in the U.S. It appears this lady agrees.<br /><br />Oh, and in case anyone was wondering: I don't feel bad for the NE Patriots at all. But I am excited for the new Bond movie!abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-787755107106253522008-09-17T22:49:00.002-05:002008-09-17T22:52:14.788-05:00Because otherwise I'll forgetHere's my official post to track my <a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 0, 0);" href="http://thesavvymom.blogspot.com/2008/09/ab-contest-partners-here-we-go.html">ab contest</a> work.abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-18952059479302767532008-08-28T00:02:00.004-05:002008-08-28T00:09:48.984-05:00Baseball can be fun......if you sit extremely close in the most incredible ballpark. Note: these conditions can be difficult to achieve.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SLYx9tu9l0I/AAAAAAAAAK0/1kvWM9A0kiM/s1600-h/san+diego+2008+006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SLYx9tu9l0I/AAAAAAAAAK0/1kvWM9A0kiM/s320/san+diego+2008+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239430152810501954" border="0" /></a><br />The fam: unphotogenic<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SLYybeBUmuI/AAAAAAAAAK8/7rgtSDHpKdI/s1600-h/san+diego+2008+015.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SLYybeBUmuI/AAAAAAAAAK8/7rgtSDHpKdI/s320/san+diego+2008+015.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239430663988615906" border="0" /></a>Ballpark: built to encompass historic buildings and cheap lawn seating<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SLYyymVyRGI/AAAAAAAAALE/lXJNhIqlws8/s1600-h/san+diego+2008+012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SLYyymVyRGI/AAAAAAAAALE/lXJNhIqlws8/s320/san+diego+2008+012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239431061358920802" border="0" /></a><br />Our seats/my boys<br /></div>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-39539279123029358242008-08-27T23:49:00.007-05:002008-08-28T00:01:33.150-05:00Brother in habitatExhibit A: Brother using specialized gaming computer as television (with Bose wireless headphones) - wise older sister noted the fantastic emailing speed possible with fancy gaming computer<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SLYvRM3upzI/AAAAAAAAAKU/u6Pe6qBoP04/s1600-h/san+diego+2008+003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SLYvRM3upzI/AAAAAAAAAKU/u6Pe6qBoP04/s320/san+diego+2008+003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239427189051402034" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Exhibit B: Brother using digital cable/DVR-enabled TV exclusively for video game play (with secondary pair of Bose wireless headphones) - prior to traumatic death of Xbox 360 and subsequent replacement by the manufacturer after grueling 3 week wait<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SLYvhm6HXjI/AAAAAAAAAKc/CckROJ-cT1g/s1600-h/san+diego+2008+002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SLYvhm6HXjI/AAAAAAAAAKc/CckROJ-cT1g/s320/san+diego+2008+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239427470918639154" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Exhibit C: Brother rapidly consuming massive plate of fried potatoes, fatty meat, and dairy products<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SLYw6RYnjpI/AAAAAAAAAKs/hHsm8VUtbJU/s1600-h/san+diego+2008+025.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uYDseIddufg/SLYw6RYnjpI/AAAAAAAAAKs/hHsm8VUtbJU/s320/san+diego+2008+025.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239428994149355154" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Alternate title: Brother looking like teenager</span>abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-86331668008910948182008-08-19T23:04:00.007-05:002008-08-19T23:29:29.934-05:00What's with......all the shrink-wrapped vegetables at SuperTarget? Okay, maybe to hold the bell peppers on the foam tray and to keep the avocados from getting bruised. But today they had a huge bin of individually shrink-wrapped russet potatoes. You know, the big dirt-covered starch balls that can be used to bludgeon someone to death when swung in a sock. Does the shrink-wrap keep them authentically dirty?<br /><br />...the busty, bikini-babe half-time show during the women's beach volleyball semifinal? Paul tells me they've had these bikini dances the whole time, but that was certainly the first one I caught a glimpse of.<br /><br />...pole vaulting. Enough said. Oh, and trampoline. Enough, enough said.<br /><br />FYI - I totally cried when they showed Shawn Johnson's parents tonight. Even though dumb MPR ruined the surprise for me this morning. Go USA gymnastics. I was truly proud to be an American tonight.abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4955985024509953247.post-76851906819975064842008-08-15T18:46:00.003-05:002008-08-15T18:50:04.900-05:00In the Loop - The WeekI like <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/programs/in_the_loop/"><span style="color:#660000;">this show</span></a> on MPR. <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/programs/in_the_loop/archive/2008/08/15/index.shtml"><span style="color:#660000;">Today</span></a> was especially good. (From the link you can download a podcast or listen online.)<br /><br />You all will enjoy the poem about the Olympics about half way through and must listen to the song about the Georgia-Russia conflict right at the end of the show (so you don't have to listen to the whole thing, just scroll to the end).abigail emersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12423906988728199829noreply@blogger.com0