Speed Gibson http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/ en-us 2009-11-09T03:11+00:00 New Home http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1256277952.shtml Follow the link in the banner to my new TypePad site, where all new posting will be published.... Speed Gibson 2009-10-23T06:10+00:00
All of my archives have (finally!) been transferred.

Please update whatever links and blogroll entries you may have accordingly. This site will disappear at the end of this month.

Finally, I would like to thank Powerblogs for 4 great years, with the system that most fit my modest needs.
]]> Lost My Lease http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1256176431.shtml What a shame. PowerBlogs is hanging it up on November 30, so I have barely a month to find a new blog host.... Speed Gibson 2009-10-22T01:10+00:00
I started blogging in 2004 using Blogger.com, which I still use for two other blogs. Back then, Blogger was up and down, fast and slow, and I decided to spend a little to get a quality service, which I think Powerblogs has been. It's not fancy but it works, the only real outage being a major fire at the server farm they use in Houston.

Since then, Blogger.com has improved significantly, with many nice features, and it's still free. Still, I'd like to consider some alternatives if they're worth the money. One key requirement is that it be entirely web based as I use 4 different computers.

*** UPDATE ***

I know many have migrated away from it, but a quick survey had me looking at TypePad, and that's in fact my decision. Follow the link in the banner, but bear in mind job one is to move the content.
]]> Speaking of Incompetent ... http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1255661461.shtml Remember the early days of Monday Night Football, with Howard Cosell? Legend has it that a bar in Denver, whose Broncos allegedly got no respect during Cosell's halftime highlights, auctioned off... Speed Gibson 2009-10-21T01:10+00:00
Luckily, I had no brick handy when I saw a clip of House Speaker Margaret Anderson-Kelliher on Almanac from last Wednesday's debate among the candidates for Governor:
"Well you know, I've been actually praised as the adult in the room, the calm within the storm, the ability to bring people together, attack the problem and not each other. And when you look at the track record of three years as Speaker, we've actually been able to get a lot done that's been sitting there for a very long time. Has it been everything? I had to clean up after eight years of Republicans in the Minnesota House, and President Bush, and I have to work with Tim Pawlenty from time to time."
She's the adult? She sure as hell doesn't talk like an adult, either now or before. And after saying she attacks problems not people, a sentence later she in effect attacks half the state of Minnesota.

You Democrats had better remember Kelliher's shaky first year as Speaker, then picture her again in over her head on a statewide campaign trail. You have more experienced, more competent, and above all, more adult candidates to pick from.]]> Surrounded by Incompetence http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1256085213.shtml As several of us moaned during that voyage of the damned, watching the McCain campaign sink beneath us, Brack Obama had no experience whatever in running anything. And as I personally... Speed Gibson 2009-10-21T00:10+00:00
But there is one skill even a beginner like Obama should be able to demonstrate - the removal of an obvious incompetent like Anita Dunn. Her public worship of Chairman Mao violated rule number one of public relations, supposedly her profession. She became the story, not the storyteller, on an unbelievable scale, in a manner where she cannot possibly feign surprise.

I think every President has makes a bad appointment or two. When President Bill Clinton saw his Secretary of Defense Les Aspin frozen at the wheel, unable to make a decision, he ceremoniously but firmly removed him. And nobody really blamed either. Senator Aspin's extensive experience with military procurement in the Congress proved of no value after all.

President Obama needs to do the same here.]]> District 281 Candidate Forum http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1255971713.shtml I have given out some incorrect information regarding the upcoming Robbinsdale School Board Candidates Forum being presented this week by the League of Women Voters. Here is the information I verified... Speed Gibson 2009-10-19T17:10+00:00 


Date:  Thursday, October 22



Time:  7 pm



Place: Education Service Center (ESC) Boardroom (3rd floor)

       4148 Winnetka Ave. N, New Hope

]]> Equal Time http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1255919877.shtml I am of course sad to report that a woman died after being hit by a Metro Transit bus Friday morning. As you may remember, about one person a year... Speed Gibson 2009-10-19T02:10+00:00 a woman died after being hit by a Metro Transit bus Friday morning. As you may remember, about one person a year is dying from Hiawatha Line accidents, which should be of great concern to those planning the much more exposed Central Corridor and other lines.

But to be fair, yes, there are fatal bus accidents like this one from time to time. I couldn't find any official statistic, but I doubt it exceeds one a year, maybe about the same as Light Rail. But of course, buses are everywhere, mostly in dense residential neighborhoods. The intersections of pedestrians, motorists, and buses are several orders of magnitude that of Light Rail.

The obvious difference is that trains don't stop very quickly and don't mesh well with the surrounding traffic infrastructure. That's one reason why they generally increase congestion, not reduce it. And why mistakes are so much more likely to be fatal. And another reason why surface Light Rail should be halted in its tracks.

Again, my sympathies to the family and friends of the victim.]]> Above Normal! http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1255917611.shtml It hit 63 degrees today, a whopping 5 degrees above normal! No wonder I had to doff the jacket while out walking this afternoon, listening to the Vikings. Something's different this... Speed Gibson 2009-10-19T02:10+00:00
I finishing the Armatage neighborhood at the southern edge of Minneapolis, which makes 37 of 87 neighborhoods complete now.]]> Meet John Doe http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1255828258.shtml The stock market is up, some say the recession is over, but the rest of the news is pretty bleak. What a treat to see America at its best Saturday morning... Speed Gibson 2009-10-18T01:10+00:00
A fine family man as Lawrence Welk would say, here's a man who wants to be State Auditor, and knows what he wants to do when he gets there. Assuming the DFL will stay with incumbent Rebecca Otto, he is at once the most qualified candidate for 2010. Besides sending power back to local government, his ideas should save the State money as well. What he doesn't want to do is use this as a stepping stone to Governor or other office.

How refreshing to our America democracy function like it's supposed to.]]>