Speed Gibson

Another education reformer was forced out last week. Thandiwe Peebles resigned, with usual array of parting gifts. She follows Cheri Pierson Yecke (Minnesota Commissioner of Education), Pat Harvey (St. Paul Schools Supt.), and David Jennings (interim Supt. of Minneapolis Public Schools). What did they all seek? Accountability.

Meanwhile, Bill Green, former chair of the Minneapolis School Board, attorney, Augsburg history professor, takes over as interim Superintendent. Like David Jennings, who took over from Carol Johnson, Green is apparently unlicensed. In fact, so was the unanimously selected Peebles, making it three such appointees in a row since Carol Johnson left in 2003.

So why do we need licensing for public school superintendents? We don't in practice it seems, and when you think about, we don't in theory, either.

Licenses are designed to help protect the public from bad practitioners of various professions. Licenses can also save the public time by consolidating some of the "vetting" time we would otherwise spend selecting such practitioners. Yes, licensing can also be abused to fend off competition, but that isn't especially relevant here since the lack of a license hasn't been a problem for the last three selections.

For the job of superintendent, licensing adds no value. The applicants are specifically and individually selected and vetted by the School Board and staff. The latter process is much more intensive, much more focused than any general license procedure could hope to be.

Leadership isn't about degrees and certificates on the wall, nor plaques and awards accumulated over time. These are helpful, but many CEO's like Bill Gates seem to be able to function just fine without them. Leadership - getting things done through others - can only be recognized and then hired. Licensing saves no time. Licensing does not discern ability at this level. Licensing should be abolished, leaving the full trust and responsibility for the final selection where it always was - with the elected School Board.

Former superintendent Peebles was criticized for her methods in completing the licensing requirements, including "personal" use of staff. So what? Bully for her! That freed her up to focus on the tasks she was ostensibly hired to do, however poorly defined these may be.

Of course, this will never happen formally. The best way of ending this pointless paperwork is to keep doing what the Minneapolis School Board is doing. Hire who you want, get a waiver, then let them find a way to please the bureaucrats.

KTLK put up a couple of billboards along I-394 on the St. Louis Park side. They show a picture of Rush Limbaugh, with the words "Big Talker. Big Station." and the station logo.

Both have been hit with what I'll guess were paint balloons. They were aiming for Rush's head, but got him in the necktie with butterscotch colored splats.

Typical.

I was planning to review Wendy Wilde this week, but she pulled up stakes before I could get my third sample day.

I did get enough to determine that she actually talked about topics less than half the time, the rest consumed by news, weather, traffic, and a lot of banter. More than once she gave the weather, went to break, then gave the weather again. Yes, Wendy Wilde is a babbler, not a real radio host.

Babbling leads to carelessness, which led to a number of ridiculous fibs, like money for body armor was diverted to Halliburton. Or this one: it is a felony in California to steal an avocado. She was totally serious. There was no surrounding context. Maybe she was thinking in terms of "three strikes and you're out" and even here she's wrong, but no, she's babbling, trying vainly to fill air time until another thought pops up.

Mitch says he'll miss her. I won't. And I have to believe there are a few Democrats out there that won't miss her, either.

Rapper / athlete P Miller a. k. a. Master P finally got the boot tonight on Dancing with the Stars tonight. He was ready, the viewers were ready, and the judges were more than ready. Still, "P" acquitted himself very well and he truly did add some unique, enjoyable content to this season.

Here at home, I sadly had to give another "master P" his release, Dennis Prager. I was a charter subscriber to his premium service to get his commercial-free downloads in 64kbps mp3 high fidelity.

As you may know, Prager and his syndicator, Salem Radio, are in a legal squabble as to who owns his content, to the point where Salem apparently got an injunction to shut down the audio content of his site, including sales of his tapes and CD's.

Dennis Prager remains a staple of my talk radio diet thanks to my Pogo recorder. I'm in fact listening to yesterday's show right now at 150% speed. But should the impasse be resolved, I won't be back. Prager is the master of argument, focusing on reality with his mantra of preferring clarity to agreement. But he is a bad businessman.

This whole situation should never have happened. For once, he should have sought agreement, not clarity from Salem when he started this service. When the rug was pulled out, Dennis said virtually nothing, on advice of counsel, other than to offer a ray of hope. Given how poorly he has apparently managed things so far, this seems remote. After two weeks, I pulled the plug.

Like radio, a premium companion web site is also a business. The best is RushLimbaugh.com as you might expect. Rush offers a number of additional features over and above the radio program, including video, pod-casting, robust archives, and the occasional Internet-only fourth hour. Prager's site is almost totally about selling his audio. Initially, he also included a free monthly lecture from his many travels that he later abruptly withdrew without changing the price or providing some other new feature.

Finally, a pet peeve I wrote Dennis about is that he often replays hours without notice. There is no "you're listening to the best of" disclaimer aired at the start as almost all others do. Prager said on the air once that he feels it's important that we hear these hours again as if to justify fooling us. That's unnecessary arrogance that strains customer relations.

And that's why I'm done with "The Prager Perspective" on the web. Unlike my other two indulgences, Limbaugh and Ingraham, I just don't feel I was treated right as a paying customer, a charter subscriber no less. So now that I have some "open to buy" in my budget, I'm looking to possibly add a new show, maybe even one not aired here in the Twin Cities.

But as I said, I will keep listening to "P" on the "P" with my "P".

Thanks to my wife and the DVR, I saw today's Oprah show where she confronts not only James Frey, the discredited (as in lying) author of "A Million Little Pieces", but Doubleday's Nan Talese who published it. Oprah, Larry King, and seemingly millions of viewer/readers were taken in since Winfrey featured it in her celebrated book club.

Frey was the proverbial deer in the headlights, largely admitting his fraud, yet still hedging on some of the most absurd points of his story. Once you get over the fact that he even agreed to appear (maybe because of the threat of legal action?), it's about what you'd expect. He's a dweeb.

It was Nan Talese's appearance that really surprised us; she was little better than he was. I think she lied repeatedly on the show. Columnists Richard Cohen of the Washington Post and Frank Rich of the New York Times came on later, underscoring that. Rich couldn't resist making an analogy to President Bush, when a far better one, one that's actually true, would have been Mary Mapes. But otherwise they argued that Frey's "memoirs" smelled from the start and that a rookie fact-checker would have found Frey out in half an hour.

Talese didn't agree, and continued portraying herself as one of the victims of Frey's deception. Would a victim plan a second printing, possibly re-edited, but for sure with a disclaimer? No, but a co-conspirator would think like this: Maybe the book is real; maybe not. If it doesn't sell, nobody will raise much of a fuss either way. If it does, I'll make a lot of money, and if he's exposed, I can just say I was taken in - as long as I don't do any fact checking.

In her defense, she said she believed Frey's account of having root canal surgery without Novocaine because an "extremely incompetent" dentist had once done that to her. I'd like to check that story, too.

As it happened, Joel Stein of the Los Angeles Times who Hugh Hewitt cross-examined into a whining puppy this week appeared in a couple of "cameo" quips. So did Maureen Dowd, another columnist who has only a casual relationship with the truth. For these two columnists to pass judgment on Frey and Talese in effect showed just how easy it is for these con artists to succeed, albeit temporarily.

Good job, good show, Oprah.

Mitch Berg picks up on Brian Maloney's four questions for Rush. It read at first like Rush needed a friend, but by the end, Limbaugh is given his due as creator and ruler of modern day talk radio.

Question 1: "When is the guest-host pool going to finally improve, Rush? You've no doubt heard the complaints, so why must the show's quality drop so much at times while you're away?

Mitch and others don't like Roger Hedgecock, Tom Sullivan, Mark Belling, and/or Dr. Walter E. Williams. As a podcast listener, I usually skip the substitutes except for Williams, who appears 3-4 times a year, Friday only. It's always a treat, especially his tips on how to keep your wife in line.

I think the current crop all do a good job of keeping you informed on the news of the day. Rush has conducted at least one and I think two polls on his website asking which substitute you like best. Further, I once got a survey e-Mail asking for more detail, host by host.


Question 2: For years, your program has anchored the schedules of many talk stations, with local hosts built around your timeslot. Now, many outlets have been so badly mismanaged with infomercials, horrible syndicated shows and more that the entire medium is threatened. When are you going to address the situation's severity?

I'm not sure why this is Rush's problem. But Mitch Berg does a nice job with this question. The day will come that Rush retires, and it will be similar to when Michael Jordan left the NBA. You're seeing that now on KSTP-AM already. Mischke and Davis still seem lost in their new time slots, while Soucheray continues to coast with minimal show prep.


Question 2: Some conservative bloggers are frustrated that you rarely mention their sites by name, yet always seem to give full credit to referenced lefty sites. Do you see right-leaning blogs as friends, or competitors?

Rush often rightly complains how when he confronts someone who did a critical piece on him, he finds they've never listened to the show, only what others have said about it. Here, as JB notes in the comments, this is no longer a problem, if it ever was. As as podcast subscriber, I never miss a minute of Rush, and I say that JB is correct here.


Question 4: Conservatives are terribly frustrated by this Republican Congress. What's going to get them back on track?

Again, I'm not sure Rush has a role here other than to point this out more. Rush pretty much follows Reagan's eleventh commandment, whereas Laura Ingraham never hesitates to go after the RINO's. With the stench of the Abramoff scandal and The Bridge to Nowhere, the Republicans have a chance to retake the high ground, with the help of Limbaugh and a number of conservative columnists.

Katherine Kersten's latest column is about Education Minnesota's latest initiative, an outreach/survey project to find out what we're thinking. Only it's really just push polling. As she notes at the end, the project is named "Schools First" not "Students First" with all that this implies.

I took the survey, and yes, many of the choices are not there. Should we raise or lower standards, presented as teacher education/certification standards, the survey asks. How about implementing standards of job performance that would weed out the bad teachers? How about eliminating the capricious standards that would keep Albert Einstein and Henry Kissinger from getting a job at your school? They did allow some dissent. I clicked "more than adequate" on all the funding questions.

If the Nihilist in Golf Pants is listening, he could find at least 11 questions not on the survey. There are no questions about how the students are doing other than a general rate your school from 1 to 10. Grades? Grade inflation? Dumbing down the curriculum? Drop out rates? Discipline? English as your first, second, or other language? Do you like Open Enrollment? Would you prefer a Charter School? Would you switch to a private school if you could afford it? None of these are mentioned.

The real kicker is at the end, where they require your name, telephone number, and eMail address to accept your ballot. This is going to be intimidating to many who will stop here, skewing the poll.

This is a year long project, meaning their work will be ready for the 2007 Legislative session. The sky didn't fall when spending was held flat in 2003. After getting a big raise in 2005 which still didn't preclude many local referendums, they must think they need some additional ammo to seek another.

It's for the children.

There is global warming - on Mars.

How can this be? Other than a couple of roaming NASA probes, there are no SUV's, no smokestacks, no intelligent life, nothing to explain why the Martian polar ice (dry ice) is shrinking. How can this be?

There is a Martian atmosphere, but it's almost entirely carbon dioxide, and has no weather that could disturb the flow of energy from the sun to the Martian surface. And again, without weather, the loss of heat at night should also be constant. Most likely, either the sun is supplying more energy from above or more energy is bubbling up from some sort of geothermal disturbance. In fact, we know now that the sun's output is increasing.

Whatever the reason, this is a natural phenomenon. With its higher temperatures, considerable water, a volatile atmosphere, and a track record of major climate change spanning millions of years, the same could well be true of the Earth.

KQRS, that is, 92.5 FM, featuring Tom Barnard, Terri Trane, and the rest of the KQ Morning Crew. This is the number one morning show in the Twin Cities with a solid lock on that 18-35 demographic advertisers crave. First, the time breakdown:

Hosts               56%

Commercials         26%

Music               11%

Sports               4%

Traffic              1%

Comedy Skits         1%

Weather              1%

Given it's success, it seems odd how loose the format is here. The only thing you can really count on is that you'll hear about six "classic rock" standards at regular intervals. At less predictable times, you'll hear 5-6 minute commercial blocks, the rest being one minute here and there. Hey, they don't carry network news at the top of the hour, so they have to get their bathroom breaks in somewhere.

The content also goes in streaks, often 15 minutes or more. American Idol garnered the most time, playing some of the contestants who didn't make it. This is perfect for Barnard, who regularly conjugates "to suck": he sucks, she sucks, this sucks, that sucks, and to be sure, those "singers" did indeed suck. But this got tiresome after a couple of minutes.

The murderers who planned to open a coffee shop in Amsterdam triggered a lengthy discussion of Amsterdam itself. Again, this was perfect for this show, with the libertine attitudes there toward drugs and sex. This, too, is tiresome after a few minutes, at least for someone my age. But a raw edge with a lot sexual banter is a staple, maybe the staple of this show. I, in fact, quit listening to this show when I was in that 18-35 demographic for that very reason, as it was much more raw then. Yes, it has mellowed with age, and I'm happy to hear that Terri no longer works in a "hostile" working environment.

Other subjects included the Chaska murder itself, the pediatrician acquitted, the Golden Globes awards, the "Chocolate City" remark, and the "Fifth Duke" of Cleveland. I was impressed with a couple of unlikely segments with a representative of "America's Test Kitchen" and a webmaster who runs a travel feedback site. I don't expect a hard news format here, and the fluff factor was indeed 62 percent.

You've heard Tom Barnard more than you know in narrations and commercials everywhere. Still, his vocal quality grates on me a little, with that slight rasp. It's like the "velvet fog" without the velvet; yes, this is not Mel Torme. He also hurries a bit much, often trying to see how close he can cut to a break after saying "KQ". That said, he's still very good at what he does.

Terri Trane, well, I have better memories of her way back when I used to listen. She's really not that good. She basically now just reads the traffic reports and contributes little else, all delivered in a flat vocal style. I picture her staring out the window, not at all focused on the show. I'm not familiar with the rest of the current Morning Crew, but they did well.

I won't argue with success, and if I were them, I wouldn't change a thing. OK, yes I would and I'd mess it up, no doubt. But as I said, I'm no longer in that KQ demographic, so while I wish them continued success, I'll take KTLK.

Next up: Wendy Wilde, heard 6-9 AM on Air America 950 AM.

It's back, bigger and better than ever, and I love it. Yes, the fix was in last series, but hey, these are all celebrities and professionals. This time, we get to vote as well via 800 numbers for half their score.

This is one of the best produced shows of any kind. The stage, the lighting, the orchestra, the timing, the talent, the camera work, the costumes, and the yes, the dancing are all great. Host Tom Bergeron is smooth and effective while hostess Samantha Harris brings a surprisingly pleasant pageant tension to the proceedings. The judges are all business, know their dancing, and have great command of the language. Simon who?

The orchestra has been outstanding, as are the audio technicians who pick it up so well. The arrangements are powerful as need be for the dance, yet never upstage the performers. American Idol would do well to study what this show is doing so much better in this department.

If you had any doubts about the professional dancers teamed up with the celebrities, watch the special numbers they do by themselves. Burt Bacharach joined the orchestra to play and sing "Reach Out for Me" for all ten professionals and I don't know when I've seen such a beautifully staged and performed musical number on television. I'm sorry if I'm gushing, but it was that good.

Seven are left, including NFL receiver Jerry Rice, and rapper P Miller. Even aging George Hamilton is hanging in there.

Give it a try!

What an interesting field for the Governor's race this fall, the latest addition being Sue Jeffers of Smoking Ban fame.

Four major DFL campaigns are under way: Mike Hatch, Kelly Doran, Steve Kelley, and Becky Lourey, the latter being my best guess on who wins the endorsement. Pawlenty, barring any further mis-steps will be the GOP choice again, but by entering as a Libertarian, Sue Jeffers will be there at the General Election, too. Independent Peter Hutchinson will steal some votes from everybody, and like Jeffers, could be a spoiler like Perot and Nader. There are also some minor candidates: Ole Savior, Pam Ellison, Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey, and whoever the Green Party puts up.

I don't know how many of us are out there, but I am not voting for Pawlenty in 2006. I've been reading up on Peter Hutchinson, including his "Price of Government" book, thinking he's my best choice. But Sue Jeffers could be, probably is, better still.

Pawlenty thought he could have his cake and eat it, too, trying to please liberal voters, figuring his base had nowhere else to go. Sue Jeffers could make him pay dearly for poking at least half a dozen fingers in the eyes of that base.

This may not be Dennis Prager's year. After announcing that he's getting divorced earlier, he apparently is having to deal with lawyers yet again over his subscription web site. That's how I listen to Dennis, via downloads, only they stopped suddenly this week. A stark note on the free side says " CDs, audio tapes, and downloads of the Dennis Prager Radio Show are no longer available through this website." On the inside it says:

We are locked in a dispute that prevents us from [rebroadcasting] the show. We are hoping to get it resolved very soon, but until we do we can't post shows. When the problem is resolved we hope to have expanded and improved offerings, including podcasting. Right now, however, it's day to day.

I can't help but wonder if this is a community property problem. Meanwhile, the page where you unsubscribe is curiously unavailable.

UPDATE: The dispute is between Salem Broadcasting and Dennis Prager, Salem beleiving the content is theirs, not Prager or his company "The Prager Perspective". I still fault Dennis for the lack of warning, meaning unless this is solved fairly soon, I will forever miss last week's shows. He is at least suspending the automatic payments and offering refunds. Hugh Hewitt says he is working on a podcasting deal for early this year. Maybe he's run into the same thing.

Personally, I think Salem has the better of the argument here. There is so much more than just the on-air talent involved in making a national talk show work.

This past week on Taxpayers League Live (now on KTLK-FM) featured the best discussion to date on the proposed tightening on the use of eminent domain for private development, not just public uses like roads and schools. State Representative Jeff Johnson, co-sponsor of the bill and candidate for Attorney General debated Jim Miller, Executive Director of the League of Minnesota Cities for the better part of an hour.

Some key initial points, then three excerpts:

1. The Kelo decision nationally and Best Buy decision locally didn’t really expand the use of eminent domain. Instead, they made the public suddenly aware of what has been going on for decades.


2. What has been going on is that the Courts have expanded “public use” to mean “public benefit” and latter could simply mean increased tax revenue.


3. Kelo did affirm that a development / redevelopment plan must exist in these “public benefit” cases. The government can’t just decide to act arbitrarily.

- - - - - - - - - -

David: “Why do we need eminent domain for economic development?”

Miller: “Partly it depends on what the definition of eminent domain is. But if you’re looking at a community that really needs to stabilize property values, to insure that jobs are created, to create affordable housing, all of those can really be aspects of economic development. and they are all are purposes that the public generally says in a community are things that we want to have happen.”

Miller said that in a survey of their 853 cities, only 100 used it the last 6.5 years. Two-thirds of those were true public uses, like roads. Of the remaining third, this was primarily Minneapolis, St. Paul, and their first-ring suburbs using it for redevelopment.

David and Margaret later observed that it’s not just eminent domain, per se. The threat of eminent domain, even the mere existence of a redevelopment plan that could later result in eminent domain artificially lowers property values. Facing this, the owners often don’t even invest further in their homes, making them even less attractive.

- - - - - - - - - -

Mr. Miller seemed surprisingly unfamiliar with the two biggest cases to date in Minnesota, Best Buy and Target. He also seems confused on property rights vs. property values.

Miller: “The obligation of government in part is to protect the property rights of others. In a number of these redevelopment instances, what really happens is that the property rights of people that are adjacent to this property are being adversely affected. The redevelopment is positive not only in terms of the redevelopment of the property per se, but the impact it has on adjoining properties.”

David: “It worries me a great deal that City officials can basically say, we’re going to upgrade our citizens. We’ve decided the people we have been representing aren’t good enough, and we’re going to find a better class of citizens.”

- - - - - - - - -

Regarding the proposed bill’s requirement that attorney fees are recoverable when challenging an eminent domain taking:

Miller: “[This] means that many more decisions will be made by the Courts and not by the elected officials, and I don’t think that’s a good public policy outcome.”

Johnson: “And I do. I think when you’re talking about someone’s Constitutional right and forcing them out of their home, I think the Court should be deciding and not local elected [officials]. I can’t think of any other Constitutional right where we say, well City Councils have the last say, and you can’t take it to Court.”

Miller: “I don’t know where the Constitutional right is. We all hold the right to own property as something that’s sacred and we shouldn’t violate t But the Constitution talks really about private property only in the sense where it says it can’t be taken for public use without just compensation.”

Johnson: “That’s right. That’s exactly what I’m speaking of.”

Miller: “And that’s our point.”

Johnson: “I’m just saying that if there is an attempted violation of that, I think average people who don’t have a lot of money ought to have access to the Courts to challenge that.”

Miller:“And they’re certainly not precluded from access to the Court now. What this would do is create the reverse incentive and say let’s not even worry about the decisions at the local level, let’s just take it Court because there’s no reason not to.”

David: “Only if you win, though, right? What you’re arguing here is that even if you win, you now have a $25,000 bill. If you’re an average person and you’re going to have pay $25,000 after taxes for that ...”

Margaret: “You’re going to have to sell your house anyway!”

- - - - - - - - - -

The above is an edited transcript, for clarity only.

This is where radio in general and shows like this in particular have the edge. They can devote the time necessary to get a good understanding of this important issue. Plus, here it was a civil exchange throughout.

This past I week I recorded the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday editions of the new KTLK morning show. It goes a full four hours from 5 to 9 AM, starring Andrew Colton and Kelly Guest. First, the time breakout:

  Hosts               62%

  Commercials         17%

  Local News           7%

  Traffic              4%

  Weather              3%

  FOX News             3%

  Sports               3%

  Rush Limbaugh        1% (Morning update)

I thought Willie Clark spread himself too thin covering 56 topics over his three day sample of 10.5 hours. These hosts covered 98 topics in their three day sample of 12 hours. Part of that is that this program has less traffic, sports, and no business news, i.e. fewer "drive time" distractions. They also had an additional 90 minutes to fill, since they start at 5 AM.

Willie Clark did not repeat any topics. Colter and Guest repeated several. (I only counted them once.) This isn't necessarily bad, as few people will listen to the entire show in this time period. For a current topic, like the Alito confirmation hearings, this is often a plus.

Besides 50 minutes of banter (happy talk, intros, exits), Judge Alito was the big subject, garnering 31 minutes. Five more topics received more than ten minutes: the Andrews murder (Edina couple who moved to Florida), Iraq, bird flu, whining TSA screeners, and the new St. Paul smoking ban. The last included a live telephone interview of Bob Moffitt, who was undetstandably happy, even happier no doubt when his false statements sailed through unchallenged.

Eleven more topics took 5-10 minutes, twenty more took 3-5 minutes, seventeen took 2-3 minutes, twenty eight took 1-2 minutes, and fifteen were under 1 minute.

While better than Clark at 100%, this show still has an uncomfortably high fluff factor of 42%.

In covering the news, Colton and Guest can't help but give us some insight into their politics, but otherwise the show is pretty much apolitical. I think that's a reasonable strategy, as you have many other programs on KTLK to handle that. If it matters, Colton seems to be somewhat left of center, while Guest somewhat right of center.

Andrew Colton's news experience shows, and Kelly Guest's smooth radio skills are an excellent complement. The chemistry works. They're still sound like they're rushing things a bit, but for a new team, doing very well at not stepping on each other's lines.

It's a good blend of national and local news, and while I could do without knowing if Angelina Jolie is pregnant or not, the fluff at least waits its turn behind the real news.

I'm impressed overall. In fact, it is now my new personal morning choice.

Next up (by request!): the KQ Morning Crew.

I hope you saw that this John Stossel program, pre-empted by sports locally, was broadcast at 12:35 AM this morning. I stayed up, watching it as I recorded it. It was well worth it, possibly Mr. Stoseel's best work to date.

I also was pleased to see that ABC did not pull Stossel's punches. He says from the beginning that American students aren't making the grade because the public schools are failing them, then spends the rest of the hour showing why.

Even suburban schools are labelled as failures, even though 57% of us give our districts an A or B rating. That's only because we don't know what we don't know says the frequently quoted education reformer Kevin Chavous. "Right!" says Stossel, who then shows what happened when the same test was given to Belgian and New Jersey students. The Belgians, who spend less than we do, scored 76% vs 47% at an above average New Jersey, also above the national average.

Stossel then makes another key point. American fourth graders test above average againt the (free) world, but at the end, we rank 25th. Draw your own conclusion.

The money question took up another segment. The Kansas City billion dollar failure was featured as you might expect, but also school administrators who clearly think we need to dramatically raise education spending even more. Finally, examples of private and charter schools are given, where grades are up even though expenses are half or even a third of the average public school.

Choice was the next subject. In most countries that outperform us, education funds are attached to the student. Call them vouchers if you like. Schools that don't perform to parents' expectations - close! But here in America, the non-privileged get no choice. Your zip code picks your school. One interesting anecdote was about the new South Carolina Governor. He, too, theoretically had no choice, but some of the more well-to-do schools came to him and his wife offering waivers for their children to attend their schools. They eventually opted for a private school. The point is, the parents couldn't choose, but the schools could.

Finally, there are the unions. I don't think Stossel went out of his way to make them look bad, even thuggish. He didn't have to. First, Stossel showed the five foot long flowchart of the dozens of steps required to fire an incompenent teacher, even a sex offender. But when Randy Weingarten, President of the New York City teachers union said to John, "... those folks who like to say [we're a unionized monopoly], they really don't care about kids." I like to keep it civil here on my blog, but this is one case where, given the contemptuous look on her face as she said it, a b****-slap is in order for this h*.

Stossel finishes up by returning to choice, citing the success that vouchers have brought to Milwaukee, both public and private. But according to the teacher whose lawsuit cost Floridians their bite at this apple recently, "Competition is not for children, it's not for human beings, it's not for public education, it never has been [false! -SG], and it never will be." But Stossel ends on a high note, saying with examples, imagine all the ideas that could come forward when we do finally give parents the freedom to choose.

The recent Pawlenty "idea" to require 70% of public education funds be spent "in the classroom" is misguided. It sounds responsible, unarguable, and overdue, but it requires a foundation of accurate, understandable finance that does not exist today. Just what counts as in the classroom? As much as needed to reach 70% or more.

I suggest a more direct approach: face time. On the assumption that your student can only listen to one teacher at a time, let's itemize that instead, and see what that costs.

A high school student (OK, me, 1966), for example, has 6 one hour classes. Class size is about 24. Average teacher cost is $55,000 including benefits. Teachers work 5 of the 6 periods, so each teacher produces about 120 student-hours. Each student consumes 6 hours, requiring 1/20th of a teacher, which is $2,750.

Average spending is typically $10,000 per student total. We are told that 15% is non-payroll, so we have $8,500 payroll. Subtracting the face time teaching leaves $5,750 per student going to people who have no instructional face time with your student.

Yes, there are janitors, bus drivers, cooks, coaches, librarians, and office help to pay. There is general supervision to pay, and counselors and nurses. But show me a business where the "G and A" (general and administrative) expenses are even 50% of an professional employee's salary and benefits.

This is the dialog we truly need to have: where is all that non-face time going?

Things are already moving quickly at the big AM 1500, per Dementee and Fraters. In fact, I started this series figuring Willie Clark might be the first casualty. So before this becomes a post-mortem, here's my analysis of Willie Clark himself.

I have no idea why he was hired. Had he been one of the "Next Big Thing's" I reviewed last year, he would have finished in the middle of the pack. As I noted in part 1, he frequently pauses in mid-sentence, often 3 seconds or more. He stammers and fills with "um" and "ah" and "you know" and "while" and "now" while he figures what to read next. And other than sports where he does seem to have some passion, that's all he really does - read.

And what does he read? Little more than the "news of the weird" like stupid bank robbers that use their own deposit slips for hold-up notes. Over my three day sample, 338 minutes outside of breaks, weather, traffic, business, and Reusse, I tallied:

  Callers     18%  (various topics from below)

  Sports       9%  (by himself, no Reusse)

  Banter       8%  (intros, exits, happy talk)

  Weather      4%  (without Hammer)

  Topics      61%

Only five topics merited more than ten minutes: movies, company-mandated weight loss, Florida: home of life's losers, poor airline service, and procrastinating.

Another five topics received 5-10 minutes: Congress's low ratings, New Orleans Katrina damage bus tours, Super Bowl commercials, vodka, and the most popular vacation destinations. Six topics received 4-5 minutes, seven topics 3-4 minutes, eight topics 2-3 minutes, thirteen topics 1-2 minutes, and 12 more under 1 minute.

Other than sports, not one of these 56 topics had anything to do with the headlines last week. The miners were still "alive" on Tuesday, with reality and confusion setting in Wednesday and Thursday. There were a number of angles to follow in this story, such as mine safety and our own mining industry up north. No, it was more important to discuss Rollergirls.

Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's stroke drew but a few seconds of comment, contempt actually for those of us who think this is an important story. He cares not for the miners (or his boss insists as much), yet complains that Sharon pushed the miners off the front page. Jack Abramoff? John Murtha? Judge Alito? Never heard of 'em.

Locally, Pawlenty met with Ford in Detroit. Two mayors were sworn in, one clearly intent on outlawing smoking in St. Paul bars. Northwest Airlines' pilots may go on strike. Apparently Bob Berglund's summary at the top of the hour is all you need to know.

Throughout all of this, I got the clear impression that Mr. Clark isn't exactly a people person, an oddity in this business. Further, he sounds to me as if he all but hates his job, perhaps taking it only as a transitional step to some other station or role.

You add it up, and there is absolutely no reason to listen to this program, and KSTP's management gets a big slice of the blame here as I've noted. You can hear the same headlines at the top of the hour, and equivalent sports, weather, and, (sigh) traffic on any competitor. The rest is fluff - pure fluff. You learn nothing. You gain no insights. And Clark's somewhat dour style can ruin a perfectly good morning.

As others noted, guest co-hosts have suddenly appeared this week. I couldn't care less. My dial, long set to KSTP in the morning is now set to Bill Bennett's Morning in America or sometimes Ian & Marjorie's Balanced Breakfast.

Our newest local talent is Willie Clark, heard mornings 5:30 to 9:00 on AM 1500 KSTP. I recorded Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this past week, January 3-5, as the basis of this review. As you may know, Mr. Clark comes to us from Sioux City, Iowa. He lived across the border in North Sioux City, South Dakota. There is also a South Sioux City in Nebraska, which I imagine made it a little complex and confusing to track state politics.

As I like to do, here is the breakdown by segment type:

  Host (Mr. Clark)    57%

  Commercials         13%

  Sports               9% (Patrick Reusse)

  Local News           7% (Bob Berglund)

  Traffic              6% (Kenny Olson)

  ABC News             3%

  Business news        3% (Wall Street Journal)

  Weather              2% (Patrick Hammer)

These are approximate of course. It's often hard to draw the line during the happy talk transitions. There are also the quick weather forecasts within the host segments and "brought to you by" tags here and there.

Very striking is the very low (by Patriot standards!) commercial load. A number of these spots were in fact promos for other AM 1500 programs and Public Service Announcements. But this seems more the rule across the dial this January. Maybe the advertisers are cautious during this big transtion for KSTP and launch of an all new station, KTLK-FM.

Most striking, however, is Mr. Clark's frequent, lengthy pauses, for no apparent reason. Several were over four seconds, dozens over three seconds in my three day sample. When I edited out the excess delays over one second, I eliminated over 26 minutes of dead air, an average of 2.5 minutes per hour. When you add to this a high amount (for a professional broadcaster) of ah's and um's, I think this is a significant problem for this show. Even when reading text, these unexpected dropouts make it harder to follow, and certainly more annoying.

As I said of Bob Davis, this portion of KSTP's day is very constrained by their drive time format. In fact, I think it has become worse with an announced "traffic and weather together every 15 minutes" policy. Actually, I think they have the weather correct. There are two live segments with staff meteorologist Patrick Hammer, around 5:50 and 7:35. The rest are quick "Patrick Hammer's forecast is ..." readings every so often.

But much as I like Kenny "Soul Man" Olson, I call on KSTP to be the first to stop this incessant "traffic report" nonsense. These reports that in effect cry wolf every 15 minutes numb the listener to the occasional exception. Just tell us about the big stuff, like an overturned tanker truck.

All in all, this format is nowhere near as crazy as Dave Les's Short Attention Span Theatre over at WCCO 830. But it still sounds like organized chaos. Willie Clark does manage to get the airwaves to himself half the time, and I'll review what he does with that time in the next post.

Meanwhile, I'll be recording the new KTLK-FM Morning Show with Andrew Colton and Kelly Guest this week.

The sun is back! Yes, the clouds kept us fairly warm however many days it's been. Yes, clear skies mean colder nights. But it is still glorious to see that lucky old sun roll around heaven today.

I dug out an old spreadsheet where I calculated the total solar energy we receive each day, based on the date and the latitude (45° N here). Using the summer solstice as 100%, we hit bottom at the winter solstice Dec 21 at just 21.9%. The sun is much lower at noon (meaning less hot) and the hours of daylight much less.

Here at January 7, we're now up to 23.8%, and we're gaining about 0.2% a day.

Minnesota Attorney General and candidate for Governor in 2006 Mike Hatch called a press conference about the State's current practice of selling "private" information.

Tonight on Almanac, Deputy Attorney General Lori Swanson took on Eric Lipman from the Governor's office. It was a bit strained, each accusing the other boss of negligence in this matter.

What struck me was how Swanson kept referring to "the Pawlenty Administration" as if she or her office were outsiders. Even as a mere citizen and resident, this bothers me. Aren't we all on the same team, here? Yes, the AGS is elected, but isn't the office part of the Executive Branch? Can't we all get along?

It's one thing for Mr. Hatch, as an elected official, to take his shots at Mr. Pawlenty, also elected. And while Eric Lipman also could have conducted himself better tonight, he is a hired political operative.

But as a Deputy AG, Lori Swanson can and should appear to clarify the legal situation, not to stoke the fire. She is part of the Executive Branch. Clarification of the law is helpful and appropriate. Taking political shots against another member of the Executive Branch is not.

It shouldn't matter, but it does. With a curiously uncommon name like Blois, one has to be careful, especially as a public figure.

Blois Olson, the Democratic public relations consultant who sued and in effect outed M.D.E.'s Michael Brodkorb, has now drawn the fire of the Learned Foot. The blog formerly known as the Kool-Aid Report is now simply "Blois" complete with an appropriate masthead. I'm still laughing!

But seriously, what is the point of all this? Even if successful, Blois Olson appears petty. As for his reputation, it's too late to get that all-too-plausible charge back in the bottle. After all, M.D.E. heard it from somebody else, probably a Democrat. And $50,000 less attorney's fees compensation for lost business isn't going to make or break Olson's business. In terms of pure public relations, such litigation, 50-50 at best, is poor strategy.

I suspect the real motive is simply publicity, giving Olson and his firm some name recognition, presenting themselves as feisty slayers of Republicans.

The theory that tax cuts can spur the economy to the point of even increasing total tax collections is now well accepted, given the experience of Presidents Kennedy, Reagan, and now Bush. But that doesn't fit the Left's template.

Federal deficits and tight State budgets have only one cure according to them - raise tax rates, particularly on high rollers. So along comes one opposing study from the Congressional Budget Office, the "government's top arbiter of fiscal matters" as the Minneapolis Star Tribune would have you believe. One counter-intuitive study against decades of experience both here and abroad, but a study that fits their template. You are therefore directed to stop believing your lying eyes and cheerfully let the government spend even more of your money for you.

Remember, they tell you, Reagan's tax cuts caused the big rise in the deficit. But I remember that tax revenues doubled and spending tripled. To borrow from the editorial, "You don't need a Ph.D. to get the point. Just look at the data."

Let King further educate you on this, followed by some cathartic relief from Learned Foot.

Tomorrow, it's back to school and back to work for most of us, even though the Rose Bowl is still two days out. And tomorrow marks the perhaps the biggest sea-change in years for Twin Cities (full time) talk radio.

Looking over the field, I'm going to make a 2006 prediction that the new KTLK-FM station is going to be very successful.

1. They are carrying the #1 program in the nation, Rush Limbaugh, and carrying him live.


2. Their 100,000 watt FM signal can be received indoors, at work, at the mall, at the grocery store, etc.


3. They have a balance of national and local programming. KSTP-AM is local only now, Hannity's remaining time the last gasp. WWTC-AM is national only except for the NARN, and even this program is generally spends the majority of its time on national issues.


4. KTFN-AM (Air America) is as ratings show, unlistenable, little more than sneering.


5. WFMP-FM (107.1) isn't political. It is therefore really in competition with Oprah, Ellen, etc., not other talk radio stations.

I will dedicate 2006 to sampling and reviewing the new and existing talk programs, one per week, starting with Willie Clark tomorrrow. I plan on taping the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday shows, boiling them down for weekend posting.

Last week, Hugh Hewitt and The Unblinking Eye put out a public service announcement telling us to resist all temptation and not waste our money on Memoirs of a Geisha. It was a long, tedious chick flick, beatifully photographed, but without the usual things they expect in a movie like dialog, a plot, gratuitous nudity, and swordplay.

Naturally, my wife wanted to see it. What was I to do?

But then via Michelle Malkin I saw Frontpagemag.com's top ten conservative movies for 2005. There at #10 was Memoirs of a Geisha.

Surprised you, didn't I?

...

Forget the sets (sumptuous). Ignore the scenery (lush and exotic). Instead focus on the story of a little girl who falls in love with a man, and endures much for the sake of that love.

Scanning other reviews proved not very helpful, so I took her to the 3 pm showing today. If nothing else, I had to see who was wrong, and it turned out to be Hugh Hewitt. That's two big blunders this past year for him, this and his gushing, unfounded support for Harriet Miers.

The sets were indeed sumputuous. The scenery is indeed lush and exotic. Plus, I enjoyed the music throughout. I realized why when the credits listed John Williams, Yo Yo Ma, and Itzhak Perlman. In fact, the credit sequence at the end in itself was beautifully done.

The plot is gentle and simple, nothing like, say, the recent remake of The Count of Monte Cristo, which also has superb production values. But this is the very essence of the culture in general and the geisha in particular. It isn't dull despite its length. It has pathos, it has fate, and it has an all too human cast of characters.

My only complaint is the overuse of the jiggling camera, which has found entirely too much favor with modern film makers. I think we understand that a rickshaw ride through poorly paved streets is going to be a little bumpy.

I recommend it, and give it three and a half out of four stars.

It was a Happiness Hour unlike any other, with Dennis Prager making this announcement:

"I have a sad personal announcement to make. After seventeen years of marriage, my wife Fran and I are divorcing. This is sad first and foremost for Fran and for me. We've known each other nineteen years, have raised three children, and assumed we would be together forever. It was not only our hope. This is a value that we shared.

But despite our values and despite years of work on our marriage, not to mention prayer over it, we could not sustain it. There are no villains here, just two decent people who have endured a lot of heartache and pain. It is also sad, of course, for our three beloved children, two of whom are in their twenties and living on their own, and the youngest who is 13. All five of us are very close to one another. While unhappy about it, our children do understand why this divorce is happening. And all of our closest friends likewise understand why it is necessary and in fact, none of our closest friends were surprised.

I am sure, however, that many of you are surprised, if not actually shocked. After all, for many years I would talk about Fran on the show, and knowing how much I make the case for marriage and family, you had every reason to believe my marriage was sound and even wonderful. When you add that to my happy demeanor, and to my dispensing of advice on happiness and male-female relations, you surely had no reason to assume otherwise.

So you, my dear listener are the third reason for my sadness, right behind us and our children. I know that many of you hold me and the values and the ideas I express in high regard. I pray that my divorce does nothing to diminish that respect. While I have always argued for divorce when truly necessary, some of you I know regard a divorce as a moral failure. For you I hope that what I call my moral bank account is large enough to withstand this withdrawal.

For the rest of you who do not necessarily morally judge those who divorce, my divorcing can still be shocking. As one prominent individual said to me, “My God, if Dennis Prager is divorcing, it can happen to any of us.” Well, the truth is it can happen to almost anybody, and that is why I work so hard on my radio show to help men and women better understand each other, and to never take a spouse for granted.

From your many calls and e-mails on this subject of marriage, I know that I have, in fact, helped many marriages. Tragically, this advice could not save my own. As my father, married to my mother for 65 years, said to me recently, “The longer we’re married the more I realize how rare it is, and how lucky, to get along with someone for so long.”

As you would well understand, this is all so private within my family that I cannot speak of any particulars. But I do believe if the particulars were known, no one would judge either of us harshly."

A year ago I made two New Year's Resolutions. One I kept, to no longer fisk Nick Coleman. It was just too easy and by that time, there was little to add.

My other resolution was to loae 64 pounds. I fell way short, though I did wind up losing 13 pounds. My bold plan was to lose 1 pound a week by diet, and 1 pound a month by exercise, specifically my walking hobby.

I finished Maple Grove, and am just over 100 miles into St. Louis Park, a total of 444 miles for 2005. That equates to well over 25 pounds, which if you do the math means, yes I ate too much again this past year.

"What is past is prologue," wrote Shakespeare. So, once again, I hereby resolve to lose twice as much in 2006 - 26 pounds.