Lincolnite

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.

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.)

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

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.

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.

FDA to Establish New Drug Oversight Board

A new bill in Alabama would require the Ten Commandments to be posted in every classroom, and every school day would begin with teachers and students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. In case you're thinking to yourself "But Mr. Wilson, maybe the bill's intentions are innocent, not based on inserting religious influences into the public schools," I present to you:

Byrne, a former member of the State Board of Education, said he became interested in the issue because of the federal court ruling in California over using "under God" in the pledge.

::sigh:: Clearly Alabama's educators are doing a crappy job. If they were providing their students with a quality education, state politicians wouldn't be stupid enough to think the courts will let them get away with this, and the voters wouldn't be stupid enough to continuously put these morons in office. Oh well, better there than here, I suppose.

More public school idiocy: First Grader Punished for Bag of Dirt

Bettman Primed to Call Off NHL Season on Wednesday

The Missus and I made a trip allll the way out 27th Street to Beacon Hills. Attached to a Country Inn & Suites, it's pretty easy to miss. Beacon Hills is -- I think -- locally owned and operated, so it's worth a visit if only for that reason. When Beacon Hills first opened I heard a lot about it. Most people really enjoyed it, it seemed. The Missus and I intended to get out there a few times to try it out for ourselves. That didn't happen, until last night. The atmosphere is nice: quiet, subdued, cozy. A welcome respite from the sprawling, concrete mess that is North 27th Street. The host was friendly and we were seated promptly. The restaurant certainly wasn't busy, but there were several diners scattered about. Everybody seemed to be in a good mood, which is a good sign. Our server was competent, but he won't win any awards for excellence. His demeanor was his biggest weakness. He was very capable and he went through the motions very well. He just didn't seem all that excited about it. The food was very tasty. The Missus had crab-stuffed salmon, served with rice and sauteed vegetables. I had blackened salmon fettuccine. Both of us really enjoyed our salmon. It was melt-in-your-mouth tender, and nicely flavorful. My pasta was decent, but a bit bland. The parmesan-based sauce could have used some more potent parmesan, or perhaps even a little crab to perk things up. Then again, after tasting the Missus' crab-stuffed salmon, I had crab on my mind. Time is short right now, so I have to stop here. My summary: Beacon Hills is worth a visit. I'll write a longer, more formal review for the Eat Lincoln portion of the website once I have had a chance to make a second visit to the restaurant.

In some individuals' minds, anything goes in the War on Drugs:

"It's (expletive) over, son." For two hours, authorities say, that message would be pounded into Lester Eugene Siler's head and body, reinforced with the barrel of a gun and echoed in threats of electrocution. [...] "We'll have to call a (expletive) ambulance to haul your ass out of here." [...] "Eugene, let me tell you how this is gonna work, OK?" Webber said in the transcript. "We got here and guess what you did? You ran out the back door. We chased you, OK? You fought with us, OK? We end up fighting with you. You 'bout whupped all our asses, so we had to fight back, OK?" [...] "You're not (expletive) listening," Webber says. "You hear what I told you? I told you not to be talking. ? This (expletive) right here, he loves seeing blood. He loves it. He loves seeing blood. You're talking too much. ? He loves (expletive) seeing blood. He'll beat your ass and lick it off of you." [...] "Eugene, you're gonna sign this right here or I'm gonna (expletive) put a bullet in your damn head, and we're gonna (expletive) plant this BB gun," Monday says. Webber later adds, "Hey, Eugene, what loss do you think it's gonna be to us if you die, buddy? It's going to be no loss to us." By now, Siler is groaning and gasping for breath...

Read the whole sickening account.

Most of you have seen various baby name lists and books. You know the type, in which each name's meaning is discussed, its popularity is assessed, etc. The Baby Name Wizard is by far the coolest method I have seen for visualizing the popularity of different names over time. For the record, my name was cool back when I was born, but its popularity is waning rapidly. The missus's name, on the other hand, is surging back into style.

Google has just released a beta version of Google Maps. I haven't played with it very much. It'll be interesting to see how well Google's service competes with the likes of Mapquest and Yahoo! Maps.

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

Of all of the Huskers' recent problems, few people would probably put "crappy kickers" in the top ten list. I put it in the top five, if not the top three. Our kickers of late have been terrible. Apparently the Huskers picked up a winner for 2005, a guy named Jordan Congdon. Why is this the first I've heard about Congdon? Or have I just not been paying attention?