95 years of waiting

Today's announcement by the College of St. Scholastica ("CSS" - www.css.edu) that they have hired Greg Carlson as their first football coach in the school's 95 year history is simply exciting!!

Coach Carlson comes to CSS from the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League but he has also coached at -- Wabash College, Ball State, Illinois, and Evansville -- so he has worked in a range of football cultures. I want to wish Coach Carlson and CSS well as they make plans to field their first football team for the 2008 season not only because I love football but because it will add an important dimension to student life on the CSS campus. CSS will become a member of the NCAA's Division III and the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.

One challenge CSS must overcome yet is their need to secure a football stadium to play on. The two sports page articles I read today did not mention what options they were considering but I hope that CSS and the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) can reach an agreement --

http://www.umdbulldogs.com/mens/football/

Not only would this get CSS's football program up and running quickly but it has the potential of driving some revenue to UMD assuming they lease their field to CSS. This leased time might be best for Sundays (or Saturday evenings) since UMD would want the field to be in top condition for the Saturday games. Since both of these schools are based in Duluth, Minnesota and because each school needs to watch their respective balance sheets this could be an ideal partnership -- between a Catholic Benedictine school and a state university - to expand the sport of football.

Touchdown,

Todd

Front Pages

For an avid reader like myself flights and airport sky lounges provide the opportunity to read several newspapers. So while traveling today I read the following six newspapers:

Pioneer Press
Star Tribune
Wall Street Journal
USA Today
Financial Times
The Oklahoman

An interesting exercise I would encourage my readers to consider is a quick review of what types of stories newspapers choose to focus on compared to their competitors. So of these six newspapers I read today here are the most prominent headlines/themes listed in the same order as the newspaper list above –

“Rough Roads Ahead” -- fixing potholes in St. Paul, Minnesota
“Seven Glorious Days in March” – boys’ state basketball tournament in Minnesota
“New Detroit Woe: Makers of Parts Won’t Cut Prices” – automobile parts suppliers
“Democracy’s Support Sinks” - 43% of Iraqis want a democratic government
“Business Lobbies for Emissions Restrictions” – mandatory targets to cut carbon emissions
“Former Legislator was Stipe Debtor” – home mortgage loan from a former Oklahoma state senator to a former state representative

Overall this list represents a very wide range of editorial decisions regarding what each newspaper should focus on. Granted this is a small sampling of newspapers but it does show the concern expressed over “media ownership concentration” (and the resulting lack of diversity in news coverage) is perhaps a bit overblown if readers actively seek out a range of publications.

Support your local paper,

Todd

Value of Life

"THE PHILOSOPHY OF ONE CENTURY IS COMMON SENSE TO THE NEXT"

FORTUNE COOKIE

In February this year a mass grave was discovered near Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh in India containing hundreds of corpses of female newborns. This mass grave was located in the backyard of a Christian missionary hospital. (SOURCE: "The Week" magazine, 24 February 2007).

Apparently Indian cultural pressures cause the abortion of unborn girls since they represent a financial drain on their parents. Yet this same culture (Hindu religious teachings) considers cows to be sacred animals --

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/8424/indiancow.html

This website provides four reasons why cows are considered sacred by Hindus but this specific reason caught my attention --

"Reincarnation - belief in reincarnation implies that souls are reborn as other beings. Most commonly, humans are considered the highest level of incarnation. But gods have been known to incarnate as animals (the Buddha is said to have taken the form of a rabbit, cat, etc., and many Hindu gods and goddesses have taken cow forms), and that tradition of considering every being as infused with a soul and possible godly incarnation continues."

Imagine if you will that if this Hindu principle is correct then the people responsible for this genocide/mass grave of baby girls stand a very good chance of being reincarnated as baby girls in their next life. Such a possibility might make them think twice before they create their next mass grave. While I try to be consistent with my libertarian views when it comes to the world's cultures in terms of being open-minded I simply can not accept a belief system that places a higher value of life on cows versus for unborn children.

Perhaps the next Indian century will see the world differently.

Todd

20 to 30 - Part II

In my earlier posting “20 to 30” regarding a shooting murder in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2006 I posed the question -- how were prison sentencing guidelines for presiding judges determined? After researching a bit the National Constitution Center (www.constitutioncenter.org ) in Philadelphia tells me that federal sentencing guidelines were created by the US Congress in the 1980’s in an effort to crack down on crime.

I have no idea what changes have happened to the sentencing laws in the last quarter of a century but a prison sentence of 20 to 30 years for murdering someone seems to be a light one but trust my readers (yes, both of you!) will educate me if I am wrong. Personally, I just want someone to “do something productive” to compensate for their crime beyond just serving time watching cable TV and lifting weights via some creative sentencing such as the scholarship fund that I suggested in the “20 to 30” posting.

The whole thought of sentencing guidelines reminded me of a news clip I made for a potential blog posting from the Little Rock Free Press newspaper while on a recent trip to Arkansas. This article published a graph produced by the International Centre for Prison Studies (www.prisonstudies.org) showing the incarceration rates – number of people per 100,000 population – for 2006 in the following countries:

USA - 737
Russia – 611
South Africa – 335
Israel – 209
Mexico – 196
England and Wales – 148
Australia – 126
China – 118
Canada – 107
Germany – 95
France – 85
Sweden – 82
Japan – 62
India – 30

Upon seeing this list my first thought was -- so why the huge differential between the USA and India at 737 versus 30? Now this could be a great topic for a graduate student to explore since these two countries share many characteristics including:

-large population base
-diverse population/ethnic groups
-history of English common law
-a representative democratic government tradition

So the USA locks up a hell of a lot of people but yet we only give a 20 to 30 year prison term to a cold-blooded murderer. This makes me think we need to explore some major prison reforms perhaps starting with our failed “war on drugs”.

Todd

20 to 30

Today's local Minnesota news included a story about the shooting death of Michael Zebuhr (age 25), a PhD student in bioengineering at Clemson University who was visiting his sister at the University of Minnesota while on Spring Break in 2006.

Mr. Zebuhr was killed in the "Uptown" area of Minneapolis, Minnesota by Billy Ray Deshawn Johnson (age 18) who pleaded guilty to the crime. Yesterday Mr. Johnson was sentenced to 30 years in prison but could be released after only 20 years for this heinous crime. The presiding judge in this case noted that Johnson's prison sentence was, "........near the very top of the sentencing guidelines..........." Note for a future posting -- how our "sentencing guidelines" determined and who the hell is doing it???!!

Wow, only 20 years for killing a man?!!? So with "good behaviour" Johnson could end up leaving prison at the ripe old age of 38 years old thus giving him probably 50 more years of living to do assuming he isn't killed in a prison fight.

Fifty years of living? Sad isn't it that Zebuhr, a promising bioengineer -- a profession that has the potential to improve our quality of life is struck down at the tender age of 25 while someone like Johnson - a tumor on our society - will probably live to the age of 38 at the expense of taxpayers? No, I am not advocating the death penalty here since I oppose it because government simply makes too many mistakes that affect our lives so I don't want to give them the ultimate power over life or death.

I will never understand a murder like this one but one central question I am left with is -- hey Mr. Johnson what do you plan to do with your potential 50 years of freedom once you leave prison? How about creating a scholarship fund that you pay the majority of whatever salary you make when you leave prison to honor the memory of Michael Zebuhr?

It is the least you can do to compensate for the hurt you caused his family and the burden you placed on taxpayers.

Think it over for the next 20 to 30 years,

Todd

40 Percent

A recent issue of the Twin Cities Business Journal (Minnesota) included a two page chart depicting Minnesota's "50 Largest Employers" (ranked by in-state employees - March 2, 2007). A quick tally count reveals that 9 of these 50 employers are governments/government entities/Indian tribal governments (which are ultimately controlled by the federal government) which sounds pretty good right -- it is ONLY 9 of the 50 so government isn't too big ?

However by analyzing the "Top Ten" entities in this list of employers we find (and should be very concerned) that --

• 3 of these 10 entities are government entities -- State of Minnesota, US Federal Government, and University of Minnesota
• Minnesota's LARGEST employer is the "State of Minnesota" itself -- not famous Minnesota entities like 3M or Target Corporation but our own state government
• A full 40% of the employees in this Top Ten list (107, 945 of 266,790 employees who work for the ten largest employers) work for the 3 government entities

Personally I would rather see 3M produce another great product like Post-It Notes versus seeing another research report created by Minnesota's state government.

Todd

Bus Marshals

Rarely do I agree with Star Tribune (http://www.startribune.com/) columnist, Nick Coleman's world view so today's column was no exception. Mr. Coleman's column was entitled, "These towns need a new marshal, one who rides the bus", where he argues that due to the recent crime wave - including murders - aboard the Metro Transit buses in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota metro area we need to add "air marshals" like the airlines have, to our bus system.

Coleman poses the question -- "why don't buses have marshals?" -- to which he supplies his own answer -- "Is it because bus passengers on city routes where the chance of getting kicked, punched, or shot is highest tend to be poorer than airline passengers?" Well, Mr. Coleman why stop at adding "marshals" to our buses? Why don't we also pursue the following options?:

• Have the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) assume jurisdiction for ensuring security on the nation's buses. TSA has done wonders for our airports so why not take on the bus system? :-)
• Add magnetometers to the doors of all public buses AND have all passengers remove their shoes for inspection by the bus driver and/or "bus marshal"

Now of course this is NOT a world that I want to see created. Instead of adding yet another level of "security" to our lives why don't we decentralize our transportation infrastructure even more by providing wealth creation tools for these "poorer passengers" Coleman is so concerned about via free market solutions such as this one advocated by my friends at the Cascade Policy Institute?

http://www.cascadepolicy.org/?page_id=252

Wheels to Wealth Project
A journey toward self-reliance
The goal of the multi-year Wheels to Wealth project is to disseminate information to policy makers and the public regarding the positive role private automobile ownership plays in creating and strengthening economic opportunity for the low-income and welfare dependent population.

Let's get more of these people off of the public buses and into personal automobiles so they can be empowered via the freedom that personal mobility provides. Now before my Big Government friends who read this blog say it let me steal your thunder --- yes more automobiles on the road might add to traffic congestion but there are solutions offered by my friends at -- http://www.reason.org/ -- personally I LOVE toll roads since I can see a tangible product for the "tax" that I pay via toll charges.

If "personal empowerment" scares my Big Government friends too much then let us address the metro bus crime wave by selling all of the automobiles driven by the city employees/council members/mayors in Minneapolis and St. Paul then have these public servants use the bus system for all of their travel -- such a move would not only save taxpayers money and get the public servants in direct contact with constituents but it would also provide an army of "de facto marshals" who are already on government salaries to achieve Mr. Coleman's bus marshal plan. The Minneapolis City Council alone -- you can add the governments of Hennepin County, Ramsey County, and City of St. Paul to the mix -- allocates $400 per month per council member for their automobile expense allowance as noted in this blog posting:

http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2006/02/is_the_minneapo.asp

"On February 10th the Minneapolis City Council, on a vote of eight to five,gave themselves a whopping $400 a month each for 'car expenses.' That's $64,000 a year. Meanwhile, our libraries have cut back on staff and hours, the numbers of city police and firefighters have been cut and our property taxes continue to rise like hot air balloons. So why did the council approve this self-serving increase that comes right out of taxpayers' pockets?"

So personal automobiles are good for public officials but are bad for the poor people who ride the buses? No, Mr. Coleman, there are better options for Metro Transit to pursue without adding another layer of "security" that requires taxpayers to "invest" even more money.

Todd

Hate Ignorance Not People

Hopefully readers out there (yes both of you!) saw this story more than I did but while watching CNN today regarding this potential "hate crime" in Seattle --

http://www.komotv.com/news/6004201.html - Steven Saleh , deli owner

I swear -- but would appreciate being corrected if I mis-heard it -- the transcript that CNN showed on the TV screen of the drunk woman and man yelling at Mr. Saleh said something along the lines of -- "......go back to your f***ing country, you Arab, hey Gandhi, you mother f***er.......you are un-American................."

Well not only is this a very rude way to purchase cigarettes and beer :0) it is also being treated as a hate crime since Saleh is originally from Yemen but is a naturalized citizen who has lived in the USA for 21 years. If found guilty this man and woman could serve up to 9 months in prison.

Now whether this is a hate crime or not is up to the Washington State court system -- personally I view all crimes against my person or property the same -- as a CRIME -- that should be punished regardless of a person's motivation or in this case, intellectual ignorance.

Mahatma Gandhi was a Hindu (who loved the Christian Bible's New Testament by the way, please noted my earlier blog posting regarding Gandhi in more depth here entitled, "Anniversary") from India which is NOT an Arab nation. Perhaps these drunken idiots (or CNN printed the transcript incorrectly) were referring to the President/dictator of Libya -- Mohmmar Qaddafi, http://www.emergency.com/qaddafi.htm -- since Libya is an Arab country.

You say "Gandhi ", I say "Qaddafi", let's call the whole thing off....................


Should this drunken couple have to serve nine months in prison for this crime let us hope the judge/jury have the freedom to do some creative sentencing -- how about having them read books about -- the Arab world, Gandhi, Libya, non-violence, India, alcoholism/addiction, British colonialism, history of US immigration, world religions, Arabic, geography, and related topics for the first eight months of their sentence then have them travel for two weeks in the Middle East followed by a written report produced over the final two weeks of their prison sentence writing a report for the presiding judge to review thus completing their nine month sentence.

Now that is creative jail time which has a higher probability of benefiting society versus having these two people watch cable TV, lift weights, and trade cigarettes on the prison black market for nine months don't you agree?

I hate hate crimes :)

Todd

Anniversary

Given our health-conscious society today most people view salt as an ingredient to avoid in our diets but on March 12, 1930 the question of who could produce salt in India led to what India is today --- the world's most populous democracy.

Today is the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's "salt march" when he gathered a group of supporters who marched to the sea to produce salt in direct violation of British law which had created a government monopoly over salt production. At the time this simple act by Gandhi was dismissed as unimportant by local authorities since no one was even arrested but this protest was the spark that ignited the flames of revolution in India. Ultimately millions of Indians were inspired by Gandhi's challenge to British authority.

I learned of this milestone anniversary earlier this year when I read the book, "Gandhi - A Memoir" by William L. Shirer who had interviewed Gandhi during most of his revolutionary career. What I found most interesting is Gandhi's rather socialist economic views which were in stark contrast to his challenge of the "government monopoly" in the salt industry.

Modern India's leaders should continue de-nationalizing their government-owned monopolies by reminding themselves of Gandhi's salt march.

NaCl ,

Todd

48,000 slaves

While reading an old copy of The Week magazine from 2006 (United Kingdom) at home this weekend I noticed a small article regarding the "Bevin Boys" of World War II.

The Bevin Boys were 48,000 military conscripts (draftees) chosen by the UK's Minister of Labor, Ernest Bevin, to work in the coal mines to supply the raw materials needed to fight World War II (http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/bevinboys.html). These young men were forced to work in British coal mines instead of serving in the regular armed forces thus there were not only subject to the dangerous work inherent in coal mines they were also ridiculed by local communities are cowards who were trying to avoid military service.

Perhaps even worse than this involuntary servitude is the fact that many of these young men were kept working in the coal mines (from 1943 to 1948) even AFTER World War II had ended. Shouldn't we all pause to reflect on the fact that people like Mr. Bevins robbed his fellow citizens of their freedom in an effort to defend democracy from the spread of Hitler's Nazis?

Finally after nearly 60 years the U.K. has decided to recognize these 48,000 slaves by issuing them a "commemorative badge" after a campaign led by Gordon Banks, Member of Parliament.

A "badge" for 5 years of forced labor? I can't speak for the Bevin Boys but a "badge" sounds like a slap in the face to me. I would prefer that the British Parliament (yes a private foundation funding this effort would be a better option but sometimes tax money can be spent for good projects) commission a book (or perhaps a DVD) to be published and distributed to libraries and primary schools across the country which details the story of the Bevin Boys so that future generations have a better understanding of how heavy the hand of government can be -- even when those in power feel their actions are justified for the "public good".

Slavery takes many forms,

Todd

Prometheus

Today's news coverage -- US and Minnesota -- included stories about house fires in the Bronx/New York City and Landfall, Minnesota. In the Bronx 8 out 9 children involved in a fire died and in Landfall a father saved one child but ultimately died in the fire with his wife and son. Both tragic stories especially given our modern housing codes which have reduced the volume of fires in American society to historic low levels -- so low in fact that I have seen fire departments (labor unions) fight for control over the provision of paramedic services to keep employees on the payroll (and paying union dues of course!).

Our local newspaper included a table of statistics entitled, "Most Common Causes of Home Fires", for 2006 which included the following results:

CAUSE PERCENTAGE OF FIRES

Cooking 26.4%
Heating 11.4
Incendiary/Suspicious 5.7
Open flame 5.4
Other heat 4.1
Exposure 2.6
Smoking 2.1
Appliance/AC 1.9
Natural 1.9
Electrical 1.0
Other equipment 0.6
Children playing 0.4

SOURCE: US Fire Administration - US Department of Homeland Security

Silly me, I thought Homeland Security was focused on fighting terrorism but hey, anything to keep us safe right? :-)

When I saw this list of Causes of Fire the "Smoking - 2.1%" line item coming in at #7 overall caught my attention given the ever increasing amount of public smoking bans in the USA and Europe. Now I don't use tobacco products at all but I love freedom for everyone as long as they don't affect my life and family but I have to wonder if government bans on public smoking will increase smoking at home as noted in this study --

http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=7&storycode=54426&c=1

which might then lead to an increase in home fires caused by smoking. So if that is the case are the societal objectives of reducing smoking/reducing home fires enough justification for the government to insert itself into our homes to regulate smoking to "protect the children" ?

However, based on the chart noted above "cooking" is the true villain when it comes to home fires so perhaps we should ban home cooking thus forcing everyone to eat in restaurants every day?

Crazy indeed but there is always a slippery slope when it comes to government regulation thus we never know where the government's reach will end. Public education is a great example since the government takes our children for Kindergarten (K) then gives them back to us after they graduate from high school but now the push is for creating all day "pre-K" programs -- so why don't we just have public school teachers show up in the delivery room when our children are born? Yea, that would improve the world for everyone (heavy sarcasm inserted here).

Eat sandwiches,

Todd

PS - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus -- in case you were wondering ;-)

NAACP

Earlier this week the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (www.naacp.org) lost another president -- their second in about 3 years. The NAACP was founded in 1909 to fight the USA's racist infrastructure but today they are clearly handicapped by their own infrastructure since the organization is governed by a sixty four (64) member board of directors. Ask yourself if you would want 64 bosses like the NAACP president has - that is crazy corporate governance!!

Beyond this basic management challenge I want to offer the NAACP some advice as they conduct a search for a new president --

1.) Keep in mind that the world has changed dramatically since 1909 -- the Negro Baseball League does not exist anymore having been replaced by an "enlightened" Major League Baseball which is dominated by highly paid black/African- Americans.

2.) The word "colored" includes brown, red, and yellow skin so given the huge demographic changes in the USA's population perhaps it is time for the NAACP to hire a well known Hispanic/Latino personality.

New world - new thinking,

Todd

Options for Al Gore

My congratulations to Drew Johnson and his gang at the Tennessee Center for Policy Research for their research exposing Al Gore's HUGE carbon foot print caused by the fact that he lives in a mansion that consumes nearly 20 times more energy than the average American home --

http://www.tennesseepolicy.org/main/article.php?article_id=367


If Al Gore wasn't such a hypocrite about the environment he would abandon his mansion to live in what is known as a "small house" which can be found at --

www.tumbleweedhouses.com

and

www.smallhousesociety.org
"The Small House Society is a voice for the Small House Movement. That movement includes movie stars who have proudly downsized into 3000 square feet, families of five happy in an arts and crafts bungalow, multifamily housing in a variety of forms, and more extreme examples, such as people on houseboats and in trailers with just a few hundred square feet around them. Size is relative, and mainly we promote discussion about the ecological, economic and psychological toll that excessive housing takes on our lives, and what some of us are doing to live better. It's not a movement about people claiming to be "tinier than thou" but rather people making their own choices toward simpler and smaller living however they feel best fits their life."

Indeed I would love to see Al Gore down size his life (and carbon foot print) by "walking his talk" by selling all of his homes (three of them based on an article I read earlier this year) to live in a small house thus doing his part to save Mother Earth.

However, the small house movement could have a far greater impact beyond cleansing Gore of his hypocrisy which includes:

1.) Housing and Urban Development (HUD) -- time for Congress to close this federal department and use the money saved from its $31 billion budget ( http://www.hud.gov/about/budget/fy05/) to build small houses for the 744,000 homeless people I recently read that HUD had counted. The remaining money (over $30 billion at least since small houses cost about $50,000 each) would be sent as tax refunds.

and

2.) Habitat for Humanity (www.habitat.org) -- I have always enjoyed working on Habitat projects to build homes for the needy so when I read about the small house movement I thought this could be an ideal tool for Habitat to use to build even more homes on a faster schedule.

Innovation helps people not government programs,

Todd

Boomers and Sooners

While working in Oklahoma City this week I toured both the state capitol and the Oklahoma History Center (www.okhistorycenter.org) which are located near each other. Unfortunately the history center and the capitol are not as integrated as they really should be to ease pedestrian travel between the two buildings. It is a short walk between the two entities but it requires you to play a game of "Frogger" to get from building to building as you dodge traffic. I really enjoyed both buildings but spending some money (private donations of course!!) on enhancing the landscaping and perhaps adding some pedestrian-only walk ways/bridges would REALLY enhance the tourist experience.

My tour of the history center was too brief but the display of the World War II prison camps that were located in Oklahoma was very interesting. As for the capitol let me say that Mr. Banks at the Information/Tours Desk is one of the nicest gentlemen out there today. He provided me with a personal tour of the capitol to accommodate my schedule which was much appreciated and of course was very informative. The artwork (portraits and murals) that fills the capitol is well worth your time should you get a chance to visit. I was most struck to learn that a major portion of the Oklahoma capitol was constructed via private sector donations with the corporate/family names of donors incorporated into the interior capitol dome's architecture -- thus providing these entities with near-permanent recognition of their support.

Oklahoma City is a city blessed with quality customer service which I have experienced everywhere I have gone this week. I have found this very encouraging since poor customer service is one of my biggest pet peeves.

I look forward to my future trip to Oklahoma City later this month.

Todd

Uruguay

The March 6th newspapers noted that USA President Bush will soon leave for a week long trip to Latin America which includes stops in - Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico. One chart I reviewed noted the country presidents that President Bush will meet and the "key issues" they planned to discuss.

Of these five nations "Uruguay" caught my attention since the lone "key issue" for discussion was noted as "Uruguay's desire to expand trade with the USA". For an overview of Uruguay please visit --

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uy.html

Were I advising President Bush (we can only hope that happens one day!!) I would tell him to make the Uruguay meeting a 5 minute conversation at the most by simply telling President Tabare Vazquez, "our markets are wide open to you and all tariff and non-tariff barriers are eliminated so let's get some trading going today..................." -- quite some diplomatic language huh?

Now that is efficient but why such open/free trade with Uruguay?

• Free trade benefits all consumers and only hurts government regulators
• Uruguay's Gross Domestic Produce (GDP) is only $37 billion versus the USA's GDP of $13 TRILLION, yes that is "TRILLION" not "billion" so our economy completely overshadows Uruguay's so Ross Perot and Lou Dobbs can just relax for once!!
• Having a full-blown, wide open trading partner in Latin America like Uruguay would help us establish a "beach head" to improve economic relationships across the continent to counter devout socialists like President/Dictator Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.

Enough of the meetings and press conferences -- let's sign a deal with Uruguay this week.

Trade not press releases,

Todd

Veterans

"I'M WORRIED ABOUT IF IT'S THIS BAD AT THE OUTPATIENT FACILITIES AT WALTER REED (MEDICAL CENTER), HOW IS IT IN THE REST OF THE COUNTRY? BECAUSE WALTER REED IS OUR CROWN JEWEL"

US SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER (DEMOCRAT-NEW YORK)

This quote highlights what is probably the first time that Senator Schumer and I have agreed on an issue but I fear our solutions to the problem will not be the same. As I have written before -- we need to phase out the US Veterans Administration medical system (see February 15th posting here, "Health Care Apartheid" - http://spacebeaglenotes.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html) based on the bureaucratic troubles that I saw my grandfather experience over multiple years. His service in World War II in Europe seemed easier than completing the necessary V.A. paperwork for treatment!!

Sadly the poor quality of medical care for our veterans doesn't just exist at the federal level since in my State of Minnesota our governor made headlines last week, "Pawlenty shakes up state veterans home", due to three deaths that occurred in January.

Given the mis-management of these medial facilities which is a complete insult to our military veterans I want to offer this multi-step plan to improve the situation:

• Eliminate the Veterans Administration medical system and sell all of their buildings especially Walter Reed in Washington DC which could help provide a much-needed fresh supply of housing given the high cost of real estate today.
• Distribute the revenue/tax savings from the closing/divestiture of V.A. assets to all veterans via Health Savings Accounts ( http://www.hsainsider.com/) so our veterans can select what health care providers they want.
• Sell all the veterans' homes in the State of Minnesota -- Minneapolis, Luverne, Silver Bay, Hastings, and Fergus Falls -- to the private sector since a five location system like this should be attractive to a current nursing home corporation.
• Once the V.A. facilities and the Minnesota veterans' homes are closed provide as much care as logistics allow for veterans by having them become patients of the world-renowned Mayo Clinic, http://www.mayoclinic.org/ which has locations in Minnesota, Florida, and Arizona.

The squalid conditions at Walter Reed Medical Center are a slap in the face to our military veterans. We need to completely rethink how we care for our veterans -- such as the idea to give each of them a Health Savings Account -- versus "federalizing" the system even more like we saw done with airport security via the conversion of private security workers into federal government employees called the Transportation Security Administration.

Choice not paperwork,

Todd

Government Knows Best

Well the march to the land of bigger (and badder) government continues this week as noted in two stories in these newspapers -- Washington Times and USA Today (USAT):

• "Nations Weigh Financial Incentives to Fight Drop in Birthrates"
• "The City of Elkhorn is No More"

While Red China has its "one child" mandate to manage population growth in that country the island nation of Cyprus has the lowest birthrate in the European Union. So the Cypriot government wants to offer bonuses of US$45,000 for a third child in a family and the same amount for subsequent children. The Times goes on to say that similar programs have been used in Australia, Canada, and Poland just to name a few. If the Cypriots simply wanted more people living on their island perhaps they should spend the $45,000 on airfare to bring Mexican immigrants who want to migrate to the USA to Cyprus instead -- assuming they are willing -- thus saving USA taxpayers some of our hard-earned money while achieving population growth goals in Cyprus. A win-win-win for everyone!!!

At the risk of being attacked by the nearly 1 million Cypriots let me say -- "Don't do it" -- do not offer these cash incentives. If your island's population decreases let it happen. Isn't this the same European Union who has tried to black mail/guilt trip the USA into signing the Kyoto Protocol to fight global warming? So why not create more "open space/green scapes" by simply leaving nature/humans alone? If Cypriots don't want to have children thus driving an overall decline in their population perhaps that is a positive for the environment?

Let it be said that a freedom lover like myself is more GREEN than the central planners in European governments. Now this makes me wonder -- how many children does Al Gore have and are they included in his carbon foot print? :-)

The second news items from USAT comes from the State of Nebraska, USA where the City of Omaha has annexed the City of Elkhorn ( http://www.elkhorncity.net/) against the citizens wishes. Elkhorn had appealed to the US Supreme Court to stop this annexation but the Supremes declined to take action. While this is a victory for federalism/government at the local level it really looks like another abuse of individual property rights. How many residents of Elkhorn moved there to "escape" the big city/big government atmosphere of the much larger City of Omaha?

Clearly one way of stopping urban sprawl is to simply annex all those pretty, low crime suburbs but doesn't that stomp on our most basic freedoms?

No indeed, government does NOT know best.

Live free or die, Todd

Orphans

While attending the Conservative Political Action Conference ("CPAC" - http://www.cpac.org/) in Washington DC this week I met with a former colleague, Dr. Anthony Moscati, who is truly doing God's work since he is the Executive Director of -- Anglican Orphans of Kenya:

http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/1600/proj1570p.html

"The school's purpose is to provide education to AIDS orphans and other disadvantaged youth in Nairobi. Violence, famine and illness in the surrounding countries of Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda and the Sudan have driven many refugees into Kenya where they populate the slums. In addition to providing Christian-based education, the outreach will also afford the student one good meal a day."

Tony's description of his work was not only inspiring it also encouraged me to offer a prayer of thanks for my mother and father -- I am truly blessed to have them in my life. So, if any of my readers (yes, both of you!!!) want to support or promote this program to help orphaned children please consider contacting Tony at -- TonyMoscati@yahoo.com

Granted I am not a theologian but I know the Bible well enough to know that God only expects us to give 10% (a "tithe") of our wealth to support the church/charity/religious organizations but government on the other hand expects us to surrender nearly 50% of our wealth when you aggregate our numerous taxes -- federal income, Social Security, state income, sales, property, excise, luxury, gasoline....................

For those of you out there whose "golden calf" is Big Government let me encourage you to convert because you giving your money to charities like Tony's (or any cause you support) is a hell of a lot better than letting government bureaucrats decide where your money should go :0)

Peace, Todd

Since 1445

"SOMETIMES THE FIRST DUTY OF INTELLIGENT MEN IS THE RESTATEMENT OF THE OBVIOUS"

GEORGE ORWELL

Pancakes are great to eat!!!

Now that I have stated the obvious let me note that February 20th was "International Pancake Day" (highlighted in Men's Health magazine) this year which has been celebrated in Liberal, Kansas since 1950 when they partnered with the City of Olney, England.

BACKGROUND HISTORY EXCERPTED BELOW:

http://www.swdtimes.com/pancakeday/index2.html

and

http://www.pancakeparlour.com/Annual_Events/Shrove/shrove.html

"In England there are several celebrations on this day but perhaps the best known one is the Pancake Day Race at Olney in Buckinghamshire which has been held since 1445. The race came about when a woman cooking pancakes heard the shriving bell summoning her to confession. She ran to church wearing her apron and still holding her frying pan, and thus without knowing it, started a tradition that has lasted for over five hundred years. "

As my own tribute to pancake day let me highlight some of my favorite versions:

• Buckwheat -- give them a try at Mickey's Diner (downtown) in St. Paul, Minnesota
• Swedish -- my mother is an expert chef with this version. Love 'em!!!
• Potato -- served with a side dish of apple sauce and bacon strips of course. I have always enjoy eating these with my father.
• Oat bran -- ideal venue to have these is Minnesota Grill at Byerly's supermarkets with cranberries and walnuts added by request. Simply delicious. .
• Blueberry -- yes the classic pancake but best served on the North Shore in Minnesota at one of the local coffee shops/restaurants
• Volume -- if you have not seen "Chris Cakes" ( http://www.chriscakes.com/) perform at an event you should. One of their "flippers" cooks huge volumes of pancakes for events like a golf tournament I attended in Iowa then flips and throws pancakes to people across the room which is always entertaining when guests are caught by surprise via flying pancakes.

Consumer choice -- not a government regulator deciding what we should eat -- always produces great results like my list of pancake varieties as restaurants/entrepreneurs pursue customers.

Bon appetit,

Todd

Cookies

While working in Austin, Texas this week I stopped in a local deli called "Kevin's Cookies and Deli" (www.kevinscookies.com). There was only one man working at the time which prompted me to ask, "so are you Kevin?", to which he replied , "no I am Trey, I purchased the store from Kevin about 3 years ago............" I was interested in knowing if he was "Kevin" since it is always interesting to meet entrepreneurs focused on building their little piece of the world. As basic as it may seem we need to remind people constantly -- entrepreneurs created jobs not governments, governments simply allow jobs to be created.

So to Joe P. "Trey" Williams III and the other entrepreneurs out there let me say "thank you" for doing what you do. I hope we see tax reform that allows you to keep more of the wealth you produce so you can create more jobs for the rest of us.

Try the bran muffin,

Todd

Cheap Furniture

Well the USA "celebrated" Presidents' Day last week but I can't help but wonder -- what exactly is this holiday? When I was young we celebrated Presidents Washington and Lincoln's birthdays but that evolved into the generic "Presidents' Day" set on the same Monday each year thus creating a three day weekend dominated by sales at furniture stores.

For my niece Presidents' Day was a day off from school -- which reminds me that I need to ask her if she was given any presidential history homework by her school. Instead of yet another day off from school I would have preferred that my niece and her classmates spend Presidents' Day sitting in school studying the Office of US President from a political, economic, historical , and cultural context. Don't you agree that having such a "dedicated day of study" (DDS) would yield better results for civil society? What were our teachers doing on Presidents' Day? As a taxpayer I would like a better return on my "investment" in our school system via a series of DDS's. Just imagine a series of DDS's over the school year and summer vacation -- Memorial Day (does anyone even remember what this is for today? I do.) , Fourth of July, Labor Day (the teachers' union should have an interest in this idea), etc.

No I am not suggesting students need to sit in a classroom on the 4th of July but given the prevalence of Internet access why not develop some online courses that students are expected to do during the summer vacation so we minimize the "drop off" in learning teachers always notice in students happening by the time school resumes in the fall.

I did notice a few newspapers devoting some space to Presidents' Day including a Presidents' Day poll compiled by Gallup which showed how Americans ranked the "greatest president" of all. The results were as follows:

1. Abraham Lincoln -- 18%
2. Ronald Reagan - 16%
3. John Kennedy - 14%
4. Bill Clinton - 13%
5. Franklin D. Roosevelt - 9%

Such a list would be a good starting point for students to study the Office of President in greater depth to see if they agree with the polling results.

More homework please,

Todd

Iowa State University -- football schedule changes

February 23, 2007

To: ISU Athletic Department/National Cyclone Club (NCC)
From: Todd
Re: 2007 Football Season Tickets

Today I paid for our four football season tickets via telephone under protest because you have once again (done in 2006 also) moved an already scheduled Saturday game to a Thursday evening -- Kent State from September 1st to August 30th, 2007.

This upsets my family for the following reasons:

We printed the 2007 schedule from your website earlier this year then planned our August vacation based on the schedule so that we would return home on August 31st for the drive from Minnesota to Ames on September 1st for the game. Yes, I know you had a disclaimer stating dates may change but this has happened two years in a row now so how about some better long term planning?

Kent State University is NOT a worthy opponent for ISU to justify taking vacation time during a work week, securing a baby sitter, etc. for the 3 hour drive to Ames from Minnesota even if we were home from our vacation in time for this game. Playing such low quality teams just to get the Cyclones eligible for a bowl game seems to be a poor trade off because there is almost a “bowl game for everyone” as one sportscaster noted this season since there were over 30 bowl games. Even worse, what if you lose this game? I would rather lose two games to Texas and Ohio State versus one game to Kent State wouldn’t you? Let’s improve our team by having them play the great teams in the country to show our alumni supporters what we are up against if we want to compete at the highest levels.

The NCC staff told me today that the Kent State game was moved to “please the students given the Labor Day holiday weekend given their feedback……..”. I find this amazing since the vast majority of seats in the stadium appear to be filled with non-students/alums like my family. If you want to market to the students as a distinct market segment then create two season ticket packages. How many of those supportive students might not even return to school for Spring Semester 2008??

Since the NCC staff also told me that the Thursday night game, held in 2006 was, “so well received that we looked into doing another Thursday night game in 2007………..” So it took you from September 2006 to February 2007 to make such a decision?? That is a huge delay in terms of using marketing data/consumer feedback when it is fresh -- September 2006.

The last alumni geographic distribution data that I saw years ago showed that beyond the Ames/Des Moines corridor the Kansas City (a 3.5 hour drive to Ames) and the Minneapolis/St. Paul (a 3 to 3.5 hour drive to Ames) areas serve as the homes of the greatest concentration of ISU alumni. Shouldn’t your planning of a Thursday night football game take these demographics into consideration? If my statistics are out of date I would appreciate your insights regarding what the current distribution is today.


Despite my concerns noted in this memo I still plan to support the Cyclones and will be tracking their performance via my editorial comments, suggestions, and complaints such as this memo on my blog –

http://spacebeaglenotes.blogspot.com

which I will continue sharing with the alums I know so I can get a better sense of their feelings on issues such as this scheduling change. If I am over-reacting to this schedule change I would welcome a clear explanation for the athletic department management, NCC, or readers of my blog. We remain very upset with the re-scheduling of this game which you have forced my family to miss.

5 of 10 pages

While reading the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (SLPD) newspaper yesterday the front page headline caught my attention -- "XM-Sirius Merger" -- which is the story of the two competing satellite radio companies merging into one company thus raising "regulatory challenges." What a joke -- when will consumer groups and big government advocates leave the economy alone???!! In case these people don't know it already let me state the obvious -- satellite radio service is NOT a basic human need by any means thus leave this merger alone because if the merged company raises rates on consumers they will simply drop the service (and still live somehow!!) thus creating an opportunity for new market players to enter.

That said, what I want to focus on in this posting is the fact that the SLPD's business section had a total of 10 pages --- a full 5 of these pages were consumed with full page employment ads focused on "Health Care Opportunities" -- primarily looking for nurses.

This got me wondering what Missouri's unemployment rate is so I found it at --

http://www.bls.gov/web/laumstrk.htm

The end of December 2006 rate was at 4.9% which in economic terms is considered "full employment" so since the states of Michigan and Mississippi were dead last in this ranking at 7.1 and 7.5% unemployment rates let me encourage the laid off/recently retired auto workers of Michigan to escape their poor economy by relocating to Missouri via job re-training I am certain they can secure from General Motors.

Health is wealth,

Todd

Starbucks

The Simpsons TV show has always been a favorite program of mine. I was reminded of one particular episode earlier this week after reading an Associated Press article entitled, "Starbucks to buy more East African coffee." In the episode I am referring to Bart Simpson is walking through the Springfield Mall as construction workers close stores in the mall while simultaneously converting them into Starbucks stores -- still makes me laugh today!!

Starbucks announced (http://www.starbucks.com/, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) that it will double its purchases of fine coffee from East African countries by 2009. However, Starbucks will extend this purchasing relationship to include:

• Providing US$1 million in micro-financing loans to small-scale coffee farmers
• Create a farmer support center in 2007 to "improve bean quality"
• Continuation (apparently - the article does not clearly state this as fact) of their current US$ 4.2 million fund for "social development projects in East Africa.

I am not a coffee drinker myself but I do salute Starbucks for their efforts to develop the coffee farmer population via their purchasing power. However, I would offer them these additional options for leveraging their corporate infrastructure to benefit an even wider community while also pursuing profits:

• Stores -- Open at least one Starbucks store on the African continent in 2007 since it appears none exists there today (http://www.starbucks.com/retail/locator/). Starbucks has a presence in only 30 countries today, out of the nearly 190 countries in our world, and none of them are in Africa. Having a store in East Africa would benefit farmers so local communities see the final product, more non-farming jobs would be created, local workers would gain new job skills, and ideally a group of African franchise owners would be developed once this first corporate store proves successful.
• Music -- Advertise for East African musicians to burn audio CDs in a mini-recording studio added to this first Starbucks store as part of Starbucks' music program (.http://www.starbucks.com/retail/hearmusic_jump.asp). Perhaps this idea could be expanded by partnering to create an "African Idol" contest to help discover talented musicians.
• Books -- Starbucks' currently featured author coincidentally comes from Sierra Leone having written "A Long Way Gone" (http://www.starbucks.com/retail/books.asp). Their book program could be expanded to benefit a larger segment of the African population by partnering with my friends at Books for Africa (www.booksforafrica.org), which is based in Minnesota, to help distribute books and inspire reading (and drinking coffee in their stores while listening to the musical talent discovered by Starbucks............) across the continent.

My overall point here is that Starbucks' support of coffee farmers is great economic news but the world's wealthiest countries have moved the vast majority of their population from the agriculture sector to manufacturing and now services/information society sectors -- so to truly create wealth in African this same evolution of moving farmers to non-farming occupations needs to be accelerated.

Trade not aid,

Todd

Family Business

While driving through Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas this week I listened to a political talk radio show which had a guest speaker (I did not catch his name) who predicted that US Senator/former first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, will be elected President of the USA in November 2008. The speaker went on to note that some big players in the Democratic Party in New York State want former US President Bill Clinton to be appointed to fill the remainder of Senator Clinton's term should she be elected in 2008. This is very possible since New York's current governor is former Attorney General Eliot "you are under investigation" Spitzer.

But why stop there??!!!!!!!!!!!???????

Let's call on President Hillary Clinton to appoint their daughter - Chelsea Clinton - to any future opening on the US Supreme Court.

Even better -- let's hope that US Senator Barack Obama (Illinois) is elected as President Clinton's Vice President thus creating another open/unexpired US Senate seat to be appointed by the Democratic governor of Illinois. Now this would be an opportunity to get Senator/Vice President-elect Obama's wife, Michelle (http://firstspouses2008.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html) appointed to fill this senate seat.

Now that is a clan-like consolidation of power that should be avoided at all costs -- but it is politically and legally possible. Good thing Hillary declared New York as her legal residence and not her home state of Illinois otherwise she and Obama could not run as a party ticket together.

This is one family business I would note support.

Todd

Candidate Sprawl

While traveling to Des Moines, Iowa I read today's USA Today which included an article entitled, "Campaigns find new homes in Iowa." This article was focused on the 2008 presidential candidates who are opening campaign offices in Des Moines. Due to impressive business development in downtown Des Moines office rents have increased since the 2004 Iowa caucuses thus forcing presidential candidates to secure offices beyond the central business corridor.

Now this is interesting!!! When a family decides to leave the central city for a bigger home, better schools, and lower taxes in the suburbs far too many politicians label such freedom of choice -- "urban sprawl" -- but when presidential candidates pursue a similar quality of life improvement it is simply labeled a search for "inexpensive space."

One candidate example to consider is Iowa's former Governor and 2008 presidential candidate, Tom Vilsack's spokesman -- Josh Earnest -- who is quoted by USA Today as saying this regarding their office being located on the "city's (Des Moines) western edge":

"We're closer to the airport, closer to the freeway, and there's plenty of growth space."

This sounds like a quote from two yuppie parents explaining their move from the city to a suburban address. For an overview of quotes regarding urban sprawl from a wide range of US governors please visit this website:

http://www.smartgrowth.org/library/governors2000.html
GOVERNORS ON SMART GROWTH -- 2000
Governors' State of the State and Budget Speeches
January 4 - March 7, 2000

See you in the 'burbs,

Todd

Dying Alone

For 2 years, 6 months, and 17 days I lived in Fort Dodge, Iowa. I remember my time there to the day since I was originally hired to live there for 6 months for training while the company that hired me finalized plans for an office in Des Moines, Iowa where I lived at the time. I never intended to stay long but time dragged on so I found myself increasingly involved in this community including a local project sponsored by Norwest Banks (which eventually merged into Wells Fargo ) called -- "Paint-a-Thon".

The central objective of this program was to mobilize teams of volunteers across the community to paint the homes of the elderly/disabled/poor in an effort to retain the value of the homes, improve the beauty of the neighborhood, and assist these residents so they could continue living in well-maintained homes. The one home I remember painting was for a widow who was probably nearly 80 years old who had a warm personality but apparently a very dis-engaged family. I know this because as we completed our nearly two week old painting project I learned that this "lonely widow who needed assistance" had several children and grand children. So I had to wonder -- "where the hell is her family and why aren't they painting this home or even pooling their money to pay for a professional painter??"

I was reminded of this woman today since she was living alone when I read an Associated Press article ( http://www.newsnet5.com/news/11042711/detail.html) entitled, "Mummified man found in front of TV." The story goes that Mr. Vincenzo Ricardo, 70 years old, was found dead in his chair by Hampton Bays, New York police responding to a call about burst water pipes. Mr. Ricardo had been dead for over one year sitting in front of his television which was still on according to police. One neighbor, Diane Devon, was quoted saying, "We never thought to check on him."

Two books speak to the "sense of community" that Americans have or want to acquire:

1.) "Bowling Alone" by Robert Putnam -- who argues that the sense of community is dead in America and people are searching for "something to connect with....."

and

2.) "Applebee's America" by Matt Dowd and others -- which argues that Americans have found "community" but it is not geographic in nature but is definitely strong and adaptive due to technology and mobility.

Having died alone over one year ago with NO ONE missing him -- family, neighbors, friends, or even apparently his local electric utility company -- really makes me wonder who was Vincenzo Ricardo?

A search on Google for "Vincenzo Ricardo" yields 676,000 results which I can safely predict will grow this week since I see bloggers already commenting on this death. I did not review the 676,000 search results of course but in my quick review I never saw any reference to him having any family members.

Stories like this one should make us all pause to consider our own ties to our community. Hopefully Mr. Ricardo died peacefully albeit alone.

Todd

$96 per day

Our legislators in Minnesota are debating whether or not to increase the per diem expenses legislators can claim from the current $66 to $96 per day. Now St. Paul, Minnesota is not the most expensive city in the country so $96 per day seems very generous since it might break down as follows:

Breakfast - $15.00

Lunch -- $25.00

Dinner -- $50.00

Misc. -- $6.00 (legislators get free parking so perhaps $6 for some sodas and a candy bar but even better, a piece of fruit given the "War on Obesity" we have in this country -- thank God I am too old to be drafted for this one!!! )

Total -- $96.00 per day

Currently Minnesota legislators are paid about $31,000 annually PLUS the per diem expenses along with health benefits and housing allowances for members that do not live in the Twin Cities.

I was struck by the coincidental timing since I read about this per diem increase in my local newspaper on February 16th and was sent the following article (see weblink and excerpt copied below) on February 15th regarding legislative salaries across the country:

http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=179978
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
"Legislators' pay falling behind", By Eric Kelderman, Stateline.org Staff Writer

"Legislators in Alabama, New Hampshire and Texas are paid the same today as when Gerald Ford was president in 1975. In Indiana, lawmakers’ base pay has been stuck at $11,600 for 22 years. Nebraska has awarded only four legislative pay raises since 1934 – the most recent in 1988."

This article by Eric Kelderman notes that legislators in California are the highest paid in the country at $110,880 annually while New Hampshire's legislators are the least paid at $100 annually.

Now I see two schools of thought regarding legislative pay scales:

1.) Increase salaries high enough to attract the best and brightest in our society, and
2.) Reduce not only the salaries but also the length of legislative sessions to allow citizens with full time jobs to minimize the amount of time they need to be away from their careers in order to serve in the legislature.

Personally -- I am solidly in camp #2 above -- cut salaries and cut the length of legislative sessions. Why? Primarily because citizen-legislators are more likely to live like the rest of us tax slaves versus full-time legislators that sit around dreaming of new taxes and "services" to deliver to citizens to help justify their full-time jobs thus giving us greater potential for keeping the reach of government limited.

Would you prefer a full-time legislator - with no other outside job experience -- in your state getting paid perhaps $150,000 per year (so we can recruit talent!!!) or would you prefer electing your local restaurant manager - who perhaps makes $50,000 annually in his/her private sector job where they must deliver quality customer service everyday or risk going out of business -- to a state legislator job paying a nominal $500 per month ($6,000 per year) for perhaps a 60 day legislative session?

If the business community and the limited government community that I live and work in really want to reduce government/tax burdens then we should all unite to cut salaries and cut legislative session timeframes. Such a "double cut" would expand the range of candidates for public office thus enhancing consumer (aka "voter") choice via contested primary elections and the rise of third parties who would find it easier to recruit candidates since they would not have to quit their "day jobs."

Food for thought,

Todd

Go Ospreys!!

Some Space Beagle Notes readers might remember my declaration during the 2005-2006 college basketball season that I decided to become a fan of the University of North Florida Ospreys (UNF - http://unfospreys.cstv.com/ - second only to my beloved Iowa State University Cyclones). The reason for this declaration was the pre-season "Sagarin College Men's Basketball Ratings" published in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin.htm

Mr. Sagarin's mathematical model named the Ospreys' men's basketball team is the #336 ranked NCAA Division One team -- the dead last, bottom of the rankings -- in the country so since we love underdogs in the USA I adopted the Ospreys as my team. Thus began a correspondence with the team's head coach -- Matt Kilcullen -- who is a very personable gentleman.

It has been several months since I have updated readers on the team's performance for the 2006-2007 season so here is their current status --- the Ospreys have 2 wins and 24 losses overall and a 0 and 15 record in their conference this season. This performance leaves the Ospreys ranked #335 in the most recent Sagarin ratings.

March Madness will have to wait,

Todd

Health Care Apartheid

My teenage memories of talking with my grandfather, a World War II veteran, about his struggles with the Veterans Administration (V.A.) health care system bureaucrats came rushing back to me today when I read the Alaska section of USA Today's state by state news page. Essentially the American government practices a form of "health care apartheid" by forcing our military veterans to use the sub-standard V.A. system - separate from the system that regular citizens like you and me utilize -- and then extends this apartheid mind set by having "American Indians and Alaska Natives" receive health care services via the Indian Health Service (IHS), another federal government agency:

http://www.ihs.gov/ -- an excerpt from the IHS website is copied below:

The Indian Health Service, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, is responsible for providing federal health services to American Indians and Alaska Natives. The provision of health services to members of federally-recognized tribes grew out of the special government-to-government relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes. This relationship, established in 1787, is based on Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, and has been given form and substance by numerous treaties, laws, Supreme Court decisions, and Executive Orders. The IHS is the principal federal health care provider and health advocate for Indian people, and its goal is to raise their health status to the highest possible level. The IHS currently provides health services to approximately 1.5 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who belong to more than 557 federally recognized tribes in 35 states.

USA Today reported today that "about 40 tribal health organizations in Alaska are part of a nationwide $1 billion lawsuit (filed in a New Mexico federal court) " against the IHS which contends that the IHS has "knowlingly shortchanged them each year since the 1990's."

Given the long history of management incompetence and broken promises at the Bureau of Indian Affairs the IHS is probably no different so I would speculate that this "shortchanging" extends many years before the 1990's so I look forward to hearing what this court case uncovers.

Let me say there is a much better solution than a court case since our court system is overburden already -- let's end our health care apartheid system by having the US Congress phase out the IHS with a full distribution of any remaining funds to the "557 federally recognized tribes" noted on the IHS website. Get the money into the pockets of the natives and let them CHOOSE what health care insurance, doctors, or alternative medical solutions they want to pursue for their own well being. Our country has kept these native groups isolated from the mainstream American community for too many years -- let's reduce government by eliminating the IHS and empower these 1.5 million Native Americans at the same time.

End the red tape,

Todd

Ten Bad Men

"NO ONE TRULY KNOWS A NATION UNTIL ONE HAS BEEN INSIDE ITS JAILS"

NELSON MANDELA, quoted in The Independent

Just in time for Valentine's Day the February 11th edition of Parade magazine has published its annual ranking of "The World's 10 Worst Dictators" by David Wallechinsky. This year's "hall of shame" (with my editorial comments added in parentheses) includes these bastards:

1. Omar Al-Bashir of SUDAN (can you say "genocide" in Darfur?)
2. Kim Jong-Il of NORTH KOREA (starves his people while he has sushi flown in)
3. Sayyid Ali Khamenei of IRAN (not their president but chair of their Guardian Council)
4. Hu Jintao of CHINA (yea but they have great economic growth rates!!)
5. King Abdullah of SAUDI ARABIA (will they buy ethanol from us?)
6. Than Shwe of BURMA ("old soldiers never die they just fade away", General Douglas MacArthur, but these Burmese dictators/generals keep on living)
7. Robert Mugabe of ZIMBABWE (they used to export food but now rely on food aid)
8. Islam Karimov of UZBEKISTAN (the Soviet Union died but not totalitarian rule)
9. Muammar Al-Qaddafi of LIBYA (but all is forgiven regarding Lockerbie, Scotland? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2015752.stm)
10. Bashar Al-Assad of SYRIA (like father, like son)

So the tally count on a regional basis for this Top Ten list is:

Africa -- 3

Mideast - 3

Asia - 3

former Soviet Union - 1

Total = 10

Something to keep in mind as you consider where to purchase your vacation home :-)

Todd

Clinton Presidential Library

Well I walked the "sidewalk to the 21st Century" today by walking about four blocks from my Little Rock, Arkansas hotel to the President Bill Clinton Presidential Library (www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org) which is located on a large parcel of land along the Arkansas River.

The library building itself is dominated by a very modern look and LARGE picture windows offering wonderful views of Little Rock -- perhaps symbolic of the transparency that was lacking in his wife's health care task force since she kept all debates secret from public scrutiny until my friends at the National Legal and Policy Center (www.nlpc.org) filed successful Freedom of Information Act requests to pry the meeting minutes/notes from her cold, dead hands :)

I admit I am biased since I never wanted to see him in the White House but the library seemed completely dominated by campaign buttons, gifts from foreign governments, and souvenirs of all kinds -- it left me with no great sense that it was designed to be a resource for academics and students of presidential history but I am happy to be proven incorrect.

One display that I read through was what I call the "before and after Clinton statistics board" which showed what the USA was like in terms of employment, computer penetration rates, crime rates, etc. in 1992 (when Clinton first ran for president) and in 2000 as he was leaving office. Funny enough -- the "percentage of people with either private or government provided health care insurance" SURGED from 84% to 86% under Bill and Hillary's eight year reign!!

Given that the current US population is nearly 300 million people today the 14% without insurance in 2000 would under 45 million people. Then coupled with the fact that the Clinton Presidential Library construction costs totaled -- $165 million --
(Source: http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2004/07/18/News/259065.html) I can't help but wonder why the Clintons did not raise this money to donate it to America's uninsured citizens instead of building this Temple of Clinton since the clearly felt our pain? The amount they raised for the library might have better used to house a health insurance company created by the Clinton Foundation designed to provide low cost health care insurance.

Mis-guided priorities?

Todd

Competition not Kerry

Late last week I read this article in USA Today, "Baseball's proposed partnership with DirecTV would shout out many," which focused on US Senator John Kerry's (Democrat-Massachusetts) call for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to "investigate the proposed $700 million, seven year deal that would shift DirectTV's 'Extra Innings' package this season" -- this shift of Major League Baseball's (MLB) games to DirecTV would be EXCLUSIVE so if baseball fans want to continue watching "Extra Innings" they would have to become DirecTV customers.

Common sense time -- instead of calling on the FCC to investigate this market decision Senator Kerry should file legislation to eliminate the anti-trust exemption that MLB enjoys today:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/s/2001/1205/1290707.html
Q: What is the antitrust exemption and how did baseball get it?
A: Any business that operates across state borders -- and therefore participates in interstate commerce -- is subject to antitrust legislation. Attempts to control trade and monopolize may be deemed illegal by federal circuit courts under the Sherman and Clayton acts.
Baseball has been exempt from these antitrust laws since 1922, when the Supreme Court ruled in its favor in Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National Baseball Clubs.

Remove this anti-trust exemption and let the market (baseball fans) decide what teams should exist and in which markets by opening the baseball market to upstart leagues. Perhaps the American Association (home of the St. Paul Saints of Minnesota) would then expand to challenge the incumbent MLB teams.

Now that is a homerun,

Todd

Arkansas

While working in Little Rock, Arkansas this week I was happen to discover a season schedule at my hotel's lobby desk for the Arkansas Twisters (www.arkansastwisters.com) of the Arena Football League 2 so hopefully I can catch a game later this year. Always great to see football being available. Overall I have really enjoyed working in Little Rock - my first visit here - since the downtown economy looks healthy, the people are friendly, and they have a great collection of restaurants.

Tonight's restaurant venue was "SO Restaurant -Bar" in the Hillcrest neighborhood of Little Rock. My meal began with their house salad along with their filet steak (butterflied, medium well!!!) with vegetable medley. I loved SO's decor which was dominated by a wine cellar motif and they had quality wait staff so I would rank them as a "3.5" on my 5 point scale primarily because my filet was simply excellent since it crumbled in my mouth.

Tomorrow's visits include the Arkansas History Museum, the state capitol, and -- I never thought I would be saying this -- the Bill Clinton Presidential Library!!!

Feel my pain :)

Todd

Governor Barkley

As a libertarian I make every effort to not judge people regarding how they spend their money but this sports story changed my typical response:

Former National Basketball Association star, Charles "Round Mound of Rebound" Barkley recently won "about $700,000 " while gambling in Las Vegas during Super Bowl weekend.

The story went on to note that in a May 2006 interview with ESPN Barkley estimated that he had lost "about $10 million gambling over the years" and that he had "lost $2.5 million in a six hour period one night last year."

Again, I hate to judge Barkley's personal spending decisions but losing $10 million gambling is a complete waste of money!! Barkley has always talked about running for Governor of Alabama so he could have used that money for his election campaign so he would not have been beholden to contributors. Via some basic research I found Barkley's comments below regarding his number one priority in life noted in this interview excerpt below:

http://www.counterpunch.org/zirin06052004.html
On his priority in life: "My No. 1 priority is to help poor people. In this country, 90% of the money is controlled by 10% of the people, and that's not right."

Clearly $10 million would have helped a few poor people and if really spent wisely he would have given a portion of this money to a free market think tank working to transform the welfare society government has created - designed to keep people poor -- such as:

Alabama Policy Institute
www.alabamapolicy.org

What is spent in Vegas stays in Vegas,

Todd

Global Economics

While working this week in Texas and New Mexico I am attending the 5th annual legislative briefing event hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation (www.tppf.org) in Austin. Tonight's dinner speaker, John Stossel of ABC, ( http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/) gave an excellent speech focused on how poorly run government monopolies are especially in our public school system comparing it to many of the Soviet Union's relics that are now in the dust bin of history (my wording here not his).

The overall message of the speech that the "elites and central planners" can not understand nor serve consumers well, consumer choice and competition are the things that provide us with a high quality of life. Stossel's focus on education reminded me of the guest lecturing I did for an MBA class at St. Mary's University in Minneapolis a year ago. The topic of the lecture was the political economy issues involved in international business. As I talked with the students I offered my own observation that "there is just too much focus on China which makes me believe the US business community is overlooking a much better market -- India................"

I made this comment based on the following elements:

• India's population is set to surpass China's in the near future
• India is the world's largest democratic nation thus it share a political heritage/culture closer in nature to the USA's versus China's politburo/Soviet political economy.
• India and the USA both speak version of the English language :-)
• India is a key regional/nuclear power which borders Russia and China thus a strategic ally for the USA
• Indian food is tastier than Chinese food (laugh a little!!)

Thus I was happy to read last week's news in Minnesota that our Governor Tim Pawlenty will lead a trade mission to India in October 2007 so let me congratulate his office on recognizing the importance of this market for Minnesota businesses. It is an exciting market the justifies the creation of a program to rival our current "Minnesota-China Partnership".

As Mr. Stossel noted in his special on education in the USA, "Stupid in America", American high schoolers "did their butts kicked by Belgian students.........." so clearly we need competition in our public schools if we fully intend to compete in the global economy.

The world may be flat but public school budgets are not,

Todd

Super Bowl post-game

As with every Super Bowl there were a plethora of post-game stories regarding -- the TV ads, Peyton Manning as MVP, potential player trades, etc. -- but two stories that were of particular interest to me included:

SNOOP BOWL III - this championship football game was held the day before Sunday's Super Bowl for a youth football league created by rapper, Snoop Dogg, in 2005 designed to create football opportunities for at-risk children in the Los Angeles area. USA Today reported that this year the league had 2,000 players which is rather impressive. Snoop Bowl III was won by the Snoop Doog All-Stars over a team from South Florida by a 7 to 0 score. Perhaps ESPN's SportsCenter covered this story but if they didn't let me call on them to add it to their line up in 2008 to inspire kids and parents around the country since playing football teaches children discipline, respect for authority, and teamwork. The funny footnote here is that Los Angeles does not have a National Football League (NFL) team so perhaps the Snoop Dogg All-Stars should be playing at the L.A. Coliseum :)

SUPER BOWL COMPOSITE RECORDS - my thanks to USA Today for publishing the overall records of the all NFL teams who have ever played in the Super Bowl. At the top of the pile are the San Francisco 49'ers with a 5 wins and 0 losses Super Bowl record while at the bottom of the trough are my beloved Minnesota Vikings with 0 wins and 4 losses (which ties them with the Buffalo Bills). The funny thing for me is that in junior high I was a 49'ers fan after touring the city on a family vacation but I am sticking with the Vikings who I am confident will win the Super Bowl before I retire :)

Keep up the good work Snoop,

Todd

Betty for MVP

While at my gym today I noticed a woman, whom I will call "Betty" -- probably in her 70's -- that I have seen there several times. I have never talked with Betty but have always noticed her because she has to walk around the gym with the aid of a cane. I do not know if she has severe arthritis or some other medical condition but what I DO know is that she is an inspirational athlete simply because she makes the effort to exercise despite her physical challenges.

So within the last 24 hours I saw athletes at the pinnacle of their sport -- the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts playing in the Super Bowl -- coupled with a rather frail neighbor simply staying active. Of course no one scalped tickets to watch Betty exercise :) but I did hear on one of my favorite talk radio shows today ("Garage Logic" on KSTP AM 1500) that a father and son from Chicago had paid $4,800 per Super Bowl ticket so $9,600 total.

As regular readers know I LOVE football in all forms -- NFL, college, CFL, AFL, NFL Europe, Australian Rules, and maybe even Pop Warner football if my nephew or godson play someday -- but I would never be able to justify spending $10,000 to take my son to the Super Bowl. Disposable income like that amount would be better spent paying for a junior year abroad so my child could learn about another culture and hopefully learn a foreign language.

Personally I loved this year's Super Bowl -- although why don't we see some trick plays used in the Super Bowl like Boise State University used this past season including the hook and ladder and Statue of Liberty to add some excitement? A little trickeration goes a long way to mix up the game a bit. One observation I did not read in the sports pages or hear on talk radio is the fact that the Indianapolis Colts play in the RCA Dome but the Chicago Bears play in the open air Soldier Field. That very fact should have given the Bears the advantage in the game given the downpour of rain in Miami for this year's Super Bowl but that was not the case. Clearly the Colts had the talent and killer instinct to win this game. I was particularly impressed with Peyton Manning's ability to throw a touch down pass while a Bear defender had his arm wrapped around Manning's rib cage as he threw the ball. Now that is athleticism and a clear ability to concentrate under pressure.

Enjoy the Pro Bowl,

Todd

12 Steps

My church had a guest pastor deliver the sermon at the service I attended this morning -- Super Bowl Sunday of course -- which was focused on "addiction and recovery" primarily alcoholism. The pastor's stories of his addiction counseling reminded me of my Saturday morning hand ball matches with my buddy, Jim Murphy, who tragically was killed in an airplane crash years ago. Jim insisted we play our weekly match at 8 am on Saturdays because he was an Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) sponsor so he could help others. Since these matches occurred during my drinking days I would show up for many of these matches with a hang over which always made me reflect on Jim's good works.

Now the pastor did not directly connect football and addiction but the term "football widow" was undoubtedly coined years ago because many men are addicted to being arm chair quarterbacks with SportsCenter as their mistress. Addiction of course takes many different forms so if any readers of this blog need assistance here are some weblinks provided in today's church program:

www.aaminneapolis.org -- Alcoholics Anonymous

www.naminnesota.org -- Narcotics Anonymous

www.gamblersanonymous.org -- Gamblers Anonymous

www.cagw.org -- Citizens Against Government Waste - for recovering tax and spend politicians (you know I had to get that message inserted somewhere!!)

Thanks Jim,

Todd

The Religion of Football

For many arm chair quarterbacks in the USA the National Football League (NFL) IS their religion with them attending "services" every Sunday whether in a stadium or on their couch. Personally I am a religious person and I LOVE football so I live in both worlds so today's Pioneer Press (www.twincities.com) newspaper article, "NFL sacks church Super Bowl bash", was of particular interest to me.

The issue here is that the Woodbury Lutheran Church (Minnesota) had planned to host a potluck dinner the night of Super Bowl Sunday for an expected crowd of 150 people but because the church advertised the event as a "Super Bowl Party" AND charged admission the NFL ordered them to cancel the event leaving the church with a lot of leftover food.

Now this is a classic case of a business -- the NFL in this case -- missing a market opportunity much life the recorded music industry (Recording Industry Association of America - RIAA) did when millions of people started downloading music illegally. Instead of embracing this new online market/technological change RIAA launched lawsuits against everyone and anyone thus killing off new ventures like Napster (which re-surfaced recently as a legal business). Let me advise the NFL's management and owners to review some of their own game films where players are quoted, "giving all thanks to God for what we did here today........" during post-game interviews or the numerous prayer circles I have seen on TV where players from both teams bow their heads in prayer while on one knee in post-game prayer sessions with each other.

As I read this article I was reminded of my drive across Missouri and Kansas last week where I saw the national headquarters of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (www.fca.org) which was founded in 1954 thus providing clear evidence to the NFL that religion and sports have been very intertwined for over 50 years so perhaps they are missing an emerging market just like RIAA did with music downloading. Instead of ordering churches not to host Super Bowl parties the NFL should embrace their constituents via:

• Hosting a televised prayer breakfast before the Super Bowl
• Work with FCA chapters across the country to host Super Bowl parties
• Work with the various religious charities such as Habitat For Humanity to get the NFL's players involved in their communities

A few basic ideas for some new thinking in the NFL.

God Bless the Vikings, (they need it)

Todd

Black History Month

My local newspaper's sports page had a very short but very telling article today entitled, "Major League Baseball (MLB) Launches African Tour for Prospects", which focused on a goodwill tour to Ghana in search of baseball talent.

Now this is evidence of social progress on many levels including:

• MLB's delegation included several African-Americans such as Dave Winfield (formerly with the Twins and Yankees) and Dusty Baker (former Cubs manager)
• This tour has the potential to create a pipeline for talent for MLB but more importantly it creates an incentive system for Africa's young men to avoid becoming "child soldiers" in the various civil wars on the continent -- assuming MLB's owners dedicate funding to create a network of youth baseball /semi-professional leagues.
• The development of a "baseball league infrastructure" on the African continent would be an ideal "foreign aid" project yielding much better results that we have seen produced by the donor community -- United Nations, World Bank, etc. -- for at least the past 50 years.
• This goodwill tour highlights the fact that the historic segregation in baseball -- which resulted in the creation of the "Negro Baseball Leagues" -- is dead and gone which we should all celebrate in a free society especially during Black History Month in the USA.

For a fuller understanding of how racism affected the history of American baseball please visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum website at:

http://www.nlbm.com/

Through the inspiration of Horace M. Peterson III (1945-1992), founder of the Black Archives of Mid-America, a group of local historians, business leaders, and former baseball players came together to create the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in the early 1990s.

Baseball in Beautiful,

Todd

Wine Production

While listening to one of my favorite talk radio shows ( "Bob Davis on KSTP" , 9 am to 12 noon Central USA time Monday through Friday) this morning I heard the host comment on the fact that the Vikings (perhaps some of my ancestors!!) used to grow grapes in Greenland but then the Ice Age advanced thus creating modern day Greenland complete with permafrost and icebergs:

http://www.surfmusic.de/radio-station/kstp-am-1500,6137.html -- KSTP AM 1500

Are the global warming alarmists just now realizing that the earth's climate does indeed change regardless of human activity?? Perhaps our modern day world is SO dominated by air conditioning and indoor activities driven by big screen TVs, computers, and video games it has left modern day humans completely out of touch with Mother Nature. Personally I love to go camping, hiking, and canoeing so I have a greater sense of nature than most people do who simply go from their air conditioned homes to their air conditioned vehicles to their air conditioned offices to their air conditioned health clubs to finally return to their air conditioned homes.

Now back to the Vikings who were perhaps the original "immigrants" since they liked to "visit" :) many places including Greenland which they settled. In the USA our modern day focus regarding immigrants is on Mexicans which have increasingly moved farther north into the cold weather states like Iowa and Minnesota. Yes it is very large leap of logic but perhaps the global warming alarmists simply don't like the world's weather patterns changing because such changes cause immigration -- much like the Vikings who left modern day Denmark to settle in Greenland modern day Mexicans are "settling" large parts of the USA.

Does Al Gore's documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth", have an agenda to drive economic/public policy changes in the USA to stem the flow of Mexican immigration due to underlying racism driven by an effort to protect trade union jobs? Yes I love a conspiracy but love comments from my blog readers even more so let's hear from you.


More wine please,

Todd