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MNSpeak: Talk
Miscellaneous Local Links - 2/19/07
PiPress: Name a giraffe
STC: Ze Frank coming to Minneapolis
MetroBlogging: Advertising for Uptown
Lavender: The adventures of SuperDivas
Strib: Peterson pissed he can't fly own plane
TechEvengelist: Google should buy Twin Cities Ford plant
81 Reader Comments
I can't fly a plane, either, but you don't hear me complaining about it...
Oh.
Como Zoo holds contest to name baby giraffe today
Hey, that Lavendar link goes to the giraffes.
Doesn't Collin Peterson have more important things to worry about than indulging in his personal hobby? And how many Senators drive themselves around, much less ask for reimbursement for it? Never mind, I don't want to know.
Wow, that actually is a great argument for getting Google to locate here. Of course, I'd feel more comfortable near a nuclear power plant than one of their Skynet nodes.
LOL. One of the comments on the Google/Ford article mentions Jawed Karim of YouTube. I didn't know he was a founder of that site! I met him back in 1996 at a summer program at the U of MN... Guess I should have paid more attention to his website over the years ;-)
That is a great article about the Ford Plant and it's selling points. I live about two miles north of there and its future is the talk of the neighborhood. Of course, given our city government which is populated with bureaucrats and assistant bureaucrats, without an iota of entrepreneurial instinct, I'm sure they'll end up filling the space with condos, built by their brothers-in-law development companies. Think of the property taxes they'll bring in! will be their rationale.
"That is a great article about the Ford Plant and it's selling points. I live about two miles north of there and its future is the talk of the neighborhood."
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Is that part of St. Paul proper? If it is, forget about anything that might generate private profit and create jobs. (That's government's responsibility, you know.) Look for a new "Center for World Torture Victims", "People's Ethanol Blending Facility", a public windmill factory, or another Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. An LRT line will probably be built right to it.
And there will be no smoking anywhere nearby. Ever.
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I bet you guys feel really smart for predicting the future so well, huh?
Ericam, if you look at the map, Peterson's district is pretty much the left half of the state. That's a long way to have to drive from town to town. The article is unclear to me whether it is a matter of campaign finance or a matter of normal travel reimbursements. That's a small but important difference.
"I bet you guys feel really smart for predicting the future so well, huh?"
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Naw. I can say "the sun'll come up tomorrow", too, and not feel any real sense of prescience, either.
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totally, yeah, you were pulling that stuff straight from established fact. there's no jumping to conclusions there, because that stuff will happen sure as sun!
The nonprofit Center for the Victims of Torture is located in Saint Paul, as well as Minneapolis, Washington DC, Sierra Leone and Liberia. I knew their old communications director pretty well.
Saint Paul has no ethanol blending racks that I am aware of, the nearest wind turbine factory is in Pipestone, MN and the Carter Library is in Atlanta.
Light rail for the area would be a good idea. I'm calling the mayor's office today, I'll suggest it. Thanks, bobby!
And when you say "the sun'll come up tomorrow", you really do mean that the sun will come up, right?
"totally, yeah, you were pulling that stuff straight from established fact. there's no jumping to conclusions there, because that stuff will happen sure as sun!"
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Just for you, I'll admit that what I was doing there was really . . . fiction! . . . (gasp!) . . . meant as a sort of commentary on what I perceive to be the rather left-leaning, anti-business, nanny-statist St. Paul City Council. I've extrapolated this prediction based on those established facts, I guess. So, yes, to the extent speaking of the future isn't a statement of established facts, I guess I was lying.
I'm sorry.
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NO WAI! EXAGGERATIONS PRESENTED AS TRUTH?
NO ONE WOULD EVER DO THAT!
):
I'm heartbroken.
Also I am all for a W7th LRT line between downtown STP and the airport/MOA
THE IRON TRIANGLE OF THE METRO, if you will
ps, bobby, it's no more a jump in logic to say that with current abuses of power we will be living in a fascist police state in a few years. We won't, but it's the same kind of extrapolation based on only part of the picture that you're making.
You mean like when they ban personal behavior like smoking and require heretofore voluntary behavior such as seat-belt wearing? Because that's fascism alright.
I'm going to get my friend Dave who is 1/8 Aleut to stake claim to that land and we will build a casino! Whoo Hoo how we will rake in the money!
You need a few crooked congresspeople. Now that the democrats are in power again I'm guessing that's doable.
"And when you say "the sun'll come up tomorrow", you really do mean that the sun will come up, right?"
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You understand, of course, that one can only discuss, in absolute terms, changes in the spatial orientation of two movable objects by using the artifical device of arbitrarily assigning some point of view from space as an absolute and unmoving point of reference, which is, itself, impossible in reality, right?
I mean, let's get that on the table right away.
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no I meant more like a big brother state that spies on its citizens and punishes dissent and can revoke their rights anytime it sees fit for legal reason.
You mean like when they ban personal behavior like smoking and require heretofore voluntary behavior such as seat-belt wearing? Because that's fascism alright.
No it isn't. Fascism involves state control of the economy, authoritarian leadership, ultranationalism, and pathological anticommunism and antiliberalism.
Don't use words when you don't know what they mean.
seriously, we could argue all day if we don't come up with an agreed-upon frame of reference.
St Paul will probably end up copying what Minneapolis did with it's most recent "best development opportunity in decades". It will take a lot of work, but they'll find a way to turn the Ford Plant into Block E 2.0 .
The difference is, I can name a dozen people who are victims of my examples. You can't name one who is a victim of yours.
I know! How many more must die because they are forced to wear seatbelts?
Given that my democrat congressperson's previous job was as a Dayton's sales clerk, she's probably ripe for being talked into making some extra pin money.
fascism: 1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
Sounds like Kerryworld. Of course, the nation he exalts over individuals is France.
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Bwahahahahaha!
Oh, wait, That was insipid.
"Bwahahahahaha!
Oh, wait, That was insipid"
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That's kind of a cool and new literary device for comment!
Oh, wait. No, it's not.
Maz, I'm all for people smoking and not wearing seatbelts. The more we thin the herd of the stupid people, the better, I say. However, I don't like my insurance rates having to subsidize such stupidity. If we make a law that says not wearing a seat belt (or motorcycle helmet) places the entire burden of motor vehicle accident liability on the non seat belt or helmet wearing party, I say let people go naked if they want. Same for smoking. Just deny all health benefits to anyone who smokes so my rates don't go up, then it's ok with me. Is that libertarian enough for you?
Yes. Thanks for making my argumant against collectivism for me. And no ladies and gentleman, he wasn't a plant.
Was he a mineral?
"The more we thin the herd of the stupid people, the better, I say. However, I don't like my insurance rates having to subsidize such stupidity."
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Ya' know, I feel the exact same way about my taxes subsidizing high school dropouts, people who have sex without condoms, and sociology majors who think they "deserve" cheaper college tuition so they can graduate debt-free and go on to do things they really want to do. We have more in common than we thought.
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I don't want my taxes to pay for anything I don't like! But everyone should want their taxes to pay for what I want!
And laws should never govern things that I think they shouldn't, but they should always govern things that scare me!
That reads like an exerpt from a Barack Obama speech.
I was directly quoting you, maz.
oh. Great guy that Obama.
Ya' know, I feel the exact same way about my taxes subsidizing governments who start wars based on false pretenses.
Can we compromise here somewhere?
"Can we compromise here somewhere?"
- - -
There's really no point to this if you're going to go all reasonable and everything on me.
Sheesh.
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Compromise has no place on an internet discussion board...we need a place to piss to the extreme, and this seems to be it. I think maybe we should have a First Ever MNSpeak Game of Red Rover.
There's really no point to this...
ding ding ding
wise acre
I say let people go naked if they want
especially on beaches and in parks. yes, yes, the summers would take on a whole new quality ...
I say let people go naked if they want
I'm not so sure this is a good idea. The amount of light reflected off the pasty white Minnesotan bodies would lower the ambient temperature causing clouds would form over the state and we would live in a state of perpetual gloom.
I say let people go naked if they want
someone's got a head start...
Security wanted to give him 2 minutes for high-sticking.
Wasn't that the climax of Slap Shot?
In a perfectly equitable world, it would be the chicks making the dick jokes.
Was he a mineral?
Well, the comment on smoking was dumb as a box of rocks. Tom, the problem with white collar smoking advocates is they enjoy a smokefree indoor environment where they work, yet they feel entitled to keep hospitality workers working at indoor environments filled with secondhand smoke, which minnesota determined was a health risk to office and retail workers 30 years ago.
Of course, no one is forcing you white collar critics to endure a work environment is not allowed. By all means, quit your desk jobs, give up your life and health insurance (also your 401k, 401b and pension plan) and get a job as a bartender in an American Legion Post. That outa satisfy your Libertarian urges to breathe bad air for less pay and benefits.
Rather, "...Of course, no one is forcing you white collar critics to endure a work environment where smoking is not allowed."
my typing skills suffer when I'm in full rant mode...
minnesota determined was a health risk to office and retail workers 30 years ago.
Well, not really. I remember smoking in my office at NCS 20 years ago. The VP of engineering made his walk around every morning and if he stopped long enough to talk that he'd flick an ash in your ashtray, you knew he thought you had potential.
But I digress. What bob describes is nothing more than mob rule. Tyranny of the majority over the minority. But he reveals their consistent strategy ... deprive people of benefits if they don't comply with their idea of what's best for you. Nice guys these fascists.
Again, that is totally not fascism. The world actually mean something, and not "Any political system I don't like."
"my typing skills suffer when I'm in full rant mode... "
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Off the point, but I forgot to say that, while it took me a minute, the opening comment in this thread was also very good.
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Can we start banning people from MNSpeak? I'm sick Mazasapa coming here all the time and turning every thread he touches into an e-pissing contest.
There. I said it.
"What bob describes is nothing more than mob rule. Tyranny of the majority over the minority."
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Well, in fairness, then, so are speeding laws, rules that prohibit you from spraying gasoline around inside of the bar if you don't like the music, and anything that interferes with my right to sodomize Boy Scouts.
Point is, the majority frequently - and, usually correctly - regulates behavior for the public safety. We as a society don't question the correctness of that basic philosophy. The problem with this particular regulatory effort is that the foundational statement - that the behavior in question harms public safety - is far from settled, but proponents act like it is settled. It may very well be proven to be true, but the weakness, right now, of that proof leaves the motivation open to question, especially to people who believe that there is a large group of people very comfortable with the idea that what they dislike should be prohibited.
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The VP of engineering made his walk around every morning and if he stopped long enough to talk that he'd flick an ash in your ashtray, you knew he thought you had potential.
Potential lung cancer.
To deny that there are health effect cause by second hand smoke is absurd. It may not cause lung disease but I know during allergy season if I'm around smoke at all it can cause asthma like symptoms.
So if I walk into a bar and its smoky can I sue the smoker because they have caused a potentially life threatening attack?
"So if I walk into a bar and its smoky can I sue the smoker because they have caused a potentially life threatening attack?"
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Hey, I'm in favor of the ban.
And, no, it's not absurd to deny that second-hand smoke is a public danger. It will be absurd to do so when it's been proven, but no one has done that yet. And, strong perfumes choke me up, like smoke does to you, but that doesn't rise to the definition of a public danger.
Personally, given the completely-proven and horrible dangers of smoke to smokers, (and even though I'm usually a small-government person)(and even though I smoke like a fish), I think the burden of proof should be reversed in this case - no ban if it is proven that it's NOT a danger to public health.
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The ban has made for tons of nice patios that would have never been approved with the original regs. I can't wait for patio drinking season to start again.
Do people actually think that a gallon of perfume is really going to cover up the stank of their rotting soul? I don't get it.
I smoke and I have no problem with smoking bans. Smoking indoors feels weird to me anyway. I'm just wondering when minnesota is going to start giving a shit about auto emissions which are pretty unhealthy at this point and impossible to avoid because they permeate the air outside. Just because there's not a haze over the cities like LA yet doesn't mean you don't need to care.
For the record, I like my taxes being used to educate people (even if they drop out) and to create people that are not profitable in the private sector but are helpful to us, society-wise (like sociology majors).
Sometimes I want to see maza's dreams realized so he can see what a shit-hole the world turns into just so I can prove I'm right. I wonder how much he'd believe in unrestricted capitalism after the democratically run government is replaced by one big fascist uber-corporation. But it's probably not worth it.
Thanks y'all. Maz is just trying to get (most) everyone upset, and he's darned good at it. However, as someone who has had the ban finger pointed at him (I actually am banned from a couple of local blogs), I say let's let maz stay. He's a troll, to be sure, but he's our troll. Besides, once in a while he says something that is really funny, or almost has a point.
Maz and bus are trolls, but they can be pretty god damn funny at times. I'm funny, but can be pretty god damn trollish at times. They are the ying to my massive yang.
who is bus?
oh my god, it's not me is it?
No. Your Was.
Signed,
Mas.
You're.
Shit. I blame my sausagelike fingers.
"Maz and bus are trolls"
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"bus"?
The s is right next to the b on the keyboard.
He prefers if you call him by his proper name...Short Bus.
"The s is right next to the b on the keyboard"
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. . . right next to the . . .
Okay, I'm beginning to understand why so many people here don't drive.
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Waitasecond. There is something very wrong with my keyboard.
Looks like Sparber's Monday happy hour starts around 3:45.
It's my job, g rote.
I love you all, dudes. Seriously. I never tell you, but I love you guys, man.
Where are my pants?
Funny...I just got this memo from housekeeping:
"Mr. M____'s pants were found in his room and will be mailed out today.
Was Max here over the weekend?
I just watched that 'shortbus' movie the other day. it's, uh ... weird.
I also just ordered an hdtv with my tax refund money. bling bling!
Why not donate that money, Wayne? Hypocrite.
I also just ordered an hdtv with my tax refund money.
Seriously? That's gotta be a joke.
Would someone tell me why the people in the northwest portion of the state continue to vote for this nitwit to Washington D.C. every two years?
"Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people."
-Carl Sagan
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