There’s been a bald eagle chillin’ like a villian at Lake Harriet and people can’t help but stop and stare.

I hear it’s been there everyday for the last week, go check it.

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I ran across this video around 9am yesterday morning and chose not to post it for two reasons.

1) I felt it would bring out the racial trolls and create a hostile environment.
2) There is a chance it could be staged.

That said, Citypages posted the video under the inflammatory title City Pages hosts video yanked by punks who assaulted bystanders

Which I guess in and of itself is fine, but the comments that followed spill into several racially charged uses of the “N” word and several threats of violence and gun talk.

I can understand not filtering comments to allow free speech, but all speech has a limit.

I have to admit, I was bothered by the comments to the point that I had a hard time falling asleep last night and almost got out of bed to write this post, but I thought that maybe Citypages would clean them up by morning.

So tell me, has Citypages crossed the line?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Delivering the news

While out for a morning bike ride I stopped and talked to this fellow biker who was delivering the paper.

He was a bit shy about having his pic taken “I can get off the bike. You don’t want a picture with an ugly old man in it” he offered which I rebuffed with “I don’t think you’re ugly, at all.”

We had a little chat about about biking: bike commuting, adult trikes, winter biking, tires and tire width and tire pressure and optimal tires for different conditions; turns out he bike commuted to work for twenty years.

Now in retirement he’s delivering the paper.

Sympatico.

Reflection

SOTC has NEMAA Fall Fine Arts Show and an interesting conversation about the light rail, Gentrification Via Light Rail.

Minnpost has a must read with the judges talking – Small-fee case explodes: Minnesota justices direct judicial anger at Pawlenty and Legislature

the most remarkable piece of the package is raucous, angry concurrence by Justice Paul Anderson. Anderson sides with Magnuson, which makes his the deciding vote in favor of the deal. The license fee is necessary for the maintenance of “a civilized society,” Anderson says. But the price he exacts for his vote is a fierce lecture about how government ought to function. He ratifies the deal, then denounces it as necessitated by the “unfortunate impasse” between Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the DFL Legislature. But “unfortunate impasse” is pale language compared to what happens when Anderson gets warmed up.

Seriously, read the entire article and the links.

Derusha has a great read on What is and what isn’t terrorism. Did you know there are 109 kinds?

Though, I don’t think cancelling interviews is one of the 109, nor is Friday the 13th, but Sanden of InTheLoop fame doesn’t need Friday the 13th or terrorism to feel the effects of a tough week.

Can we reschedule?

Well, it looks like today isn’t that unlucky for the IntheLoop’ers after all as they have a Joa Cao song going viral in Louisiana

What are you talking about?

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The city of Minneapolis has to cut $1.4 million from its snow removal fun this winter because of constant state aid to local governments.

They must reduce the number of fulltime plow from 134 drivers to 80 drivers. The other 54 will either be laid off or be put on reserve.

City officials say residence will not notice much of a difference.

So many questions, like how can cutting over a third of the cities snowplows not make much of a difference?

Is the city admitting something we’ve know all along, that the City of Minneapolis has long done a crappy job of plowing the streets?

Is this really a case of misplaced priorities?

And why does this get the Ghostbusters theme stuck in my head?
(Just replace ghost with snow)

What do you think?

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Image hands of a princess- autumn day in the park Uploaded on November 8, 2009 by cichlee {novella}

Amazing detail in tatoos. I love that even without much English, she understood I wanted a closeup of her hands. So beautiful to a midwest girl like me. I’ve lived abroad and had people talk at me in languages I didn’t understand. It was interesting to do this here.

The Minneapolis Police Department is looking for some fans.

That is, the department has just launched a Facebook page,following the lead of countless law enforcement agencies across the country.

These departments are scrambling, like many big institutions, to connect with people who are abandoning legacy communications media in favor of social networking sites.

“It’s just another way to reach out to people and capture the ones we’re missing — kids, college students,” said department spokesman Jesse Garcia.

You have to love the double entendre of “and capture the ones we’re missing — kids, college students”

A strib comment:

I can’t wait to see the updates

MPD . . . is tasing an non resisting thug
MPD . . . is settling a lawsuit
MPD . . . is getting sued again
MPD . . . just really kicked some butt
MPD . . . is shooting first and letting god sort them out

So instead I”ll point you to this little nugget over joy over at Roadguy: What’s up with 35E? Don’t ask your GPS

Learn to Drive the Speed Limit as Posted
I-35 E, it gave nagivite feed Trap, 40 m.p.h.. been he pale wills weat pating natience office, that was turn no trave, it of somethis quietus makes, 40 m.p.h. good perhaps insolence of discove, I-35 E had those bodkin? Who worst and point. It comments. oppressor’s could fard that unworst as it was West 7th Stop Light himself might himself might, and sweath, the nagiving afteritive, it giving nating cowards of action is a weary life, that than fly to bear thing commenterit of regardelay.
posted by qajariaq

It starts out wonderfully with a meaningful title, but by the end I couldn’t help wonder if it was a joke.

Now comment away you nating cowards.

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Mayor RT Rybak declared today Suicide Commandos Day.

I think this next item is really cool, Bob Collins and Mary Lucia have put their 5:15 segment online. I know with many folk Bob and Mary can inspire a love’em or hate’em situation, well you can put me in the love’em camp.
MPR News Cut: Fresh Eye on the Radio
Give it a listen.

*Update*Speaking of MPR,if you haven’t seen David Brauer’s, of Minnpost, piece on MPR Executive Pay check it out, especially the comments.

While Secrets of the City has art The Affair
AND
scandalOnline Protest Promotes Viewer Interaction

Citypages trys to help out Snoop, who was in town last night, with Advice for Snoop Dogg on getting high in the Twin Cities

My only advice to the Snoop Dogg would be don’t exhale, but I’ll bet he knows that already.

Since Crazy stays crazy

I’ll close it out with: Smart went crazy