I’m getting excited about the legislative session in 2011. A new administration will be fun to watch. Also all the new libs and neo-cons coming in should be fun. Two people to watch will be Angie Buhl and Dusty Johnson.

“If you don’t like my opinion, tough shit.”

This letter to the editor really hit home. There is only a few journalists I trust at the newspaper to get it right and even then you are walking a tight rope, because even if they get it right, the editor may twist the story to sway public opinion. And I have seen this a lot at the Argus Endorser ever since Mr. Beck took the helm;

I would think before publishing an article on a business, you would contact the business owners to get correct information to produce the true story.

I am the owner of Baltic Corner. I never was contacted for the Dec. 26 article Argus Leader reporter Peter Harriman wrote about the smoking ban, which included false information about my business.

In defense of Mr. Harriman, like I said above, he may not have had editorial control. This story may be a case of letting out the boogie man about the smoking ban. There is no boogie man, it’s a good thing for the state and the increased revenue at bar/restaurants will offset revenue lost in dive bars and VL casinos. We have nothing to worry about, but let’s stir the pot anyway;

It was appalling to receive phone calls Sunday morning about your article falsely representing our establishment and our views.

I also have experience with this. I had a quote once that was the exact opposite of what I had said, even though it was verified on phone and email. Gee, wonder how that happened? Incompetence? Doubtful. The AL needs to realize they cannot constantly change public opinion. If people want snow gates and say they work, report it. If bar owners like the smoking ban, report it. The editorial board and it’s editors need to stop twisting stories that influence public opinion. Seriously. Nobody fucking cares about your opinion. Really we don’t. Report the news, as is.

This is well worth watching. I am not all the way through all the videos yet, but I will say this about what I have seen so far; while most think that religion delivers us from evil and saves our souls, one has to question the evil leading some of these religions? IMO, religion is a double edged sword, on one side it can bring peace, love, humanity and charity, on the other hand it can bring abuse, war, and death. And no religion is without guilt. All of them have killed in the name of their God.

I’m at peace with being a deist. Remember, Man created religion, not God. Something to think about in the New Year.

“Sorry, ran out of money, your street won’t get plowed.”

Am I the only one that thinks this Stormland TV News story is completely pointless? I don’t know how stories like this get past producers? Don’t get me wrong, this probably isn’t the worst story, but it seems anytime they let Katie out of the studio to do something on her own, she has some silly story, about an issue that does not exist;

SIOUX FALLS, SD – The storm has the potential to put the city of Sioux Falls’ snow removal budget over the top. There’s a magic snowfall amount the city is hoping for to keep the finances in order, going into 2011. There’s only enough money left in the budget to cover 11 inches of snow.

What bothers me even more is that public officials would even respond. While I probably don’t hold the highest regard for Mark and Mike, I would at least think they would be smart enough to say,

“Who really cares? Taxes pay for snow removal, they will be cleaned. Doesn’t matter what flipping year it is.”

Cotter says this storm could be interesting, depending on when the snow falls. If it continues through Friday night, some of the removal costs could be billed to next year’s budget.

“There may be a split on this storm if some of it’s in 2010 and some may be in 2011,” said Cotter.

Some of it? How about ALL OF IT! It’s a freaking holiday, who cares when it is billed? Do the contracted snowplows have taxi meters that expect payment in real time? Or better yet, take the money from the Events-Center-Monkey-Crapper-Junior-Football-Ski-Bunny-Hill fund.