Latest Blog Posts
My Tilt
Last week’s Tilt article generated a decent amount of conversation, and that conversation got me thinking about my own biases and how people perceive me. Most of you have never met me and don’t really know who I am, and yet you probably have a number of preconceptions about me. I would love to know what some of those preconceptions are, so if you don’t mind humoring me, I’d appreciate if you would answer these questions. There are no right or wrong answers, only your perceptions.
You’re Looking for WHAT?!
I am disturbed. Somebody arrived at Lincolnite looking for yak urine fertilizer. Not only that, but Lincolnite is the #1 result. Which was the offending page? Why, a rant about bad chili at Bison Witches, of course.
And just to clarify, I finally got up the nerve to go to Bison Witches again about a month ago. The chili was excellent.
Friday Five
Five Lincoln restaurants I miss:
- King’s
A chili cheese dog and chocolate shake (with the tin!) sounds mighty tasty right now. - Jabrisco
Black and white soup, anyone? - Rock ‘n’ Roll Runza
I miss the original RnRR, not that crappy fast food version. - Eighth Street Iron Works
I only got there once, mere days before it closed, but the experience was memorable. Anybody have their meatloaf recipe? - Jax
The Missus and I went to Jax for many of our “formal” dates.
Chief Tom on Concealed Carry
I am going to withhold commenting on Mayor Seng’s proposed concealed carry ban for a while, but I couldn’t pass up this quote from the Journal Star article on the topic:
[Police Chief Tom Casady] said it’s rare for citizens to protect themselves with concealed weapons. He can only recall one incident in 32 years of law enforcement.
Uhh, Tom? That’s because concealed weapons were illegal during that time.
Clean Your Corner This Weekend
Don’t forget to Clean Your Corner of Lincoln this weekend. When I first decided to do this I didn’t realize I had chosen Earth Day weekend, but all the better I suppose. Pick your favorite corner of Lincoln—any public area—and do your part to clean it up.
As I originally announced I’m going to clean up along Beal Slough between 40th and 48th Streets. I’m just not sure when I’m going to be able to do it. I should be able to get in an hour or two both Saturday and Sunday mornings, but then I have two soccer games to ref on Saturday, and three baseball games to ump on Sunday. To achieve my goal of a complete clean-up of Beal Slough I may have to extend my work over several subsequent days. It’s not what I had originally planned for myself, but ultimately what’s important is that the job gets done. I will be at the creek on Saturday morning for at least a few hours.
I hope to see you out and about this weekend. Whether you pick up a lone cup blowing in the breeze, or a truckload of trash, I hope you take some time to Clean Your Corner of Lincoln.
Tilt
The Lincoln Journal Star’s political leanings are no big secret, and it’s not like they have any obligation to be “fair and balanced”. (Any news organization that says it is without bias is lying.) But this morning’s article by JoAnne Young on Bush’s budget cuts struck me as particularly slanted and sloppy.
Actually, I’m just moaning because articles like this remind me how much I miss finding real news and intellectual stimulation in my newspaper. Oh well, the Journal Star is what it is. And lately, it’s like reading a print version of Lifetime.
Outsourcing Legal Assistance
The City Council opted to hire a private attorney rather than use the City attorney after being sued by Developmental Services of Nebraska (DSN). The five Council members who voted against allowing DSN to add a fourth individual to three of its group homes will be questioned under oath regarding the case. DSN argues that the City’s policies are discriminatory and create a shortage of housing in violation of federal law.
The lawsuit itself doesn’t bother me. These sorts of things happen, and ultimately they help clarify what everybody’s responsibilities are in terms of protecting individuals’ rights.
I am a little concerned about the Council deciding to hire a private attorney, however. The action seems unnecessary considering the City has its own attorney on the payroll. I know several of my regular readers have legal training. What’s your take on this? Is it a reasonable action, or does it strike you as unusual?
Raising Cane’s Coming to Town
Swoof, over at Eatin’ in Lincoln, has noted that Lincoln is about to be greeted by a Raising Cane’s restaurant near 48th and ‘R’ (obnoxious website warning). Apparently it’s a chicken finger joint with a bunch of locations in Louisiana. As far as I can tell, their menu includes chicken fingers, fries, and cole slaw, in various combinations. (Fingers, fries, and cole slaw; fingers, extra fries, and cole slaw; lots of fingers, lots of fries, lots of cole slaw; and so on.)
I don’t know about you, but I can hardly contain my excitement.
One quick question for the grammarians out there: what’s with the apostrophe in Raising Cane’s? Raising Cane’s what? Raising Cane’s blood pressure? Raising Cane’s car insurance premiums?
Colleen Seng Has Gas
Since that whole thing with the fire department taking over ambulance services went so smoothly, Mayor Seng would like to get into the gas business. I bet I know where she’ll propose to put it.
$2.7 Million for a Long Strip of Grass
Is $2.7 million for 130 acres of linear parkland along the South Beltway worth it? That’s $20,769 per acre, or about $.48 per square foot.
I’m torn on this one. On the one hand I like parks—who doesn’t like parks?—and I enjoy it when major roads are softened by green space rather than miles of strip development. On the other hand, $2.7 million for little more than a strip of weeds (the money doesn’t include development costs) seems a bit pricey, especially in the context of Lincoln’s overall economic picture. Lincolnites are being asked to fork over a hefty chunk of change these days: $250M for schools, $250M+ for the Antelope Valley Project, and on and on.
Jerry Hoffman, president of the Nebraska Trails Foundation, notes that the bond would only cost the owner of a $100,000 home approximately $1.60 per year. That argument works in a vacuum, but it degrades quickly when you begin to add up all of the “insignificant” costs we’re already saddled with.
Not only am I not sure how I will vote on this issue, I really don’t have a good feel for how Lincolnites as a whole will tend to vote. Are they willing to put up with another “insignificant” cost now in order to benefit from gains they won’t see for at least a decade? Or did the LPS bond issue zap much of their generosity? I’m looking forward to listening in on conversations over the next few weeks.
Defend the Racial Division
I have been against the three-way OPS split since I first heard about it. Problem is, I’m not sure why. Most of my opposition has been purely reflexive. But that’s sloppy. Reflexive opinions are fine in limited cases where a quick decision is necessary, whereas for deeper, longer term problems, reflexive opinions are not especially useful.
So I’ve thought about the OPS division a fair bit these past few days. And you know what? I still don’t get it. I can’t understand why such a big chunk of the Unicameral thought it was a great idea. I’m missing something, some big, important detail. But what?
Some say that smaller districts are better. Perhaps that’s true. But why is it the state’s job, rather than the local residents’ responsibility, to determine how big is too big? Senator Ernie Chambers had the gumption to point out the elephant in the room by bringing race into play. He says black people should be in charge of black people, whites in charge of whites, and so on. But then why not a boys district, a girls district, and a “confused” district? Or districts for the smart kids, the average kids, and the special needs kids? The jocks, the geeks, and the artsies?
Surely somebody can explain this to me. If that somebody is you, have at it. Even better if you can explain the implications the three-way split has for Lincoln.
Friday Five
Five things to do this weekend in Lincoln:
- Wake up early and take care of spring yard clean-up and garden prep.
- Attend the Spring Game.
- Take a walk to Coyote Point at the Pioneers Park Nature Center.
- Invite some friends over and play Lincoln On Board on the patio.
- Grab an ice cream cone from Ivanna Cone.
One City, Three School Districts
A white district, a brown district, and a black district. It’s an entire rainbow of fun up in Omaha. I just can’t get over it: a race-based, Ernie Chambers-endorsed school district resegregation plan just flew through the Unicameral. Bizarro.
As long as we’re dividing school districts, let’s do Lincoln. How would you divide up Lincoln into three screwed up districts (not necessarily by race)? I think my (extremely rough) plan would look like:
- Everything north of ‘O’ Street and west of 70th Street
- Everything south of Old Cheney Road plus everything east of 84th Street
- All the rest
Grounds for Impeachment?
As much as I think Dave Hergert is a putz, I don’t think his impeachment is appropriate. As Matthew Hansen points out, the debate seems to focus more on moral conceptions of right and wrong than on the legality of the vote. While it is fine for the public to offer up simple arguments like “what he did is just plain wrong and therefore he should be kicked out of office”, I’m bothered that our state senators are using the same rhetoric. When politicians start using “it’s just wrong” as a justification for their actions, somebody (or a group of somebodies) is going to get screwed.
It’s easy not to get fired up about these indiscretions when the involved party is somebody like Mr. Hergert. I don’t know if Mr. Hergert is really the villain he has been portrayed to be, but the guy really hasn’t done much to exonerate himself in the eyes of Nebraskans. He could really use some PR training.
But not getting fired up is, in the eyes of the politicians involved, the practical equivalent of supporting their actions. I support their disdain for Mr. Hergert, and I agree with the tongue-lashing Mr. Hergert has received from the Legislature. But his impeachment—which went against the best legal advice of nearly everybody the Unicameral consulted—I do not condone. Long story short, the Unicameral has voted to waste taxpayer resources to engage in what in all likelihood will turn out to be a quixotic and short-lived adventure through the courts. Will our senators’ quest to prove their moral superiority prove worthwhile? Doubtful, especially when one considers all of the time and energy they could have put into more productive pursuits.
Dave Hergert’s impeachment will benefit no one and punish at most one person. Is that a cost-benefit ratio you’re willing to support?
Campaign Ads
Two notes about advertisements in the Nebraska governor’s race:
- Tom Osborne has a new radio ad campaign going right now. One of the ads asks, “How often have you had the chance to vote for someone you felt like you really knew, someone you watched for more than 30 years?” I told myself early on that if Osborne pandered to Husker fans with shameless “vote for me because I was a good coach” pleas he’d get knocked down a few notches in my book. Consider him knocked down.
- I heard a Dave Heineman ad on Z-92 this morning. It was the (or a) “Good for Dave Heineman” ad. Whoever is responsible for that thing should be kicked in the shins. Does the Heineman campaign really expect anybody to take that ad seriously? I’ve heard parodies that weren’t that tacky.
In other news, I caught just a couple minutes of David Kramer on Z-92. He probably made some friends (or at least soothed some enemies) with his appearance. The guy sounded pretty good on the radio. Very senatorial.
The Blogs
-
The blog that covers everything Lincoln
-
The home of the Wilsons
-
In which Mr. T mutters and muses
-
Local and national sports chatter
The Blogroll
The Archives
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004