The Perfect Total Eclipse of the Sun of June 1956…….A Spectacle to Write About

When I am utterly depressed or exhausted about the current affairs of U.S. politics, I usually seek true crime tv, or something science if I watch any television at all.   

There are, at least not yet, zero lefty political persuasion drones sending  Obamatongue  throughout  true crime television.    The crimes are well described as they are…..horrible and most caused by the human male.  Blacks don’t come out so good either.

Some of the reenactments can be bloody and depressing,  but that goes with the territory.    My favorite true crime series is ‘I Survived’.     I crave heroism.    There is so little of it  in non-military American life, especially in  politics, so I turn to real  social victims who survive   for inspiration.

Science is often presented on the History Channel.   Politics from your local university antiAmerican lefties seeps or swarms into many but not all scripts and commentaries titled, ‘history’.   To encourage higher ratings, the history channels thrive on presenting make-believe disasters with spectacular mockups to attack white man’s inventions and successes.   Man’s accomplishments must be made to seem equal or dangerous to human nature.

 New York City is prime video showtime example to stack ratings.     As the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings come tumbling down from lefty show and tell about global warming, the viewer becomes quickly convinced that life would be so much better if skyscrapers had  never been built in the first place, and we humans should  never have graduated from the  loincloth tribes  of eternally BC  central African pygmies or Amazon headhunters.   

The world would have become a better place without WHITE man.

Early this evening, I found  “the Universe” on the history 2 channel.   It had just begun its lessons about the total eclipse of the Sun.  

 To catch viewer interest it displayed a spectacular view of the full eclipse with all its beauty and mystery.   Immediately I remembered the one  I had actually seen  in my life…..a real one……in 1956.   

 I had to drive about ten miles  from home for the best view one could ever get, and it was free.     I had convinced my girl friend and two other   couples that the solar eclipse  might be worth seeing.  It wasn’t an easy sell.

   The narrator mentioned that almost no humans outside the specialized scientific community has ever actually  seen a  TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN.

Suddenly I felt very important…..special.   Being a guy I perked up.    I was suddenly statistically unique among  earthly creatures who speak.  

For I did  see that   TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN, from an hour before to about one after and everything inbetween.   I hadn’t thought about it for decades!   I remember referring to it one time  when I was a public school teacher in the  1960s describing it as a sight for a lifetime  that I would never forget as long as I lived.

But, I did forget……until the moment watching ‘the Universe’.

I report the following  to you Prager friends from  memory.   Many of you Twin City readers well  above  retirement age might also have joined the curious  that Saturday morning   early June, 1956 to see, for real, one of the most memorable and rarest of  our environment’s  great shows.   

There were three couples of us who set out early that Saturday morning  to hunt down a location for the best view.   Experts had warned  viewers  NOT to look at  the Sun with  the naked eye or with a pair of sun glasses even at the height of the show, the full eclipse.

I don’t remember there being a lot of hype about the event in the press.   Television had been around in the Twin Cities for only about eight years.  I had taken an astronomy class at the University of Minnesota.  I  knew  it was a very rare occasion when  a total solar eclipse  crossed over   a large metropolitan center.    The press did get excited  when they learned of this honor.  

I did too.   As I recall, but fuzzily, I and my two buddies were graduating from the University that evening.    The eclipse was scheduled  for something like 5:30 AM.   There was some static about the timing being too early for us to stir.   Our girl friends wanted to go with us to see it…..and so, we, all of us decided to  go together  to  the  big SHOW.

It was reported there might be a problem with the weather.   The forecast was for partly cloudy  in the morning clearing toward noon , the time the moon was to disturb the sun’s rays from our points of view.

Clouds would have ruined  everything.

In 1956 no one had any money.   I owned a 1946 used and beaten Nash  Ambassador; friend Jake Jacobson a more reliable and newer, 1952 Plymouth.   He had bought it new.    His dad owned a Deep Rock service station where Jake could work.   I remember discussions about what equipment  we might need  to look at the Sun with or without the moon in front of it.    Who was in it in Greek mythology who was blinded by looking straight into the Sun?   Icarus, I knew ‘flew’ too close to the Sun and persihed when his wings melted.

No one remembered.   

The newspapers recommended camera  film.    My  family’s camera was a 1929 Kodak.   Leftovers from  printed rolls were always returned with the prints after processing.   I taped a couple of these film pieces into my dad’s sunglasses fixing them neatly into the rims.   

We  drove to a hilly undeveloped  area, south of St. Paul, across the Mendota Bridge near Acacia Cenetery.    We climbed up a large  grassy knoll and waited.   We had arrived early…..early enough to start  grumbling about how tired we all were and what in hell were we doing on this weedy hill looking eastward down into a valley as if worshipping  downtown St. Paul in the distance?   We, in time,  decided it was a rather attractive  setting ….We waited and waited some more.

“This better be  big!”…….the  threat appeared out of more than one set of lips.    I think it came from my own mouth as well, even though I was the butt of the charge.

The day was beautiful……absolutely perfect.   Not a cloud in the sky.   Clear, clear as clear could  be…..a fresh 70 degrees F.   Not a breeze.   Our voices could carry everywhere.    We felt great. 

 We were the only flock nesting on the hill.

Suddenly we got tense:  “Does anyone  see anything?”   “Isn’t it    time for “it”  to begin!”   “Look again!”….(through film with  sunglasses)….”Yes, yes…look, up there to  the left!”  ”Yeah, what’s going on over on the left?”  “It’s starting!”

The moon had made its move to begin the  show as if drawing  a spectacular curtain.   We were excited, for sure, very excited.   There was an electricity all around us as well.   “Can you imagine what primitive man must have thought looking at an eclipse?  someone asked…maybe it was me.   “What do you think WE  are?’   Jake inquired.

All of us were enjoying ourselves.   It seemed like a fun party….without beer,  and at 6:00 AM on a Saturday. Who could have believed it?

More and more of the moon encroached upon the Great Light   behind it.   A breeze began and immediately dogs started howling and birds fluttered noisily.  Trees began to stir and bend.   And then, a  dark shadow exploded noiseless  in the distance suddenly covering downtown St. Paul and rolled speeding   toward us as if to attack bringing a cold wind with it.   It enveloped   us, and then  passed   by as quickly as it arrived,  leaving  darkness in its path as if  night itself were about to fall.

Then   total silence……including  silent humans in awe of the sight and feel.   For eight or nine minutes the circlish fire of the Sun ringed the circle of the black  Moon.   We were mesmerized, awed,  and thrilled all at the same time.

The ‘Universe’ program narrator said that a total eclipse of the sun can be seen from Earth  about once every sixteen months.  

Despite lefty dogma and its  entitlements, we all should know that the vast majority of the Earth’s surface  is covered by water.    Most of the land above sea level is generally uninhabitable to the human animal.    Those worried about carbon dioxide, the UN  ’pollutant’ no animal or vegetable  can live without, should know that the state of Texas could house all seven billion of us human creatures.

For more than a generation, American ‘educators’ have permitted the ignorant to lead the ignorant.   Know-nothing students could invent their own educational needs, about which they also  knew nothing.    Leftwing dogma filled with Marxism’s entitlements and bigotries replaced knowledge as the base of study  in the social science curricula of universities and schools from coast to coast.   

None  of us were alcoholics.   No one was  on drugs…..We didn’t swear at each other.   Crime  was never a problem on college campuses.   Girls were female.  Guys were male.   Tails didn’t wag dogs.   Families mattered.    Young blacks had  fathers and didn’t run around raping, pillaging and burning in their communities.   

We enjoyed school and learning.    We worked to pay for our tuition and books.  We knew what a total eclipse of the sun was.   We studied to gain knowledge, not to become bigots learning to hate our America.

I have recorded my  thoughts,  and the fond memories I have of that June 1956 total eclipse of the sun.    I  include the following quote by historian, Arnold  Toynbee:

“Great civilizations aren’t murdered.    They commit suicide!”

The Up-to-date State of the Euro, by Steven Hayward at Powerline

Eurocrash Update #3;  Radek’s Warning     by Steven Hayward    at PowerLine

A review of the European Financial System on the Edge of its Collapse and the call by Poland’s foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, for Germany to exert more leadership in conducting Euro business.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/12/eurocrash-update-3-radeks-warning.php

Kathleen Parker’s defense of Mitt…..the only guy who could beat Obama

 

ANYONE BUT THE GUY WHO COULD WIN,   by Kathleen Parker    at the Sacramento Bee:

A defense of Mitt Romney critical of the opponent’s gossip he is not messy enough and not conservative enough.

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/13/4118180/kathleen-parker-anyone-but-the.html

The Exploding ObamaGovernment is a Threat to Liberty and Constitutional Law!

In U.S., Fear of Big Government at Near-Record Level

Democrats lead increase in concerns about big government

by Elizabeth Mendes   from Gallup:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans’ concerns about the threat of big government continue to dwarf those about big business and big labor, and by an even larger margin now than in March 2009. The 64% of Americans who say big government will be the biggest threat to the country is just one percentage point shy of the record high, while the 26% who say big business is down from the 32% recorded during the recession. Relatively few name big labor as the greatest threat.

Historically, Americans have always been more concerned about big government than big business or big labor in response to this trend question dating back to 1965. Concerns about big business surged to a high of 38% in 2002, after the large-scale accounting scandals at Enron and WorldCom. An all-time-high 65% of Americans named big government as the greatest threat in 1999 and 2000. Worries about big labor have declined significantly over the years, from a high of 29% in 1965 to the 8% to 11% range over the past decade and a half.

Democrats Lead Increase in Concern About Big Government

Almost half of Democrats now say big government is the biggest threat to the nation, more than say so about big business, and far more than were concerned about big government in March 2009. The 32% of Democrats concerned about big government at that time — shortly after President Obama took office — was down significantly from a reading in 2006, when George W. Bush was president.

By contrast, 82% of Republicans and 64% of independents today view big government as the biggest threat, slightly higher percentages than Gallup found in 2009.

Lower percentages of Democrats, Republicans, and independents are now concerned about big business than was the case in 2009.

Bottom Line

Americans’ concerns about the threat of big government are near record-high levels. The Occupy Wall Street movement, focused on “fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations,” has drawn much attention and a large following. Still, the majority of Americans do not view big business as the greatest threat to the country when asked to choose among big business, big government, and big labor. In fact, Americans’ concerns about big business have declined significantly since 2009.

Additionally, while Occupy Wall Street isn’t necessarily affiliated with a particular party, its anti-big business message may not be resonating with majorities in any party. Republicans, independents, and now close to half of Democrats are more concerned about the threat of big government than that coming from big business.

Survey MethodsResults for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Nov. 28-Dec. 1, 2011, with a random sample of 1,012 adults, aged 18 and older, living in the continental U.S., selected using random-digit-dial sampling.For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.

Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones, with interviews conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking. Each sample includes a minimum quota of 400 cell phone respondents and 600 landline respondents per 1,000 national adults, with additional minimum quotas among landline respondents by region. Landline telephone numbers are chosen at random among listed telephone numbers. Cell phone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday.

Samples are weighted by gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, adults in the household, and phone status (cell phone only/landline only/both, cell phone mostly, and having an unlisted landline number). Demographic weighting targets are based on the March 2010 Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older non-institutionalized population living in U.S. telephone households. All reported margins of sampling error include the computed design effects for weighting and sample design.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

View methodology, full question results, and trend data.

For more details on Gallup’s polling methodology, visit www.gallup.com.

Dennis Prager: The Battle Between Good and Evil as Maneuvered by the Left

Adultery, Character and Politics: My Responses

by Dennis Prager    at Dennis Prager.com

“Because the issue is so important, I have decided to respond to critics of my last column on adultery, politics and character.

As any reader of my columns or books knows, I am a religious conservative, and my primary concern is morality. By morality, I mean issues of good and evil. I am also concerned with the issue of sin, but sin and evil are not identical. All evil is sin, but not all sins are evil. For example, religious people regard saying the word ‘God’ for no religious purpose (“taking God’s name in vain”) as sinful. But to regard saying, for example, “God damn it, I stubbed my toe,” as evil is to trivialize evil.

Above all, I seek to clarify moral issues. It is everyone’s duty, religious or secular, to strive for moral clarity.

That is what I tried to do in my last column in examining two questions: Does adultery disqualify a presidential candidate? What does adultery tell us about a person?

To the first question, my answer was: sometimes, but not usually. And to the second question, I responded that, in general, issues related to others’ marriages, divorces, and infidelities are too complex an arena for outsiders to draw immediate conclusions about a person.

Most readers who commented on websites or who wrote to me directly agreed with me, but a significant percentage did not. And some of them attributed a host of motives to my writing on this issue — from personal to political. But the fact is that the column had nothing to do with my life or with support for any particular politician. I wrote the column in order to try to provide clarity on a very important issue that is too frequently relegated to emotion rather than reason.

Allow me to share two emails sent to me.

The first is from a friend. She and her husband are religious conservatives who have three young children. They are so traditional in their values that they home-school their children and do not allow TV-watching in their home. Here is what she had to say:

“I completely agree with you. A woman I know well had an affair that ended her marriage. Yet, I trust this woman implicitly, and to this day we are very close. I know two other women who have been (to my knowledge) faithful as daylight in their marriages, yet I do not trust either one because they are emotional, insecure women, and I have to walk on eggshells when I deal with them.

“If the only fact you know about a person is that she has been unfaithful to her spouse, it tells you nothing about her trustworthiness in other areas, in my experience.”

The second is from a listener/reader whom I do not know:

“My wife has dementia, with no intimacy for over a decade. My eight-year affair has kept me sane. It also kept me there to be sure she has the best care (living now with her sister) without divorcing her because of issues with regard to health insurance.

“I am not proud of it, but I feel I handled it the best I could. Surely it has been better for her than divorcing her and letting her be a ward of the state. A person’s character is important, but we need to be sure we are using good standards when we judge it.”

What do those who are so certain that adultery tells us “all we need to know” in order to judge a person’s character say to these two people?

I am incredulous at the callousness of those who would counsel the man who wrote the above that if he cannot control himself, he should divorce his demented wife. Those people embody my fear of those religious people who make snap judgments of all sexual sin. It actually makes them meaner people. If everything the man wrote to me is true, I salute him. Beyond that, let God judge him.

As should be obvious from my work, I am a big believer in making moral judgments — about good and evil. And in my view, the good this man did for his wife by not divorcing her (if he had divorced her, his affair would not have been adulterous) far outweighs the sin of his staying married and committing adultery.

Now, of course, regarding this man’s case, some who condemn all adultery may find it in their hearts to be more understanding, even forgiving, since the ill spouse is no longer functioning as a spouse. But, they would likely add, that is not the situation of the average adulterer, whose spouse is not suffering from dementia or some other degenerative condition.

I have two responses to this. First, whoever makes this argument is tacitly acknowledging that not all adultery is equally sinful (before God as well as man). Second, just because a spouse does not suffer from dementia does not mean he or she is functioning as a spouse. Plenty of mentally normal people cease playing the role of husband or wife in anything but name. And yet the husband or wife may choose not to divorce for reasons similar to the man who wrote to me: to provide a home with both a mother and father for young children, fiduciary duty that could not be sustained in a divorce, etc.

And what about Oskar Schindler of “Schindler’s List,” the German Nazi Party member who saved the lives of over 1,100 Jews? He was a married man who had a mistress. He was a “serial adulterer,” as many respondents would characterize him. Yet, he was a moral giant — at a time, moreover, in which many religious and secular men and women who kept their wedding vows did nothing for their Jewish neighbors as they were all sent to their deaths.

Finally, for those still wondering why, aside from a desire for moral clarity, I am so passionate this issue, I call their attention to 1992, the year I first wrote and spoke about this subject. That year, my dear friend, Bruce Herschensohn, one of the finest, kindest, and most honest human beings I have ever had the honor of knowing, was the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. By the weekend before Election Day, he and the Democratic candidate, then-Rep. Barbara Boxer, were in a virtual tie. The California Democratic Party, spearheaded by a man named Bob Mulholland, whose vocation was to dig up dirt on Republican candidates, sent him to disrupt a Herschensohn campaign appearance, shouting that “Bruce Herschensohn frequently travels the strip joints of Hollywood.”

Apparently, on one occasion, Herschensohn, an unmarried man, had lunch with the woman he was dating and another couple at a strip club. As a result, Herschensohn lost the election and Barbara Boxer has been a senator from California for the last 18 years.

The left and the Democratic Party know how to play many social conservatives like the proverbial violin. As a result, thanks to those who equate sexual sin with character, America lost a truly great man, conservatives lost one of their most eloquent spokesmen of the last half-century, and America got Barbara Boxer.

That event scarred me. I do everything I can to see that what happened in California doesn’t happen to America.

Adultery is indeed a serious sin, often with terrible consequences. But I can think of at least two more serious sins. One is character assassination. And the other is electing people who ruin the greatest country in history.”

Detroit Lions 34 Minnesota Vikings 28, Timing, and the Stadium Issue

Timing is vital in life.   Most of timing, either good or bad, occurs by mood  of  fate.  Those fortunate in life often plot good timing or glide along with it.   Losers  are usually the less fortunate.

The Minnesota Vikings have existed in the Twin Cities now for 50 or so years.   I have bled purple on and off for years.   My older son and I have had home season tickets for fourteen years and were regulars for most games five or so seasons more.    This year has been a difficult one.

Democrats have run this  state for most of my life.   They’ve become  a smug, sanctimonious crowd here in this state, being trained to be so by the University of Minnesota which creates the religious and entertainment climates of these northland communities.   They eat special foods and advertise “Peace” and prefer to make the state’s winters colder. 

Democrats Al Franken and Keith Ellison are elected products of the newer  ”U” trained  Gopher Liberal voters.   They advertise tolerance to help eliminate Christians.  

Since the mid 1960s the University institution has taxed both state and its students profoundly financially,  intellectually,  and by purging  common sense, and knowledge in its  social ‘science’ arenas.   It pays students to solicit backers for climate change and environmental purity.

Planting raingardens are in.   Vikings football is  not.   And so, it is  not  good timing for the owners of the Minnesota Vikings to ask for financial agreements to help build a new football stadium.    It has been bad timing for more than a decade with the exception of one football season, when Brett Favre appeared out of the ‘green’ that fun year when the referee ignored a penalty when Brett Favre was brutally assaulted on a drive for the winning score against the New Orleans Saints.

Timing then was bad  for the Vikings.   The referees, league, media  and the Nation wanted poor old crime-ridden New Orleans, beaten up by Katrina and its incompetent Mayor during her event,  to shine in the Super Bowl.    Timing for the illegal hit that crippled Brett Favre was not good.    The penalty was ignored.   (The referee apologized for his error after the game.)

Going into yesterday’s game against Detroit, the Vikings were the second worst team by record among the 32 teams of the National Football League.     The timing for such a  team receiving financial asssistance from local Minnesota politicos is not at all good.    The state had done well in ‘making’ money this last year of  Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty’s  budget restraints.  It showed a profit.  

New Governor, Mark Dayton, favors a quick settlement to secure Viking ‘citizenship’ in Minnesota.    Minneapolis Democrats, and fiscally strident Republicans have agendas which don’t include football…..especially professional football.

The University of Minnesota athletic department has offered B squad athletics  for decades and decades.     Sexual equality in sports ala Title 9,   is what drives the U  to provide losing men’s sports teams whenever possible.    The empty  arenas of male athletic competitions must be kept as  equal as  the number of those empty  rooting  for its female sports teams.

The disease of losing in sports and in other competition  is contagious and could become dangerous to the  society as a whole.   With  Federal Government interference such as  it’s “Title 9″ demands to create Amazons equal to Hercules at universities, the Vikings are becoming  losers as well. 

This is definitely not a good time  to request  financial support for a new  arena   from a legislature of pirannha out for blood.

The Vikings went into the game against Detroit yesterday with two wins and ten losses.    It is owned by good people who had bought it five or six years ago from a  Red McCombs,  a flakey car saleman from the South.   His purchase was good  timing.     A screwball coach called Green made a great pick of a troubled hoodlum type athletically talented wide receiver to complement the Viking  wide receiver  picked up for $50 or so from the Philadelphia Eagles, a  bright but undisciplined junkie, who decided to give up his junk and became on of the best wide receivers of all time……and an outstanding citizen.    The team was competitive and even blew a  final game  to get to the Super Bowl a couple times.

The new, untested head coach, Leslie Frazier, is a guy easy to like.   He had been with the team as its defensive coordinator for a few years which gave the team opportunities to be competitive with most other teams, including that battle with the Saints a few years ago to get to the Super Bowl.

For those of us in the stands, the coaching has been weak in a number of areas…..special teams defending kick off returns,  an absence of pass defense, lack of team coordination on defense,  and the selection of a very limited non-leader type quarterback who never had a head on his shoulders, but bore a strong arm and legs, both aged by the time Vikings management wasted its money picking him up to be the team’s quarterback this year.   

The fans predicted his lack of achievement as Vikings became losers again and again.    A rookie replaced him but continued the losses…..a bright, alert guy with above average athletic ability fresh from college.

Being a spectator watching Vikings lose home game after home game is not fun, especially when in most of the games, the team led and faded badly on defense in the second half each time.    The coaching didn’t change a thing to stop the bleeding, it seemed.    Despite liking Coach Frazier, crowd anger increase with each loss.

Yesterday’s game was not a home game.   Vikings over the past ten years have lost around 80% of their games played away from HumpDome Arena.    A loss was probably inevitable with this freshman quarterback and the uncertain, rather unconfident new staff.   We usually do well against Detroit.   I go to our home games, but I avoid watching them lose those away from home….except yesterday.   I felt good about the Viking chances, but more than that I like to watch top talented  athletes play their best.   The Vikings have  several that are worth the price of the tickets…..Percy Harvin is the best ever.   Civilized, determined, focused, talented, aware, always and always doing his best.    I have never seen a football player as priceless as Percy Harvin.  A wide receiver he is a professional every minute he is competing on the field always exciting to watch and root for……the very best example of the ideal  in athletic competitions.   Jared Allen is another great guy and competitor who is the best of them all at his defensive position.   Kevin Williams and  Steve Hutchinson are lost in the line battles,  but still are good stars to follow.

But if Percy Harvin is the best athlete I have ever seen play professional football, a guy equal to his natural talent and similar in his determination to do the best he can and succeed, is a guy who never played quarterback regularly in college.   He, too, was a wide receiver then.   He is tall, agile, and literally can run like a gazelle dodging lions, not from fear, but to outwit them…….Joe Webb, and he can throw the ball a mile.

Losing  from the very first Viking offensive play of the game from a fumble in its own end zone, the Vikings managed to fall to 21-0 midway through the first quarter and 31-14 at halftime.     But, despite the swarm of costly mistakes, the Vikings looked clever and aggressive on offence.    For once this year the offensive line took over a game.    After another score off a Viking turnover, Joe Webb, my hero from last year when he  led the team to knock the Eagles out of playoff contention came into the game to lead the offense.

He started from the Vikes ten yard line.   He ran in 3 third down plays, two for first downs, and the third for a 65 yard run for a score.    The does throw errant passes with his strong arm, but it didn’t hurt the team yesterday.

He drove the team for another score and  after the defense held the Lions he started for the final drive from the Viking 20 with a little over three minutes left, the Vikings down by six, 34-28.    

With great struggle and determination he comadeered the team to the one yard line with nine seconds left.

On the final play of the game he runs to the left and is grabbed by the face mask by a Detroit lineman, which caused Joe Webb to fumble the ball.   It was a penalty if there every is such a thing as a penalty in football.   

The officials ignored it.   The game was over, the Vikes had lost again.

At two wins and eleven losses, only one team in the NFL has a worse record than the Vikings, the Indianapolis Colts.   There are three games left for this season.

The Vikings are  by far,  the best team ever in NFL  history to occupy 31st place in the standings.  The game yesterday was proof of that, and stars I have mentioned and others played to win the game, which speaks well of the current coaching staff, inexperienced as they often seem to be.   

I am glad to see they will be back for next season.   But the Vikings may be going elsewhere soon.   The timing for remaining in the state  is very poor  at the moment.    The smug prefer European football and a colder Minnesota winter.  Others refuse  to  count the money the Vikings pay in  taxes to the state of Minnesota every year……and the amount of business they  bring  into the Twin City area to see so many outstanding athletes in the best athletic game of combat ever invented by man.