Bob Owen |
So I can see myself think. News, politics, Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minneapolis... write to me: bob
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Friday, May 31, 2002
Posted
5/31/2002 02:53:00 PM
by Bob
Channel 4000/AP -- Army Lt. Greg Miller was awarded a Purple Heart after he was shot in the jaw in Afghanistan. Doctors wired his jaw shut to let it heal.
Posted
5/31/2002 02:18:00 PM
by Bob
WorldNetDaily -- Reports of people being injured in suicide bombings are not rare. Since September 2000, 498 Israelis have been killed and 4,021 injured in acts of Palestinian violence. In suicide bombings alone, 208 Israelis have died. On Monday, there were several reports on the suicide bomber who killed an 18-month-old baby girl and her grandmother and left 27 people injured. The reports, however, rarely go into the medical details to explain just what is meant by "injured." Thursday, May 30, 2002
Posted
5/30/2002 09:00:00 PM
by Bob
The leading candidates for a possible congressional relocation are Charlotte and Memphis, both of which have long sought a major organization to raise their national profile. San Francisco civic leaders have also lobbied hard, offering to finance a $4 billion Pac Bell Capitol Building using a combination of private corporate funds (40 percent), a county sales tax (35 percent), and a local cigarette tax (25 percent). Dallas, Seattle, and Toronto have also been mentioned as long shots.This would be funny if it didn't hit so close to home.
Posted
5/30/2002 08:58:00 PM
by Bob
Posted
5/30/2002 08:07:00 AM
by Bob
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Posted
5/29/2002 08:49:00 AM
by Bob
MODESTO, Calif. (AP) - Chandra Levy's family and 1,200 well-wishers honored the slain intern Tuesday with a memorial service recalling her as a bubbly, compassionate young woman eager to explore the world.Quite a turnout for someone who wouldn't be in the public spotlight (alive or dead) if she hadn't had an affair with her married boss.
Posted
5/29/2002 08:34:00 AM
by Bob
NY Times -- Brian Williams, who was officially designated yesterday to be the heir to Tom Brokaw as the NBC News anchor, acknowledges that friends he grew up with in Elmira, N.Y., and Middletown, N.J., found him "a little odd."Think back to when you were six years old. What was your idea of a news anchor? Here's mine: A celebrity who gets paid to sit in a chair at a desk for a few hours (at most) a day and read out loud. What kid wouldn't want that kind of job? Few question Mr. William's abilities to handle most of the duties required of an anchor — reading headlines, interviewing people in the news and dealing with breaking news with aplomb. But some critics have questioned whether he has that hard-to-define quality known as gravitas in large part because Mr. Williams, unlike the anchor triumvirate currently ensconced at NBC, ABC and CBS, does not have extensive in-the-field reporting experience.Nothing against Williams but that's about what I expect from someone who's wanted to be a news anchor since age six. Perhaps critics put way to much stock in what makes a good news anchor anyway.
Posted
5/29/2002 07:04:00 AM
by Bob
Sunday, May 26, 2002
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5/26/2002 10:11:00 AM
by Bob
Saturday, May 25, 2002
Posted
5/25/2002 01:04:00 PM
by Bob
DENVER (AP) - U.S. Olympic Committee president Sandra Baldwin resigned Friday, a day after she admitted lying about her academic credentials.
Posted
5/25/2002 10:26:00 AM
by Bob
pictures of that plane when it was in regular service an initial accident report with detailed plane information a database of Chinese airlines crashes a database with fleet information for China Airlines Friday, May 24, 2002
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5/24/2002 10:49:00 PM
by Bob
Posted
5/24/2002 09:52:00 AM
by Bob
Channel 4000 -- Standard & Poor downgraded Qwest's bond rating to junk status on Wednesday, saying that concerns about the economy, competition and management credibility prompted the move.Qwest Chief Executive Officer Joseph Nacchio "earned" $27.3 million last year. That's only six times what he got the year before. Qwest stock is at a two-year low.
Posted
5/24/2002 08:32:00 AM
by Bob
Pioneer Press -- WASHINGTON — Minneapolis FBI agents investigating terror suspect Zacarias Moussaoui last August were severely hampered by officials at FBI headquarters, who resisted seeking search warrants and admonished agents for seeking help from the CIA, according to a letter from the general counsel for the FBI's Minneapolis field office.Federal agents have been roundly criticized recently for not sharing intelligence information among various agencies. Here's an example where some FBI agents tried to do just that - they sought the CIA's help. Rather than showing the public that their local agents actually can play nicely with others, FBI leadership reproaches the local office. Oh my gosh, you're not supposed to go outside for help. Often, when something bad happens, people say, "Well, at least we can learn a lesson from this." But it looks like FBI leadership doesn't even want to salvage anything from this intelligence failure. Thursday, May 23, 2002
Posted
5/23/2002 08:39:00 AM
by Bob
But HOV proponents found an even juicier fight in Minnesota.I love using the HOV lane. I have a carpooler with me in the mornings and we fly down the highway with the greatest of ease. Am I reducing traffic congestion? Nope. My carpooler would be taking the bus if he wasn't riding with me. His car sits at home no matter how he gets to work. I'm more than happy to take advantage of the HOV lanes but I'll be one of the first to admit that they're a silly idea. Wednesday, May 22, 2002
Posted
5/22/2002 09:24:00 PM
by Bob
Posted
5/22/2002 11:00:00 AM
by Bob
Posted
5/22/2002 08:14:00 AM
by Bob
MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) - Another massive iceberg has broken off the Ross Ice Shelf, reducing the Antarctic formation to about the size it was in 1911 when explorer Robert Scott's team first mapped it, scientists said on Monday. (picture)The amazing part? That Reuters and the University of Wisconsin were able to report that global warming didn't cause the event. And what's this? The ice shelf has gone back down to the size it was in 1911. By definition then, the ice shelf had grown sometime after 1911. The calving at Ross ice shelf follows the collapse in March of the so-called Larsen B ice shelf in the Weddell Sea near Chile, also in Antarctica. That ice shelf was the size of a small European country.The Jeep, arguably the first SUV, was created just over a half-century ago. Maybe that explains it. Tuesday, May 21, 2002
Posted
5/21/2002 07:59:00 AM
by Bob
Monday, May 20, 2002
Posted
5/20/2002 01:01:00 PM
by Bob
Still a dealActually Dave, the cost of a first class stamp right now is 34 cents (it doesn't go to 37 cents until the end of June). So you could've sent six letters and had 15 cents left. Just enough to buy a clue.
Posted
5/20/2002 12:45:00 PM
by Bob
Sunday, May 19, 2002
Posted
5/19/2002 09:23:00 PM
by Bob
Saturday, May 18, 2002
Posted
5/18/2002 09:04:00 PM
by Bob
NY Times WASHINGTON, May 18 -- American intelligence agencies have intercepted a vague yet troubling series of communications among Al Qaeda operatives over the last few months indicating that the terrorist organization is trying to carry out an operation as big as or bigger than the Sept. 11 attacks, according to intelligence and law enforcement officials. Friday, May 17, 2002
Posted
5/17/2002 10:01:00 PM
by Bob
WASHINGTON (AP) - Hold the cheese!So sue Dominos. Or not. Because next week another study is going to point out the benefits of consuming large amounts of dairy products and grains. Actually, the worst aspect of this story has been the tiresome TV news coverage of it. Coming up at ten! Only on channel four. We'll go live to a pizza parlor and tell you why you might want to hold off on that second slice! Back to you, Diana. Thanks, Jim! I'm waiting with baited breath, because pizza is my favorite food. I wonder what could it be that we'll be warned about? Duh. We're fat, lazy Americans. What do you think it is? Someone's going to tell us we're... oh yeah, fat, lazy Americans. What were you waiting to hear? Osama has poisoned the mozzarella supply?
Posted
5/17/2002 06:29:00 PM
by Bob
AP -- SINGAPORE - Families who lost relatives in a 1997 plane crash that sparked suspicions of pilot suicide lost their final appeal in a lawsuit against the Singapore-based airline and have been ordered to pay its legal fees.
Posted
5/17/2002 07:27:00 AM
by Bob
Thursday, May 16, 2002
Posted
5/16/2002 12:58:00 PM
by Bob
[Rumsfeld] invited Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., and other critical legislators to discuss the long-range, quick-firing weapons system over breakfast today at the Pentagon, hours before Rumsfeld is due to take their questions at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.Here's what Youth Vote has posted for Dayton's biography: Mark Dayton has had a long career in public office, including one term as Minnesota's State Auditor, Commissioner of Energy and Economic Development. He worked for former Gov. Rudy Perpich and former Sen. Walter Mondale. Prior to entering public office, Dayton was a school teacher and administrator for a Boston social service agency. He was also active in the anti-Vietnam war movement.The words "Economic Development" jump out. There's nothing about any military background. Wouldn't it save a lot of time, effort and money if someone calculated the profit United Defense could likely realize from building the unwanted Crusader system and just cut a check for the company and its employees? Rumsfeld could then cancel the Crusader program and earmark the remaining money for something someone actually needs? United Defense gets its money, Dayton gets 800 votes and Rumsfeld gets Dayton out of his hair.
Posted
5/16/2002 10:37:00 AM
by Bob
Wired -- Cell phone earpiece pads and shields are "ineffective" in reducing the amount of radiation absorbed by the head, according to a recent study by British scientists.Here are two other clues that these devices are junk: They're sold in packages with a "As Seen on TV" logo on the package and they're hawked on cheesy television commercials at odd hours. Wednesday, May 15, 2002
Posted
5/15/2002 09:03:00 PM
by Bob
Posted
5/15/2002 12:42:00 PM
by Bob
Posted
5/15/2002 08:58:00 AM
by Bob
Channel 4000 -- FBI agents are looking for a white Kenworth semi-trailer out of Mexico that is carrying 96 barrels of sodium cyanide. It was hijacked on May 10 by four armed men along a route in Mexico near the Arizona border, WDIV-TV in Detroit reported. Investigators are concerned about the safety of officers coming into contact with the truck.
Posted
5/15/2002 06:52:00 AM
by Bob
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Posted
5/14/2002 08:04:00 PM
by Bob
Monday, May 13, 2002
Posted
5/13/2002 01:58:00 PM
by Bob
Channel 4000 -- A day after a published report said that St. John's priests who the abbey says are sequestered because of admission of, or accusation about, sexual abuse have been free to travel comes another report that 11 of those sequestered are being questioned in a pair of high profile murder and disappearance cases.The murder case is from 1974 when two sisters were killed and the disappearance case is from 1989.
Posted
5/13/2002 01:30:00 PM
by Bob
JERUSALEM - Israel sank a ship off the Gaza Strip that was carrying arms to the Palestinians, The Post has learned. Sunday, May 12, 2002
Posted
5/12/2002 07:55:00 PM
by Bob
Posted
5/12/2002 09:41:00 AM
by Bob
Recently, [Mike Renfroe, director of shuttle logistics planning for the United Space Alliance at the Kennedy Space CenterRenfroe] said, his team swept the Internet to find an obsolete circuit board used in testing the shuttle's master timing unit, which keeps the spaceships' computers in sync. None could be found. A promising lead turned false. Finally, a board was found. It cost $500.
Posted
5/12/2002 08:02:00 AM
by Bob
Saturday, May 11, 2002
Posted
5/11/2002 12:35:00 PM
by Bob
Posted
5/11/2002 09:01:00 AM
by Bob
WCCO/AP -- An animal rights organization wants Austin High School to stop using the nickname "Packers."PETA would also like people to stop "meeting" for lunch and wants companies to stop referring to investors as "stakeholders" because both words are disrespectful to animals. Sure, the spelling isn't the same but when a cow hears someone utter (oops, sorry) the word "meeting," visions of friends and family getting turned into items for the grocery store meat counter fill its head. And that hurts.
Posted
5/11/2002 08:58:00 AM
by Bob
Friday, May 10, 2002
Posted
5/10/2002 07:52:00 AM
by Bob
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) - Several helmeted Israeli policemen entered the Church of the Nativity on Friday, and emerged a few minutes later escorting 10 foreign activists holed up inside.The Pasletinians leave but then the activists won't. What in the world was their goal? Excitement? Thursday, May 09, 2002
Posted
5/09/2002 09:20:00 AM
by Bob
(WSJ) -- [I]n a move that gives new meaning to the term "autoeroticism," Playboy magazine will replace its June centerfold with a fold-out picture of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG's new Mini car, bumping the real Miss June to another section. BMW paid the equivalent of six ad pages to the Playboy Enterprises Inc. publication.Sheesh; it won't even be a sports car. Wednesday, May 08, 2002
Posted
5/08/2002 09:53:00 PM
by Bob
Posted
5/08/2002 02:08:00 PM
by Bob
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - In the wake of a deadly suicide bombing in Israel, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told Palestinians in a televised address Wednesday that he has ordered security services to prevent "terror attacks against Israeli civilians."Uh huh.
Posted
5/08/2002 10:40:00 AM
by Bob
OTTAWA (Reuters) -- It deals in billions of dollars each day but can Canada's central bank count?At least the Bank of Canada isn't bankrupt. Tuesday, May 07, 2002
Posted
5/07/2002 10:06:00 PM
by Bob
Posted
5/07/2002 09:06:00 PM
by Bob
Posted
5/07/2002 07:52:00 PM
by Bob
Posted
5/07/2002 04:12:00 PM
by Bob
(Click2Houston) BALTIMORE -- Nine Baltimore City Council members have joined a Council member's proposal to ban use of the six-letter "N" word, WBAL-TV reporter Barry Simms said.Words under consideration for future, proposed bans include ugly, yucky and gonorrhea.
Posted
5/07/2002 12:21:00 PM
by Bob
Monday, May 06, 2002
Posted
5/06/2002 12:48:00 PM
by Bob
Thousands of people have peered in on the National Zoo's PandaCam to see Tian Tian and Mei Xiang cavorting. They have surfed to the zoo Web site's ElephantCam to watch the most intimate moments between Shanti and the pachyderm's newborn calf. And they have tuned into the Naked Mole-Rat Cam to follow the subterranean rodent's tubular meanderings.
Posted
5/06/2002 11:05:00 AM
by Bob
Our greatest weapons in this war are blue-jeans and rock-and-roll. This war will not be won with guns and bombs, because the real battlefield is the minds of Arab youth.
Posted
5/06/2002 07:34:00 AM
by Bob
Posted
5/06/2002 07:00:00 AM
by Bob
Saturday, May 04, 2002
Posted
5/04/2002 03:23:00 PM
by Bob
Friday, May 03, 2002
Posted
5/03/2002 11:21:00 AM
by Bob
Facing life after college -- Graduation begs the question 'What's next?'You’ve had four or five years to work on this. I went to UW–Madison, too, and I read and heard plenty as an undergraduate about what would happen when I left the UW nest. As many of us confront graduation in two weeks, these questions that have been pushed away for so long stand immovable in our faces. In two weeks, we must do something. We no longer have the next semester to worry about – we have life to worry about.Don’t we all just abhor those folks who have their acts together? And then there's the rest of us – the majority of the college population. We've spent our college careers having fun, working summer jobs in the sun and generally postponing life. And now life is here, and I personally just wish I could stay in college – well, without the classes, but still in college.Didn’t you go to college to learn something and get a degree? (I did.) If it was all about fun and low-paying summer jobs in the sun, you should have tried a lifeguard job after high school. Then, after four years, you could still be a lifeguard and not be facing any nerve-wracking life changes. But I don't have that option any more. Yesterday I accepted a job. It's the corporate job many promise they'll never take. But it will be OK. It's just the first tentative step into "the real world."Oh dear, a corporate job. You poor thing. Please tell me they didn't have the audacity to offer benefits such as insurance, company matched 401k and paid vacation. I've changed my mind so many times over the past four years in college, and I know it'll never be made for good. I first went away to college as a music major – thinking I'd play the clarinet professionally for the rest of my life. After two years, when I embraced the fact that I'd much rather listen to the Goo Goo Dolls and play the guitar than make clarinet reeds and play Beethoven excerpts all day, I left music school.You’d rather listen to someone else’s music instead of make your own. I sense that you’re somewhat of a follower and not a leader. I can see where an “unpaved path” might be so scary for you after all. Transferring back home to UW-Madison was the best decision I've ever made. I chose to be an economics major, honestly, because I knew it would allow me to graduate on time. But over time, I've learned that I think like an economist, and every once in a while, I actually enjoy it.Nice to see you put so much thought into choosing your major. Too bad you didn’t hear about the “cleaning outhouses with a toothbrush program” because I hear you can finish that in only three years. I think most students actually enjoy college. No matter how much we complain, things are really pretty good. Because we have to choose a major, most people choose one that's relatively suited to them. And though we may try to convince ourselves that UW-Madison is the worst college ever because of its advising problems and tuition increases, it isn't much different from any other school. In fact, most of us would admit that we think it's better than most other universities. Why else would we be here?Well, in your case it appears you chose Madison because you were “transferring back home.” Madison has helped me, and everyone I know here, grow into adults. Though most still don't know what they want to do "when they grow up," I don't think we should. It's too boring that way. Life is exciting because of the possibilities, the opportunities and the uncertainty of it all.So you’ve grown into an adult but you still don’t know what to do. Live life for today, I say. Why worry about tomorrow. Now that’s exciting. I bet an unemployed homeless guy can tell you it’s simply a blast wondering where that next meal comes from. So after all of the work of college, and all of the anxiety of graduating, life is pretty good. We'll all miss college – these are the best years of our lives. But we'll move on and succeed in our own way and do what we can to be happy.If you think college is the best years of your life, why leave? Become a professor. Oops, can’t do that in just four years. Too bad your life goes downhill from graduation. Personally, my life gets better each year. I got married, have wonderful children, own my own home and earn more money each year. All are things I wanted. Sure, I’m working for a dreaded corporation that offers me security and great benefits for a job I really enjoy but somehow I still manage to get out of bed each morning to face each day of it (when I’m not using up some of my five weeks of paid vacation). (Kate B-P, the opinion editor of The Daily Cardinal, is graduating in two weeks with a degree in economics. She would like to thank her family and friends for their support and everyone at the Cardinal for an amazing senior year.)Good luck, Kate. Hope your family and friends thought it was all worth it.
Posted
5/03/2002 08:07:00 AM
by Bob
Posted
5/03/2002 07:27:00 AM
by Bob
Some Palestinian officials have said that hundreds of Palestinians were killed during the Israeli invasion of the camp -- which Israel denies.But the newspaper also included this good quote: Said Lt. Col. Olivier Rafowicz, an Israeli military spokesman: "It bears asking when a country is fighting a war against terror how is it that those who are engaged in fighting terrorists come under criticism, while the perpetrators of the terror are not subject to scrutiny."Instapundit has this answer: [D]on't you understand? Only Jews and Americans can commit war crimes nowadays. For everyone else, such acts are merely signs of understandable frustration.
Posted
5/03/2002 07:15:00 AM
by Bob
Thursday, May 02, 2002
Posted
5/02/2002 07:29:00 AM
by Bob
StarTribune -- A vetoproof majority of the House voted Wednesday to require broad new financial disclosure from Gov. Jesse Ventura and other state constitutional officers. But the legislators sidestepped an effort to apply the same rules to themselves.So disclosure is good enough for a governor but it's not necessary for legislators? This only works to Ventura's advantage. Entenza described Wednesday's 94-30 vote as "a strong statement that people are tired of conflicts of interest. It's a great first step to improve our disclosure laws. We're not saying the governor can't work outside. We're following the principle of let the voters be aware."What conflicts of interest? Appearing on the Letterman show must be a conflict because... Hold on, I'm thinking... Someone help me. Picture this: Letterman's people call Matt Entenza and ask him to be on the show. Does Entenza say, "No, thank you, I must stay home and represent my people" or does he ask if the plane ticket will be first class or coach. Years ago Governor Rudy Perpich disappeared for a few days and folks thought he was a little goofy. Ventura disappeared for a weekend to film a cameo part in a movie and the politicians were in an uproar. He abandoned us! The state was left without any leadership! He's making extra money! He's having fun! These are bad things! For those of you not familiar with Minnesota politics all you have to know is we have a legislature whose idea of legalizing fireworks means you can have sparklers and snakes but not firecrackers. Wednesday, May 01, 2002
Posted
5/01/2002 09:20:00 PM
by Bob
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The Minnesota National Guard will end its security duty at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport next week.
Posted
5/01/2002 09:40:00 AM
by Bob
Posted
5/01/2002 09:28:00 AM
by Bob
PARIS (AP) - Up to a million people demonstrated peacefully throughout France on Wednesday against extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, by far the largest turnout yet against the ultra-nationalist politician since he qualified for Sunday's presidential runoff.A world war in France? Does the whole world even care about France?
Posted
5/01/2002 08:05:00 AM
by Bob
Three prominent Jewish leaders are calling for a boycott of the New York Times over what they feel is biased coverage against Israel in the current Middle East crisis.
Posted
5/01/2002 07:41:00 AM
by Bob
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Members of a Wake Forest University fraternity were charged with animal cruelty and abandonment after a drunk, dehydrated and sunburned pig was found unconscious in a park.All their names should have been included in the story. They're "adults," aren't they? By the way, Anna Kournikova isn't in Penthouse.
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