Across the Great Divide

Brodkorb Spins More Facts into Lies.

Is Michael Brodkorb, the avenging troll of the Party of Business and Capital, actually clueless about business and investment?  Or is he and the party deliberately presenting big untruths disguised by little facts? Which is it? Stupid or vile?

Let's give him a little credit and go for vile.

In one congratulatory post he says: "The Republican Party of Minnesota (MN GOP) just released a bombshell about Al Franken." 

The bombshell is, gasp, Al Franken invests in mutual funds like most other Americans who still have money left over after buying food, shelter, transportation and maybe health care. This is bad because Al Franken has criticized Sen. Norm Coleman for putting the interests of Exxon and Halliburton above working families. But Franken is a hypocrite because why?

"Franken’s mutual funds have extensive holdings in big oil companies, as well as firms such as Halliburton."

If I thought it was worth it, I'd dig up data on how few mutual funds do not include stocks of oil and oil services companies. If I thought Mr. Brodkorb and his GOP cohorts cared, I'd distinguish between doing the bidding of oil companies and investing in a fund that includes their stocks. Finally, I'd explain how an investor picks a mutual fund because of its investment style and objectives, which are supposed to remain constant, not the individual stocks in the portfolio, which change based on the judgment of the fund managers.

But see, I've lost you already with the facts and the reason, when all Brodkorb and Mark Drake have to do is say, look at all the oil companies Franken takes money from!

UPDATE: If you want to see the absolute futility of debunking these lies among the conservative set, you really must read the comments over at Brodkorb's post. Reader Hiram makes a concerted attempt to explain the fungibility of oil and the fact that proceeds of stock and mutual fund sales go to the owner of the investment, not to the company. Sigh.

Then when I point out the big lie, Michael can come here and comment and say, "My statements were factual."

For those of you who still care about the truth, tell me if these Franken investments are, as Brodkorb and the GOP characterize them, "awash in big oil."

Brodkorb/The Party of Capital says Franken's Calvert Large Cap Growth Fund invests in Chesapeake Energy Corp and EnCana Corp. This Calvert fund is actually a social responsibility fund that has 10.8% of its total portfolio in energy stocks, particularly those in renewable energy development.

It will not invest in companies that have poor environmental records, including significant compliance and waste management problems.

Here's the scorecard of the fund issued by Social Funds:

And here's another description:

If you're looking to invest in the big names, but still want to be environmentally friendly, the Calvert Large Cap Growth Fund (CLGAX) could be a good start. The fund screens for and invests in large cap stocks that have reputations for being conscious of the environment.

—Five Green Mutual Funds You Ought to Know

Calvert's top 10 holdings (see chart) include no oil stocks. You'll see this is a pattern that holds through the other investments cited by Michael "Ethics is Practically My Middle Name" Brodkorb.

American Funds Income Fund of America Class F invests in Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp, Marathon Oil Corp, Occidental Petroleum Corp, Royal Dutch Shell, Total SA, according to the GOP mouthpiece.  But  despite all those names, the percentage of the portfolio in oil, gas and consumable fuels is a mere 5%, half of which (click on the graphic) is Chevron.

What part of Large Cap don't you understand, Michael? The fund invests in big companies.

Then there's Thornburg Core Growth Fund Class A, which holds shares of that noted Capitol Hill powerhouse, ATP Oil & Gas Corp.

Actually, ATP Oil and Gas is kind of the junk man of the oil patch. It focuses on acquiring and drilling proven undeveloped reserves that the big oil companies have decided not to pursue.

ATP is not among the top ten holdings in the fund, which means it has to be less than about 3% of the portfolio. This is growth fund, by the way, which focuses on smaller companies that are in growing markets like, uh, oil.

Van Kampen Equity & Income Fund contains some recognizable names: Exxon Mobil Corp, Halliburton Co and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Again, absolutely stellar oppo research skills dredge up the damaging infomation in this portfolio, which contains a total of 8.41% invested in energy.

Again, none of those names appear in the largest equity holdings graphic for the fund. Meanwhile, our boy missed another oil services company in the portfolio, Schlumberger, which my ethics compel me to report, no matter how damaging this revelation may be to the Franken campaign!

And finally, there's FT Franklin Income A Fund , which contains Callon Petroleum Co, Canadian Oil Sands Trust, Chesapeake Energy Corp, Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton Co. and Royal Dutch Shell, according to our crack research team.

Canadian Oil Sands did make the top five holdings, with a whopping 1.8%, so you can just imagine how much those other companies must amount to, creating huge pressures on Franken to compromise his principles and vote for the interests of Canadian Oil Sands and ATP Oil and Gas.

Except, as Mr. Brodkorb has already established, Franken doesn't even pay attention to the details of his tax returns. Now, we're supposed to believe he's poring over his mutual fund prospectuses to find out who he  must to please next?

STAY TUNED FOR SHOCKING DISCLOSURE: LEFTY BLOGGER, TOOL OF BIG OIL, PLANS TO DEFEND FRANKEN!

Holiday Weekend Snips and Snipes.

Posting may be lighter and less fluent from here in the coming weeks, More like this...

*****

I noted the blog of Johnny Northside shortly after it launched. He's a grad student who bought a bargain/abandoned/abused property in North Minneapolis and has been very active in trying to help turn the neighborhood around. Naturally, I thought of him when I read this Star Tribune story about evictions at a problem building and figured he'd have a somewhat different point of view. He did.

Liberals (it's the system) and conservatives (it's criminals) alike could use a more nuanced and granular view of issues involved in Northside living. Johnny delivers, with stories like this.

*****

Mississippifarian metaphorically looks down an aisle of Wal-Mart, and doesn't see the same benign effect of cheap consumer goods that Steven "Freakanomics" Leavitt claims helps moderate the growing income gap between rich and poor.

*****

I keep hoping to see a Minneapolis cop riding one of those neeto-keeno T3 personal mobility vehicles that the Strib announced with a rewritten product datasheet. Jalopnik has the more appropriate
story, I think.

We've seen the T3 Motion before, and the law enforcement version may look cool in this video, but we assure you it's impossible to not look like a dork on one. So if you live in Minneapolis and are a police officer, prepare to look like a dork. Sure you'll be able to drive up to 25 MPH and run all day on just 11 cents of juice, tower over crowds, and get into tight spots a cruiser never could, but even bike cops will laugh at you. Plus it costs the city $10,000 so you're even going to out-nerd the Segway drivers.

If you want to be cool, fast and intimidating, bag the chariot and keep the horses.

*****

Charles R. Black Jr., the senior adviser to Republican John McCain whose work for foreign dictators has led Democrats to call for his ouster, is not the only lobbyist in the family volunteering on the senator from Arizona's presidential campaign.

His wife, Judy Black, is a national co-chair of the fundraising group "Women for McCain," and she has a vibrant lobbying practice that includes a foreign client and several companies with business before the Senate Commerce Committee, where McCain is a senior member.

— Washington Post

Judy Bergman Black was a high school classmate of mine. She and Charlie came to our 40th reunion last year. We didn't get a chance to talk, as they only attended the dinner and hung at the back while I announced a newly discovered set of class prophecies that had projected 40 years in the future.

Black, who was named Biggest Brown-noser by the Class of 1967, was "predicted" to hold the same honor in 2007. In some quarters, I guess that could also be interpreted as Most Likely to Succeed.

And, no, I wasn't forecast as Most Likely to be an Asshole.

*****

And the New York Times soothes my fevered brain.

When older people can no longer remember names at a cocktail party, they tend to think that their brainpower is declining. But a growing number of studies suggest that this assumption is often wrong.

Instead, the research finds, the aging brain is simply taking in more data and trying to sift through a clutter of information, often to its long-term benefit.

*****

Finally, here's a workout video for candidates who need to disavow knowledge of inconvenient associations with lobbyists and their clients.

 

The Only Good Opponent is a Dead Opponent.

Hillary Clinton already had the Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. endorsement, so her comments in Sioux Falls about an assassinated candidate were not pandering. In fact, she apologized:

"I'm honored to hold Senator Kennedy's seat in the United States Senate from the state of New York and have the highest regard for the entire Kennedy family."

Meanwhile, the Obama family can like it or lump it.

I'm Not Saying I Wouldn't.

Minnesota men's basketball coach Tubby Smith thinks college recruiting of middle school kids may be going too far. That doesn't mean he's ruling out getting into such commitments.

"I don't think I would," Smith said about signing a player who's too young to drive. "But I'm not saying I wouldn't, either."

Protecting their long term interests. Isn't that what the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) "coaches" are up to?

"The church has more than a century-long tradition of marrying young," said elder Brigham Barlow of the FLDS community located in rural Silt, Colorado. "The good ones of marrying age, around 14 or 15, tend to go quick. As time goes on, well, naturally, you start looking a little younger. The competition for wives does favor early identification of matrimonial talent."

That can mean signing ceremonies as early as third grade, said Garfield County deputy sheriff Bud Rulison. "It can be hard to know which ones are really gonna prove out after puberty hits, but I guess that's a chance they're willing to take, given they can recruit more than one wife. That way, one porks out or goes lesbian on you, you're not totally out of the money."

Outsiders underestimate the pressure in small communities to find suitable mates, said Barlow. "The supply of girls who want to marry a 50 year old truck driver with three other wives and live  in a rural commune is not infinite, yet there are a lot of us guys out there. We do our best to condition them for this life, but you know it's really best for all concerned if they get married before they get corrupted by the world. Once they learn women don't all wear long dresses and put their hair up in buns, well, there's hell to pay."

 

News Flash: Investigation is Biased Because Kersten Says So.

Katherine Kersten has a blog, which must be a great relief to her Star Tribune editors. That gives their columnist an outlet for her more thinly supported pieces, like this one in which she criticizes findings by a law firm hired by a legislative committee to investigate how MnDOT policies and decision-making processes might have been a contributing factor in the I-35W bridge collapse.

Are you curious about their previous experience with bridges or transportation issues? Among the legal eagles at the lawyers’ “presentation” yesterday, according to the Star Tribune, were Bob Stein, who describes himself as “a nationally recognized authority in the areas of estate planning, trusts, and decedents’ estates.” And of course Tom Johnson, a former Minneapolis City Council Member and Hennepin County Attorney who, among other things, describes himself as an “advisor to numerous political candidates.”

— "News flash: Law firm hired by DFL legislators to investigate bridge collapse finds DFL was right!," Katherine Kersten's Think Again

Of course, if you're curious and expect more than perfunctory and partisan perspective, Kersten is not the source you would rely upon.

Here she hauls out her "quotes" technique to give an impression of "impartial research" to her "investigation." But check the link to Bob Stein's bio. You will note it lists two areas of practice, including "Complex Investigations." Tom Johnson's bio, should you click on the link, lists his political advising under community involvement. One wonders which former public officials do not advise numerous political candidates and why leading a large county attorney's office would not be relevant to investigating a highly politicized state department.

The knock on these gentlemen, in Kersten's book, is that they were paid out of DFL-controlled legislative committee budgets, and they have not larded their resumes with mention of bridges and transportation issues.

Never mind that the investigation they led was not into the direct cause of the bridge collapse, but is into management and organizational systems that may have contributed to overlooking technical problems. Never mind that the leaders of this sort of investigation don't do the technical heavy lifting. And never mind that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation is starting from the other end of the telescope.

And never mind that the NTSB that Kersten seems to think should have the final word built its reputation investigating airplane and rail accidents, not bridge collapses.

Although, the NTSB is world renowned in airline investigations, the last bridge collapse they investigated was in 2004 in Oklahoma when a tugboat rammed a bridge support -- not much question as to cause. Prior to that, you have to go all the way back to 1990, in Pocomoke City, Maryland. So, "gold standard" might be a little exaggerated in this case; actually, the jury is still out on "medal" awards.

According to House Transportation Committee chair Rep. Jim Oberstar, "there is huge skepticism about the objectivity of the board in conducting this inquiry." 

Oberstar's criticism of the agency comes at a time when the NTSB is stretched thin. The highway division of the NTSB that is investigating the 35W bridge collapse is the smallest unit of the agency. The agency's overall budget hasn't been increased in several years, but Chairman Rosenker didn't ask for an increase in funding for next year.

Both Rosenker and his predecessor have been criticized for politicizing the agency. It's also been criticized for its lack of expertise in transportation.

None of the current NTSB members has a background in engineering. Chairman Rosenker is a long-time Republican loyalist, going back to service on Nixon's Committee to Re-Elect the President. His official bio neglects that detail but plays up his decades-old experience as a lobbyist for the "American Safety Belt Council, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, and the Safety Helmet Council of America. He later served as Director of Communications for the American Moped/Motorized Bicycle Association." whose safety expertise appears limited to lobbying for seat belt and helmet manufacturers. Dave Mindemann has more about politicization of the Board under President Bush.

Kersten also neglects to note that:

The day after the bridge collapse, Gov. Tim Pawlenty hired the firm of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE) to conduct a "parallel" investigation. This firm is now working hand-in-hand with the NTSB, under a contract administered by MnDOT. However, WJE is also under obligation to represent MnDOT in any litigation stemming from the collapse -- a clear conflict of interest that undermines the work of the NTSB.

The Office of the Legislative Auditor has also investigated the department and found it lacking. The non-partisan OLA findings helped push Molnau out the door as head of MnDOT.

Of course transportation funding and MnDOT itself are highly politicized; they simply became more so under Lt. Gov. Molnau's leadership and Pawlenty's approach to underfunding. And when all the reports are on the table, Minnesotans should have a pretty clear picture of the extent of the damage.

Advance News Flash: Kersten won't see it.

First Thing in the Morning, IT Style.

The chief operating officer of my former company had a theory. Many of the world's software and IT systems have been developed not because we're driven to innovate and be efficient but because IT guys are basically lazy.

For example, if they have to do something that might involve walking to another room, they'll invent a way to do it from their computer. As a side benefit, this allows them to continue gaming uninterrupted by their clients.

Generational differences may also enter in. Those seeking the IT support may be Boomers and the IT guys are likely to be from whatever Generation still has a letter left in the alphabet.

Case in point.

Woman arranges for one of the in-house IT guys to set up wireless access from her home to the company's virtual private network. It's her day off, and she has a lot of other things to do.

IT Guy: When should I come over?

Woman: I'd prefer first thing in the morning.

IT Guy: Okay. 10 o'clock?

Woman: I was thinking earlier, like between 8 and 9.

IT Guy: I'd like to avoid the traffic. How about 9:30?

On the appointed day, IT guy shows up at 5 minutes to 10. He was following his GPS, got turned around and ended up going the wrong way into downtown.

Still Life, Lost.

What are you doing?

I'm looking for a picture of a Disney Princess Purse.

Why are you doing that?

Because my camera battery was dead.

Be glad you don't live with a blogger.

Leaving a meeting, I made a pit stop before heading home, and there on the washroom counter was a pink plastic Princess Purse with a pink beaded strap. Naturally, seeing one of those when you enter a mens room, you proceed with caution.

Snow White. The Little Mermaid. Cinderella. But no little girl, and even better, no size ten oxfords showing under the stall.

Inside the purse, nothing but a single orange Cheeto with a small nibble from one end. Princesses, orange and pink in a bland, compact fluorescent-lit restroom, and my camera inoperable.

I couldn't find the exact purse or the exact Cheeto online, so there's no reconstructing the scene. But it was beautiful, mysterious and toxic all at once.

Believe me.

Al's Not That Funny Any More.

In a recent public appearance, our governor jokes about not getting any from his wife. In Playboy (do they still print that thing?), current Senate candidate Al Franken once joked about getting some from a fictional, virtual character — in the future.

Both were self-deprecating and neither was funny, of course. Pawlenty's comment was the offhand sort of nonsense guys in fishing camps have always exchanged. Franken's tall tale was tossed off for pay from a magazine that needs grey columns to keep all the naked women from bumping into each other.

The main difference in the response to the two is that Republicans badly need the senate contest to be  about something other than actual governing, Norm Coleman's record and the disaster of the Bush Administration.

Speaking of disaster, Franken can't change the fact he's been a comic all his life or that he was inattentive to the details of his tax returns. He's going to be nibbled at forever, no matter what. But Joe Loveland has some advice, complete with script, for the funny man: Shoot Straight.

Stupid Man Tricks.

The woman told police that the man, whom she didn't know, had often been outside her apartment and tried to get her attention by flashing his high beams into her living room window. She said she was once washing the window when she noticed Little standing near his car outside. She then left and returned to find a flower arrangement, a plant, a bottle of Windex and a sex toy outside her door. Little admitted that he left the "gifts" to win her over.

— "Breck coach expected in court today," Star Tribune

According to two years of lurking arrest records, blacks are eight times more likely to be cited for lurking than whites, and homeless people are 20 times more likely.

— "Lurking law under scrutiny," Star Tribune

Hockey coaches might be off the charts. They don't lurk, exactly; they just engage in inept mating rituals with strangers, players and children — boys and/or girls.