Ad spending for election here in MN

Some of the TV stations are not releasing independent expenditure buys related to state races, including the governor's race, saying they are not required to do so under state and federal laws.
... therefore it's
1) a wonder the law has actually lasted
2) obvious the law will be repealed ASAP


Based upon the information contained therein about candidate spending,

1) the GOP will do anything legally possible to win the governor's race because they'll be horribly embarrassed if they out-spent Dayton more than 2:1, but still lost
Emmer(R): $1,713,780
Dayton(D): $ 889,330

2) the GOP voters apparently charge more, but the DFL votes are worth more
Emmer(R): 1,713,780 / 910,382 = 1.89 $/vote = 0.53 vote/dollar
Dayton(D): $ 889,330 / 919,238 = 0.97 $/vote = 1.03 vote/dollar

3) you can't win a state-wide seat on a shoe-string budget.
Governor: Hakeem = 6,187 votes (0.3%)
Auditor: Young = 54,152 votes (2.7%)
Admittedly, this might be interpreted as personally knowing me guarantees you can't win state office.
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civic duty

I just helped someone find their local polling place. Beyond doing my civic responsibility, I've helped someone do theirs. yea.

I'm waiting to go vote until after school, so that I can go with Jr. Gopher#1.
Get 'em young - train 'em right.

So far, I'm planning to vote for people from 3 different parties; can't find any worthwhile GOP candidates this time.

never voted - yet

There was a fellow sitting across the table from me @ May Day a few days ago. His companion had asked where he was from, as he had an odd accent. Their discussion verged into his impending U.S. citizenship.

He is from South Africa, sort of. Born in the UK, he was an English citizen, but promptly left. Growning up and spending most of the first half of his life in South Africa, he never voted. "There was not point." he said. He never bothered to for 2 years back in the UK. He's lived here for 20 years. He can't vote here. In fact,

He's never voted.

Never.

There was a tone of amazement and eagerness in his anticipation of elections in November.

The first time I voted was in 1984. Walter Mondale & Geraldine Ferraro and John Rockefeller were on the ticket. The last time I voted was in April at the nominating convention for the Green party. I wish more American citizens would look at the opportunity to vote with the same awe.
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Scary hairdos in the Reichstag on Election Day

Our political ally and cultural partner, the Federal Republic of Germany, is holding elections today for President.
BTW: the new president is Christian Wulff. Merkel looks relieved.





In order to promote and facilitate marital harmony, I recommend Mr.Gopher not read this if he's already in a bad mood. I would write this about anyone, not just Germans.
In fact, you probably shouldn't read this at all.










Really, sweetie, I'm sure you'll be offended on general principles.



























Has someone told this poor woman that blue eye shadow went out in 1963? Unless you're Dolly Parton.

















If Ms. Luc Joachimsen assumed office of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, it would be sociologically notable that a woman held office as the official mascot of the BRD. yup, Mr Gopher, that's fairly derogatory of the office. If we had one, I'd make fun of ours, too. In fact, if we have one and I haven't noticed because I'm American, please let me know so that I can do so. However, I don't particularly care if yet another 60-year old white man holds office, either. Now, tell me you elected a Turk of any age or sex, and I'll seriously think Germany has changed its social opinions.

Sure, but can you really see that hairdo standing next to Chancellor Merkel's?








I realize you can't control what your physical features look like ... but seriously, your hair-do is the singular aspect of your appearance over which you have almost total control.




Please note I didn't use Ms. Merkel's photo from Wikipedia or any other relatively 'official' source, just to be fair. These were taken on the same day in the same location, probably by the same person, credits weren't given. I also didn't use the scariest one of Ms. Joachimsen. I assume someone showing up for such a major event in the Reichstag** would be an more representative image, rather than air-brushed political propaganda. I still assume that one would make a point - on an election day?! - of looking one's best.

Despite the dearth of public restrooms in Germany, I'm sure the Reichstag has one. And a mirror.

In a short search, I looked for the least appealing hair-do photo I could of the current Chancellor:
wow - maybe its a wig. It never changes. I found some pretty unflattering pictures of her, but not her hair. Now, I think I'd have a pretty dazed look if Putin was talking to me. I'd be wondering where they planted the bugs in my hotel room. Or when he was going to change his middle name to Josef.
















Admittedly, I was surprised to find a Merkel Barbie:
"The flattering interpretation of the 54-year-old German leader..." flattering? What person in their right mind would even think this is Ms. Merkel?















I noticed that the majority of the political cartoon-caricatures of Chancellor Angela Merkel look like Secretary Hilary Clinton. Maybe they share a hair dresser?
The website actually has a clown-caricature of Clinton, too. And Cheney. etc.

If you had asked me who this was ... my first guess would have been Clinton.


















**There's a really cool picture of the interior of the Reichstag taken today. I've only seen the interior from the glass cupola on top.


















which is a distinct improvement of 1934:


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Our Forefathers

You don't need to be a member of any specific political party to realize that our government is and has been for some time spending money just they way that the voters have been letting them.

It is our duty as Citizens to tell our representative what we want.

As Citizens, it is our civic duty to vote them out of office if they don't do it!

Our civic duty demands we risk of voting for what we want, rather than for a label. Too many people vote for a party rather than the candidate.

The Two Party system has the average person over a barrel. We fear voting for something else, which results in our representatives not bothering to vote Our Way. They don't need to! They realize that, once in office, they need never fear their own party ousting them.

If you’re dissatisfied with the current representation, find someone else to put on the ballot. Protesting in the streets is only as effective as its 30-sec sound bite before the sports & weather. Hit the streets and work for it.

Your voice only truly works at the ballot box. This is the ultimate place where you have the power to negate all of the obscene electioneering money.

It is our Civic Duty to be include the rest of America in our political decisions. Ourselves and our children. On Independence Day, we reverently read: “... Our forefathers brought forth onto this continent ...”

Each political decision should consider: "What kind of forefathers will this make us?"

veni, vedi, ... suffragi

I came, I saw, I voted.

Today was caucus night here in Minnesota. The Republican, DFL, Independence & Green parties all met across the state. My new year's resolution was to get more politically active. So, I headed out to caucus.

I figured the Cataclysmic End of the World would occur if I attended the Republican caucus. The Minnesota DFL (a.k.a. Democrats) just isn't doing it for me these days. So, between the other 2 parties, the closest one was at the library. The Hosmer Library is down the street from our house, at 4th & 36th, we're at 16th & 36th. So ... off I went to the Green Party caucus.

Yes, I only went after looking at their party platforms. Yes, they're (9/10) okay with me, as far as policy statements go. That is the policy positions I agree with, not their execution ... which is where I anticipate diverging from the majority.

e.g. suggestion @ the caucus to have a position on supporting the RNC 8 and eliminating the state's PATRIOT-ACT imitation. This is the only point I spoke up about - the two should be separated. I'm all for eliminating the law in question; I'm not so hot on the overly-general-vague statement about the RNC 8. Separate the two. The party went with my recommendation, which was nice.

I didn't participate in the discussion about which person should get the Green endorsement for the gubenatorial race, since the Greens aren't putting forward their own candidate. I have no idea who the two people in question were anyway. When the discussion got around to party platforms and positions ... well, now there I have opinions.

I had to come home and confront Mr.Gopher. "Hi, honey, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to be out of town on May 1st. I volunteered to be a delegate to the Minnesota Green Party Convention." This is Mr. CDU Gopher (read: one of the more conservative parties in Germany, that of course, being "conservative" in a more rational sense than the Dorks here use).

I figured the Green Party would benefit from my participation and lobbying for economic reform and non-environmental positions. I might as well put the gregarious side of my personality to use for the benefit of Mankind. Well, at least the benefit of a few people here in Minnesota.

I'll have to put a more in-depth post about the ins & outs of a political convention in May.

My new year's resolution was, after all, to be more politically active.

New Party

Farmer Dick & I were chatting @ May Day. I am considering campaigning for someone this Summer, if I could only figure out who deserves my help. He is considering getting a political party that could combine the Greens and other Libertarian-minded folks. This boggles the mind. Upon consideration, I suggested a name would appeal to younger voters. And, he could always call it something else. My suggestion was the Where's The Freedom Party. a.k.a. WTF Party

Who's who

In English - an explanation of who's who in the new Germany government.

Hey You! Election Day is Tuesday!!!

While not as immediately apparent in its importance as, say, last November, you

NEED TO GO VOTE!

Election Day here in Minneapolis is critical for two big reasons:

• The City Council is trying an end-run to consolidate power by eliminating the Park & Rec Board. Vote NO.
• The City Citizens will be able to use the Ranked-Choice (or Instant Run Off) Voting for the first time.

GO VOTE!

This method of voting requires a hand-count.

The fact there are no electronic machines involved means the election results won't be in until December. However, unlike the last election to-do here, this won't involve million-dollar law suits.

VOTE!

Here are video explanations of it from MPR. It's brilliant. Voting with Post-Its. Really good visualization.

If only one person gets to win: the Mayor



If more than one person can win: City Council


YOU STILL NEED TO GO VOTE!

If you're confused about how to vote, post your question here & I'll answer it. As long as it is before 10 p.m. Monday night. My civic duty doesn't superceede getting a good night sleep on this topic.

Franken v. Coleman

No matter what the talking heads here say about the Senate race for Minnesota ... You'll never convince me that very many people here actually care about our election results.
(Depending on which report you hear, the size of the rally in Tehran ranges from "lots" to "more than the entire population of the City of Minneapolis".)

Whimsey of my life

Sex, Lies & Tee-times
The court also determined the $35,000 was a reasonable sanction when Ali Dunham was told that her golf schedule was not a factor to be considered in scheduling her deposition in the case, but she "disregarded that directive by deliberately choosing to play golf at the time of her deposition," the court said. "She then lied to the court about her reason for failing to attend her deposition, lied repeatedly under oath when presented with the true facts about her whereabouts at the time of her deposition, and now refers to her lies as a mere failure to 'volunteer' information." The court said Audian Dunham then lied to corroborate his wife's story.

Industrial ventilation design:
what exactly is a degree-day?

Do you want to rent space at the Mpls city public gardening area?
I have such a brown thumb. I've never been able to grow anything. I managed to keep a couple cacti alive at BioPort for 6 years. Then it died, too.

2 cents
Advice from one lawyer to his son, who was contemplating doing something socially rude:
"You're going to run into everybody again. They may not remember that you're a nice guy, but they'll certainly remember you're a jerk."

The Cup
So, I’m checking the NHL stats. I haven’t looked in the past two weeks. I can’t really watch the games, unless Yahoo is showing them on line, and that’s usually in conflict with the rest of my life. It’s in the final stretch. Boston, Washington, New Jersey, San Jose, Detroit, and Vancouver are at the top of the two conferences. No need to wonder who I want to win. Who do I think will? Well, Boston has been fantastic, and fantastically consistent. Detroit has, on more than once occasion in the past 20 years, fallen on their faces in the first round. Of course, they’ve also won 4 times in the past 12 seasons. Ultimately, I really want to be able to watch fantastic hockey. This is quite apparently not occurring today, with Columbus being pounded like a baby seal. “Columbus has an all-time record of 247-328-43. Detroit, meanwhile, is 288-254-1 ... but that’s just in playoff games.”

How many U.S. Senators are there? 100? No! There are only 99.
Minnesota can't seem to figure out how to make political assassinations feasible, and then take out the loser (in more than one sense) who's holding up our right to representation. Our senator has - like many in the country - been doing two people's work without adequate resources.

... hmm... maybe this might keep them in touch with the reality of the Modern Workforce? ... given their guaranteed unrelated to performance "pension", I doubt it ...

[Sen. Klobuchar] noted that she had originally predicted that the Senate race would be resolved by the time ice-out was officially declared for Lake Minnetonka -- which occurred last week on the same day as the ruling of the judges.

"Now I predict this will be done when Minnesotans are allowed to swim in our lakes, which is Memorial weekend," she said Sunday.- Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Seriously, what will it take to make the GOP satisfied? If the only answers is “I win”, they sound like my 4 year old. You lost, Norm, get over it and go find a job. Not that you actually need one, with your senatorial retirement benefits.

will it never end ?!?!

It's up to the panel to decide whether the Coleman side has proven its claims, and how many of the rejected ballots should be counted.

Democrat Al Franken's attorneys begin presenting their case tomorrow and have about 800 of their own ballots to introduce. It's expected Franken's case could take two to three weeks.

To Whom It May Concern:

How many Senators does the United States currently have? 50? You'd hope so, but no.

Luckily for New York, they got one on Friday. So, we're up to 48.
Delaware didn't wait that long, and replaced Biden promptly. 49 ...

Minnesota can't figure out what the hell it's doing. We not only don't have a Senator, we are expecting to wait a few more weeks, if not a couple more months before discovering who's getting the other chair in the Capitol. I wish our state's constitution allowed for the Gov. to appoint a temporary person. Maybe Franken & Coleman can take turns voting? Maybe T-Paw can just shake a Magic 8 ball?

The Ghost of Inaugurations Past

Inauguration is always in January, in the midst of the heart of Winter. Is this a method to ensure the true enthusiasm to view the peaceful transition of power?

I was in D.C. for Regan’s 2nd Inauguration, a remarkable visit. The West Virginia University Mountaineer Marching Band arrived as the state’s representative for the parade. We got permission to miss the first day of classes, hopped on 8 charter buses, and headed for the 4-ish hour trip from Morgantown to the nation’s capitol. We (all 300 of us) thought it was pretty cool to get invited for such an event, regardless of our political opinions. ’84 was the first time I had voted (even if it wasn’t for him).

We got into town, settled in and got the news that the parade was canceled. Damn! We were told the Wind Chill down Pennsylvania Avenue was 45 below zero. West Virginia does get Winter, but it definitely does not get Minnesota weather; no one would have even had warm enough longjohns for that long of a stint outdoors in those temperatures.

We watched the evening news, thinking “well, at least we’ll get to see a bit of the city.” We then heard it was so cold back in Morgantown that classes were cancelled. This gave us a good laugh at our fellow musicians who refused to miss one day of classes, who should have hollered “carpe diem!” and come with us.

The story ‘parade canceled’ hit the news. The scene switched to a gymnasium full of a high school band from Iowa (or Idaho?) in tears. These kids were absolutely, totally devastated. A few girls were sobbing in each other’s arms. Our initial thoughts were “give me a break, it’s not that bad!”

The journalist went on ... these kids were from a small high school, had gone through cut-throat competition to be selected, had spent several years worth of efforts with bake sales, band boosters, and events scrimping up money to go. They were sleeping in a gym; lord alone knows where they’d been sleeping en route. They had sat ~ holy god have mercy ~ on yellow school buses for three days just to get to Washington. To be told “sorry, we don’t need you, you can go home now”.

We looked at each other rather shame-faced, looking around our warm hotel rooms, clearly remembering the charter buses we’d ridden, all of which was paid for by the University’s Band budget invited because one of the Inauguration Committee members was a WVU fan. We felt so sorry for those kids.

Later in the evening, our director sent out a call for opinions: the committee was going to invite a few of the bands to perform indoors for the President, would we want to do so? Without hesitation, everyone I was close to said, “Hell, no!” We all emphatically recommended they track down the kids from the news and make sure they got to play.

One Inauguration Day, we took the now-free time, sent the buses around to a few different sites, did a little sight-seeing, and then headed back to Morgantown. It was so cold, the shutter mechanism in my old Canon FTb kept freezing shut; I got great pictures of Arlington National Cemetery. I never knew if those poor kids from the Midwest got to play for the President or not.

I hope so.

Inadvertent humor

photo at story: people turning out in droves to watch the Inauguration. Specifically, at the Riverview Theater. The marquee reads in photo:

Pres Inauguration
Let the Right On

The theater is showing a Swedish vampire movie - if you go there, it will read:

Pres Inauguration
Let The Right One In


Fill in the quotation contest:
... you're not president anymore. The door of the helicopter closes and it's just you and your spouse. You turn to her and say........

Senator seniority

It's a race, whether Illinois or Minnesota will seat their senators first.

Illinois has the Sergeant of Arms announcing that he will refuse to admit the Illinois offering.

The Republicans have announced they will filibuster Minnesota sending the man who has been certified by the Canvassing Board, but who has not yet been confirmed by their [our] Sec. of State & Governor, a step required before the U.S. Senate has any standing to be involved. Wow, this is far more interesting than Mr. Stakowski's civics class in 7th Grade ever was.

So ... both states only have one serving senator at the moment. Rather impacts the balance of powers. Especially since the Minn. Governor is a Republican and the Ill. Governor is under indictment.

Political Lie d'Jour:
Burris himself downplayed the issue of race, telling reporters: "I cannot control my supporters. I have never in my life, in all my years of being elected to office, thought anything about race." WTF? Any rational, non-brain-dead person is supposed to believe a man who served in the 1960s has never thought about race? What a goddamned piss-poor liar. If the folks from Illinois believe this, they only deserve one senator, since they only have one half of a brain.

Update: Minnesota lost the race

BYO...?

Prohibited items (to inauguration 1/20) include, but are not limited to:

Firearms and ammunition (either real or simulated)
Explosives of any kind (including fireworks)
Knives, blades, or sharp objects (of any length)
Mace and/or pepper spray
Sticks or poles
Pocket or hand tools, such as "Leatherman"
Packages
Backpacks
Large bags
Alcoholic Beverages
Signs *
Animals (other than service animals)
Camera bags
Duffel bags
Posters
Tripods
Laser pointers
Umbrellas
Strollers
Coolers
Thermoses
Suitcases
Other items that may pose a threat to the security of the event as determined by and at the discretion of the security screeners**

* sure as hell wouldn't want to actually allow the tranquil stage managing of patriotic unity and racial acceptance to be marred by an 8" x 11" sign stating "President Osama Saddam" or "I Love Obama".

** this would include babies packed into baby-carrier-units such as Baby Bjorn. God alone knows what you could pack into those things besides wet diapers.

The man behind the scenes

well, if you're not from Minnesota, this probably is irrelevant to you ... but the on-going fascination with the state's senatorial recount is finally dying. No doubt due to the fact that Election Day was 5 weeks ago.

Yesterday, Sec. State Mark Ritchie was on MPR's Midday. The program was a discussion on the state's history with prior recounts. Which, unbeknownst to me, occur fairly routinely - just for less notable offices. Does anyone really care who won the County Commissioner election for Kandiyohi County?

Ritchie's speech/commentary was fascinating. As was the blatantly obvious passion & frustration in his voice. I could see him shaking, vibrating with barely restrained rage, while discussing some of the stupidity currently masquerading as political objectivity. He also included some suggestions for improving voting rules. Fascinating. I didn't vote for him, but I probably will, if he runs again.

still not Florida

St. Paul, Minn. — Recount officials in Ramsey County found about 200 ballots today that weren't counted on election night.

as of 12/1, 8:02 p.m. Franken is ahead by 4,108. As impressive as this sounds, Coleman was ahead by more than 1,000 on the last day's count. And, of course in the stupidity of politics, Coleman's campaign has been much louder about how many ballots Franken is challenging. The total of "challenged" ballots is up to 5,943 . 2/3 of which are from Coleman.

The Secretary of State has released images of 1,000 of them, which range from WTF (voter)? to WTF (counter)? i.e., Why can't they read the damn directions? to How could anyone possibly doubt what the voter meant?

The last Monster Recount held here was in 1962, inspiring a ditty to the tune of I'm Looking Over a 4 Leaf Clover, which included:
What causes these switches is sons of bitches,
Who can't hardly count to ten.
So, we're counting over the votes from Dover,
And counting them once again.

revised: 12/2 8:02 p.m. vote count: Franken up by 2,535 , challenged ballots over 6,000 Sec. State asking candidates to cut the crap. Gelbmann says previous canvassing boards have average three minutes a ballot. At that rate, even if they worked nonstop, eight hours a day, it would take more than a month to analyze 6,000 ballots.

Holy Senatorial Cow

Wow. I am truly dumbfounded. The U.S. Senate may wind up deciding who wins our senate seat. A summary of what the Senate is allowed to do is here.

Basically, the Senate is the final arbiter of who gets to join their club. Normally, this is simply accepting the results of the state's election. But it doesn't have to be. Smith said the Senate last weighed in on a serious election contest in 1974. So, despite all the hanky-panky here with "objected" ballots, or who's counting what ... Coleman & Franken can get their other club members to weigh in. Considering that Sen. Reid is already opining on our election, it seems to be a much more interesting Constitutional issue than Florida.

According to Smith the Constitution allows the Senate to be the final arbiter of its membership. Smith said the Senate does so by determining the qualifications of each member. On most occasions, Smith said the Senate simply accepts a state's election certificate, but it has diverted course a few times.

"There is a motion under Senate rules and precedents that allows any Senator to make a motion to refer the credentials to a committee, presumably the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, which has jurisdiction over election matters, in order to delay action on it," explained Smith.

In 1974: The contest involved a dispute between two New Hampshire candidates. After several recounts, the Senate moved to seat the Democrat. The motion was brushed back several times by Republicans who filibustered the issue. After months of wrangling, the Senate declared the seat vacant and ordered another election, which the Democrat won. Wow.

Sure, the senate probably won't get involved. But, wow ... how badly do they want it? and are they willing to set enough prescedent to screw themselves with the next election?