Bent over by Bloomington, at the behest of a mall.

Speakers urge megamall support in Bloomington Chamber of Commerce appearance; MOA's owners appeal for public funding


Bill Griffith, attorney for the mall, said the project has come close to approval but has fallen short in the past three legislative sessions. Time is running short, he said.

"If we can't make the case in three years we won't be back for a fourth," Griffith said.

If the plan can't win legislative approval, Griffith said, the land set aside for Phase II will still be developed. But "big box" retail outlets would probably occupy it, he said.

"It won't be anything that helps all boats rise," Bausch said.

She said public contribution is easily justified in view of the $50 million in state and local taxes the mall generates annually. If the mall is expanded to existing proposals, that figure would increase to $80 million, Bausch said. The mall takes in $1 billion in revenue annually, she said.

Jackass, the plan failed, because, for the last 3 legislative sessions, the legislature has held, at least in this case, that assessing taxes from the citizenry to solely benefit a private enterprise is theft. Your mall should sink or swim on its own merits, not beg money from the state. If your business is worth it, funding should be a non-issue.

Here is what is actually being proposed:

Using what would have gone into the fiscal-disparities state pool to instead fund a parking ramp, which would be owned by Bloomington.

Transferring some land from a TIF district that expires in 2015 to one that expires in 2018.

Authorizing Bloomington to impose local sales taxes on lodging, admissions and recreation, food and beverages and a general sales tax of one percent on the mall.

Mall representatives said more than 80 percent of the cost would be covered by private money, but that at least 17 percent of the project must be public for the project to be viable. The expansion would draw new jobs and tourists to the state, boosting the local economy, proponents said.

The first point is a matter of redistributing the wealth of one city to another. "From each according to his ability; to each according to his need". The only part that bothers me is that Bloomington is asking for special treatment. Get rid of the socialist tax pool, instead of asking for an exemption.

Point number 3 is the sticking point. Taking money at gunpoint from people who have no stake in the mall, who will see no net benefit from the expansion, to give it to private enterprise to improve their bottom line. If the business is worth it, it can fund the expansion itself. Stop screwing me.

The 4th point is utter bullshit. The project is viable without public funding. You want to take public funding to improve your profit margin. That is theft, and more than enough reason to stop shopping in Bloomington, and to never, ever set foot in the Monstrosity Mall again.

Champions of Vydor

For those who are interested(both of you), Champions of Vydor is now available here. That is the database, the server vault, the ini files and the latest module.

The hard drive in the game server is deaddeaddead, so it won't be coming back up.

For those with ill intentions, the database lived on the game server, which is dead.

For those with no clue as to what I am talking about, Vydor is a module for Neverwinter Nights, a MMORPG I used to run. If I've confused you, then you wouldn't be interested, anyway.

Traffic Analysis

Apparently, posting a picture of Mila Kunis is a wonderful way to boost my traffic.

Marketing idiots

Microsoft is stupid.

Logitech is stupid.

For the past few years, I have used exactly one style of mouse on a regular basis, for all of my computing needs. I use a Microsoft Trackball Optical 1.0. It is ergonomic, comfortable and reliable. I have one at work, one in my office, and had one for my laptop. Two or three months ago, my dog ate the cord for one of my three babies. Now, I find out that the only place stocking this wonderful mouse is charging $65 for it. That's more than I paid for all three of mine. The active auctions on ebay are pushing $100 each and more than 70 bids. Yet Microsoft won't bring this gem back on the market.

Logitech has a similar offering. It's the Trackman Wheel. This is currently the only thumb-operated, desk-based trackball that I am aware of. Superficially, it is very similar to the Trackball Optical, but the main buttons on this piece of garbage are skewed at an awkward, carpal-tunnel-inducing angle. There is not a single thumb-operated, desk-based trackball on the market with the buttons set in parallel to the thumb angle.

Both Logitech and Microsoft used to offer functional trackballs in a useful configuration, but neither do now. Logitech used to offer the Trackman Marble, which was similar to the Trackball Optical, except it had a third button in place of the scroll wheel. This gem is going to $200.

There is a serious demand for a trackball in a natural configuration, but nobody is making it. Why?

5 Hottest FHM Women

Taking a page from Kim:

Using ONLY the FHM Top 100 List (below the fold), pick your own top 5, and list them in Comments, in descending order of preference/delectability.

Here's the list, with links to pictures of the women.

Here are my answers:
1. Kate Beckinsale

2. Elisha Cuthbert

3. Angelina Jolie

4. Charlize Theron

5. Mila Kunis

It would be rude to forget the runners-up.

Megan Fox - Her role in Transformers was....yummy.
Summer Glau - I've never craved carnal knowledge of a machine until the Sarah Connor Chronicles
Alyssa Milano - I've had a crush on her for at least 20 years
Natalie Portman - Luke Skywalker's mom? Oh, yes.
Keira Knightly - She's bony too often, but when she let's herself fill out a bit, watch out.

I feel gypped

I distinctly remember being promised global warming. It's almost freaking May!

Vote Tracker

MPR has a great service. They have a website with every legislator and their voting record, in an easy to read, easy to search format.

Minneapolis 4th Precinct Highlights

I don't even know what to say about this, but it sure kicked over my giggle box:

A female, the former girlfriend of the victim’s baby’s dad, pointed a gun at the victim and her children while driving down Lowry. Suspect was located at her home.

Don't go for rides with strangers. There were planning to kill this guy for $125.

Victim said he was picked up by an unknown female in South Minneapolis and when they arrived here an unknown male who’d been hiding in the van grabbed him, put a gun to his neck and $125 and ID from his pocket. When the victim jumped out of the van and fled the suspect fired at him three times.

Boxing

I think I'm going to take boxing lessons.

It's been a long(long) time since I've been in a fight, so it isn't about that. I just want to be able to box.

Want!

This MP3 player is built into a standard cassette tape, letting you use it as either a uniquely old-school-style MP3 player, or with any car cassette or cassette player to play your music. You will have no problems listening to hours of your favorite songs via the built-in SD card slot, and you can easily change to different songs if you have multiple SD Cards. If you are into retro style looks but with a new technology upgrade, this is a MP3 player worth adding to your gear.