I’m going to lounge about on my deck before the holiday weekend completely slips away. Regular blogging will resume tomorrow.
May 302011
May 272011
Hubert Humphrey is something of a fading demigod in these parts. His name is stamped on sports stadiums and academic institutions, but a growing number of Minnesotans probably only have the vaguest idea of who he is. Humphrey would have turned 100 and Rick Perlstein commemorates the occasion in the Times with a clear-eyed yet admiring analysis of Humphrey’s legacy. Humphrey was the perfect embodiment of Minnesota-style progressivism: humble, sincere, resolute, and egalitarian. That kind of progressive spirit has been in retreat in Minnesota over the last several years, but it hasn’t completely disappeared. There will never be another Hubert Humphrey, but we can strive to realize his vision of a better Minnesota and a better country.
May 262011
Paul Ryan’s plan to “reform” Medicare isn’t winning the hearts and minds of the people. On Tuesday, a Democrat won a special election to fill a House seat in a deeply conservative district in upstate New York. The winner, Kathy Hochul, took every opportunity to link her Republican opponent to Ryan’s plan and it clearly worked as an election strategy. Democrats are now giddy at the prospects of hammering other Republicans with the Ryan plan in 2012.
Considering that Republicans attempted to portray Democrats as granny-killers in the 2010 election, I don’t have any ethical qualms about this strategy. And while Republicans had to actually make the effort to lie when they accused Democrats of sponsoring death panels, Democrats don’t have to fabricate anything when attacking the Ryan plan. It’s as if Republicans are doing all the work for the opposition. It’s kind of awesome when you think about it.
Changes do need to be made to Medicare to keep it solvent, but forcing people to purchase private insurance as an alternative is wildly unpopular. I just hope Democrats can have the same success attacking GOP plans to dismantle Medicaid.
May 252011
I wouldn’t be much of a geek if I didn’t point out that today is Towel Day. In honor of Douglas Adams, grab your favorite towel, head down to local pub to knock back a few pints, and maybe recite some Vogon poetry if the mood strikes you. I’ll join you as soon as I remember where I put that babel fish.
May 242011
The Minnesota Legislature adjourned yesterday without passing a budget that the governor would sign. If they don’t agree to a budget by June 30, most of state government will shut down and most state employees will be furloughed. Most political observers didn’t buy the claims made back in January by both legislators and the governor that they would end the session on time, so the current situation isn’t much of a surprise. The deep ideological divide between the two sides is unlikely to result in a compromise anytime soon, which means I should start an office pool on the length of this impasse. I was lucky enough to experience the last state government shutdown in 2005 (ugh, I’m becoming an old-timer) and that didn’t last much more than a week. I’d bet on a similar outcome this time around, but I hope to be proven wrong.
May 232011
When the sirens started blaring across Minneapolis yesterday, I didn’t pay much attention to them. Like a lot of urban residents (especially those of us in the Midwest), I don’t give much thought to natural disasters in general or tornadoes in particular. Of course, tornadoes are quite capable of striking metropolitan areas and one did exactly that in north Minneapolis, just a few miles from my place in downtown. It caused extensive damage and, to make matters worse, the North Side is already struggling with the recession’s aftermath. Best wishes to my fellow Minneapolitans as they rebuild their neighborhoods. I won’t so casually ignore those sirens in the future.
May 202011
For those of you making last-minute preparations in advance of tomorrow’s apocalypse, best wishes and bon voyage. Things won’t be the same around here without you. I’m not sure if they have e-mail or Facebook where you’re going, but try to stay in touch. And it’s cool if I throw a pool party at your house tomorrow night, right? I mean, it’s not like you’ll be coming back. Don’t worry; we’ll keep the orgy participants in the living room and we’ll put plastic over everything. We may be godless heathens, but we’re also good neighbors.
May 192011
The University of Minnesota Law School, my alma mater, is weaning itself off all state funding over the next few years. Noting the steady decline in state support for higher education, the Law School’s administators have decided to prepare for a future when the school’s funding will come only from tuition and private donors. If we assume that state coffers aren’t going to be flush anytime soon (a relatively safe assumption), this move makes a certain amount of sense. The U can direct scarce financial resources to undergraduate programs that serve a far greater number of students. And the Law School can rest assured that its all-important U.S. News ranking won’t be adversely affected by the caprices of state legislators.
But such a move may also make a legal education less affordable. Public law schools were once the best hope of low and middle-income students who wanted a professional degree. Of course, tuition at both public and private law schools has been skyrocketing for the past decade, so the absence of state funding might not make much of a difference in holding tuition down. But if more college grads decide that becoming an attorney isn’t worth a mountain of debt, the Law School might have to lean even harder on donors to keep its star faculty from fleeing to greener pastures. I might be able to help purchase a couple textbooks, but I hope they’re not expecting much more from me.
May 182011
It’s too bad that L.A. Noire is only available to play on consoles because it seems like an engrossing game. I have a weakness for all things noir and getting to play detective in 1940s Los Angeles is my kind of entertainment. I’ll just have to add this to my list of games to play once Sony or Microsoft finally releases it neural interface. In the meantime, perhaps I’ll re-read one of my James Ellroy novels to scratch my noir itch.
May 172011
Stephen Hawking seems to be in a talkative mood as of late. In an interview with the Guardian, he makes it clear that he has no use for the concepts of heaven or God. Ever the consummate geek, he compares the human brain to a computer and declares that “[t]here is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.” Of course, I can’t disagree with him. Heaven seems like an unnecessary distraction from all the singularly amazing things to be experienced here in this world: art, food, sex, an airplane ride, the weight of a slumbering dog at the foot of your bed, the sun falling outside my window and streaking the sky in apricot and rose. Hawking and I may be epic rivals, but we both know that we’re heading for oblivion and we’re pretty much okay with that as long as there’s ample time to enjoy the ride.