I compared apples to apples and all I can say is, damn right it is!

I first want to say that Sioux Falls has an amazing park system. But is it all useful? We continue to build new parks when we are not using the current parks we have to capacity. Take Yankton Trail for instance. Rumor has it the city only allows the park for competition, not to be used as a practice facility. Why is that?

This summer I rode my bike to work almost every day on the bike trail. I found the trail to be well maintained and frequently used, I also found our parks are over manicured, watered, mowed, and maintained (what’s the point of mowing ½” of grass!?).

Why does the parks department and budget continue to grow at such a rapid rate, and what is the solution to slow it down a bit to an acceptable inflationary level? I suggest we stop building new parks for at least two years and do an extensive study on how much our parks are used by monitoring their usages throughout the week and seasons. If certain parks have little usage – we sell off the land. I also suggest we build smaller parks that are easier and less expensive to maintain. I also think we should reduce the size of some of our larger parks. One thing I observed this summer is that smaller parks are used more and are more populated. Not sure why? Maybe people feel safer?

I decided to look at another city similar to ours in climate, size and growth. Billings, Montana is two-thirds the size in population to Sioux Falls.

Sioux Falls maintains 4.8 times more parkland than Billings and even if you adjust for the population difference Sioux Falls still maintains 3.22 times more parkland than Billings. Sioux Falls budget is 9.78 times larger than Billings and 6.52 times larger when you adjust for population - Holy Shit! This is pretty amazing considering the similarities between Sioux Falls and Billings. If you go to Billings Parks and Recreation page you will see that they also offer as many activities as Sioux Falls. In Sioux Falls defense we charge visitors a tax to buy stuff here to help fund our parks. In Billings they are not so lucky, they only have a state income tax to work with. Not only does Billings maintain developed acres on such a small budget they also maintain over 2,000 acres of undeveloped parks but they also irrigate their parks like we do, from the river. When I spoke to one of the park’s directors about his operating budget, he said they were underfunded (well duh) but when I told him our budget, he was dumbfounded, as was I when I heard his budget.

What is the problem? My guess is Sioux Falls is paying too much for outside services and over-maintaining. It’s not like Billings is a couple bucks short of us on funding, they are millions and millions of dollars shorter than us. It tells me that Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation is in a constant state of overspending. We can have all the same things we have now, we just need to start shopping at the dollar store.

If this happens Dakota War College would not have commenters anymore.

http://www.feministing.com/

H/T - Comoprozaz

. . . even with Angry Guy in attendance

ROLL CALL:

Present: Angry Guy, Oliver Surden, Ghost of Dude, The Motherload, Johnny Roastbeef, Detroit Lewis

Absent: Eggbert (I think he was looking for turds in the woods last night)

Minutes; Approval of the last minutes was not done, because no one took minutes.

Topics; Beer, bar food and the fact that two conversations should not being going on at the same time at the same table (can’t remember who brought that up?) and Pastor(?) DooHickey’s crazy followers. A collection was taken to fill the jukebox with some music.

Adjournment; (Thanks for the ride hom GoD).

Sidenote; just so you know Warren, most of us walked to TJ’s.

Or maybe I’m a surly prick all the time, and it just boils over this time of year. I started writing this long tirade about how I hate everyone and I could give a fuck less about you or your problems, and I remembered that it was almost two years ago exactly that I was saying the same things… so I’ll just link it and get back to quietly hating you. Fuckin’ morons.

Wanbli WiWohkpe (James Starkey) has been making a series of videos. This is one of them. James makes and plays his own traditional flutes often out of found objects.

Commentary;

Wanbli WiWohkpe grew up on the streets of Rapid City, an illegal squatter town built in the Sacred Homeland of the Lakota Nation.
Growing up amidst what was commonly called “The Feud”, Wanbli WiWohkpe was caught between two worlds: the wasicu world of academia, where he excelled and blossomed, and the world of the reality around him, where he was looked down upon for who he and his Family were.
Wanbli WiWohkpe saw the utter disrespect afforded the Indigenous Male. He was told constantly in school to eschew his kin, and to grab hold of the American Dream.
Through a series of events, Wanbli WiWohkpe chose instead to follow his older brother, Warren Rich, and the two became very close, almost as if they melded into one person. He learned to be strong, to be swift, and to be loyal.
The Youths ultimately became entangled in the system of incarceration perpetuated by the Invader/Occupier. The Youths grew into Men, and the violence continued and escalated. Knowing something was amiss and unable to articulate what, these Men learned to lash out upon others of their kind. A tragic spiral of lateral violence continued unabated until they were all again incarcerated by the illegal squatter government.
Wanbli WiWohkpe went to prison for 1st Degree Manslaughter in 1986.
In the subsequent years, Wanbli WiWohkpe has seen those closest to him as a Youth perish. Most escaped their oppression via suicide. None lashed out at the Invader/Occupier in the terrible ways other oppressed Nations do. None went amongst the Invader and exploded. None took the Occupier with them to their death.
Instead, being from a beautiful People not familiar with domestication, a People not wishing to inflict damage upon their tormenters; not wishing anything from their tormenters but for the torment to cease, they imploded.
They imploded and they continue to implode. The Invasion/Occupation continues unchecked, and the Lakota Nation, especially the Lakota Male, remains pauperized.
Our Lives were stolen by the Occupier. Every thing the Invader has is stolen.
Every bite of food, every warm bed, every happy home, every scrap of power, every nuance of anything enjoyed by the Invader is taken directly from the Health of the Indigenous. The Invader’s prosperity is taken directly from the Hearth and Home of the Lakota Nation. A Hearth and Home now non-existent as the Lakota People wander their own Homeland as homeless.
As the fortunate give thanks for the blessings of God and their American Dream, the Lakota Nation, the less fortunate, continue to simply exist as pesky and useless vermin in the Occupier’s world.
Through Lakol Wicohan, the Friendly Lifeways of the Lakota Nation, Wanbli WiWohkpe began to see. He began to understand the difference between his Nation and the Occupier. He committed himself to Sundance and Vision Quest, and now after completing 4 years of Sundancing and a 4 day Vision Quest, Wanbli WiWohkpe has made a true Relative with the Siyotanka, the Ancient Lakota Flute.
Wanbli WiWohkpe believes the Siyotanka is part of Lakota Man Power, a component of our Being that has been kept from us. To label the Siyotanka as a “courting flute” and to play it as feebly as “Native American Flute” players do, keeps us emasculated as Indigenous Males.
Look around, most “Native American Flute” makers/players are not Indigenous, and those famed Indigenous flute players often play a non-Indigenously made flute.
The Invader/Occupier is literally chopping off a part of us, emasculating us; thereby rendering us impotent. Wanbli WiWohkpe has learned directly from the Winged and Four Legged just how to play the Siyotanka, how to regain Lakota Masculinity, and how to Heal.
OyateUnderground Productions: World Class Representin’.

Wanbli WiWohkpe, he emaciapelo

It seems now that the racist, bigoted, neo-cons couldn’t elect McCain (who is none of those things, BTW). They will do anything in their power to try to discredit Obama, including continuing to bring up crap that has been re-hashed 9 million times already.

It seems Obama tried to cover the fact that he never signed up for the Selective Service when he turned 18.

They continue to believe those BS emails they get about Obama, you know the ones followed with ‘You must send this email to 10 people or you will die - don’t break the chain.’ or ‘You have money from a crown prince in the country of Mawayopabblego.’

You should go visit the website this assclown mentions in his letter. It’s a really joy. It’s a crappy blog (like my site). I don’t think I would believe a blogger who refers to the next first lady as ‘Blackie O’ and gets her panties all gooey over Mickey Mouse.

Now all of sudden they are also concerned that the MSM isn’t doing their job, yet they never said a peep when Cheney and Bush were lying through their f’ing teeth about WMD’s.

I leave you to do some reading, and I implore you to do your duty to your community and forgo the mainstream media, which needs to start reporting the facts and the real truths about this man to area residents and their customers.

Please people, the election is over, Obama won. Go buy some tissues, its going to be a very long 16 years for you otherwise.

Comoprozac has been coming to my site quite often, so I snuck a peak at his blog on Sunday. Nice stuff.

 Now I have an excuse for buying the good stuff.

Graphic from Northern Brewer

We weren’t the only ones that had doubts about Palins ability to lead our nation.
Even the McSame camp had SERIOUS problems with her knowledge of current events, and even basic GEOGRAPHY.
Wow.