Minneapolitan

Congrats to the city of Charlotte for landing this event. It's finally your turn to be recognized. I'm not surprised Minneapolis wasn't chosen as the city basically co-hosted the 2008 GOP convention. I'm also not surprised by Cleveland not getting it. I'm a little surpised, however, that St. Louis wasn't chosen as I thought it made the most sense.

UniteHERE is based out of New York City. Also, this isn't only about non-union hotels, but sports arenas and convention centers as well.

From what I can remember, the feedback from Twin Cities area leaders, businesses, and residents was mixed. I know many think hosting a political convention is worth it just because of name recognition. However, I know many business owners in downtown St. Paul didn't think it was worth it. I'm on the fence regarding political conventions and would really like to see a true, economic-impact report; one that takes into account lost or displaced business or government expenses that weren't reimbursed.

I think the majority of people in the TC area or at least the majority I've talked to think it's a good idea to host the DNC. BTW, I just read an article that stated of the dozen or so anti-DNC protesters some had been arrested during the RNC.

Their slogan: Help us put a stop to the next police riot in the Twin Cities! Many throughout TC area complained about police tactics during the 2008 RNC and don't want to see that type of behavior again. I saw about 10 people protesting with signs like "No Money For Tasers." I don't know why one would be bothered by seeing NC after Charlotte. After all, Charlotte isn't well known throughout the rest of the country. Also, like Minneapolis, Cleveland and St. Louis are located in the Midwest so I assuming this is why the MPLS. Star Trib. didn't include their state abbreviations.

St. Paul hosted the 2008 RNC. Minneapolis was one of four finalists for the 2008 DNC, but lost out to Denver. I'm assuming the fact that St. Paul was chosen for the RNC played a role in Minneapolis not landing the DNC.

Minneapolis has now entered a bid for the 2012 DNC. The city's bid lists the Target Center, the Metrodome, the new TCF Bank Stadium and the Minneapolis Convention Center as potential sites. I'm not sure why the new Target Field isn't listed as a site as I'm sure MLB would be willing to work around the events. The city's convention and visitors bureau has also secured commitments from local hotels for more than 15,000 rooms during the convention.

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.