Giving Thanks in 2013

Image by None via CrunchBase

OK, so Thanksgiving was a month ago.  As we close 2013, we'd like to salute (backhanded and otherwise) some of the people and events that made this year what it was.  So in the spirit of all those award-show acceptance speeches:

We'd like to thank . . .

• Edward Snowden.  For years we've wondered if Big Brother was watching us.  Because of classified documents Snowden has released under dubious circumstances, we have our answer.  They are watching us.
• Pope Francis.  In the short time that he's been pontiff, he's been saying things about social matters that makes the Catholic Church seem less stuffy.  Wonder how long that'll last?
• Pope Benedict for getting out before being carried out.
• Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, for proving that Americans do not hold a monopoly on sex-crazed and drug-addicted politicians.
• Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer, for helping influence people like Ford.
• Republicans in Congress, who brought the nation to its knees in ridiculous arguments over raising the debt ceiling and trying to kill the Affordable Care Act.
• the government healthcare website, which was so screwed up that they affected President Obama's job approval rating.
• Michele Bachmann for raising the national IQ with her announcement that she's not running for Congress again.
• Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, for picking up where Bachmann left off.
• Miley Cyrus, who proved that twerking, sticking out her tongue and getting naked with a wrecking ball is a great way to remind folks that she's not Hannah Montana any more.
• Robin Thicke, for reminding a new generation of what a Marvin Gaye song sounded like.  Unfortunately, so do attorneys who represent the Gaye estate, who are suing him.
• law enforcement officials who shut down the city of Boston, in search of the suspect allegedly involved in the Boston Marathon bombing.  It was more like Boston strong-arm tactics.
• Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad for seeing the Arab Spring as his chance to declare war on his own citizens, while classifying his opponents as terrorists.
• the states that have so far approved same-sex marriage, whether through the ballot box or  judicial fiat.  It may not be something Phil Robertson of TV's "Duck Dynasty" approves of, but we have become so used to gays and lesbians that who really gives a quack?
• the former director of Minnesota's health insurance exchange, for being an example of why it's never a good time to take a vacation when you're in the public eye.
• George, the newborn son of Prince William and Kate Middleton.  Great.  Another royal family member the tabloid media can swoon over for the rest of this century.
• Paula Deen for learning there is no recipe for undoing the damage the N word can do.
• Jennifer Lawrence for proving you don't need to watch the "Hunger Games" movies to see what a good actress she's becoming.
• the Kardashians for being the kind of family few want to keep up with.
• Kanye West for being his humorless, self-important self.  However, he did do us a favor by not overexposing his baby by partner Kim Kardashian, and for naming her North instead of something that starts with the letter K.
• Lara Logan, who took a few too many lessons from Dan Rather in how to mess up "60 Minutes'" reputation.
• Ray Price, Nelson Mandela, Joan Fontaine, George Jones, Jean Stapleton, James Gandolfini, Tom Laughlin, Peter O'Toole, Lou Reed, Esther Williams, Cory Monteith, Sylvia Browne, Tom Clancy, Marcia Wallace, Karen Black, Eileen Brennan, Dennis Farina, Joyce Brothers, Jonathan Winters, Bonnie Franklin, Annette Funicello, Elmore Leonard, Vince Flynn, Eydie Gorme, Ray Manzarek, Phil Ramone, Richie Havens, Margaret Thatcher, Ed Koch, David Frost, Helen Thomas, Roger Ebert, Pauline Phillips (the original Dear Abby) . . . just for being here.
• you the reader.  Thanks for finding us.  Please visit again.

WCCO: May We Help You Today?

English: The WCCO building in downtown Minneapolis, 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WCCO-TV (CBS 4), in its never-ending quest to promote itself to death, recently revived a onetime Twin Cities icon in its version of the Northwestern Bank Weatherball.  Erected atop its Nicollet Mall studios in downtown Minneapolis, the Weather Watcher (as they're calling it) lights the skyline with the CBS eye atop the letters WCCO.

Much like the original Weatherball (more on that later), the Eyeball (as we're calling it) flashes the current conditions this way:  Red is for warmer weather.  Blue is for cooler weather.  Green is for snow or rain.  White is for no change.

If you've spent more than enough time in Minnesota, you know that weather is a big deal here.  So the local TV stations have resorted to gimmicks to make their weathercasts stand out.  It's not enough to get the First Forecast on the air following breaking news coverage of a cat being rescued from a tree, or seeing who has the biggest Doppler radar.  KARE-TV (NBC 11) has had a Backyard for three decades, for the perverse pleasure of watching their meteorologists brave the elements.  WCCO has added a rooftop studio adjacent to their Eyeball in belated response.

Not to get all "Lost Twin Cities" on you, but a little history is in order.  The original Weatherball was introduced in 1949 by Northwestern National Bank on top of its downtown Minneapolis headquarters.  It stood twelve stories, or 157 feet tall, according to the website forgottenminnesota.com   Eventually, the bank's catchy jingle (first on radio, then TV) created enough awareness and business to warrant little Weatherballs at their branches all over town.

The Weatherball stood for more than three decades until Thanksgiving 1982.  That was when fire destroyed an entire block of downtown Minneapolis, including Northwestern Bank and Donaldsons department store.  The ball, which miraculously survived the fire, was moved to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.  It sat there for 17 years before being consigned to the junk heap.

By 1983, Northwestern Bank had become Norwest, with a big green 'N' for its logo.  They merged with Wells Fargo in 1998, which has an icon of its own with a stagecoach and a team of horses.  That burned-out hulk has since been rebuilt as one of the tallest buildings in Minneapolis, and is now known as Wells Fargo Tower.

So there it stands, the WCCO Eyeball--ahem, Weather Watcher, taking its place with the Foshay Tower,   IDS Center and Mary Tyler Moore statue among the landmarks of downtown Minneapolis.  It might serve as great promotion for a TV station that hardly needs it.  But in this age when checking the weather is literally in the palm of your hand, who's gonna look at an eye in the sky?

Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

Português: Brasília - O presidente da África do Sul, Nelson Mandela, é recebido na capital federal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To understand the impact that Nelson Mandela, who died at age 95 after a long illness, had on South Africa and the world, you had to understand the social and political climate of the country he lived in.

We talk about the Civil Rights movement in the United States in the 1950s and 60s, combating the Jim Crow laws in the American South with marches, boycotts and sometimes violence.  In South Africa, Jim Crow was called apartheid, another way of saying the races were meant to be separated with white people on top.  There it was national policy  Period.

Mandela, as a member of the African National Congress, spent his adult life trying  to convince the white-run government that blacks and those of mixed race deserved equal treatment with Caucasians.  For that, he served 27 years in prison.

While incarcerated, Mandela's legend grew as his name was censored in his own country.  "Free Mandela" protests became common all over the world.  Countries and noted figures refused to do business in South Africa.  The pressure on the government intensified as protests grew louder, tempers got shorter and apartheid laws were strengthened.

Then Mandela was released from prison to cheering crowds in 1990.  He worked with white President F.W. deKlerk to rid South Africa of its racist system, and helped to create a new country in the process.  Mandela served as President for one term, then oversaw the election of his successor.  For this, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with deKlerk in 1993.

Granted, Mandela wasn't always considered the hero he is today.  The United States government first labeled him a communist because they wanted to get in good with South Africa during the Cold War era.  And it took until 2008 to get Mandela off the terrorist watch list.

South Africa today is still on shaky ground with its multi-cultural government, but so far things seem to be holding together compared to the rest of the continent.  It's anyone's guess what will happen with Mandela's passing.  Will things remain peaceful, or will it go the way of so many African countries into war, terrorism and dictatorship?

Nelson Mandela chose to help change South Africa from a white-based method of legal discrimination against people of color to a democratic, multicultural society, and he chose to do it peacefully.  For this, he was an inspiration to his country and to millions around the world.  It is a legacy well deserved.