The 111th Congress begins tomorrow (or technically last Saturday or Tuesday, depending on who you ask) and I'm psyched to get going again. I think the 110th was just a warmup for what's going to happen now with expanded Congressional supermajorities and the White House for at least the next two years. Incremental progressive changes is all that I ask for. That or my generation's New Deal or Great Society – lord knows we may need it.
As you can see, I've updated my blog design – now with 17 percent more blue! I shamelessly stole this color scheme from the ColorSchemer Gallery from a pallet called "Retro Blue and Green" which I just love. The little sun-ray/pin wheels were from a DeviantArt brush set by user Env1ro [download here].
P.S. The Republicans in the Senate need to read the writing on the wall and stop with this nonsense about filibustering Senator-Elect Al Franken's confirmation. Baring unforeseen changes, the Canvassing Board will certify Franken the winner within the next two days. At that point Coleman will kick into full-gear sore loser mode, huff and puff, waste taxpayer dollars, and likely get nowhere. I think if I were writing a disingenuous speech that Former Senator Coleman would normally give about a situation like this, it would be something along these lines: "We have got to put partisanship aside to bring people together to get things done. Minnesota needs to heal, grow jobs, and move forward in these trying times. Jobs. Jobs. Jobs." Norm – time has come for you to go out and get one of those 350 million Minnesota jobs that you've single-handedly helped grow.
Jobs. Jobs. Jobs.
We need some type of political tort reform in Minnesota because Former Senator Norm Coleman (whose term expired today) believes he can just sue his way to re-election. Props to the Minnesota State Supreme Court for ignoring the last acts of a desperate man. I do have this fear that Coleman will be certified the loser in this election (which is good for Minnesota on its own), but that Governor Pawlenty will announce this year that he won't seek re-election so he can run for the vice presidential nomination in 2012. This would leave the door wide open to a greater nightmare: a Governor Norm Coleman in 2010. With the history of the DFL/Independence Party murder-suicide pact for gubernatorial elections, if Coleman ran, he would probably win.
Also, StarTribune.com is dead to me. After their fifth(?) redesign in as many years, they've somehow managed to make it worse. The paper as a whole has succeeded in firing or buying out most of their talent, save for one or two, now their website is becoming more and more like the Old Gray Lady of Western Wisconsin. I hate to say it, but bring back the days of having the Denny Hecker ad tiled as the background of the entire site. 
There is an pandemic out there that must be addressed. In the past week I have been to two airports where a moving walkway is being repaired but they don't shut off the recording of a woman reminding users that "the moving walkway is ending." At General Billy Mitchell International Airport it repeats every 10 seconds (yes, I timed it). At MSP, it repeats every 20 seconds or so, and the woman has an English accent.
<tangent>Why are we giving moving walkway voiceover work to foreigners when there are plenty of Americans who could do it?? Congress: please hold hearings on this immediately. We should use TARP funds to re-record these recordings using American women.</tangent>
Midwest canceled my DCA to MKE flight that was supposed to leave at 7:30 this morning (something about weather in Milwaukee that caused them to cancel the flight – nevermind that it is 55 Degrees and raining there). So Midwest put me on a direct flight to Thurgood Marshall International Airport on Delta that leaves at 10 AM instead of one to Washington Iran-Contra National Airport that would leave at 1 PM.
Fortunately for me, this itinerary change "upgraded" my TSA status to SSSS (I believe that's the highest you can go before getting on the coveted "no fly list"). For those of you who don't know, SSSS is added to your boarding pass by the airline (thank you Northwest!) for extra screening because of suspicious ticketing activity -- in my case, making the mistake of assuming that Midwest could fly from Milwaukee to Minneapolis in the rain. Needless to say, this whole SSSS flagging thing is just silly because it could be easily circumnavigated by anyone who would want to avoid such extra screening scrutiny. I strongly recommend that anyone interested in this issue read the article about TSA screening written by Jeffery Goldberg in The Atlantic from a few months ago. Anyway, if Blogger Bob is reading this, Officer Eggers at MSP was nothing but courteous and professional as he swabbed my belongings. He did make me throw away my 4.6 ounce tube of hair product even though it was clearly only 1/3 full. I was tempted to -- but decided not to -- empty the contents of it into one of their little ziplock baggies and carry it that way. Is that even allowed? That stuff is expensive!
I've been in Minneapolis for the week, surviving the freezing cold climate.
I went to see Milk last night with my friend A. from high school. It was an excellent movie not only for its portrayal of the GLBT civil rights movement but electoral politics as well.
I'm finalizing the list of films I want to see that came out at the end of 2008. I definitely want to see Slumdog Millionaire, Doubt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler, The Changeling, and Gran Torino.
After nearly three years of living in Northwest D.C., I'm finally moving closer to work and into the Capitol Hill neighborhood. I already know I'll be sad to lose the excellent representation of 1st Ward Councilman Jim Graham. This is also the first time since moving out here that I won't live on the Green or Yellow line.
I'm moving in January, but I've already gone a little overboard in planning the layout of my new apartment. I'd appreciate any feedback you have on my planned layout.
After a few short weeks in D.C., I'm heading back to Minneapolis for a week.
My tentative itinerary is as follows:
- Saturday – DCA to MSP direct on Delta Airlines
- Sunday – Rest
- Monday – Office Planning Meeting (retreat)
- Tuesday – Office Planning Meeting (retreat)
- Wednesday – Maybe catch a show at the local ballet theatre?
- Thursday – Turkey Day
- Friday – Shopping
- Saturday – MSP to DCA
Went to the Good Stuff Eatery for lunch today. The burger was excellent, and even Chef Spike was there. Ever notice how the other staff do not dare to meet his gaze? Also, what kind of a chef doesn't make the food? He just hands it out. I also didn't even see any grease burns on his arms like the people that actually prepare the food.
P.S. I also think the D.C. Department of Health should forbid him from wearing that stupid hat. I know it made me sick...
Much has changed in my life in the last few weeks, some good, some bad. I'm sure everything is ultimately for the better, but there are two things that are making me happy right now. I have purchased an HD TiVo and the new XBox 360 update came out. Yes, I had Comcast HD DVR before, but they decided to raise the price to $16 a month for their inferior service. I got my CableCARD working after a nightmare experience with Comcast, which was 100% the fault of their undertrained, unknowledgeable support staff.
The XBox live update allows me to stream HD content from Netflix, which I think will finally kill any reason why I kept my Blockbuster Online membership going. You have to see it to believe it, but this is truly the future of watching video at home. Simply amazing.
Even more good news: Welcome Back, Jerky Jerk-Face.
From Hendrik Hertzberg of The New Yorker:
Sounds suspicious—unless you know that even if one of these fake forms results in a nonexistent person actually being registered, now under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, "any voter who has not previously voted in a federal election must provide identification in order to actually cast a ballot. This will make it tough for Mickey Mouse, even if registered, to vote, no matter how big, round, or black his ears.
I missed that point in my breakdown earlier this week. I predict that some republicans will continue to crow about ACORN until there's another manufactured "scandal" to pursue that gives them more traction. I'm sure we'll again see overzealous challenges in primarily low income and minority precincts on Election Day (caging lists, anyone?). Even if most of the challenges fail, they will succeed in holding up the lines, wasting time, and discouraging people from waiting to vote.
