Speed Gibson

No, I'm not going to start a weekly post on this show. But I'm in a compressed Reality Show mode, and it seems a good time to at least say why I really like this show.

Food competition is an eclectic taste. Given enough time, a million cooks with a million dollar kitchen and pantry will eventually turn out Lobster Thermidor and Crêpes Suzette. Unless dancing or singing, you have to constrain something. You give them only so much time, or so many ingredients, or isolate them on a beach with primitive facilities.

Hell's Kitchen is unique, however. The thing to fear most is not a constraint, quite the opposite: mass production! It's the only show where you get to see the life of a line cook. You don't get to perfect a single entree. You have to turn out dozens of them. With something like Beef Wellington, where you have this delicate race between pastry outside and steak inside getting to the proper doneness together, this seems almost impossible to do consistently.

But good line cooks do it. It's their cooking you're usually enjoying in better restaurants, and they deserve great credit. Gordon Ramsay's fits and rants are fun to a point, but sometimes get in the way of this fascinating peek into the kitchen.

Watching online the Dancing with the Stars episode I somehow FAILed to record has won me over. Even at the modest resolution of compressed video on a 1024x768 laptop screen and the generic audio heard over some old but responsive headphones, I was amazed. It wasn't emulation of a TV set. It was emulation of a home theater experience. I am more than familiar with every piece of the technology involved. I know how it all works. Nothing technically surprised me. But the total experience sure did.

I should probably temper that with the fact I was watching a top flight, highly visual production with a full musical score. It obviously wouldn't be quite the same watching a snore fest like Washington Week in Review.

Technically, television as we know it is on the way out, including much of what is today cable and satellite. Nothing new there. But the economic models that will take us there are equally dramatic I suspect.

This 70 minute broadcast including maybe five 30 second spots (commercials), and a couple of promos. Where are the other 20 minutes or so of advertising going to go in the Web TV world? That represents most of the income and all of the profits.

It may be that lavish productions like Dancing with the Stars and American Idol will prove just too expensive for Internet only distribution. But I also saw in this case that a sponsor had its product logo prominently above the image, and an ABC logo and a KSTP logo.

This reminds me of the old days of TV, where sponsor banners were commonplace. Lawrence Welk had a big Geritol sign hanging behind the orchestra. What's My Line had a big desk where the four panelists sat, and emblazed on the front was the sponsor's logo, like "Phillip's Milk of Magnesia." Even "Old Gold Cigarettes" logos were proudly displayed on the host podium for a quiz show, and the contestants often received a couple of cartons as a parting gift.

The old shows also pioneered product placement. Burns and Allen conveniently opened a kitchen cabinet to see the can of Maxwell House coffee. As in old time radio, sometimes the spots are written right into the script. What's old is new again, and this will be a big part of the new model, because the audiences of tomorrow will not be content to watch programs at the station's convenience or endure ever lengthening commercial breaks. I timed a recent prime time show break at six minutes!

It's going to fun. The one thing to avoid is getting locked into low speed Internet solutions like most DSL and municipal Wi-Fi offerings. Fiber to the home (FTTH) and cable's 50-150 Mbps enhancements will be the new standards.

After a smashing week of Dancing With the Stars, what a huge letdown to watch American Idol this week. Both shows have entered the two performances each mode, but Dancing gave it the 90 minutes needed. There was no concealing how rushed Idol was.

On the other hand, maybe this was a good week to roll the credits and run, on Neil Diamond week.

Jason Castro and Brooke White have already overstayed our welcome, and tonight's four numbers all fit that motif. I'll say right now that Brooke White is going home tomorrow night.

A bit surprisingly to me was that David Cook wasn't in top form. Neither song really suited him, but his vocal skills made the second ("All I Really Need Is You") still very enjoyable. I can't give him the high marks the judges did, though.

David Archuleta finally became human, missing a few notes in his first song, "Sweet Caroline." I probably can't blame him, given the third rate arrangement underneath. He did better with "America" but like some other Idol contestants, his youth only let him hit the notes, not the soul of this classic. But - a big finish, and enough to give him second place this week.

For Syesha Mercado took the week handily I thought. My girl, my girl, my girl, I'm talkin' 'bout my girl! She did a simple number to start ("Hello Again") and it was a good decision. Less was more here. She was a little pitchy in spots though.

But her "Thank the Lord for the Night Time" finish was a clever Motown cover of classic Neil Diamond, and well done even if the judges didn't seem enthusiastic. Why Simon thinks she's at risk for the number is totally beyond me, but he really has never liked her to date. She does seem to have trouble ringing the phones, that is true. She doesn't have the teenage girls fawning over the Davids or the 21-35 males ogling Brooke. I decided to vote for her, but got nothing but busy signals.

With Carly leaving unexpectedly last week, anything can happen this week.

We're somewhat dislocated because of construction, and somehow between 2 DVR's we didn't get Dancing with the Stars last night. Having just watched it on the Internet, I'm not sure I can't say more than this was one of the best weeks ever. Cristián had a muscle spasm cut his second number short, but otherwise we had 12 very competent performances.

Kristi is still so obviously the one to beat, but the gaps are closing.

Who goes home? I have almost almost no idea. Perhaps Cristián, who understandably had to lose some judges points. But if it were up to me, I'd oh so gently send Shannon Elizabeth home. She's just not quite at the same intensity level as the others. I'm posting this 15 minutes into the Results show which hopefully is recording.

THE RESULTS: I think the audience got it right, with Marrissa and Shannon in the bottom two. Shannon went this week, and Marrissa is already the easy choice to go next week. As bubbly and enjoyable and hard working as she is, improving each week as she is, Marrissa just doesn't figure in the final four unless Christián just can't go on.

We've got two of our best laid up, David Strom and King Banaian.

Various accounts are at Residual Forces, Let Freedom Ring, Ladies Logic, and of course SCSU Scholars (by Janet).

At this writing, David is still undergoing testing, having so far only eliminated bird poop allergies, frostbite, Hot Chick Fridays, and recent legislation. King's tests finally found the trouble and he is now awaiting gallbladder surgery.

I had gallbladder surgery myself 15 years ago. It took me two trips to the Emergency Room before they found it, too. I got an EKG and Maalox at my first visit, complaining of the mother of all indigestion. The Maalox only made it worse, and soon I was sweating, too. I had driven myself the first time, around 2 AM. The second time, I had my wife drive me there around 5 AM.

I remember the second doctor saying "I wonder if you've got gallstones" and off I went to ultrasound. My situation was acute, with an elevated white cell count, and a long, traditional surgery two days later. But I recovered quickly, and have had no problems since. Well, maybe an occasional one, but King's vegetarian diet may preclude any such high speed digestion.

So David - a "Speedy" recovery to you. And King, we'll compare scars when you're up and around at Keegan's, making patrons buy us drinks to put our shirts back down!

I'm going to out of town for a few days so while I'll be on the web from time to time to update my Weight Watchers points if nothing else, I won't have much on District 281 for the next couple of weeks. It therefore seems a good time to ask for a little help from my fellow travelers.

When you have time, take a look at the Robbinsdale Area Schools web site:

www.rdale.k12.mn.us

Tell me via comments what you think of it, good and bad.

• Construction: Does everything work? Is it slow? Are there broken links? Any idiosyncrasies specific to a browser? Would you rate it state of the art, old school, or somewhere in-between?


• Layout: How do you like the design, aesthetics, graphics, and overall look? Is the navigation intuitive? Can you find what you're looking for?


• Content: Once you find the page you're looking for, is the information current, understandable, and complete? How would you generally characterize the writing and presentation, e.g., competent, wordy, honest, less than honest, direct, pretentious, dull, snappy, condescending, pedantic, jingoistic, insightful, juvenile, or an engaging professional unbiased style we wish the Star Tribune would adopt? Is there content that should not be there, like an implied political endorsement? Is there content that is unfounded in fact or by the best credible research?


• Value: Is this site helpful, particularly to a student's family? How about to a family considering moving in or out of the District? Or a family considering Open Enrollment or other options?

This is not about the Parent Portal, which is a separate site with accounts and security for parents to get student-specific information.

You could obviously spend a lot of time on this, but whatever time you care to "donate" is much appreciated.

The Robbinsdale Area Schools, District 281, has been doing a fast-paced visioning process the past month. This was deemed necessary before the referendum last year, and especially after it was defeated. I have posted my support for this process and participated in six of the many community visioning sessions: two general, one each high school, middle school, elementary, and ECFE.

Today, Saturday, was the big wrap up meeting where all that raw input and preliminary scoring was presented to a group of 32 "community leaders" drawn from the School Board, District Staff (principals and below), city government, business, parents, and taxpayers. I was honored to be invited by the Board as one of those 32 evaluators.

This went from about 8:30 am to nearly 3 pm, with only a quick lunch for a break. A number of initiatives for change were developed, including action plans. Much as I would like to share those outcomes, the Board and Staff will now work this up into a formal document to be presented at the Monday, May 5 School Board meeting. I'm going to be respectful and let the Board present it at the Monday, May 5 regular session at 7 pm. I will be out of town that day, but will have the DVR record it via Comcast channel 22.

I will share this: Superintendent Stan Mack made an interesting observation at the end, expressing some surprise that class sizes didn't make the final cut. It appeared throughout the raw data, but apparently the other issues around it always seemed more important to us. I agree with Mack, this is surprising indeed, having heard this over and over at the community visioning sessions I attended.

But now that I think about it, this could be evidence of a successful process today. For while both staff and parents cite class size as a concern, when listed with other issues it took its rightful status as a symptom. Address the other issues like funding, scheduling, and testing, and class sizes will take care of themselves.

I found this whole process very helpful to me, gaining considerable understanding of how the district works and what the parents expect. But now it's time to resume my quest for understandable financials, possibly as part of one or more initiatives developed today.

Previously: 1 2 3 4 5

"I'm serious!" thundered Elmer Ganty, new majority owner of the Minnesota Vikings. "I am absolutely serious!"

"You are out of your ever-loving mind, Elmer!" said Bob Shayne, his minor partner and head of Football Operations.

"I tell you, this is one for the ages if it works."

"Finally! The word 'if' appears!"

"We could get nuked tomorrow. I could have a stroke. Hit by a comet. Nothing is dead certain, nothing except that we are no closer to a new stadium than the last two owners. Unless you brought in a new idea with you, I'm going ahead with this."

"Elmer, these things take time, and you have to do them at the right time."

"And that time is when? The lease is damn near up and we couldn't even pry a bleeping study out of those preening peacocks!" shouted Gantry, obviously referring to the Legislature. "Look, Bob, tell you what. I'll fund the this out of my own pocket. Just keep it under your hat for now." Gantry smiled, walked around his desk and sat down. "Let me have my fun. Maybe you're right. Hell, you probably are. But I remember when cell phones looked impossible. I took that chance and half a dozen other crazy ideas since then. I figure I'm about a .333 hitter." Raising his hands toward the walls he said proudly, "It works in baseball and it got me here, too."

"You're swinging for the fences on this one. Betting the franchise even."

"Not at all. We'll know early on whether we have anything or not. I can laugh it off if need be."

"OK, OK, it's your dime. Coates and Neill again?"

"No, this isn't their sort of project. I sent for Dave Fleischer."

"And he is?"

"Of Fleischer, Fleischer, and Freleng, in Chicago. John Hamilton recommended them. They've done some kooky things he says, just the kind of architects I'll need. I'll only get one chance at this. Dave's the kid, Max Fleischer's son. It's perfect for him, a chance to really step out of his old man's shadow. I'll know soon enough if he's the one."

Shayne walked to the door, then turned around. "Ever hear of the butterfly effect?"

Gantry looked up. "Yeah, somewhere."

"Some guy said a butterfly's wings flapping could disturb the air enough and somehow that gets bigger, maybe creating a tornado or a hurricane."

"For the want a nail, the shoe was lost. For the want of a shoe, the horse was lost. For the want of a horse, ..."

"The rider was lost. Yeah something like that."

"I get it. Some guy in Hooterville makes a joke in a school board meeting. My ex-wife's nephew's son, a Poli-Sci major at the community college, is in the audience. He calls Nora. She calls me and puts him on the line. I'm distracted but polite. An hour later it hits me. And it just might happen!"

"Might. You know, it's starting to hit me now, too."

Ganty laughed and gave Shayne his famous finger pistol gesture. "Like I said, it'll be one for the ages. Or I'll be a shoo-in for Bellevue."

Anybody remember the TV mini-series "V" from 1983? It's time for a 25th Anniversary Edition isn't it? Digitally remastered? I always think back to this show when I read about Ethanol.

The "Visitors" arrived spectacularly but peacefully, seeking our help. In return for technology, we allowed them to alter some oil refineries to manufacture a chemical they needed back on their home world. Soon we found that all they had really come for was food and water, the latter secretly in the form of the obscure chemical. We humans were the former.

Such a plot would never go over today, of course. We no longer have any spare oil refinery capacity. Oh wait - maybe we do: all those Ethanol plants! Oh wait - maybe the Visitors are here already, having us turn water into a useless chemical. Oh wait - our Visitors did the "V" Visitors one better, by having the unintended consequences kill us off for them via starvation and environmental damage. With "go juice" approaching $4 a gallon, thanks to the enviro-loons, we can't even afford to drive to get away.

We puny humans did finally defeat the Visitors in the mini-series, once we knew what was really going on. I think the Proletariat may yet triumph over Ethanol, too. The evidence is now in plain sight: food riots and third world hunger.

Even the misanthropic are finally speaking up, concerned at least for the damage to Mother Earth. Paul Krugman is finally starting to get it. Even Time and Newsweek are openly questioning the whole concept. Al Gore is incommunicado. Our local "experts" including Prime Minister Pawlenty are talking about "transitioning" to switch grass to keep this nonsense alive. I wonder if they will have the time.

We see the prices rising sharply in the grocery stores. We get why there is unrest and now hoarding in the world. We realize now that Ethanol, far from saving us money as a domestic energy source, is having the net opposite effect - as some predicted long ago. Words like "scam" are finally creeping into press accounts. Everything we they know knew about Ethanol is wrong.

We can bank the fire a little ourselves, commiserating with our friends, relatives, and neighbors about our trips to the gas station and the grocery stores. Tell them why. And tell them to tell their representatives. At a minimum, we should shut down the E-85 pumps immediately.

For this will be the summer of our discontent.

Previously: One Two

Continuing the interview by the NARN's Mitch Berg and Ed Morrissey with Dane Smith of the Growth & Justice "non-partisan" but certainly liberal think tank, the topic stayed fixed on public education. As before, this is my personal transcript, edited for clarity.

Mitch Berg: What is Growth & Justice proposing [for K-12] education here in Minnesota? [...]

Dane Smith: Well we think we need to put more money into it and we need to do it smarter. Ample investment, smarter investment.

Mitch Berg: Well, we can meet you halfway on that! Let's talk about the smarter first [...].

Dane Smith: I think there's a lot of evidence, mounting evidence, that if you really focus on the kids who are likely not to succeed and if you really work at helping them as early as possible and following them all the way through, that you're going to make a difference. The research really is pretty encouraging on this and that's why Art Rolnick, the Senior Vice President for the Federal Reserve, hardly a radical teachers union advocate, has been so impassioned about this. We're not quite done with it yet, but we've been working for more than a year now on a blueprint for investing in education. It's really focused very clearly on a single goal and that is increasing by half the number of kids who by the age of 25 in this state have some sort of higher ed. degree. Business knows that's important. They've flagged that as a worthy goal and we're on it.

Let me review this, how the experts say you can make a difference. If you really focus on the kids. If you really work at helping them as early as possible. If you follow them all the way through. Been there. Done that. I'm a parent. I'm not bragging; it's just part of the job, isn't it?

Sadly, it apparently isn't in some families. But who has given up on whom?

Mitch Berg: Education, let's be honest, Dane Smith. Education has not been starved for money in this state. Even during the worst of the Pawlenty years, the education budget really never did get cut in terms of actual dollars reaching classrooms in Minnesota. In fact, the cost per pupil has gone up, up, up the last eight years in Minnesota.

Dane Smith: We could argue all if it has kept up with inflation. I think it actually has been cut. For one thing, the costs for public education are a little higher than the CPI. We are asking schools to do more and more [...] other than education and it's an expensive proposition. I would say this. I haven't used this construct very often, but let's ask people for whom money is no object, how much money it costs them to educate their children. For the wealthiest people in Minnesota, many of them will put their child into one of the best private schools going, Blake and Breck. It's my understanding that from Junior High on and even earlier, those costs come to about $20,000 a year. That's the cost of a first rate education I guess if you're going to look at the market.

Mitch Berg: [After noting the $3,000 to $4000 annual cost of a private Catholic school education.] The blue chip education bit is something of a straw man. Not everyone wants to send their kid to Breck or Blake even if they could afford it. Second of all, that's not what we're talking about delivering to the hoi polloi in the Minnesota schools, even under [your] plan, is it?

Dane Smith: No. The point was that I don't think we're overspending on public education in this state.

How would we know? As I've posted several times, if my own district is any indication, such questions are presently unanswerable. We can't have a useful discussion on school finance until this is resolved.

I think I'll stop here but there's much more in the full interview on Townhall.com. Again, I appreciate Dane Smith's bravery in engaging us in the loyal opposition.

Previously: 1 2 3 4

"I don't like it," huffed Mrs. Bea Sorenson, Clerk of the Gopherville School Board. "I can smell the bridges burning already."

"What bridges?" responded Charles "Champ" Perry, Vice Chair of the Board.

"Jack Larson's group for one."

"OK, that's one."

"There's the mayor, our legislators, our colleagues, our peers, our associations," Sorenson replied evenly. "And the community as a whole who's going to have a hard time understanding this."

"OK, we're still at one."

"Mr. Perry, that was uncalled for!" rejoined Sorenson, leaning forward, eyes fixed squarely on Perry.

"Folks, let's keep it civil, please," said Chairman and retired judge Virgil F. Thompson. "We passed the budget for 2008-2009 earlier this year, which cuts two teachers as you know. Now we have the new, disappointing local revenue forecast. Even the best of Martin's scenarios costs us at least one more teacher. There's no way we'll get a referendum through, especially in a Presidential year as we all agreed when this budget was adopted. The Legislature is done for the year barring another bridge collapse. We can cut further to avoid Statutory Operating Debt, if we're not there already. Or we can listen to Mr. Riesling here."

"Now Paul, I trust you understand there will be no decision tonight, or even the next meeting, even under the best of circumstances. Mrs. Sorenson is correct. This does affect a number of relationships, both here and throughout the state. We value those relationships as I'm sure you do yours."

Paul Riesling rose. You could hear several people in the gallery take a breath. The board room was standing room only. Word had gotten out, as it usually does in small towns.

"Mr. Chairman, you have my offer," began Riesling. "It's not an ultimatum, it's an alternative. It's not a threat, it's just an option. You're free to decline and I will honor whichever decision you make. I have put a time limit on it, but Superintendent Kennicott gave me that date as you can't implement it after that anyway. I'll might well make you a very similar offer next year, should you decline this year. This may just be too fast for you. I understand, believe me."

"But Mr. Chairman," he continued, "there is more at stake than just one year. This situation, this financial squeeze has been years in the making. And it's not just Gopherville that is being squeezed. I would simply cut you a check now if I thought otherwise.. No, things have to change, to get stable financing, and that means clearly forcing the issue with St. Paul."

"As I've said before, this really isn't about destroying relationships. It's about rebuilding them. I could offer my own theories about why K-12 funding is no longer a priority for the Legislature. Look at the session just completed. Granted, it wasn't a budget year, but K-12 got no significant attention until the last few days, and only then to simply protect last year's amounts from the deficit resolution. Meanwhile, look at all the time and the $74 million they did spend on a Light Rail line."

"And what do we do? We meet with our representatives. We testify before their committees. We meet with officials from the Minnesota Department of Education. We fill out their reports and forms. We apply for grants. Superintendent Kennicott attended a forum with several of his peers at the Governor's mansion earlier this year. Our officials, our staff, our citizens and volunteer groups like Jack Larson's Legislative Delegation all are to be commended for their efforts."

"And St. Paul still goes on its merry way, playing with their toy trains, building stadiums for millionaires, and of course bringing home the museum and hockey arena bacon. And does anyone doubt the Vikings are going to get a stadium? Maybe that's an answer. Let's propose operating schools in stadiums!" The crowd roared, but soon politely responded to Judge Thompon's light gaveling, the Judge himself chuckling.

"One more thing. Yes, the revenue forecast was down a bit. I therefore am raising my offer, to $250,000." This time, some in the crowd gasped. Then came cautious applause. They didn't understand the mechanics of the deal, but they all knew that amount of money could be put to good use, and without the usual delays and paperwork.

Again, the gavel rapped the crowd into a quiet murmur. "Members of the Board, I believe we have no motion on the table for this, nor is the Chair seeking one this session. The Chair will entertain a motion to add this to the next meeting agenda, for further discussion and possible adoption and / or possible rejection."

"I so move as a discussion item only," said Bea Sorenson, eager to stem the momentum heard tonight. Champ Perry thought of amending it to include possible action, but thought better of it and seconded. The motion passed, after which Riesling quickly headed for the door, followed by practically everyone but the board. He walked two blocks up the street with a couple dozen in tow, and headed into the Gopherville Tavern, sliding into the small corner booth where Fran Dodsworth and Leora Arrowsmith were waiting as planned. Within a minute, a Gibson was put in front of him, as the ladies had arranged. Paul smiled and took a thoughtful sip.

"Thanks. I needed that," he joked. "It was kind of scary up there." By now, most of his entourage had found comfortable seating, but five had clustered around Paul's group.

"Mr. Riesling, we don't know what to say but thank you, thank you so much!" said one.

"It's not a done deal yet. You probably don't even know the deal."

"It must be some deal if you're willing to fork over 250 grand," said another.

"250?" asked Fran, who like Leora had not been at the meeting.

"Well, I upped it a little because of tax forecast," said Paul, taking another sip. Only one other person there realized the possible significance of that last exchange. "But it'll all be in the paper tomorrow. I've seen to that." That seemed to satisfy the group and they dispersed to join the others after a few more thank you's. His view no longer obstructed, he signaled the bartender for a refill as he finished the first drink and munched the onion.

"You did need that, didn't you!" said Leora.

"Don't worry, two's my limit and I'm walking home anyway."

"So what happened up there?" continued Leora.

"Pretty much exactly what you predicted."

"We didn't predict you adding 50 more," said Fran, with a note of concern in her voice.

"Like you said, it was raise or call."

Tonight we said goodbye to NYPD Detective Ed Green, so wonderfully played by Jesse L. Martin on "Law and Order" the past nine years. This series must be going on 20 years and it's been classic and classy American television throughout.

I again feel we've lost a friend, like wise-cracking Detective Lennie Briscoe (the late Jerry Orbach) and crusty old District Attorney Adam Schiff. But Executive Producer Dick Wolf seems good at finding more. His characters are real and human, not the pompous twits of the unwatchable CSI.

American Idol should borrow the element of surprise from "Survivor" - and hold a double elimination tomorrow night. Jason Casto was "Lost." Brooke White broke rule one: "Don't Forget the Lyrics." The other four were pretty damn good considering the degree of difficulty that Andrew Lloyd Webber numbers present.

I knew immediately that David Cook would do "The Music of the Night" from "Phantom of the Opera." While not his genre, and not his best, I could so easily see him on stage in that very role. He again was best in show, the one to beat.

Happily for me, Syesha Mercado finally broke out with a jazzy, sexy number. She looked great and finally took command of the stage. But for a couple of minor pitch and tempo gaffes early on, she was the equal of David Cook tonight, her best ever.

What a marvelous voice David Archuleta has, and he's only 17! He is one of the few who can do runs and riffs to my satisfaction. All he needs is a couple of decades of life experience to put the meaning into his words. But today, while magnificently, perfectly competent, it would be track 10 or so of a full CD - and fourth place tonight.

For Carly Smithson took third in my book, finally getting the match of song and available power she has needed. It was her best ever, and I liked the outfit, too. I might rank her higher, but she collided with the backup singers in the choruses, which may not have been her fault.

Who's going home? Usually a lyric lapse is fatal, so I'll say Brooke. Jason was lifeless and plodding, but made no mistakes.

***

AMERICA VOTED to send Carly Smithson home after her best performance to date. I can't help but wonder if she simply wore too many sleeveless dresses.

Previously: 1

Continuing my analysis of Dane Smith's appearance on the North Alliance Radio Network, we resume after Smith claimed that our state government became smaller thanks to the Ventura income tax cuts and rebates. Again, this is my personal transcript, edited for clarity.

Mitch Berg: [It's] been eight fairly good years here in Minnesota since [the Ventura tax cuts and rebates]. Unemployment was extremely low. We led the nation in employment, and by most metrics that matter to the average Minnesotan's pocketbook the past eight years. It's not been a bad experiment. What say Growth & Justice?

Dane Smith: Well, I disagree with you that it's not been a bad experience. There have been a lot of people, especially in the lower half of the economy who have lost everything from fairly generous support for their autistic children. The schools are more crowded. They're in more of these containerized classrooms. We all choose the economists whose numbers we like to look at, but this last recovery compared to the recovery of 90's and the 80's was one of the weakest ever for median income. So for the middle, this last decade was the weakest of several big decade long recoveries or more than half decade recoveries. It is true that the stock market did pretty well in this recovery, and for people in maybe the top quintile, 20 percent, it was pretty good. But more important, right now in the last year or two, Minnesota's economy is underperforming the national economy for the first time in a long time. And that's been widely accepted. [Thomas] Stinson, State Economist and others are worried about it.

While I'm sure we have great sympathy for the victims of autism, this is anecdotal. And what does he mean by "containerized" classrooms? Granted, I'm not a world class surfer, but Google couldn't help me and the Growth & Justice site apparently has no search feature.

By "crowded" schools I assume he's referring to class sizes, as there is currently a glut of class rooms throughout the state. But I could point to several articles on the Web to show that class sizes aren't consistently calculated, a function of many factors, and not always indicative of actual results. A great teacher with 36 students will usually out-perform two mediocre teachers with 18 apiece.

The fact that the Minnesota economy is now trailing the national average should be of concern to all of us. But as Smith observed in part 1, "there's not easy cause and effect on this stuff." As I observed in part 1, state government is growing, not shrinking. Maybe that's the problem.

Total state spending has tripled in just the last 20 years. I dare say that few of us are making three times the money of 20 years ago. An even fairer question is would you get three times the money for the same job you had 20 years ago? Doubtful. Real doubtful. Businesses know what's happening and see still more government growth on the Legislative horizon.

All in all, this is a rather weak opening toward justifying growing government still further.

Mitch Berg: Growth & Justice says that we can turn this apparent slippage in Minnesota by charging more taxes. How does that work?

Dane Smith: We had the one the strongest economies [in the nation], arguably the strongest in the midwest. We're definitely not in the sun belt, but among the midwestern states, Minnesota was always the highest taxing, highest spending, and highest achieing economy throught the 70's, 80's, and 90's. [...] There is a consensus. Former Governors, State Economist Tom Stinson, Federal Reserve Vice President Art Rolnick [all say] that this was largely due to investment in education. [We] really put a lot of money [into this] in this state. You can argue that the culture already valued education, which is fair enough, but nevertheless we did invest in it. And we think it paid off. The test scores, we're always number one, well of course so is Wisconsin and Iowa.

Mitch Berg: North Dakota has frequently beat [Minnesota ...] and North Dakota spends a fraction of what Minnesota spends per pupil on education.

Dane Smith: And North Dakota doesn't have nearly the cost of living, doesn't have a metro economy, doesn't have a high cost, high octane economy like you have in the Twin Cities.

Wait a minute, Dane. Which way is it? Does educational success lead to a vibrant economy or not? At a minimum, we should expect a mass exodus from Fargo to Moorhead, but it is Fargo that is thriving. Moorhead is a comparative ghost town. How can this be given Growth & Justice's fundamental premise?

We'll continue on education in part 3.

It was a pretty good week of dancing, including the first group dance.

Kristi and Mark stole the show with a perfect 30 nobody can dispute. It was a tour de force in every way. Wow! An A-plus!

My pick for second is Christián, not Mario who the judges scored higher. Yes, I really like the smooth elegance of the fox trot, and I agree with Len that Mario's routine was a bit too sleazy.

At the bottom is Marlee. It's always instinctive to handicap her scores, and it was a decent performance. But decent isn't enough this far into the competition, and I think she's out this week.

Also in the bottom two? I wouldn't be surprised to see Jason Taylor, who is almost too athletic to be smooth. I think Marrissa should be safe, but Shannon - probably not, in the bottom two with Marlee.

Still, I enjoyed every dance which is to say the competition has gone up a level.

THE RESULTS: Marlee, yes, left us this week. What a talent given her circumstances! Surprisingly, Mario was with her in the red spotlight, not Shannon or Jason.

I'm not much of a hockey fan. I did used to take time off from work to watch every game of the high school tournament, until Sid Hartman et al ruined it with politically correct brackets. I do know enough to completely agree with Chad the Elder:

Here's one cliché that [the Minnesota Wild television announcers] ... should try: players make plays. It doesn't matter how many shots on goal you get. It doesn't matter if you "completely dominate" a period. If doesn't matter that you're "not getting any breaks." If you don't make plays, none of it matters.

This directly reminded me of my grandfather saying "fishermen will catch fish." My mother had a corollary: "Fishing lures catch more fishermen than fish."

You can have a sleek boat with a trolling motor, depth sounder, and fish locator. You can have the best rod, reel, and the most replete tackle box in the county. You can have a full spread of baits. Try as you might, wherever you might go, my grandfather in a rowboat would take more fish out of the lake with a bare hook. He was a fisherman.

So it is with many professions and pursuits.

As I posted earlier, veteran Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Dane Smith, now President of Growth & Justice appeared in studio on the NARN this past Saturday from 2-3 pm with Mitch Berg and Captain Ed Morrissey. It was a remarkably clear insight into the delusion that is Minnesota liberalism. Let me begin with Dane Smith's opening statement. The following is my personal transcription, edited for clarity.

Dane Smith: Growth and Justice really is a kind of center to progressive think tank that emphasizes the idea that certain investments, smart investments, and ample investments in the public sector are actually good for the economy. That's a real shorthand. We think that smart investments in education, in transportation, public health and other things actually work for the economy and we think that we have the numbers to show it. Or at least to show that Minnesota did quite well with higher taxes and bigger government in previous years. I think I'm sophisticated enough to know that there's not easy cause and effect on this stuff, but at the very least I think arguing that slashing taxes and making government as small as possible hasn't proven so far to be a formula for success.

Mitch Berg: We wouldn't know because we haven't really tried it. There's been no period in Minnesota history where you've either slashed taxes in any sense that any real slasher would regard as a slash and government hasn't really shrunk in Minnesota ever.

Dane Smith: Actually it has. Ten years ago, the Minnesota Taxpayers Association, the other conservative tax organization in this state, their statistics show, and these are commonly accepted and used statistics from the Census Bureau study of state and local governments, the effective tax rate was about 13 percent in the mid-90's. A combination of rebates and cuts over the last ten years have reduced that to 11.7 with the biggest cut coming in 1999 and 2000 from the income tax cuts. So we are right now in a big experiment with smaller government. The actual tax has dropped [1.3 percentage points] and that is significant.

First, the effective tax percentages quoted are actually from the biannual tax incidence study published by the Minnesota Revenue department as required by law since 1990. Smith's figures are correct, however, that the effective tax rate was 13.0 percent in 1994, 11.7 percent now. Let the record also show that it was 12.0 percent in 1990, and given the tax increases just passed, will soon be there again.

Yes, it fell during the Ventura adminstration, to 11.2 percent by 2000 in fact. But let's remember that the rebates and rate cuts were in response to huge, unanticipated (and temporary) increases in revenue from the dot-com and Y2K bubbles. Let us also remember that most of that windfall was spent, not rebated. Having raised spending significantly and permanently against a temporary revenue surge, was it any wonder we faced a "mega-honking" deficit in the wake of 9/11?

Ventura's two budgets raised general fund expenditures by 13.8 and 14.1 percent, about 30 percent over the four years, far more than inflation, personal income growth, or GDP growth. So no, the government did not do without. We could afford those rebates. Besides, didn't they in turn stimulate the economy?

The tax incidence study tallies what we pay, not what the state spends, which is larger because as the report notes, several billion dollars of spending are paid by outsiders, such as tourists. This is slightly misleading as we and our employers pay taxes in other states, not shown here.

Finally, this study only covers only the General Fund, which is perhaps 70 percent of total spending. Who pays for the rest? Even Federal money is ultimately our money, after Congress has pocketed about 30 percent of it in carrying charges.

Sorry Dane, but what we've really seen the past ten years is an experiment in BIG government. And the ten years before that, and the the years before that ...

Next time - whether you call it big or small government, does all that money truly pay for a better Minnesota?

The weather finally having completed my empirical requirements, I hereby designate today, April 20th as the first day of Spring 2008.

Previously: 1 2 3

"We'll talk further at next month's meeting. Thanks, Marge." Will Kennicott, Superintendent of the Gopherville schools hung up the phone. Marjorie Brown had heard about Gopherville dropping out of the Greater Minnesota School District Association and wondered if her group was next. "Marge" headed the School Administrators of Minnesota, a professional organization for school principals, superintendents and those in-between. Unlike the GMSDA, this group included those employed by charter and private schools.

His secretary, Juanita Haydock knocked and entered. Kennicott had a distant look on his face. "You gave her the good news, right?"

"Oh, sure," said Kennicott, now smiling a little. "I was just thinking this will really confuse some people."

"Like why Marge is in and Jim is out?"

"Uh huh. In fact, that's exactly how they're going to look at it. Personally. Marge and Jim, not their organizations."

"I wouldn't know. Anyway, Paul Riesling is here."

"Give me a minute. No, wait, I'll come out with you." Kennicott followed Haydock to her desk, walked past and extended his hand to his 10:30 am appointment.

"Superintendent," began Paul Riesling.

"Call me Will. Juanita, will you show him in? I'll be back in a minute."

Riesling had grown up in Gopherville, class of 1966. After six years in the Army including two on the front lines in Vietnam, he had gone to Moorhead to earn his B.A. in Accounting. He settled in the Twin Cities, passed the CPA exam, and after 14 years working for three different firms, opened his own practice in the small suburb of Hopkins. He did well, and later expanded to offer financial planning and brokerage services. At its peak, he employed 7 people, retiring in 1999, selling the company. Paul had done well for himself personally as well by following his own firm's advice, including some great calls in the 1990's bull market. He had arrived. He had also eschewed marriage and family in getting there. Suddenly, he saw himself as unimportant. 'Who will remember me?' he wondered, suddenly seeing life very differently.

Rather than make his first hire his partner as planned for 2000, he sold it to him outright for a small down payment and a 10 year promissory note. It was a bargain, almost charity, but this way, Paul knew the business would have little trouble going forward without him. Riesling soon found outright retirement a bore. He dabbled and volunteered in various civic organizations, capped by being named Grand Marshal of the 2004 Raspberry Festival. But it wasn't what he wanted. He suddenly pulled up and moved back to Gopherville. Shortly thereafter, he bought out the budding accounting practice of Fran Dodsworth. As part of the deal, Fran stayed on part time by working nearly full time just during tax season. She also filled in to cover for Paul during his vacations and extended absences. For Paul really didn't want to be retired. He just wanted a simpler, smaller enterprise.

He also wanted to contribute to the community, not so much as a volunteer but as an actual mover and shaker. Gopherville filled this need too, by right of history and because he was now a multi-millionaire big frog in his hometown small pond. He did a number of projects, both by direct contribution and by leading fund-raisers. Some had suggested he run for office, but he had sense enough to say no.

"Thanks for waiting, Paul. I had to return that all that coffee I rented."

"Tough morning?"

"Yes and no. But what can I do for you?"

"I came to see if I can help you." Will Kennicott said nothing, but raised an eyebrow to ask how. "I read the paper. I hear people talk. The paper says money is tight here in district 352. The folks say you're a good man, that you're doing a good job, and that you deserve better. So, I came to see if I can help."

"That's very kind of you - and of those folks you mentioned," said Kennicott. "What did you have in mind?"

"That depends. I have a couple of questions first. Just so you know, I spent some time with Martin Arrowsmith Tuesday. We went over the budgets, in some detail, man to man in the CPA sense you might say. We were just about done when the call came about his mother."

"Yes, most unexpected. She was only 68. In fact, shouldn't we wait until he returns on Monday? You said you hadn't quite finished."

"No, I've seen enough numbers, I think. How about you?"

"I .. sorry?"

"Have you seen enough numbers?"

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Me, I'm an accountant. I see numbers every day. Maybe I even like it. But I don't think you're that kind of Joe."

"Really." Kennicott crossed his arms, not sure if he wanted this conversation to continue. "What kind of - Joe? - do you think I am?"

Riesling leaned back and smiled. "I sound like my old man, talking about Joes. Will, like I said, I read the papers. I talk to people. And while he did his professional best, I was able to glean a couple more points from Martin, too."

"And?" said Kennicott, coolly.

"You want it straight?" Kennicott nodded. "Will, I'm not sure this job is right for you. Oh, sure, you can do it. You've been doing it. You've been doing it well. And you're qualified as hell. But now you don't like it, or you think you don't, or at least others think you don't."

"Keep going, doctor."

"This business about making Martin report directly to the Board. What problem will this solve?"

"Look, Mr. Riesling. Speaking for the District, I appreciate whatever it is you're trying to do. I really do. But speaking for myself, maybe you had better just come to the point."

"Very well. Point one. Drop this nonsense about splitting the job, to insulate you from having to worry about the money. That was Martin's idea. He's a splendid man, a real friend I suspect, but turn him down and tell the Board. You're a team, you work well together. Don't mess it up." He paused for reaction, got none.

"Point two. Do your job. Do all of it, numbers, money, and all. Which is to say, do what you've been doing all along. Sure, the town is changing. Education isn't a growth industry anymore. But our kids still need an education. In fact, they need a better education than we got. You might have to work a little harder, but I have every confidence in you. So does the town. And so does Martin. He's got more to give if you'll let him."

"And just how would you know that?"

"Not from Martin himself, if that's what you mean. But I have my sources, sources who came to me as a matter of fact. May I continue?"

Kennicott nodded nervously.

The Headliners were in great form today on their segment of the Northern Alliance Radio Network - the NARN heard Saturdays from 11 AM to 5 PM on AM 1280 The Patriot.

In the first hour, Mitch and Ed analyzed the Democratic Party debate this week, which featured a very poor performance by Senator and Presidential candidate Barack Obama. I've heard several pundits analyze this and in my humble opinion, this was the best. That includes Bill O'Reilly, Mark Levin, and even Rush Limbaugh. Plus, it was done with some pretty good humor, all of it entirely appropriate.

In the second hour, long time Minneapolis Star Tribune political reporter Dane Smith was interviewed in studio. This was one of those cases where the kid glove treatment is best. After all, Smith was kind enough to appear and expressed no malice in his positions. And what positions! I feel a post or two coming on that.

If you didn't hear it firsthand, it's particularly worth your time to listen on Townhall.com.

We finally made it over to the Heights theater in Columbia Heights. I think I was last there in 1966.

You walk in to live organ music. The curtain still works. We saw a good show, "Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day" with Amy Adams and Francis McDormand. With two popcorns and two drinks, $28. Can't beat it, other than they don't show first run movies.

We'll be back to see the 40th Anniversary reprint/remastered "Planet of the Apes" next month.

Attending all these visioning sessions for District 281 has been very personally rewarding, having gained many new and interesting "stakeholder" perspectives. Most have been quite positive, but also quite realistic about this current situation. A couple of attendees should have been a little more diplomatic in expressing their opinions, but even that was at least illustrative of the east - west division.

I'll have more to say at the proper time, i.e., when the final report comes out. For now, allow me to discuss a general question, grouping grades into buildings and programs.

District 281 generally uses the "modern" K-5 elementary, 6-8 middle, 9-12 secondary model as do many adjoining districts. But District 279 (Osseo) uses the more traditional K-6, 7-9, 10-12. District 286 (Brooklyn Center) uses K-6 and 7-12. (Minneapolis N/A given their effective withdrawal from the north side.)

There are refinements like the K-2 / 3-5 pairing that Superintendent Stan Mack offered as an option earlier this year, primarily to save money, the 2007 referendum having failed. The affected parents in 281 made it very clear very fast: no thank you! I understand that Spring Lake Park has implemented this, however.

Another is pairing the high schools into 9-10 and 11-12, which White Bear Lake has done. This might be interesting for 281, pairing Cooper and Armstrong so that all students have equal access to all programs. Today, students must choose a track, a frustration for one of the parents at the session.

I'm still intrigued by the K-8 concept which an unnamed education professional in the Osseo district favors - and I agree with her reasons. But alas, much as I tried to put it on the table at the visioning sessions, no one "seconded" my motions. I found that there is such a public school in the Rochester, Minnesota system and I'm going to find out more about it. A road trip might be in order.

I bring these up because I'm hoping the final visioning process will consider such questions. What is truly the best arrangement for 281? Would multiple approaches make sense, given the significant demographic differences east to west?

These are important questions financially as well, significantly affecting the usage and utilization of the buildings and staff, even transportation. We shouldn't make such changes just to save money as our 281 parents made clear. But we shouldn't charge blindly ahead to either enhance the current model or adopt new ones without looking at the financial effects.

For ultimately, it's money or the perceived lack of it that has us all talking.

The final community visioning session for the Robbinsdale Area Schools Strategic Planning process is tonight, April 17th. It is officially designated as the Robbinsdale Middle School session but all are certainly welcome. It is at "the old Robbinsdale High School" at 36th Ave N and Highway 100, from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm.

I'll be there, too, to fill out my dance card. I've been to two general sessions, one high school, one elementary, and last night, the ECFE session, so all I need is tonight's middle school session.

I was putting together a somewhat depressing post looking ahead to November. But then I heard yesterday's EIB podcast where Rush played two musical numbers from the White House ceremonies receiving the Pope.

The U. S. Army Chorus sang "The Battle Hymm of the Republic" and I've never, ever heard better, even at podcast fidelity. As if that weren't enough, lyric soprano Kathleen Battle sang "The Lord's Prayer" accompanied by harp only. It was breathtaking. I'm assuming these will soon appear on YouTube if not already.

I forgot all about that post. This is still one fine country and I'm ready for battle once again. I just needed these reminders.

I'm old school when it comes to lugging things around. I carried my books in high school, a brief case in college and thereafter. My latest briefcase is pretty fancy, with lots of room and compartments. But that room tends to get filled up, including a couple of books on education I bought via the Strom Showcase - and a laptop computer. The arm carrying all this has been hurting a little lately, so it was time to try something new.

I bought my first backpack! It's a very nice one, sturdy enough to carry the laptop safely, but otherwise sized right. I really like it already, especially on those days when I'm taking the bus to avoid generating a net gas tax increase going to the State.

I don't think I've seen anything like this on American Idol. The judges went absolutely ape for David Cook's performance tonight. I didn't. David Cook is the one to beat, no question, but I sure question this as his best work to date. Great performances are solidly on key. David was not, unsteady throughout. I can't help but wonder if the judges were acting as producers keeping the star alive, as this song choice won't connect with Cook's fan base. Either way, he's safe.

David Archuleta should be safe, too, though I didn't quite think he nailed it as much as the judges did. And I think Kristy Lee Cook might well be safe as well, given the strong finish.

Jason Castro has simply leveled off. He's not bad, but he's not improving week to week. He's probably safe, too.

The three remaining girls are my bottom three: Carly Smithson, Syesha Mercado, and Brooke White. Like Kristy, they all looked great. Carly even wore sleeves, and did as well as she could. I just don't think she has the vocal cords to deliver the challenging songs she picks. Brooke was having trouble singing and playing the piano.

But sad for me, Syesha really disappointed this week. The song was a mess. Challenging, a good effort, but a mess. I think she's going home this week and it's a shame because she and David Archuleta are the only two that David Cook should worry about.

AMERICA VOTED: And Kristy Lee Cook is leaving. As often happens, contestants sometimes lose out on one of their better weeks. But she was never destined for the finals.

King Banniain (I have to have a little fun now that I'm on the Kool-Aid blogroll) on the Final Word segment (3-5 pm Saturdays on the Patriot) told of helping his son do his taxes this past week. The Federal was easy enough as it usually is when your net tax is zero. But the State return was more complex, and asked for a "donation" of over $600 to boot. He said something that made me think he was going to talk about a postcard return for State income taxes, but he went in another direction.

So, let me bring it up again. Why do we play the silly game that is form M-1 every year? Why not simply have this:

1. Enter your Federal tax from line xx..
2. Multiple by xxx percent
3. Subtract what you've paid in, e.g. withholding.
4. Pay in or await refund of the difference.

We know what to set the percentage at, since we have to include our Federal return with our State return. So why can't we adopt this and save a whole lot of pointless processing time, our contribution to closing this year's deficit?

In maybe 20 years at the current spending growth rates, we can then simplify it further:

1. How much did you make last year?
2. Send it in.

Eight are left going into the Latin round this week.

The best was either Mario or Kristi, the judges favoring the latter with two 10's. Personally, I liked Mario a little better this week.

Most were in the middle. No one got less than a 7 from any judge, no one got a perfect 30.

Shannon's performance was admittedly more of a romp than a dance but deserved more than a 23. Jason got 27 for what he could have done, not what he did, given the nice outfits and great song choice. The judges were a little rough on Marlee, a little too forgiving to Christián who walked while Cheryl danced.

In my bottom two were Priscilla (21) and Marissa (24). Yes, the judges liked Marissa again this week, but I'm going to have to be a little indelicate. Her outfit was wrong, the song was wrong for her, and I really hate saying this, but she ... showed too many pounds?

But Priscilla needs to go home this week for after all, she did get the lowest score from the judges. Her outfit was absurd and the number was dreadfully slow, boring in fact. She was striking poses, not dancing, and there was no chemistry at all despite the obvious attempts.

RESULTS: No surprises, other than to see Christián in the bottom two, not Marrissa, and that's fine with me. But it only gets tougher for her now.

Many years ago I actually looked forward to driving downtown to be part of the April 15th procession near midnight, handing my returns to the postmen standing in the middle of Marquette Avenue in front of the main post office. These days, I'm content to mail them much earlier, like during the day on the 14th.

We try to avoid refunds, and believe me, the refunds have sure been avoiding us lately. As such, there is nothing in it for us to file electronically. It is easier to simply print them, write the checks, mail them, and pocket the e-filing fees.

It seems to me that we should get a tax credit for saving the State and the Feds all that data entry, enough to cover the usual charges. It wouldn't be wrong to limit what those charges are, either. It wouldn't be wrong to charge less for a form 1040EZ that a full 1040 with a spread of supplementary schedules.

It just shouldn't cost you money to do it the "right" way.

It was a busy news day for a Saturday and the Jason Lewis Tax Cut Rally didn't get the big crowd like last year. So I'll cut our local stations some slack for not choosing to cover it. In fact, only one did - KSTP-TV Channel 5. Their report estimated the crowd at about 1,000 which personally I think is a bit low.

It was their lead story at 5 pm, running 2 minutes, reported by Chris Keating. Some balance was offered by Matt Entenza on the $6 billion transportation bill, correctly observing that it was over several years, but rather misleadingly saying it would be addressing congestion and replacing the I-35W bridge. All in all, it was a good segment, including a few words from Leigh (Mrs. Jason) Lewis. But Keating stumbled on the closing line.

"So where does Minnesota rank nationally? Well according to Minnesota 2020, when you consider all the taxes we pay, Minnesota falls in at ... 31st."

Of course, Minnesota 2020 is Mr. Entenza's "progressive, non-partisan think tank" that "focuses on the issues that really matter." He is also the chief protagonist for the left on the Face Off segment on KSTP-TV's "At Issue with Tom Hauser" Sundays at 10 AM.

A fresh cut appeared on their 6 pm news, again about 2 minutes, and again with that obviously false tag line about Minnesota being 31st overall. The lowest ranking I have ever seen anywhere at any time was about 14th. Maybe King at SCSCU Scholars is best qualified to set this record straight.

At 10 pm, the 5 pm footage was essentially replayed, but this time, that tag line was gone, never to return. (Did Tom Hauser phone his office?) This was replayed in their 6:00 AM Sunday news, and with a 30 second cut in their 8:00 AM Sunday edition.

***

I've come to this conclusion many times, from coverage of many stories, and a detailed sampling of the competing 10 pm news broadcasts. KSTP-TV is our best local news operation, and by a wide margin. In particular, they have the best political reporter, Tom Hauser. Unlike his close second Eric Escola, Hauser works hard to maintain a good balance.

Previously: 1 2

"Come in, Leora!" bubbled Fran Dodsworth, wife of insurance broker and school board member Sam Dodsworth. Every one always thought that the Dodsworths should live in a larger place given both Sam and Fran's successful practices, Fran being a Certified Public Accountant. So was Leora's husband Martin, the Finance Director of the Gopherville public schools. Fran had sold her practice three years ago to Paul Riesling, but she stayed on part time primarily during the tax season that had just ended.

"¡Hola!" shouted Juanita Haydock from the kitchen. Fran walked Leora back to the four season porch. It was far from the largest home in town, but it might well be the best maintained and most superbly decorated. Plus, it was spotless. Fran had decided long ago that she'd rather have a smaller home that she could keep up with. Juanita followed them in with a tray of homemade conchas, small Mexican pastries which she placed next to the coffee service already on a side table. They all poured and took a concha or two and sat down to cover the first order of business: girl talk.

This was their fifth meeting. The first was a chance meeting at the Coffee Club where Leora had indiscreetly repeated what her husband had said about school superintendent Will Kennicott. Martin had gone well out of his way to welcome Kennicott ten years ago and help him through his first few months learning about Gopherville itself, not just the schools. They had developed a close personal relationship in addition to a very productive working relationship. Martin Arrowsmith had no thought of being a superintendent. Will Kennicott, while duly diligent as required, was happy to delegate every financial matter possible to Arrowsmith and rely on his judgment.

But financial matters were becoming ever more acute as the student enrollments continued to decline. Talk of merger with the slightly larger Zenith system 14 miles away was increasing, something Zenith openly welcomed on the presumption that their high school would be the survivor. It was larger, newer, and had a swimming pool thanks to Senator George Babbitt's ability to make that part of the 1996 bonding bill. The two schools had a decades-old sports rivalry, and Gopherville did not want to lose the final struggle to their long time foe. This was all wearing on Kennicott, whose first love was education itself, not the finances, and certainly not the politics. To avoid program cuts, he was willing to make all those phone calls. He had made it to St. Paul three times already this year to plead his case. He hated every minute of it but shared that only with his wife Carol and with Martin, thinking it would go no further.

Leora Arrowsmith had assumed that Juanita was already well aware of this situation, given she was Kennicott's secretary. She wasn't, as Kennicott thought it was enough that he and Martin had to worry about it. But once Leora had mentioned it, any number of memos, meetings, and mannerisms came immediately to Haydock's mind to confirm it. It was all news to Fran, however, and she decided immediately that something had to be done, almost out of motherly sympathy. This inadvertent meeting became a formal arrangement, publicly a coffee klatch which it was, but held at Fran's house to assure the privacy needed to discuss Kennicott and all things Gopherville.

The war came to them at the third meeting, shortly after Vice Chair Champ Perry's surprising outburst of February's meeting of the GMSDA - the Greater Minnesota School District Association. Juanita had brought the video tape of that school board meeting obtained from the local cable company that broadcasts many civic meetings as part of their franchise agreement. As surprising as Perry's assessment was, even more surprising to the group was how quickly Clerk Bea Sorenson had agreed and volunteered to look into the matter further, which Thompson and the rest of the Board agreed seemed appropriate. "One thing, Bea," had warned Thompson. "I want this in the open, starting by talking to Jim Lefferts and his people directly. In fact, I'd like you to do that in person if possible. Without objection, the board will pay for your travel." This Sorenson had done, followed by the GMSDA visiting Gopherville.

Here at meeting five, Fran put down her coffee and smiled. "Ladies, this Greater Minnesota thing got me thinking. But first." She motioned with her arms to bring down the imaginary cone of silence, which Juanita had first used at meeting two. "Juanita, what reaction did Will have?"

"He's hard to read. You all know that. But my sense is he's a little torn. He doesn't mind one less set of meetings, that's certain. I think he'd agree they weren't of much value. But the staff, that's another question."

"The staff? You mean the teachers?" asked Fran.

"Everyone."

"It's job security," said Leora, "simple as that. The association does lobbying. Lobbying brings in more money, or at least we think it does. More money means no layoffs."

"We'll lose one or two because of enrollment," cautioned Juanita. "Maybe three this year in fact, as I don't think they'll replace Burch when he retires." She felt with her hands to make sure the cone of silence was still there.

"Chatterton didn't put up much of a fuss, regardless." observed Leora. "Kind of odd, but maybe they have no more use for the SDA than Champ does. They have their own sources."

"Why should they care? Her union has the largest delegation in St. Paul. They're being heard," said Fran.

"So what's on your mind, Fran? Don't worry about Will," said Leora, leaning forward.

"Either of you play poker? Not those machines, the real thing, with your own money?"

Juanita smiled. "Sí, señora. ¿Qué están pensando?"

I'm going to be an optimist for once, buoyed by the long range weather forecast. I think Spring 2008 will begin on Sunday, April 20 on the Speed Gibson calendar. I'm not saying that temperatures will suddenly be normal, but I think we've seen the last blast of the winter of 2007-08.

An optimist is the human personification of spring. -- Susan J. Bissonette

I've been to every one, and while this certainly wasn't the largest turnout, I think it was the best executed to date. I was puzzled and concerned as to why we weren't on the Capitol steps, but I think Jason Lewis, KTLK and company did a fine job.

Emcee Chris Baker (KTLK-FM 7-11 AM Mon-Fri) was outstanding. I may have to listen to his show a little more. We also had romance, a proposal from the lectern, duly accepted with hugs and kisses. It was a good reminder that there are more important things than government.

It was cold and windy, and the Global Warming folks weren't there this year. If you remember last year while we had thousands, they had maybe a few hundred, a complete flop given all of the publicity they had.

Thanks Jason Lewis, thanks KTLK, thanks to everyone involved!

I happened to hear a little of Chris Baker earlier this week. One of his callers made a remark in passing that I thought was rather profound. If I heard him right, he said that the essence of democracy is our ability to vote people OUT.

All sorts of con artists, incompetents, and buffoons reach public office in a democracy. All sorts of con artists, incompetents, and buffoons reach public office in other forms of government, too. But we can get rid of them in a democracy without pitchforks or bullets.

All sorts of deserving candidates fail to get elected or re-elected in a democracy. But all sorts of deserving candidates never reach positions of power in other forms of government, either, sometimes because they reach room temperature first.

All sorts of seemingly steady people get wobbly and fall in public service, in all forms of government. In a democracy, we can set things right again with just slips of paper.

So I think it's just fine to vote out the six RINO's that voted to override the Transportation Bill veto. However they got elected doesn't really matter. It's what they do that matters, and it is our cherished right to say, "no thank you."

Bacon won the week on Bravo's "Top Chef" competition this week.

The winning plate was grilled shrimp with a pickled chili sald, including a slice of bacon and some maple syrup based sauce. This was Lisa's idea and she won the prize.

Her teammate Dale wasn't happy. "She made bacon. And she gets a trip to Italy? Are you *** kidding me?"

... it's about the money.

I've been attending a number of the public meetings held by my school district, 281 aka Robbinsdale, ever since the November 2007 referendum failed. It seems like a good time to make an overall observation to underscore a point I've made before.

This is a district looking for answers, even before last November. They're not afraid to ask for help, as the current "visioning" effort makes clear. If you're a resident, there are still many sessions coming up where you can contribute as well.

There is considerable time being spent by many groups of people trying to improve the district in various ways. Many if not most of the participants are staff, retirees, or people otherwise connected with the district. But if that's a problem, that's our fault as outsiders for not showing up.

And while we we often think we're talking about academic this or activity that, what we're often really talking about is money. We don't have the money to do something we used to do. We're wondering if moving money from A to B makes sense. We're wondering where else the money for C might come from. We're wondering what the Legislature will do. We're wondering what the referendum voters will do next time, and what stimuli they might respond to.

And we're spending money doing all that wondering. We're spending money lobbying the Legislature, both directly and indirectly. The next referendum will cost the district about $30,000 to conduct. The consequences of some decisions, even those ostensibly to save money, cost money to execute. This is not an accusation. It is the reality of the current system of financing public school districts.

This all brings me back to my position that we shouldn't be holding referendums at all. They waste money. And the way I see it, they really don't raise our property taxes because the money the schools would otherwise spend gets soaked up by the other taxing authorities who do not have to hold referendums. What Stan Mack doesn't spend, Mike Opat will.

Sorry Jason Lewis, sorry David Strom, but here the fiscally prudent choice is to let the school boards set property taxes as they see fit. We can vote out the Board if they go too far. Meantime, I'd rather have the Board working on education matters that do matter than financial matters that ultimately don't.

Previously: 1

It is late April. The Gopherville School Board is in session. The chair Virgil F. Thompson, 61, was the local District Court justice, now retired. Mrs. Bea Sorenson is the Clerk and Mr. Sam Dodsworth is the Treasurer. Mr. Charles "Champ" Perry is the Vice Chair. Mrs. Carol Warren was just elected this term. Her husband, a decorated Marine, and Gopherville's elder science teacher Leonard passed away unexpectedly two years ago. She ran for the Board, in his name and to stay connected with the school system they both loved.

"Item 5A is next," said Thompson. "Mrs. Warren?"

"Thank you, Judge," she began. "You all have copies of my report and my recommendation. For the benefit of those here, I am recommending that we let our membership in the Greater Minnesota School District Association lapse. Normally, we would renew this on June 1st, with dues assessed and paid by September 1st."

"We began this inquiry shortly after attending the GMSDA Quarterly meeting this past February. We all attended since it was close by in Zenith. I think it's fair to say that we were all disappointed, that what Vice Chair Perry had observed appeared to be true. The GMSDA is basically a lobbying organization. Its other offerings are minor and not of any real value, at least not to our District. It also seems apparent that they favor further consolidation of rural districts, merging with Zenith in our case. I find no support for that position on this board or in the community, yet the GMSDA is resisting making any exceptions to their position."

"I therefore move that we not renew our membership in the Greater Minnesota School District Association." Champ Perry quickly seconded and the Chair invited discussion which made it clear that only Bea Sorenson seemed reluctant.

"Mr. Chair, may we be heard?" asked the now standing James Lefferts, Executive Director of the GMSDA. Beside him, also now standing, was Ruth Chatterton, president of the local teachers union.

"Mr. Lefferts, I believe you had your turn when you met with us, what, ten days ago?"

"You weren't able to be there, Judge. This is an important decision and I wanted to be sure you fully understood our organization, our mission, and our commitment to helping our membership take on the increasingly difficult changes facing public education in Greater Minnesota." Champ Perry made no effort to conceal a small, well-timed yawn.

"You read Mrs. Warren's report. We've all read your response. But without objection," said Thompson, looking side to side. "Without objection, we can spare you two minutes. So make it count and stay on point."

"That's all I need, Mr. Chairman." He needed much more than that and he knew it. He had to at least make the effort to show the other member districts that he had made every effort, and Judge Thompson knew it.

When Lefferts was done, Thompson asked if Ms. Chatterton wanted to speak.

"Thank you, Judge, I do, and I also will be brief. We can disagree on their other roles, but I think we should all agree on the need for all the lobbying we can get. This is sending the wrong message." She paused. "In theory we shouldn't have to lobby. But we do, and that's a big part of what GMSDA has always done for us. I don't see how less is more here. We understand your concerns, and I'm sure everyone appreciates your fiscal discipline. But unless you're going to replace Jim's group with some other group or change, well, I,." She paused again. "Look, it looks like this decision is already made. Fine, it's your call. Let's see what happens. But will you at least agree to revisit this next year, based on what indeed happens?"

"That seems reasonable, Ruth, and thank you for understanding," said Thompson. "The Chair would entertain a friendly amendment to that effect. And Ruth, I'll charge you with reminding us next year!"

The amended resolution passed unanimously.

I didn't hear anything I would call great tonight. Or terrible, now that Ramiele Malubay is finaly gone. I give David Archuleta best in show, with the always underrated Syesha Mercado close behind.

In the Randy Jackson "it was just OK for me" category were Michael Johns and Carly Smithson, even if she did bungle the last eight bars. David Cook came back to earth with a so-so offering. Jason Castro had the right idea. The ukelele was very effective but I heard more breathing than singing. Brooke White's "You've got a Friend" was messy and flat.

I put Brooke White and Kristy Lee Cook at the bottom. I think Kristy should go. I found reasons to keep her before, number one being the presence of the Ramiele Malubay. But she's gone and Kristy should be next.

RESULTS: I didn't see this one coming. My #2,#3, and #4 were the bottom three. And despite all of the weak female acts available, it was Michael Johns who lost out this week.

In case you missed it, CBS has put the original Star Trek series online, all three seasons.

It works great, but as always, remember to disable your screen saver first.

This was a very good week of dancing. Who was best? Kristi Yamaguchi, Jason Taylor, Shannon Elizabeth were all on their game and got high scores. But I think Marlee Matlin won the night even if she did get all 8's from the judges.

In fact, I'd say Matlin's blend of dance and emotion would have been remarkable for two professionals, let alone what you might call a pro-am handicap event. It wasn't so much sexy as her being so intensely attentive to her partner - a woman in love. Carrie Ann could hardly speak afterward but I'll agree that 8 is reasonable on the technique.

Priscilla Presley, Mario, and Marissa Jaret Winokur get B's this week. Marissa's hard work clearly showed, but she's not yet an A-list contestant.

That leaves Adam Carolla who will be my pick to go. He was better controlled verbally but the unicycle bit went too long, making him look less than serious, which he is. Cristián De La Fuente also missed the mark. His routine looked more like a Chippendale act. And grunts aren't allowed.

But like I said, this was a pretty good week of dancing with 5 perfect 10's from the judges.

UPDATE: Score one for me. Adam Carolla was indeed the one to leave, but for once he kept a civil tongue and went out in style.

Here's an innocent little item from tonight's District 281 School Board meeting under Adminstrative Matters:

9.01  Request to Modify 2007-2008 School Calendar


The administration recommends the following change to the 2007-2008 school year calendar in order to accommodate the staff at Olson School to pack and return to Plymouth Middle School for the 2008-2009 school year.

Plymouth Middle School: No students on June 4, 2008 for 6th grade only at Olson School.

This was approved. FYI, Olson School was closed but used this year to handle some or all of the 6th grade students of Plymouth Middle School for construction or other reasons.

I asked a high ranking official about this in the hallway, specifically, why not just move the next day? Why short the students? Yes, I knew the answer and I eventually got that answer: the contract with Education Minnesota. But not until said official explained twice to me how little time is available at the end of the term; they have no choice! And the teachers have to do it, not the custodians. It was a bit of double talk that reminded me of U. S. Senator Hillary Clinton saying that (former) New York Governor Eliot Spritzer had no choice but to push for Drivers Licenses for illegal aliens when "comprehensive immigration reform" stalled in Congress.

Most of us in the private sector have been through office moves or major disruptions from construction. What do we do? Nights and weekends. We arrange to still answer the telephones. We don't close the offices or stores to customers unless absolutely necessary.

Not in public education. We tell the customers to go home. We close the building a day early. It's a small matter but it greatly illustrates what we're up against in trying to save once great public school districts like 281.

***

I can't let it drop here. The District begs the community for volunteers, for time, and for money, to support education, and the community responds. The Board acknowledges thousands of dollars of donations every session and praises the time spent by the many volunteers at the schools and on various committees. But when it's time for the administration and/or staff to volunteer just a little extra, to quote Minnesota Senator Taryl Clark: "No, no, no!"

There's really nothing to be sad about in today's news of the passing of Charlton Heston other than perhaps how his end came. Even that he did with quiet dignity. He had a great and interesting life, and made it to age 84.

I've always felt that Hollywood never really understood Heston. They knew his movies would sell tickets and yet they tried many times to duplicate those winning formulas without Heston and failed hugely. People went to see Charlton Heston as Ben-Hur, not Ben-Hur itself.

Casting is a mysterious art. My favorite example was the casting of the late Jerry Orbach as Det. Briscoe on Law and Order. Who knew? So it was with Heston. I'm not sure who Mitch was quoting but I agree that "... films like Ben Hur were conceived because Heston was there to make them."

Finally, I aced one of these blog assessment tests. I'm assuming that low is good, except for the Kool Aid Report of course.

The time: early April. The place: the offices of State Senator George Babbitt who we met in the prolog.

"Judge Thompson is here to see you, Senator."

"Thank you, Louise," said Senator George Babbitt, looking up to see the imposing figure of Judge Virgil F. Thompson enter and extend his hand.

"Senator."

"Judge. Have a seat," he said, motioning as his aide closed the door. "You could have phoned, you know."

"No, this seemed best. Besides, I had some business over at the A.G.'s office. I think I finally found someone I can work with over there. And, the food's great, even if I don't get $96 a day. Babbitt smiled weakly.

"I'm glad you're here, Virgil.” Babbitt picked up the copy of the Zenith Weekly Sentinel. “It says here you’re talking about stripping Kennicott of some of his duties. All I could get out of him was that you’re talking about it. I don’t get it.”

“He’s a good man, Kennicott. We want to keep him. We want to keep him happy, and educating kids makes him happy. All that damn paperwork you make him fill out doesn’t. You can understand if he didn’t want to be direct with you, can’t you?”

“He was direct with you.”

“Actually, no. But we have a reliable source or two. And we have other reasons to think this might be a good change for us to make.”

“May I remind you that the position of Superintendent is set in law?”

“I’ve read all the applicable statutes. There’s no problem here. There’s nothing about the Superintendent keeping the books, plan