October 2007

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Al Franken, Keith Ellison among "most influential US liberals"

Filed under: Politics

Today British newspaper The Daily Telegraph released numbers 41 through 60 of their list of the most influential liberals and conservatives in the US. (100 of each will be named.) No Minnesota conservatives have made the cut so far, but Al Franken and District 5 Rep. Keith Ellison each received shout-outs on the list of prominent lefties.

Franken came in at number 49. Perhaps more surprising was Ellison's positioning at number 54. The freshman congressman is sandwiched between progressive heavyweights Paul Krugman (53) and Ralph Nader (55).

Posted by Matt Snyders at October 31, 2007 3:06 PM | Comments (0)

 

RoboCop: Is the St. Paul Police Federation breaking the law?

Filed under: St. Paul

In recent weeks hundreds of St. Paul residents have been receiving phone calls from St. Paul Police Federation president Dave Titus. The calls are targeted at potential voters in the city's three most hotly contested city council races.

However, Titus is not directly making all of these calls himself. Rather it's a machine-dialed, recorded message designed to bolster SPPF-backed candidates Debbie Montgomery, David Haas, and Dan Bostrom. The only problem is that Minnesota state law forbids such automatic messages unless there is a live human placing the call.

"It's clearly illegal," says David Schultz, a professor at Hamline University and an expert on campaign laws, of the phone calls. "You've got to have a live person at some point."

At least one person who received the call, Ward One resident Katherine Blauvelt, says she intends to file a complaint with the Minnesota Attorney General's office.

Titus disputes that the calls are illegal. "What we've been doing I've been advised follows the law," he says. Titus referred specific questions to Michael R. Shannon, of Mandate: Message, Media & Public Relations, the consulting group hired by the SPPF to produce the calls.

Shannon says that because the automatic calls originate from out of state (in this instance Virginia), Minnesota law is not applicable. Instead the calls fall under Federal Communications Commission guidelines, which don't require the presence of a live human being. "People who are telling you that you have to have a live person are ignorant of the law," Shannon says.

But Schultz is not swayed by this line of reasoning. "You can't claim that you're a non-citizen of Minnesota, do business in Minnesota, and say I don't have to follow your laws," he says. "I've not heard anybody else make this argument before."

Regardless of the legality of the automatic phone calls, another intriguing aspect of the SPPF campaign is the source of funding. According to the union's most recent campaign finance filing, almost the entire operation is being bankrolled by Jerry Trooien. The controversial developer made a $30,000 contribution to SPPF in September, then added $20,000 more to the group's coffers earlier this month. The organization's other contributions in the last two months? Just $2,550 from a trio of individuals. To put Trooien's $50,000 donation in perspective, it represents more than 10 percent of the total funds raised by all St. Paul city council candidates this year.

Trooien is seeking to build the $1.5 billion Bridges of St. Paul project on the city's West Side. The proposed development includes 1,150 residential units, 400,000 square feet of retail space, and a Westin Hotel. Last month, however, the city council rejected a rezoning application required for the project by a 5-2 margin. Bostrom and Montgomery provided the two dissenting votes.

***UPDATE***
Michael Shannon doesn't think I gave him a fair shake in yesterday's post. He emails some additional comments:

Schultz ‘may’ be an expert on MN election law, but he’s woefully ill informed regarding the Constitution. When the federal government reserves control of an activity for itself, the states may not make laws that contradict Federal law.

For example, the FAA regulates the airline industry. MN legislators cannot decide unilaterally that all airlines that land in MN will have at least one flight attendant of Scandinavian descent. Federal law takes precedence. The same principle applies with the phone calls. If I’m calling from Saint Paul to Minneapolis it’s intrastate and MN law applies. If I’m calling from VA to MN, federal law applies.

You might ask the esteemed Prof. Schultz if he’s ever encountered the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution.

There’s nothing like ignorance to give conviction to your preconceived notions.

Posted by Paul Demko at October 30, 2007 2:37 PM | Comments (10)

 

Barnes Storming

Boy, is my face red. In last week's column, your faithful readers' representative performed the journalistic equivalent of pissing myself when I wrote the contraction "you're" in lieu of the grammatically correct possessive "your." In pointing out the error, one reader sent a scathing email suggesting, "Matt, whatever you're paid, it's too much." Which struck me as a caustic little jab and nothing more until Avista Capital Partners caught wind of the email and cut my health insurance.

But the main reason I write today is to address responses elicited by another one of Editor Nancy Barnes' columns. The piece—titled "There’s a world of news—and we still cover it"—appeared Sunday in the Opinion section. In it, Barnes introduces readers to four intrepid reporters in an attempt to quell suspicions that the paper’s revamped news model has narrowed its focus.

"For some months now, I've heard a low-grade rumble from readers about this paper's efforts to cover local news more aggressively," she writes. "Readers fear this means becoming narrow-minded and parochial about journalism. You might get a different impression if you spent some time with our reporters."

This is true. As someone who has spent many weekends clubbing with columnist Katherine Kersten, I can tell you she's anything but narrow-minded and parochial on the dance floor. Girl can drop her bottom.

For the most part, the letters and voicemails from readers have been overwhelmingly positive. If anything, people want more meta-news.

"I'm glad someone is finally reporting about the reporting that the Strib is or is not doing," said one caller. "But I’d like to see even more space in the Strib devoted to telling me that space in the paper is still devoted to informing me of what's going on in the world."

We'll keep it coming, dear readers. Rest assured, you're concerns are important to us.

Email your questions/comments/death threats to msnyders@citypages.com

Posted by Matt Snyders at October 29, 2007 7:22 PM | Comments (0)

 

Organic granola blues

Filed under: Business

North Country Co-Op will shut down by November 4. The venerable grocery store has been selling organic vegetables and bulk granola to West Bank residents and University of Minnesota students for 37 years. But mounting debt and declining sales led to a bleak financial forecast for the store. The decision to shut down, sell the building, and pay off the organization's debts was made at a meeting Monday evening.

The Twin Cities original co-op was in some ways a victim of its own success. "It's a bit of a Phyrric victory for us," says North Country board member Doug Sembla. "Originally the vision of the co-op movement was that organic and local foods would be accessible to everyone. Now you're seeing organic and local food at Cub, at Wal-Mart, at the corner stores. North Country was a big part in inspiring that."

Roger Dumas recalls shopping at the co-op as a long-haired U of M music student in the early 70s. "It was kind of dark and unadorned with industrial size drums of honey and very liquidy peanut butter and granola," recalls Dumas, who is now a researcher at the university's Brain Sciences Center. "If it wasn't for those three things I probably wouldn't be alive today."

(The Strib had a piece on this in today's paper.)

Posted by Paul Demko at October 26, 2007 7:40 PM | Comments (1)

 

Will Ramstad's seat flip to the Democrats?

Filed under: Politics

Chris Cillizza's excellently wonky political blog "The Fix" looks at open House seats today. The Washington Post reporter ranks the top ten seats that are most likely to switch parties in the 2008 elections. Sitting at number three on the list? Minnesota's 3rd Congressional district. That's up three notches from Cillizza's previous ranking. The seat is slated to be vacated by nine-term incumbent Rep. Jim Ramstad. (Although Eric Black has suggested otherwise.) Here's Cillizza's take:

3. Minnesota's 3rd District (R): Minnesota politics has a unique metabolism. Races develop more slowly and break late. So it's not a huge surprise that the field remains somewhat amorphous in the race to replace Rep. Jim Ramstad (R). State Sen. Terri Bonoff (D) is in the race and raising money, and MN-03 is a toss-up by any measure. Anti-war sentiment runs strong in this suburban Twin Cities district and could spell serious trouble for the eventual Republican nominee. (Previous ranking: 6)

Posted by Paul Demko at October 26, 2007 12:41 PM | Comments (0)

 

cPod, Episode 4

Filed under: cPod

Welcome back to a (very belated) episode of cPod. This week we feature the music of The Glad Version, speak to Jessica Armbruster about beer, and to Paul Demko about his news article on the Northside Residents Redevelopment Council. Jeff Severns Guntzel gives us his perspective on the recent attention surrounding his sex-crimes story, and Dara spills some early info on an upcoming foodie event.

To download the .mp3 directly, click here.

Much thanks to The Glad Version, whose song "Deadwood" graces our cast this week. As I mention, they have a CD release show for their new album, Making Islands, at the 400 Bar this Saturday.

If you'd like to have your music featured here, we'd love to hear from you!

Posted by Ward Rubrecht at October 26, 2007 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

 

Thy Neighbor's House on TV

Filed under: Religion

KSTP has picked up our story about the expansion-minded Holy Family Catholic Church in St. Louis Park. According to the TV station's report, Father Dufner said the church is looking to expand across the street from the block discussed in our article. No word, though, on what he plans to do with the two vacant houses the church owns/controls on the block.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at October 23, 2007 11:51 PM | Comments (1)

 

Mayor Coleman backs Clinton

Filed under: Politics

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman is supporting Hillary Clinton for president. The endorsement was announced this afternoon in a press release from the Clinton camp. “America is ready for change, and Hillary Clinton has the strength and experience to deliver it,” Coleman said in a statement. Former President Bill Clinton is in town this evening for a fundraiser at the State Theater.

Posted by Paul Demko at October 23, 2007 4:10 PM | Comments (0)

 

Defensive Zone

Dear Strib readers:

Let me begin by saying that it's good to know my previous pleas for reader responses have not gone unheeded. I asked for feedback, and you came through like disgruntled champions. On Sunday, I returned home to find my voicemail flooded with calls from irate readers. It appears many of you are upset with our decision to divide the Twin Cities metro area into four zones. (As Strib editor Nancy Barnes announced on October 7, the four zones will bolster our coverage of outlying suburbs.)

Some of you bemoaned our decision as a calculated attempt to pander to more affluent markets, thereby increasing our revenue. Others speculated that the move would turn attention away from concerns of the inner city and poorer neighborhoods.

Many of you also complained that the increased coverage of levy referendums in the Westonka school district might translate to less national and international news coverage. Well, you’re factually right, but your interpretation needs a little fine-tuning.

"It is true that we put such news on the front page less often than we did 10 years ago," Barnes explained in her October 7 announcement. "But that's because we think readers have seen and heard it lots of other places in the era of 24-hour news."

Barnes is right. The 24-hour news era has indeed wrought a Golden Age to mass media: the fare offered by countless newschannels clearly produces the most comprehensive and in-depth soundbites any citizen-consumer could ask for.

As for us, we promise to bring you the kind community-based journalism that our advertisers crave. Take our recent story in the Twin Cities West section about the Eden Prairie city council reducing the rent in a historic building to keep a popular-yet-struggling Dunn Bros. coffee shop from going under. The headline says it all: "Bean Counting."

Posted by Matt Snyders at October 19, 2007 1:19 PM | Comments (4)

 

Pioneer Press workers reach new labor pact

Editorial employees at the Pioneer Press have tentatively agreed on a new four-year labor contract with MediaNews. The deal, which impacts 340 workers, was reached late last night following three days of intensive talks. The union's previous contract expired at the end of July. Union members will vote on the proposal next Wednesday.

The contract proposal includes raises of two percent each of the next two years and three percent in 2010. It also prohibits layoffs through the end of 2008.

In return the union agreed to a pension freeze, substantial changes to health coverage, and a vacation concession that will save MediaNews $1 million. In addition, the company will be allowed greater leeway in hiring freelance writers to cover areas such as high school sports.

Some of the more pernicious changes that MediaNews had proposed, including a two-tier wage system that would allow the company to pay new hires less money, were scrapped. Both sides also agreed to lobby the state for $400,000 to train employees in multimedia skills.

(Cribbed from Ingrassia. )

Posted by Paul Demko at October 18, 2007 1:55 PM | Comments (0)

 

cPod, Episode 3

Filed under: cPod

This week's cPod finds us talking to Paul Demko about Muslims at the Mall of America, to Sarah Askari about power-pop band Sick of Sarah, and to Jeff Severns Guntzel about the disturbing lack of sex crimes investigators in the Minneapolis Police Department. Click below and enjoy.

NOTICE: We continue our search for intro/outro music or a theme song. If you make original music and would like to donate the use of it in exchange for a bit more exposure, email me.

NOTICE #2: cPod is now available for download in .mp3 form, and shall continue to be each week.

Posted by Ward Rubrecht at October 18, 2007 1:33 PM | Comments (3)

 

More jive on the Critical Mass "rioters"

Say what you will about Critical Mass, the monthly gala/protest in which upwards of 300 cyclists ride through city streets and spread the gospel of eco-friendly transportation and cyclists' right to the road. They're a controversial lot, as demonstrated by the heated exchanges on message boards that ensued after we broke the story August 31 that police had Maced and tasered dozens of Massers in addition to arresting 19 alleged rioters.

Depending on what kind of reactionary observer you ask, these individuals had it coming because they a) blocked traffic, b) taunted police in mysterious ways that the MPD has so far been unable to describe, c) are bourgeois hipsters and bourgeois hipsters deserve to be beaten, god damn it!, or d) some combination of all of the above.

This topic comes up for discussion again a month-and-a-half later for two reasons: first, the resident she-jackal at the Strib has had a field day with the incident, penning two columns in the past three weeks on her newfound bogeymen. Check 'em out here and here. You won't be disappointed. ("Minneapolis isn’t the only place where the Mass mob has strong-armed the police and City Hall," it wrote on October 8, presumably with a straight face.)

Secondly, Critical Mass supporters launched a website earlier this week in order to "support the victims of the police violence and brutality" and to "help resist the remaining charges that are being leveled against 4 individual participants so that the cops and the city can save face and have someone to blame for their misconduct."

The next ride is October 26.

Posted by Matt Snyders at October 18, 2007 11:58 AM | Comments (7)

 

Al Franken feeds crystal meth to his pet ferret!

Filed under: Politics

I received an interesting fundraising solicitation from Sen. Norman Coleman this morning. It primarily focuses on challenger Al Franken:

You see, Franken is trying to clean up his act. Reinvent himself. He's cut down on the profanity. Instead of cussing out Republicans he now calls for bipartisanship. Instead of crude jokes about political opponents, he talks civility.

Liberal donors from across the country get the joke. They know that, if elected, the venomous, deeply partisan Al Franken they know and love will come out on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The same Al Franken who said we should "force the President to cut off funding for the troops", advocates government run healthcare, and talks about stripping away a worker's democratic right to a secret ballot! Donate!

And then there's this gem:

America simply can't take another Senator on the far fringes of the left, with folks like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, and the Hollywood liberal crowd. Al Franken is a dangerous opponent, and a left-wing ideologue who will say, do, and spend whatever it takes to win.

Apparently only loyal Republican donors received the solicitation that mentions Franken's NAMBLA endorsement and pro-bestiality stance. Is there any question who Coleman wants to face in the general election?

Posted by Paul Demko at October 18, 2007 9:59 AM | Comments (2)

 

St. Paul City Council debates available online

Filed under: St. Paul

The St. Paul Neighborhood Network is taping debates for all seven city council races. The discussions are being show on public-access TV, but can also be watched via the group's web site. So far Ward 6 (featuring Dan Bostrom and Pakou Hang) and Ward 7 (with Kathy Lantry and Janine Kelly) are posted.

Posted by Paul Demko at October 17, 2007 2:29 PM | Comments (0)

 

The Disappearing Sex Crimes Unit

Filed under: Crime

In Minneapolis, with rapes on the rise, the Sex Crimes Unit of the Minneapolis Police Department has been cut from 10 investigators to 4--and their rape related arrests have tanked (see this week's cover story). The Chief of Police says he has a finite number of cops to move around and that he is accountable to community calls for cops on the street. Mayor Rybak says Pawlenty's Local Government Aid cuts are to blame. Meanwhile, for roughly nine out of every ten rapes reported to the police, there is a victim waiting to hear word of an arrest. What do you think?

http://articles.citypages.com/2007-10-17/news/disappearing-sex-crimes-unit/full/

Posted by Jeff Severns Guntzel at October 17, 2007 12:47 PM | Comments (8)

 

Judge orders investigation of assets in WCAL case

Filed under: Media

A while back, we reported on fallout from the sale of WCAL, St. Olaf College's longtime classical music station, which MPR bought and turned into The Current.

As we left things, Judge Wolf in Rice County was looking into whether St. Olaf was wrong to sell the station and absorb its assets. Today, there's new news! And it's not what St. Olaf was hoping for.

This morning, Wolf appointed a retired judge to suss out the assets and donations in St. Olaf coffers linked to WCAL. The newly-appointed investigator will report back on how the donations made to WCAL have been held, how they should have been held, and whether they were used for their intended purpose. Wolf also made clear that the college is solely responsible for footing the bill for this investigation. Once it's completed, he'll issue a ruling based on its findings.

All in all, not a happy day for the St. Olaf administration.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at October 17, 2007 12:08 PM | Comments (14)

 

MinnPost rips off City Pages in weird manner

Filed under: Media

MinnPost Editor Joel Kramer gave word today that his online newspaper will launch November 8. While we are looking forward to what this new venture will bring to the table--there are a lot of big names slated to contribute, after all--this is not an auspicious start.

Quoting from the editor's note: "We'll also have some fun," Kramer said. "Al Sicherman has agreed to host a regular contest inviting MinnPost.com readers to submit humorous creative entries on a topic and in a form selected by Al, accompanied by Al's own entry. Readers will later vote for a winner from finalists selected by Al. He submitted a sample this week, asking for limericks about Sen. Larry Craig's induction into the Idaho Hall of Fame."

OK, so not to be all indignant about this, but we already did a Larry Craig limerick contest. It was over a month ago, and we announced winners and everything. I mean, I don't even really know what else to say.

But let's let bygones be bygones. One of our contest winners never claimed his prize, so if Al is in need of some swag to give away, he's got a bound copy of "The Book of Spam" with his name on it.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at October 16, 2007 11:45 AM | Comments (3)

 

Better Red Than...

First they went after our children. Now they are going after our very red lips—at least those of us who make our lips “maximum red,” “true red,” or “positive red.” That’s right: they’ve poisoned our lipstick—this according to a new study by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

Regrets to all you xenophobes out there—it’s not China this time. The cosmetics in question are manufactured right here in the United States. Some of the lipstick studied was purchased in Minneapolis. L’Oreal, Cover Girl and Dior Addict lipsticks topped the list of alleged lead-stick manufacturers.

We reached a woman at L’Oreal with an accent that suggested sophistication—French, perhaps? She gave us no quotes but sent us a statement:

"The L'Oreal Group is committed to upholding the highest standards of safety for all the products it makes and sells. Each and every ingredient used in our products has been thoroughly reviewed and tested by our internal safety team made up of toxicologists, clinicians, pharmacists and physicians.”

All told, more than 33 brand name lipsticks tested by the registered detectable amounts of lead with none of those products listing lead as an ingredient.

The FDA has established a limit on the ingredient lead—for candy. By that measure (0.1 parts per million), fully one third of the lipsticks tested by the Safe Cosmetics folks exceeded this limit, with the top offender, L’Oreal Colour Riche “True Red” coming in at 0.65 parts per million.

Glamour magazine reported in 2002 that women eat roughly 4 lbs of lipstick in a lifetime.

Surely women are buying and wearing most of the lipstick in the United States—but in this story the children still get their lead. Lead is particularly adept at traveling through the placenta from mom to fetus. And according to A 2004 Mintel International Group study, 63% of seven to 10-year-olds wear lipstick.

Pucker up, America—better red than dead. Wait…

Posted by Jeff Severns Guntzel at October 12, 2007 3:23 PM | Comments (0)

 

St. Thomas president invites Desmond Tutu to speak

In a letter addressed earlier today to students, faculty, and staff, University of St. Thomas President Dennis Dease admitted he had “made the wrong decision” in not inviting Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

“Although well-intentioned, I did not have all of the facts and points of view, but now I do,” he wrote. “PeaceJam International may well choose to keep the alternative arrangements that it has made for its April 2008 conference, but I want the organization and Archbishop Tutu to know that we would be honored to hold the conference at St. Thomas. In any event, St. Thomas will extend an invitation to Archbishop Tutu to participate in a forum to foster constructive dialogue on the issues that have been raised.”

St. Thomas administrators received a barrage of indignant emails and phone calls after we broke the story that university of brass had opted out of hosting the Nobel Laureate amid concerns that his critical stance regarding Israeli policy might offend the local Jewish community. Julie Swiler of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas told St. Thomas officials that Tutu’s words during a 2002 speech were especially controversial and hurtful. Now she has agreed to co-sponsor the forum, should Tutu accept the offer.

Jim Winterer, a spokesman for the university, said the outcry was too ubiquitous to ignore.

“Father Dease was in touch with a lot more people this time than he was the first time around,” he says wryly. “Calls were coming in from around the world.”

Metropolitan State University, in conjunction with PeaceJam International, booked Tutu for an April appearance after St. Thomas turned him down. That arrangement still stands.

Posted by Matt Snyders at October 10, 2007 3:35 PM | Comments (11)

 

Boom boom bust: ethanol glut looms

Filed under: Business

The Strib's Matt McKinney has a swell piece in today's paper about the dimming economic prospects of the ethanol industry. With corn prices rising, ethanol prices tumbling, and production exploding, it may take years to correct the looming market imbalance. Slate also ran a nice primer on this topic last week.

The specific numbers are eyepopping. Currently Minnesota has 17 ethanol plants with a production capacity of 675 million gallons per year. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, four other facilities are currently under construction with the ability to produce an additional 400,000 gallons annually. What's more, 11 plants are in the planning stages with a potential production capacity of 900,000 gallons each year. In other words, by 2010 Minnesota could be producing some 2 billion gallons of ethanol annually--equal to nearly a third of the country's current ethanol consumption.

The numbers nationwide are similar. Since just the beginning of 2006 ethanol production has jumped by nearly 50 percent. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, there are presently 140 ethanol plants operating with a production capacity of roughly 6.9 billion gallons per year. However, there are plans underway to build or expand 84 plants, increasing the annual production capacity to 13.5 billion gallons in the near future.

What do these numbers mean? Consider that currently there is a 10 percent federal cap on ethanol levels in standard gasoline. Furthermore Americans presently consume roughly 130 billion gallons of gasoline per year. In other words, even if every gallon of gasoline sold were to contain the 10 percent maximum of ethanol, there would still be an overabundance of corn-based fuel on the market in the coming years.

So who's going to consume all of this ethanol? One (unlikely) possibility is that the EPA could raise the percentage of ethanol allowed in standard gasoline to 20 percent--a policy touted by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

A more likely scenario is a massive increase in flexible-fuel vehicles, which can run on fuel that is up to 85 percent ethanol. David Morris, of the Institute for Local Self Reliance, and a strong supporter of corn-based fuel, points out that converting vehicles to flex-fuel only costs manufacturers about $100. Barack Obama, for one, is pushing for a mandate that all new automobiles be flex-fuel vehicles.

Posted by Paul Demko at October 10, 2007 1:02 PM | Comments (7)

 

cPod, Episode 2

Filed under: cPod

Welcome back for the second ever weekly episode, in which we speak with Matt Snyders, Dara Moskowitz-Grumdahl, and Jonathan Kaminsky about chemical-dependency treatment, some exciting new restaurants, and an old Mid-Eastern tradition in danger from the smoking ban. We hope to continue expanding and polishing both the technical and content aspects of our wee cast - so click below; then come back next week for a new (and hopefully improved) episode.

NOTICE: We're currently in search of theme music, or just some new tunes each week to feature as an intro/outro. If you're an struggling, starving, undiscovered, up-and-coming, or blindingly successful musician and would like to have your music featured here, shoot me an email; I'll be happy to use it and get you a bit of free publicity.

Posted by Ward Rubrecht at October 10, 2007 12:50 PM | Comments (0)

 

Faculty members in St. Thomas School of Law weigh in on Tutu controversey

As we reported last week, the University of St. Thomas's disinvitation of Archbishop Desmond Tutu elicited outrage among faculty within the university's Justice and Peace Studies program. Dissatisfaction appears to be spreading.

Yesterday, eighteen member's of the university's law faculty sent a letter to university president Dennis Dease and vice-president for academic affairs Thomas Rochon. The memo urged Dease and Rochon to reissue the invitation or, barring that, "issue a statement acknowledging that it was a mistake to reject the invitation on the ground that has been offered."

Meanwhile, both Coleen Rowley of the Huffington Post and Juan Cole, president of the Global Americana Institute, take St. Thomas to task for what they interpret as evidence of a double standard: the university's decision to host Ann Coulter two years ago.

[Hat tip to Mirror of Justice]

Posted by Matt Snyders at October 9, 2007 5:37 PM | Comments (8)

 

New Strib readers' representative soliciting letters

Dear Strib readers:

Despite what you may have read recently, we here at the Star-Tribune are very much devoted to providing you, the reader, unfettered transparency. And despite claims indicating otherwise, I am indeed working part-time as the Strib's readers’ representative.

I felt compelled to write on this matter after reading Kate Parry’s Sunday column. In what can only be construed as a parting practical joke, Parry—our outgoing readers' representative—penned a farewell piece criticizing Strib editors for their unwillingness to replace her. The subhed said it all: "As I move to another position, editors aren't filling this job. That’s not good news for readers."

Now, I’ll concede that I might not be the most qualified person for the job. But I am a person. Granted, I have not received—let alone responded to—a single letter from a reader. Nor have I picked up a copy of the Strib in two-and-a half weeks. And yes, if you must know, when I called the newsroom earlier today to check-in, editor Nancy Barnes cheekily claimed to have never heard of me.

I guess I’ll just have to earn their respect. Or, in this case, recognition of my existence on planet earth. But I can’t make that happen unless I have letters to which to respond. That’s where you, the readers, come in. Write me a letter. Anything. Commend higher-ups on their hiring and/or firing decisions. Write about how excited you are about our impending Burnsville initiative. Compliment Nancy Barnes on her puckish sense of humor. Take a few potshots at our resident wingnut. Hell, throw a few barbs my way. Just give me something to work with here.

Or not. I get paid either way.

Much Love,

Your Readers’ Representative at the Strib

p.s. Send your questions/comments/death threats to msnyders@citypages.com

Posted by Matt Snyders at October 9, 2007 9:19 AM | Comments (4)

 

Just Shoot Me

Filed under: Iraq

The Minnesota National Guard was a key component of the "surge" in Iraq. 2,600 of them recently wrapped up a 22-month tour. On paper, 1,161 of them were serving a 729 day tour, extended for the surge to 22 months. A 730-day tour would have triggered the GI Bill and earned the soldiers money for school back home. But the Pentagon's not paying. Deployments were written for 729 days, and that's that. Now some of the soldiers are speaking out.

The soldiers are "victims of a significant injustice" Minnesota Guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Kevin Olson told NBC.

"I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers," said 1st Lt. Jon Anderson, who explained to NBC that soldiers would have been getting $500 to $800 more each month.

More from the story:

Now, six of Minnesota's members of the House of Representatives have asked the Secretary of the Army to look into it -- So have Senators Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman.

Klobuchar said the GI money "shouldn't be tied up in red tape," and Coleman said it's "simply irresponsible to deny education benefits to those soldiers who just completed the longest tour of duty of any unit in Iraq."

Anderson said the soldiers he oversaw in his platoon expected that money to be here when they come home.

"I had 23 guys under my command," Anderson said. "I promised to take care of them. And I'm not going to end taking care of them when this deployment is over, and it's not over until this is solved."

National Guard soldiers, if you're out there, do pipe up in the comments section below.

College students, if you're out there, City Pages declares the month of October 'Take a Soldier to Class Month.'

Somebody's got to support the troops, no? At least that's what the President says.

Posted by Jeff Severns Guntzel at October 7, 2007 8:49 AM | Comments (3)

 

Worst. Logo. Ever.

Filed under: Politics

On Wednesday, Republican National Convention officials unveiled the official 2008 RNC logo. The emblem features the words "Republican National Convention, Minneapolis-Saint Paul" encircling the silhouette of a sex-crazed Elephant mounting the year 2008.

"Choosing our logo is another important milestone in planning the 2008 Republican National Convention," said convention President and Chief Executive Officer Maria Cino in a press release. "This design highlights the spirit of the Republican Party and it will adorn everything from the Xcel Energy Center to t-shirts and other souvenirs."

As of press time, RNC officials refused to explain the sexual overtones of the logo, though some have suggested the elephantine carnality is a metaphor for seven years of GOP chutzpah. Those with a less cynical interpretation disagree and maintain that the image symbolizes the lovin' the party has in store for the nation come 2008.

Whatever the case, the RNC is keeping mum. When asked about the reasoning behind the salacious depiction, GOP pressman Matt Burns replied flatly, "If you have any serious questions, you can call me."

This elephant in the room debuted two days before local newspapers trumpeted stories of Sen. Larry Craig (R-Bathroom Stall) vowing to remain in the Senate. Fitting, for the elephant in the logo also seems to prefer a wide stance.

Posted by Matt Snyders at October 5, 2007 1:55 PM | Comments (26)

 

Iraq War veteran challenges Kline

Filed under: Minnesota Politics

Former Watertown mayor Steve Sarvi, a veteran of the Iraq War, filed to run against Rep. John Kline today in Minnesota's Second Congressional District. Sarvi returned from a 16-month tour of duty with the National Guard in July. The 42-year-old father of three is currently the city administrator of Victoria.

“I am very proud to have served my country in Iraq,” says Sarvi in a press release announcing his campaign. “Our district deserves a representative in Congress who will put the safety of our troops and the well-being of our families ahead of blind party loyalty."

Kline, a three-term Republican from Lakeville, has been among the staunchest supporters of President Bush's Iraq policies. In 2006 he easily outpolled former FBI agent Coleen Rowley, 56 to 40 percent, despite the most favorable political climate for Democrats in two decades.

The Minnesota DFL Party just issued a statement making the case that, despite Kline's easy victory, the 2nd district is trending Democrat. In 2006 Amy Klobuchar earned 53 percent of the vote in her successful Senate run against Mark Kennedy, while 16 of the district's 33 state legislative seats are now held by DFL'ers, an increase of 10 since 2004.

Sarvi's campaign sets up a potential scenario similar to that faced by Rep. Gil Gutknecht last year. The six-term Republican was ousted by retired Army National Guard member Tim Walz.

Posted by Paul Demko at October 4, 2007 2:23 PM | Comments (1)

 

cPod, Episode 1

Filed under: cPod

Welcome to our humble debut episode of cPod - wherein we ask our reporters and editors to talk about the stories they've written for the current issue. Check back each week for a new update and for a bit of an inside listen to the voices behind your favorite bylines.

Posted by Ward Rubrecht at October 4, 2007 2:20 PM | Comments (2)

 

Court Hears Convicted City Councilmember's Appeal

Filed under: Politics , Politics , Politics

When last we heard from convicted City Councilmember Dean Zimmerman, he was making plans for prison ("I am hoping to be able to do some teaching while I am in"). Today, with Zimmerman already serving a 30-month sentence, his lawyers are appealing his bribery conviction in the 8th Circuit Appeals Court. Want to hear how that's going? You can listen to the oral arguments here.

Zimmerman enjoyed a reputation for living on the cheap and working hard (a handyman by trade, he was apparently doing carpentry work for extra scratch when the indictment was announced in 2006).

On the City Council, he had a notorious lean to the left--loyal to his Green Party. Zimmerman was the third City Councilmember to be indicted in under 5 years.

All told, he was convicted of taking $7200 in questionable cash from a developer who had a stake in Zimmerman's zoning votes.

Here's how Zimmerman explained one incident detailed in the indictment to MPR in 2005:

"I don't really know. I mean I... the guy showed up one time and asked me how he could help with the campaign and I said, of course, he could give donations to the campaign -- $300 limit -- and he said , well, he had already given that much. And so I said, 'well, is there something else you can do?' and I suggested that he might want to help out with the redistricting lawsuit.

"Of course, as you know, the Green Party people were gerrymandered in the last redistricting and we took that case to court and we're still trying to pay off some of our legal bills. He wanted to help with that and I thought that was quite reasonable. That's.... and, of course, I've been raising money for that all along from a number of people.. so it doesn't seem like anything unusual."

Avidor of Minneapolis Confidential posted an excerpt of the Government's side of the story (Zimmerman, the Government's attorney said, was "readily predisposed to take money in exchange for selling his office").

USA v. Zimmerman continues...stay tuned.

Posted by Jeff Severns Guntzel at October 4, 2007 11:48 AM | Comments (4)

 

Tutu's "anti-Semitic" speech

Filed under: Education

As we report in this week's issue, University of St. Thomas administrators derailed plans of hosting Archbishop Desmond Tutu next spring amidst concerns that his past criticisms of Israel veered into anti-Semitic territory.

Critics point to one speech in particular--"Occupation is Oppression" delivered 2002 in Boston--as evidence of Tutu's anti-Semitism. Below is a transcript of the speech. (Courtesy of Julie Swiler of the Jewish Community Relations Council) Was Tutu out of line? Share your thoughts in the comment box.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Keynote address on April 13, 2002, Old South Church, Boston, MA - USA
Friends of Sabeel North America’s Conference: “Ending the Occupation”
Transcription Prepared by Allison B. Hodgkins, Friends of Sabeel – New England
Keynote Address by Archbishop Desmond Tutu: “Occupation is Oppression”

Thank you very, very much. Thank you again for the very warm words of introduction. Thank you for how much you have cared for us. When you were presiding Bishop, you showed so much solidarity with is in our travail. You supported us you supported sanctions even when it was unpopular in your Church. Thank you. And thank you Naim. Thank you for remaining so passionate and committed under quite devastating circumstances. Now, if you will forgive me if I forget and think that in fact I am, I am supposed to be preaching (laughter) and then behave like the preacher who went on for a very long time in his sermon and after a long, long sermon he said: “What more can I say?” (laughter) And, somebody in the back said: “AMEN!” (applause, laughter)

It is a very great privilege to have been asked to come here. And, I mean, I want you to be able to affirm yourselves. I know now that you are a very shy people – very reserved. But, you know were free in South Africa today because of people like yourselves. People who sometimes - when it really looked like you were trying to freeze over hell – who went on going on. And here are – free! Free because there were people who cared. Who cared even when it looked totally impossible. And so, I want to thank you for that, but thank you also specially for being here. Thank you. Thank you, because you see God weeping over what God sees in the Middle East and other places and says: “Gee Wiz! What ever got into me to create that lot?” (laughter) And then God sees you. God looks down and God smiles and says: “Hey, Don’t they justify the risk that I took?” And, God says: “Thank you – Thank you for, for, for proving me right.” Because you see, actually God has no one except ourselves – absolutely no one. And, God is extraordinary because God is omnipotent and you know what it means omnipotent- all powerful - but, God is also utterly impotent. God does not dispatch lighting bolts to remove tyrants as we might have hoped he could. God waits for you, for you, for you, for you. Because God says: “You are my partner, and I am as weak as the weakest of my partners.”

That’s just, that’s just a small, little preamble. But I would like, actually to say thank you God for me. Thank you God that you made me – me, to celebrate who you are. Because, you see for God, you are the best thing that God ever created. You, you: a masterpiece in the making. And so, how about giving yourselves – hey you – Why, lets give ourselves a warm cheer! I mean, come on! (applause) I, I, I did that once with a lot – a few young people, 2,000 young people. I said lets celebrate who we are and lets give ourselves a warm hand, and, and they did quite a decent thing. And then I said: “how about giving God a standing ovation” and they nearly took the roof off. And without thinking, near the end, I said: “thank you!” (laughter)

I would actually have preferred that the title … the title here is ‘Occupation is Oppression.’ Now, I would like for us to have changed that and said – give peace a chance – for peace is possible. You see, we are bearers of hope for God’s children in the Holy Land. For God’s people the Israeli Jews, and God’s people the Palestinian Arabs. We want to say to them: our hearts go out to all who have suffered as a result of the violence of suicide bombers and the violence of military incursions and reprisals and express our deepest sympathies to all who have been injured and bereaved in the horrendous events of recent times. We want to say to all involved in the events of these past days –

Peace is possible. Israeli Jew, Palestinian Arab can live amicably side by side in a secure peace. And, as Cannon Ateek kept underscoring, a secure peace built on justice and equity. These two peoples are God’s chosen and beloved, looking in their face back to a common ancestor Abraham and confessing belief in the one creator God of salaam and shalom.

I give thanks for all that I have received as a Christian from the teachings of God’s people the Jews. When we were opposing the vicious system of apartheid, which claimed that what invested people with worth was a biological irrelevance – skin color – we turned to the Jewish Torah, which asserted that what gave people their infinite worth was the fact that they were created in the image of God. Thus, on this score, Apartheid was unbiblical, evil without remainder and therefore, unchristian. And when our people groaned by virtue of the burden of racist oppression, we invoked the God who addressed Moses in the burning bush, we told our people that our God had heard their cry, had seen their anguish, and knew their suffering, and would come down, this great God of exodus, this liberator God as in the past to deliver us as God had delivered Israel from bondage. We told them that God was notoriously biased in favor of those without clout; the poor, the weak, the hungry, the voiceless, as God had shown when God intervened through the Prophet Nathan against King David on behalf of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband. Or, as God intervened through Elijah on behalf of Naboth, against King Ahab and Jezebel when they confiscated Naboth’s vineyard and caused Naboth to be killed. And, this God never abandoned us. For when we were thrown into the fiery furnace of tribulation and suffering caused by Apartheid, this God would be there with us as Emanuel – ‘God with us.’ Just as God had been there with Daniel and his companions. That this God rejected worship, which did not change the lives and conduct of the worshippers. To make them care especially for the widow, the orphan and the alien. Those in most societies who are among the most vulnerable and least influential. That this God preferred obedience to sacrifice, to doing the truth, to showing mercy rather than sacrifice, making justice flow like a river, walking humbly with God. And this God called on God’s people always to remember, to remember that they had been aliens and slaves and this memory would galvanize them and inspire them to be in their turn compassionate and generous with the alien in their midst.

We would invoke the Jewish scriptures that have asserted that this was God’s world and despite all appearances to the contrary, God was in charge. That this was, therefore, a moral universe. There was no way in which might would ever be right. That injustice, lies, oppression could never have the last word in the universe of this God. That oppressors and dictators and those who flouted the laws of this moral universe would, in the end, bite the dust.

And in our struggle against Apartheid, some of the most outstanding stalwarts were Jews: the Helen Suzmans, the Joe Slovos, the Alvie Saches. As in this country in the Civil Rights movement, Jews almost instinctively, as a matter or course, had to be on the side of the disenfranchised, of the discriminated against, of the voiceless ones fighting injustice, oppression and evil and given their religious traditions, their history. I have continued to feel strongly with the Jews. I with many other Nobel Peace Laureates. I, after taking counsel with the then Bishop of Jerusalem, am a member of the Board of the Shimon Peres peace center in Tel Aviv. I am a patron of the Holocaust center in Capetown. I believe that Israel has a right to secure borders, internationally recognized, in a land assured of territorial integrity and with acknowledged sovereignty as an independent country. That the Arab nations made a bad mistake in refusing to recognize the existence of sovereign Israel and in pledging to work for her destruction.

It was a short sighted policy that led to Israel’s nervousness, her high state of alert and military preparedness to guarantee her continued existence. This was understandable. What was no so understandable, what was not justifiable was what Israel did to another people to guarantee her existence. I have been very deeply distressed in all my visits to the Holy Land, how so much of what was taking place there reminded me so much of what used to happen to us Blacks in Apartheid South Africa. I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at the road blocks and recall what used to happen to us in our motherland, when arrogant, young white police officers would hector, and bully us, and demean us when we ran the gauntlet of their unpredictable whims – whether they would let you through or not. When they seemed to derive so much fun out of our sullen humiliation. I have seen such scenes, or heard of them, being played out in the Holy Land. The rough and discourteous demands for IDs from the Palestinians were so uncannily reminiscent of the infamous pass law raids of the vicious Apartheid regime.

We saw on those visits, or read about things that did not happen even in Apartheid South Africa. The demolition of homes because of a suspicion that one or other family member was a terrorist. And so, all paid a price in these acts of collective punishment. Seemingly being repeated more recently in the attacks on Arab refugee camps. We don’t know the exact truth because the Israelis won’t let the media in. What are they hiding? But perhaps, more seriously, why is their no outcry in this country at the censorship of their media. For you see, what now is going to happen is that you will frequently be being shown the harrowing images of what suicide bombers have done, which is something we all condemn unequivocally. But you see, you don’t see what those tanks are doing to the homes of just ordinary people.

On one of my visits to the Holy Land, I drove one Sunday to a Church Service with the Anglican Bishop. We went past Ramallah. I could hear the tears in his voice as he pointed to the Jewish settlements and I thought of the desires of the Israeli, Israelis for security, and the anguish of the Palestinians at the land they had lost. The occupation [unclear] said, “they are nothing, they count for nothing.” And that pain, and the many humiliations that have been suffered is fertile soil for the desperation of suicide bombers. I have heard Palestinians pointing to a residence. I was walking with Cannon Ateek whose father was a jeweler. And as we walked in Jerusalem he pointed out and said: “our home was over there. We were driven out of our home. It is now occupied by Israeli Jews.” And then I recalled how many times people of color would point in South Africa much the same way to their former homes from which they had been expelled and which were now inhabited by whites.

My heart aches. I say why are our memories so short? Have our Jewish sisters and brothers forgotten the humiliation of wearing yellow arm bands with the Star of David? Have my Jewish sisters and brothers forgotten the collective punishment? The home demolitions? Have they forgotten their own history so soon? And have they turned their back on their profound noble and religious traditions? Have they forgotten that their God, our God, is a God who sides with the poor, the despised, the down trodden? That this is a moral universe? That they will never, they will never get true security and safety from the barrel of a gun? That true peace can ultimately be built only on justice and equity?

We condemn the violence of suicide bombers. And if Arab children are taught to hate Jews, we condemn the corruption of young minds too. But we condemn equally unequivocally the violence of military incursions and reprisals that won’t let ambulances and medical personnel reach the injured. That wreak an unparalleled revenge, totally imbalanced, even with the Torah’s law of an eye for an eye – which was designed actually to restrict revenge to the perpetrator and perhaps those supporting him. That it is the humiliation and desperation of an occupied and hapless people which are the root causes of the suicide bombing. And the military action recent days – I want to predict with almost absolute certainty – will not provide the security and the peace the Israelis want.

All it is doing is intensifying the hatred and the resentment and guaranteeing that one day a suicide bomber will arise to wreak revenge. Israel has three options: to revert to the stalemate of the recent status-quo bristling with tension, hatred and violence. Or, to perpetuate genocide and exterminate all Palestinians. Or third – which is what I hope they will chose – to strive for peace based on justice based on withdrawal from all the occupied territory. And for the Palestinians to be committed too and say so loud and clear at every opportunity that they too are committed to such a peace. We in South Africa had a situation where everyone thought we would be overwhelmed by a blood bath. The blood bath did not happen. We had a relatively peaceful transition. And, instead of revenge and retribution, we had a remarkable process of forgiveness and reconciliation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. If our madness, if our intractable problem could have ended as it did, then we believe it must be possible everywhere else in the world. For South Africa is yes, an unlikely candidate, but South Africa is this beacon of hope, beacon of hope for the rest of the world. If it could happen in South Africa it can happen anywhere else. If peace could come in South Africa then surely it can come in the Holy Land.
Sometimes they ask: “Does this mean you are pro-Palestinian?” And my brother Naim Ateek has said what we, that we used to say too: I am not pro this or that people, I am pro justice. I am pro freedom. I am anti-injustice, anti-oppression any and everywhere that it occurs.

But you know, as well as I do that somehow the Israeli government is placed on a pedestal where to criticize them is immediately to be dubbed anti-Semitic. As if the Palestinians were not Semitic. (applause) I, I have not been even anti-white despite all the suffering that that crazy group inflicted on our people. NO! How could I be – if I wasn’t eve anti those who did that to us – be anti-Jew? Because that is actually the term that ought to be used Are you anti-Jewish? Not anti-Semitic. And then, you would have to say the same thing to the biblical prophets – because they were some of the most scathing critics of the Jewish leadership of their day. We don’t criticize Jewish people. We criticize, we will criticize, when they need to be criticized the government of Israel.

They said the same to us, I mean when we said to them: Can you explain to us how it comes about that you can collaborate with the Apartheid government on security matters, how you could prolong our oppression. And they would say you’re being anti-Semitic. I said: “tough luck. Really tough luck.” And when we raise similar questions about the treatment of Palestinians when we were visiting the Holy Land in the time that Cannon Ateek was speaking of, they put up, they painted graffiti just outside St, George Cathedral in Jerusalem: ‘Tutu is a black Nazi Pig.’ We come from there.

People are scared in this country to say wrong is wrong. (applause) Because the Jewish lobby is powerful – very powerful. Ha, Ha, Ha ha! So what? So what! This is God’s world! For goodness sake this is God’s world! The Apartheid government was very powerful, but we said to them: Watch it! If you flout the laws of this universe, you’re going to bite the dust! (applause) Hitler was powerful. Mussolini was powerful. Stalin was powerful. Idi Amin was powerful. Pinochet was powerful. The Apartheid government were powerful. Milosevic was powerful. But, this is God’s world. A lie, injustice, oppression, those will never prevail in the world of this God. That is what we told our people. And we used to say: those ones, they have already lost, they are, they are going to bite the dust one day. We may not be around. An unjust Israeli government, however, powerful will fall in the world of this kind of God. Because we don’t want for that to happen but those who are powerful have to remember the litmus test that God gives to the powerful – what is your treatment of the poor, the hungry? What is your treatment of the vulnerable, the voiceless? And on the basis of that, God passes God’s judgment.

We should put out a clarion call. Let’s, let’s make a clarion call to the government of the people of Israel. A clarion call to the Palestinian people and say peace is possible! Peace based on justice is possible! And we are meeting today, and we will continue going on, calling for this, for your own sakes Israeli Jews, for your own sakes Palestinian Arabs. Peace is possible and we will do all we can to assist you in achieving this peace which is within your grasp, because it is God’s dream that you will be able to live amicably together as sisters and brothers, side by side because you belong in God’s family. Peace! Peace! Peace!
(applause – standing ovation)

Posted by Matt Snyders at October 4, 2007 11:30 AM | Comments (15)

 

Banning Desmond Tutu

Filed under: Education

Matt Snyders' excellent piece detailing the University of St. Thomas' bewildering decision to rescind an invitation for Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu to speak on the campus was picked up by both daily newspapers today. While the Pi Press went the classy route by citing the original CP story, the Strib simply stole the scoop.

Posted by Paul Demko at October 4, 2007 11:06 AM | Comments (1)

 

Pawlenty more popular than ever(?!)

Filed under: Politics

The Strib released a poll today showing 59 percent of Minnesotans approve of Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Which is to say that despite the bridge collapse, his double flip-flop on the gas tax increase, his slow response to the flooding in southeastern Minnesota, and the evident moral (and practical) bankruptcy of his no-new-taxes creed, his popularity is at its highest point since a month after he took office.

The governor also seems to have avoided stepping in the ripe turd that is George W. Bush's presidency. Among Democrats who "lean Democratic," Pawlenty scored 41 percent approval, compared with seven percent for the president.

And with John McCain's strong local numbers earlier this week, T-Paw's seemingly dashed vice presidential ambitions could well be back on track.

Which, it seems, would make most of us very proud.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at October 3, 2007 11:40 AM | Comments (0)

 

No deal: labor dispute at Pioneer Press continues

Filed under: Media

Negotiations between Pioneer Press newsroom employees and parent-company MediaNews Group on a new labor contract have made little progress. The union's five-year contract expired at the end of July. The Denver-based newspaper chain is seeking a slew of concessions, from cutting mileage reimbursements to eliminating restrictions on the use of freelancers to an overhaul of health-insurance benefits.

Last month the two sides agreed to fastrack negotiations in hopes of settling on a new contract by the end of this month. But no bargaining sessions have taken place since then.

Reporter Alex Friedrich, who serves on the union's bargaining committee, says they expect to sit down with the company around the middle of the month. "I'm hoping that we can narrow this humongous list of issues down to something that's reasonable," he says. "They seem like they're interested."

Posted by Paul Demko at October 2, 2007 11:59 AM | Comments (2)

 

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