Minnesota’s Democratic governor candidate buffet was like a Swedish smorgasbord. Bland, white, arguably wholesome stuff. Notable absence of spice. Is that a bad thing? Dunno. We’ll see.
I’ve been largely ambivalent about the Minnesota governor primary. Two wealthy, self-financing white males who were bucking (with a “b”) the arcane DFL system. One kinda, sorta grass-rootsy female, immersed in and blessed by the DFL.
But now that chapter is closed. This morning, Mark Dayton emerged victorious over Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Matt Entenza. We know MD won, because the Associated Press told us so. Presumably Secretary of State Mark Ritchie – the only genuine authority on the results – has by now weighed in, having waited until all the votes are counted. Kinda flies in the face of instant gratification, doesn't it? Read more.
Something new is going down at my place. I’ve become a baseball kinda gal. But wait! There’s more.
My Facebook Friends (4,937 of those people nearest and dearest to me) already know that over the past year or so, I’ve morphed from a passive read-about-‘em-in-the-paper Twins fan to a raucous game-watching, game attending, Mauer jersey wearing, stats following, trade savvy, armchair coaching baseball babe. And because I rarely ever watched a game before that, and never in hi-def until now, I’m new to up-close and personal glimpses of the Boys of September.
I moseyed into the kitchen tonight to rinse dinner dishes, thinking about the ballgame just concluded. Sadly, my guys lost. To Cleveland. Go figure.
I stepped onto the small rug in front of the sink. Kicked around a petrified pea with the sides of my tennies. Back and forth, back and forth. Settled into my dish rinsing stance. Shrugged my shoulders, easing the tension.
I began scraping congealed pasta and peas down the disposal. And then I turned away and spit on the floor. An odd but strangely satisfying thing. Read on!
On July 7, the last of three independent British commissions exonerated prominent climate scientists at the University of East Anglia of any wrongdoing in the so-called "Climategate," in which mysterious (and still anonymous) hackers trashed their reputations and confused public understanding of important climate science.
Meanwhile, back in America, prominent climatologist Michael Mann, also reviled by critics for his "Climategate" e-mails (and for his solid climate science), was similarly exonerated by a full review panel at Penn State University, where he teaches. Most important, all review panels affirmed the underlying science, and thereby the established scientific consensus that human activity is warming the planet. "The rigor and honesty of the scientists in not in doubt," the British panel concluded.
This should put to rest any remaining public "skepticism" of the scientific facts of climate change. If it doesn't, two new books will. Read more.
barbara has been out of town again, in places with no signal. That said, this clip, sent to me by LeftyMN, seemed important enough to find a way to share it with you.
What follows is the deeply moving Republican anthem, as sung by Michele Bachmann, John Kline, Tim Pawlenty (our MN radical right contingent), Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, et al.
I think it may tug at your heart and bring a tear to your eye.
