ST. PAUL (AP) — The "Brawl of America" is coming to St. Paul.
The Minnesota RollerGirls will host a women’s roller derby North Central Division Championship at Roy Wilkins Auditorium from Sept. 18-20.
The top 10 teams from across the Midwest will be in St. Paul for the tournament. The North Central Division stretches from the Dakotas to Ohio and into Canada.
The Minnesota RollerGirls were founded in 2004 and have been playing at Roy Wilkins since the fall of 2005. The team opens its sixth season this fall.
Tickets for Brawl of America go on sale Wednesday at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium Box Office, all TicketMaster locations, by phone and online.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Public Service Announcement
Yet another freedom...
...falls victim to the Global Warming Fraud.
It may be "just a TV", but who the hell made that any of the government's business?
It has been some time since we here at the FlashReport have bestowed the infamous "Golden Trashcan" award. As long time readers know, it takes a particularly onerous piece of legislation, or in this case a regulation, to "get the can" - but the dubious honor goes to the California Energy Commission's (CEC) proposal to ban big screen televisions.
If you are like me, you may have heard a rumor about this, and dismissed it as being nonsensical.
It may be "just a TV", but who the hell made that any of the government's business?
Different name
Same corruption.
MINNEAPOLIS - http://www.startribune.com/local/49441167.html in the metro area hope to set up a temporary multi-city unit this week to keep investigations going while the Metro Gang Strike Force is suspended.
Foxfire books
The Survivalist Blog has the first five Foxfire books here. Do yourself a favor and download them all.
RIP Billy Mays
He was certainly obnoxious at times, but the charisma shone through. Pitchmen has been surprisingly interesting to watch.
Quote of the Day
"Saul Alinsky wrote the book Barack Hussein Obama is living!"
- Leo Pusateri
Found on Joel's site.
There's more. Alinsky wrote some very well-defined rules for agitation/activism/low-level revolution. Read the rules and apply it to our current President's* speeches.
Rule 1: Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.
Rule 2: Never go outside the experience of your people. The result is confusion, fear, and retreat.
Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the experience of an opponent. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.
Rule 4: Make opponents live up to their own book of rules. “You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.”
Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.
Rule 6: A good tactic is one your people enjoy. “If your people aren’t having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.”
Rule 7: A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag. Commitment may become ritualistic as people turn to other issues.
Rule 8: Keep the pressure on. Use different tactics and actions and use all events of the period for your purpose. “The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this that will cause the opposition to react to your advantage.”
Rule 9: The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself. When Alinsky leaked word that large numbers of poor people were going to tie up the washrooms of O’Hare Airport, Chicago city authorities quickly agreed to act on a longstanding commitment to a ghetto organization. They imagined the mayhem as thousands of passengers poured off airplanes to discover every washroom occupied. Then they imagined the international embarrassment and the damage to the city’s reputation.
Rule 10: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Avoid being trapped by an opponent or an interviewer who says, “Okay, what would you do?”
Rule 11: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don’t try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.
Joel goes on to redefine the rules in a more practical, less painful fashion. RTWT.
- Leo Pusateri
Found on Joel's site.
There's more. Alinsky wrote some very well-defined rules for agitation/activism/low-level revolution. Read the rules and apply it to our current President's* speeches.
Rule 1: Power is not only what you have, but what an opponent thinks you have. If your organization is small, hide your numbers in the dark and raise a din that will make everyone think you have many more people than you do.
Rule 2: Never go outside the experience of your people. The result is confusion, fear, and retreat.
Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the experience of an opponent. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.
Rule 4: Make opponents live up to their own book of rules. “You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.”
Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.
Rule 6: A good tactic is one your people enjoy. “If your people aren’t having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.”
Rule 7: A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag. Commitment may become ritualistic as people turn to other issues.
Rule 8: Keep the pressure on. Use different tactics and actions and use all events of the period for your purpose. “The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this that will cause the opposition to react to your advantage.”
Rule 9: The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself. When Alinsky leaked word that large numbers of poor people were going to tie up the washrooms of O’Hare Airport, Chicago city authorities quickly agreed to act on a longstanding commitment to a ghetto organization. They imagined the mayhem as thousands of passengers poured off airplanes to discover every washroom occupied. Then they imagined the international embarrassment and the damage to the city’s reputation.
Rule 10: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. Avoid being trapped by an opponent or an interviewer who says, “Okay, what would you do?”
Rule 11: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don’t try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame.
Joel goes on to redefine the rules in a more practical, less painful fashion. RTWT.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Silly Google Ads
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Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Quote of the Day
"So… if I’ve got this right, putting my Finance Manager hat on, your economic exit strategy is to spend your way into a hole, and then to pray for death? Hmmm… That sounds about right."
-Larry Correia
-Larry Correia
Archive
About 18 months ago, I killed my previous blog, in favor of blogger. I have just resurrected the archive here: http://blog2.princewally.com/
There are such wonderful things as The Adventures of Jesse the Wonderpoodle, a record of the Minnesota stadium and sales tax votes, and a year and a half of other essays and posts. Yay. Someday, I'll convert all of that to something better.
There are such wonderful things as The Adventures of Jesse the Wonderpoodle, a record of the Minnesota stadium and sales tax votes, and a year and a half of other essays and posts. Yay. Someday, I'll convert all of that to something better.
Bad budget
Banning beer at the games is a surefire way to get more people to attend and spend money, alleviating the budget problems.
Right?
Right?
Surprised?
Of course he's wavering. He hasn't held a position since he started campaigning for dog catcher 15 years ago.
Why is this considered the job of a legislator?
ST. PAUL (AP) Driving instructors came to the Capitol on Tuesday to teach drivers how to squeeze more miles out of every gallon of gas.
Playing to the chumps
"If private insurers say that the marketplace provides the best quality health care ... then why is it that the government, which they say can't run anything, suddenly is going to drive them out of business?"
Idiocy. The government gets to subsidize healthcare to drop the front-end costs so far below the profit line for private and pseudo-private agencies that there will be no way to compete. He knows this, he's just hoping the public doesn't.
Besides, I thought the headline last week was that the private insurance companies were on board?
Idiocy. The government gets to subsidize healthcare to drop the front-end costs so far below the profit line for private and pseudo-private agencies that there will be no way to compete. He knows this, he's just hoping the public doesn't.
Besides, I thought the headline last week was that the private insurance companies were on board?
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Bleat
If we go fight N. Korea, the battles will be like the Operation Desert Storm. The other side will be surrendering to anyone it can find, including a reporter with nothing but a camera.
Tactical Error
Publicly announce where the enemy can kill us safely? That's a great battle plan.
The top U.S. general in Afghanistan will soon formally order U.S. and NATO forces to break away from fights with militants hiding in Afghan houses so the battles do not kill civilians, a U.S. official said Monday.
Healthcare, the new tax
Is that how he got the providers on board? "If I force people to buy your service, will you back my plan?"
Quote of the Day
"No God tolerates the wanton butchery of His children -- not mine, nor yours; not the God of Abraham, the God of Paul, nor the God of Mohammed; not even the old Gods of fire and fury, neither the many thousand Gods of the Hindus, nor those of the Han, allow the murder of their innocent children.
Reflect on that, you wretched excuses for men, and despair."
-LawDog
Reflect on that, you wretched excuses for men, and despair."
-LawDog
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Downsizing my life
A good friend of mine is moving into the room that was, until very recently, my office. My office had workspace for my hobbies, storage for the remnants and spare parts of computer builds, cabinets full of retired PartyLite gear(not mine) and other detritus associated with an office.
It had also turned into the "put it here and deal with it later" room. Later never came. After years of no "later", the room was full. Now the room is empty, and everything is boxed up and in the way.
This however, is not a problem. This is an opportunity. All of this accumulated crap is going to get sorted, organized, tossed, or donated. All of it. Some of it will have to go into another room, which means that room needs the same treatment. Half of my house has to get sorted and downsized. I'm going to carry that over to the other half.
Too much stuff. It's gotta go.
I have well over 1000 movies, including at least 100 or so that suck. They are going to the used movie store.
I found a box of kids' toys that should be in the girls' room, not in storage.
Boxes of clothes have gone to Goodwill.
My office is empty. No longer my office.
The new office, my former guest bedroom, is now pulling double duty, which means it has been completely cleared out.
Our downstairs family room has stuff from the former office. I am working on that, a few boxes at a time.
Our storage room, an over sized closet with the Christmas decorations and cat litter, is getting a complete overhaul. Good-bye, stuff-I-haven't-seen-in-years.
Two large closets are getting cleaned out. One is already empty. Its contents went to Goodwill. The other is getting repurposed as our pantry. More food, bought in bulk, less crap we never use.
My basement is going to get turned into livable space again. Every square foot will have a purpose that doesn't include "clutter".
There will be pain, there may be tears, but, in the long run, it will all be worth it.
It had also turned into the "put it here and deal with it later" room. Later never came. After years of no "later", the room was full. Now the room is empty, and everything is boxed up and in the way.
This however, is not a problem. This is an opportunity. All of this accumulated crap is going to get sorted, organized, tossed, or donated. All of it. Some of it will have to go into another room, which means that room needs the same treatment. Half of my house has to get sorted and downsized. I'm going to carry that over to the other half.
Too much stuff. It's gotta go.
I have well over 1000 movies, including at least 100 or so that suck. They are going to the used movie store.
I found a box of kids' toys that should be in the girls' room, not in storage.
Boxes of clothes have gone to Goodwill.
My office is empty. No longer my office.
The new office, my former guest bedroom, is now pulling double duty, which means it has been completely cleared out.
Our downstairs family room has stuff from the former office. I am working on that, a few boxes at a time.
Our storage room, an over sized closet with the Christmas decorations and cat litter, is getting a complete overhaul. Good-bye, stuff-I-haven't-seen-in-years.
Two large closets are getting cleaned out. One is already empty. Its contents went to Goodwill. The other is getting repurposed as our pantry. More food, bought in bulk, less crap we never use.
My basement is going to get turned into livable space again. Every square foot will have a purpose that doesn't include "clutter".
There will be pain, there may be tears, but, in the long run, it will all be worth it.
Socialized Spin on Healtcare
I'm not even sure what press conference or interview could possibly be spun this hard to make this statement. The players who are actually involved in the system are scared out of their minds at the idea of socialized medicine. It hasn't worked anywhere in the world and it obliterates innovation.
That's because members of Congress are gearing up to reform the U.S. health care system, and unlike in 1993 when then-first lady Hillary Clinton tried her hand at changing the medical system, this time the important players -- doctors, insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers -- seem to be on board.
Kids and Piercings
From someone who had had 13 holes artificially installed in his face, I've got the same rules. Ears don't get pierce until the kids are roughly physically mature. A growth spurt doesn't happen evenly and can cause the ear holes to be very off-center.
1. Ears only. The rest can wait until they are adults.
2. It has to be the kid's decision. No 'peer pressure'. If the kid can't convince me of that, he(or she) isn't ready to get pierced.
3. They've all got to wait until about puberty. Young growth spurts are too unpredictable.
4. No tats. Kids aren't mature enough to make reliable, life-long decisions.
1. Ears only. The rest can wait until they are adults.
2. It has to be the kid's decision. No 'peer pressure'. If the kid can't convince me of that, he(or she) isn't ready to get pierced.
3. They've all got to wait until about puberty. Young growth spurts are too unpredictable.
4. No tats. Kids aren't mature enough to make reliable, life-long decisions.
$2 million?
Honestly, what's a $2 million settlement? You know how that would affect my life, day-to-day?
It's not like I'm gonna get on a payment plan that would pay it off before my great grandkids die of old age.
There's no way that judgment is based on actual damages, or even projected/estimated damages. That's a jury that bought some BS about teaching kids a lesson, or something.
Are they gonna bump the minimum penalties for shoplifting to match? Steal 2 cds, get fined your entire life's income?
It's not like I'm gonna get on a payment plan that would pay it off before my great grandkids die of old age.
There's no way that judgment is based on actual damages, or even projected/estimated damages. That's a jury that bought some BS about teaching kids a lesson, or something.
Are they gonna bump the minimum penalties for shoplifting to match? Steal 2 cds, get fined your entire life's income?
FOAD, Letterman
Good for Olive Garden. I wonder if the rest of Darden will do the same?
Following a week of back and forth between CBS late-night comic David Letterman and Sarah Palin over a crude joke he told about the Alaska Republican governor's daughter, the Olive Garden restaurant says it is canceling all of its scheduled ads on Letterman's "Late Show" for the rest of the year.
Strawberries
Fresh strawberries are great, but our plants produce slowly and steadily all season. The ripe strawberries never make it into the house for cooking.
Clearly
U.S. government bonds found in the false bottom of a suitcase carried by two Japanese travelers attempting to cross into Switzerland are fake, a Treasury spokesman said.
“They’re clearly fakes,” Stephen Meyerhardt, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of the Public Debt in Washington, said yesterday.
Really, If they are "clearly fakes", why did it take a week to figure it out?
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Quote of the Day
|
via The View From North Central Idaho on 6/16/09
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Spread the power-hungry corrupt culture of the MPD.
This is a great idea.
The second in command at the Minneapolis Police Department may soon lead federal law officers in state.
Government run healthcare, at its best.
Budgeting 101
via SayUncle.
This year, your mom gave you $100 per year with which to rent movies. Which of the following is a budget cut?
a - Next year, you get $90.
b - You tell your mom the cost of movies went up, so you’ll need $110. She gives you $100.
Crap. Information overload?
"From your 86 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 5,784 items, starred 0 items, shared 244 items, and emailed 1 items."
Friday, June 12, 2009
Zumbo Time
If You're Into Muzzleloaders...
...and you buy them from this guy, you're giving business to someone who publicly advocates ending private sales under force of government arms.
I thought of naming him and his business, and even linking to his blog, but reconsidered. Nobody I know has ever heard of him, and it looks like he's intentionally trying to stir up controversy and get it to spread.
I see no reason to give him free publicity so the AHSA-holes can patronize him.
-David Codrea
Let's socialize everything.
The rest of the world is trying to get away from, while we're trying to get into it. Why can't we learn from their mistakes?
Kant's Ethics, the Short Version
- How would you like it if everybody did that?
- If you do something because you're a dick, but then it works out okay anyway, you're still a dick.
Quote of the Day
"If I had a yen for the sweet, sweet taste of human flesh, what in the world makes you think that I'd pay someone else to supply my needs?"
-James R. Rummel
-James R. Rummel
Geek Tip of the Day
- Right click while on your desktop and select "create a new shortcut."
- Quotes included, enter the following as the location: taskkill.exe /f /fi "status eq not responding"
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
RSS Roundup
NOTHING is out of SCOTOS's jurisdiction. That's called checks and balances. Read about it sometime, Mr. President.*
Minority lawmakers ask Obama to include minority health concerns in health care overhaul. Shouldn't this be covered in 'universal' health care? Why do I think that this will be another program that completely ignores and disenfranchises middle class, straight white men?
Efforts to impeach federal judge convicted of lying about sexual assaults move quickly. Good. Lying under oath should remove any government official from office, from dog catcher to president.
Seat Belt Law A Victory For Mother Of Child Killed. How is this a victory? Does making an existing unlawful activity more unlawful bring back the dead, now? Stop whoring your child's memory for control of other people's lives.
Minority lawmakers ask Obama to include minority health concerns in health care overhaul. Shouldn't this be covered in 'universal' health care? Why do I think that this will be another program that completely ignores and disenfranchises middle class, straight white men?
Efforts to impeach federal judge convicted of lying about sexual assaults move quickly. Good. Lying under oath should remove any government official from office, from dog catcher to president.
Seat Belt Law A Victory For Mother Of Child Killed. How is this a victory? Does making an existing unlawful activity more unlawful bring back the dead, now? Stop whoring your child's memory for control of other people's lives.
Quote of the Day
"Every collectivist movement rides in on a Trojan Horse of 'emergency'. It was a tactic of Lenin, Hitler and Mussolini." - Herbert Hoover, Memoirs: The Great Depression (1951)
SurvivalBlog.com by James Wesley, Rawles on 6/7/09
SurvivalBlog.com by James Wesley, Rawles on 6/7/09
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a challenge to the Pentagon policy forbidding gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military, granting an Obama administration request to maintain the Clinton-era "don't ask, don't tell" directive.
Good. Don't ask, don't tell is a working policy. Don't screw with working policies when the screwees are the folks who do the fighting.
Oh noes, the flus is scary!
|
Bloomington seniors can kiss congratulatory handshakes goodbye.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Obama: America Is In Very Deep Recession
And it keeps getting deeper the more you swing the socialist shovel, Mr. President.*
Simplification
In a partial effort to simplify my life, and kill an expense I don't need(however small), I have rolled StateGunRights.org under my commercial umbrella at Metro Defense Training.
Crass commercialism? Maybe.
Still free? Absolutely.
Still ad-driven? Nope.
Crass commercialism? Maybe.
Still free? Absolutely.
Still ad-driven? Nope.
Redefinition of terms
|
President* promised Monday to deliver more than 600,000 jobs through his $787 billion stimulus plan this summer, with federal agencies pumping billions.
No shelter for scum
|
Hundreds of residents in northern Pakistan attacked villages suspected of sheltering Taliban militants following a mosque bombing last week, authorities said Sunday.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
GReader
Highlights from my news feed, all linky love:
No weapon at all or that 140 USD knife? Sure, give me the little blade.
But do not get caught on beautiful web page design and very smart marketing.
That knife is just a step above a lapel knife (google it up if you don’t know those) , better than nothing but you have 100 cheaper and what is even more important, BETTER options.
Greatest problem with that little knife? The blade to hand interface: The grip.
That grip my friends, SUCKS
via Nation & World on 6/7/09
|
As she describes it, Beth Jacobson and her fellow loan officers at Wells Fargo Bank "rode the stagecoach from hell" for a decade, systematically singling out blacks in Baltimore and suburban Maryland for high-interest subprime mortgages.
via Minneapolis/St. Paul Breaking News, Weather, Video, Traffic and Sports for Minnesota from WCCO-TV on 6/7/09
|
President Barack Obama said "it's time to deliver" on his health care agenda, using his weekly radio and Internet address to focus on his domestic priority even while traveling overseas. His remarks airing Saturday were timed to gatherings in living rooms and coffee shops around the country by tens of thousands of people to discuss health care.
via SURVIVING IN ARGENTINA by FerFAL on 6/7/09
No weapon at all or that 140 USD knife? Sure, give me the little blade.
But do not get caught on beautiful web page design and very smart marketing.
That knife is just a step above a lapel knife (google it up if you don’t know those) , better than nothing but you have 100 cheaper and what is even more important, BETTER options.
Greatest problem with that little knife? The blade to hand interface: The grip.
That grip my friends, SUCKS
Remember, get something with a functional grip, without it no knife is work a single buck.
via Headlines from the St. Cloud Times on 6/7/09
|
A new Minnesota law that goes into effect Tuesday makes failure to use a seat belt a primary offense. That means officers can pull over vehicles if anyone inside isn't buckled up. Minnesota is the 29th state to pass a primary seat belt law.
via Minneapolis/St. Paul Breaking News, Weather, Video, Traffic and Sports for Minnesota from WCCO-TV on 6/7/09
|
State Sen. Tom Bakk of Cook says he's running for the DFL nomination for governor in 2010, and job growth will be his biggest issue.
via CNN.com on 6/7/09
|
They are young, earn little and spend little, and take a keen interest in fashion and personal appearance -- meet the "herbivore men" of Japan.
via SayUncle by SayUncle on 6/7/09
Police in NY ticket a car with a dead guy in it. For weeks.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Quote of the Day
How can I let the introvert in my life know that I support him and respect his choice? First, recognize that it's not a choice. It's not a lifestyle. It's an orientation.
Second, when you see an introvert lost in thought, don't say "What's the matter?" or "Are you all right?"
Third, don't say anything else, either.
-Jonathan Rauch
Check out the rest, if you are an introvert. If you're not an introvert, read it and learn!
Found via Marko.
This is a test.
ETA: Interesting concept. I think I'm going to like Dial2Do. I can update my calendar, blog, twit and email by voice from my phone. I expect to start liveblogging rush hour. That will be fun.
This came with the transcription and a link to the recorded mp3, but I've got the voice for newspaper, to match the face for radio.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
My home is no longer private
According to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, A08-1754, State of Minnesota vs. James Jay Gradishar, my home is now a public place.
Jackass judges.
For purposes of section 624.7142, we conclude that “public place” shall be defined as: generally an indoor or outdoor area, whether privately or publicly owned, to which the public have access by right or by invitation, expressed or implied, whether by payment of money or not.If anybody has ever been invited to my house, or accompanied a guest to my house, or accessed the yard I don't fence or booby-trap, I live on public land, for the "purposes of section 624.7142".
Jackass judges.
The Future of Socialized Medicine
A MOTHER is taking her fight to the European Court of Human Rights after she was forbidden from seeing her three-year-old daughter because she is not “clever enough” to look after her.
Yes, you read that right. Self-important bureaucrats have seized her daughter because she isn't smart enough to keep her.
But..."declaration by a psychiatrist that Rachel, 24, has no learning difficulties and “good literacy and numeracy and [that] her general intellectual abilities appear to be within the normal range”."
So she is smart enough. Monkeys have babies, I don't understand why the UK thinks someone of normal intelligence can't manage it.
Now, now, princewally, this isn't fair. Of course the government will allow subjects to have some form of recourse.
Well, yeah.
Her attempts to fight Nottingham city council’s adoption of her daughter have been hampered because her case was taken over by the official solicitor, the government-funded lawyer who acts for those unable to represent themselves. He was brought in to represent Rachel’s interests because she was judged to be intellectually incapable of instructing her own solicitor. He declined to contest the council’s adoption application, despite her wish to do so.
You gotta remember, government hacks will always back the government play. Always. Don't think it won't happen here.
Found here.
Swamped
Every once in a while, life does a really good job of kicking me in the ass. Why can't I have a 37 hour day?