[Rhodes22-list] Hey Slim, This News Just in from MN

[Steve Alm]

Brad,
Yes, I do recall the Peck family but I don't remember Jeff.  I went to
school with Nancy Peck.  She was a VERY cute cheerleader.  8-)
Slim

On 5/19/05 5:12 PM, "brad haslett" <flybrad at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Slim,
> 
> Do you know a Jeff Peck from Mankato?  I think his dad
> was a Ford dealer there.  He and I flew together at
> the same commuter airline 25 years ago.  The last time
> I visited with him we were on a NorthWest flight from
> Beijing to Tokyo, he made a cabin announcement and I
> recognized his voice.  Jeff spent the whole flight
> back in the cabin visiting with us.  Just curious.
> 
> Brad
> 
> --- Steve Alm <salm at mn.rr.com> wrote:
> 
>> Hilarious, Brad.  Thank you.  I don't know if you've
>> ever tried lutefisk but
>> I think its desecration is long overdue.  You have
>> to be careful however if
>> you throw it in the water, it can explode.
>> 
>> Slim
>> 
>> P.S.  I grew up in Mankato and played many a gig in
>> Lake Okoboji.  8-)
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 5/19/05 4:19 PM, "brad haslett"
>> <flybrad at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Newsweek Lutefisk Story Sparks Fury Across
>> Volatile
>>> Midwest
>>> 
>>> Decorah, IA - The debris-strewn streets of this
>> remote
>>> Midwestern hamlet remain under a tense 24-hour
>> curfew
>>> tonight, following weekend demonstrations by rock-
>> and
>>> figurine-throwing Lutheran farm wives that left
>> over
>>> 200 people injured and leveled the Whippy Dip
>> dairy
>>> freeze. The rioting appeared to be prompted, in
>> part,
>>> by a report in Newsweek magazine claiming military
>>> guards at Spirit Lake?s notorious Okoboji
>> internment
>>> center had flushed lutefisk down prison toilets.
>>> Newsweek?s late announcement of a retraction seems
>> to
>>> have done little to quell the inflamed passions of
>>> Lutheran insurgents in the region, as outbreaks of
>>> violent mailbox bashings and cow tippings have
>> been
>>> reported from Bowbells, North Dakota to Pekin,
>>> Illinois.
>>> 
>>> Whether the violence was triggered by Newsweek?s
>>> report of lutefisk desecration or frustration over
>>> chronic shortages of Beanie Babies and Old Style,
>> one
>>> thing seems certain ? occupying U.S. troops face a
>>> steep road to reestablish trust in this tinderbox
>> of
>>> ancient hatreds and delicious dairy products. Some
>>> analysts say the latest outbreak represents the
>> most
>>> vexing challenge to US strategy since its invasion
>> the
>>> region three years ago.
>>> 
>>> ?It could be months before we get the area back
>> under
>>> control,? said Brigadier Gen. Glen Hastings of the
>> US
>>> Army?s Southern Minnesota Command. ?We?re hoping
>> the
>>> tractor pull and swap meet seasons will help calm
>> down
>>> some of the violent elements.?
>>> 
>>> ?Campground of Evil?
>>> 
>>> Military efforts to stabilize the violent ethnic
>>> Protestantism of the region have had a mixed
>> record of
>>> success. U.S. paratroopers first landed along the
>>> Iowa/Minnesota border in early 2002 to root out
>>> extremist Uff Da militants, followers of the
>>> charismatic Lutheran cleric Pastor Duane
>> Gunderson.
>>> Despite fears of being bogged down in the harsh
>>> Mankato winter, troops encountered little
>> resistance,
>>> save sporadic eggings from ill-equipped insurgents
>>> atop the grain elevators of local cornlords. U.S.
>>> forces achieved swift success, taking as many as
>> 1,500
>>> Lutheran rebels into custody and bringing a
>> momentary
>>> measure of stability to what has long been
>> considered
>>> a dangerous Scandinavian backwater.
>>> 
>>> The initial battlefield victories, however, have
>> since
>>> proven to be only the beginning of the American
>>> struggle here. The subsequent occupation created a
>>> number of difficult challenges critics claim were
>>> overlooked by the White House?s top Midwest war
>>> planners. The tipping point seems to have been a
>> 2004
>>> incident at the now notorious Okoboji.
>>> 
>>> First constructed as a boredom punishment camp for
>>> Midwest dissident youth, the US Military Command
>>> converted the sprawling Arnold?s Park / Lake
>> Okoboji
>>> area into an internment facility to house
>> insurgent
>>> detainees. Almost immediately stories began to
>> surface
>>> of prisoner mistreatment, including vivisections,
>> anal
>>> probes by extraterrestrial strippers, and
>> blackouts of
>>> Viking games.
>>> 
>>> American military spokesmen initially dismissed
>> the
>>> stories, but several news organizations ? led by
>>> Newsweek ? obtained a series of shocking photos of
>> a
>>> Texas Army Reservist, Tyffanie Cruddup, laughing
>> as
>>> she humiliates a naked inmate by putting a Dallas
>>> Cowboys stocking hat on his head.
>>> 
>>> The photos sent the Lutheran street into riots as
>> far
>>> as Rheinlander, Wisconsin, and sent shockwaves
>>> throughout the media world. The incident received
>>> heavy play on network and cable news, the New York
>>> Times, Washington Post, Le Monde, the Guardian,
>>> Packers Illustrated, and was the subject of over a
>>> dozen off-Broadway dramas during the 2004 season.
>> For
>>> its part, Newsweek ran a record eight consecutive
>>> covers on Okoboji, along with a special
>> commemorative
>>> November 3 collector?s issue with pull-out
>> humiliation
>>> poster.
>>> 
>>> Luting and Looting
>>> 
>>> In the wake of the incident, American military
>>> spokespeople have taken pains to defend handling
>> of
>>> prisoners at Okoboji. A series of new guidelines
>>> instruct guards to ?respect the rituals and
>> traditions
>>> of our valued Lutheran prison guests,? including
>>> ?dietary needs, Wednesday Nite Bingo, and twice
>> daily
>>> viewing of Wheel of Fortune.?
>>> 
>>> ?It is important that we remember that Lutheranism
>> is
>>> a religion of peace,? said Army spokesman Maj.
>> Richard
>>> Lehrman. ?And we need to remember to avoid
>> insensitive
>>> behavior and remarks that will cause these
>> peaceful
>>> Lutherans to go on another bloody killing
>> rampage.?
>>> 
>>> Despite officials? claims of intensified
>> sensitivity,
>>> rumors have persisted of continued prisoner abuse
>> at
>>> Okoboji, including lutefisk desecration ? an
>>> especially heinous crime under Lutheran doctrine.
>> Some
>>> analysts have viewed the rumors skeptically,
>> pointing
>>> to the Uff Da insurgent training manual ?How To
>> Lie
>>> About Lutefisk Desecration By Infidels.? Still,
>> dozens
>>> of news organizations continue to investigate the
>>> charges.
>>> 
>>> In its May 6 ?Midwest Quagmire Wire? section,
>> Newsweek
>>> appeared to have confirmed the lutefisk rumors.
>>> Bylined by Senior Correspondent Michael Isikoff,
>> the
>>> magazine cited an unidentified source claiming
>> that
>>> Okoboji guards had deliberately flushed an entire
>>> batch of the pungent cod-and-lye concoction that
>>> prisoners had been aging in a specially prepared
>>> commode. ?The guard smelled it and thought it was
>>> prison burrito night,? the source was quoted as
>>> saying.
>>> 
>>> News of the desecration spread quickly from Iowa
>> to
>>> the Dakotas to Minnesota and Wisconsin, fanned by
>>> radio soybean reports and Lutheran clerics in
>> fiery
>> 
> === message truncated ===
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __________________________________
> Yahoo! Mail Mobile
> Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone.
> http://mobile.yahoo.com/learn/mail
> __________________________________________________
> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list