Centricity - The state or quality of being centric; centricalness.
Centrisity - The state or quality of not being bound to an ideology. Freedom of thought.
The court denies double counting charges, allows the missing ballots in Minneapolis to be counted and only allows 400 absentee ballots to be counted. Franken has a 225 vote lead. Press conference at 4:30Team Franken conference call LIVE at theUpdate, 4:30 Central!
Tonight I received word that Rick Nelson passed away from pancreatic cancer at his home surrounded by his many loved ones. This is extremely disheartening news for me as I considered Rick a good friend and political peer.My hopes and prayers to the Nelson family during this difficult time.
Most will remember Rick for his very able talents chairing parts of our state conventions and other unit conventions and meetings. But what many within the DFL Party did not realize was the numerous important, but sometimes trivial roles that Rick undertook or played "behind the scenes". He did much without taking credit or tooting his own horn!!!!! He was our "free" employment lawyer and provided "focus" during times that required it but few were able to provide. He was the secretarial scribe for the State Constitution and Bylaws for a couple of decades--keeping track of the many changes this body always seemed to make in developing the biannual DFL Call, making the clerical changes to the document and adding a touch of the lawyer "grammar" when needed. Most important, Rick was a mentor.
And, he had quite the sense of humor - Scandinavian heritage intact! He and his wife, Kathy, always enjoyed entertaining and Rick looked forward every Christmas to the Holiday Party that they would host at their home.
Rick was never a delegate to a national convention, something he never really wanted and sought during the last couple of elections. It was great that Rick was able to be part of the Minnesota delegation, while not a delegate, at this very historic convention before the good Lord called upon him. I know he/she will put Rick to good use!
'ditches look like creeks. Creeks look like rivers. Rivers look like lakes.'Simply awful. All my hopes to those weathering this unimaginable disaster.
Three top window manufacturers, including Andersen Windows of Bayport, Minn., have seen an uptick in business in recent weeks that they credit, at least in part, to a tax break for installing more energy-efficient windows that's part of the federal stimulus package.When I did all my windows 6 years ago, there was no break. And the basement windows I did last fall probably fall outside the chronological window. But you can bet there are those on the bubble, people who can't afford to sell due to the depreciation of the housing market, who will be all over this form of relief/incentive, to improve their home. In the process, it is putting people back to work, creating even more stimulus.
For Andersen, that meant recalling 180 of the 560 workers it laid off in January.
Like every election, this one had a winner. True, the margin was close. But as Minnesota's secretary of state, I supervised dozens upon dozens of recounts. Most were incredibly close, sometimes with a single-digit margin. But someone always won and someone always lost. That's the way it is. We verify who won the best way we can, but it is never correct to suggest that no one did.Read it all!
One candidate won this Senate race, too. Of course, many of us wish that he had won it by a larger margin, allowing him to get to work immediately.
But all of us should be glad that we live in a state that has established a fair, transparent and meticulous process for determining who won the race when the margin is so close that the returns on Election Night are inconclusive.
"Listen, I'll take responsibility. I'm the president," Obama said at a "town hall" meeting in Costa Mesa, California, where his bid to sell his economic revival policies was swamped by news coverage of the bonus fiasco for a fourth day.And then he makes the decisions necessary to do just that:
"We didn't draft these contracts. We've got a lot on our plate -- but it is appropriate when you're in charge to make sure that stuff doesn't happen like this," he added, amid outrage across the United States.
"So we're going to do everything we can to fix it,"
The Treasury Department unveiled its long-awaited plan to remove many of the troubled assets from banks' books Monday, representing one of the biggest efforts by the U.S. government so far aimed at tackling the ongoing financial crisis.And the market responded positively to this move by posting its largest gain ever:
investors went on a tear as the administration announced details of its new banking rescue plan, hoisting the markets as much as 7 percent in one of the biggest buying binges of the year.The market will pull back a bit, today. Between profit takers and those awaiting word from the Federal Reserve hedging their portfolios. But at the wink of a down tick, the Rabid Right were shoving all that was wrong, and inherited, in the economy, in President Obama's face. Now that it is clear his decisions are moving us in the proper direction . . . where's the love . . . don't they want America to succeed and become strong again?
Financial companies' values soared as Geithner spelled out how he planned to liberate banks from $500 billion to $1 trillion of troubled assets by setting up a public-private partnership.
With two Mercyhurst players in the penalty box and Gophers goalie Jenny Lura pulled for an extra skater, Monique Lamoureux scored at 18:43 of the third period to cut the Lakers' lead to 5-4.Hard to say what happened, other than the starting goalie, Alyssa Grogan, had been battling food poisoning and was unable to return in the 2nd period. Back up goalie, Jenny Lura, allowed only one of the 5 Mercyhurst scores causing some to second guess the coaches' decision to stay the course at the beginning of the game knowing his net minder was ailing. But that is just armchair quarterbacking!
In the final minute, with Lura still on the bench, both Emily West and Marvin were turned away by Pattenden on point-blank scoring opportunities. Mercyhurst finally cleared the puck with about 10 seconds to play, and the Lakers breathed a sigh of relief that could be heard back home in Erie, Pa.
President Obama has done more in eight weeks than George W. Bush did in eight years -- unless you include starting a couple of wars.Read the whole thing!
While the armchair quarterbacks second guess the new president, he gets up every day and does things, lots of things.
Whether it's creating commissions for women and girls, ordering the investigation of President Bush's use of signing statements, or jamming a huge stimulus package through Congress, the man is working his tail off. And he seems to be loving every minute of it. It's almost as though our president was born to do exactly what he's doing. He's leading, and boy, is that refreshing.
Despite a likely conservative challenge in next year's Republican primary, moderate Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) won't be running from his record of bringing home the bacon.I do not have an issue with local representatives fight for funds for their constituents, but I do believe there should be more oversight on how those monies are distributed.
A day after President Obama signed into law the $410 billion catchall spending bill for most federal agencies, Specter and Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) issued five news releases noting every earmarked expenditure they had secured in the legislation.
The 16-page list tallies up $161 million in projects secured by the senators, most of it coming through Specter's seniority on the Appropriations Committee. "This funding will have a tremendous impact on local communities," Specter said in one release.
Specter, 79, has essentially doubled down on a political bet that all politics is local -- and the corollary theory that all earmarks are pork except when delivered to your own towns, in which case they are a nice T-bone steak.
Tubby Smith was in the middle of a press conference about needing just two years to shepherd troubled Minnesota into the NCAA tournament when he heard someone chattering on a cell phone in the back of the room.If they can get by the pesky Longhorns they'll butt heads with the perennial Duke squad. No one said March Madness was easy.
"Can you take that phone call elsewhere, please?" Smith chirped, clearly annoyed at the interruption.
It didn't take him long to learn that it was Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi informing University president Robert Bruininks that the Gophers (22-10) were given a No. 10 seed and will play seventh-seeded Texas in Greensboro, N.C., on Thursday.
"Oh, Coach I'm sorry! Tell Dr. Bruininks I'm sorry," Smith said as his head hit the table sheepishly and laughter filled the room. "Somebody should have told me that was my boss. ... I didn't just do that."
Republican Norm Coleman's case in the U.S. Senate trial, once built on the prospects of counting thousands of rejected absentee ballots, is now down to 1,360 ballots or fewer.And how do these ballots, should the panel decide to add them, break down:
Even if the court accepts all of the 1,360 ballots for counting, it's not clear Coleman's gains would be large.Not only are Senator Coleman's electoral chances significantly diminished, his political future is severely tarnished. His only practical hope, is to man up, take his own advice, and let the healing begin. Its about the only chance he has to begin rebuild his own political career, if it isn't too late already.
Dean Barkley and other candidates won 17 percent of the vote in the counties Coleman's ballots came from. If those ballots go for Barkley in the same way, it would further reduce the pool that Coleman can tap.
If the ballots identified by Coleman were allocated to the candidates based on the percentage of the vote each got in the counties the ballots came from, Coleman would pick up 596 votes, Franken would pick up 539 and other candidates would get 225.
Whatever Coleman picks up from his list could be diluted by any ballots Franken identifies and the court approves.
Community Meeting with Mayor and Library DirectorThere are a variety of ways to juggle the current proposal that will secure the library for years to come. Those at 'Save Our Library' present them in detail, but here are the items in general:
Tuesday March 10, 5:30/6-8pm
Hamline Midway Library, 1558 Minnehaha
5:30 – Community Celebration/rally outside – family-friendly local music, wear red, bring neighbors and friends, signs, balloons, etc. Media is invited.
6-8pm – Meeting in Auditorium. Come with ideas for new partnerships and ways to use the library to make it stronger. Some parents will be watching their children upstairs. Get your friends from all over the city to come!
Is the Mayor listening?!?
1. Voluntary Donation Bins (estimated revenue = $595,512.00)
2. Use Four Work-Study Students and a Half-Time Librarian II to Staff the
Hamline Midway Library (approximate savings = $200,000.00 - $250,000.00)
3. Temporarily Reduce Materials Budget by 50% (savings = $600,000.00)
4. Eliminate the Cap on Late Fees (estimated revenues = $50,000.00)
5. Reduce Postage (estimated savings = $20,000.00)
6. Room Rental Fee (estimated revenue = $30,000.00 - $50,000.00)
7. Increase Late Fees for Adult Materials by 25% (estimated revenue = $82,660.00)
8. Fee for Interlibrary Loan Requests (estimated revenue = $15,426.00)
9. Late Fees for Children’s Materials (estimated revenue = $206,250.00)
10. $1 Rental Fee for “New” Entertainment Videos (estimated revenue = $20,000.00)
The Golden Gophers placed three student-athletes on the All-WCHA First Team, while garnering some of the conference’s top awards this season.One of our favirite players, Dagney Willey, the daughter/sister of a couple of longtime Drum Corps buddies was tapped for academic honors
Gopher senior defenseman Melanie Gagnon (St. Adolphe, Man.) was named the WCHA Defensive Player of the Year, while Gigi Marvin (Warroad, Minn.) was named the WCHA Outstanding Student-Athlete of the Year. Monique Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) received the WCHA Rookie of the Year honors and head coach Brad Frost was named co-coach of the year with Wisconsin’s Mark Johnson.
Gagnon and both Jocelyne Lamoureux (Grand Forks, N.D.) and Monique Lamoureux were named to the All-WCHA first-team, while Marvin, Rachael Drazan (Orono, Minn.) and Anne Schleper (St. Cloud, Minn.) were second-team selections. Monique Lamoureux was also the WCHA scoring champion and Alyssa Grogan (Eagan, Minn.) earned the WCHA goaltending championship. Lamoureux tallied 61 points in conference competition, while Grogan held a league-best 1.37 goals against average to win the award.
My Saturday is kind of booked, as you can see.
Along with the on-ice awards, Minnesota had nine student-athletes on the All-WCHA Academic Team. To qualify, student-athletes must have completed one year of eligibility at present institution, prior to the current academic year, and have a grade point average of at least 3.0 for the previous two semesters or three quarters. Minnesota had nine honorees in Kelli Blankenship (Lusby, Md.); Drazan, Brittany Francis (Thunder Bay, Ont); Gagnon, Marvin, Michelle Maunu (Esko, Minn.); Terra Rasmussen (Coon Rapids, Minn.); Dagney Willey (Maple Grove, Minn.) and Alexandra Zebro (Oak Grove, Minn.).
With goaltender Danny Harper on the bench for a sixth skater, Frischmon scored on a rebound at 16:18 to send the game into overtime.With 17:00 minute periods, that meant Osseo was 42 secons away for a shot at State witha t rip to the sectional title. It was not to be:
Frischmon's game-winner came at 5:14 of overtime. Nick Bjugstad won a faceoff in the Osseo zone back to the right point. Defenseman Ryan Brockway sent the puck behind the net to Eric Scheid, who found Frischmon in the slot.Kevin's co-coach summed it up crisply:
"We played a perfect game for 50 minutes," Osseo co-coach Mark Phenow said. "It needed to be 51."Amazing hockey and this was only sectional Quarters.
Norm Coleman Must Quit the Minnesota Senate Race—He, Republicans Look Whiny
By John Mashek
Posted March 3, 2009
After four months of nonstop wrangling, it is about time for Republican Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota to throw in the towel. He is depriving his home state of a second vote in the U.S. Senate, threatening to stretch the appeal process of his losing Senate race into April.
Before Republicans start to scream about prematurely handing the seat to Democrat Al Franken, they need to be reminded of the presidential-recount marathon in Florida in 2000. The stakes were much higher then, and Republicans attacked Al Gore and Joe Lieberman as whiny losers. The Democratic ticket was belittled for refusing to admit defeat.
The GOP even brought in out-of-staters to protest recounts in four Florida counties, some of them with signs reading "Sore Loserman." Republican bigwigs complained that Gore was refusing to face the truth about George W. Bush's win, an eventual victory in the U.S. Supreme Court by a 5-to-4 vote.
With Coleman trailing Franken by 225 votes in the final recount, he is determined with the help of party figures to continue this process.
Get over it, Norm.
(CNN) -- Paul Harvey, the legendary radio host whose career sharing "the rest of the story" with listeners spanned more than 70 years, has died, according to ABC Radio Networks.Several other public statements are posted at his website. Most notably, for the heir apparent:
He was 90.
Harvey died at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, where he kept a winter home, said Louis Adams, a spokesman for the networks. He was surrounded by family members when he died, Adams said.
Known for his deliberate delivery and pregnant pauses, Harvey's broadcasts were heard on more than 1,200 radio stations and 400 Armed Forces networks and his commentaries appeared in 300 newspapers, according to his Web site.
He had been hosting his radio shows part-time for much of the past year, after recovering from physical ailments including pneumonia and the death of his wife, Lynne "Angel" Harvey, in May 2008.
"My father and mother created from thin air what one day became radio and television news," said Harvey's son, Paul Harvey Jr., in a written statement. "So, in the past year, an industry has lost its godparents and today millions have lost a friend."
"My father and mother created from thin air what one day became radio and television news. So in the past year, an industry has lost its godparents and today millions have lost a friend."He will be missed.
- Paul Harvey Jr.
