Local Radio Bulletin:
"Storm Lake, IA (KICD)--An on the lamb fugitive from Storm Lake is apprehended in Corpus Christi, Texas..."
Long way to ride a getway sheep.
Feb 17, 2012
Why We're Broke, Lutefish Edition
Star-Tribune* owners should award a small bonus to the copy desk drone who wrote: "Twin Cities Chase a Desire Named Street Car."
The headline is happy, the rest of the story less so. It's about a quarter-million in Federal Reserve Cartoons to be spent by St. Paul studying a new street car scheme. That's on top of $1.2 million Sis-City Minneapolis ispissing away investing to "analyze" potential steet car "corridors."
Mind you, this million-five doesn't actually build anything except a pile of dusty paper which, if honest, will confirm close to a century of American experience that street cars aren't worth a damn unless they are paid for by people who don't use them. It is the Cabrini Green principle** applied to mass transit.
But, well, they're kind of neat. Nostalgic and Asethetic and Romantic. Who says so? None other than His Ineptness (speaking of Cabrini Green).
Two years ago, "the Obama administration decided that transit projects could be evaluated for economic development and social benefits rather than just ridership and costs."
Translation: If three city council members, two loud-mouth hippies who eventually got rich trading pork belly futures, and one politically-connected construction company think street cars are cute, we're gonna get street cars which, like Blanche DuBois, will always depend on the kindness of strangers.
But as an occasional visitor to Minneapolis and St. Paul, I can look forward to my moment of drama. Step off the Lutefisk Trolly. Stand outside the big house all emoed up. "Stella...Steeella!"
No, wait. "Lena...Leeena!"
---
*The second most important newspaper in Minnesota, after The St. Cloud Times.
**"Build it and They Will Eff it Up at an Astronomical Cost to Innocent Tax-Paying Citizens Everywhere."
H/T to the author of the World's Greatest Travel Blog who is not responsible for any opinion which might have snuck into this blog entry despite it's intent to present a straightforward, objective, and dispassionate report of one of the great issues of the day.
The headline is happy, the rest of the story less so. It's about a quarter-million in Federal Reserve Cartoons to be spent by St. Paul studying a new street car scheme. That's on top of $1.2 million Sis-City Minneapolis is
Mind you, this million-five doesn't actually build anything except a pile of dusty paper which, if honest, will confirm close to a century of American experience that street cars aren't worth a damn unless they are paid for by people who don't use them. It is the Cabrini Green principle** applied to mass transit.
But, well, they're kind of neat. Nostalgic and Asethetic and Romantic. Who says so? None other than His Ineptness (speaking of Cabrini Green).
Two years ago, "the Obama administration decided that transit projects could be evaluated for economic development and social benefits rather than just ridership and costs."
Translation: If three city council members, two loud-mouth hippies who eventually got rich trading pork belly futures, and one politically-connected construction company think street cars are cute, we're gonna get street cars which, like Blanche DuBois, will always depend on the kindness of strangers.
But as an occasional visitor to Minneapolis and St. Paul, I can look forward to my moment of drama. Step off the Lutefisk Trolly. Stand outside the big house all emoed up. "Stella...Steeella!"
No, wait. "Lena...Leeena!"
---
*The second most important newspaper in Minnesota, after The St. Cloud Times.
**"Build it and They Will Eff it Up at an Astronomical Cost to Innocent Tax-Paying Citizens Everywhere."
H/T to the author of the World's Greatest Travel Blog who is not responsible for any opinion which might have snuck into this blog entry despite it's intent to present a straightforward, objective, and dispassionate report of one of the great issues of the day.
Feb 16, 2012
Dum-de-DUM-dum
It's an unhappy little news item about a woman accused of large-scale animal neglect. She's been charged, and the surviving dogs and cats are being cared for. Not worth mentioning but for the phrasing of AP's final sentence.
"Six of the dogs are suspected of being pregnant."
I hope Joe Friday gets to the bottom of this.
"Six of the dogs are suspected of being pregnant."
I hope Joe Friday gets to the bottom of this.
To Serve and Protect
When the SWAT team got to Mathew Corrigan's home in Washington, D.C., at 4 a.m., one of the boss cops asked Corrigan for permission to search his apartment. Corrigan declined. The officer remonstrated that his busy schedule made it inconvenient for him to secure a warrant merely to accommodate himself to the Fourth Amendment, or, in Officer Friendly's words:
"I don't have time to play this Constitutional bullshit."
The previous evening Mr. Corrigan, an Army reservist, felt depressed and called a "hot line" hawking itself as a source of help for military people under stress. (it turned out to be the National Suicide Prevention Hot Line operating under an alias.)
The counsellor asked if he had firearms. Mr. Corrigan answered, "yes." Some time later, the conversation ended and Mr. Corrigan went to bed. Meanwhile, the helpful hot liner alerted Washington cops who decided this threat to public order required a team of about 25 to 30 stormers in appropriate ninja gear.
With the Constitutional bullshit dismissed in the interest of administrative efficiency, officers entered the apartment, trashed it (very literally), took his dog, killed his tropical fish, seized his three firearms, and hustled Mr. Corrigan himself off to a hospital as a possible suicide risk. Two days later the doctors released him as non-suicidal -- released him to the police who jugged him for about two weeks.
He went home and found that, among other things, those who serve and protect had denied him the small courtesy of re-locking his apartment. He found that the local EOD detachment had practiced its craft by slitting open and scattering virtually every package in his refrigerator, cupboard, and closets.
He is suing has for $500,000 plus costs -- drastic under reach, if you ask me. I suggest about ten times that, to be assessed personally against every cop involved, not to the taxpayers.
For the "John Doe NO. 1" officer, the conscientious objector to Constitutional bull shit, I suggest:
-- That he be stripped of badge and gun, indicted, horse-whipped, have "asshole" tatooed on his forehead, and be assigned as Mr. Corrigan's personal slave for the remainder of his natural life. (This will require amendment of the Constitution, particularly a narrow suspension of the bill of attainder bar. So be it. Let the Article Five festivities begin.)
---
Two hat tips are necessary here. To Between Two Rivers -- who nominated TMR a Liebster Blog (with words kind enough to make me blush) -- and to Robert's Gun Shop.
"I don't have time to play this Constitutional bullshit."
The previous evening Mr. Corrigan, an Army reservist, felt depressed and called a "hot line" hawking itself as a source of help for military people under stress. (it turned out to be the National Suicide Prevention Hot Line operating under an alias.)
The counsellor asked if he had firearms. Mr. Corrigan answered, "yes." Some time later, the conversation ended and Mr. Corrigan went to bed. Meanwhile, the helpful hot liner alerted Washington cops who decided this threat to public order required a team of about 25 to 30 stormers in appropriate ninja gear.
With the Constitutional bullshit dismissed in the interest of administrative efficiency, officers entered the apartment, trashed it (very literally), took his dog, killed his tropical fish, seized his three firearms, and hustled Mr. Corrigan himself off to a hospital as a possible suicide risk. Two days later the doctors released him as non-suicidal -- released him to the police who jugged him for about two weeks.
He went home and found that, among other things, those who serve and protect had denied him the small courtesy of re-locking his apartment. He found that the local EOD detachment had practiced its craft by slitting open and scattering virtually every package in his refrigerator, cupboard, and closets.
He is suing has for $500,000 plus costs -- drastic under reach, if you ask me. I suggest about ten times that, to be assessed personally against every cop involved, not to the taxpayers.
For the "John Doe NO. 1" officer, the conscientious objector to Constitutional bull shit, I suggest:
-- That he be stripped of badge and gun, indicted, horse-whipped, have "asshole" tatooed on his forehead, and be assigned as Mr. Corrigan's personal slave for the remainder of his natural life. (This will require amendment of the Constitution, particularly a narrow suspension of the bill of attainder bar. So be it. Let the Article Five festivities begin.)
---
Two hat tips are necessary here. To Between Two Rivers -- who nominated TMR a Liebster Blog (with words kind enough to make me blush) -- and to Robert's Gun Shop.
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