Speed Gibson

Barring some freak warming trend not at all visible in the forecasts, Fall will begin on October 5th on the Speed Gibson calendar. This occurs when we have seven days in a row that don't reach 70 degrees. Summer went 114 days, just over 16 weeks, and I'll take that.

UPDATED 9/30

MONDAY

It was a tough week, with one of two difficult dances to learn in just 3-4 days, the Paso Doble and the Rumba. Only one pair scored better this week, Warren Sapp and Kym Johnson with their dark, intense Paso Doble.

Other than that, it was tough to get excited about the rest of the performances. OK, maybe Misty May was pretty good, too.

Who's going home? By rights, Cloris Leachman, with just 15 points, but how could an 82 year old hope for better doing the Paso Doble? But Rocco DiSpirito and Kim Kardashian could be in trouble, too, and in fact, I think Rocco will get the rest of the week off.

TUESDAY

Results shows often feature some good singing and great dancing by guest professionals. But sometimes we get stuck with "Riverdance" and tonight: Jessica Simpson. She's doing Country these days, and she's awful. Her second number was positively painful. But on with the results.

Rocco was the second one named as safe. Like they say, in no particular order. At the end, Cloris Leachman was in the bottom two - trust me - but it was the lifeless Kim Kardashian that went home tonight.

Ten couples remain in a good field, but no real breakout in sight yet.

I happened to stumble on "The Sports Show" - Sunday nights at 9:30 pm on WUCW Channel 23. It's was a half hour of Sid, Dark Star, Mike Max, and Stu Voight filling in for Patrick Reusse. I hadn't seen it for years, but it was sure fun.

Dark Star and Sid Hartman bickered for about half the show and I loved every minute of it. Not that it was any surprise how Sid is still reliving the 70's. Not that Dark Star isn't usually full of it either, but he does vehemently oppose Zygi getting $700 million.

I can hardly wait until Reusse returns.

I can sum up Bill O'Reilly's reporting on the mortgage crisis and proposed bailouts in one word: clueless.

I subscribed to his Factor site in 2007, to listen to his radio podcasts. I gave it (and Laura Ingraham) up at the start of this year, mostly because I was mp3 overloaded. I still had a reasonably high opinion of him, and the quality of the production was excellent.

But he still promotes his conspiracy theories about the oil companies that Neil Cavuto totally destroyed in a heated segment. And now O'Reilly is laying into anyone who doesn't buy his new idiocy on Fannie Mae et al. Pressed for details, it's just "oh, you know I'm right" and "I'm looking out for the folks."

I was toying with re-subscribing, at least during the election cycle. No more. He's just not credible.

I noted earlier there was a disconcerting aspect to the story of the Milwaulkee Public Schools. That's not to say that I'm happy about the rest of that situation. It just seems the inevitable result of what Fredrick Hess in "Common Sense School Reform" calls "status quo reform" of the current system, something we're seeing now in the continuing decline of the Minneapolis Public Schools.

Milwaukee recently tried building new neighborhood schools, some using the K-8 model that intrigues me. It seems right on both counts, yet it didn't work. The parents weren't impressed and did not return.

I suspect the parents saw this as old wine in new bottles. The same teachers were there, the same structure, the same political correctness, whatever it was that made them use vouchers or seek other options. Plus, in reading some other Web articles, it looks like K-8 works best as evolution, not revolution. You turn a K-5 school into K-6, K-7, K-8, then close the middle school.

There are facilities challenges, too, that existing buildings aren't necessarily suited to the necessary dichotomy. The teaching model can also vary. Do you essential bring the middle school curriculum into the "ele-middle" school or extend the teacher as generalist elementary model upwards?

I don't really know if K-8 would work here, as an education professional I met so passionately believes. I do remain convinced that the middle/junior high model cannot continue as is if the public schools are to avoid Milwaukee's fate.

Without getting into any details, my wife came up with an idea that, well without getting into the details, let me just say I am both proud of her and impressed with her. I'm just feeling particularly blessed at the moment and say she is definitely the better half. Thanks for listening.

Laura Ingraham has returned. Once live on the Patriot, she is now delayed, 11 am - 2 pm on KTLK-FM. Forgive me if I don't jump up and down, for this means no more Mark Levin. It also means Phil Hendrie is pushed back to 2 am.

UPDATED 9/23, 9/24

Once again, Speed Gibson is enthralled with the return of Dancing with the Stars, now starting its seventh season, and in my case, now in HD. Glorious! I'm pleased to see Harold Wheeler again in command of the best band on television.

MONDAY

The first round Monday went to Brooke Burke and Derek Hough, 23 of 30 points from the judges. But give me Lance Bass and new pro Lacey Schwimmer, a sort of rocker chick that is competing for my lustful heart with Samantha Harris. They did get 22 points, one behind the leader.

Ted McGinley and and new pro Inna Brayton were underscored at 18, but maybe he made too many George Hamilton mugs at the camera.

Susan Lucci was surprising bad, scoring only 15 because of a very timid performance when we expect the fire of Erica Caine. But she should have a week to get over the nerves, for Cloris Leachman should get the boot tonight. Not bad for age 82 I suppose, but she tried to pass for 75 with slutty poses and a potty mouth.

But don't be surprised if comedian Jeffrey Ross goes instead, who got the low score of 12 and deserved it, even if he is nursing an eye gouge from his partner Edyta during practice. It doesn't look like we'll get to watch her undress every week as usual.

They saved a surprise for the last number, retired NFL lineman Warren Sapp. He was twinkletoes, got a very respectable 21 points, and clearly will improve week to week.

TUESDAY

I should have factored in the fan bases for Leachman and Lucci, leaving Ross at the bottom. How nice to see such a graceful exit by Jeffrey - and funny!

As for the dancing, Brooke and Derek again topped the judges scores. Cloris and Corky stayed at 16. She's still my pick to go tonight, for Susan Lucci and Tony did much better tonight.

Otherwise, it's a pretty competitive and entertaining field. Kim Karashian could be the other star in trouble, though.

WEDNESDAY

Those little old ladies must have been spinning their little old rotary dial phones all night, for Cloris Leachman escaped elimination once again. In somewhat of a surprise, Ted McGinley left instead. Partly, the judges gave McGinley rather low socres both nights, but mostly, it's a question of "Ted Who?"

All in all, DWTS is off to a great start, ready to settle into the regular work pattern.

As a follow-up to the Milwaukee Public School situation, let me anonymously quote a veteran Minneapolis teacher.

"After teaching in Minneapolis 13 years ago, I saw firsthand what happens when you remove a school from [its] immediate neighborhood. I taught in the heart of north Mpls. Our students were bused in from all over the city. (The kids who lived across the street from my school were also bused to their "school of choice".) Our families did not have convenient access to our school. I was lucky to have 5-6 parents show up for conferences. (I was encouraged to make home visits, which were very time consuming). Our parents could not attend special school events. They could not meet in regards to their child's individual learning plans. They could not volunteer. It was not because our parents did not care. They did care. They just didn't have the means or the access to become involved. Parental involvement between home and school is one of the key factors (if not THE key factor) to the success of every child.

"My school also had an astonishing absentee rate. If a student missed the bus due to being late or because of an appointment, the student simply stayed home. What if this student lived across the street, or around the block? What if all of those kids who lived across the street from my school could have just walked there? Our building would have flourished. Our parents would have been there. Our school would have been the jewel of the neighborhood. It would have been a gathering place for all the neighborhood kids and their families.

"Former Mayor Sharon Sayles-Belton called for the return of Mpls. neighborhood schools not that long ago. The NAACP said no. If Mpls could not meet the needs of their students then they had to offer them means to get their education outside of the district. Just last spring, a study showed that the kids who did leave the district fared no better than those who chose to stay. And yet they still continue to bus them. Mpls. schools have closed many of their buildings and they, too are in deep financial trouble. Think of all the money they could save from busing their kids all around the community? That money could go directly to the classrooms...to support the teachers, staff and most importantly~ the students."

Like whole language reading and the "new" math, busing seems never to have worked either. How could it, for the reasons above?

I'm sorry if I'm a broken record on this, but the neighborhood school experience is the one thing that the charter and private schools generally can't duplicate.

Yesterday, I described the large fleet of U of M buses I saw shuttling people to the Dome. Their day job is to link the west bank, east bank (main), and St. Paul campuses. The need for this largess, such as it isn't, may be disappearing.

For one, the new on campus football stadium will open next fall. I saw it from 3 sides on my walk yesterday, and I must say I very much like the design. We won't need the Dome shuttle anymore, right? Well, something tells me they'll probably reverse it, having service from both downtowns to the stadium, even though it already has high frequency Metro Transit service, who could add more and charge for the convenience. That may be moot, though, when the Central Corridor light rail comes barreling through campus.

In fact, light rail should also link the West Bank. It had better, given it will displace vehicle traffic over the Washington Avenue bridge. But what about traveling to the St. Paul campus?

I say, close Moo U. We don't need it. Move the movable, sell the rest. The U has plenty of capacity elsewhere in its system, not to mention MnSCU, our state college system. For example, the U of M Morris was originally the West Central School of Agriculture and has real agricultural laboratory facilities today, including cattle. If you're still unconvinced, look at this U of M Feb 2008 Working Draft, which first says that:

The St. Paul Campus' future is as an integral part of the Twin Cities campus, rather than as a freestanding or branch campus.

but later admits that:

Perceived transit difficulties and relative lack of amenities are obstacles to attracting activities to St. Paul. To thrive, the St. Paul campus must function as a village, with frequent and rapid transportation links to the Minneapolis campus and surrounding communities.

The Draft shows that the U is at least uncomfortable about the situation. It would further appear that there is nothing particular unique about the St. Paul campus as the draft's recommendations would apply to hundreds of other small college campuses. No niche, no money. Close it and sell it.

And sell the U of M buses that go there, too.

Whether a result of its ground-breaking voucher program or not, Miwaulkee's Public Schools are apparently doing so badly that its School Board seems ready to give up.

The Milwaukee School Board voted Thursday night to begin looking into dissolving the Milwaukee Public Schools system.

The completely unexpected 6-to-3 vote followed a gloomy assessment of the short- and long-term financial situation of MPS from Superintendent William Andrekopoulos and several board members.

The resolution called for the administration to examine state and federal guidelines for dissolving the school district and who would be responsible for educating children in Milwaukee if that happened.

The crisis is financial, that the schools aren't getting what they want from the Wisconsin Legislature. It may be that special education costs are the major problem in that non-voucher students are higher users of these allegedly underfunded services. There may also be some plain old funds mismanagement, one aspect of which is even disconcerting to me. I'll post about that later this week.

Regardless, it's an ominous sign, a scenario we could potentially see here with the rise of charter schools.

After a one hour test outing yesterday, I felt I was sufficiently healed from my bike accident to resume my weekend walking. Today's neighhorhood was Prospect Park in Minneapolis, along East River Road.

I went north on Oak Street about 10:15 am, and soon saw a long line of maroon and gold buses waiting to transport people to the Metrodome for the Gopher football game at 11 am.

There were eight of them - count them! - eight buses, six regular 40 footers and two articulated ("slinky") 60 footers. They all said "Campus Shuttle" on the side, the ones that normally link the West Bank, East Bank, and St. Paul campuses. It seems incredible to me that the U has this many, and these were just the ones parked there, not the ones at or enroute to the Dome.

I wasn't done. When I reached Washington Avenue, I saw a nice "Campus Shuttle Supervisor" car, and a man exiting another car labeled "Metrodome Shuttle Supervisor." When walking the "transitway" toward the St. Paul campus, I saw a smaller bus labeled "Campus Circulator," also in the spiffy maroon and gold motif. These run short loops around the campuses according to the U's web site. No doubt there are garages and offices, too. Just how many buses and vehicles does the U own, let alone need?

When I went to the U 40 years ago, we usually walked to the West Bank via the pedestrian deck over the Washington Avenue bridge. There were a couple of old Twin City Lines relics that linked the two banks, but nothing like this. There were a couple more relics that linked the main east bank campus to St. Paul, good old Route 13.

Today, U of M students get shiny new buses, running every 5 minutes on class days. That's reasonable to the West Bank I suppose, but seemingly absurd to St. Paul. I never had one class at "Moo U" in my four years, though some of us did watch a movie or two at the student center there. And in my day, we had Memorial Stadium on campus.

This is a small example of why I say there is significant fat in our U of M / MnSCU higher education system, mostly in the form of needless duplication of services. In the case of transit, we have gone from a nominal out-sourced system to a large in-sourced solution, not to mention the Dome shuttle operation, complete with its own supervisor and car. (How much per Big Ten victory?)

More tomorrow on this ...

With a son playing football for the University of Minnesota Morris Cougars, we've seen a lot of the smiley-faced Freeport water tower along Interstate 94 lately. It's the inspiration for Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon. A section of an abandoned railroad line is now the Lake Wobegon Trail.

The story of how Freeport is now billing the State of Minnesota for repaving Main Street is making the blog rounds, including Minnesota 2020. Once again, they got much of it wrong, as the Lady Logician found. (And a hat tip to the Minnesota Free Market Institute for noting this in their newsletter.) Still, you should read the Minnesota 2020 article as prologue for the following. Also, Minnesota 2020 has just started a five part series on Minnesota's small towns, including hundreds of ghost towns.

At what point does a city stop being a city, i.e., needing a city government? Beyond its history, however rich, however interesting, however noble it might have been, what is its raison d'être now? Is it so wrong to relocate to Melrose, about 7 miles west, a town of 3,000? Or Albany, 7 miles east, population 1,800?

Conversely, does Minnesota need a small city of 500 on the prairie between Melrose and Albany, 14 miles apart? If not, what is the point of continuing to send Local Government Aid to Freeport? I respect the right of the current property owners to live in Freeport, but not any claim such as they've sent to the State for the rest of us to sustain what once was, and apparently will never be again.

The times, they are a-changin'. Life isn't fair. You can't go home again.

It's been a long day, what with nearly six hours of civic meetings before and after a busy work day. My last stop was the Robbinsdale School District's second Financial Advisory Commission meeting. You may recall I had applied for this, helped create it in fact, but there I am in the Peanut Gallery.

I'm pleased to report that the group had a bit more energy this evening. I was a bit concerned at the first meeting because everyone seemed so quiet. They got their first real introduction to school finance as practiced by our esteemed Legislators, and I heard some good questions raised, one in particular.

Actually, it was more of a comment, that there were too many digits flying around. Amen. For example, from a PowerPoint slide on the proposed 2008 Operating Levy, levy history was presented like this:

2003  $39,678,190  15.43%
2004  $39,805,060    .32%
2005  $42,605,359   7.04%

Put (in millions) at the top and print this instead:

2003  $39.7  +15%
2004  $39.8    0%
2005  $42.6   +7%

It's much easier to read without all those extra insignificant digits, much like a corporate shareholder annual report. The extra digits, however accurate, add nothing to the presentation. Nobody is going to write a check or file a state document using these rounded numbers.

The next meeting is scheduled for November 13th.

Maybe you saw "Where We Stand: America's Schools in the 21st Century" program on Channel 2 Monday night. Hosted by Judy Woodruff, who hasn't cracked a smile since she called Florida for Senator Gore in 2000, it's an anecdotal spotlight on three schools. One is in a poor area, another in a rich area, and one pseudo-charter school.

It was all very interesting, and accurate as far as it went. But it was still somewhat hard to watch in that I was constantly thinking "meaning that...?" and "says who?" and "keep going ..." and "therefore ...?"

With just an hour to spend, though, I think they rather wisely stopped well short of recommending solutions or assigning blame. It would be a great introductory hour into a series like the PBS "Free to Choose" production circa 1980. Back then, we were facing the truly worst economy since the Depression, the stagflation that Keynes said could not happen not to mention gas shortages and other related problems. With education in a similar though less acute situation, a similar series on K-12 education should be well-received.

Earlier, I wrote about how local governments seem to be holding more work sessions. Critics quoted in the original Minneapolis Star Tribune article feel that too much important business is finding its way into these meetings, away from TV cameras and routine press coverage. Based on my own experiences, though, I didn't see much of a problem as these meetings are public by law, with few exceptions.

I may have to reconsider, given tonight's meeting of the District 281 School Board, held tonight, September 15.

1. The meeting is not listed on the District web site, even now. This also means no agenda was published.
2. The meeting is still listed under announcements in last week's Agenda.
3. It is also referenced in a Web article about the upcoming Facilities Study, to be discussed at that work session.
4. The agenda handed out says "Work/Special Session" meaning that they will go into formal session for a portion of the meeting, which was not televised.
5. Ryan Development and The City of New Hope made presentations on the proposed relocation of District headquarters and the bus garage. This was major content and should have been done in a regular, televised session in my opinion.
6. As such, the ESC boardroom was overcrowded. At a minimum, the adjoining overflow area should have been opened.

I'm hoping this was an anomaly, as they were clearly having some technical issues with the web site the past few days. But nothing even hinted at going into session, i.e., where votes could be taken. I wonder if such votes could be legally challenged, given that there was no notice.

The Board needs to address this administrative lapse, making clear just what their policy is regarding giving notice, including agendas. Their policy on receiving significant external input at work sessions and special sessions should also be clarified.

UPDATE: I have since learned that there was no Special Session after all September 15th, just the Work Session. Also, the District web site has an unofficial summary of those proceedings. It's a good recap, too. This is a precedent I hope becomes standard practice.

I really need to visit The Brad Carlson Blog more often, so I've added it to my blog roll.

He has posted pictures of laminated placards for the Obama and Franken campaigns, produced by Education Minnesota for its local stewards to distribute via their school mail slots. (Is this legal, campaigning on government property, on government time?)

Both promise to "reform" (meaning eviscerate) No Child Left Behind, and "fully fund" what's left. They also agree on something else.

• Obama: "Use multiple measures, not just tests, to show student progress."
• Franken: "Give schools and educators more flexibility in measuring student achievement."

This is code language for more social promotion, dumbing down, and/or grade inflation, all variants of the soft bigotry of low expectations.

In other words, they promise to spend still more to get predictably negative results. And we'll have an even harder time proving it.

I left the game in the fourth quarter, the game seemingly in hand, tuned in later to find that the Vikings blew another one.

I'm strapping myself in for another fun installment of Vikings Fan Line. The big match up: who should go first, quarterback Jackson or head coach Childress?

As Chad the Elder posts at Fraters Libertas, Laura Ingraham has shuffled her affiliate deck or they shuffled her. She is now gone from The Patriot, replaced by The Mike Gallagher Show.

I used to subscribe to her web site until January of this year. As I posted then:

I do feel somewhat bad about dropping Ingraham, in that it used to be a better program than it is now. The production values have suffered and the show has largely lost its niche. It has given up far too many of the cultural segments I enjoyed to get immigration or the war rehashed. The value add is largely gone.

I've heard her many times since then, and heard nothing to change that opinion. She's very talented, but is trying to run with the herd instead of doing what first got her established.

Still, it's a loss for Twin Cities radio.

I happened to hear an Education Minnesota ad, speaking of how excited they are to begin the new school year. My eyebrows went up when they said they spoke of students achieving their fullest potential. It sounded awkward, as though it should be "most full" instead. Actually, they should have simply said "full potential."

"Potential" is maximum ability or capacity. "Fullest" is therefore a double superlative, i.e., redundant, and therefore, less than perfect English. I was amazed to see how many hits "fullest potential" Google found, many from other professional organizations that should know better.

Still, how could an organization supposedly dedicated to education get this wrong? With hundreds of English teacher members and plenty of cash to hire a proofreader, is there any excuse for this?

I happened to see the very end of the Beatles' first movie "A Hard Day's Night" on one of the cable channels and recorded a later airing. I skimmed through it to see the various musical numbers and it was such a treat.

It was also sobering to think that this was 44 years ago.

And you know, the more I saw John Lennon, the more I thought I was looking at a young Jason Lewis, the self-described fifth Beatle. I wanted to be the sixth Beach Boy, the fifth Top, and a Pip.

At the end, the Fab Four do a TV medley. Their manager Norm is happy and smiling, echoing one of John's pet insults from the start of the movie. "I have just one thing to say to you, John Lennon. You're a swine!" Who knows? Had he lived, maybe John could have been the second Jason Lewis.

Independent School District 286, second smallest in the metro area last I looked, tried and failed to get a levy referendum passed, the sixth such attempt in three years. It was the smallest amount requested to date, about $60 per household, conducted as part of the Primary election, and it still failed. Since they have been in Statutory Operating Debt for some time now, they can try more often and at other times than November.

I should note that while we live within District 281, we used Open Enrollment to transfer to 286. We were somewhat unhappy with 281, but mostly we liked the idea of a small district like this. Both of our children are 286 graduates, the younger having done the full K-12 there. I'd also like to point out that neither needed remedial work in college. We were very pleased, even if money clearly did limit some of the possibilities. In some ways, that has been a strength, keeping them focused on the basics.

Trouble is, having talked to Superintendent Lester and other staff since then, money is really getting tight. Lester has been very resourceful, obtaining grants and donations here and there, but now he faces another round of budget cuts unless our Legislators can throw him an earmark, which seems unlikely.

No, sooner or later, District 286 is probably going to have to be consolidated into another district, which some parents seem to want. They assume it would be with Anoka-Hennepin, District 11, which already has the highest enrollment in Minnesota. Instead of north, however, it could be to the west, with Robbinsdale, District 281. Or, perhaps a portion of these two large districts could be merged into 286.

None of that would really solve the long term problem, though. District 281 has its own financial crisis. Even District 11 is has already recently experienced declining enrollment, levy failures, budget cuts, and staff layoffs.

Will the Legislature ride to the rescue with the $1.7 billion tax increase P.S. Minnesota seeks in the 2009 session? Even if it did that, the money would soon be absorbed, like every prior such attempt from the Minnesota Miracle to Gov. Ventura's Big Plan. I hate to say it, having met so many nice people in K-12 education, but it's an undeniable empirical fact that there is no amount of money the Districts cannot spend.

No, sooner or later, the elephant in the room has to be confronted: Education Minnesota. The first battles may have to be in the smaller districts like 286.

The pavement.

Wednesday night, I thought I'd take a quick spin around Palmer Lake on my bicycle that I purchased about six weeks ago. I should know better, especially having taken two years of college physics, but I tried to make a trail exit path into a hairpin entrance, downhill. And over I went.

It was more embarrassing than anything, but with my left hand scuffed and bleeding slightly, I returned to base. When I awoke Wednesday morning, though, I found my right knee has swelled and could barely walk on it. A ride to work from the wife, a couple Advil, and my late father-in-law's best cane got me through Thursday. After work, I toodled to the bus stop like an old man, at about half speed, but I got home OK. I'm doing much better today, but it's still a bit tender. I decided to wait until Sunday to resume any serious walking and biking.

It got me thinking that if I'm this fragile at 59, how's Senator John McCain feeling these days?

I'm about halfway through Dr. Frank Luntz's "Words That Work" which is now out in paperback. The subtitle says it all:

It's not what you say.
It's what people hear.

This seems obvious enough to most of us, even if our inner adolescent still decries the seeming unfairness.

So there stands Senator Obama, still trying to dig his way out of his "lipstick on a pig" remark that seemed targeted at Governor Palin. Does he apologize, sorry for carelessly offending? No. Does he make the usual liberal pseudo-apology, sorry if we were offended? No. He doesn't apologize at all. He doesn't even correct David Letterman's audience who clearly took it as a shot at Palin, twice. He tells us it's our problem, that we allowed the McCain campaign and the media (!) to goad us into mis-interpretion and over-reaction.

Like Jesus explaining a parable, Obama says Governor Palin wasn't the pig, she was the lipstick.

"Keep in mind, technically, had I meant it this way, [Palin] would be the lipstick. The failed policies of John McCain would be the pig, just following the logic of this illogical situation."
  -- Barack Obama on The David Letterman Show 10-Sep-2008

Did you follow that? That would have been his explanation, only he had a better one, that

"Just calling [ideas] change, calling them different doesn't make it better, hence lipstick on a pig."   [ibid]

But that explanation only came out after he first tried to dismiss it as manufactured hype, that if anything, he is the victim. At no point, even now, does he admit that maybe he might be even partially to blame. Instead, he (again) demands that we give him every possible benefit of any doubt, including absolution of any thought of a personal attack on Gov. Palin. To that I say: mucaca!.

Barack Obama ... when he's ... not ... reading from a, ah ... a TelePrompter, ... he ... he measures ... every, ah, word. Those annoying pauses allow him to listen to himself almost word by word, catching most mistakes, correcting them immediately. He knows exactly what he's saying. He didn't correct himself in this case at all. Worse, he followed it with another metaphor about rotting fish. How could a such a gifted politician and accomplished thinker not realize what could happen and pick any of a hundred other canards? Whatever the explanation, none of this is Presidential.

Compare this with Senator Joe Biden's latest gaffe, asking a local dignitary to stand up before realizing he was in a wheelchair.

Chuck Graham, State Senator is here. Stand up Chuck, let'm see you. Oh - God love you, what am I talking about? I tell you what, you're making everyone else stand up, though, pal. I tell you what, stand up for Chuck!

Biden has been fairly well ridiculed for this, but I think it was an honest mistake and a great recovery. The crowd forgave, applauded their approval, and yes, stood up for Chuck. It was a gaffe for all of two seconds, ending as a human, endearing moment.

Obama earlier reminded us that words mean things, quoting some well known phrases like "I have a dream." What he doesn't seem to understand is that while delivery is immportant, it is how they are received that makes such phrases part of history. Great words don't require the speaker to tell us what they meant.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports what they suggest is a trend. It may well be but I doubt there is much data to confirm that trend, that local units of government are increasing resorting to "work sessions" rather that discuss issues openly in the regular, often televised, meetings. For example,

[T]he St. Louis Park City Council met in its regular televised session for precisely 13 minutes and 47 seconds, taking care of a legal formality. Then, with cameras off, it convened a workshop at which it pondered a major civic undertaking: a new community center.

As the article notes, almost all of these meetings are public per state statute. "Executive Session" is permitted when discussing certain matters like the annual evaluation of a City Manager or to confer with lawyers regarding a lawsuit defense. That doesn't mean they are held in comfortable facilities or at convenient hours. There are also "retreats" to more remote locations which may not have public access.

I believe that at such public and private work sessions, no business can be transacted because there is no power to vote outside a public meeting. But that can be a one minute vote adopting many hours of work session deliberations, and only that one minute is televised. It therefore does happen that the casual observer is caught by surprise.

Is this a problem? Generally, I don't think so. I think more informal settings are entirely appropriate for specific, often detailed tasks like the annual budget or planning a community center project. These can take considerable time, more time than should be spent at the public meeting.

Indeed, in a well-run meeting, most of the business is simply the formal adoption of completed items. A city may take bids for a street project, and evaluate the responses. The staff makes a recommendation and draws up the papers for the necessary signatures. Assuming it fits within the current budget, it is a single agenda item that is (usually) formally adopted, possibly as part of the consent agenda if very routine in nature.

If a unit of government finds itself regularly scheduling lengthy work sessions, however, this could be a symptom of a different problem. Perhaps the governing council or board is indulging in micro-management, not permitting and/or requiring the staff do their jobs. Perhaps there isn't enough staff, or the volunteer or contracted equivalents. Or perhaps the staff is needlessly cautious and/or indecisive, perhaps to the point where the City Manager or School Superintendent or Executive Director needs to be replaced.

That said, I think the current system works. Don't change it.

The theaters at the Mall of America are finally doing something I think is at least 25 years overdue. Per the Minneapolis Star Tribute:

• All 14 theaters will have "high-back rocker love seats" for couples.
  
• Alcohol will be available on a limited basis. In those theatres, patrons must be at least 21.
  
• VIP patrons will have individual tables and food service.
  
• The two largest screens will be upgraded with 3D and digital sound.
  
• They installed a new "state-of-the-art" popcorn popper and will use real butter.
  

In other words, they are offering a movie experience better than your Blu-Ray / Surround Sound / HD Widescreen / Orville Redenbacher / cold beer in the 'fridge family room experience.

I hope this works. I hope it spreads, to at least 1 or 2 screens in each complex. Let the kids go to the others.

I went as usual to tonight's Robbinsdale School Board meeting. There is nothing eventful enough tonight to report here other than it ended at just the right time. For when I got to my car, the radio set to KTLK, I heard that the Packers had defeated the Vikings 24-19 followed by a recap of the various ways the Vikings had found to lose.

Plus, "Viking Fan Line" was just starting, a sort of guilty pleasure of mine when the Vikings lose. The callers know all, especially after a night game and a couple of brewskis.

And when that ended, it was time for Mark Levin.

Craig Westover at the Minnesota Free Market Institute has the progressives at Minnesota 2020 talking in circles again. This is a world-class fisk you should not miss. He takes Conrad DeFiebre to school, but I also learned something.

I've always been uncomfortable refuting the public transit canard that we subsidize roads as well. I now see that the difference isn't about scale, that one serves so many more than the other, including the other. The key word is subsidy, which takes from non-users and gives to the users of whatever is being subsidized, like light rail. There are no non-users of roads.

Indeed, roads are infrastructure - potential - for many uses. It's like paper, whose production serves no immediate purpose. When used to create The Declaration of Independence, write a check, or publish an economics textbook for Mr. DeFiebre, then it has value. Roads themselves don't take us or our goods anywhere. That is left to us as billions of individual decisions on how best for each of us to go from point A to point B at time C for purpose D carrying cargo E and passengers F, for cost G, pollution H, and expected benefit I, given weather conditions J, safety level K, comfort level L ...

Roads and public transit are not comparable entities or competing strategies. Public transit necessarily uses roads. The level of public transit may affect the design of the roads, but since that is very small, yes, cars and trucks dominate. Similarly, since most urban dwellers prefer the suburban lifestyle, that, too, dominates. Roads don't set the transit agenda; they are a lagging indicator.

Of course, some like DeFiebre think they should be a leading indicator. Lay the tracks, and people will want to live near them for the convenience despite the high crime, slow plowing, unaccountable government and dysfunctional public schools.

That's the problem with the progressive argument for light rail. As common sense and experience undercut and eliminate their major points, they must rely more on their minor points. But they don't stand scrutiny either, hence the ad hominem shots LeFiebre takes at Westover.

Don't worry, Fishsticks' rejoinder more than settled that score as the first order of business.

I noticed earlier in this week's GOP convention speeches that a seemingly modest reference to education reform drew unexpectedly loud applause. I'll bet that Senator Obama did, too, when he said:

"I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries, and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability."

We can immediately dismiss that last statement given the teachers' unions presence and influence in Democratic Party. I'm sure the crowd reaction to the first part shook those Styrofoam columns, though.

Senator McCain also got a big reaction when he said:

"Education is the civil rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained. But what is the value of access to a failing school? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice, remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work."

It's the classic kitchen table issue, something we all know about firsthand as students, and again as parents and taxpayers.

Both men seem to be promising still more Federal involvement in local public schools. Given the results to date, can we not all agree this would be a mistake? Didn't President Reagan ultimately have it right when he proposed ending this?

I suppose McCain's answer might be to withhold Title I and other subsidies if a school doesn't measure up. There is no reason to believe language that tough could get through the Senate, even the House. President George W. Bush tried this and got very little after Senator Kennedy gutted it, remember? Besides, such thresholds are almost impossible to define, especially a one size fits all national set of standards.

Whoever wins, this is one campaign promise I hope isn't kept.

I wrote earlier about how I value executive ability highly in voting for President or any other executive position like Mayor or Governor. Another criterion is potential, as in will that person be better or worse than I expect. Usually a case can be made for both, that the candidate has both upside and downside potential.

For as an executive once told me, when making a decision, you're seldom going to hit it right. Part of that decision has to consider what that variance might be and the resulting gain or loss. Question one is: which way would you rather be wrong? You're 150 yards out, a bunker along the right, a sharp dropoff behind the green, a little wind left to right. What club do you use? Probably the higher one, preferring to be a little short of the green than rolling down the ravine. If the bunker looks particularly scary, the kind that seem to bend the lines of gravitational flux, and it just hasn't been your day, you might even lay up.

So what do I see in 2008? In alphabetical order:

Senator Joe Biden is what he is, and little will be asked of him.

Senator John McCain has several downsides, like his positions on immigration and energy, and his lack of executive experience. But in every case, his opponent is worse, so these are non-factors. Does he have upsides, beyond expectations? Unlikely and modest if any.

Senator Barack Obama has but one upside, that his election could be a watershed in race relations. Regardless, the downsides are nothing short of prohibitive. Frankly, his ego worries me more than his lack of experience, something he regularly substitutes for knowledge and advice.

I just finished watching Governor Sarah Palin's speech to the convention. Just as an aside, if Senator Clinton had Palin's verbal delivery speaking skills, she might be the Democratic nominee today. Palin has the obvious downside of an unknown thrust onto the national scene, but one of many comparative unknowns who have run for Vice President. Anybody remember William Miller? Sargent Shriver? Dan Quayle? Walter Mondale?

Sarah Palin is still too new to know for sure, but her upside potential is enormous, well beyond any of the other three. She won't have much power as Vice President but she is at once the most fearsome candidate the Democrats can envision. Even one McCain term could easily lead to two Palin terms. No wonder the mainstream media and the rest of the Democratic party are panicking just days after the announcement.

As with executive ability, totaling the above tells me that the GOP has the better ticket, less likely to disappoint, more likely to exceed my expectations.

I was looking for something else and stumbled across a July 2007 post about Prime Minister Pawlenty. If nothing else, it shows why I try to avoid national politics here at Speed Gibson.

The GOP already has all the mavericks it needs and more than the base wants. Look at his national [counterpart], U.S. Senator John McCain. His best days are behind him, his "straight talk" popularity with the press largely gone as are his remaining Presidential aspirations. For in being that maverick, he has slowly but surely annoyed the base, one issue at at time.

Neighborhood schools work as I wrote in Part 1. I should clarify that to say neighborhood elementary schools, including ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education). Parents get more involved with neighborhood schools, and test scores show it.

In district after district, however, declining enrollments have led to closing after closing of these neighborhood schools. This has to be questioned, and maybe, just maybe, District 281 (Robbinsdale) is willing to consider alternatives.

Like other districts have done, District 281 is now planning to hire consultants to come up with a facilities plan by December. In some nearby districts, some have argued that their Board hid behind those studies in making painful cuts. I'm more hopeful here. Quoting the Sun Post:

"A few years ago, a committee came up with recommendations no one liked," [Board Treasurer Tom Walsh] said. "Exactly what are we looking for? We have to be careful in crafting the parameters."

Point well taken. Continuing from the same article:At a work session July 14, Mack suggested the board consider closing and repurposing Golden Valley's Sandburg Middle School in the 2009-10 school year to save an estimated $1.2 million.Compared to closing a neighborhood school, this makes more sense to me, but only if it is part of a larger strategy. Meanwhile, another Board member simply wants to make the hard choice of closing Northport Elementary even before the consultants begin. I disagree, but that is at least still consistent with Walsh's point, that such a study must get direction going in from the Board.

The Board fundamentally must decide the overall strategy, then ask the consultants how best to implement it. Otherwise you get seemingly dollar wise but consumer foolish ideas like K-2/3-5 pairing that District 281 parents firmly rejected in public hearings last year.

I would tell the consultants to put priority one on keeping the neighborhood schools open. Maybe that means K-6 instead of K-5 and closing a middle school as Mack offered. Maybe that means yes, raising class sizes, given the weak correlation to test scores. Maybe that means trimming back EFCE a little, especially the daycare portion. Maybe that means spreading Community Education (and ECFE) among the open buildings, closing the dedicated building(s). Maybe it means the end of Language Immersion and other programs of questionable value.

But keep those neighborhood schools. In my opinion of course, I don't understand how tearing up your strongest bond with your communities leads to anything but further declines in enrollment.

If there is a bright spot for 281, it is "blessed" with 40 to 50+ year old elementary schools, Forest being the only exception. Forest could also make a good case for being the most successful and most supported school in the district, a true investement in education. It's not too early to map out how, when, and where the other 10 or so will be rebuilt, with the consultant's help if need be.

There are 8 candidates for 2 Brooklyn Center City Council seats. The Primary election on Tuesday, September 9th will pare that down to 4 candidates for the General election on November 4th. For what it's worth, here are my picks.

First on the list is Kay Lasman, one of the two incumbents. She is classy, caring, and competent, one of the best I've seen in my 18 years living here.

Second, Ed Nelson, a former incumbent. He has a good eye for detail but doesn't let the details do all the talking.

Third, Walt Filson, a long time resident, most of that spent on the city police force. I think such experience can be particularly helpful.

Fourth is more difficult, but I want someone both younger but still a long time resident. The tie breaker this round is that Tim Roche has more applicable volunteer experience, including the Planning Commission where we served together. Tim is eager, perhaps too eager at times, but also a source of ideas.

That's my view. If you're not sure, I would suggest voting for Lasman at least, more if you're comfortable. You don't have to fill all the choices on the ballot.