Scarlets Take State!

Congrats to the Mankato West Football Team that took the Class 4AAAA State Title up in Minneapolis earlier today!

Go SCARLETS!

Take The Ballot Challenge!

You too, can get in on the wacky fun of the Minnesota Senate Recount:

Take the Star Tribune's Ballot Challenge!

Mumbai Update

A rare bit of holiday blogging on my part, but I thought I'd post an update of the aftermath of the devastating attacks in Mumbai yesterday. This totally escaped my notice, as the Missus and I were traveling yesterday, but 110 people were killed and 300 were injured.

All I can say is that I hope they got those bastards- and we should all say a prayer for the people of Mumbai and count our blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! If you're traveling, drive (or fly) safely and get back safely- and enjoy the food and family!

I'm out until the 2nd.

Impeachment for a Quick Fix?

Column(Drivel) in the Detroit Free Press calls for Pelosi to start impeachment proceedings against Bush and Company 'for economy's sake.'

Um, no. First of all, be patient- Obama, despite being just a President-Elect is moving the markets- they liked his choice of treasury secretary and he probably needs some breathing room to get a plan in place and have it ready to go as soon as his hand's come off the Bible January 20th.

Second of all: really? Still? When are people going to give up the ghost on the whole 'hatred of Bush' thing. It's tiresome and besides, he's just swinging there like a dead hunk of meat. If you must indulge in schadenfreude, then for cryin' out loud, do it quietly.

More Bailouts

Apparently, more bailouts are in the offing. The economy is the leakiest EVER. And Citigroup still has a $400 Million naming rights deal for the Mets new ballpark! STILL! After being BAILED OUT BY THE GOVERNMENT!

Argh. According to NPR this afternoon, the Fed just upped and decided to create the money to pay for the latest infusion into the economy. (The prospect of inflation apparently being an OK risk by them.) Another billion dollar ($800 Billion!) boondoggle that has no impact on people down at this level who are struggling just to get by. No one is bailing out college grads. No one is helping people who are losing their jobs. No one is helping PEOPLE. Oh, I know talking heads will tell you that in the end, it does have a very real effect on Main Street, because if John and Jane Q. Public can't get a loan, they can't get a house, car, etc. But are John and Jane Q. Public going to be trying to get those things if they can barely pay their bills to begin with?

The logic, despite my lack of knowledge about the economy, seems to be a little fuzzy. But who am I to argue- it's just the future of my generation being mortgaged down the river. No biggie.

Heading for a Break-Up?

What a way to start the morning- Via Drudge cheerful predictions from a Russian analyst that the United States is heading for an economic downfall and a total break-up. Into six separate parts!

Asked why he expected the U.S. to break up into separate parts, he said: "A whole range of reasons. Firstly, the financial problems in the U.S. will get worse. Millions of citizens there have lost their savings. Prices and unemployment are on the rise. General Motors and Ford are on the verge of collapse, and this means that whole cities will be left without work. Governors are already insistently demanding money from the federal center. Dissatisfaction is growing, and at the moment it is only being held back by the elections and the hope that Obama can work miracles. But by spring, it will be clear that there are no miracles."

He also cited the "vulnerable political setup", "lack of unified national laws", and "divisions among the elite, which have become clear in these crisis conditions."

He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts - the Pacific coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong.

He even suggested that "we could claim Alaska - it was only granted on lease, after all." Panarin, 60, is a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authored several books on information warfare.

I'm not sure I buy the six parts thesis- or the prediction of a break-up in general. And I don't think 'a growing Chinese population' is what will send the West Coast on it's merry way- I think it's the simple fact that by itself alone, California is (or was) the fifth largest economy in the world, I believe- or some oft-quoted stat like that.

But this guy is all smiley and happy, that's for sure.

Must-Netflix #1

[IMAGINE A FLOSSY YOUTUBE CLIP RIGHT HERE AND THEN GO TO YOUTUBE, SEARCH FOR 'SHAMELESS' AND SEE FOR YOURSELVES. SELF-DISCOVERY AND THE JOYS OF EXPLORATION AWAIT AND ARE BEAUTIFUL THINGS. ENJOY.]


When they were up a couple of weeks back, my parents mentioned a British show they had stumbled across called 'Shameless' and were raving about it, insisting that we should get ahold of it somehow and watch it. I figured it's got to be something fairly special to make both Mom AND Dad insist upon its quality and watchability. I'm still slightly agog at the fact that both of them are newly converted Battlestar Galactica fans.

So I got ahold of it- and the Missus and I have spent the last week or so working our way through the first series and it is as advertised: brilliant and a must see for anyone that just likes damn good television. The story of a dysfunctional family who lives in a Manchester housing estate, Shameless follows the lives of Frank Gallagher (alcoholic), his eldest daughter Fiona (surrogate mother), her brothers Lip (smart-ass) and Ian (in the closet), sister Debbie (kinda strange), little brother Liam (cute), neighbors Veronica and Kevin and Fiona's boyfriend Steve (played by, of all people, James McAvoy- and played very well indeed.)

This is a show that sort of defies conventional description, because it walks an incredibly fine line: the family itself seems crazy dysfunctional and some of the stuff that happens just leaves your jaw on the floor- but despite that, the writing, the characters, the sheer talent of the acting makes these people very, very real and identifiable. Probably the realest people on television that I can think of.

If CSI is boring you now that Grissom is leaving or if Bones doesn't hold the charm it used too and you're tired of waiting for Battlestar Galactica to come back or even if Heroes has just complete lost you, get out the old Netflix and get ahold of 'Shameless'- award-winning British television that totally lives up to the hype.

War on Turkeys?

Via Althouse, apparently Rush Limbaugh is ready to blow his top over this article.

God knows why- I mean of course the story of the first Thanksgiving is a myth. A national myth, but a myth nonetheless- just as Britain has Queen Boadicea and King Arthur. Doesn't make the story any less important. Doesn't take away from the tradition. Just means that it's not historically accurate.

(Just like the statue of Queen Boadicea in London, while very 'girl power' and down right scary, is all about the heroic traditions of national myth, but in reality, she probably didn't look quite that good in her chariot. If she had a chariot at all.)

Shout Out #1

I got a bit moody and depressed towards the end of the day today, and as the kiddies ran through the lobby after the last bell had rung, I found myself with endless loops of the Pixies running through my head, thinking what an apt metaphor their music is for the mindless idiocy of high school. That is high school, I thought: a Pixies song. One of the ones with the gory visual metaphors.

For the record- today:
1. I was called a racist jerk.
2. Apparently my facial hair looks like pubic hair.
3. I'm fat.
4. I'm pregnant. (My gut being so firm and all.)

So it was a banner day for my self-esteem. Hence, the shout-out to the Pixies.

(P.S.: For the record, I'm going to work out, feel better and head out of town to Wyoming for Thanksgiving with the fam tomorrow. So things will look up. And the cable is working and strangely enough, 'Gilmore Girls' is on and it's oddly comforting.)

(P.P.S.: And there are people who had much worse weekends than I did- there was a Golden Gophers fan at work that ended up cleaning out his septic tank instead of watching the second half of the 55-0 walloping Iowa gave 'em.)

(P.P.P.S.: No, I don't know who the weird guy in the video is. I just think the song rocks!)