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News Cut: April 14, 2009 Archive

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Five at 8 - 4/14/09

Posted at 7:16 AM on April 14, 2009 by Bob Collins (11 Comments)

  • What more is there to say about the Franken-Coleman fight? How about that it's now entered "Calista Flockhart territory." Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com says it. Silver calculates that it's costing Coleman about $145,000 a week, so it'll cost about $817,000 to keep pushing this thing. He calculates whether it's worth it. Meanwhile, media watcher Brian Lambert says the media should acknowledge the elephant in the room and say Coleman is taking one for the team.

  • Is suicide a problem or not in Minnesota? Smart Politics, the U of M Humphrey Institute blog, conducted a study of state population density and suicide rates and determined that Minnesota has an "unusually low" suicide rate. "Nonetheless, Minnesota is fortunate to have one of the lowest suicide rates in the nation, and is second only to Illinois for the lowest rate among all Midwestern states," it said. It used data from 2002.

    Meanwhile, the National Center for Health Statistics, using 2004 data, says the state's suicide rate ranks 13th with 10.1 suicides per 100,000 people. It says the state is 6th best in rates of depression.

    Where it gets more interesting, however, is on the money spent on mental health. Smart Politics reports no other Midwest state spends more on mental health than Minnesota. But 5.9% of Minnesotans report they have unmet needs for mental health treatment and counseling. That's worse than Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and that's the same percentage as Wisconsin.

    Contrary to the assertion, however, suicide prevention efforts in Minnesota are not rolling in dough.

  • Fans of The Current's Mary Lucia probably are aware of her obsession with Phil Spector's hair. Now, it's all been documented . Much better, however, is an old New York Times tribute to his hair styles, including the "Marv Albert" and the "Doctor Who."

  • The Twins are going to have new uniforms when they move into Target Field next year. Here are some possibilities. It mentions the hated Twins script design. Why is that hated? In other uniform news: It's been a long time since the Star Tribune sports department felt powerful enough to refuse to use the real name of the Cleveland baseball team, let alone use its logo. The Cleveland Plain Dealer says there's evidence the team is moving toward ridding itself of the logo, if not the name.

  • "The longer the winter, the sweeter the spring, and this winter seemed very long indeed," writes painter Jeff Scher in the New York Times today. He produced a "welcome back" film for the greatest show on earth -- spring.

    WHAT WE'RE DOING

    Midmorning - In the first hour, Kerri Miller and her guests discuss whether the nation's airlines have long-term viability. In the second hour, long-time civil liberties advocate Nadine Strossen also talks about why she continues to fight for free speech.

    Midday - House Speaker Margaret Kelliher and Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller join Gary Eichten for a discussion about the legislative session and why we're heading for a last minute showdown with the governor again.

    Talk of the Nation - A new approach at some universities will require that your degree reflect a defined set of skills, rather than that you passed a defined set of courses.

    All Things Considered - The news business' obsession with the future of newspapers focuses today on the loss of arts critics. At some point, some of these stories are going to have to acknowledge that few people are reading newspapers. If a critic's review falls in a forest...

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    • Can anyone here play this game?

    Posted at 10:17 AM on April 14, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
    Filed under: Economy

    During the famed 1962 debut of the New York Mets, a frustrated Casey Stengel said, "Can't anyone here play this game?" It was a rhetorical question; the Mets lost 120 of their 162 games that year.

    Wall St.is channeling Casey today. It. rises and falls on expectations and so far today a report on retail sales has disappointed the market into another dive.

    "Retail sales fell unexpectedly in March, decreasing by 1.1 percent," the Associated Press reported.

    Who could possibly have expected anything but a disaster where retail sales are concerned? Analysts. They had expected an increase. They have not learned the law of diminished expectations: expect nothing, and you'll never be disappointed. Maybe it's time for new analysts.

    One can almost feel Fed Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke trying to get a "we're recovering" narrative going. "Recently we have seen tentative signs that the sharp decline in economic activity may be slowing, for example, in data on home sales, homebuilding, and consumer spending, including sales of new motor vehicles," he said in a speech today. "A leveling out of economic activity is the first step toward recovery.

    In other words, we're not free-falling, but we're still falling. And that's what passes for good news these days.

    President Obama, in a speech today, went with the half-empty strategy, an apparent attempt to diminish expectations. "By no means are we out of the woods just yet," he said, an odd admonishment since nobody with an ounce of common sense is saying we are.

    But, he said, there's a glimmer of hope.

    If the economy itself could give a speech, it, too, would cite a Stengelism. "If anyone wants me tell them I'm being embalmed."

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    Better Know a District

    Posted at 10:56 AM on April 14, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
    Filed under: Surveys and trivia

    The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
    Better Know a District - New York's 25th - Dan Maffei
    colbertnation.com
    Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorNASA Name Contest

    Watching this replay last night of a Colbert Report episode that aired last week, it was hard to envision a Minnesota congressperson agreeing to be interviewed by Stephen Colbert or -- more important -- agreeing to finish the sentence, "I like the company of prostitutes because...."

    For the record, no sitting member of the Minnesota delegation has been interviewed by Colbert for his "Better Know a District" series.

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    Bedbugs

    Posted at 11:29 AM on April 14, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
    Filed under: Health

    The EPA is holding a two-day summit on bedbugs at a suburban Washington hotel that apparently didn't mind being associated with a talk about the critters. Bedbug infestations are on the rise across America.

    If you don't mind the "ick factor", try out the Bedbug Registry, an online record of bedbug complaints. Enjoy reading the complaint against the Disneyworld Contemporary Resort.

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    The dud flood

    Posted at 1:48 PM on April 14, 2009 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)

    It's becoming more obvious now that the fears of another major flood threat in the Fargo-Moorhead area were overblown, at least based on the predictions.

    The National Weather Service's latest forecast for the river has been downgraded again. This time it says the crest of the Red River will be 37 feet, down two feet from its prediction just a few days ago. The river level prediction for Thursday is now 4 1/2 feet below the prediction issued on Saturday. The Weather Service also says the crest will be on Saturday, rather than Friday.

    Here's the record of the changing predictions in the last week:

    Forecast date
    (7 a.m.)
    Actual
    Projection
    issued on 4/7
    4/8
    4/9
    4/10
    4/11
    4/12
    4/13
    4/14
    4/15
    4/16
    Thrs 4/9
    31.6
    31.3
    Fri 4/10
    31.6
    30.8
    31
    31.7
    Sat 4/11
    31.93
    30.3
    30.3
    31.4
    31.9
    Sun 4/12
    32.06
    30.2
    30.4
    31.8
    32.7
    32.7
    Mon 4/13
    32.28
    31.8
    32
    33.3
    34.2
    34.2
    33.1
    Tue 4/14
    32.93
    34
    34
    35.5
    36.0
    36.0
    34.9
    34.1
    Wed 4/15
    33.7
    36.3
    37.3
    37.7
    37.7
    36.5
    36.0
    34.3
    Thrs 4/16
    33.95
    37.3
    38.6
    38.9
    39.0
    37.7
    37.4
    35.1
    34.5
    		  
    Fri 4/17
    33.81
    39.3
    39.3
    38.0
    38.0
    36.2
    35.2
    34.3
    Sat 4/18
    39.0
    37.8
    37.7
    37.0
    35.5
    34.4
    Sun 4/19
    37.3
    37.1
    36.8
    35.3
    34.2
    Mon 4/20
    37.3
    36.5
    36.4
    35.0
    33.7
    Tue 4/21
    		 
    34.6
    33.3


    The Weather Service says the lower crest estimate is because soil frost has decreased, allowing for more water to be stored in the soil. As a frame of reference, at 37 feet, the water barely touches the sandbags of the families I followed last month on Riverview Circle. So a lot of people wasted time on preparations for a second flood that isn't going to happen. Will they be less likely to believe a prediction in the future?

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    What to do with an old man?

    Posted at 4:58 PM on April 14, 2009 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)
    Filed under: Crime and Justice

    ivan_or_not.jpg

    The pace of justice is slow. When it comes to the case of John Demjanjuk, it's glacial.

    Demjanjuk, who lived most of his life as an Ohio autoworker, is -- according to a warrant from Germany -- an accessory to some 29,000 deaths during World War II at the Sobibor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

    Today, a federal court issued a stay of his deportation after six immigration officers removed the retired autoworker from his suburban Cleveland home in a wheelchair, the Associated Press reported.

    "It was horrendous. He was in such pain. I wouldn't want to see anyone go through something like that," said granddaughter Olivia Nishnic, 20.

    It was 1977 -- 32 years ago -- that Demjanjuk was first discovered by officials to be "Ivan the Terrible." It took four years before a federal district court judge ruled that he lied on his citizenship application and should be deported. An appeal followed.

    Two years later, Israel sought his extradition, but it took three years before he was sent there. It took two years for Israel to put him on trial, and then sentence him to death by hanging. Five years after that -- 1993 -- the Israeli Supreme Court overturned the verdict and sent him back to the U.S.

    His citizenship was restored when it was determined prosecutors withheld evidence.

    In 1999, he was charged again, but this time the complaint said only that he was a Nazi guard, not that he was Ivan the Terrible. It took two more years to put him on trial, another year before a judge ruled, two more for an appeals court to uphold his conviction, one more before an immigration judge ordered him deported, one more before an immigration appeals board upheld that decision, one more before an appeals court denied further review, five months more before the Supreme Court refused to intervene, and one more before a judge stayed his deportation, then lifted it, before today's Appeals Court action reinstating the stay.

    What should the next move be?


    (Photo: 1993 file photo by Yaakov Sa''ar/GPO/Getty Images)

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    Breathing new life into an old song

    Posted at 8:18 PM on April 14, 2009 by Bob Collins (12 Comments)
    Filed under: Arts

    "It was the best national anthem rendition I have ever heard. Better than the game," Russell Martin of the Los Angeles Dodgers said Monday of 16-year-old Charice's version at the team's home opener. "I get tears in my eyes when she really gets going," manager Joe Torre said.

    So, of course, an immediate search of YouTube was in order to find out what the fuss is all about:

    Sure, pretty good. But best ever? I reserve that for Marvin Gaye at the 1993 1983 NBA All Star Game. Hands down.

    That performance caused a stir. The national anthem, some suggested, should not be sexy.

    Everyone has their opinion, of course. My cubicle mate -- Chris Roberts -- says the "best ever" was Smokey Robinson at the 1986 World Series.

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