About 8:30 this morning, the whole family went to the polling place for Ward 9, Precinct 1 of Minneapolis.  The two kids sat with us and watched us fill out our ballots.  The seven year old got a kick out of me writing in a neighbor's name in the uncontested sheriff's… Read full post »

My six year old lost her third tooth this spring.  She pulled it out before breakfast after I told her that her friend had that very same tooth accidentally kicked out by a brother the night before.  (It had been loose.) My daughter… Read full post »

I suppose it was our own fault to be limited by the whims of PBS...

Due to longstanding policy set down by the missus, we do not get cable.  At times, I’ve advocated for cable TV, but in the end I’m too cheap myself.… Read full post »

 

UPDATED IV: Because I filed a BBB complaint, I've been shuffled to a BBB case manager and out of the hands of the previous Sears customer care person with whom I was working.  This happened just before he was able to credit back my account with the promised discount.  So… Read full post »

I can't been the only person in the country who woke to the announcement from the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee this morning and thought, "What the fuck? Am I dreaming?"

 

 

In fact, I'm willing to wager Barack Obama himself had a similar response when he received the… Read full post »

Nearly ten years ago I was in a head-on car collision on a Minnesota state highway. This is the story.

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I met my friend C my first day of college. You're told on the first day of college that some of the people you were going to meet that… Read full post »

QUICK NOTE: The headline on the OS cover is "Why Sarah Palin deserves a huge book advance." Please observe that no where do I argue she deserves a huge book advance. Despite her lacking any merit, I argue still why even so it would be a good thing for… Read full post »

The Obamas would do well to get a cocker spaniel.  They are decent indoor dogs and are good with kids.  They are fun and of average intelligence, i.e. they are trainable.

A lab or springer spaniel are too excitable and need to run around a lot.  Sure, they can always… Read full post »

Split voters, those independents that vote for a candidate of one party for one office, and then a different party for a different office, are usually the ones deciding elections.

Question: Which state had the most people vote for a presidential candidate of one party, but switch to the other party… Read full post »

This morning the whole famiy got up early so that we could get to the polls right when they oppened at 7:00 AM.  We did a pretty decent job getting everything together, although the kindergartener delayed us a little bit with some grumpiness.

Our precinct votes in the basement of a… Read full post »

UPDATED: See bottom of post.

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How soon on election night will we know the winner? When can we celebrate? Will it be mere minutes after the polls close in the East? Or are we going to have to brace for a late night like in recent elections?

On election… Read full post »

I was searching for something to read and came across the wife's Women's Health magazine. After skimming through a profile of The Daily Show's Samantha Bee, the next page was the article 15 moments that define a relationship.

Ah, what wisdom will Women's Health impart to the female* masses?

Bold type… Read full post »

October 25 is the anniversary of the death of Senate Paul Wellstone. Wellstone, his wife and daughter, supporters, and two pilots died in a plane crash in northern Minnesota ten days before the 2002 election day.

I was working for an advocacy organization working to get the pro-choice vote out… Read full post »

UPDATE: The good news is that this has actually hurt her campaign. Bachmann hails from a fairly conservative district and has been ahead comfortably in the polls. She's gotten a lot of criticism in the local press and her opponent raised about half a million dollars within 24 hours… Read full post »

I feel pretty confident that in part thanks to Clinton's accomplishments, a woman will be elected to the White House in the coming years. Admittedly, this isn't soon enough for some;… Read full post »

For most of us regardless of political persuasion, I present a nightmare scenario:

 

An electoral college tie, in which case (as long as there are no faithless electors) the House of Representatives will decide who fills the White House in 2009. We have not seen this situation since… Read full post »

We have freedom of speach, apparently still, in this country.  So it's great to see people exercise it, but  it would be better if they used their brains first.

In today's Star Tribune, Minnesota's largest daily newspaper, we learn of the controversy surrounding a St. Paul council member using a profanity.

Bar owner and local crank, Mike Costello, wrote his councilmember David Thune after the Republican National Convention: "after what i saw in st paul… Read full post »

Continued from Part 1

September 11, 2008 - Part 2

When I walked in the office on the sixth floor, the front conference room had the TV on. A couple of staff members were standing in front. This wasn't too out of the ordinary. I was going… Read full post »

Quick note: On September 11, 2001, tragedy struck thousands of Americans. Many lost their lives. Many more lost their loved ones. The seemingly random act of whole-scale violence shocked a nation and the world. Many, many people have stories much more tragic and horrific than mine.… Read full post »

...still unknown as I write this. I've been tracking the rumors via the Drudge Report and elsewhere on the blogosphere. First, it's Lieberman! Then, it's Romney! No, it's Pawlenty!

McCain may want to pick Lieberman. He may have toyed with it. But he's not going… Read full post »

OK, most of the news junkies out there know the news.  Barack Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his running mate.  Already, the negative piling on has begun.  Looking at the comments over here, it seems as if Obama has made the worse choice ever and is going to lose the… Read full post »

I love making political predictions. Sometimes I've got to pat myself on the back for my astute observations and ability to prognosticate the future. One of my best predictions was to say that Howard Dean was going to become a real force in the 2004 primary a full year… Read full post »

Over 100 of our nation's college and university presidents have signed a statement urging policymakers to debate and consider changing the drinking age from 21 years old. The group is known as the Amethyst Initiative and they write in part:

How many times must we relearn the lessons… Read full post »