Barnson.org

So we thought we had it bad: our baby, Joshua (I call him JJ, and we have talked about him before) was born a little under 10 lbs. Well, on May 20th, a baby was born in mexico weighing thirteen pounds. That’s a big baby.

Darn right he was born C-section…

Researchers have discovered a cause for infertility in the case of one german couple. You’d think it would be obvious…

Hey all..

I know I’m the Trek advocate on the site.. and I’m happy to say that despite the rumors that it is going away, Star Trek: Enterprise has been picked up by UPN.. moved to Fridays at 9 (the old XFiles timeslot), and given 24 more chances to win back viewers.

This season has been very very good television, and I’m glad to see it return.

Why you should never put your photo on the Internet. Boy, I’ve broken that rule all over.

EDIT by matthew: The individual hosting the page has apparently decided to restrict access to it. I’ll see if I saved off the pictures — they were pretty funny.

I rarely read forwards.. but I read this one.. and I thought it would be appropriate in this forum

Why are We Still There? Every day there are news reports about more deaths. Every night on TV there are photos of death and destruction. Why are we still there?

Their highways are unsafe, killing 100’s daily. Why are we still there? We occupied this land, which we had to take by force, but it causes us nothing but trouble. Why are we still there?

Many of our children go there and never come back. Why are we still there? Their government is unstable, and they have sloppy leadership. Why are we still there? Many of their people are uncivilized. Many do not speak English.Why are we still there?

The place is subject to natural disasters, which we are supposed to bail them out of. Why are we still there?There are more than 1000 religious sects, which we do not understand. Why are we still there? Their traditions, foods and fads are unfathomable to ordinary Americans. Why are we still there?

We can’t even secure the borders. Why are we still there? They are billions of dollars in debt and it will cost billions more to rebuild, which we can’t afford. Why are we still there?

It is becoming clear..WE MUST PULL OUT OF CALIFORNIA! Same for Massachusetts.

Paul Murphy has an article up at Murphy Maphia about the rise in esophageal cancer which corresponds to soft drink intake. As always, Murphy Maphia supports Drupal Distributed Authentication, so you can log in over there using “my_name@barnson.org” and your password here.

Ok, I rarely post anything here but I read it all the time. I wanted to put my two cents in about things going on this summer.

After being upset that the orignal concert was cancelled because I paid a fortune for tickets. David Bowie rescheduled it for last night. Let me tell you for a man that is 57 years old, he still has it.

I used to be a huge fan in high school but then stopped listening for one reason or another. So when I heard he was having a concert, I thought what the heck. I had an opportunity to purchase tickets BEFORE they went on sale. I paid alot for them and had floor seats. He canceled his orignial concert in December because he had the flu. Good thing, I think I had it the same time he did.

Stereophonics opened for him and they were pretty good. Sang for about 30 minutes and then the set had to be changed. By 8pm, David was on stage, the place was PACKED. He was incredible. He sang until 11:30 last night. I don’t think anyone who went will be able to talk today…everybody was screaming and dancing.

Just thought I would share how I am starting my summer….not too shabby I do say so myself!!!

Hey Matt, Thanks for returning my Big Azz pliers.

In 1999, when I was still in college, complete with a slow moving dial up internet connection, I spent a good five months playing “Lords of the Realm 2”.. a strategy game that was basically SimCity (Turn based resource management) meets Warcraft (Battlefield strategies).

Yesterday, I finally loaded up and started to play the game I’ve been looking forward to more than any other for 5 years. LORDS OF THE REALM 3.

Today, I am going to uninstall it and throw it away. The interface is awful, it runs badly, it is completely different, and well, it isn’t worthy of the name.

So, that being said, I may go out and pick up “Civilization”, which I have been told is a great strategy and resource management game… I’m not sure. If I do, I’m sure it will be fun, but it won’t be the same. I was looking forward to this since I first heard about it years ago.. I was hoping it would take up my summer (finally a summer with no school).

I feel kind of like when i saw “Batman and Robin”. I looked forward to that for a while too.. and what I got made me want to leave the theatre.

So.. if anyone’s reading.. 1) Any suggestions gamewise? 2) Anyone been terribly disappointed by follow ups? Games, Movies, CDs?

I went to my first major metro city council meeting yesterday. Overall, my impression was that, 1) these people are professional blowhards, and 2) nothing gets decided on in meetings. I could see where every agenda item had been previously discussed and the council session was a formality in which prepared statements were issued by concurring and dissenting votes.

Did I mention they were blowhards? Professional, salaried blowhards?

The purpose of this longwinded missive is to show my frustration over publicly elected officials voting their own interests rather than voting for what the voters ask.

The reason I attended the council session was to watch the introduction of a smoking ban in bars and restaurants get quickly referred to a committee. Did you think the council would actually openly discuss their views on the matter, unrehearsed, council member-to-council member, making a stand and possible decision on a sensitive subject that has no doubt been on their minds for some time. Do not be a fool. OF COURSE they aren’t going to outright state their opinion. Not with the members of the media there hawking for off-the-cuff statements to turn into a luscious front page story in which Minneapolis council members are painted as unsensitive public health slayers. No, instead, the council quietly usher the smoking ban to several committees, where it will no doubt be fattened with political stagnation and slaughtered before it can ever rise up for actual ratification.

Actually, there had been a good amount of press coverage regarding the issue. Last week, 6 of the 13 Minneapolis council members called a press conference introducing the ordinance to ban smoking. Media had been informed. Public had been teased. And the public responded. Apparently, all 13 council member offices were flooded with calls, the large majority of which asked for a smoking ban. Yes, actual voters called in. Asking for a ban.

How do I know this? Because I called each council member’s office. And their assistant gave me the council member’s stance on the issue. So, they all have a stance. The all have a position. But they won’t discuss it at the council meeting. Especially my council member who is against the ban because he thinks patrons will flee the city and go to surrounding areas that allow smoking.

www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/ward13

This dude is either thinking in a fat, Upper Midwest, whitebread bubble or is getting influenced by a local hospitality industry sweetened with supplier support dollars from Big Tobacco. But he is not alone. Other council members follow this link of thinking.

This reason is absurd. The hospitality industry wants them to believe this fallacy. Look around the country: where has a ban on smoking hurt a large city? NYC and Boston citizens aren’t running from the metro to other cities that offer smoking. There is no precedent or data that shows a ban to destroy the local economy. Patrons aren’t going to run from Minneapolis to St. Paul. In fact, more people will go out to Minneapolis nightclubs & restaurants and spend more money. People are waiting for this ban to become a reality. Remember? They all called in to say so?

Most importantly, recent medical studies show that the elimination of smoking in public places reduces heart risk in metro areas (ACC 2004). There is, however, no stastical evidence from the hospitality assocation that shows how a smoking ban depresses their revenues. A vote against a smoking ban demonstrates that my council member cares more for a dollar sign than the long-term health of citizens.

Plus, there’s been talk over the government’s role in restricting how businesses serve their customers. But who was skeptical when Minnesota became the first state to ban smoking in the private workplace? No one seemed skeptical when the government forced private airlines to ban smoking in their planes for health reasons. The government has also forced private hospitals to ban smoking in public areas for health reasons as well.

Here’s what I don’t get (my overall point): the majority of constituents are in favor of a ban. Is it not my council member’s representational duty to carry out the wishes of voters? Voters understand the issue and are aware that the long-term health effects outweigh any unfounded assertion of commercial loss.

Aren’t these council members supposed to listen to their voters and execute?

I can think of a couple strategies for attacking my council member, because direct face-to-face isn’t going to work. I tried this yesterday when I approached him at the council city meeting break. He said, “You and I just see differently on this issue.” He made this point clear when he voted against sending the issue into committee!

(Because I’ve been scolded before for issuing vulgarity on this site I will refrain from calling my council member a SMUG PRICK.)

My strategy is to create a loosely legitimate new neighborhood task force called the Linden Hills Against Smoking and to start calling around the papers detailing how my council member is for cancer and disease and heart failure and cancer while his constituents have asked him to ratify a ban.

Word up.

Get in Groove, Sammy G

EDIT by matthew: Linked.