Have you ever watched porn and idly wondered whether the stuff written on that blackboard in the background is accurate? Well, the author of Blackboards in Porn has and he wants to share his findings with the world. The Internet is truly a glorious thing.

How did I find this site, you ask? How do you think I found it? Listen, I don’t have to justify my…preferences…to you or anyone else.

I have to run a few errands tonight. More later or tomorrow.

I wrote last week about the news that Minnesota is likely to face another deficit in the near future. It’s a frustrating situation, but one of the great things about the Internet is how it assists in keeping one’s perspective. Take California, for example. Writer Michael Lewis paints a vivid and depressing picture of the complete clusterfuck that is California’s public finances in a fascinating Vanity Fair article. He describes how state legislators of both parties are incapable of putting the long-term interests of the state before their own political interests. That may not be surprising in itself, but the consequences of such behavior are now trickling down to the local level with dire consequences. The city of Vallejo, for instance, is bankrupt and the city government has been reduced to a skeletal staff. The local fire department can barely cope with the number of emergencies that are called in each day. It’s a city struggling to preserve the most basic elements of the the social contract with its citizenry.

No community in Minnesota is approaching Vallejo-levels of dysfunction, but I worry. Our elected officials have shown little appetite for finding a sustainable solution to our own structural deficit and our cities and towns have been forced to make deep cuts in services. I want to believe that our sense of civic responsibility would keep our worst impulses in check, but perhaps the residents of Vallejo thought the same thing.

I’m not looking forward to the politicking next year regarding the marriage amendment to the state constitution. Hurtful and mean-spirited things will be said. Otherwise good-hearted people will reveal themselves as bigots. But it’s encouraging to see at least a few Republicans coming out in opposition to the ballot measure. The vast majority of elected Republicans will either vigorously campaign in favor of it or stay mum to avoid crossing the homophobic base of the party, so the willingness of these few to break with dogma should be commended. Perhaps a few more prominent Republicans will be inspired to make a stand for equality.

A year, I would have predicted that Mitt Romney would be the GOP presidential nominee in 2012. A year later, that prediction still seems safe. The conservative base has been flailing about to the point of exhaustion in efforts to find someone who can embody the far right’s most demented aspirations, but such a candidate simply doesn’t exist. At least, not in an electable package. I’m still hoping Rick Perry can stage a comeback as he would make a ripe target for Obama, but he’s already imploding. The Tea Partiers will either have to grudgingly accept Romney or find the courage (and resources) to organize a third party movement. Romney’s strained relationship with the Tea Party will probably be one of the more interesting political dynamics to observe next year.