Minneapolitan

I started going through the NYC MSA and stopped at 71. Here are a few others: Hartford: 4 San Antonio: 4 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News: 4 Indianapolis: 3 Jacksonville: 3 Kansas City: 3 Louisville: 3 Tampa – St. Petersburg: 3 Toledo: 3 Allentown: 2 Austin: 2 Portland: 2 Akron: 2 Baltimore: 2 Orlando: 2 San Diego: 2

Don't forget Domtar in Fort Mill. Here are some other MSA totals: San Francisco – Oakland – San Jose: 31 Chicago (IL, IN, WI): 28 Houston: 25 Dallas – Fort Worth: 24 Los Angeles: 24 Minneapolis – St. Paul: 20 Washington D.C. (DC–VA–MD–WV): 17 Philadelphia (PA, DE, MD, NJ): 14 Atlanta: 12 Boston: 12 Detroit: 12 Charlotte: 9 Cincinnati (OH-KY-IN): 9 St. Louis: 9 Denver: 8 Milwaukee: 8 Pittsburgh: 8 Cleveland: 7 Seattle: 7 Richmond – 6 Columbus: 5 Miami – Fort Lauderdale: 5 Omaha: 5 Phoenix: 5 Hartford: 4 San Antonio: 4

The Current got me listening to FM again. It's commercial free, has a mix that trumps most online radio services, and most importantly, plays local, indie music from the Twin Cities and beyond.

A local MPLS.-STPL radio station (89.3 the Current, which is one of the country's best) has been playing requests from people in Charlotte, NC (as well as other cities throughout the country). My perception of Charlotte is that musical tastes aren't being addressed. I've never paid attention to radio stations while in Charlotte. With that said, are all of the stations there commercial? I know there are some descent bands in the Charlotte area (Benji Hughes kicks) as they are played on the Current. Are local musicians being heard in Charlotte?

Here is Thain's memo to Merrill executives. It has been an honor to lead this company over the last very difficult year. The decisions that I made were always with the best interests of our shareholders and employees above all. I believe that the decision to sell to Bank of America was the right one for our company and our clients. While the execution has been difficult, I still believe in the strategic rationale of the transaction and I wish you all the best for the future of the combined companies. I want to address several topics that have been inaccurately reported in the press. The first issue is our year end bonus payments. Our 2008 discretionary bonus pool was 41% lower than 2007. The size of the pool, its composition (cash and stock mix), and the timing of the payments for both the cash and stock were all determined together with Bank of America and approved by our Management Development and Compensation Committee and our Board. The total bonus pool was also substantially less than the amount allowed under our merger agreement. The second topic is the losses in the fourth quarter, which were very large and unfortunate. However, they were incurred almost entirely on legacy positions and were due to market movements. We were completely transparent with Bank of America. They learned about these losses when we did. The acting CFO of my businesses was Bank of America

If they were worried about high quality employment, then the headquarters would have more than likely remained in Minneapolis. The headquarters moved from Minneapolis to San Francisco due to Well's name recognition out West, the fact that the combined bank had $54 billion of deposits in California compared to $13 billion in Minnesota, and Norwest's CEO becoming head of the combined bank.

What division because RBC Capital Markets has offices throughout the United States?

When was the last time Raleigh took advantage of the annexation process? I think the last time Minneapolis was able to annex was 1920.

My friend in Raleigh sent me the article from your local news station earlier this evening. The first thing I noticed was that the estimate was from Raleigh's Growth Management Division. I liked how they used their numbers against the latest census estimates for Minneapolis. We all now the Census Bureau's estimates have been historically inaccurate. For example, they were off by ten of thousands for Minneapolis and St. Paul during the 90s. If Raleigh's Growth Management Division would have used the estimates released by the Metropolitan Council then there would not have been a story. According to the Met. Council, Minneapolis has a population of 387,970 (as of 2006). They also failed to mention the size of these cities. Raleigh at 114.6 sq. mi. is bigger than Minneapolis and St. Paul combined (107.7 sq. mi.). Whatever the case, it is nice to see a central city thriving so congrats. to Raleigh for its steady (and hopefully smart) growth.

Charlotte is not a much more important financial center than San Francisco. Charlotte is home to two banks with combined assets that rank them 2nd in the country. BTW, I'll be in Charlotte in a couple weeks. I'm anxious to check out your lrt system.

How has this year's Stanley Cup ratings compared to last year's dismal ratings?

Well, it

Isn't he "interested" in numerous cities?

Maine is a damn good team and I wouldn't be surprised if they win it. The Sioux however, are playing some great hockey and have a great chance too. Toews, Duncan and Oshie are fun to watch - any of you gonna watch? I'm going with the Sioux.