HometownSource Blogs

Here’s an insightful little farm subsidy map-mashup, passed along from National Review. I certainly hope they’re rotating those crops and sparing the top soil.

Here’s what Idaho Senator Larry Craig had to say about Bill Clinton in 1998:

..I will tell you that the Senate certainly can bring about a censure resolution and it’s a slap on the wrist. It’s a, bad boy, Bill Clinton. You’re a naughty boy. The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy, a naughty boy.

I’m going to speak out for the citizens of my state, who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy.

In retrospect, Craig’s comments were apparently meant as a compliment, perhaps even an overture of sorts.

It remains to be seen if Craig will weather the MSP-airport incident with his job intact. At the very least, his future in Mitt Romney’s Cabinet is extinguished. Already, Craig has been pushed out of some committee leadership positions, including his ironic top party roles on committees handling the Interior, energy and natural resources. Why ironic? The League of Conservation Voters commonly grants Craig of score of 0% on its session report cards. As a Senator, Craig embraces every land-pilfering, toxin-spewing, polluter-subsidy bill with his now-patented “wide stance.”

Since we’re talking scorecards, Craig’s 2004 rating from the conservative Christian Coalition: 100%. Hey, looks like fellow GOP Senator David Vitter scored 100% from America’s Leading Grassroots Organization Defending Our Godly Heritage, as well. Nothing consists like consistency.

Another year, another study used to make conservatives look stupid and progressives super smart. Here’s the President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers insulting half her consumer base:

Liberals read more books than conservatives. The head of the book publishing industry’s trade group says she knows why—and there’s little flattering about conservative readers in her explanation.”The Karl Roves of the world have built a generation that just wants a couple slogans: ‘No, don’t raise my taxes, no new taxes,’” Pat Schroeder, president of the American Association of Publishers, said in a recent interview. “It’s pretty hard to write a book saying, ‘No new taxes, no new taxes, no new taxes’ on every page.”

Aargh. Me like book with pictures. No like big words.

Progressives, on the other hand, can’t get enough knowledge: Read more »

Tim Blair reports on scientific data that doesn’t fit the global climate warming change consensus.

First, oceans are not cooperating:

A major ocean-circulation pattern that plays a crucial role in global warming might not have been slowing down over the past few decades as scientists believed, according to a study released this week.

In a single year of measurements, scientists found enough normal variation in the pattern’s flow to suggest that previous studies were premature in asserting a long-term trend.

Second, climate itself is not playing ball:

New research from Stephen Schwartz of Brookhaven National Lab concludes that the Earth’s climate is only about one-third as sensitive to carbon dioxide as the IPCC assumes.

This means the Live Earth concert was only a third as destructive to the environment as previously thought, paving the way for more awareness raising! On the other hand, if this keeps up there will be no way to convince people to pose naked on glaciers. Assuming, of course, they need a reason.

A federal judge ruled this week that reporters must reveal anonymous sources related to the anthrax attack of 2001.

Naturally, major media is fighting the ruling, which is ironic when one considers it is major media itself that caused this clash in the first place. Indeed, while some argued it was causing irrevocable damage to journalists ability to do their job, it was full speed ahead as major media played cheerleader, and co-conspirator, while special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald bullied sources out of reporters in the Rove/Plame affair.

Now, the genie is out of the bottle and anonymous sources may soon become a thing of the past. Sources once willing to talk no longer have the expected protection, and it could soon be all but impossible for journalists to do good work without fear of subpeona. Read more »

During my newspapering career which spans over 40 years, I have had the most treasured memories with my relationships developed with people, whether they be people I covered, or people who were my colleagues.

Two people I remember well are Jim and Jeanne Broede of Forest Lake. Jim was former news editor of the Forest Lake Times, a position I accepted in 1970. He then went to the St. Paul Pioneer Press and worked as an East Area reporter. We then became competitors to a certain degree, but friendly competitors.

Jim’s wife Jeanne was an employee of the Times and such a sweetheart. She worked in production. She always came into work with a big smile on her face and a little giggle to go with it. Jeanne was loved by everyone at the Times.

Jeanne passed away during the past year after suffering from Alzheimer’s. Jim was a most loving caregiver to her. Many Forest Lake residents saw Jim taking Jeanne on wheelchair rides around the Forest Lake area. She was a resident at the Birchwood Health Care Center.

Jim still loves to write and has penned some of his thoughts about his spousal relationship. Go to Broede’s Broodings.

How many times have we had to listen to the global climate warming change disciples trumpet 1998, with its warm temperatures, as the harbinger of doom for all mankind? Well, not anymore. NASA has corrected itself:

NASA has now silently released corrected figures, and the changes are truly astounding. The warmest year on record is now 1934. 1998 (long trumpeted by the media as record-breaking) moves to second place. 1921 takes third. In fact, 5 of the 10 warmest years on record now all occur before World War II.

You might say that, until today, the 1998 claim was a scientific consensus. Poof. Of course, this will get absolutely no coverage by the mainstream media. It doesn’t fit the meme. Nor does this: Read more »

More great news.

The Pentagon has lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005, according to a new government report, raising fears that some of those weapons have fallen into the hands of insurgents fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.

Hmm, ya THINK?

But give the Pentagon boys some credit. They’ve got a new secret weapon to deliver in Iraq: Stephen Baldwin and his evangelical circus!

On his legislative Web site, Rep. Jeremy Kalin has a response to my column “State’s energy plan will affect economy, but little else.” Although I’ll do my best not to dwell on what is, after all, a minor detail, it’s worth pointing out that he spelled my name wrong. A small thing I know, but also an easy to check thing and a courtesy thing as well.

Kalin opens his column this way:

Post Review columnist Patrick Teeporten and I have had many enjoyable conversations about politics and public policy, even though we rarely agree. Where we do agree is that the best public policies should be guided by facts - not emotion - and by a pragmatic approach rather than strict ideology. This is precisely why his column two weeks ago was so disappointing.

His suggestion, that I am arguing from “emotion” and “strict ideology” is not supported by a single example. Perhaps it’s just me, but it seems that when making such an allegation, it is incumbent upon the author to provide some basis for it. At the very least he could have provided a link to the column, allowing readers to judge for themselves. In fact, my column, itself a pragmatic look at emissions reductions, is as loaded with the numbers as I can make it, none of which are disputed by Kalin. So, he’s not off to a good start.

I wish Mr. Teeporten had cited the sources for his allegations about the causes of global warming. We’ll have to leave that discussion and the overwhelming scientific consensus about global warming and climate change for another day.

There’s that name thing again…but I digress. The fact is that I made no allegations as to the cause of global warming. No suggestion of global warming’s cause appears at any time. What I did do was correctly note that humans only produce around four percent of overall CO2 emissions, or even less. Find a helpful graph here.

In his column, Mr. Teeporten seemed to suggest that only a national effort to tackle energy independence is worth the effort.

Actually, I suggested no such thing. Energy independence is not even mentioned. My column was about the fallacy of reducing emissions by 80 percent without negatively affecting the economy, a completely separate issue. With China’s emissions growing exponentially, and population growth, even a national emission reduction plan is not likely to have any significant affect on overall emissions. Robert Samuelson will back me up on that:

Even if California achieved its 2020 goal (dubious) and the United States followed (more dubious), population and economic growth elsewhere would overwhelm any emission cuts. In 2050, global population is expected to hit 9.4 billion, up about 40 percent from today. At modest growth rates, the world economy will triple by midcentury.

The main point of my column is that Minnesota’s contribution to emissions, and therefore global warming, is all but insignificant. Furthermore, were the state to achieve its completely unrealistic reduction goals, the realized theoretical “cooling” would be all but immeasurable (assuming emissions did not increase elsewhere on the planet). Lastly, the idea of dramatically reducing emissions without negatively affecting an economy is not borne out by the Kyoto Accord, which is the only real life standard we have.

Kalin, while paying some lip service to modest reductions through energy efficiency, does not shed any light on how Minnesota plans to realize an 80 percent reduction in 43 years without negatively affecting the economy. And, while energy efficiency is something to look at in the short term, it does little to meet an ever-growing energy demand. How Minnesota plans to buck the trend established by Kyoto remains a complete mystery.

So, Kalin does not argue that my numbers are wrong or provide any concrete idea how draconian emissions cuts can be accomplished without economic damage, yet is comfortable concluding that I am making an emotional, ideological argument in the face of an overwhelming global warming consensus.

Go figure.

The 2-135 Infantry Battalion is looking for help getting its Minnesota National Guard troops home for five days between training and deployment to Kosovo. They need to raise $34,000 by August 24 to complete this mission (Operation Family Support). If you would like to help, send donations to:

American Legion Post 518
405 3rd Ave S.W.
Mapleton, MN. 56065

Make checks payable to “American Legion Post 518,” and memo - “for 2-135 IN BN”

Found buried in a human interest article in the Star Tribune:

Hoeppner talked to construction workers who survived the fall. They had been doing repair work but expressed concern to him that the bridge had been wobbling several days before it collapsed. Every layer of concrete the workers removed, the bridge would wobble even more, they told Hoeppner.

Perhaps it’s too soon to rule out construction as a significant contributing factor.

Sunday morning I took part in a disc golf tournament at Hyland Lake Park in Bloomington. This was the first time I’ve thrown a frisbee - which is what we called them as kids - in years, and the first time I’ve been on a formal disc golf course since, I don’t know, about 1979.

The event was the 1st Annual Surly Open, and I must admit the allure was more about the culture of Surly, a fast-rising local brewing company, than any repressed need to revisit a sport I hadn’t much thought about in decades. Even so, I was reminded that disc golf is a great way to mow through a few hours, and astonished to learn that disc golf hasn’t merely existed since my teen years, it has thrived, albeit in relative obscurity.

The course at Hyland is a tough one. It shares space with a traditional golf driving range as the summer rec use of Hyland Ski Area. Of the eighteen holes, many are up and down steep slopes, including #14, which is 540 feet nearly straight up, and #18, straight down and 700 feet.

Back in the glorious 70’s we would throw the big traditional dishes from Wham-O, which flew straight and true, at least in my admittedly hazy memory. These days, disc golfers carry a variety of smaller discs with more density and mixed weights, referring to them as putters, drivers, and so forth. I understand that the serious golfers might carry a dozen or more, and the professionals (that’s right, disc golf professionals) will even use caddies. Caddies for frisbees! That is so cool.

Minnesota has its own disc golf association, which I’m glad to see uses the old-school frisbee moniker, and there are nearly 50 courses scattered around the state, At this point, anyone already familiar with all this is saying ‘uh, ya, where has this guy been?’

While the accommodations aren’t quite as cushy as a weekend at Madden’s, disc golf is a cheap date. The “green fee” at Hyland Lake Park was three bucks. I came into the clubhouse with an 18-hole score of 107, about 50 over par. There’s always the Senior Tour, as a goal.

It’s nice to see HB getting in on the action. The great thing about a community blog is the opportunity for a bit of give and take and I was starting to worry he was never going to take the bait. But now that he has, let’s dig right in.

I’m not sure his characterization of very early remarks at Malkin’s site is a “fair barometer for the murky, absurd world that neo-conservatives inhabit these days.” Any time there is an incident of this sort there is bound to be early speculation that terrorism was involved. The last time the subject of terrorism was mentioned by Malkin was an 8:40 p.m. (eastern time) update, less than two hours after the collapse.

Overall there has been little to no speculation from “neo-cons” that the bridge collapse was terrorism. The reaction of conservative sites was to rule it out. Captain’s Quarters didn’t find it a credible explanation. Power Line never mentioned terrorism, nor did Hugh Hewitt, Dan Riehl, the Jawa Report, or Glenn Reynolds. Even Little Green Footballs - some might say the most terrorism paranoid site on the web - said only:

…Homeland Security is on the scene, which is undoubtedly routine. At the moment, there is no sign of sabotage or terrorism; no one has reported any explosions, and it seems to be a massive structural failure.

The Counterterrorismblog never even mentioned the collapse. Neither did Red State, or Jihad Watch.

Given that the above seems a pretty decent collection of “neo-con” blogs, I’m not sure HB’s characterization of one brief mention on Malkin’s blog as a “fair” representation of a “murky, absurd world” is fair.

I wholeheartedly agree, however, that comment sections are often examples of the unhinged lunacy of political ideology. His examples of comments at Malkin’s site are certainly representative of the more, shall we say, paranoid of the right-wing. The right though, certainly doesn’t corner that market.

This comment was left at Daily Kos barely two hours after the collapse was reported. While I’m sure Malkin’s readers are probably convinced at this point that terrorism was not a factor, this poor soul is unlikely to ever stop blaming evil corporations, even though bridge inspection and maintenance is the responsibility of government:

Greed, incompetence and knowing that no matter how much the corporation is fined for shoddy work, or breaking the rules or using cheap material, they make enough profit to say “so what.” Then when the levees give way, the mine collapses on itself, the communication equipment fails, the bridges collapse, we can thank the Regan for his deregulation, and the corporate world for its greed.

This interesting creature thinks Karl Rove reached down and destroyed the bridge. Commence the investigation!:

Rove and Co. should be made to go down and help

Here is one we’re certain to hear more of in coming days. The bridge collapsed because we invaded Iraq:

…we had an extra trillion laying around. President Prissypants used it to inflame the mideast and create a generation of people who want us dead. That money was needed to protect us here at home. It still is.

Note to above commenter: Call Senator Klobuchar’s office, she has a job for you.

The NTSB can go home now. Not two hours after the story was reported, this omniscient person already had the explanation. Global warming did it:

…believe me, this is going to be infrastructure delays + global warming = disaster

A visit from Al Gore could take care of that.

Indeed, comment sections are often a dank mushroom world where toadstools wither in the light of day.

On an unrelated note, this was starting out to be a pretty lousy Saturday. My daughter needed a ride to work early and the family truckster had a dead battery, as in needed to be replaced. The battery in question was buried underneath the wiper fluid reservoir and a steel bar not easily removed (nice design Oldsmobile!). To top it off, it’s about 70 and overcast. Were it not for the chance to spar with HB, I daresay the day would have been a complete waste.

Thanks bud.

Here a few quotes from the Michelle Malkin Web site on the night of our Minneapolis bridge collapse. In summary, this is a pretty fair barometer for the murky, absurd world that neo-conservatives inhabit these days.

First, directly from the precocious Ms. Malkin….

DHS issued a statement that the collapse “does not appear to be an act of terrorism.” Isn’t it too early to say anything meaningful about what it “appears” to be? Couldn’t they maybe, I dunno, say nothing until they actually know something?

Ah yes, the art of Limbaughism - toss out an irresponsible, fully-wacked talking point and then let your audience do the heavy lifting. Classic execution. And the Malkin faithful does not disappoint.

…the DHS could not possibly know if this were terrorism or not, as the bridge could have been tampered with and it will take a long time to determine (not two hours!) what happened.

…it does seems suspicious. Bridges in urban areas are ideal targets for Al Qaeda…

…If jihadists wanted to take down a bridge, they would do it in a lower profile urban area where there would be far less suspicion and security, especially these days with all the security around high profile targets. ….

I’m not saying it is terrorism. But it does give us warning how easy it would be to sabotage a bridge, especially with all the illegal labor used in construction and the free flow that comes across the southern border. If not now, sooner or later, unless we secure our borders.

….It could have been a trial run for all you know….

….So that is ridiculous to for the Department of Homeland Security to already declare that this was not terrorist related. It could very well be sabotage. Minneapolis has a very large and growing Muslim population.

Two things stick out here - one merely annoying, the other pretty sick. First, a handful of Michelle Malkin’s readers appear to have drawn their junior high school diplomas from cereal boxes and then moved on to less arduous endeavors. Second, a lot of Michelle Malkin’s readers are practically begging for another terrorist attack. There is clear disappointment that a bridge might collapse for reasons other than terrorism. Creepy.

In spite of Ms. Malkin’s bumptiousness, some contributors didn’t stay on message,, choosing to boldly strike out in a new direction:

Big government decisions to provide “benefits” to citizens can sometimes leave precious little resources to do the daily work necessary to keep the roads and bridges operable and safe.

So if I’m following here, roads and bridges are not “benefits’ to citizens, and they aren’t Big Government either. Righto.

...We have neglected the national infrastructure to pay welfare benefits. After all, bridges and roads don’t vote, but people do.

This seems a little vague; apparently a suffrage movement for concrete girders might be in the making.

That bridge is very close to where we live. It’s the route we take home from the Home Depot, (at the Quarry in NE for my fellow Minneapolitans/Twin Cities residents.) If you want to bring politics into it, then I guess you could say that since MN is basically a socialist state, this is what you get in a socialist state, people. More focus on giving handouts and painting crappy urban art murals with Che Guevara painted on them, than engineering and infrastructure.

Okay, that’s a little more specific now isn’t it? Freaking nuts, yes, but certainly specific.

Dang Stalinists and their Home Depots.

Despite the obvious fact that there is absolutely no connection between one and the other, Senator Amy Klobuchar can’t seem to resist injecting Iraq into the collapse of the I-35W bridge:

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, suggested Bush administration spending on the Iraq war may have crimped funding for domestic projects such as road and bridge construction, and for such infrastructure projects as new levees for New Orleans.

“We’ve spent $500 billion (250 billion pounds) in Iraq and we have bridges falling down in this country,” Klobuchar told MSNBC. “I see a connection between messed-up priorities.”

But, as Power Line notes, states received a 46 percent increase in federal funding in 2005:

U.S. President George Bush signed a $286.4 billion six-year transportation reauthorization bill Aug. 10, 2005 that covers federal fiscal years 2004-09.

Although the details of the reauthorization package are still being reviewed, Minnesota state and local governments can expect to receive about $3.5 billion in federal transportation funding through 2009, an increase of about 46 percent (or about $1.1 billion) over the previous six-year bill.

Since when is a 46 percent increase considered “crimping?”

Read further into the MNDot press release and you will find that a full 18.5 percent of the increase was earmarked for transit. As noted below, 40 percent of the state’s transportation bill is also dedicated to transit. I submit again that, if there is a problem with road and bridge funding, it is not a matter of too little taxation, but more a matter of priorities.

If we are going to talk about increasing taxes to fix roads, that’s a legitimate issue. But we shouldn’t pretend we haven’t been spending much needed road funds to build the Met Council’s legacy trains, a veritable money pit of both state and federal funds, for the last several years.