The stadium thing is interesting. The Exel Center has done wonders for downtown St. Paul and I think the city has a better shot at a Twins stadium than does Minneapolis, but there is an organized and vocal opposition to ANY public dollars for sports stadiums in the Cities, and as long as the school system is in such bad shape their argument looks good. I'd like to see a new stadium for lots of reasons, among them my desire to share outdoor baseball with my son. The thing that bothers me is that so many people associate civic pride to the quality of their pro teams and the buildings in which they play. Why can't people take pride in the quality of their local schools and the quality of the young people they help produce? Why do we have to tie our own sense of worth to a pro athelete who would leave town in a minute for a better contract?

IT'S GETTING CLOSE TO MY REUNION SO I AM GOING TO SLOWLY GIVE ANSWER'S TO MY IDENTITY. SINCE I GET TO START GOING TO TH ONCE A MONTH I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHO YOU GUYS AND GALS ARE AS WELL.

#1 = HAD LONG BROWN HAIR IN SCHOOL.

I'm dumbstruck...

I don't know who the hell you are, but you have me pegged. (My Dad's Dad was Kermit, but he did have a brother Tom)

I try to think who would know the Kordares and my "GrandFat," but I have no clues as to who you are...you have sucessfully freaked the hell outtuv me with the "Blast From the Past."

Is Two-Z really Sandy Nosen?

Captain, if you haven't already headed out to Lost Wages, have a great time, and don't loose too much.

As for identifying anyone in here, I'm just trying to keep it straight where everybody lives!

I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING. IF YOU GUYS FIGURE OUT WHO I AM, HOW AM I GONNA KNOW WHO YOU ARE? YOUR NOT GONNA TELL ME I'M SURE.

As far as a new THHS goes, I feel that the community is too old right now. The younger people want a new school, and kids my age from out of town won't move home without one either.

Tying back into what TWC was saying earlier, a lot of the nation's infrastructure was built by the WPA during the Great Depression. THHS is an example of this. Economy drives infrastructure, but kind of in a backwards way sometimes...did that make sense?

Two-Z is really Lon Church.

Nugget raised some interesting questions about athletes and notoriety a while back. Having dealt with this in my line of work, I can only guess that some of it deals with our culture's admiration of power, wealth and fame. Whether it's right or wrong, athletes have more of all three than anyone, except perhaps movie stars. And we place them on a pedestal, too.

I think Erwin could probably fund a wing of the new school with his pull tab money.

OK FINE, NO MORE CLUES ABOUT ME THEN. I WILL SAVE IT FOR WHEN I MEET SOME OF YOU IN TH.

P.S. i type in all caps alumni agate because i'm too lazy to hit the shift key. OTHER THAN THAT I DON'T MEAN ANYTHING BY IT.

HAVE FUN WEBMAN. I DO LOVE FLEA MARKETS AND ANTIQUES. I'VE BEEN HAVING FUN WITH ANTIQUES ON THE WEB.

I GET THE FEELING I'M TALKING TO MYSELF.

2Z, I'm waiting for you. You know you want me.

I told her that I felt quite differently about that issue. While I realize that the Civil War was not just about slavery, but also about economics and state's rights, etc., etc. Nonetheless, I am quite sure that the great majority of the African-American population of the South finds the rebel flag offensive. Much like the rest of the world views the swastika as a negative symbol.

So while I agree that the Confederate flag is indeed part of our heritage, I don't think that it is something to be exceptionally proud of, and I certainly don't think it should be flaunted when a large number of people find it offensive.

Growing up in pure white Two Harbors did not prepare me for dealing with issues of prejudice and race. My great-grandfather thought that a Swede marrying a Norwegian was an interracial marriage. I hope he was kidding. Funny, but kind of sad too.

The weird thing about the flag issue is that it is usually brought up by white people. The African-American population does not seem to weigh in until some white joker wants to build some special monument or introduces some legislation like changing the state flag. I think the white folks do this as a play for the black vote around election time. Did you notice how it was only an issue in North Carolina (or South Carolina?) when McCain and Dubya were scrapping during the primaries?

I agree with your assessment of the need to address other issues. I particularly agree with this statement that I nicely cut and pasted from your post. "the Jesse Jackson’s and Al Sharpton's of the world have made a business of race and continue to drag the rest of their community through the bad times over and over for their own personal gain."

You remarked about the 300 deaths in Philadelphia, but you know, I work in Little Rock, which has a much smaller population that Philly, and there are usually around 100 murders annually in Little Rock. Every New Year's day the statewide paper prints the pictures and a short story about every murder during the past year. It is very sad to see that 90-95% are black.

I remember when I lived in Texas and people would talk about seceding from the U.S. and having Texas be a separate country again. That and the famous, "The South Shall Rise Again" slogan. That sort of thing always really pissed me off. The people that said that and/or had bumper stickers with the various slogans were invariably ignorant morons. All they seemed to remember from their limited education was that Texas was once an independent nation, and that there was some sort of war between the North and South. I liked to ask them if they knew who the president of Texas was, or if they knew who fought at the Alamo, when was the Alamo, or when was that darn war between the North and South, and who might the respective presidents have been. You guessed it ... none of the ignorant had a clue. That always made them angrier. I must say that I always had a clear path towards the door. I didn't really want them to hang me as some sort of Yankee spy.

Nugget you are absolutely right on with your ignorance is bliss remark. The world must indeed be full of happy people.

http://www.beer.com

Most corporations have their own flag, why should BNTNG be any differant. Maybe one of the beauties shown at the www.beer link. Any other suggestions? We also need a cause to give money to for the tax break. The school next door could be an answer to this.

Interesting discussion in here about flags and what they represent. I'm not sure I completely agree that it's a non-issue. Certainly, racism exsists on several levels, and perhaps attacking it in the economic/political sphere is more important. But racism begins with thought, with a mind-set, and to millions a flag with the Stars and Bars is no different that shouting "Nigger" from a rooftop. Only when the mind-set is changed will this country move past the viciousness in its past. And one way to move past this is to let go of its symbols. Hence, the Confederate flag should be gone - now. And forever.

I find myself dealing with another problem. I'm running alongside the Twins bandwagon, getting ready to jump on. The thing is, they have some big series coming up against Boston, the Yanks, etc. But I'm getting psyched, knowing full well the bandwagon could be in the ditch by May.

And how about that Viking draft? Mr. Bennett could be a good back, but I'm now convinced the men in Purple will have to score 84 points each game to win. Any thoughts?

And one more thing. Visiting Kauffman Stadium in KC brought home once again how much fun baseball can be in the right environment. Maybe Carl Pohlad will win the Lottery and donate the proceeds to a new stadium in the Cities. Then again, maybe not.

I KNOW, WE HAVE A RIGHT.

THIS WEATHER SUCKS. CUT DOWN A BUNCH OF TREES SATURDAY IN THE COLD WIND. IS IT GONNA GO FROM WINTER TO SUMMER?

DOES ANYBODY ELSE FIND IT OFFENSIVE THAT I WRITE IN ALL CAPS?

UH OH. ANOTHER ISSUE. SORRY.

That's right. Television coverage.

Never mind all of those piddly details, such as how do you get a satellite uplink near Indian Lake. No problem. We think that the Magic Bus could be properly outfitted with the proper, state-of-the art equipement in no time at all. As for cost, no problem. We'll just borrow against the millions that BNTNG will bring in, assuming that it gets built of course.

Now, we think that a top-notch TV journalist is a must to anchor the 24/7 coverage. Among the names tossed into the outhouse have been Robin Leach, Geraldo Rivera and Jerry Springer. If Springer gets the job, the neo-Nazis skinheads who have slept with their younger cousin's mother's 12-year-old daughter will be optional.

We await your thoughts, fellow Arbleys