For anyone interested in Americana here is a great new segment The Current is having Sunday mornings.  Bands like Son Volt, Ryan Adams, and Whiskeytown will be played, but more importantly relatively new Americana bands like Those Darlins will get some air time.  Check it out!

For anyone you hasn’t seen Food Inc. yet – rent it!  It really will change your outlook on food, where it comes from, and what you want to eat!  According to this movie a small few major food processors have pretty much taken over the industry and left nothing in their wake…specifically, the small farmer.  Most all of the beef that we eat is from mass produced cattle that are corn fed and pumped with soo many chemicals it’s amazing!  The chickens and pigs are about the same, but what really got me was the power that these huge corporations like Monsanto have.  And not only the power of production, but the legal influence they have…amazing.  It’s not a babbling documentary from some hippy living on a commune..it’s very educational and in my opinion well informed!

The cream has finally risen to the top of the The Rochester Boys fantasy football league!  With a convincing 129 to 94 victory this past week The Killers has taken over first place.  Though there are two other teams with the same record the significant point difference put The Killers alone at the top.

The second and third place teams of The Finger Painters and The Trollers respectively were auto-draft picked teams…can you say lucky?!  Not far back are two teams that will make a run for the title:  the impressive Winona Boys and The Farvins, but they have a tough schedules coming up.

A friend was checking out my phone this weekend and noticed the NPR application…he goes “youre a liberal arent you?!”.  I responded…”um no, why?”.  He said anyone who listens to public radio is a liberal…no real response was needed…just a look of bewilderment.  Anyway, he sent me an email that night with the bullets below.  Many valid points, not all of which I agree with.  Anyway…what do you think?  Anyone have a list arguing the opposite?

1. There isn’t a single government agency or division that runs efficiently; do we really want an organization that developed the U.S. Tax Code handling something as complex as health care?
2. “Free” health care isn’t really free since we must pay for it with taxes; expenses for health care would have to be paid for with higher taxes or spending cuts in other areas such as defense, education, etc.
3. Profit motives, competition, and individual ingenuity have always led to greater cost control and effectiveness.
4. Government-controlled health care would lead to a decrease in patient flexibility.
5. Patients aren’t likely to curb their drug costs and doctor visits if health care is free; thus, total costs will be several times what they are now.
6. Just because Americans are uninsured doesn’t mean they can’t receive health care; nonprofits and government-run hospitals provide services to those who don’t have insurance, and it is illegal to refuse emergency medical service because of a lack of insurance.
7. Government-mandated procedures will likely reduce doctor flexibility and lead to poor patient care.
8. Healthy people who take care of themselves will have to pay for the burden of those who smoke, are obese, etc.
9. A long, painful transition will have to take place involving lost insurance industry jobs, business closures, and new patient record creation.
10. Loss of private practice options and possible reduced pay may dissuade many would-be doctors from pursuing the profession.
11. Malpractice lawsuit costs, which are already sky-high, could further explode since universal care may expose the government to legal liability, and the possibility to sue someone with deep pockets usually invites more lawsuits.
12. Government is more likely to pass additional restrictions or increase taxes on smoking, fast food, etc., leading to a further loss of personal freedoms.
13. Patient confidentiality is likely to be compromised since centralized health information will likely be maintained by the government.
14. Health care equipment, drugs, and services may end up being rationed by the government. In other words, politics, lifestyle of patients, and philosophical differences of those in power, could determine who gets what.
15. Patients may be subjected to extremely long waits for treatment.
16. Like social security, any government benefit eventually is taken as a “right” by the public, meaning that it’s politically near impossible to remove or curtail it later on when costs get out of control.

Found an interesting list this morning while reading the morning “papers ” here on CNN.  It shows the top 10 most expensive colleges in the US and not surprisingly 9 of the 10 are on the east coast.  Four of them are in the state of New York while only one is in the midwest…Washington University in St Louis, MO.

The total cost at the most expensive school of them all is $55,788 at Sarah Lawrence in Bronxville, NY.  I’ve heard many great things about Sarah Lawrence – it has academic rigor, a wonderful history, celebrated alumni, etc.  But, can it really be worth that much money?  Can it be worth over $220,000 for an undergraduate education?  The short answer is no!

I  don’t doubt that students get excellent educations at Sarah Lawrence, or any of these top 10 most expensive schools, but I do doubt the value.  While most serious students definitely want to obtain the best education they can, in economic times like these they should also consider value in education.  I doubt students obtain that much better of an education at Columbia over say SUNY-Stony Brook?  In fact, it could be argued that there is more value in a lower cost public school education for most students…especially less serious ones.

I think in the end expensive schools thrive on the Chivas Regal effect…the more it costs the better it is.  When in reality they simply attract the best students.  That is, the smartest kids.  This in turn makes the professors look good, the school seem better, the classes tougher, and the endowment grow.  It’s all about the student, not the tuition.

The big game is finally here!  Brett Favre will return to the hallowed Lambeau Field as a Minnesota Viking…yea I know…makes a guy a little ill to even write it.  With several key injuries on both teams this game is up in the air.  I think the Packers have improved since their first meeting with the Vikes, but still have a problem with protection and could be without their left tackle Chad Clifton again.  Yea…remember Rodgers running for his life the entire game last time…well it’s probably going to happen again.

As for the Vikings, they have a couple tough weeks and lost their best defensive back Winfield a couple weeks ago.  If Rodgers has any time at all he should be able to exploit their defensive backfield.  The Packers will also need to control AP while controlling Favre…tall order!  I fear this game will mirror the last one with the Pack hanging on the entire game and the ultimate score looking closer than it really was.  My prediction…Vikings 34 Pack 20.

Just hoping AP gets 2 TDs, Jennings 1, and Donald Lee 1.  That could happen right?!

Here is a good read on Sarah Palin from Levi Johnston in the latest Vanity Fair magazine.

Someone needs to tell me what the problem is with the Presidential address to students across the country this week.  I really have no idea why anyone would be concerned or upset if their child watched a speech by the president.  I’ve watched the complete tape a couple times now and see nothing but positive reinforcement of education…maybe there is something I am missing.  As a parent what part of the speech would you not want your child to hear and why?

After a relaxing weekend up Northern MN…well really central MN…we decided to hit the road early Monday morning to miss traffic.  A five hour road trip felt more like two thanks to the programming of MPR.  We started out the trip listening to a re-broadcast of a health care debate hosted by Carrie Miller with a panel of nurses, physicians, hospitalists, and a well informed audience.  Quiet refreshing to hear from those that have no political interest in the debate.  We then heard from an English physicist regarding Einsteins E=mc² for about an hour.  He was explaining the formula and putting very high level physics into layman terms…very interesting!  Programs like these are why I listen to MPR and really should support their programming…maybe I’ll donate during their fall fund raising drive this year.

I was having a pleasant dinner last night with a group of people until politics came up.  The woman next to me said she was recently in DC and got to see several political figures:  Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, etc.  She explained why Sarah Palin is a fabulous candidate for president and that Ann Coulter was her hero.  At that point our conversation pretty much ended.  I can understand Coulter as an entertainer, but a hero…really?!  Here are some of Coulter’s quotes:

“If I’m going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I’ll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot.”  To see the entire interview in which she said this go here.

“I was going to have a few comments about John Edwards but you have to go into rehab if you use the word faggot.”  To see her making these statments and their context go here.

“We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity.”  The full context of this quote can be found here.

I get Ann Coulter, she’s clearly intelligent, well educated, successful, etc.  She entertains people with conservative values and says outloud what many people think.  Much of what she says is meant to make people laugh, which is why I consider her an entertainer.  But a hero, really?!