We've been enjoying a lazy morning with a very affectionate kitty; however, golden boy Oscar de la Hoya has been banished from the studio. Here's what we're reading in our rare closed door session.
The Washington Post reports that Bush Calls Surveillance Bill Inadequate. On C-Span right now, the bill is being debated; there's rowdiness in the chamber. This bill will be the final debate and vote before Congress recesses for the Easter district work break.
So far in the break, Walz has announced an education and economic development summit in Rochester on March 18, and veterans meetings on Monday in Waseca and Wednesday in New Ulm. All three meetings are free and open to the public.
It's a good thing that people in New Ulm will have a day to recuperate from its St. Patrick's Day parade. The New Ulm Journal's Kevin Sweeney reports on the event in When Irish people are celebrating:
. . .the 43rd annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New Ulm will take place on Monday, March 17, with the blessing of diocesan administrator Msgr. Douglas Grams, according to parade organizers Tom Donnelly and Bill O’Connor.
The annual parade will take place at 5 p.m. It will proceed, as usual, the wrong way up Minnesota Street from Third South Street to Fourth North Street. All who are Irish and who appreciate the Irish are invited to participate.
According to O’Connor and Donnelly, Grams had no problem with the celebration.
“He knows it is first and foremost a religious holiday,” said O’Connor. “We have a parade, prayer, a meal, and then we go home.”
“The Monsignor knows our parade, and the love we Irish have for the Germans, and vice-versa,” said Donnelly.
Our Irish Catholic relatives in Watonwan County never told us there were Irish people in New Ulm. The article continues:
. . . As usual, St. Patrick’s Day will feature a number of events designed to stimulate the minds and bodies of the normally stolid German citizens.
The annual rope-pushing contest will be held in German Park at 2 p.m.
The traditional medallion hunt will be held as well, though in all the years it has been held no one has ever found it. This year the medallion will be 8 feet in diameter, painted bright green and will be hidden in the Wal-Mart parking lot with a bright red light blinking on the top. . . .
. . . An ice fishing contest will be held on Lake Hanska. The person who catches the biggest bullhead will get a six-pack of Schell’s Beer. Second place is two six packs of Schell’s.
Must be the low end Deer P**s, and not the boutique brews like the Pils. There are also some political shades of green in the article:
The Irish are steering away from presidential politics, however. They will not be endorsing a candidate. The only candidate with an Irish name is Sen. John McCain, a Republican, and the Irish are all confirmed Democrats, except for Terry Dempsey. O’Connor has long claimed Dempsey’s Republicanism is a result of being dropped on his head as a baby.
Read the rest for yourself.
A reader in the Mankato Free Press is confused about the Americans United for Change radio ad, which he takes to be a production in the letter Walz shouldn’t take too much credit for ‘rebate’. Letter writer Mike Grabow is a local Republican activist. No word on how firm a grip his parents had when he was a baby.
The Rochester Post Bulletin reports Drive to lower blood donor age to 16 succeeds. Blooming Prairie high school student Joe Gibson has earned universal respect from legislators on both sides of the aisle for his leadership.
The paper also reports Obama's campaign sparks Somalis' interest in election. Money quote:
But Rochester residents like Shakur dispute the notion that their support for Obama rests solely or even primarily on his African family history and background.
The key, they say, is not only who he is, but what he stands for. And what Obama symbolizes, in their eyes, is hope -- the belief that their children can achieve like Obama and reach the highest political office in the land. If a man one generation removed from his African ancestry can become president, why can't their own children one day do the same?
"He shows that in America you can be whoever you want to be," said Abdulkadir Hussein, an anchorman for Rochester Somali TV.
The Rushford Tri-County Record notes that the Minnesota Environmental Partnership seeking local activists. The MEP has opened four field offices in Greater Minnesota, three in the First: Rushford, St. Peter, and the Albert Lea-Austin area.
Spring Valley Tribune publisher David Phillips writes Minnesota cooling, not global warming, foremost on our minds. His point isn't what the headline might tempt readers to conclude. The lead:
A former state legislator has been joking to people that he stayed warm this winter by burning books written by Al Gore. After experiencing a good, old-fashioned winter in Minnesota, many people probably share his sentiment.
However, there is climate and there is weather and one can't base global climate theories on local weather. If that were the case, then people in Scandinavia, which experienced one of its warmest winters ever with many record high temperatures, are likely fanning the pages of Gore's books to not only keep cool, but also learn more about just what is going on in our world. . .
Rep. Tony Cornish lends his support to Demmer's congressional endorsement bid, according the St. James Plaindealer. Cornish joins Rod Hamilton and other First Disitrct Republican House members in endorsing Demmer. While Cornish stresses Demmer's support for gun rights, readers should know that all candidates, and Congressman Walz, support gun rights.
Finally, another video from the Drum major Institute:
Is that the same Rod Hamilton who voted FOR the Transportation Bill that Tony Cornish has radio ads running complaining how it was the wrong vote ?
Is that the same Randy Demmer that co-sponsored Tony Cornish's bill to increase ethanol content ... and later, the State Legislature increased the tax subsidies for ethanol producers?
Are they tax cutters or imprudent managers of our tax dollars ?
Posted by: MinnesotaCentral | March 15, 2008 at 08:40 AM