Ken Martin's Blog

Apropos the "season," I donned a hideous monster face last Friday evening. I regret that I didn't have a camera.

I didn't do it on purpose. I was just eating dinner. But it turned out that the meatballs contained something which caused one of my legendary allergic reactions. There was nothing on the ingredient list which appeared dangerous, but there was something in there. I'm suspecting cottonseed oil, but I have a hard time believing that considering the metric tons of potato chips I eat.

A couple of hours later my hands started to tingle and feel hot. Then my face began to swell and turn red. Within an hour or so I looked quite hideous. The kids stared at me with a quiet, cautious, wondering smile.

A friend drove me to the local ER because even though I was having no difficulty breathing, if I began to I wanted to be near help. (That's when my allergies can be truly dangerous.) I went through triage, then I sat in the waiting room and watched part of an entirely unedifying movie. About an hour and a half later, I decided to go home. I was still puffy, but the redness was gone. The reaction was fading before I'd ever made it into a room.

I was exhausted the entire weekend. I'm just starting to feel back on my game today.

So there, I broke my blogging silence. Thrilling, eh?

It came as a shock to me, too. But can a 1957 Johnny Dollar be wrong? (31 second audio clip)

The following is from WinstonChurchill.org:

In the breakfast conversation, observed by Walter Graebner, the London representative for Time-Life, Churchill related how he was able to maintain such a rigorous schedule. "You must sleep some time between lunch and dinner, and no half-way measures. Take off your clothes and get into bed. That’s what I always do. Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That’s a foolish notion held by people who have no imagination. You will be able to accomplish more. You get two days in one-well, at least one and a half, I'm sure. When the war started, I had to sleep during the day because that was the only way I could cope with my responsibilities. Later, when I became Prime Minister my burdens were, of course, even greater. Often I was obliged to work far into the night I had to see reports, take decisions and issue instructions that could not wait until the next day. And at night I'd also dictate minutes requesting information which my staff could assemble for me in the morning—and place before me when I woke up."

Churchill continued: "But a man should sleep during the day for another reason. Sleep enables you to be at your best in the evening when you join your wife, family and friends for dinner. That is the time to be at your best—a good dinner, with good wines...champagne is very good...then some brandy—that is the great moment of the day. Man is ruler then—perhaps only for fifteen minutes, but for that time at least he is master—and the ladies must not leave the table too soon."

One very nice things about being able to work from home occasionally is being able to see things like this (small movie). :)

Pretty blunt, Ken. Yeah, I suppose. But what else can it be called when a city government takes someone's property not for a bridge or a road (things historically understood to fulfill the "public use" concept in eminent domain), but just because they want a shiny new commercial district. Keep in mind that this new take on "public use" (thanks 2005 Supreme Court) could easily and logically be used to take your house so the government can have someone build a larger one in order to increase the tax base. As long as it's called economic development.

The majority (five of seven) of the Rosemount Port Authority (RPA) voted to take the land. They were unhappy that this fellow named Hansen strolled in a purchased the land for an amount higher than the city appraisal. So they took it from him. Really, they couldn't help it:

"If we don't go forward, we're being held hostage" by one property owner, said commissioner Jay Tentinger.

Yes, because they must have their way. They can't change or adapt their plan. (They wouldn't want to have to re-do the drawing.) It must be the way they want it. Now!

Yes, Veruca.

For us poor reg'lar folk, if we can't pay the price someone is asking, we just make due without buying it. But the government? I guess they can just steal it away.

If this isn't theft by government, what would the definition of theft by government be? They're taking someone's property against their will to give it to someone else who will profit from developing it in a way the city likes better. The "public" will not "use" this.

Maybe they should have left it in Hansen's hands; he's at least sharp enough to have known it had value and to have purchased it. In the meantime, it looks like the Rosemount Port Authority moved too slow and offered too little. Now they will use the force of government to make up for their lack of business savvy. (Say, they should be in charge of economic development!)

So, for those of you in Rosemount, next time you're voting, remember that the following people are willing to take your property, as long as they feel they can do something "good" with it: Michael Baxter (chair), Council member Mark DeBettignies, Bruno DiNella, Mary Riley, and Jay Tentinger.

Only Mayor Bill Droste and Council member Phillip Sterner voted no.

Oh, my. Waitaminit. Guess what I just realized. Four of the five votes to steal are from appointed - not elected - members. Two of three who have to stand for election (the mayor and a City Council member) voted no.

So, this will be done at the hand of a majority of unelected people; people who can't be booted from office for what they've done.

Well, folks, remember Council member Mark DeBettignies next time he's running. Seems like he need a "Former" in his title.

And remember Mayor Bill Droste and Council member Phillip Sterner, too. Do not neglect. Re-elect! (That's my Jackie Chiles impersonation.)

And from what I read in a recent City Council minutes, it seems as though at least Mayor Droste would like to see the development happen. Apparently he just doesn't want to steal to do it. (Though I can conceive more cynical scenarios, too.)

I know it's the national stuff that gets the big press, but I really think that a lot of real stinky stuff happens at the very local level.

Y'know, this isn't just conservative Ken talking. A pretty broad spectrum of folks find this kind of use of eminent domain pretty repulsive. And by the way, this kind of takings is now illegal in Minnesota, except for a loophole that RPA is using.

"I want the world. I want the whole world..."

A friend recently asked me what I thought of J. P. Moreland. Unbelievably, I had little to say. :)

I've come across Moreland's arguments in various places, but I'd never heard or read anything directly from him. Well, I've been listening to a whole bunch of his Veritas Forum lectures (free MP3s). Good stuff. I recommend giving him a listen, especially if you're interested in philosophy, meaning, and various modern worldviews.

...and we were thankfully not nearby, but the 35W Mississippi River bridge collapse is just stunning and horrible. It's just unbelievable. There were no known problems with the bridge. No interesting or extreme weather. Just a second of shaking and then it fell; 64 feet down to the river.

Here's a quick map of where it happened compared to how I get to work.

UPDATE: A good friend came by this afternoon. Late in the afternoon she was planning to head home over West River Road. Guess where she might have been at 6:00? It's in green on the map I linked to above. Yep. Directly under the collapse. She stayed for dinner. (The aroma of fresh rosemary from our garden drew her to the table. Yeah, it was the rosemary... If "rosemary" is the new word for divine intervention!)

UPDATE (next morning): I've always liked James Lileks. Now I like him even better.

UPDATE: From Wikipedia: "The 35W bridge shares the same mile of the Mississippi as two of Minneapolis' other spectacular catastrophes: the explosion of the Washburn "A" Mill in 1878 and the collapse of the tunnel under Hennepin Island in 1869, which nearly destroyed St. Anthony Falls."

UPDATE: Yes, there's video of the actual bridge collapse.

UPDATE: I'm having a previously arranged "work at home" day today. I'm sitting outside on the patio on a warm, sunny, beautiful day. But it's kinda spooky. I live about 7 miles from the collapse, but nevertheless I can hear the city abuzz. It seems like there's a lot more small aircraft overhead (I live just up the bluff from a regional airport). I hear emergency vehicle sirens on I-94 over and over and over. It's unsettling. Of course, I'm thankful that I'm only unsettled.

UPDATE: I heard from a friend that a friend of his was expected to be in that area at that time, and that he and his daughter are still missing. Prayers coveted. Sounds like they're OK.

UPDATE: Here's the current traffic camera shot of the bridge (with reference images of what it used to look like). With everything having fallen, a lot of the photos we're seeing now don't really show how high the bridge was like I think this one does.

...but how else are you going to get them into those things?

UPDATE: I uploaded a better picture. :)

Well, I'm out of town at the EAA Airshow at Oshkosh, WI. I'm stunned at how big it is. There's a zillion people out here. And a zillion planes. It's great. More later. Maybe. :)

...it isn't simply that I don't get to enjoy that functionality any more.

No, it's far worse.

Water and bits of food sit in there. Lingering. Waiting.

Occasionally, that drain will clog, meaning I have to stick my hand in there to clear it. This always makes me think it's going to turn on and devour my hand. I check the switch. I recheck the switch.

Ah, but this isn't a regular clog anymore. There has been water and bits of food sitting in there. Lingering. Waiting. Creating some kind of Hideous Stink Oil. Which only with great persistence washes off.

Well, thinks I, I need to try to clean that out. But I can't really get in there... hey! I'll pour boiling water down the disposal, and that will warm and loosen the Stink Oil, and away it will go.

No, actually it fills the room with Hideous Stink Oil Potpourri.

So, guess what I'm fixing this weekend.

UPDATE (The Next Day): I picked up a new garbage disposal last night while we were out and about. I started installing it first thing in the morning, and had it done before I'd finished my morning coffee. Ahhh.