Superior police lost.

Superior police puzzled by series of thefts. This makes no sense to me the police say it was a short time that the thefts happened however the first call came in at 3 a.m. and it went tell 7 a.m. that is four hours that is not a short amount of time. Why did the police not have cops out in every business district there was, or heck even in the area it happened because the paper reported today that many of them were close to gether. This seems fishy to me I just don't know how the guy or guys were not caught.


Several Superior businesses and residences were burglarized early Wednesday, and there were several more attempted break-ins, according to Superior police.
No arrests have been made, and police couldn't specify how many suspects might be involved in the incidents, which could number more than 13.
Police did not release a description of any suspects.
Superior Police Capt. Chad La Lor said cash and other items were stolen, but he wouldn't specify amounts because of the ongoing investigation. He said Christmas presents were taken from one of the homes.
The path of the burglaries is not yet known, but many businesses were located near one another. Four businesses on the 5700 and 5800 blocks of Tower Avenue were targeted, including Jack's Fast Foods, J-n-J's Bakery Catering Cafe, Carlson's Corner Cafe and Thatcher's Auto Center.


Read the whole article at http://duluthnews.com.


Merry Christmas

Audit this Mayor Bergson.

Mayor Bergson gets it wrong again. Why are you getting an audit we already know that the health care cost is at 280 million and it is on the rise as we speak. This issue needs to start getting dealt with now. We can not wait any longer.

The audit was asked by the unions. Remember I have asked many times for the unions not to interfere with task force recommendations. They of course don't care if this gets fixed or not and they are using a pro-union Mayor to prove it.

As I said before these reconditions are great and most citizens like and the council agreed to them as well. Even union heads were at the council meeting and said this was a great plan but it was just a joke and the unions did not want to be the only ones publicly saying bad things about it at the council meeting.



Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson is calling for an independent audit of the city's self-insurance funds, saying the review is needed before he can embrace recommendations to eliminate $280 million in unfunded retiree health-care costs.
Bergson said his call for an outside review was prompted by charges from a City Council-appointed task force that the insurance fund has been mismanaged, neglected or abused for decades.

I will always take the easy way out.

Mayor Bergson takes the easy way out. I think many of use knew he would do this. Now Mayor Bergson does not even have go to court.


Bergson plea, fine payment close drunken-driving case
NEWS TRIBUNE
The drunken-driving case against Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson is resolved, Washburn County District Attorney J. Michael Bitney announced Tuesday.
Bergson and his attorney, Toby Marcovich of Superior, entered a plea of no contest and paid a $784 fine, Bitney said in a letter to the media.
According to the agreement, Bergson will undergo an alcohol assessment and follow through with treatment recommendations from the counselor. He'll attend a victims impact panel where he'll listen to the stories of people who've lost loved ones or suffered other losses at the hands of drunken drivers. And he'll forfeit his driving privileges for six months in Minnesota and in Wisconsin.
"This is the standard disposition for an offense of this type," Bitney wrote. "No preferential treatment was given in the disposition of this traffic case in Washburn County."
Bergson crashed his car the evening of Dec. 9 near Spooner, Wis. He suffered a concussion, bruises and cuts to his face. A preliminary breath test by police indicated his blood-alcohol level was 0.161 percent, more than two times the legal driving limit in Wisconsin.
Bergson announced at a news conference Thursday he had mailed in the signed plea agreement. Bitney's letter confirmed the action.


Merry Christmas

Banning books

The School rejects banning a book. Good for them I am not affine for banning books. The board also had some other notable activities from last night they are listed below.



Board rejects ban of sexually explicit books
EDUCATION:Instead of a ban, the School Board moves toward adopting guidelines for choosing instructional materials.
BY JAKE WEYER
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
DULUTH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Some parents, students and teachers in the Duluth school district are concerned about the possibility of banning the use of sexually explicit materials.
District officials have been looking at revising policies related to the selection of instructional materials since early in the school year, when a family complained about a book assignment. The family recommended amending the district's policy to ban the use of sexually explicit books, said Rex Hein, director of curriculum, assessment and staff development for the district.
Although the recommendation was considered, the district is considering using the Minnesota School Board Association's policy, which was approved for its first reading at Tuesday night's School Board meeting. All members voted in favor except Bevan Schraw, who thought the subject needed further review and discussion.
According to district informa- tion, the new policy would require staff members to select materials that:
• support the goals and objectives of the education programs;
• consider the needs, age and maturity of students;
• foster respect and appreciation for cultural diversity and varied opinion;
• fit with the constraints of the school district budget;
• and are in the English language, though another language may be used pursuant to Minnesota statute.
Teachers, parents and students voiced their support for the policy Tuesday and spoke to the board about their concerns.
Chloe Strand, a 15-year-old ninth-grade student at East High School, told the board that students need challenging and diverse materials to get them to think critically and prepare for the real world.
Jill Lofald, an English teacher at Denfeld, said she spoke for her fellow teachers when endorsing the new policy.
The speakers talked about academic freedoms, and one used Hitler's regime to illustrate the negative aspects of censorship. Board member Tim Grover thought some of the comments were over-the-top and unfairly attacked the family that brought the concern to the board.
"Tonight, I think we have reached a new low with the name of Hitler being brought up," Grover said.



The board also approved for second reading a related policy that included guidelines for parents who would like to request alternative resources. Grover and Schraw voted against the policy, which they said required further review.
The board also:
• recognized departing member Schraw's achievements and gave him a plaque;
• approved a resolution allowing student advisers to the School Board. Three students -- Michael Wasson of East High School, Melanie Schraw of Denfeld High School and Joe Fisketti of Central High School -- have been selected and will begin early next month. The students will not be allowed to vote or attend closed meetings;
• approved a 7.9 percent property tax levy increase.
• heard information on a districtwide facilities plan.


Merry Christmas

Set back for Pawlenty and the state.

I am sure I will get some flack for this. I hope this is not over turned, yes I am fully aware that this would mean our taxes would more then likely go up. As I work in a business effected by Governors Pawleent (fee) tax on cigarettes I was not for it in the first place.

There always seem to be an attack on cigarettes and alcohol when it comes to budget time. To me this is not right, I am not a smoker and don't drink much either however this attack does no good to those company's that make these products they just increase the price of there products and the consumers of these items are the losers. Yes I know smoking is not good for you, but you will never stop those that want to smoke from doing it.

I know that there was a lot of talk of this (fee) tax being illegal in the first place. We will now see what the courts say as it goes father.


ST. PAUL - Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and lawmakers are looking at a $400 million hole in the state's budget after a new 75-cents-a-pack "health impact fee" on cigarettes was declared illegal and unconstitutional by a judge Tuesday.
Ramsey County District Judge Michael Fetsch said the fee, which some legislators called an ill-disguised tax, violates terms of a multibillion-dollar court settlement the state and three tobacco companies struck in 1998.
"The state is bound, like any other party, to the contracts to which it freely and knowingly enters," Fetsch said of the court settlement.
For smokers, it was unclear whether the ruling would ever result in a decrease in the cost of cigarettes. Pawlenty said he will seek to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court.


read the whole story at http://duluthnews.com


Merry Christmas

Great commentary on drunk driving and city resolution.

This came from almost on the range blog,http://almostontherange.blogspot.com.

I agree for the most part, however I am one that thinks this mayor needs to go. I am in favor of a recall or for our mayor to resign.





Is it just me or do the rest of you feel like the city needs to do something official to show it's disapproval of Mayor Bergson's drunk driving incident? I don't advocate a recall effort. I believe that such an action would be detrimental to the city, and would face a very real possibility of failing.I believe that Duluthians should expect it's city council to censor the mayor. I didn't write anything about it because I was sure at least one city councilor would put forward a resolution condemning Herb's actions, but nothing has come forward so I'll make my case for it here.This issue has been featured in the media all across Minnesota and Wisconsin, and mentioned in the USA Today. It has all been bad publicity for our part of the state (people in the Twin Cities already think everyone who lives up here is a drunk), and I feel the city should do something to officially show it's disapproval. A City Council resolution is exactly what's called for. I hope it gets introduced at the next council meeting and is unanimously approved.The actual resolution/censure would obviously be longer, but I'd like it to include the following language:Be it resolved that the City of Duluth recognizes that alcohol is a drug, and it is a criminal action for anyone to operate a vehicle while intoxicated. This council understands that anyone choosing to operate a motor vehicle while intoxicated creates a real threat to the safety of both themselves and to others. Be it further resolved that because Mayor Herb Bergson drank enough alcohol to become extremely intoxicated and made the choice to drive his vehicle thereby creating a real danger to the public safety this council censors him with the strongest possible language

McCain on the President useing NSA

I wonder what you on the left think about McCains comments on this one. I know many of you respect McCain.

Just for the record I would not support him for President, regardless what the Lew Latto's of the world say. Oh wait Lew is not really a republican.


John McCain: Bush Right to Use NSA
Sen. John McCain disappointed Democrats on Capitol Hill on Sunday by defending the Bush administration's decision to use the National Security Agency to monitor a limited number of domestic phone calls in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Saying that Sept. 11 "changed everything," McCain told ABC's "This Week": "The president, I think, has the right to do this."
"We all know that since Sept. 11 we have new challenges with enemies that exist within the United States of America - so the equation has changed."
McCain said that while the administration needs to explain why it didn't first seek approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, he suggested that the Patriot Act might have superseded the 1978 FISA Act, allowing "additional powers for the president."

http://newsmax.com

Merry Christmas

Resolution on health care problem.

Here is President Ness resolution for tonight's meeting. The resolution is in regards to the task force on the retiree health care in Duluth.


BY PRESIDENT NESS:
The city of Duluth finds as follows:
(a) By resolution, the post employment health care benefits task force was appointed by the Duluth City Council to report findings and recommendations to the city regarding the impending financial problems and challenges related to delivery of retiree health care benefits;
(b) The task force presented a complete and comprehensive plan for solving the problem to the council on December 12, 2005;
(c) Task force members Don Bye, David Lindstrom, John Nys, Allan Winters, and task force chair Arend Sandbulte have collectively dedicated over 1,000 hours of volunteer time to this report;
(d) The Duluth City Council recognizes and appreciates the experience, dedication, knowledge and expertise of the task force members and their extraordinary efforts on behalf of the city and its citizens;
(e) According to the most recent actuarial valuation, the current unfunded liability facing the city is about $280 million dollars and, if responsible corrective action is not taken, this number is expected to grow to over $300 million by January 1, 2007.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Duluth City Council hereby accepts and endorses the post employment health care benefits task force report as presented on December 12, 2005.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Duluth City Council requests that the mayor and his administration also endorse the report and work closely with the council to implement its recommendations.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the council intends to implement the task forceÂ’s recommendations by December 31, 2006.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that it is the councilÂ’s expectation that labor contracts containing provisions that comply with the task force recommendations will be brought to the council no later than December 1, 2006, for approval.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the council does not intend to approve any labor contract that does not contain provisions that comply with the recommendations put forward by the task force.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the council requests that the administration secure agreements from retired employees to accept coverage under health care plans that are now in effect for active employees and present such agreements to the council for approval by December 1, 2006.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the council requests that the administration prepare monthly progress reports that addresses each task force recommendation for each month of 2006.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the council asks for the good faith, cooperation and shared sacrifice from all interested parties in order to address this issue.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the council views past, present and future employees of the city of Duluth as partners in solving the most pressing local financial issue of our time; we recognize the significant personal sacrifices being called for and we greatly appreciate any efforts to help solve this problem; and in this spirit, the council anticipates a strong and positive working relationship with all parties to quickly and decisively take action to create a sustainable benefit plan for years to come.

Merry Christmas

President Bush on Iraq.

This is from the Duluth news tribune today.
Bush offers more realistic view of war
BY PETER BAKER
WASHINGTON POST
ANALYSIS
WASHINGTON - The last time President Bush delivered a prime-time address from the Oval Office was the night he launched the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, back when he expected a decisive victory and gratitude from a liberated people. Thirty-three months and more than 2,100 U.S. fatalities later, Bush on Sunday was still predicting victory -- but sounding a more subdued note.
As he stared again into the cameras from behind the 125-year-old presidential desk named Resolute, Bush this time found himself arguing with those who "conclude that the war is lost." The president back on national television was, by many accounts, one chastened by the travails on the battlefield abroad and the political freefall at home since the first Special Forces crossed into the Iraqi desert.
"This work has been especially difficult in Iraq, more difficult than we expected," Bush acknowledged. "Reconstruction efforts and the training of Iraqi security forces started more slowly than we hoped. We continue to see violence and suffering, caused by an enemy that is determined and brutal, unconstrained by conscience or the rules of war."
For a president traditionally resistant to acknowledging any miscues, such a concession amounts to a stark political change of course. As more of the country abandons him on Iraq, Bush has embarked on a campaign to bring it back into the fold with a more realistic assessment of mistakes and of challenges ahead. Sunday night's national address from the Oval Office ended a weeks-long series of speeches imploring the American people to stand behind him again, to swallow their skepticism and be optimistic about last week's Iraqi election, to believe a greater good will come from all the sacrifice.
He addressed opponents of the war in a far more direct and less-confrontational manner, acknowledging "this war is controversial" and offering respect to those who disagree with his policies. "I have heard your disagreement and I know how deeply it is felt," he said. He added, "We will continue to listen to honest criticism and make every change that will help us complete the mission." He drew a distinction "between honest critics who recognize what is wrong and defeatists who refuse to see that anything is right."
The fresh approach played out over the past few weeks has yielded benefits in some quarters in Washington and may have helped fuel a modest uptick in Bush's sagging poll ratings. "He's taken a step back, he's looked at his hole card," Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., who met with Bush last week, said in an interview before the speech. "He's grown as a leader."
It might be too late to win back many who have lost faith. "When you tell a soldier to go take that hill, you come up with your mission and you tell them what you need to do to accomplish that mission, and you need to tell them clearly when that mission is ended," Army Maj. Tammy Duckworth, who was disabled in Iraq and plans to run for Congress as a Democrat, said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday. "Those decisions should have been made before we even sent troops over there. And they weren't -- they were not doing that."
While many opposed Bush even as he began the war, the political climate has changed so drastically since then that the president's whole approach to the struggle against terrorism has come under fire. Congressional critics have questioned secret overseas CIA prisons, moved to bar cruel and inhuman treatment of prisoners, blocked for the moment reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act that empowered law enforcement agencies and now threaten to hold hearings into Bush's order authorizing surveillance of Americans without warrants.
Just hours before Sunday night's presidential speech, a key Senate Republican challenged Bush's surveillance program and suggested it may be illegal. "We can't become an outcome-based democracy," Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "Even in a time of war, you have to follow the process because that's what a democracy is all about."
If Bush and his team are giving critics some due on Iraq, they remain defiant on the domestic spying program.
"What I'm concerned about... is that as we get farther and farther from 9/11... we seem to have people less and less committed to doing everything that's necessary to defend the country," Vice President Dick Cheney told ABC's "Nightline" during Sunday's trip to Iraq. "Somehow I think a lot of people have lost their sense of urgency out there. That's hard for me to do or for the president to do."

The Donald says no to Minnesota Gal.

I don't know if anyone watches the show or not. I do not but here is a story from the star tribune about the apprentice from last night. http://startribune.com


'Apprentice' hopeful slammed by double-snub
Birthdays • ACTRESS LIV ULLMAN, 67• WRITER-PRODUCER STEVEN BOCHCO, 62 • SINGER BENNY ANDERSON OF ABBA, 59 • ACTOR BEN CROSS, 58 • SINGER-GUITARIST BILLY GIBBONS OF ZZ TOP, 56 • ACTOR BENJAMIN BRATT, 42 • COUNTRY SINGER JEFF CARSON, 42
Earth to Randal: all that education and still no clue.
The newest "Apprentice" on the popular NBC show of the same name was crowned Thursday night -- he's a bright entrepreneur named Randal Pinkett -- but not before he took an enormous swipe at Rebecca Jarvis, a tough girl from northeast Minneapolis.
The show pits a group of young, successful people against each other in a series of competitions overseen by billionaire businessman Donald Trump.
Still in the running for a job at Trump's corporation Thursday night were Pinkett and Jarvis, a 1999 graduate of St. Paul Academy who grew up in the St. Anthony West neighborhood in Minneapolis.
The 23-year-old University of Chicago graduate also was named one of "20 Teens Who Will Change the World" in 2000 by Teen People.
But she was an underdog because Pinkett, 34, has already run a multimillion-dollar consulting firm and is a Rhodes Scholar with degrees from MIT and Oxford.
Jarvis, who broke her ankle partway through the show playing hockey but continued to compete, won the admiration of Trump for her toughness and loyalty.
Trump's choice: Pinkett, but with a caveat.
Should he hire Jarvis as well? the victor was asked.
No way, Pinkett replied. "It's called 'The Apprentice," not 'The Apprenti,' " said Pinkett. Trump let it end there, and Jarvis lost.
The display left Jarvis' neighborhood pals, many of whom were gathered around a big-screen television at a neighborhood bar in northeast Minneapolis, stunned.
"I thought that Randall had a little more class," said Mike Rainville, a family friend, "but he's going to have to live with that the rest of his life."
Her friends plan to hold a party for Jarvis when she returns to Minneapolis with her family, including parents James Jarvis and Gail Marks Jarvis.
"She's the pride of Minneapolis," Rainville said.
As Jarvis' profile climbs, the show itself is in a slump. The once red-hot series finished 24th in the Nielsen ratings last week and is expected to lose its cushy Thursday night slot in the schedule next year, this after only four go-arounds

Mayor speech

Here is the mayors lies in his speech. I can't believe this guys believes a word he said. He starts with a lie right away by saying he only had 4 and half drinks come on Mayor Bergson. From that point you can't believe a word he says about it.

Why couldn't he just come out and tell us the truth from the beginning to end of his whole day?


"MY MESS"
Bergson left work at 2:30 p.m. Friday, he said. Contrary to reports, he did not attend a retirement party at City Hall in the afternoon before his crash and arrest.
He drank at a private residence before leaving for Eau Claire, Wis., en route to a conference in Chicago. He declined to identify whose residence, its location or the nature of the relationship.
"This is my mess," Bergson said. "We're not going to drag anyone else into it. It's not germane to the charge."
At the residence, he consumed 2 beers and two drinks of vodka and grapefruit juice, he said. He did not mix the drinks himself.
"I felt like I could drive," Bergson said. "But that's a mistake many people who drink make when they drive. They get the feeling they're capable, and they're not."
"I knew I had too much to drink when I drove," he said later while answering a question about not wanting to speak to police without his lawyer.
The mayor said he did not consume any alcohol in his car after he left the residence. Nor did he make any stops before his accident, he said.
"I was driving and suddenly the car was spinning," Bergson said. "That's all I can tell you. And then the car was stopped.... I can tell you that the car spun out of control."
Police reports said road conditions were good and relatively dry.
Bergson struck the windshield and steering wheel of his 2002 Mercury with his head and upper body. He assumes he was knocked unconscious. When he got out of his vehicle, he saw people around, he said, and could hear sirens and the sound of his car's engine revving.
"DON'T REMEMBER EVERYTHING"
Bergson disputed police reports that he was uncooperative, resisted medical help and wanted to leave the scene.
"My head hit the windshield at 65 mph. I didn't know I was bleeding. I didn't know I was hurt. I wouldn't call it uncooperative," he said. "As far as not answering questions at the jail... you should have a lawyer present. Anyone should, guilty or innocent."
He said he doesn't recall asking passing motorists not to call authorities, as police reports indicated.
"I still don't remember everything. My doctor tells me I probably won't," Bergson said. "I don't know who would have said I was trying to leave the scene. I'm not going to say it wasn't right because I can't remember. But that car wasn't going anywhere."
Bergson questioned a report by a state trooper that he probably wasn't wearing his seat belt. He's a regular seat belt-user, he said.
"The air bag didn't work and I assume the seat belt didn't work," he said.
The mayor said he has no memory of being led to an ambulance or of riding in the ambulance to the hospital in Spooner. He recalls some of his examination at the hospital, he said, and most of his arrest at the Washburn County Jail.
He consented to a blood test, he said. Police reports indicated the blood test had to be administered against his wishes at the order of the Washburn County district attorney.
"I remember feeling very humiliated, very ashamed and stripped of my dignity," Bergson said of his arrest. "I can't explain it all. It was a bad choice."
"FELT LIKE AN IDIOT"
Several hours after police released Bergson to his wife, he typed an e-mail to inform acquaintances, reporters and others about what had happened.
"I felt like an idiot," he said when asked why he contacted the media. "I betrayed family and friends and supporters. I needed them to know I was going to be upfront."
Bergson left three days before the conference in Chicago because he wanted to "get away," he said. His intent was to find a hotel room in Eau Claire on Friday night and then arrive in Chicago by Saturday evening. He planned to pay out of his own pocket for the rooms and other expenses.
"Sometimes it's good to get away," Bergson said. "Sometimes it's good to have an evening when the phone doesn't ring and when you don't have a meeting to go to.
"This job, you live in a fishbowl. Anything you do is scrutinized," he said. "I'm not going to blame what happened on Friday on stress. Stress did not turn the key. Stress didn't decide to go to Eau Claire instead of staying in town. Herb did, and Herb is sorry.
"Being tired (also) may have played a factor. But being tired didn't turn the key" either, he said.

Steve Kelly I will do anything for left wing vote.

Kelly's staff trying hard to show he is not a moderate. I understand now why his staff put the sings in his office window next to the recruiting center for the Army. This is because he needs the support of those who do not like President Bush and contunie to harp that our millitary needs to come home now.

Mr. Kelly you show no spin by allowing this. You are doing it for politcal gain only and you should take the numbers down. Of course you will not.


Commentary by RANDY WANKE
The antiwar political activists who dominate the endorsement process at the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party have a tendency not to favor moderates.
By some counts, or at least by some standards, DFL gubernatorial candidate state Sen. Steve Kelley is "perceived" as being moderate.
That may be why he allowed the posting of a sign, which lists the number of U.S. service members killed in Iraq, in his Duluth campaign office window right next to the U.S. Army recruiting office. Kelley is keeping the sign up despite requests from local servicemen to take it down.
Kelley appears to be trying to shed his "moderate" image by making a quick dash to the antiwar left. In doing so, he is showing himself to be a political opportunist who is willing to exploit and cheapen the sacrifice of our soldiers. And worst of all, he has done so in a manner that is tantamount to a daily slap in the face of those who bravely serve and are looking to serve our nation.
Here is some unsolicited political advice for the senator: While it may gain you antiwar supporters you seek for your party's endorsement, when the general election rolls around, most Minnesotans won't take too kindly to insulting our service men and women for political gain.
Sen. Kelley may want to listen to the members of the military at the recruiting office, who are forced to read the sign every day when they go to work in service of their country. Perhaps he should listen to Army Staff Sgt. Gary Capan, who called the sign "ridiculous" and said that it "makes it so troops are just a number."
So far, he does not appear willing to take advice from those he claims to be trying to help. A Kelley spokeswoman offered this weak defense of Kelley's actions: "He supports making sure everyone has accurate information" about the Iraq war.
If Sen. Kelley truly "supports making sure everyone has accurate information" about the Iraq war, perhaps he should post some other numbers and information in his campaign office window to reflect the progress in Iraq, which has been made possible by the sacrifice of American soldiers. For example:
• Saddam Hussein, a brutal dictator who butchered countless people, is no longer in power. (According to a 2003 New York Times article, "Accounts collected by Western human rights groups from Iraqi emigres and defectors have suggested that the number of those who have 'disappeared' into the hands of the secret police, never to be heard from again, could be 200,000." The number of lives lost at the brutal hands of Hussein probably are much larger and the true human cost of his rule may never be fully known.)
• In October's constitutional referendum election, more than 9 million Iraqis voted.
• And as U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) recently pointed out, the Iraq war is "between 27 million and 10,000; 27 million Iraqis who want to live lives of freedom, opportunity and prosperity and roughly 10,000 terrorists who are either Saddam revanchists, Iraqi Islamic extremists or al-Qaeda foreign fighters who know their wretched causes will be set back if Iraq becomes free and modern."
Or maybe Steve Kelley could simply put up a sign saying, "America thanks our servicemen and women for their service and sacrifice."
I don't expect that we will be seeing any of this information or these numbers hanging in Kelley's window soon. After all, these are not the kinds of facts that appeal to the political base Kelley is trying to court.
We all mourn the loss of those who have sacrificed their lives in this war. Yet, success and freedom in Iraq are the best monuments that we can build in their honor.
Those are far greater monuments than a politically motivated sign in a campaign office window.
Many Democrats understand that important fact. Unfortunately, in his attempts to curry favor with the antiwar faction in his party, Sen. Steve Kelley has shown himself not to be one of them.
RANDY WANKE is a political analyst from Plymouth, Minn.

CIA to buy Knight Ridder?

This is a very interesting articile in slate magizen. What do you all think. Should the goverment run a news paper business?


Sell Knight Ridder to the CIAOr, how spooks are like (and unlike) reporters.By Jack ShaferPosted Friday, Dec. 9, 2005, at 9:38 PM ET
Now that a major Knight Ridder Inc. stockholder has put the company into play, I suggest the Central Intelligence Agency purchase the 32-newspaper chain. Now, I anticipate the predictable protests from readers that a press controlled or owned by the government is but a propaganda organ, and the objections of Knight Ridder foreign correspondents made skittish by the prospect of becoming the targets of kidnappers and assassins. But the acquisition complements the Open Source Center founded last month to "track and manage unclassified data" from CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. The new operation will gather and analyze such unclassified information as Web sites, blogs, mosque sermons, databases, and even T-shirt slogans. The center will absorb the CIA's existing open-source holding, the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, set up in the 1940s to translate foreign publications and broadcasts for the agency.
Knight Ridder employees don't have that much to fear. The company has a stellar reputation because—unlike the CIA—it has never toppled a foreign government, attempted to poison a foreign leader, or doped an unsuspecting U.S. citizen with LSD to see how he would react. As long as the agency keeps its newspaper operations separate from its clandestine work, we shouldn't expect to lose more than five or six reporters to hostile forces each year. It sounds bad, but under current market conditions, it's a better deal than a buyout.


http://www.slate.com, to read the whole story.

Check this link out.

Thanks to subdude for making me aware of this. This is a great place to see how much alcohol one can consume before being legally drunk.


http://www.ou.edu/oupd/bac.htm

House approves partiot act.

It seems that the house had no problem with the patriot act in a vote today. The vote was 251-174. This is part of the stroy.


WASHINGTON - The House easily approved renewing a modified USA Patriot Act on Wednesday, but with the bill facing a Senate filibuster, its Republican leader began talks with the White House on instead extending the current law unchanged for a year.
The House voted 251-174 to approve a House-Senate compromise that would modify and make permanent most of the Patriot Act’s 16 expiring provisions. But a group of Republican and Democratic senators is lobbying for more time to add additional safeguards on the law.
President Bush urged against any delay in Senate action. “The Patriot Act is essential to fighting the war on terror and preventing our enemies from striking America again,” he said in a statement. “In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment.”


Read the whole story on http://msnbc.com

Open question

Ok so I am sick of people saying all I do is toe the line of the republican party. The thing is if it is what I believe, or at least to the most part what is wrong with that. It seems to me that (you) the democrats do the same thing, you hear something from some one you agree with and then repeat it. Is that not the same thing?


So here it is, what is the deal with the double standard? Feel free to comment on any other questions in this post as well.

More from the Star Trib.

Here is yet another great articale by the star tribune. Why can't the D.N.T. report like this?


DULUTH -- Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson, whose reputation and leadership ability were tarnished by a drunken-driving arrest last weekend, is compounding the damage by refusing to explain the incident, cloistering himself at home and missing important city meetings, officials and pundits said Tuesday.
"I'm not going to advocate his resignation," said City Council Member Jim Stauber, a conservative counterbalance to the liberal DFL-supported mayor. "We all make mistakes. But he's gotta come clean if he wants to regain public confidence."
Stauber said the mayor must either admit to a drinking problem and deal with it or come back to work and lead the city.
Stauber's comments, versions of which were echoing in blogs and coffee shops all over Duluth on Tuesday, came after a crucial City Council meeting Monday night from which Bergson, who was home nursing cuts and bruises, was absent.
The meeting dealt with what Council President Donny Ness called "the biggest issue to face Duluth in decades" -- the presentation of a task force's solutions to a projected $280 million debt on retiree health care, which officials say could bankrupt the city within years if not headed off by aggressive budgeting.
Bergson had consistently pushed the issue to the top of the city's agenda and was featured Sunday in a New York Times story on the nation's problem with retirees and health care.
Conversely, Minnesota newspapers Sunday were focused on his arrest in Wisconsin after he totaled a car Friday evening in a single-vehicle accident while traveling to Chicago on city business.
Duluthians are scratching their heads over the amount of alcohol involved -- Bergson's blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.161 percent, or twice Wisconsin's legal driving limit -- as well as the time of the accident, 6:25 p.m., and the fact that Bergson was headed to Chicago three days before a two-hour conference he was to attend.
They're also troubled by police reports that say Bergson -- a former police officer and mayor of Superior, Wis. -- asked others to refrain from calling the police and instead help him push his car free from a guardrail.
In a scathing editorial Tuesday, the Duluth News Tribune said the jail booking photo of Bergson's bleary and battered face was the "worst mug shot since Glenn Campbell['s]."
"If ever there was an illustration," the editorial said, "of just how far, and how quickly, needlessly foolish and irresponsible behavior can sink someone from the heights of achievement to the gutter of embarrassment, this was it."
While Bergson announced the arrest himself via e-mail, he refused to explain his behavior other than to call it an isolated, "tragic mistake" not indicative of a drinking problem.
He said in an e-mail Monday that he can't talk about specifics of the incident while the matter is pending in court, although he said he plans to plead no contest. He did not respond to e-mailed questions for this story.
Bergson's stance thus far won't easily wash with voters or colleagues in City Hall, said Prof. Craig Grau of the Political Science Department of the University of Minnesota Duluth.
"Maybe there isn't a drinking problem," Grau said. "But if that's true, he'll need to provide an alternative explanation that makes sense to people, and right now, these facts are hard for people to square."
Bergson announced through a spokesman Tuesday that he'll return to work Thursday and issue a statement. The News Tribune's editorial said that for his sake, the mayor better have a lot to say.
"Bergson can begin to undo, or at least put into some perspective, his troubles," the paper said, "by immediately coming clean on the details of the debacle before rumors and innuendo finish the job of burying him that he himself started on the road."
Larry Oakes • 1-218-727-7344

Drunk or not drunk Mayor to make comments on Thursday.

Bergson to make a statement on Thursday when he returns to work.



Posted December 13, 2005Bergson to return to work, make statement ThursdayBY CHUCK FREDERICKNEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERDuluth Mayor Herb Bergsonwon't publicly answer questions about his car wreck and drunken-drivingconviction until at least Thursday, city communications director Jeff Papassaid.The mayor continued to recuperate at home today, Papas said, and isn'texpected back in his City Hall office until at least Thursday."When he'sback in the office, he'll have a public statement to make," Papas said. "Right

Tookie Williams executed.

California Govnor gets his way. Tookie Williams was executed late last night.

As I said before I am for the death penalty and I believe the right thing happend in this case. I don't care what Mr. Williams be after he killed four people. He started a gang that is very powerful now in most states not just California.

The whole story can be found at http://msnbc.com.


SAN QUENTIN, Calif. - Convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams, the Crips gang co-founder whose case stirred a national debate about capital punishment versus the possibility of redemption, was executed Tuesday morning.
Williams, 51, died at 12:35 a.m. PT after receiving a lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison, officials said. Before the execution, he was "complacent, quiet and thoughtful," Corrections Department spokeswoman Terry Thornton said.

The papers view of the Mayors DUI if you care.

Our View: Bergson must come clean on details of DUI arrestMayor's personal tragedy shows perils of alcohol/driving mix, especially in holidays
Mayor Herb Bergson was supposed to have been big news Sunday, and far beyond Duluth. For its national story on the problem of health-care benefits for retired public workers, the New York Times sought him out to feature, complete with photo, prominently in its Sunday business section.
Bergson made the spread, but he also made the front page of this paper, as well as the top story on every local TV news show, with the report of his drunken driving arrest. Where the Times displayed his beaming, proud smile, the local media have made famous the worst mug shot since Glenn Campbell posed for the police in Phoenix. If ever there was an illustration of just how far, and how quickly, needlessly foolish and irresponsible behavior can sink someone from the heights of achievement to the gutter of embarrassment, this was it.
What, for Pete's sake, was he thinking - not just by the time he'd raised his blood-alcohol level to twice the legal limit, i.e., stumbling drunk, and got behind the wheel of what used to be his four-door Mercury -- but even earlier Saturday when he decided it'd be OK to pop a few, knowing he was driving solo nearly 500 miles to Chicago or, all right, Eau Claire? That no one was seriously injured or killed is pure luck, and while no drunk driving episode is acceptable, this one was hardly a candidate for pleading "c'mon, officer give me a break. I'm only going home around the corner."
That's especially true because as a former police officer and detective Bergson knows that line all too well. How could he have forgotten the consequences for those who utter those words?
His action also has done wonders to torpedo progress he had been making politically after his unceremonious firing of chief aide Mark Winson, with the New York Times story beginning to give the impression that maybe the mayor from Duluth knew what he was doing after all. Along with recent driving-under-the-influence inductees Minnesota state Rep. Tom Rukavina of Virginia, Wisconsin state Rep. Frank Boyle of Superior and Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, Bergson has helped round out a rogues' gallery of local politicians who have done damage to the reputation of the entire region, to say nothing of the Democratic Party to which they all swear allegiance.
Bergson can begin to undo, or at least put into some perspective, his troubles by immediately coming clean on the details of the debacle before rumors and innuendo finish the job of burying him that he himself started on the road. Where and how much did he drink before setting out? With whom? Why did he think he could make the trip?
If there is any good that can come out of this it will be with the complete disclosure of what goes on in the mind of one who would take so deadly a chance - knowledge that the public desperately needs to understand to end this very real danger.
Bergson can thank his stars that he is around to share this woeful story, and to vow that it never happen again.