More Local Politcal Talk

Pete Smith is at it again with his article on Huffington Post: Anyone smell a first amendment zone? For those of you that don't know, the Republican Convention is being hosted in St. Paul, MN, this year. Both the DNC and the RNC will be sure to have protesters this year. St. Paul announced their plan to handle the expected onslaught of protesters.

Smith said:

The guidelines include a primary event area (the area in and around the Xcel Energy Center, a secondary event area (a wider perimeter, the boundaries of which are yet to be determined) and something called a, "designated public assembly area".

And:

According to the guidelines, groups and organizations ho have applied for and received permits will assemble in a, parade staging area". Then they will march along a, "secondary event area parade route" to that designated public assembly area.

But my favorite line from Smith was:

Can you feel the waves of gratification? Can you imagine yourself hiking back to wherever you parked the Prius, 'No Blood For Oil' sign under your arm, thinking, "There. Guess we told those bastards off"?

I'm not sure if I'll still be in Minnesota in September, but there's no doubt that I'll have to check out the scene at the protest.

Minnesota Politics

I read a lot of political blogs and the Huffington Post is one of my favorites. While it leans far left (who am I kidding? I'm a CA moderate, which is pretty far left across the nation), it's nice to see well thought out, argued points of view from that perspective. Conservatives have won the war of words for decades now, and thanks to the blogosphere, things seem to finally be changing.

Tonight Pete Smith wrote a stinging critique of Minnesota governor Time Pawlenty: Hey, Senator McCain - Take our governor. Please.

I've never been a big Pawlenty fan, but his refusal to sign off on the five cent gas tax was the final straw. Following the HWY 35 bridge failure he said he'd consider such a law to improve the state's infrastructure. At the time, it was politically the right thing to say, but he needs to get his conservative credentials up now that he's got the White House in mind.

The extreme weather here forces us into two seasons: winter and street repairs. Simply put, Minnesotans needed to stop borrowing money to work on the roads. The work needed to be done and the time is now to do. I was proud of the six Republicans who switched sides to override Pawlenty's veto. It's a shame they've now been disciplined by GOP House Minority Leader Marty Seifert.

They deserve to be commended. I've listed their names below:

Bud Heidgerken of Freeport
Neil Peterson of Bloomington
Ron Erhardt of Edina
Kathy Tingelstad of Andover
Rod Hamilton of Mountain Lake
Ron Abeler of Anoka

Thank you for cutting through the gridlock. Minnesota and I thank you.

U.S. Bank Skyway Open

From Eden Prairie News:

The U.S. Bank Skyway Open returns to the downtown Minneapolis skyways Friday, Feb. 29, and Saturday, March 1. The custom-designed mini-golf course will give Minnesotans a chance to help a good cause while “putting” their way through the downtown Minneapolis skyways. Proceeds from the event benefit the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office/Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities’ Rebound program.

This sounds awesome. I wish I could at least check it out. But I have plans all weekend. Check it out, if you get a chance. For those of you that don't know what the skyway is, here's the Wikipedia that describes it best and shows pictures.

More info here: Skywayopen.org

Token Academy Awards Entry

Minnesotans seem to either love or hate Diablo Cody. She won every local end of the year award and yet many still view her as a carpetbagger. I enjoy her blog from time to time. I haven't seen Juno yet, but after winning an Academy Award last night for best original screenplay. I don't know her personally, but I've met a few people who have. None of them have terribly good or bad things to say about her, but hey, that's sort of the Minnesotan way, isn't it?

Something struck me while reading the San Francisco Chronicle's entertainment writer Tim Goodman review of last night:

Best adapted screenplay: Diablo Cody. She was working pretty hard to keep that dress together. But she's a perfect example that no matter who you are, if you turn on a pitch and get all of it, you can go places.

I did see her dress and wow, she sure knows how to leave people talking. Was Juno all it's been cracked up to be? Did she deserve the award? Some people love it, while others hated it. What say you?

I've only seen four movies at the theater in the last year: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Borat, Ian Curtis' biopic Control, and Sweeny Todd. I'm not a completely void of pop culture. I mean, I did recently start watching Lost on DVD and am now on to season two. Netflix has remain my friend even without venturing out to the theaters.

I'll also have to check out Minnesota's own the Cohen Brothers' No Country For Old Men soon. Maybe I'll make a day of it and watch both Juno and No Country For Old Men?

Star Tribune's Weatherman is Bored

I've heard many different descriptions of weather here. I've never heard, until now, it described as "hazy moonlight." How about you?

Reason #1 For Why I Dislike the Winter

ICE.

I hate the ice. I just fell walking back to my car, since I'd forgotten my drink in it and didn't want it to freeze.

Here I was ready to write this happy review of my night and POW!

OW! And we're out of ice. My elbow hurts. Frozen peas it is.

Civic Engagement

Today I started what will become a weekly occurrence for the rest of the semester. I'm tutoring every Saturday for two hours at the Minneapolis Central Library. I've ridden my bike past the library many, many times. I've driven past it even more, but when I need my library fix I've always stayed in the neighborhood I lived in, mostly due to the lack of public parking, and by public, I mean FREE. The northeast library has become a regular stop for me. Let's just say I was impressed. As beautiful as the library is from the outside, the inside is even more jaw-dropping. It seems sort of silly to refer to a library in those terms, but that's exactly what it is.

The employees, however, really need to communicate between departments. No one seemed to know that there was adult tutoring on the fourth floor, and I wasn't sure where to go. Once I made it to the fourth floor, after stops in the teen center tutoring hall, everything went smoothly. My supervisor Kelly was very helpful and apologetic for the lack of cohesion between departments.

I spent most of the time helping a young east African girl with basic math. I don't have much experience with east Africans. I've had a few conversations with classmates over the last year, but beyond that I'm a newbie to their culture. I've been fascinated with the large number of east Africans in the Twin Cities, just as I have been with the large Hmong population.

As the time was running out in the tutoring hall, a second young east African girl arrived needing help with her U.S History. It's amazing how complicated the battle of the Alamo and "Manifest Destiny" are when broken down into the basic elements. Words that aren't English and yet are a part of our basic English vernacular, such as San Antonio and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, are very difficult for a ESL student. Some nouns (names and places) are also very difficult. I could feel my ethnocentric American version of history come out. True, the Alamo was a 4,000 to 200 battle that lasted much longer than expected - 13 days to be exact, but those Americans had moved into Mexican territory, staking claim to land that belonged to Mexico. Her textbook glossed over this part, leaving her to reason that it was a slaughter on the part of Mexico.

I was supposed to leave at 3:00, but I couldn't bring myself to leave before she finished the chapter. Watching her, a girl in her late teens who I'm sure has experienced her fair share of violence in her homeland, ask me to define a troop or a soldier was an interesting experience. You read about east African boys younger than her that are forced to fight in tribal wars. Are these boys soldiers? Are these boys part of a troop? The Continental Army had teens fighting against the British.

My mind wandered as she struggled with the word Houston, as in Sam Houston, and I explained that Houston was now a city in Texas that many survivors relocated to after Hurricane Katrina. I hope that by giving her a current event to connect these historic events to it would help her learn the details. I went on to explain that the American settlers were immigrants in Mexico's land that decided they no longer wanted to follow Mexican law. I could see the light bulb going off in her head. Immigrant was a word she understood. I'm looking forward to these Saturdays I'll have at library. I'm looking forward to helping our new neighbors learn about us as I learn about them.