Short Takes

Well, life has been hectic with work.  As you may of heard, these are interesting times at Best Buy.  So interesting, in fact, that Best Buy's CEO, Hubert Joly, has decided to move his office to my floor.  I have to say I find it strange to see him walk in each day off the elevator and speak French to the secretary.   But that just means there is never a dull moment as the turnaround is upon us (I hope).

I see that the "Frankenstorm" bashing the East Coast is playing havoc with much of the country.  Not only are millions of folks facing sudden hardship and trial, but everything is put into a political context.  Should Republican Governors in the storm's path say positively things about the President?  Will the President get a boost from appearing like a leader that has some likability to him?  Should Mitt Romney or his surrogates compare how the President is taking such care in the aftermath of the "Frankenstorm" and much less care concerning what happened in Libya where his ambassador was killed?  So many questions, so few answers.  Does it really matter?

I am still bummed out that the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is still on lockout.  Thus far, none of my concerts have been canceled.  Yet if an agreement is not reached by Wednesday, that could change in a hurry.  If I can't attend the concerts I purchased tickets for I will be very, very disappointed.

I heard Wednesday is Halloween.  Folks dress in costumes, beg for candy and act silly on that day.  Halloween is also known as Samhain, when the souls of the wicked who have died are supposed to come forth from their graves to revisit their former friends and family. Back in the day, the way folks kept away those souls from visiting your front door was setting out food to save themselves.  So based on that logic, when folks are setting out candy to children all across the country, they are celebrating Samhain.  Such a pagan holiday was so prevalent thousands of years ago that in 835 Pope Gregory the IV wrote, "If the pagan traditions cannot be forbidden, then let them be tamed."  Doesn't that sound familiar for so many pagan traditions of this day?     Rather, I recall that Wednesday is Reformation Day, when  in 1517 Martin Luther took his bold steadfast stand to nail the 95 debating points that changed world history forever in a positive direction in my myopic opinion.  But if one wants to put on a costume and beg for candy, as them to reflect on Samhain.

Head Slapper of the Week

Apparently science research has no bounds.  Eduardo Santurtun of the University of Queensland is conducting research in Australia on the buying questions, "do sheep die of sea-sickness?"   Yes, I know this is paradigm changing stuff, but someone has to do it.   

What was so interesting about this research is to simulate a ship at sea, capital expenditure was needed.

Santurtun couldn't do his research on board a real boat, so his team of researches recreated one in the lab. They've set up a moving crate experiment to test the effects of live export on sheep stress levels." 

You can listen to the news story here.

Baaaaa!!  Three Head Slaps

Poll Questions

Apparently I'm not good at poll questions so I'm replacing my question for this week.  But I would like suggestions for future questions.  Please Post Them!!

Update and a Musing(s)

It's been awhile since I provided an actually post, so I guess I should put one together.

Life has been quite busy for me.  Work has been keeping me for long hours and it seems like it's dark when I head to Best Buy for work and getting dark when I leave.  So I'm assuming fall is here now or I'm working much longer hours than I thought I was.

I'm also made the commitment to actually change my drivers license and voting registration to reflect my residence.  It was a bit delayed, but "I'm legal" now.  Not that I was "not legal" on purpose.  I do plan to vote on November 2 though in St. Paul.

A couple of musings:

- As the election enters its final weeks, it appears the Presidential contest is a close as ever.  It could be the President's or Mitt Romney's to win.  Frankly, I still think the President is the favorite in this election.  The electoral math is simply too much in the President's favor.  As of this date, I'm thinking the President will win a President Bush "43"  type victory with between 270-290 electoral votes, keeping us up until the wee hours of the morning.  Romney has been surging in most polls, particularly in swing states.  However, he would pretty much need to win VA, CO, FLA, NC and at least OH or PA to assure victory.  I don't see that happening at this point.  I expect the President to have a strong debate on foreign policy tomorrow  and perhaps regain momentum in the polls.  The reason why I think the President will do well in tomorrow's debate is not because it's been a sound foreign policy.  The situations in Libya and the Middle East are quite hostile these days, however, the President's should simply be stronger than Romney on these issues based on pure experience.  Perhaps I'll be wrong, but I'm thinking it's still the President's race to lose.

- Earlier this month the Centers of Disease Control released a study on births in the United States, including out of wedlock births.  The short story is that nearly 41 percent of all births are born out of wedlock.  That includes 72.3 percent of non-Hispanic blacks are now born out-of-wedlock; 66.2 percent of American Indians/Alaska Natives; 53.3 percent of Hispanics; 29.1 percent of non-Hispanic whites; and 17.2 percent of Asians/Pacific Islanders.  

All in all, this is a disaster in my myopic opinion.  I'm struck by how prevalent societal ills regarding alcohol, drugs and crime are associated with these same populations.  How different would these children's lives would be if these societal ills were not prevalent in their lives and they were raised by a heterosexual married couple?  How much would our society as a whole gain in lower social support costs (the federal government paid a trillion bucks in welfare payments last year), economically (perhaps the educational attainment of these populations would provide them higher-skilled, higher paid labor) and socially.    I'm frankly sadden by this news.

- Finally, I'm sadden to hear that the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra has locked out it's musicians after failing to come a contract agreement.  I've purchased tickets for various concerts this season and am quite disappointed of the very real possibility that I won't be able to attend the concerts due to a contract dispute.  The crux of the dispute is simple: the SPCO management wants to shrink the orchestra and reduce pay by 15 percent in exchange for larger severance packages to save money.  The musicians want the same pay and to reduce the operating deficit raise ticket prices.   This dispute looks like it will take awhile and that really concerns me.

Head Slapper of the Week

As teachers in MN have their union-backed conference this week, giving students two free vacation days, let's see what the Socialist President of France, François Hollande, has proposed:

Socialist Hollande worries that privileged children benefit from parental assistance on take-home assignments and that disadvantaged children do not.

"An education program is, by definition, a societal program. Work should be done at school, rather than at home," Hollande said at La Sorbonne in Paris last week.

Although students will likely celebrate the axing of homework, they might lament Hollande's plan extend the school week from four days to 4 ½ days. Schools will dismiss children earlier than they already do most days and after lunchtime on the extra day, but the planned schedule is not without criticism.

So France's President has decided that despite high unemployment and economic malaise throughout Europe that banning homework was a burning issue.  Sometimes priorities appear to be mixed up for some folks.  Three and Half Head Slaps.

Head Slapper of the Week

For all those Andrew Zimmern fans, the following news will be of great disappointment and sadness.   A Florida man, Edward Archbold, passed away  on Friday after winning a cockroach eating contest.   The debate over the over-exposure to alternative protein sources can perhaps wait.  I'm not so sure that eating both cockroaches and super worms on the same evening would be beneficial to anyone's diet.

Here's the news story:

Hopefully no one's eating habits will need to be changed.  Two Head Slaps

What's up and Debate Thoughts

As you can guess from the frequency of my posts, I've been quite busy with work.  Work at Best Buy has been going at high intensity.  It seems like I'm working 10 plus hours many days.  But it is what it is.

I was also up in Duluth this past weekend to help out with my duties at the Golden Inn.  I learned a couple things while I was up there.  One, it's getting a bit nippy in Duluth these days.  Two, I probably should get up there more often to see my mother.  

Regarding that Presidential Debate over 60 million folks saw, I read and hear that Mitt Romney proved that he was well prepared for the debate in sharp contrast to the President.  I have to agree with that assessment.  I saw much of the debate and I have to say that the President's body language was terrible and his answers to the questions appeared cliches while Mitt's body language was quite energized and engaged.  

His answers, while eloquent, were certainly not stuff that would appeal to small government conservatives.  When did we think Republicans would cheer Romneycare as a triumph of bipartisanship and that they are fan of green energy too?  These are strange days in a strange election season.

Regarding the debate tomorrow, perhaps Rep. Paul Ryan can ask the VP about the following (which I do give Mitt credit for bringing up against the President):

  Who says the Road to Serfdom is not already here?

Head Slapper of the Week

In relation to Head Slappers, this week's winner is a physical accomplishment.   A 40 year old man in India created a record by smashing 18 coconuts on his head in 18 seconds.  Why?  To create a record of course.  See the feat via this link:

http://www.keyc.tv/story/19707176/man-breaks-record-by-breaking-coconuts?clienttype=printable&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7792300

Some folks may need to prioritize their time a bit differently.  Three Head Slaps.