Minnesota

"I gotta get outta this country, Bruce!  The sunshine, the great surfing, the hot Sheilas — it's all too perfect!"

"Bloody oath, Bruce!  What's the plan, then?"

A photo from Life Magazine of Southdale Shopping Center in Edina, Minnesota after its opening in 1956.

StateStats is hours of fun. It tracks the popularity of Google searches per state and then correlates the results to a variety of metrics. For instance:

Mittens - big in Vermont, Maine, and Minnesota, moderate positive correlation with life expectancy, and moderate negative correlation with violent crime. (Difficult to commit crimes while wearing mittens?)

The ballots are being recounted in the Senate race in Minnesota between Norm Coleman and Al Franken because the initial tally was almost too close to call. MPR has a look at some of the ballots that are being challenged...it's amazing how many weird ways people can mark a ballot that uses a simple fill-in-the-circle design.

(link)

Obama is considering Rep. Jim Ramstad (R, Minnesota) as head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. This is unfortunate because Ramstad (a recovering addict) opposes medical marijuana.

"It’s gratifying to hear Jim’s name being mentioned for drug czar," said Ramstad spokesman Dean Peterson. "Jim has worked in a bipartisan way for 27 years on anti-drug efforts in Congress and the Minnesota Senate.

The Republicans tried to make fun of Barack Obama as a community organizer at their national convention in Minnesota, which I guess just goes to show how little Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have to fear from right-wing "humor."

Now they've gone further: Now they're attacking ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), one of the strongest, hardest-working, most dedicated community organizations in both Chicago and in 40 states across the U.S.

Last week, the U.S. Senate passed a bill, the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act, that President Bush says he'll sign [though the margin of yeas to nays - 74 to 24 including yeas from both Illinois Senators Obama and Durbin - made the bill veto-proof] that will send $13.1 billion in funding to Amtrak over the next five years.

Heal Emru sez,

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Headline of the week from the Associated Press: Everything seemingly is spinning out of control. (You see how they took the edge off with the "seemingly"? The sky is falling! Maybe!)