Centricity - The state or quality of being centric; centricalness.
Centrisity - The state or quality of not being bound to an ideology. Freedom of thought.
Benanav, whose ward includes the University of St. Thomas and Hamline University, is researching whether the city should charge institutions of higher education a per-student fee of $25 to pay for police and fire services. State law exempts schools and other nonprofit organizations from paying property taxes.Probably THE most ridiculous proposal he has ever made, and that was a challenge for even him to meet.
Senate District 15 resultsBut in the STRIB article this AM, the Right had the spin cycle in overdrive!
Ind DAN BECKER 826 6.96
GOP DAN "OX" OCHSNER 4422 37.26
DFL TARRYL CLARK 6572 55.38
WRITE-IN** 47 0.40
House 15B Results
DFL LARRY HAWS 3579 70.86
WRITE-IN** 150 2.97
GOP KAY EK** 1322 26.17
"I think the Ek situation caused confusion among the voters," state Republican spokesman Mark Drake said after Ochsner conceded the election to Clark. "It drowned out the message that Clark is a liberal who is out of touch with the district."So your guys get busted, the constituency demands a little honesty and respect, and you say THEY'RE out of touch.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.Merry Christmas and have a safe and joyous Holiday Weekend!
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
"(A)ny time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution."Seems like the President and I were on the same page back then, but for some reason he has changed his mind. Anything short of that would simply mean he was saying one thing, but doing the complete opposite.
Forty-six percent (46%) of American adults approve of the way George W. Bush is performing his role as President. Fifty-two percent (52%) disapprove.For the month of December, The President's high water mark was 47% on December 4th, with his low point of 43% registering just a few days later on December 9. This clearly shows a volatility of the opinions of Americans, and suggests that any brief bump after the latest inundation of face time, will be brief.
Mr. President. Getting back to the domestic spying issue for a moment. According to FISA's own records, it's received nearly 19,000 requests for wiretaps or search warrants since 1979, rejected just five of them. It also operates in secret, so security shouldn't be a concern, and it can be applied retroactively. Given such a powerful tool of law enforcement is at your disposal, sir, why did you see fit to sidetrack that process?19,000 requests with only FIVE rejections. And there actually an opportunity for retroactive authorization built into the law. So what is the difference between this practice and the desire of the President to work outside the letter of the law? The President;s response:
We used the process to monitor. But also, this is a different -- a different era, a different war, Stretch. So what we're -- people are changing phone numbers and phone calls, and they're moving quick. And we've got to be able to detect and prevent. I keep saying that, but this is a -- it requires quick action.Which, I assume, is the primary reason the current law allows for retroactive authorization.
And without revealing the operating details of our program,FISA operates in secret, so the operation is still protected.
I just want to assure the American people that, one, I've got the authority to do this;but there is no need to use this authority since the law provides you with all the tools you need to do the same.
two, it is a necessary part of my job to protect you;sure, but know need to make up your own rules to do it when the current set of procedures allows for the same protections.
and, three, we're guarding your civil liberties.Not if you are circumventing the law to spy on citizens without proper legal clearance.
And we're guarding the civil liberties by monitoring the program on a regular basis, by having the folks at NSA, the legal team, as well as the inspector general, monitor the program, and we're briefing Congress. This is a part of our effort to protect the American people. The American people expect us to protect them and protect their civil liberties. I'm going to do that. That's my job, and I'm going to continue doing my job.But your oath, Mr. President is to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States", and frankly, peeking into people's worlds with out legal authorization is just plain creepy. There are policies, processes and procedures built into the current system that will allow the administration to do exactly what they are doing right now, without skipping a beat. What they are doing instead is pure power mongering arrogance, and I believe the American people will see right through it.
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- John Spencer, who played a dedicated politico on "The West Wing" who survived a serious illness to run for vice president, died of a heart attack Friday, his publicist said.Holy moly! I loved the Leo McGarry character! He provided sanity to a busy and hectic oval office. With his status as the Democratic nominee for Veep, this could make for some interesting plot twists. Of course, if the GOP candidate (played by Alan Alda) takes the prize, it will be uneventful.
Spencer, 58, died at a Los Angeles hospital, said publicist Ron Hofmann. He would have been 59 next week.
Spencer played Leo McGarry, the chief of staff to President Jeb Bartlet (Martin Sheen) through the first few seasons of the NBC series. In a sad parallel to life, his character suffered a heart attack that forced him to give up his White House job.
The party starts at 5PM, and lasts until J.B. Doubtless climbs up on the bar and sings "Hungry Heart".I hear from reliable sources I may not be the only admitted Left leaner at the gathering, so that should spare me from being cornered and then tag teamed into submission. But in reality, these events turn out to be more apolitical, and the conversations take on a more personal flavor, rather then political ones.
Four Minnesota Vikings, including quarterback Daunte Culpepper, were charged today with misdemeanors alleging lewd or indecent conduct in connection with a party on Lake Minnetonka in October.This couldn't come at a worse time for the team. The Vikings biggest test of their come from no where season is against a resurgent Pittsburgh team which is as desperate for a win to keep their playoff hopes alive as the Vikings are. But being held accountable for criminal behaviors knows no time line.
The other players charged were tackle Bryant McKinnie, running back Moe Williams and cornerback Fred Smoot, who was one of the organizers of the annual party put on by a first-year player from the team.
It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong," Bush said during his fourth and final speech before Thursday's vote for Iraq's parliament. "As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq. And I'm also responsible for fixing what went wrong by reforming our intelligence capabilities. And we're doing just that."It's like he almost admitted making a mistake . . . almost!
"My decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision," the president said. "Saddam was a threat and the American people, and the world is better off because he is no longer in power."
Iraqis started the year with a transitional assembly election. They voted for a constitution in October. And on Thursday they will cap their tumultuous year when many are expected to vote for a full four-year parliament.Iraq is evolving into a much better neighbor and global citizen. We can argue whether or not the President lied us into this conflict (I like to think of it as a self fulfilled prophecy). He has much to answer to regarding the intelligence that did not support his claims of WMD's, his primary argument for militaristic intervention. But I don't think any objective mind can ignore the fact that the Arab peninsula is better off with a Democratic Iraq, rather then a dictatorial regime that brutalized it's on people into conformity.
On a main road in Sunni Aadhamiya, teenagers broke away from a soccer game to voice support for former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a Shi'ite, Reuters reported.
"Ayad Allawi. Ayad Allawi. Ayad Allawi. We want Allawi," Reuters quoted Ahmed Khaled as saying. "He is a hero, and I am a wrestling champion."
Stanley Tookie Williams -- the co-founder of the violent Crips street gang who became an anti-gang crusader while on death row -- died by lethal injection early Tuesday for the 1979 killings of four people in two Los Angles robberies.I shed no tear for Tookie, as he refused to take responsibility for his actions, and the violent past that brought him into San Quentin's death chamber. His storied involving that evening have changed, and his claim of innocence evolved. I share with Mitch the discomfort of carrying out the ultimate punishment when considering the possibility of executing an innocent man, but that was not the case here.
Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the unofficial time of death was 12:35 a.m. (3:35 a.m. ET).
Williams, 51, while acknowledging he had a violent past, had maintained he was innocent in the slayings.
The Cory Maye case is just about the ugliest nexus of race, civil rights violations, southern juries and our criminal justice system that I can think of.The Maye case sees no political boundaries. Bloggers of all stripes and colors are presenting what appears on the service to be a travesty. It's not very often the Left, Right, and Libertarians can join hands and fight a common cause. When that happens you almost have to take notice. This is definitely a case that everyone should notice. Let's push this one out there so at least those in a position to right and potential wrongs here can have the time to do their work.Let's summarize: Cops mistakenly break down the door of a sleeping man, late at night, as part of drug raid. Turns out, the man wasn't named in the warrant, and wasn't a suspect. The man, frightened for himself and his 18-month old daughter, fires at an intruder who jumps into his bedroom after the door's been kicked in. Turns out that the man, who is black, has killed the white son of the town's police chief. He's later convicted and sentenced to death by a white jury. The man has no criminal record, and police rather tellingly changed their story about drugs (rather, traces of drugs) in his possession at the time of the raid.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hosted Senator Joe Lieberman for a breakfast meeting today amid speculation that the Connecticut Democrat could be in line to succeed him.Could it be, Secretary JoMentum. Hmmmmmm!
One of the latest hostages in Iraq is from my hometown, Jamestown, ND:and later:
As a point in passing, I know every single person referenced in this article, including mayor Charlie Kourajian (brother of a friend of King Banaian's; small towns are the smallest world of all)I know several people directly involved in the war on terror. And, of course, my son the Marine who is scheduled to deploy next Spring.
Dean, the Democratic National Chairman, on Monday told a San Antonio, Texas, radio station that the United States appears to be making the same mistakes it made during the Vietnam War, and the idea that the war in Iraq can be won is "just plain wrong."You can criticize the President, you can challenge him on how we got into this mess, and you can propose solutions that may bring the troops home sooner. But to imply that the effort is hopeless is wrong, implies you are totally out of touch with what is necessary to defeat this evil overseas, and jeopardizes the safety of our troops.
In what I thought would amount to little more than a practical joke, I claimed the up-for-grabs site and put up a post ridiculing the Dayton v. Kennedy blog. What I did not realize is that in doing so the archives would be removed from the site. For this I am truly sorry. I have removed myself from the blog's administrator role and left it alone. This was not a case of "cyber-sabotage" or unethical blogging, it was an honest mistake made by someone who obviously does not understand the inner workings of blogger well enough.But, did he stop there. No siree!
When I realized what had happened I felt terrible for having ruined someone's hard work like that. I immediately apologized to all the KvM authors and set to work righting my wrongs. It took me a while sifting through the yahoo and google caches of old DvK pages but I managed to find every single lost post. I compiled this list and sent it off to KvM. I know it doesn't rectify everything, but I made a mistake and wanted to correct it as best I couldIt may not seem that the Right and Left can get along, but at least here in the Minnesota Blogosphere it is more then just promoting our personal ideoligies, it is about playing fair, and doing the correct thing!
