Speed Gibson

Deborah Caulfield Rybak is making me wish for the return of Brian Lambert. The latter used to regularly draw the ire of Joe Soucheray and Jason Lewis for getting the most basic of facts wrong, like show times.

Today, she has a fairly big article on the launch of KTLK-FM next month and related changes at KSTP-AM. She also has an insert showing the KTLK lineup and its competition.

The Patriot (WWTC 1280) is not mentioned at all, which was a little surprising. But neither was Air America (KTNF 950), which was very surprising. Even Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) got only a passing reference in the sidebar. So I guess she was an equal opportunity snubber, fair and balanced.

I did agree with this sentence: "Rosenbaum and O'Connell, new to this slot, could be spoilers."

Allow me to catch up with this spin on our Governor's peformance, as noted at Our House. This was from last Saturday's Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Pawlenty spokesman Brian McClung said Pawlenty's bold style puts him at greater risk for setbacks but also bears out a vision and maverick streak that will resonate with Minnesotans.

Since being elected, McClung said, Pawlenty has taken on "Big Pharma," through his relentless push for importation of cheaper Canadian drugs; "Big Oil," through his biodiesel and ethanol initiatives, and "Big Tobacco," by boosting cigarette prices to a level that lowers smoking rates.

"Most governors would be reluctant to take on one of those cartels, let alone all three," McClung said. "He's a maverick. This is a governor who doesn't shy away from a big battle with powerful opponents when he's doing something he thinks is right."

This is Junior Woodchuck stuff, not a real maverick or Maverick. There's no real courage being shown here, confronting three unpopular businesses. Not opponents - businesses.

How about taking on Big Education, Mr. Pawlenty? Where were you when Cheri Yecke was under attack? Where was your outrage when she was ambushed by Senate Democrats? Why does your vaunted Q-Comp pay without any competent evidence of improvement?

How about taking on Big Entertainment, Mr. Pawlenty? Why are you campaigning to subvert a very reasonable State law in order to impose a tax that voters would otherwise not approve? Why are you supporting the Gopher football stadium, the weakest case of all?

How about taking on Big Environment, Mr. Pawlenty? There's no case for Ethanol or bio-Diesel. They don't save oil, don't reduce pollution, but do clog our engines. There's no competent research underlying and justifying these smoking bans, but you're ready to sign a statewide ban that will close out dozens more establishments, careers, and nesteggs.

And most of all, how about taking on Big Government? Why did you throw in the tax increase towel early last spring? What happened to the fiscal discipline of your first two years? What's all this talk of "fun" stuff that we now have to pay for?

Let's remember a real maverick, the late Governor Rudy Perpich. He took on Big Education, dragging them kicking and screaming into Open Enrollment.

Tonight is the 555th and last broadcast of ABC's Monday Night Football. I was in college when the first one aired in 1970. I've been around for them all. For that matter, I remember the first games of the Twins and the Vikings. I've seen every Super Bowl, including those four awful drubbings. There's no getting around it. I'm getting old!

This got my thinking back to life before the Twins, when I would seek out baseball games on my old Philco-style vacuum tube radio. It was an antique even then, and I should have hung on to it. It had just two wooden knobs, on/off/volume and tuning. The back was open. You could reach in and get quite a jolt as the big power triode had its plate connection coming off the top. I didn't, but I could have.

I marveled how I could pick up KOA in Denver after dark to listen to the play by play of the Denver Bears, a minor league team. That radio was a flying carpet that took me to Little Rock, Omaha, Cleveland, Des Mointes, New Orleans, Denver, Seattle, and many more.

Then came the portable transistor radios, with the number of transistors and diodes proudly embossed on the cover. But it wasn't the same. That old radio had the magic. I turned it on, and a soft hum came from the speaker, kind of like a fog. After 20 seconds or so, the tubes were warm enough so that the program could emerge from that foggy hum.

Like I said, I should have hung on to it.

I was a bad Santa in that I picked out a Sony portable music player for my son that was, in every way, a piece of junk. I told him we'd go find him a real one once the shelves are replenished.

Most annoying was the software that came with it. Essentially, you could copy purchased CD's (or titles from their online music store) to it. Anything more required you run with Admin privileges, which given Sony's insistence on loading secret spyware, is out of the question. This Sony disk installed about 6 different components and somehow re-activated Windows Instant Messenger, which I don't want. My firewall was soon reporting unauthorized requests to access the internet, which I blocked. After finding out all the things I couldn't do, I finally uninstalled all of it.

I am writing this on a Sony PC that I have been very happy with, but as far as computer media hardware and software, Sony - you're fired.

Willie Clark did the morning drive such as it is on this all but official holiday. I can't say that I was impressed, but I'll wait for the official kickoff next week before commenting further.

Meanwhile, Rush is all but gone from KSTP-AM, as his last live show for 2005 was last Friday. Twelve hours of the "best of Rush" and then AM 1500 fights for its very life in 2006.

Christmas was established to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and remains very much so. But it's fair to say that it has become siginificantly more than that. As Michael Medved reported in one of his classic historical accounts broadast this past week, much of what we celebrate was part of a Roman festival that the early Christians adopted as their own. Indeed, there is Biblical, historical, and astronomical evidence that Christ was born around mid-April, not December 25, and probably not in the year 1 A.D., either. Other cultures and customs have found their way into our current traditions.

It's a bustling few weeks of shopping, decorating, and entertaining, often at too fast a pace it seems. But Christmas Day finally comes, and the whole world seems to take a breath. Peace on the Earth, good will toward men, it truly happens I think. It is "the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" as the Andy Williams classic goes. Despite the chaos and the distractions, God has the last word.

A wise chief financial officer once told me that any deal that's here today will be here tomorrow. We've seen that this year with car makers continually extending the "last chance" discounts.

Sure enough, the offer from TCF bank toward the proposed new Gopher stadium was extended six months. The sense of urgency around the Vikings and Twins stadium proposals has also dissapated. These offers haven't been withdrawn, either.

I'm not that any of these offers should be accepted. I'm just saying that these deadline / threats should never be a factor.

TV and radio programs are already beginning to review the top news stories of 2005. This seems a week early to me, a ritual normally reserved for the week between Christmas and New Years Day.

Worldwide, the Tsunami would seem to be the big story. Nationally, perhaps Hurricane Katrina. Locally, the partial shutdown and the tax vs fee argument. But I think there could be another ranking, the stories that the press simply got wrong, like the Mary Mapes fiasco and what really happened at the Superdome. I think some of the coverage of the shutdown was also flawed in giving out too many benefits of the doubt.

Breaking news, first noticed by Anti-Strib I believe: a Ramsey County judge has struck down the 75 cent a pack cigarette fee/tax. It may get overturned on appeal, but I believe Judge Fetsch got this right.

A deal was struck in the infamous tobacco lawsuit, a key tenet of which was that this was to be the end of it. But just as with the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act, such promises are soon forgotten. Oddly, it was a Republican Governor who said, "No deal!" No sitting legislature can be bound by a prior session's actions or court decisions we were told.

The judge said otherwise. I'd paraphrase this as rewriting the deal, which said that the amounts paid fully covered all health care costs. The State agreed to pursue nothing more.

Governor Pawlenty owes us a flip-flop in our direction. We have a surplus, such that we now know we never needed this tax increase at all. Don't appeal it. Don't rework it. Let it drop.

There is a program turning 20 years old called PSEO: Post-Secondary Enrollement Options. The Minneapolis Star Tribune thinks the program is worthwhile, though the praise is curiously a bit restrained.

Through PSEO, juniors and seniors can take college classes for free and earn credits toward both high school diplomas and college degrees. Over the years, it has become clear that the approach was prescient; a recent study by the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota found that students saved time and money, learned more and felt more academically prepared for college. That's good for the students, and for the system; producing better prepared students translates into spending less on college "catch up" work.

I can't get excited over this for a number of reasons. First of all, do you really want 16 and 17 year olds on a college campus filled with 18 to 21+ year old students? Book smarts don't promise street smarts.

Second, high school is 50 percent social (IMO). Time spent away at "college" is time not spent with your peers. If "pre-Calculus" isn't enough, how about spending some of your time helping your friends get through it?

Third, there is no real academic gain here, not unless the high school is deficient in offering suitable options and electives. Say you want to take "advanced placement" (AP) Chemistry at the nearby community college. It sounds wonderful, but what the high school calls AP Chemistry is just Chemistry 101 at the college. Spend those precious teen years doing something you can only do in high school - join the drama club for example, work on the school yearbook, do sports, get a part-time job, or take an art class. Chemistry can wait.

Fourth, this is really the wrong approach - it goes the wrong way. If anything, the colleges should consider coming to the high schools. It's logistically much easier and far less disruptive to send a professor to the high school. Make that AP History class a Senior elective; don't hold it on campus. I know of one case where this is being partially done, and it's been very successful.

Finally, don't allow yourself to be placated here. Just because your child could qualify and benefit academically from such a program doesn't mean it's the best choice. Be realistic; what will be the best investment of your student's time in terms of growing up to be an adult?

Craig Westover posted links to two articles under the title Conservatism is a philosophy, not a laundy list of issues. I put a comment there that got lengthy, as I'm a bit disappointed with the Commissioner of late. So without objection, please allow me to revise and extend those remarks.

As a corollary, I would offer Hugh Hewitt as being knee-jerk rather than thoughtful in his conversatism. He called those of us who questioned the Miers nomination knuckleheads, saying if we didn't support the President, the Senate would be lost to the Democrats. But once Miers withdrew, Hewitt quickly ran over to march in the front row of the Alito parade.

Now he's again full-tilt in support of President Bush regarding the NSA wiretaps. He charges two Democrats as openly lying for not reading the Fourth Amendment his way. Those two Democrats have lied many times before on many issues and they really don't want a debate here, either. But today they have a point, as does Bob Barr and some other voices on the right.

I'd also cite Hewitt's support for Governor Pawlenty's Canadian drug plan and his tobacco tax increase.

As I posted earlier about the change in theme song, I think some ankle-biting radio consultant has Hugh trying to be more ... assertive. Unfortuntately for us, that also makes him more one-dimensional, and a bit pedantic at times. He seems to have lost some of his humor, too. He's going to morph into Michael Savage if he doesn't take a breath.

I've been a HH faithful listener from when I first discovered him mornings on The Patriot. I will continue to be, for Hewitt is smart and does some of the most informative radio on the dial. But ultimately Hewitt is invested in winning, not governing. If it's close, he can cheat.

Swiftee is unhappy that our favorite publican, Terry Keegan, owner of Keegan's Irish Pub, is running ads reluctantly calling for a statewide smoking ban to level his playing field. Keegan himself called in Saturday to explain his position.

After calling all 13 council members and the mayor's office, only one returned his call. With such weak support, a repeal or easing of the Minneapolis ban is distant, and the next election is too far off to avoid whatever final action Keegan's must take.

His logic is understandable but only if you assume that no further action will be taken. What if outdoor patios are then outlawed, as in Golden Valley? What if "second hand drinking" or the amount of red meat in his famous stew come into question?

I would urge Terry to stand his ground. A statewide ban doesn't bring his business back to where it was. How much it would is just a guess, but clearly the overall bar business in Minnesota will drop as some percentage of smokers (and a percentage of their non-smoking friends) simply stay home. And the non-smokers who claim they will go out more simply don't show up.

This isn't about public health, even if there are some useful idiots who think so. This is about imposing politcally correct lifestyles, for which smoking is but one facet. If a statewide smoking ban is passed, Bob may go away but someone else will take his place.

The finale of the fourth "The Apprentice" ran December 15. Randall edged the up and coming but still just a tad too young Rebecca. As always, Donald Trump had a couple of projects for the new apprentice to pick, and each finalist picked one of them.

During this season, Trump had fired four in one week, two last week. As (co-) Executive Producer, Trump went long, suggesting to Randall that maybe he should hire both of them.

Randall said absolutely not. This was The Apprentice, not The Apprentii. Trump backed down as Rebecca shook her head, losing out a second time in the span of minutes.

Good for Randall! Donald Trump thought he had a good idea, but also had the good sense to realize it really wasn't good business or good TV after all. Besides, Rebecca will do just fine, especially if Trump opens a few doors for her as seems fitting.

This was a good ending to the best of the Apprentices so far.

Former program director Joe O'Brien's wish for as much local content as possible on KSTP-AM 1500 is coming true in 2006. Rush Limbaugh leaves for FM in January, Sean Hannity in August at the end of his contract. What does this mean?

It means that the mighty 1500 will have no national level hosts or content when Hannity leaves. The locals will no doubt speak to some of the national and international issues of the day. But even the best, presumably Bob Davis, only know what they've read in the papers. They have no contacts, no job experience in national positions. Even their local civic and political contacts are fairly modest compared to even WCCO or MPR.

This is why Mitch's rumor of Jason Lewis returning made so much sense. He is that rare talent that can work at all levels, from a school board election to the looming Iranian nuclear crisis, hammering it all home with facts and doses of outrange or humor as needed. But without him, by the end of 2006, Patrick Reusse will be their third ranking expert on national issues.

The Patriot has the opposite problem, also by design. They have a wonderfully broad range of national coverage, a solid 15 hours every weekday with Bill Bennett, Laura Ingraham, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, and Hugh Hewitt. The only local content comes from Saturday doubleheader of Taxpayers League Live and the Northern Alliance Radio Network.

I want some of both, particularly in the morning. That's why I typically listen to Bob Davis in the first half-hours and Bill Bennett in the second half-hours when Davis is stuck with useless traffic reports and celebrity birthdays.

So they both have a problem, but KSTP's is the more acute, stuck with marginal talents like Krok and Rosenbaum, at least for now. I have a feeling that another shoe or two will drop by this time next year.

The new lineup for KSTP AM 1500 is out, the one that has to deal with the loss of Limbaugh (January) and Hannity (later) to FM. Mitch Berg was all but sure that Jason Lewis would be part of it, but not yet anyway.

Details are in the paper and other blogs, but overall I have just one question: why should I listen? Only Joe Soucheray has any real ratings punch. Joe will now do 3.5 hours a day, handing off to T. D. Mischke at 5:30 pm. The latter makes no sense to me.

I guess I won't be hearing much of Bob Davis from now on, who moves to 9-12 mornings after a new addition: Willie Clark. Unless Willie is surprisingly good, Bill Bennett will take over in my mornings.

So again, what will make make me listen moer to AM 1500? Nothing I see here.

What do you say to the Hennepin County Commissioners, now that they have eased the rigid smoking ban to allow at least some bars to resume normal operation next month? You say "thank you" and be gracious in victory, to all of them. Let's be sure we act like adults and move on to the City of Minneapolis. This is not the time to be smug. I am sending a congratulatory note to my representative, Mike Opat, who switched his vote.

As Chad the Elder notes, this will make the situation all the more critical in the occupied territories within Hennepin County, with freedom ever closer. The easing is temporary, but by 2007, the data from the suburbs should be even more undeniable.

There is much left to do, freeing the restaurant owners as well. It won't bring back the ones we lost, but hopefully at least the VFW and Legion halls will now survive.

I chanced to record the hour Wendy Wilde spent on December 6th with David Morris of newrules.org, a liberal policy/think tank. The subject was public ownership of Internet Access, from trunk lines to Wi-Fi. As do a number of MOBsters, I happen to know a little bit about the physics and the business of telecommunications. What I heard, after a quick smear of Rep. Mark Kennedy, was how Chaska, St. Louis Park, and St. Paul are doing it right. These cities are installing their own "public" Wi-Fi (wireless internet) systems, ostensibly to serve their city and public safety needs, but with enough capacity to sell to or tax from the pubilc residential and small business access. Cities like Minneapolis are doing it the "wrong" way - engaging a private partner to provide municipal service.

What I heard was broadband bunk. Did you know that Europe and Asia provide their citizens with much faster internet access, 10-20 times faster? To get there, Morris first level sets the US "standard" broadband speed at 256 kb/sec. By that reckoning, my Comcast service that I have clocked at the promised 6 mb/sec download speed is more than 20 times faster. In fact, if you check the New Rules web site, you see what they're realing talking about are subscription rates. In Europe, where the telephone companies have been publicly owned from birth, they can and do offer subsidized rates. But it's mostly telephone (ADSL) technology, which seldom delivers the advertised top rate.

Morris continues, saying the "next generation" will provide the kind of speed needed to download movies or perform teleconferencing. He said the one to two hours needed to download a movie isn't feasible. Earth to Morris: it's being done now, sometimes overnight, which makes good use of that otherwise quiet network period. And it can be done in minutes, not hours even now.

But what Morris is really doing here is setting your expectations, setting them quite low even by five year old DSL standards as Wendy Wilde inadvertently observed. Why? Because air is a poor conductor electricity, meaning that whatever speed a wireless network might achieve, a comparable wired network will blow its doors off. For his municipal Wi-Fi systems to look good, he has to make sure that you at least think that your DSL and Cable alternatives would give you about the same level of service. You can't download movies, remember? Repeat after me, you can't download movies, you can't download movies ...

In other words, those that think this is such a wonderful idea are basically selling you "mature" technology that will have increasingly less appeal to consumers and business owners. And if you think telephone and cable companies are intractable, try taking your case to City Hall.

Then there's the political risk. You may have seen the Legislative Auditor's report on the lax computer security at the State level. Do you really want your personal traffic flowing through a municipal switch? It's not hard to imagine that the "muni" would demand M.D.E. unmask lest his site be blocked. If a few users start downloading movies, soaking up the limited Wi-Fi bandwidth, oh, wait, you can't download movies...

Keep the government out of Wi-Fi. It will raise costs. It will limit service. And soon you may be asking, "Who hired Craig Livingstone?"

Everyone needs some time off, even our own local "shock jocks" like David Strom. Sometimes we learn just how valuable they are, like Mitch Berg this week.

Sometimes we get a real gem though, like State Representative Chris DeLaForest (R-49A) last week on Taxpayers League Live. I was surprised that David Strom didn't cancel his trip this week lest we get spoiled. Chris assembled a great group of guests, and had an informative, honest discussion of a number topics.

This week, attorney Rick Morgan of "Face to Face" fame filled in on TPL, leading off with an interview of Tim Pawlenty, not exactly the most honoring of his campaign promises. The second hour featured GOP vice-chair Eric Hoplin, not exactly the most loved ever to serve in that position. The entire three hours was confined to GOP talking points, with not one tough question. It was like listening to Ember Reichgott-Junge interview an Education Minnesota official or any other Democrat. I learned absolutely nothing new.

So please, come on back David, Margaret, and Mitch.

Five more weeks of (K-12) school? That's what some superintendents are proposing, as reported in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Maybe not by the five weeks proposed Wednesday by a group of school superintendents and probably not in 2006. But, they said, global competition means Minnesota students may need more time in class.

The superintendents "may be right," said Sen. Steve Kelley, DFL-Hopkins. Students "may need more time on task" to graduate from high school. However, he said, the costs of a longer year need to be calculated.

In an age where everything moves ever faster, Big Education thinks we should go the other way. I think this is just another in a long list of excuses of Why Johnny Can't Read, or the sequel, Why Johnny Won't Graduate.

• We needed to pay teachers better. We've been doing that for decades; no effect on results.
• We needed better facilities like new buildings and technology and we bought them, Again, no effect.
• Maybe they're too hungry. Let's serve breakfast. No effect.
• Class sizes clearly are overloading teachers and underserving students. Only the exceptions are printed, but in general, the average students per teacher has fallen sharply, and again without measurable effect.
• There's no point giving out homework that they won't do anyway. So why do they seem to do more poorly on tests?
• Modular scheduling will optimize the student's day toward the more important subjects. But we couldn't agree what subjects those were.
• Peer negotiation, conflict resolution, and anger management are obviously superior, more adult ways of achieving order than old-fashioned discipline. But if you let the troublemakers stay in class, they disrupt those who want to learn.
• Teaching by rote is so primitive; more modern methods surely will work better. They didn't, and don't call me surely.
• Kids need more sleep; let's push back the starting time. No effect.
• Achievement testing and grading can damage self-esteem. Everyone in pre-Calculus gets an A, but half can't add a column of figures.

So this time, even though the schools performed just fine, and I'd say better with the existing calendar, now we aren't spending enough "time on task." They know there's a problem, don't know or won't admit what it is, but by golly, this ought to work. But tell me again about this Parkinson's Law thing, something about work expanding to fill the time available?

If it were up to me, public schools would be closed between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Summer is important in a child's development, too, especially in our climate.

Suppose you somehow had wound up with the forecasted State surplus of around $700 million. You strike a deal with the embarrassed bureaucrats, saying you'll give the money back but only if you get to say where it goes.

What would you do with it? As Tony Garcia and his producer observed on Sunday, you almost certainly would spend it more effectively than the Legislature will.

For one thing, we'd simply save a big chunk of it. But the Legislature will spend it all, probably with the Governor's blessing once again.

Mostly, though, trying to make a name for ourselves, we would try to do the most good for the least money. "Invest" in K-12 public education? Pointless. The results don't improve with additional funding and might even get worse. Open up a voucher/scholarhip window to help the prisoners of ISD #1, and the line will extend for blocks.

"Invest" in mass transit? Tens of millions a year for a few thousand potential riders? No, just add a lane here and there and tens of thousands of drivers will bless you.

Most of all, you'd talk to and work with the people. Not the connected ones, but the average joes and jills out there that pay the taxes.

Our friends Tony Garcia and Marty Andrade produce their own radio show Race to the Right on St. Cloud's KNSI 1450 AM Sundays from 1 to 3pm.

Lately, they have been "podcasting" their shows, but say they have received some "threats" of legal action. You can guess from whom. I hope they resume podcasting, for several reasons.

1. I don't like bullies who have nothing invested, neither time, money, megabytes, nor kilowatts.

2. Race to the Right gives us some non-Metro perspective, much as King does at SCSU Scholars.

3. Podcasting is a great technology, with portable players and desktop PC's so inexpensive.

4. Race to the Right is good radio. They had a somewhat rocky start, far better than most of us would have done, but that's over. They're latest broadcasts show that they're learning the business, even controlling the ah's and um's much better. A particularly good segment was Tony's research and coverage of the Princeton Public Schools referendum. It passed easily only because the citizens up there didn't listen to R2TR.

Maybe you're old enough to remember the Minnesota Miracle circa 1971. We made a deal with the devil, enacting a sales tax to pay for education and property tax cuts. The sales tax was just 3%. Today it is 6.5% or more depending on where you live, and it applies to many more items than in 1971. To be fair, equalizing school funding was its most stated goal, but the fact remains that this was our first attempt to buy down property taxes.

As might be expected, school district spending exploded, freed from more careful local control. Freed from a big chunk of the education costs, these once careful locals now could also raise spending dramatically. That, the business cycle, and politics once again have property taxes near the threshold of pain. Both parties are talking about it next year.

An honorable state government would repeal the health impact fee that it turns our we never needed. But now it also will be used for property tax relief. I'm also wondering just what the Ventura Administration implemented in "taking over" a big chunk of education funding. You couldn't tell looking at my property tax bill.

We have over 30 years of history now regarding property tax relief / reform. It simply doesn't work. All that each buy down has done is given the locals room to raise taxes back to that level. It's like raising the Federal debt ceiling.

The only way we'll get real property tax reform is to restrict property taxes to property-related spending. If you own more property, you need more police, fire, water, sewer, streets, parks, and most related city departments. You can also make an argument that a more expensive house's owner should pay more. You're more likely to be burglarized, for example.

Education, welfare, and probably courts are not property-related. They should not be funded by property taxes. Indeed, the buildings they build or occupy should pay property taxes, too. There should be no exemptions or exceptions, not even for religious or chartible organizations.

Beyond that, the property tax becomes a wealth tax, as Joe Soucheray sort of noted a couple of weeks ago. He read a story about residents in New Hampshire saw a line on the assessor forms for the "view" of the property. You have a nicer view, you pay more taxes. Like its big brother the estate tax, it is profoundly un-American in concept and should be repealed.

Yes, our income and sales taxes will go up, but it better puts the responsibilities where they belong.

UPDATE/CORRECTION: My memory of 1971 is faulty, per the excellent substitute hosts and guests on Taxpayers League Live this past weekend. The sales tax had already been established. The Minnesota Miracle raised it from 3% to 4%.

and the - snow won. I fought the snow and the - snow won.

Continuing my walks, currently in St. Louis Park, I decided to take on the light snowstorm and do about 8 miles while listening to the Northern Alliance Radio Network this afternoon. I put on the long underwear, stocking cap, etc, and then laced up my heavy duty Sorel boots.

I now know why good athletic shoes matter. About halfway, I became aware that I was growing a couple of nice blisters on my feet. I changed my style, curling my toes, trying to favor my heels, but by the end I was probably down to half speed or less. I was glad to get back to my car without calling a cab on my cell phone, but the damage was done.

I am also now acutely aware how much nicer my old shag carpet feels in my home office. I'm planning on finally replacing it soon, and I'm going to make sure it feels good on the footsies.

Hugh Hewitt decided to throw himself into this tempest in a teapot wherein cable subscribers are wondering and/or demanding to be able to pick and choose just the channels they want. Hewitt went a couple of rounds with an industry spokesman. Hugh punched and jabbed like he did with the Miers nomination, but lost on points.

Somehow people think their cable bill would drop dramatically if we could delete the channels we seldom watch or would be willing to live without. After all, the thought of getting rid of MTV, Animal Planet, ESPN 2-8, and non-English speaking channels is appealing. But it really won't lower your bill all that much, and it might even go up.

Rates are based on wide subscriptions and related revenue. Don't want to watch the Twins on FSN? If half drop FSN, the price for those who remain doubles. In fact, it goes still higher because FSN's ad revenues take a hit from a smaller audience. And it goes a little higher yet because of the extra staff they'll need to handle everyone calling in and changing their profiles. As I said, if you prefer the less popular or more expensive channels, your bill could go up.

The cable companies are not the bad guys here. They're really just wholesalers, and in the fight of their lives right now with Dish and DirecTV. Unlike satellite, cell phone, and wireless providers, they have to get franchises from the cities because of the utility rights of way needed to string the wires, just like the utilities and telephone companies. But there is no real legal block against a second or third cable operator. It's really a financial hurdle, many millions to put in all that cable and associated equipment.

The whole concept of television is changing, given TiVo/DVR, On Demand video, and even Internet video. Maybe NBC will offer "premium memberships" so you can watch Law & Order on demand, without commercials. Maybe we'll pay to watch the whole race on Nascar, not just half like today. Maybe we'll be able to watch the Masters winner play all 72 holes. Maybe they'll offer Gray's Anatomy without commercials and without sexual content. (Wow, that was a short episode, roll the credits!) Maybe cable service will simply evolve into an Internet firehose, getting voice, data, audio, and video via IP at 100 mbps or higher.

So take my advice and don't sweat the small stuff of a la carte pricing. Much bigger changes will occur by 2010. But if the cable companies have to offer it, it's only fair to require the same for the dish providers.

With few exceptions, Minnesota School Districts will have a banner year in 2006. Not only did they collectively get $800 million in new funding in the 2005 Legislative session, not only did they get most of their referendums passed, now they will be receiving another $700 million in 2006. The near bankrupt Minneapolis Teachers retirement fund may get bailed out, too.

This is remarkable given how little information is available on where those billions of dollars are going. Case in point is the Princeton schools. Tony Garcia tried to find out what the proposed $1.4 million annual levy increase would be spent on. The priorites, in order, were: replace lost busing (1 mile instead of 2), reduce fees for extra-curricular activities, rehire teaching positions lost in prior cuts, books, and building maintence. That was about as far as Tony could get in a lengthy interview with the Superintendent.

Maybe it's simply because the School Districts don't even know themselves. Peoples Republic of Minnesota notes that Hopkins suddenly found itself in statuatory debt. Meanwhile, Rosemount has cash coming out its wahzoo according to LearnedFoot.

"It's for the kids" isn't good enough anymore, if it ever was. We need clear, concise financial reporting to show us where all the extras money is going.