February 2006

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Stop me if you've heard this one: Minnesota's running a surplus

Filed under: Economy

Here comes another round of happy-face headlines with the word "surplus" in them to describe the current condition of the Minnesota state economy. You're going to hear and read that the state's latest forecast has uncovered an extra $88 million, even after paying off the $93 million Minnesota borrowed from its public schools four years ago. When you do, keep a couple of salient facts in mind that might provide a more realistic appraisal of the state's current financial health.

First, Minnesota is the only state in the entire nation that counts the dollars inflation adds to its pool of government resources but ignores those same inflation adjustments when calibrating the cost of government services. The February forecast by the Minnesota Department of Finance shows just a 0.4 percent increase in general fund revenue for the 2006-07 biennium over the November forecast numbers; which is less than the inflation rate during that period. Budget numbers that honestly factor in inflation are called "real dollars," which is why in the "real" world, there is no meaningful surplus to speak of.

Even if you want to ignore the way the state plays smoke and mirrors with inflation, there is another significant factor tripping up the rosy projections of a budgetary "surplus." According to the latest court ruling on the matter, the state's "health impact fee" (the politically correct term for the 75-cents a pack cigarette tax proposed by Governor Pawlenty and passed by the Legislature at the end of last year's session) is illegal, depriving the state of some $200 million per year in projected revenue.

You have to go to the bottom of page five on the Department of Finance's "Economic Forecast Summary" to read how they have finessed this situation: "There was no material change in the forecast for the health impact fee. It reflects the current agreement between the state and the plaintiffs which allows the state to continue to collect the fee. The state has agreed not to transfer those fees or any earnings on them to the general fund before the end of the biennium while the case is under appeal."

In other words, the state budget is expected to show a surplus as long as you count the revenues that it's collecting but can't spend. Will the state ever be able to spend those dollars? It depends on the ruling of the Minnesota Supreme Court, which will have to pass judgment on whether the fee violates the terms of Minnesota's 1998 settlement with tobacco companies, which precluded the levying of any further health-related taxes on smoking.

Meanwhile, the forecast for the state's economy shows it continuing to lag behind the national average in terms of jobs and wage growth. Specifically, the Department of Finance's Economic Forecast Summary states that, "Job growth in Minnesota continues to be weaker than would be expected at this point in an economic expansion. In the four years since the end of the recession, employment has increased by just 2.3 percent. In the four years following the end of the 1990-91 recession, employment grew by 11 percent....[I]n the last two years, employment growth in Minnesota has fallen further behind the national average. During the second half of 2005 Minnesota payroll employment grew at an annual rate of just 0.4 percent. U.S. payroll employment, even with the disruptions from the hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, grew nearly twice as fast.

So much for the idea that "no new taxes" stimulates job growth.

Looking ahead to the 2008-09 biennial budget, the Department of Finance projects that if you factor in inflation and also factor in the passage of a constitutional amendment endorsed by Governor Pawlenty, which would dedicate all motor vehicle sales tax revenues to transportation and transit, the general budget will be $24 million in the hole. And that's without any geopolitical surprises in the world economy, using a relatively modest estimate of inflation, and assuming the state prevails in court on the cigarette "fee" issue. Governor Pawlenty frequently says that Minnesota has "a spending problem, not a revenue problem." Unless one subscribes to the belief that there should be real-dollar cuts in education and health care, Pawlenty's own Department of Finance proves that is not the case.

Posted by Britt Robson at February 28, 2006 3:56 PM | Comments (0)

 

Crime blotter: powder blues

Filed under: Crime

On February 20th, Thomas Clayton Cadwell reported to the Dakota County Jail, in Hastings, to serve a sentence for driving after his license had been revoked. At approximately 7:30 p.m., while searching the 45-year-old Northfield resident's leather jacket, an officer allegedly discovered a plastic bag containing a white powder substance. Upon being questioned, according to a criminal complaint filed in Dakota County District Court, Cadwell admitted taking crystal meth within the previous week. He also stated that he had checked his property roughly 20 times to make sure that he wasn't bringing any illegal substances into the jail. The powder in his jacket tested positive for meth. Cadwell faces one count of fifth degree possession of a controlled substance. According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, he has 10 prior criminal convictions, including four citations for driving while impaired.

Posted by Paul Demko at February 28, 2006 3:23 PM | Comments (0)

 

2/28: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Effa Manley became the first woman elected to the baseball Hall of Fame when the former Newark Eagles executive was among 17 people from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues chosen Monday by a special committee.

Abortions, pornography, and contraceptives will be banned in the new Florida town of Ave Maria created by Tom Monaghan, a former marine who was raised by nuns and is the founder of the Domino's Pizza.

A conference sponsored by a group that claims immigration is a global threat to whites is being held at the Dulles Hyatt in Herndon, Virginia, prompting criticism of the hotel for hosting the event. [via AmericaBlog]

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

When was the last time you read a good peeing-on-a-raccoon story? Kevin M at the Insomnia Report doesn't let us down.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Malcolm Gladwell's blog

Steve Buscemi directs Casey Affleck as a failed writer who returns to his hometown in Indiana and falls for Liv Tyler in Lonesome Jim.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"We find an organization that is deeply troubled by bad management, by sex and corruption and by a growing lack of confidence in its ability to carry out missions that are given to them."

-- U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, on the United Nations

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 28, 2006 6:39 AM | Comments (0)

 

Ports, UAE and the local connection

Filed under: National

Guess which former Minnesota congressman is de-scandalizing the scandal?

Talking Points Memo has a scoop about the Gopher state's connection to the United Arab Emirates/Dubai Ports World issue. Which state politico would have the kind of reach into the higher echelons of Washington right-wing think tanks and policy firms required for such prestige?

That's right, it's Vin Weber! Weber, a six-time congressman from Minnesota who's been a busy little beaver since he left office, is working for Clark and Weinstock--a DC-based "consulting firm" that apparently has mastered the art of spin. Weber's firm will essentially deal with damage control.

Salient passage from an agreement unearthed by Josh Marshall from Clark and Weinstock, billing itself as specializing in "reputation and crisis management," and UAE: "Enhance the reputation and understanding of UAEs as a strategic U.S. ally through the major media and other opinion-makers based mainly in New York and Washington."

(What? No Blotter?)

Say what you will about Weber's crass opportunism, he appears to be doing his job very well. To wit, check out the front page story in the New York Times about from yesterday praising the security of ports in Dubai.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at February 27, 2006 1:31 PM | Comments (4)

 

2/27: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has the latest Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

Britt Robson breaks down last night's Timberwolves game at Balls!

Molly Priesmeyer profiles local artist Jaron Childs at Culture To Go.

THESE DAYS

Jason Kottke, the web designer who quit his job to run his blog full-time, has abandoned his plan to make a living through blogging after exactly one year.

The internal logs of at least 40 touch-screen voting machines from Florida reveal that votes were time and date-stamped as cast two weeks before the 2004 election, sometimes in the middle of the night.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Five contributors discuss all things tech, from laser pointers to Xbox to RSS feeds and more at Technology Evangelist.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Cute and hurt: 50 Animals in Casts

President Bush's Thanksgiving 2003 trip to Iraq has been commemorated with this classy Turkey Dinner George W. Bush Action Figure.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"My view is that neither England or America are democratic societies. You can't really speak your mind and if you do you're investigated."

-- British rocker Morrissey, after being interrogated by FBI and British intelligence after speaking out against the American and British governments

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 27, 2006 6:28 AM | Comments (0)

 

Dispatches from the flat earth society

Filed under: Iraq

Obfuscation and half-truths have been the norm from the outset with regards to the U.S. military's assessment of what's happening on the ground in Iraq. But the quotes from Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, as reported by Knight Ridder today, would seem to set some kind of new standard for disingenuousness.

Here's the money quote:

"We're not seeing civil war igniting in Iraq. We're not seeing 77, 80, 100 mosques damaged. We're not seeing death in the streets."

The problem is that this is not true--as evidenced by the horrific incidents reported by Knight Ridder further down in the story. Here's a sample:

While some residents hid in their homes, fearing mob violence, others grabbed AK-47s and set off to protect their mosques and streets.

In one case, 47 mostly Sunni workers traveling on a bus were stopped at a checkpoint, dragged out of the vehicle and killed northeast of Baghdad, police said. Their bullet-ridden bodies were found on the side of the road.

The bullet-riddled bodies of Atwar Bahjat, a widely known Sunni correspondent for the Arab satellite television station Al-Arabiya, and two journalists working with her were found Thursday a few miles from Samarra.

Gunmen in a pickup truck shouting, "We want the correspondent!" killed Bahjat along with her cameraman and engineer while they were interviewing Iraqis about the bombing of the mosque in Samarra, her hometown. ...

In Amariyah, a majority Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad, loudspeakers at Sunni mosques were broadcasting "Allah Akbar" -- "God is great" -- which some took as a call to arms. The neighborhood was wracked by gunfights that moved from block to block by evening.

Call me a cynic, but does that not sound a bit like "death in the streets?" Why do reporters bother quoting people when it's demonstrably obvious that they are lying?

Posted by Paul Demko at February 24, 2006 12:03 PM | Comments (1)

 

The Awful Truth: The grim prospects for Minnesota's great outdoors

Filed under: Environment

In recent years, the juggernaut that is the Minnesota real estate industry has inspired plenty of jeremiads. It's no mystery why. Minnesotans have long taken pride in the natural beauty of the place, and it is vanishing before their eyes at an appalling pace. With so much formerly pristine countryside being subdivided, paved or otherwise degraded, the time to act is now. Actually, the time to act was a decade or two back. But, as the man says, better late than never.

All this is addressed in considerable detail in a 56-page report released yesterday by the Minnesota Campaign for Conservation. The report opens on an optimistic note. The first passage, titled "Minnesota's Past Points the Way to a Proud Future," makes the usual high-minded points about the state's legacy as a leader in conservation and its ample natural resources.

No doubt, what follows is intended as an inspiring call to arms--or at least a call to staunch the bleeding. But the grim litany of statistics and trends outlined in the rest of the document will make anyone who cares about Minnesota's outdoor heritage lunge for the Kleenex.

A taste:

By 2030, the report estimates, more than one million acres of open space in Minnesota will be plowed over for homes, malls and roads; that is roughly equal to all the land in Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota and Carver counties.

In the last decade, the report states, the seven county metro area alone lost approximately 140,000 acres of agricultural and open space to development.

You think your favorite lake is crowded now? Brother, you don't know anything about crowded. Between 2000 and 2030, according to the report, the state's population is expected to increase 28 percent (to approximately 6.2 million people).

A few other sobering facts:

The Brainerd Lakes area has achieved the dubious status as the fastest growing "micropolitan" area in the Midwest, and 28th in the entire nation.

In the next 20 years, between 500 and 600 new single family homes are expected to be built on the shores of Lake Vermilion, which has long been regarded as one of Minnesota's most picturesque bodies of water.

Large corporations--utilities and timber concerns--are rapidly selling off previously unbroken tracts of northern forest to real estate speculators. Prices are skyrocketing. Habitat for sensitive species is vanishing.

Environmental spending--as a percentage of the state budget--is plunging to historic lows. In 2001, for instance, approximately $228 million was appropriated from the general fund for expenditures at "primary conservation agencies" such as the DNR; the general fund appropriation for 2007 is pegged at $123 million.

Minnesota now ranks 37th in the nation in percentage of its budget spent on state parks.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at February 24, 2006 9:09 AM | Comments (1)

 

2/24: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Britt Robson has an interview with legendary rocker John Fogerty at Culture To Go.

THESE DAYS

Virgin Mobile says cellular phones "are now the cause of a reported 3.8 million cases of repetitive strain injuries per year" in Great Britain.

Palestinian beermaker Nadim Khoury has developed a nonalcoholic microbrew named after the Islamists of Hamas.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Brad Bellaver blogs on internal communication, knowledge management, and corporate blogging at The Memo.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Athiest Pin-Ups

Time 4 Bed: My bear's on my hip and I'm tucked in tight!

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Danish flags are good, or posters reading 'Stand By Denmark' and any variation on this theme (such as 'Buy Carlsberg/Havarti/Lego')."

-- Slate contributor Christopher Hitchens, organizing a supportive rally to be held today in front of the Danish Embassy in response to the Mohammed cartoon fracas

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 24, 2006 6:30 AM | Comments (0)

 

MPD by the numbers: Warm January makes it muggy

Filed under: Crime

Robbery rate increases citywide for first weeks of 2006

This summer saw one of the better media larks in recent memory, when a local TV station did an expose on crime in Uptown: Purse-snatchings, wallet-grabs and register-lootings were so widespread that some businesses pooled their resources to hire off-duty cops for extra security in the area.

Soon other media outlets bit on the story without checking one simple fact: According the Minneapolis Police Department's own statistics, robberies hadn't increased in the area significantly for the last three years.

But if things were relatively the same in Uptown, it was not so in the rest of the city. Robberies have been on the steady increase in all precincts for more than the last year and a half.

"For several months now, we've seen robberies and aggravated assault go up," confirms MPD Assistant Chief Tim Dolan. "It's youth-related. We're seeing a trend of street robberies by kids in their late teens, and new patterns around the city."

Most of the activity, if the MPD's regular CODEFOR meetings are any indication (and they are), is in a few concentrated areas.

For instance, the Fourth Precinct, the city's north side, is seeing an increase in robberies on main thoroughfares like Penn and Plymouth Avenues, where there's plenty of foot traffic. Same with Precinct Two, which counts the U of M campus and pockets on Central Avenue as its hotspots. The most robberies in the Third Precinct, naturally, are along Lake Street, and downtown around the Warehouse District in the First Precinct has ebbed a bit since the summer, but still has its share of post-bar-close muggings.

(Dolan notes, however, that the arrest rate is very high downtown because the place is positively littered with cameras.)

The department year-to-date stats through the first two weeks in February do show a spike: The First Precinct saw robberies go from 29 to 47 (up 62 percent) from early 2006 to this year; the Second Precinct jumped from 23 to 45 (96 percent increase); the Third Precinct went from 82 to 105 (up 28 percent); 58 to 101 (up 74 percent) in Precinct Four; and Precinct Five jumped from 55 to 80 (a 45 percent increase).

Over a three-year average, the increases aren't as stark, but the numbers are all above that average as well.

Generally speaking, Dolan notes, the department focused on stemming an uptick in homicides during the first half of last year. Now the MPD is turning to strategies--most of which appear to center on "increased police presence" in the troubled areas--to curb robberies. But the biggest factor might ultimately be the weather.

"January's numbers are not what we'd see in a typical January," Dolan notes. "There were more people on the street, more activity. It was the kind of thing we'd see in March."

The tide turned, however, with the recent cold snap. "Last week, when it was cooler than normal, our numbers were down 50 percent," Dolan claims. "Nobody wants to see [the temp] below zero now, but the police do. "

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at February 23, 2006 8:30 AM | Comments (0)

 

2/23: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Lovers know that men usually need a "recovery period" after orgasm, and that sexual intercourse with orgasm is more satisfying than an orgasm from masturbation alone. Now scientists think the two phenomena might be linked.

Recent statistics show that the fastest-growing jobs in the U.S. also happen to be those with the lowest compensation. At the same time, the minimum wage is, in real dollar terms, the lowest it has been since its enactment in 1947.

A garbage hauling company that collects San Francisco's trash will begin a pilot program under which it will use biodegradable bags and dog-waste carts to pick up dog poop which will be tossed into a methane digester, a tank in which bacteria feed on feces for weeks to create methane gas. [via Sploid]

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Vox Verax is a group blog recently launched by retired U.S. Foreign Service officer Tom Maertens, writer and former DFL House candidate Leigh Pomeroy, former Strib columnist Jim Klobuchar, and retired school teacher and Rochester city councilman Joe Mayer. Their stated goal is to analyze political issues from the left, right, and center.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Vote for Lando: Napoleon Skywalker

Dick Cheney: A Big Bowl of Bad

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"It was great to have an opening act that was also us. That way if we got booed off, we'd just go right back again."

-- Actor Michael McKean, on NPR, discussing his faux folk trio, featuring Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer, opening for their more famous fake band, Spinal Tap, on a tour

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 23, 2006 6:42 AM | Comments (0)

 

Next week in the Pi Press: Rebecca Jarvis's favorite hot dish recipes

Filed under: Media

Today's Pioneer Press features a Q&A with Apprentice runner-up Rebecca Jarvis. This wouldn't be particularly noteworthy if not for the bizarre obsession that the St. Paul newspaper has recently developed for reality-TV contestants with Minnesota ties--Jarvis in particular.

According to a Nexis search this was the 20th Pi Press story since September mentioning the game-show contestant. Of those articles, 12 were primarily about Jarvis. The newspaper has now devoted more than 5,000 words to chronicling the would-be Trump employee, almost all of them penned by entertainment scribe Amy Carlson Gustafson. Perhaps most amazingly this was not the first Q&A with Jarvis to make the paper: two months ago a similar heart-to-heart with the St. Paul Academy graduate ran. Making matters even more ridiculous is the fact that Jarvis' mother is a former business columnist at the newspaper.

The Pi Press might not bother covering Minneapolis anymore, but it has become the authoritative source on Minnesotans who appear on reality-TV shows. Quite a journalistic accomplishment.

Posted by Paul Demko at February 22, 2006 11:02 AM | Comments (3)

 

2/22: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Peter S. Scholtes highlights local Mardi Gras events at Complicated Fun.

Britt Robson breaks down last night's Timberwolves games at Balls!

Behold, Diablo Cody, domestic diva at the Pussy Ranch.

THESE DAYS

Yahoo! is banning the use of allah in email names - even if the letters are included within another name.

Sexually abusing a teenager is less serious a crime if the girl is not a virgin, Italy's higher court said on Friday in a controversial ruling that immediately drew a barrage of criticism. [via the Freakonomics blog]

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Be so kind as to visit Tild and inform her that her hiatus from the Minnesota blogosphere will no longer be tolerated.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Scooter Libby launches a website pleading for donations to his legal defense fund.

Ron Bergundy's SportsCenter Audition

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"Sometimes being that thin doesn't look healthy. I kind of didn't realize that."

-- Lindsay Lohan, in the March issue of Allure

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 22, 2006 6:18 AM | Comments (0)

 

Oh, the irony: Smilin' Norm thanks dentists for giving away smiles

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

The senator best known for his dental and Wikipedia work has cosponsored a resolution congratulating the American Dental Association. Last year, when a cosmetic dentist displayed photos on his website of Coleman's before-and-after work in an effort to drum up new business, questions arose as to whether Coleman ever paid the dentist for his mouth makeover and if taking the free or discounted smile was a violation of Senate ethics rules.

Coleman's dentist, Dr. Frank J. Milnar, told the press the then-St. Paul Mayor received a 20 percent discount for his seemingly permanent and disingenuous grin. Coleman's Wikipedia-rewriting staff attempted to squash the teeth chatter, but it didn't help matters much when Coleman's spokesperson told the press, "The closest Senator Coleman has come to drilling [in ANWR] was in the dentist's chair."

Now Norm Coleman is giving back to dentists by cosponsoring a resolution that congratulates the American Dental Association for sponsoring the fourth annual 'Give Kids a Smile' program and thanks dentists for volunteering their time to help provide needed dental care. The resolution passed in Senate on February 7. Coleman's before-teeth could not be reached for comment.

Posted by at February 21, 2006 4:26 PM | Comments (0)

 

Department of small comforts: Everybody lies

Filed under: Business

Some salve for the departed CEO of RadioShack

The Associated Press is reporting that David Edmondson, the CEO of RadioShack Corp., is stepping down for lying on his resume. Coincidentally, a press release came over the transom today proving that Edmondson is hardly alone--a survey found that nearly half of some 1,000 resumes contain a "significant" inaccuracy.

Someone named Mike from ResumeDoctor.com sends this missive:

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at February 21, 2006 2:33 PM | Comments (0)

 

2/21: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco brings you the latest edition of Greil Monaco's No-Life Top 10 -- The Even-Less-than-Usual Edition -- at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS

Initially proposed by the bipartisan commission that investigated the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was created by the intelligence overhaul that President Bush signed into law in December 2004. According to the L.A. Times, more than a year later, it exists only on paper.

Mississippi plans to put the names and faces of convicted sex offenders on roadside billboards.

American punk rock icon and writer Henry Rollins was reported to the National Security hotline during his recent Australian tour because of a book, "Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam In Central Asia," he was reading on a flight to Brisbane. [via James Wolcott]

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Headlines like "I'd Rather Have Pubic Chiggers Than Use FedEx" by Julie will keep you coming back to Cake for Breakfast.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Time to grab your Weinerwhistle and learn to toot!

Antarctica penguin cam [via Incoming Signals]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I'm very grateful that my career is not at the height it once was."

-- Has-been Neve Campbell

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 21, 2006 6:44 AM | Comments (0)

 

Minnesota by the numbers: A purple poll

Filed under: Elections

This is odd. According to the latest Survey USA round-up, George Bush has a higher approval rating in Minnesota than in any other "blue" state. In other words, the president is more highly regarded in Minnesota than in any of the 17 other states that voted Kerry in 2004. Of course, that's not saying much.

As of February 13, according to the poll, just 40 percent of Minnesotans approved of the job W is doing, 56 percent disapproved, and four percent remained "undecided" (translation: four percent of Minnesotans don't even pretend to give a crap about world affairs).

Bush's Minnesota numbers are almost identical to his national numbers (40 percent approval, 57 percent disapproval, 3 percent undecided). Curiously, his positive rating in Minnesota is actually higher than it is in four states which Bush won in 2004--Missouri, Colorado, Iowa and Ohio. But for the president's supporters, the most alarming aspect of the survey must be this one: he broke the 50 percent approval mark in just six states.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at February 20, 2006 2:19 PM | Comments (4)

 

MFD: This space still for rent

Filed under: Minneapolis

Just two years ago, the Minneapolis Fire Department drew some criticism for selling out. The department, facing a severe budget crunch, sold advertising space on its trucks as a potential revenue generator. The criticism passed, but apparently the need for money didn't: The contract was renewed, and likely will be again.

The ad space went to Quit Plan, a smoking cessation program that is funded by the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco. MPAAT, some may recall, was created out of the state's 1998 lawsuit against Big Tobacco--the money spent advertising Quit Plan is in fact public money.

Two years ago, the MFD agreed to sell the space on six engines to the tune of $50,000. The offer will apparently be extended for 2006, winding its way through two council committees and coming before the full council this Friday. This year the Quit Plan ads will give the department $32,130. In case you're wondering, the MFD's entire budget for 2006 is around $50 million.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at February 20, 2006 1:42 PM | Comments (2)

 

2/20: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Steve Monaco has your Monday Movie Quiz at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS

Jeff Chester of The Nation reports that the nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online.

Freedom Fries redux: Iranians love Danish pastries, but when they look for the flaky dessert at the bakery they now have to ask for "Roses of the Prophet Muhammad" in response to Danish newspapers reprinting cartoons featuring the Muslim prophet. [via AMERICAblog]

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

The gay 20-something Minneapolitan blogging at Welcome to My Life longs to be a married Toronto resident, see President Bush get impeached, and get a decent job.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Academy Award Winner Robin Williams needs a new agent if he's now accepting Chevy Chase roles: RV

Stephen and the Colberts perform their 1980s hit Charlene.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"I've pulled over and asked the cops, 'Could you please help me? They've been driving recklessly back there.' And they say, 'Sorry ma'am, I can't help you. This is how it is.' I mean, Princess Diana got killed by one of these people."

-- Britney Spears, bemoaning the paparazzi

"If he'd been in the military, he would have learned gun safety."

-- Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), taking a shot at Vice President Dick Cheney

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 20, 2006 6:17 AM | Comments (1)

 

Busted: The rumor and truth of one club's struggle against the smoking ban

Filed under: Minneapolis

Rumors were flying last week about the 418 Club, the downtown Minneapolis gentlemen's establishment that has been a sticky wicket in the city's efforts to outlaw smoking just about anywhere inside. As far as gossip goes, this tidbit was just too hard to ignore: Dick Wise, owner of what is legally called Jennifer's 418 Club, was supposedly handcuffed and hauled away during peak business hours last Friday night.

His crime? Allowing patrons to smoke, as the improbably named Wise has since the ban went into effect last spring.

"It was like they had a whole frickin' SWAT team in there," grumbled one prominent bar owner.

Predictably, alas, the tale was too good to be true.

"That's the word going around?" asks Wise, speaking over the phone on Tuesday, offering a raspy laugh. "I wasn't even there--I just got back from Florida this weekend."

Aside from denying the rumor, the free-speaking Wise maintains that he hasn't allowed smoking at the 418--well, at least not since "right around the first of the year."

As far as scofflaws go, though, Wise had a pretty good run. Last time we checked in with him, Wise and his attorney David Redburn were convinced they had found a loophole in the Minneapolis smoking ban ordinance that allowed the 418 to keep the ashtrays out. The ban specifically refers to bars, restaurants and bowling alleys being under the thumb of the new regulation. (see "Still Smokin', Despite the Ban," CP 06/22/05.)

All of that was well and fine to Wise, who only offers soda pop and flesh. The logic, according to Redburn and his client at the time, was that the absence of Miller Lite, Gordon's gin, Buffalo Wings and bowling pins exempted the 418.

It didn't take long for city inspectors to catch up to Wise's racket--he says the city finally issued him a $200 ticket in August for violating the ban. Wise and Redburn (who could not be reached for comment) took the matter before an administrative law judge. While they awaited a ruling, the 418 continued its smoke-'em-if-you-got-'em policy.

In late December, the judge ruled against the somewhat specious logic, and Wise had to pay a fine of "750 dollars and 8 cents," he says with certitude. "They made me pay for all their time coming and all that crap."

At any rate, Wise says he's adhered to the ruling, noting that "the city has come into the place a couple times since, but they really don't walk in more than 20 feet." Still, Wise notes, "I've been hearing they've been taggin' pretty good, and that some places have gotten a couple tickets." Ah, that service-industry rumor mill again. Who's to say in this era of thruthiness?

(A call to the Minneapolis inspections department to find how many tickets have been issued has not been returned.)

"If you've got the manpower and the money to fight the ban, more power to you," Wise declares. "I need customers first. Maybe when it's spring or summer and people can step outside to smoke. This winter, downtown has been a ghost town."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at February 17, 2006 9:08 AM | Comments (2)

 

2/17: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

A futuristic flexible material that instantly hardens into armor upon impact will protect U.S. and Canadian skiers from injury on the slalom runs at this year's Winter Olympics.

A midlevel state appeals court on Thursday upheld the state's marriage law as constitutional, handing a defeat to same-sex couples seeking to be married in New York.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Rural Democrats have an open public forum to share their political views at Blue Is Beautiful.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Track the last-place finishers at the Olympics at DFL.

Which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? FBI's X-Files Division... schweet.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"United Nations should be making serious investigations across the world. This is not."

-- White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, dismissing the United Nations report that encouraged the shuttering of Gitmo

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 17, 2006 6:36 AM | Comments (0)

 

2/16: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Discuss last night's Timberwolves victory with Britt Robson at Balls!

Steve Monaco has found a Dick Cheney shot glass at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS

The nonprofit voter registration group Rock the Vote is $500,000 in debt and down to just two employees according to tax documents.

The note inside the house made it clear to Cowlitz County sheriff's deputies that they had the right place: "Do not open door & let anyone in! Stolen Stuff visable."

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Nihilist In Golf Pants has the Top 11 Things Harry Whittington said after being shot by Dick Cheney.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Find out how much your boss's house is worth at Zillow.

DJBC is back with more Beatles/Beastie Boys mash-ups: Let It Beast

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"That's a great book and so is the follow-up book ['My Friend Leonard']. And just because his publisher chose to say that these were memoirs, it took it out of being a work of fiction, a great work of fiction and very well-written, to this guy having to go be sucker-punched on 'Oprah' by one of the most powerful women in television just to grind her own ax about it."

-- Action star Bruce Willis, defending A Million Little Pieces author James Frey

"I'm the guy who pulled the trigger that fired the round that hit Harry."

-- Vice President Dick Cheney, making a Mother Goose-like confession to Brit Hume yesterday

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 16, 2006 6:21 AM | Comments (0)

 

Drug wars

Filed under: Legislature

State senator Betsy Wergin (R-Princeton) and state representative Tom Emmer (R-Delano) have introduced legislation that would make it legal for Minnesota pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions on moral grounds. While the proposed law does not specify any particular drug, it's obviously aimed at emergency contraception, the so-called morning after pill.

The issue has become increasingly contentious in recent years. In Illinois, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune last month, five Walgreen's pharmacists have been suspended for refusing to fill such prescriptions. Wal-Mart is being sued in Massachusetts for failing to stock the pills.

Other states, including South Dakota, have already adopted measures similar to the one proposed in Minnesota. Conversely eight states have passed laws allowing the pills to be sold without a prescription.

Here's the entirety of the proposed Minnesota law:

Section 1. [151.221] PHARMACIST CONSCIENCE CLAUSE. A licensed pharmacist may refuse to procure, store, distribute, or dispense any medication the pharmacist considers to be morally objectionable.

Posted by Paul Demko at February 15, 2006 1:55 PM | Comments (10)

 

Wabasha County Sheriff's office to offer drug kits for parents

Filed under: Crime

Parents in Wabasha County will soon be able to test their children for drugs in the privacy of their own homes, thanks to the local sheriff's department. The drugs kits put together by the sheriff's office cost twenty dollars and are seen as a way for parents to test their kids for drug and alcohol abuse without getting the authorities involved. In an interview with KTTC-TV, Wabasha County Sheriff Rodney Bartsh stated, "My feeling as law enforcement and as a parent [is] that kids don't have rights if they are using drugs or alcohol. It's a parent's responsibility to do everything they can to keep them clean." Half the money made from the sale of the kits will go toward the county's drug programs.

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 15, 2006 12:52 PM | Comments (3)

 

Gabby goes belly up

Filed under: Crime

Gabriel Francois has filed for bankruptcy. The 43-year-old grifter pleaded guilty to one count of theft by swindle in November, 2004 and is currently serving a 37-month sentence. (See "Gabriel Francois Has a Bridge in Bloomington to Sell You" and "Gabby Goes Down" )

For years the Eritrea native had managed to scam unwitting business partners out of money. According to court documents, he has operated under at least 16 different business names and has been the subject of nearly 200 lawsuits in Hennepin County alone.

The chapter seven bankruptcy petition, filed jointly with his wife, Lom, claims that the couple has debts of between $1 million and $10 million, while their assets total less than $500,000. The largest single debt is $208,494 owed to the Internal Revenue Service. There are a total of 96 creditors listed, ranging from $219 owed to Banfield Pet Hospital to $200,899 owed to a former business associate named Mohamed Arab.

Posted by Paul Demko at February 15, 2006 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

 

Minnesota by the numbers: The rich do keep getting richer

Filed under: Economy

There is a compelling argument to be made that the defining characteristic of the U.S. economy over the past two decades has been the steady rise in income inequality between classes. Sure, there is some truth to the old Reagan era aphorism that that a rising tide can lift all boats. But there is also little disputing that yachts seem to rise a heck of a lot faster than lifeboats. That, in a nutshell, is the chief finding of a recently released study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

On the positive side, this trend has been considerably less pronounced in Minnesota than in most other states. According the Center's analysis, the north star state ranks 42nd in the nation when measured by the income gap between poor families (bottom 20 percent) and rich families (top 20 percent).

Still, the numbers are not without disquieting implications. For instance, while poor Minnesota families saw their incomes increase by an average of $340 per year over the past 20 years, rich families experienced an average annual boost of approximately $2,880. Put another way, the rich have enjoyed a somewhat staggering 85.3 percent spike in earnings over the past two decades. The poor have experienced a far more modest 46.5 percent increase. And what of the remaining 60 percent of the population? According to the Center, they have seen their incomes rise between 46 and 51 percent over the two decades.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at February 15, 2006 10:23 AM | Comments (0)

 

Citizen Craig on "citizen journalism"

Filed under: Media

To hear him tell it, Craig Newmark has had only the most trifling effect on the American newspaper business. "Somebody invented recently a myth that we're hurting newspapers," he complained to Philip Weiss in a recent New York magazine profile. "That appears to be an invention . . . We're a minor factor." He'd be hard-pressed to find a lot of publishers to agree. All told, Newmark and his craigslist website may have singlehandedly cost the newspaper industry more money than any one adversary in its history. The palpitations started all over again last year, when Newmark started speaking publicly about something called, alternately, "citizen journalism" or "community journalism"--the premise being that free community sites like craiglist might grow up organically to supplant newspapers on the news side as well as the advertising side.

Newmark is emphatic that he doesn't espouse this view himself--professional newsgatherers are irreplaceable, he says--but the specter of further hemorrhaging readers to free sites like craigslist has left the industry plenty interested in the details of Newmark's web intuition. Last month he spoke to a west coast gathering of Association of Alternative Newsweeklies members (transcript here), and last week I phoned him up to talk about his notions concerning online news.

City Pages: You've talked a lot about "citizen journalism." But I've yet to come across a definition of what you think that means, exactly. What is it, in your view? Can you give a thumbnail definition?

Craig Newmark: I try not to define it, because it means too many things to too many people. You could say it's anything relating to journalism, done by a person who's not paid to do it. But that doesn't really capture it. There's a spectrum of professionalism spanning everything from full-time professional writers and fact-checkers to people who are really good at it but don't get paid for it.

So it may not be the right question.

CP: You've discussed a news project that would involve identifying the most authoritative or trustworthy versions of the major news stories of the day. How would you arrive at that? Would it be a matter of software algorithms, editorial judgments, reader votes--how?

Newmark: A combination of all three of those. The guy to talk to, though, would be Jeff Jarvis. I don't mean to jerk you around, it's just that I don't know how to articulate it any better.

CP: Can you build a viable model of citizen journalism that includes original reporting without capitalizing the effort to some extent? Don't people have to be paid to be able to gather and report news?

Newmark: Just to be clear, this is my own personal interest. This is not Craigslist. We have no interest in being a publisher. We're strictly a carrier, not a publisher.

If you've read my blog lately, you'll notice I've been emphasizing recently a balance and merging of professional and citizen journalism. The deal is, there's no substitute for professional-level writing and fact-checking and editing. One of the tenets of the effort I'm involved with is to drive more traffic to professional news sites. People have gotten too excited about citizen journalism, and they're not addressing the balance well.

CP: A lot of people have suggested that the growth of pure portal sites like Google and Yahoo at the expense of traditional newspapers is just going to decapitalize the collection of news, and make us all poorer despite our enhanced access to a variety of "news" outlets on the web.

Newmark: I do have a different vision, but I'm an amateur at this, and I defer to professionals who are basically telling me that all this is doing is accelerating the move from paper to electronic delivery. Paper's a great medium, but it's expensive to buy, print, and deliver. In the future we're going to see more electronics and less paper. That's going to take a big chunk out of the expense of newspapers.

Again, I'm just repeating what other people are saying. Me, I'm focusing on--one of the main thrusts of what I'm doing is to try to promote investigative journalism. I've been working with people at the Center for Public Integrity. And I had a meeting a couple of hours ago with a guy from the Center for Investigative Reporting. The deal is, how do we promote it better in an environment where people need to know why they're hearing about things. I have some ideas along those lines. The idea is that--there's this Oscar Wilde quote, If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you. That's why, frankly, I get a chunk of my news from--I use CNN and NPR and I read the Chron pretty religiously, but the best source of commentary and unpublished news I have is The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. They will often use stuff that reporters have told me they're afraid to print.

CP: Do you think newspapers have done a good job moving what they do to the web?

Newmark: My sense is--the Chronicle does a pretty good job, for example, and so does the Times. That's what I read, one way or the other. We're in a transitional period, and by historic standards the newspapers are moving really fast. Let's give people a break. This kind of transition, in the past, might have taken a century. The current transition, I think, is more a five-year thing, depending on the pace of a number of things, including technology. A big part of things will be how fast some of the portal technologies move, like the scrollable displays coming from Philips and HP. There's an HP subsidiary that has already shown prototypes, and they're talking about delivering this stuff three years from now. What happens when your cellphone can reproduce most of the experience of a newspaper? That affects things. I don't want to predict how. I'm not feeling real qualified, and frankly I don't want to bullshit you. But my gut tells me that between those technologies and some others, things will change.

Posted by Steve Perry at February 15, 2006 7:02 AM | Comments (0)

 

2/15: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

Three scientists who worked at the Australian science agency say they were pressured to keep their views on climate change to themselves to avoid clashing with government policy.

Media Matters pokes holes in the "liberal media" meme by examining Sunday talk show guests from 1997 to 2004, and finds the majority conservative.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Ear-coning parties, redecorating the IKEA way, and really screwed-up eyes await gentle readers at Reverie Cafe.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Klingon Recipes from McSweeney's

What every spoiled puppy really needs: A Monorail

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"The orange they're wearing is not because they are concerned that the vice president will be there."

-- White House press secretary Scott McClellan, joking with reporters about the president's meeting with the national champion University of Texas football team on the South Lawn

"That's the argument of flexibility and it goes something like this: The Constitution is over 200 years old and societies change. It has to change with society, like a living organism, or it will become brittle and break. But you would have to be an idiot to believe that."

-- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in a speech Monday sponsored by the Federalist Society

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 15, 2006 6:37 AM | Comments (0)

 

Sweet neo-con: Ickiest Valentine ever

Filed under: Media

Big Trunk blows his wad on Kersten

The National Review is running an online Valentine's Day feature today, which is not nearly as cute as it may (or may not) sound. In fact it's downright sickening.

This issue isn't so much the realization that conservatives have hearts, or even that it's ideological circle-jerking of the worst sort--though certainly those two factors can't be ignored.

The worst part is that one "Women We Love" entry features one of our very own Powerline bloggers writing a love letter to--are you sitting down now?-- Katherine Kersten!

Ewwwww!!

(Click through "The Right Love Stories" to "Cons in Love," then to the right to "Women We Love." Yeah, they went all Esquire on us too.)

What is it with these right-wing bloggers? It seems like they can barely contain themselves when the issue of the oppostite sex comes up, as if they can't prove hard enough that they are really, really, really attracted to women. Really. No problem here. No sir. Move along.

Anyway, behold Mr. Scott W. Johnson, aka Big Trunk, waxing romantic about the Stribber most likely to have recently used home-perm products:

"After picking up degrees in business and law, Katherine Kersten set about slaying dragons in her spare time," The Trunskter begins rather auspiciously. He goes on to note that "Kathy" is now a "metro" "columnist" for the Star Tribune, and recently took her paper to task for not publishing the cartoons that offended so many Muslims.

"'Many Christian readers will be watching to see if standards differ the next time a cartoonist turns his sights on evangelical Christians or the Catholic Church,'" Big Trunk quotes Kathy as writing, before concluding on his own: "Don't you love her too?"

Suffice to say the sentiment is not shared here, Trunkster--but we love to see the love, no matter who it comes from. Just not this much. Down boy.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at February 14, 2006 4:28 PM | Comments (2)

 

Wanted: Pat robs a bank

Filed under: Crime

A fax carrying notification of a bank robbery in Fergus Falls came to CP last week, featuring this sketch of the suspect. The newshounds around the office were baffled: There was a height (5'8") and weight (250 lbs.) given, but no other descriptives. Even the clothing and vehicle essentials--"royal blue puffy type winter jacket," "black stocking cap," "newer two-door pickup, tan in color, no topper"--left more than a little to the imagination.

So, we wondered: Male? Female? A little bit of both?

A call to Fergus Falls Police Department Detective Carol Schmaltz clears up the matter: "It doesn't say on there?" Nope. "Oh, it's a white male." Schmaltz adds that she didn't type up the fax, and that the cops have "gotten a couple of leads since that went out." Really? How so? "The sketch looks like a white male," she insists. "So, now you know."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at February 14, 2006 3:16 PM | Comments (2)

 

Binge reporting: The local media gets drunk

Filed under: Media

There's nothing like a new trend to get the local media salivating like a college freshman over a rail of Rumple Minze shots. In fact, a "trend" seems to be anything a reporter wants it to be, including a fad that is either long gone or never was.

Last year, for example, the Strib uncovered a scrubby little trend that was supposedly sweeping the nation: the need to clean. The cleaning fad could easily be illustrated, according to the article, through the availability of new high-design vacuum cleaner lines. Sure, Dirt Devils these days appear more George Lucas-inspired than your grandma's utilitarian and duct-taped crumb suckers, but keen marketing doesn't mean the nation is suffering from OCD. Just because Target has new space-age-inspired chairs doesn't mean we need to sit on our ass more, or that we will in 2014.

More recently, the local media has forced its readers to chug a diet of binge-drinking stories. But the "trend" to get wasted is hardly new.

A drinking "binge" is when an adult male consumes five or more drinks in one period and an adult female four or more. Since early October, as many as 22 local stories have been reported on the supposed dangerous new trend of binge drinking, which the local papers and news channels would have you believe is harming the state's most precious resources: college students.

Still, according to the CDC, about two-thirds of all binge drinkers are over the age of 25, and the average adult goes on a booze binge about 7.5 times a year. Hardly healthy, but if it's not happening to privileged youth, it's just not that important or interesting, is it?

If tabloid journalism really is a new trend (the Strib said it was), then the Strib just might be getting the drunkest off it. Below is a rundown of the number of fear-based binge-drinking stories that ran over the last four months.

Binge-drinking stories since October:

Star Tribune: 6

KSTP: 5

WCCO: 5

KARE-11: 3

St. Paul Pioneer Press: 3

Chicago Tribune: 2

Milwaulkee Journal Sentinel: 1

New York Times: 1

Los Angeles Times: 0

St. Louis Post Dispatch: 0

Washington Post: 0

Posted by at February 14, 2006 3:13 PM | Comments (2)

 

Mpls city councilors win new cars!

Filed under: Minneapolis

Last Thursday, lifelong Minneapolis resident (and my sister-in-law) Kim Walsh was watching Fox 9 News, which reported that the Minneapolis City Council was preparing to vote on a "car allowance" for council members. The report told viewers that the $400 monthly maximum stipend is the largest stipend for car expenses in the country for a city council.

Kim, a mother of two who works in downtown Minneapolis, spent the next day ranting to family, friends, neighbors, and at least one frightened woman at her bus stop. She finally sent out this email:

"On February 10th the Minneapolis City Council, on a vote of eight to five,
gave themselves a whopping $400 a month each for 'car expenses.' That's $64,000 a year. Meanwhile, our libraries have cut back on staff and hours, the numbers of city police and firefighters have been cut and our property taxes continue to rise like hot air balloons. So why did the council approve this self-serving increase that comes right out of taxpayers' pockets? Did they secretly envy Thandiwe Peebles' Escalade? Do they believe being a shining example of fiscal restraint isn't part of their job description? Or have they inevitably become what nearly all politicians who've been in office for too long become: pigs at the trough?

"Is their yearly salary, which is in excess of $70,000 dollars, not adequate
compensation for the tremendous hardship of driving? Are they familiar with the concept of mass transportation, which the rest of us, the great unwashed, use to cut back on expenses? And what's wrong with a simple mileage reimbursement system? Oh wait, got it: That would require record-keeping and accountability and oversight, something our elected officials at every level of government apparently abhor. With this increase, no receipts or records need be kept, and each council member can use the funds at their discretion. This vote should tell us all we need to know about their discretion.

"Your city council has just voted themselves a $4,800 a year raise. Because they can. Because no one's paying attention. Because our piggies want truffles. Snort."

She finished the email by asking all her recipients to contact the city council members who voted for the pay raise, so that's what Blotter did. The three who responded explained that the stipend is for travel expenses on behalf of the city, and traveling needs vary for the various members and spoke of other budgetary hardships and then we dozed off.

"People can take zero or the full 400 dollars, and I guess you just have to trust that that's what they're spending," said Scott Benson (Ward 11), who said he returned $21,000 out of his staff budget to the city last year. "I'm assuming the people who voted against it won't take any, but I've never been in a job where they don't reimburse you for travel expenses."

"My understanding is that some of the council members have spent a great deal of their personal funds driving to city meetings, some of them outside the metro area and some of them back and forth to the state capital," said Diane Hofstede (Ward 3). "Having that option was an important option for them to have."

"It's not additional money, as it's widely being reported," said Ralph Remington (Ward 10). "It's not any additional taxpayer money, it's money that we already have in our budget. I believe (the members) who voted against it did so for political reasons. A lot of people, if you're newer (on the council), tend to be afraid. I don't lead from fear. I don't believe in it. I lead out of conviction and integrity and carefully, and I don't make any decisions based on fear."

Monday morning, Kim Walsh emailed the mayor and every member of the council. The only one who returned her email was Gary Schiff (Ward 9), who wrote: "Hi Kim, Thanks for writing on this topic. While I am not your council member and while I did not vote for this absurd car allowance (nor will I claim it), I wanted to encourage you to write the Mayor. A Mayoral veto could stop this wasteful policy from going into effect."

Posted by Jim Walsh at February 14, 2006 2:21 PM | Comments (2)

 

More Fun than a PS2

Filed under: Education

Student essays frequently used as profiling tools

Remember Cook County teen David Riehm, whose creative writing essay on blowing away his creative writing teacher landed him (involuntarily and mistakenly) in a psychiatric hospital last year? He's got plenty of company, according to USA Today.

States contract with testing companies whose evaluators, often ex-teachers, read and score the tests, usually administered to students around spring. As part of procedure, scorers are instructed to flag an exam that contains disturbing images or language. That information is usually forwarded to the state or the local school district, which decides whether to notify parents and recommend counseling.

Officials with testing companies say they believe every state has some system in place to identify a child's problem and make sure it's addressed.

The story quotes several experts talking about the need to listen carefully to teens, as well as a Wisconsin educator noting how distressing essays written by victims of persistent bullying can be.

Here's a little extra something to think about: If these experts are right--and I imagine they are--that adults need to do a better job listening to teens, what does it say that the creative writing teacher who apparently inspired Riehm's fantasmagoric paper didn't get around to reading it for more than three months?

Posted by Beth Hawkins at February 14, 2006 1:26 PM | Comments (0)

 

Suffer the Children

Filed under: Family

Yes, Virginia, it is cheaper to run a Romanian orphanage

I don't know whether to laugh or to weep over this morning's Star Tribune. The glimmer of good news? Tucked into the wimmin's pages is a report on the high, high cost of child care in Minnesota. According to a new report, child care eats 28 percent of a low-income family's paycheck; 40 percent, in the case of many single parents. For many households, lower and middle class, it's a larger expense than housing.

Minnesotans with infant children pay more, as a percentage of their incomes, for child care than anywhere in the country, according to the study. On average, single parents with median incomes pay $4 of every $10 they earn to afford child care for infants. Two-parent families pay $1.52 for every $10 they earn -- just ahead of Massachusetts, at $1.48 per $10 earned.

Those were just several of the findings in the study, dubbed "Breaking the Piggy Bank: Parents and the High Price of Child Care," released by the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies in Washington.

So I'm reading this, and for a few paragraphs I'm happy. Until I get to the "why" part of reporter Chris Serres' piece.

But while an increase in state funding might help working families, experts say it will do nothing to address the main cause of Minnesota's high day-care costs: Government regulation.

The state has strict rules governing the quality of care among providers. For instance, state law requires day-care centers to employ at least one licensed care provider for every seven toddlers and at least one for every four infants. In Georgia and South Carolina, by contrast, one provider can supervise as many as 16 children.

Am I the only one who worries that the Heritage Foundation has secretly laid down a series of hiring recommendations for American newspapers? And that newspapers are playing ball? It's amazing Serres wrote this, yes, but even more amazing it made it through what, knowing the Strib, was certainly an army of copy editors armed with those little hooked probes they come at you with at the dentist. Better Georgia's system, where one adult can "care for" 16 kids at one time? Stack the ankle-biters 'round the room like cord wood, 'cause government rules are always anti-business and in a free market, cheaper is always better.

Jim Koppel is the director of the Children's Defense Fund of Minnesota and possessed of more, er, self-possession than I on this topic. I called him this afternoon, and here's his take:

Quality is one of the few things we have left in the system. We've had more than $200 million in cuts to childcare programs, we've had reimbursement rates to providers frozen at 2001 levels, we have a wait list of nearly 5,000 families, we've dropped from fourth to 40th in the last four years, and more than 10,000 children have dropped out of subsidized care and we don't know where they are.

So if quality is all we have left, it's not only mandatory that we hang onto it, we need to use it as a starting point to rebuilding our system.

Posted by Beth Hawkins at February 14, 2006 12:41 PM | Comments (1)

 

Up next: What's with all these lakes we hear about?

Filed under: Media

Neal Karlen strikes again. In his effort to be the expert on all things Minnesotan for the New York Times, the local scribe has made his peeps look like rubes again--which maybe we are. (MNspeak has already called him out for exaggerating the "you betcha" factor--debatable.)

Hey, a gig's a gig. But Sunday's piece in the Travel section actually highlighted Karlen's true gift: pointing out the obvious. Want proof? The thrust of his piece is that Minneapolis has these things called skyways.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at February 14, 2006 10:12 AM | Comments (3)

 

2/14: Morning Communique

Filed under: Morning Communique

CITY PAGES BLOGS

Discuss last night's Wolves/Toronto game with Britt Robson at Balls!

Steve Monaco has last week's Monday Movie Quiz winners at Couch Pundit.

THESE DAYS

An Australian tourist has been charged with assault after telling a Texas woman to stop talking on her mobile phone during a screening of Brokeback Mountain.

Sweden is to take the biggest energy step of any advanced Western economy by trying to wean itself off oil completely within 15 years - without building a new generation of nuclear power stations.

By granting sports commentator Al Michaels his exit to NBC, The Walt Disney Co., ABC's parent company, will get back a piece of its history from NBC Universal: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the first animated character created by Disney and the forerunner to Mickey Mouse.

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Jeff & Jeremy are Twin Citizens who love sports more than life itself. Read their ramblings at Midwest Sports Rubes.

[Minnesota-based blog directory]

TIME WASTERS

Valentines from a galaxy far, far away

The Obakemono Project: A Gaijin's Guide to the Fantastic Folk Monsters of Japan

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"An excellent, conscientious shot."

-- Katharine Armstrong, Texas rancher, describing the hunting prowess of Vice President Dick Cheney, who was on Armstrong's property when he shot campaign contributor Harry Whittington, 78, with 28-gauge pellets

Posted by Corey Anderson at February 14, 2006 6:43 AM | Comments (0)

 

Forget about same sex marriage--you can marry your uncle!

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

Sick of the "debate" about gay marriage? Then prepare to puke. As the Pioneer Press reports, forces pro and con are currently raising gobs of cash in preperation for a consitutional amendment come November. This, of course, means one thing: There will be a Katrina-esque torrent of television ads, newspaper commentaries and screeds from bloggers addressing the peculiar non-institution. This massive exertion probably won't change the opinion of a single thoughtful human being. Of course, that is not to say it might not sway the minds of a considerable chunk of the electorate.

Whatever the outcome, moralizing legislators, bloviating pastors and activists of all stripes will probably keep yakking about same sex marriage until the day the sun finally goes super nova. Before that sweet relief arrives, the more trivial matters of the day--health care, economic inequity, environmental collapse, war, etc.--will languish largely unattended. Just as the Founding Fathers intended.

Oh well. As long as we're going to squander the End Times arguing s