Short Attention Span Edition

Misc. links and comments without much of a unifying theme:

• Our local basketball team would love a chance to wallow at the public trough, please. The Trail Blazers can't survive without taxpayer handouts, we're now being told, even though they're owned by Paul Allen, the world's 7th richest man. Right now the team isn't saying whether there's any chance they'll pull up stakes and leave town. I guess they wouldn't want to get our hopes up too much.
  
  Someone's put together a list of Blazers-fan blogs, if you're curious. What a dreary and depressing hobby that must be.
  
• Here's another report about the sleazy petitioners behind the campaign to get rid of our fair city's shiny new public campaign financing program. I ran into several of these people myself, and my impression was about the same as hers. I'm sorry, but even if I did agree with the petition (which I didn't), there's no way I'm giving a copy of my signature to someone who looks like they're being paid in meth and stolen car stereos.
  
• A funny review of a terrible new movie I have no intention of seeing.
  
• Somewhat less close to home, there's another Cassini Titan flyby coming up over the weekend, if you're interested.
  
• In case you've ever wondered where the hell celery comes from, today's your lucky day. Here are some images from the celery harvest in Salinas, California. Oregon State University offers some tips on successful commercial celery cultivation here in the Willamette Valley. Who knew? Not me, apparently.
  
• And while we're doing a grab bag of mostly local topics, it seems the local citizenry in Portland is solidly opposed to trying to land the 2008 Republican Convention. The culture clash would be awfully fun to watch, though, you have to admit.
  
• Some candidate statements from the upcoming student government elections at Portland State University. Back before there was an Internet, you couldn't enjoy all this useless blathering unless you were right on campus. But now, citizens of fledgling third-world democracies can find this stuff and learn a thing or two about how to make utterly empty and vapid campaign promises.
  
• And finally, let's all raise a glass to the nice folks at the Technical University of Darmstadt, who've just unveiled their newly invented robotic bartender. The Register article is the only one that correctly places the university in Germany, not the Netherlands. Note to journalists: "Deutschland" != "Dutch". Sheesh.