Latest Blog Posts

Serving Deuel is “a Real Honor”

February 22, 2005 at 12:52am By: Mr. T Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

As reported by a news channel in Mason City, IA, it appears that Pat’s legend continues to grow nationwide:

Adam Sodersten
MASON CITY, Iowa (KIMT)

A man that’s drawing national attention has a tie to a business in our area.

Nebraska resident Patrick Deuel recently made headlines after he slimmed his weight from over 1,000 pounds to around 600 pounds.

Mason City’s Pat Holt owns a big and tall store.  Now, Deuel is buying all of his clothes from Holt.

“He found me on the Internet and it’s been a real honor serving him.  I mean it’s great.  I feel like I’ve really accomplished something when I can source things out for those people with those hard to find sizes,” comments Mountain Clothiers owner Pat Holt.

For Deuel, that hard to find size was a 10XL available right here in Mason City.

Our dedicated research staff will continue to cover this issue and bring you all the news on Pat in Deuel Watch.

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Deuel: Valentine’s Day Accomplishment

February 18, 2005 at 3:29am By: Mr. T Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

As we reported earlier in Deuel Watch, Pat fulfilled a promise to his wife Edith by taking her out for a short walk on cupid’s day. Now, the Omaha Channel has reported that Edith too will have a similar operation to control her own obesity problem:

VALENTINE, Neb.—Patrick Deuel is back home in Valentine, fulfilling the request from his wife to take a walk with her by Valentine’s Day.

While that may not seem like much to most people, to Deuel, it is an accomplishment. He made good on his promise with a short walk Sunday.

Deuel was hospitalized last summer weighing 1,072 pounds. Diet and gastric bypass surgery helped him lose 610 pounds. His goal is to get down to 240 pounds—a weight he hasn’t seen since he was in the sixth grade.

His wife, Edith, also struggles with weight and said she too will have the stomach-restricting surgery. She said her husband’s doctor said it would be to her advantage to have the surgery to help them both change their eating habits.

Our research staff will continue to keep you up to date on the latest Pat Deuel news.

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Media Bias in Action

February 17, 2005 at 2:09am By: Mr. Wilson Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

This is a pretty minor example of media bias, but one paragraph in this article caught my eye:

While many parents criticized the badges for violating privacy and possibly endangering children’s health, some parents supported the plan. [emphasis added]

Did you notice it? The article’s author is obviously against the badges, and he wants you to think he’s in the majority. He (she? it?) used the word “many” to describe parents critical of the badges, but “some” to describe the parents in support of the plan. “Many” typically implies a greater number than “some.”

That wouldn’t be a problem, of course, if the author quantified “many” and “some.” He doesn’t. Not only does the author not give any numbers, he doesn’t give the reader any reason to suggest that he has even the slightest idea which side has more supporters. All we know from the article is that Dawn Cantrall is one of the “many,” while Mary Brower is one of the “some.” Looks like a 50/50 split, to me.

Like I said, this is a pretty minor nit to pick. Still, it’s enough to get me to add a new category to the blog: Media Watch.

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Annexation for Taxation

February 17, 2005 at 1:41am By: Mr. Wilson Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

Today’s editorial in the Lincoln Journal Star makes a good point: Lincoln stands to lose if it annexes State Fair Park solely for the purpose of imposing the city’s sales tax on the property. How much Lincoln will lose—and whether those losses are greater than or less than potential gains—is debateable. Clearly, though, annexation solely for taxation is lame. It is desperate.

The editorial raises an issue that I have harped on before: Lincoln is desperate for cash. In this case the amount is $200,000 annually. The city’s (proposed) solution? Annoy the state’s citizens and leaders. That hardly seems a sustainable or sensible solution. For other (relatively) small cash needs the city has resorted, fairly successfully, to begging. Begging funded the Sunken Gardens renovation, and begging is fueling the Lincoln Cares program. Begging may be uncouth, but it has worked. But again, begging is unsustainable. Beggars are eventually brushed aside.

Nor will begging fund Lincoln’s larger, and more pressing, needs. Infrastructure improvements, the South and East Beltways, the Antelope Valley Project, and Downtown revitalization efforts will cost billions of dollars in public and private funds. (The first stage of the Antelope Valley Project alone is projected to require a $1 billion investment, including $240 million in public funds.) Where will that money come from? Do Lincolnites and Lincoln have those resources above and beyond the status quo?

Not a single Lincolnite has stepped forward with a solid, sustainable, and promising plan to address the discreprency between Lincoln’s needs (solid infrastructure, good schools) and Lincoln’s wants (a pretty creek bed, a Downtown park). Certainly Lincoln’s leaders [sic] have done little to quell Lincolnites’ unease

about the future. I don’t have a solution, and therefore I urge restraint and fiscal responsibility. Lincoln’s civic leaders [sic] don’t have a solution, and yet they are pushing forward with obstinance and unsupported confidence. If I’m proven wrong I will have been guilty of being overly cautious. If the city council, Mayor Seng, et al. are wrong, they will have robbed Lincolnites of hundreds of millions of dollars pursuing fanciful dreams only loosely linked to reality.

I hope their dreams come true. I really do. But to date they have given me little reason to join in their merry crusade.

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Firefox Go Boom

February 16, 2005 at 8:15pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

Firefox just crashed! That’s only the second time that has happened to me. This time, as last time, there was no apparent cause.

Only 6,346 more times until it surpasses IE’s total. When that happens I will gladly switch to IE.

(I almost wrote “I will gladly switch back to IE.” Then I remembered that I have never used IE as my primary browser. I have used it at a couple workplaces because I had to—which is where I learned to love to hate it—but I have never used it if given a choice. I used Netscape through versions 3 and 4, tried the absolutely horrible version 6 for about 2 days, switched back to 4.somethinerother, used Opera for a week, moved to Netscape 7, and then hopped on the Firefox [then Firebird] bandwagon at version .7. I’ll try IE7 when it comes out because hey, if it’s better than the rest I’m not going to spite it in favor of some crappier product. I suspect I won’t have to worry about falling out of love with Firefox, though.)

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LJS Peddling Mail-Order Brides

February 16, 2005 at 7:34pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

Is it just me, or does this LJS headline look a lot like an spam advertisement from a mail-order bride company?

Twins from Krygyzstan seek mentoring

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Just Deuel It!

February 16, 2005 at 4:33am By: Mr. T Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

Along with Warren Buffet and Chuck Hagel, Patrick Deuel has recently joined the ranks of Nebraskans who have made national headlines lately. Deuel is a former restaurant manager from Valentine, Nebraska, who underwent gastric bypass surgery recently after being hospitalized at a whopping 1,072 pounds. Deuel has since lost hundreds of pounds, and as reported by the AP, went on a Valentine’s Day stroll with his wife yesterday:

VALENTINE, Neb. (AP) - Patrick Deuel, who eight months ago weighed more than 1,000 pounds, fulfilled a promise and took his wife on a Valentine’s Day walk.

Deuel, who has lost more than 400 pounds since June, promised to take his wife, Edith, on a Valentine’s Day walk in their hometown of Valentine.

‘‘That’s too many Valentines not to do it,’’ Deuel said.

The couple stepped out of their house Monday afternoon and walked about 25 feet.

Deuel said it had been eight years since he was able to walk with Edith on the holiday.

We will be keeping track of Pat’s progress and post frequent updates in Deuel Watch.

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Big News From Bill

February 15, 2005 at 8:12pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

Huge news from Bill Gates: Microsoft will release Internet Explorer 7 before releasing the next version of Windows (codename Longhorn), in stark contrast with Microsoft’s original, longstanding plan. Why is this huge news? It’s huge for two reasons. First, if folks adopt IE7 quickly, website designers will (hopefully) be able to begin phasing out some of the hacks necessary to get websites to display properply in IE. Current versions of IE are filled with bugs and they don’t adhere well to standards of website design. Second, it demonstrates just how frightened Microsoft is of Firefox, Opera, and other “alternative” web browsers. Microsoft doesn’t scare easily, so the move to release IE7 is an indication that they fear their monopoly is threatened.

Oh, and this also proves that Microsoft is aware that IE is currently a steaming pile of horse crap.

The makers of Firefox and Opera, et al., will need to react smartly and quickly to this news. Expect new versions of all the “alternative” browsers, and maybe even a substantial media push, before IE7 is released.

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Something to be proud of

February 8, 2005 at 4:25pm By: Mr. Wilson Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

Lincoln isn’t the only place with a smoking ban. In fact, communist dictatorships everywhere are getting into the act!

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What Is Mr. Wilson?

February 3, 2005 at 5:17am By: Mr. T Posted in The Lincolnite Blog

Just recently learned about this story developing out of my old alma mater, the University of Iowa College of Law - Is a blogger a journalist? Over to the courts….

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