Lincolnite

Is it just me, or is it a little odd to charge a guy with resisting arrest after you've just beat the crap out of him?

Every Friday evening before Husker home football games a small group of Cornhusker Marching Band members perform pep band tunes and fight songs at Misty's Restaurant & Lounge (Havelock location) and Grandmother's Restaurant. The bands perform two 30-minute sets at both locations, at 7:30pm and 8:30pm at Misty's, and 10:00pm and 11:00pm at Grandmother's G-Ma's. The Misty's performances are known to attract groups of fans for the opposing team because tour groups bring them in. You're also fairly likely to see minor celebrities at Misty's; Lee Corso, Keith Jackson, and other sports celebrities have been known to eat there before the next day's broadcast, for example. The G-Ma's performances are much...wilder. The crowd is younger, with a heavy presence of current and former Cornhusker Marching Band members. Don't expect to have much freedom of movement at either location; things get a little cozy during the sets. If you have a chance sometime this season, drop by Misty's or G-Ma's, or both. In fact, The Missus and I are going to try to hit the 10:00pm performance at G-Ma's tonight. I hope to get there around 9:00pm so I can wolf down a plate of Super Nachos after I finish reffing a soccer game out at Abbott Sports Complex. See you there!

The Salt Creek Tiger beetle is officially endangered now. I can't say I really give a hoot. The guy in Oregon whose tax dollars will be used to try to bring back an insignificant beetle population might have a problem with it, though. I wonder: the article notes that "about 2,470 acres of saline wetlands are in public ownership or protected by conservation easements." Why aren't there plans to do something with that land? At nearly four square miles, it's far too large a chunk of land to just sit idle. And the land contains rare saline wetlands, which are valuable in their own right. Why not turn the land into a huge park? A park featuring walking trails and educational exhibits describing saline wetlands would nicely complement Pioneers Park's role as a prairie park. The general public will never sympathize with the plight of a mere beetle. They will not accept that 150 pathetic bugs have the power to prevent Lincoln from developing almost four square miles of valuable real estate near the Interstate. Lincolnites have, however, proven to rally behind their parks. Remember the fuss over Nine Mile Prairie? Lincolnites were up in arms over the possibility that the view from the prairie could be ruined by a couple power poles that would not have even been placed within the prairie itself. And the Friends of Wilderness Park have an impressive amount of influence over city planning decisions. The cost to the city would be minimal relative to the size of the project. In fact, it's likely the state and feds would cover a good chunk of the cost. Start-up expenses would include parking lots, walking trails, wooden bridges over wetland/marshy areas, and educational exhibits. Much of the labor required woul d be fairly basic, and could be completed by Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout candidates, in particular) and other community groups via efforts similar to the Adopt-A-Trail program. That, or we can let all that land sit idle and listen to Lincolnites bitch about "that stupid beetle" for the next couple decades.

Merck's tests have shown one of its cervical cancer vaccines to be 100% effective, at least in the short term. That's incredible news. When was the last time any medicine was 100% effective? Follow-up studies will probably reign in the enthusiasm a little bit, but this is a great place to start. Further good news lies in the fact that the vaccine, Gardasil, was created via genetic engineering. That in itself is nothing new, but one can certainly hope that this sort of success demonstrates that the field of genetic engineering is maturing and becoming more effective.

In only 4,649 words, ex-Presidential wannabe Al Gore manages to link O.J. Simpson, torturing Prisoners of War, Jurgen Habermaas, the decline of print media, and much, much more. Oh, and he manages to plug his television network a few times, too. Go ahead and give it a read. The text gives the reader a fascinating look at the inner workings of Gore's mind. I, for one, came away with the helpful knowledge that Al Gore is a terrible, horrible, awful, no-good speech-writer. I could pretty much go through Gore's rant paragraph by paragraph and make both legitimate and completely unfair criticisms of his points. (And occasionally I would even agree with him. Very occasionally.) I won't do that, though. A lunch break doesn't offer the time. I do want to critique Gore's insistence that "there was a time when America's public discourse was consistently much more vivid, focused and clear." As evidence, he notes that "Our Founders, probably the most literate generation in all of history, used words with astonishing precision and believed in the Rule of Reason." Yeah yeah, "Our Founders" were a literate bunch, and they spoke and wrote pretty darn eloquently by today's standards. But so what? Do the words of a few rich white men prove that communication among the masses was more enlightened 200 years ago than it is today, and that therefore our democracy was far more robust back then? Gore doesn't do anything to prove that the public were any better at participating in government in 1805 than they are today. I don't really understand Gore's message. Does he want us to abandon television media and return to an age when print media ruled? Well, no. How 'bout the internet? It's a huge, diverse, meritocratic, and mostly uncensored (for now) realm. Gore hardly mentions the internet, except to say that it sucks because it can't stream video very well. So what's the solution? Gore's own television network, of course! But wait, I thought Gore said that television is bad? I guess it takes somebody with real nuance, like John Kerry, to figure out what the hell Gore is talking about.

If you're not too sick of post-Katrina analysis, Matt Welch has an excellent interview with a National Guardsman who was on-scene at the Superdome throughout Katrina and in the days afterward. Two reactions: 1. The mainstream media were about as accurate as the bloggers in their coverage of the situation. That doesn't say much for the MSM. 2. If the MSM can blow a story this badly, even with reporters on-site, how badly do they regularly blow other stories? In particular, how much can we trust MSM coverage from war zones and other points of crisis?

Florida may build another environmentally-friendly power plant within the next decade.

Applebee's was selected as Best Dinner and Best Lunch in KFOR's annual Best of Lincoln survey. Admit it, somebody among you voted for Applebee's. Tell me who you are so I can kick you in the shin. Morons.

It would be a shame to see Eiger Corp. pursue legal action in their quest to build a 12-18 screen theater in southeast Lincoln. I can't say I blame them for being fired up. Douglas has held a city-endorsed monopoly in Lincoln for years by virtue of the city's restrictions on theaters outside of Downtown. I'm sure it really gets Eiger's goat that even Lincoln's city council members think the restriction is bad policy, and yet they continue to support it anyway. If Eiger does pursue legal action, it will be interesting to see on what grounds they file suit. I'll defer to Mr. T and other commenters to shed light on the potential legal questions. My gut instinct, though, is that Eiger should lose any legal challenge of the ordinance. Although I think the six-screen restriction is stupid, I also think that as long as there are zoning laws, it is a community's right to enforce such a restriction. Then again, that attitude lies on the slippery slope toward allowing a community to enforce pretty much any property restriction. Maybe a property owner ought to be able to use his property however he sees fit. That attitude, too, is laced with problems. In truth, the matter has me in a bit of a mental bind. There may, in fact, be a solution other than just letting the courts hammer it all out. Public opinion seems to lean toward dumping the policy. No, that's too understated. Every indication I'm aware of is that public opinion is tilted heavily in favor of letting Eiger Corp. build its 12-18 screen complex. I would guess the current policy is opposed by Lincolnites 2 to 1; in an election, I think it would likely lose 3 to 2 (because voters tend to be a bit more conservative about these sorts of things when they show up to the polls). Would a petition campaign compel city council members to change their minds? My instinct says no. Mayor Seng would almost certainly not be swayed. (By the way, I haven't given ol' Mayor Seng a pat on the back for actually taking a stand on this issue. By my count that makes, uhh, well, one issue that she has taken a stand on since she took office. Way to go Mayor Seng!) A petition campaign, or some other sort of survey, would make clear the voters' preferences, however. If members of the City Council were to choose to ignore a resounding roar of disapproval from the voters -- if, of course, such a roar actually occurred -- they would do so at their peril. Although such a campaign would not be legally binding, it would be politically persuasive, maybe even enough to avoid some of the expense of money, time, and energy in the courts. Do you folks see the same level of disapproval with the current policy that I see? Is the desire for change as strong as I think it is, or am I misperceiving public sentiment? If you could "vote" via a petition or survey, what vote would you cast?

Ladies and gentlemen, please rise and applaud the great and wonderful Mr. T. One of his posts is the first result if you search Google for...well, see for yourself.

Noodles & Company will finally open the doors of its Downtown location next week. I've managed to snag a few invitations to free "sneak peek" meals this Wednesday evening and Thursday noon. I'll let y'all know if I end up with any extras.

We're Number One Twenty Six!

Boy oh boy, I had one of those weekends where, when Sunday evening rolls along, you say "Thank goodness!" I'm one pooped puppy. I reffed two soccer matches today in the heat and wind. The heat and humidity were tough enough, but that wind can really suck the life out of you. Yesterday was a really long day. I left the house at 8:30am and I walked back in the door at 10:01pm. In between, I drove 3.5 hours to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and reffed two soccer games, one of which went into double overtime. While in Sioux Falls I noticed that Satan's lady bugs are back in season. I hate those things. I've hated them ever since millions of them ruined a late-fall camping trip at Indian Cave by covering our camper and everything else. The little bastards pack a punch when they bite. Hopefully this week I'll have a chance to finish up some projects I haven't been able to get to for a while. I need to plant some grass in the back yard, do some maintenance in the rest of the yard, put up a couple ceiling fans, paint the office and the bathroom, finish staining some outdoor furniture... and so on. Ten bucks says I only get one of those things finished.

For sale: Two tickets to the NU vs. ISU football game on 10/01/05. $90 for the pair (face value). Cash payment only, please. The tickets have been sold.

A federal judge has ordered the release of 70 photos and 3 video tapes depicting abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The photographs are said to include "blatantly sadistic" scenes of "rape and murder." Seventeen photographs and one video tape will not be released. Why not? Hopefully not because those items depict actions that are that much worse. America has lost its humility. Perhaps a healthy dose of deserved embarassment will do us some good, both nationally and globally. The American people need to see what can happen when a government gets drunk on power -- and then tries to cover up its abuses. Indeed, had the government been open and honest from the start, and had higher-ups -- rather than just individual patsies -- rightly been held responsible, this current situation probably would have been avoided. The government is accountable to its citizens. Let's do our job.