Aquatennial Torchlight Parade seeks Group Volunteers
From:
Charlie Casserly
Date:
04:19 UTC
Short link
The Aquatennial's CenterPoint Energy Torchlight Parade is
Wednesday, July 23, and has openings for Groups of Volunteers
to work in pairs, walking the parade as banner carriers,
holding signs saying "Best Band," "Best Float," etc.
We can pay a group of 10 volunteers $100, or 20 volunteers
would receive $200! If you know a of group, association or a
team that needs a quick fundraiser, this might be great fun.
All the usual volunteer benefits too such as free food and
beverages, and the great volunteer party at the Target
Fireworks Saturday the 26th. Gotta be 16, and all have to show up!
Wednesday, July 23 from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Dunwoody parking
lot is check-in. Please reply to Charlie Casserly, Aquatennial
Volunteer Coordinator, at .
Good luck to the racers at the Milk Carton Boat Races Sunday!
Charlie Casserly, Sena
Aquatennial Volunteer Coordinator
612-656-3820
7/20/08 Headlines: Art with your coffee; School gardens; Food and ethanol; Complaining about cops
From:
Mary Turck
Date:
Jul 19 23:04 UTC
Short link
SUNDAY, July 20
HEADLINES
Want some art with your coffee?
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/11983
by Sheila Regan, TC Daily Planet
One day you may find yourself sipping your triple low-fat half-caf
espresso with a shot of hazelnut and dollop of whipped cream. You'll
be typing away at your laptop and you'll look up and there on the wall
will be a painting that will catch your eye. You'll stand up,
appreciating the gem that was there all along, but that you never
noticed before, and you'll decide it would go perfectly in your living
room. So you'll inquire of the barista, after you bus your dishes,
and you'll arrange to purchase the painting.
The case for community gardens
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12801
by Clara Peterson, Minnesota 2020
The garden at Loring School is an example of one of those few communal
community gardens. Its story begins with a program called Kid's Cook,
an optional after-school cooking class that volunteers Robin Krause,
Starla Krause and Susan Telleen started teaching five years ago at
Loring Elementary School in Minneapolis. Eager to help students
understand and appreciate the origins of food in this age of pre-
packaged, processed meals, they focused on the basics of home cooking
from scratch. Children learned how to cook a chicken, roast
vegetables, bake bread, and make a variety of healthy foods like
vegetable stock for soup and curry.
Leaked food price report pushes ethanol debate
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12890
by Clarise Tushie-Lessard, Minnesota Daily
The University has done controversial studies on ethanol in the past,
but a World Bank report leaked in early July pressed the debate even
further.
Complaints against cops frustrating but necessary
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12785
by Joel Grostephan, Mshale
Although it may take years for complaints against Minneapolis police
officers to be resolved, and only a few result in any disciplinary
action or victim compensation, city officials and civil rights
activists encourage immigrants to file formal complaints.
INSIDE THE DAILY PLANET
Natural-born leader
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12777
by Pam Taylor, Minnesota Women's Press
When Nancy Hone was 16 years old, her speech teacher asked the class a
question that changed her life. The shy teenager shocked even herself
as she shot her hand high in the air after being asked who would one
day be famous. Only two students raised their hands and she couldn't
believe she had the confidence to be one of them.
Readers, Writers and Books
Summer reads
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12774
by Glenda Martin, Minnesota Women's Press
Do you have a definition for "summer reading"? Some seem to suggest it
is a quick, pulls-you-in, you-can't-put-it-down read. Others might
indicate it's the time of year when a favorite author's novel or a
current 2008 book is waiting to be picked up for a relaxed read.
Book note: Wang Ping spans cultural chasm with <i>Last Communist
Virgin</i>
http://tcdailyplanet.net/node/12620
by Dwight Hobbes, TC Daily Planet
To span the cultural chasm between China and the U.S., Wang Ping
invokes a universal premise: lives unsettled by change and souls
determined to find harmony in an unstable world.
NEW IN BLOGS
What? Wasn't Phil Gramm available yet?
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12894
by Rich Broderick, July 19, 2008 Had to chuckle at the news that
Eric Schultz, former national spokesperson for the 2008 John Edwards
primary campaign, and a state communication director for the 2004
Kerry Presidential run, has decided after what is described as
intensive lobbying by DNC mandarins to swoop into Minnesota and help
rescue Al Frankens Senate campaign, officially labeled by the
Washington Post a couple of days ago as foundering
Loni Anderson to be immortalized on Hennepin
http://tcdailyplanet.net/node/12881
by Jay Gabler, TC Daily Planet
Hennepin Avenue will soon be home to our very own Walk of Fame,
wherein artist-designed terrazo plaques will remind downtown
denizens of the several Minnesotans who have gone on to achieve at
least a middling level of national name recognition. Loni Anderson
isnt even the first to be honored! She may be a former Miss
Roseville, but she still has to wait her turn behind Albert Leas
Marion Ross (Ritchies mom on <i>Happy Days</i>, and the voice of
SpongeBobs grandmother) and New Ulms Tippi Hedren, the <i>Birds</i>
star turned animal rescuer.
And a Feliz Party to You Too
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12697
by Daniel Cubias, 6/28/08 Youre no doubt familiar with this phrase.
Many times, Ive walked into a celebration and been greeted with the
shout Happy party! Happy party! And then everybody hugs.
Fringe top 10#2: No Refunds Theatre Co.
http://tcdailyplanet.net/node/12882
by Matthew A. Everett, TC Daily Planet
Im coming late to this party. After all, No Refunds Theatre already
had quite a following for its Fringe hit Kung Fu Hamlet. And they
amused the hell out of me at last years Fringe fundraiser, Five
Fifths of The Wizard of Oz. But after seeing two really great No
Refunds productions in less than six months (Sun Tzus The Art of War,
and Whats Done In The Dark), I am a convert.
Mpls libraries part of Gates' Study
From:
cheryl luger
Date:
Jul 19 21:29 UTC
Short link
With 6% of Mpls' operating budget being transfered this year (and following
years) to Hennepin county library budget and 4% of city's budget targeted for
library capital debt repayment, Mpls. residents may find the Gates study
informative. Article andl Link provided by the Mpls. Friends of the Library.
link to Gates' study:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6578876.html
There is an informative section on the attitudes of elected officials (Mpls..
participated, but no names listed of those participating in the survey).
best wishes,
cheryl luger
nokomis east
"...Minneapolis Featured in a National Library Support Study
An important new report on public library support across the country was
released this week by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). The report
explores the connection between public perceptions of libraries and community
support for them...."
Neither Democrat nor Republican
From:
Michael Cavlan
Date:
Jul 19 16:51 UTC
Short link
Second Attempt to Post
Minneapolis Specific comment.
Bill, I obviously agree with what you say.
The obvious gerrymandering of Dean Zimmermannn and Natalie Johnson-Lee and
then the obvious set up of Dean Zimmermann was and still is, one of the
most shameful moments in Minneapolis political history.
If we had a paper that was worth a damn, these issues would have been
addressed.
However, the Start Tribune has proven to be the corporate friendly piece of
garbage
that many os us progressives have charged for decades.
Which is why it is a Democratic Party mouthpiece. With the credibility of say,
Cable
Fox News. Or indeed Air America radio.
Thank you Bill, you have given myself and others someone to vote for.
Jussie Ventura was right about what he said on Larry King. It is staged. The
entire
political process. The sooner people wake up to that reality, the sooner we can
start
to take our country and democracy back.
From the corporate crooks who have stolen it and corrupted the media to the
extent
that it is.
Good luck and give them hell.
Michael Cavlan
Powderhorn
Historic Wirth House Tours Today
From:
Joan Berthiaume
Date:
Jul 19 16:11 UTC
Short link
Minneapolis Parks Legacy Society will give free interpretive tours of the
THEODORE WIRTH HOME AND ADMINISTRATION BUILDING NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
Today, Saturday, July 19, 2008, 3954 Bryant Avenue South, Lyndale Farmstead
Park,
Minneapolis, 55410
Program at Noon, followed by free tours until 4PM
. THEODORE J. WIRTH, FASLA, will welcome you at his Grandfather’s historic
home and offices.
FIND OUT why the park board built this home for Theodore Wirth and his
family.
HEAR stories and VIEW historic photographs to see how the Wirth family
lived.
SEE the offices where Theodore Wirth’s designed the Minneapolis Park System.
LEARN how Wirth exercised his genius to design and develop the Minneapolis
Park System to become the Best Park System in the Nation.
VISIT Lakewood Cemetery and the Wirth family’s gravesites, within view of
the Wirth House.
FIND OUT why the Wirth family became known as ---
AMERICA’S FIRST FAMILY of PARKS for THREE GENERATIONS.
See you at the park!
Ted Wirth and Joan Berthiaume, cofounders
Minneapolis Parks Legacy Society
Joan Berthiaume
Minneapolis Annexation history
From:
John Wilson
Date:
Jul 19 15:33 UTC
Short link
Two questions re: annexation history:
1) What was the motive behind the 1985 annexation of that tiny piece in the
northwest corner? Wasn't it part of Brooklyn Center or Robbinsdale? Didn't they
object?
2) Some modern-day maps show the part of the 1922 annexed area that is Airport
property as being outside the city limits. Was it ever actually "de-annexed" or
is it just shown that way because as a practical matter the Airport is a
seperate entity?
Jon Olson running for 58A
From:
Christine Viken
Date:
Jul 19 09:19 UTC
Short link
Regarding Pk. CM Jon Olson's candidacy, Justin wrote: "I will be very
interested
to see issue statements and, well, his website in general, once the
commissioner
gets it up and running."
Keep in mind that someone can state whatever they want on their website, but CM
Olson does have a record established at the Park Board that can shed light on
his attitudes, etc. It's helpful to look at what a candidate has done, not
just what they say they will do.
For some examples of the record:
"Calling VP Mondale a NIMBY"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IQXpzZGRqGg
"Park Board Pres. Quashes Free Speech" (Civil Liberties Union spoke up on this
misstep)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uOQz5O9LvAE
Historic House Tours today
From:
Joan Berthiaume
Date:
Jul 19 06:01 UTC
Short link
Minneapolis Parks Legacy Society will give free interpretive tours of the
THEODORE WIRTH HOME AND ADMINISTRATION BUILDING NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
Saturday, July 19, 2008, 3954 Bryant Avenue South, Lyndale Farmstead Park,
Minneapolis, 55410
Program at Noon, followed by free tours until 4PM
. THEODORE J. WIRTH, FASLA, will welcome you at his Grandfather’s historic
home and offices.
FIND OUT why the park board built this home for Theodore Wirth and his
family.
HEAR stories and VIEW historic photographs to see how the Wirth family
lived.
SEE the offices where Theodore Wirth’s designed the Minneapolis Park System.
LEARN how Wirth exercised his genius to design and develop the Minneapolis
Park System
to become the Best Park System in the Nation.
VISIT Lakewood Cemetery and the Wirth family’s gravesites, within view of
the Wirth House.
FIND OUT why the Wirth family became known as ---
AMERICA’S FIRST FAMILY of PARKS for THREE GENERATIONS.
See you at the park!
Ted Wirth and Joan Berthiaume, cofounders
Minneapolis Parks Legacy Society
North Minneapolis Crime and Community Vengence
From:
Eric Pone
Date:
Jul 19 05:42 UTC
Short link
I have been really challenged by crime and its ballet with social isolation of
the poor and working classes within middleclass communities. Over North we have
focused a lot on physical blight and its impact on crime. Much of what we have
discussed goes around the concepts that if we crack down and put them away our
problems would decrease. But.. what if its exactly the OPPOSITE! Well the blog
Freakonomics quoted from a working paper by Naci Morcan on the concept of
vengeance. I am appending from Freakonomics their citation of the abstract.
Does Naci have a point? How does the Northside react if he is right? How does
this impact issues of crime and education?
This paper investigates the extent of vengeful feelings and their determinants
using data on more than 89,000 individuals from 53 countries. Country
characteristics (such as per-capita income, average education of the country,
presence of an armed conflict, the extent of the rule-of-law, uninterrupted
democracy, individualism) as well as personal attributes of the individuals
influence vengeful feelings. The magnitude of vengeful feelings is greater for
people in low-income countries, in countries with low levels of education, low
levels of the rule-of-law, in collectivist countries, and in countries that
experienced an armed conflict in recent history.
Females, older people, working people, people who live in high-crime areas of
their country, and people who are at the bottom 50 percent of their country’s
income distribution are more vengeful. The intensity of vengeful feelings dies
off gradually over time. The findings suggest that vengeful feelings of people
are subdued as a country develops economically and becomes more stable
politically and socially and that both country characteristics and personal
attributes are important determinants of vengeance. Poor people who live in
higher-income societies that are ethno-linguistically homogeneous are as
vengeful as rich people who live in low-income societies that are
ethno-linguistically fragmented. These results reinforce the idea that some
puzzles about individual choice can best be explained by considering the
interplay of personal and cultural factors.
Join us in the Aquatennial Torch Light Parade
From:
Barb Lickness
Date:
Jul 19 01:44 UTC
Short link
As part of the City of Minneapolis Sesquicentennial Celebration, NRP is hosting
a float in the Aquatennial Torch Light Parade next Wednesday July 23rd. You are
invited to join with us and march in the parade. Our float (graciously loaned
to us by the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood) is a model Mississippi River paddle
boat. (After extensive renovations it is very cute if I may say so myself) The
theme of our contingent is "Jazzin' up Minneapolis Neighborhoods".
NRP will host a "tailgating" party in our parking lot at 2nd Street South and
5th Avenue So. (kitty corner from the new McPhail School of Music and across
the street from the Depot) beginning at 5:00 p.m. We will shuttle people from
that site to the parade line-up site on Dunwoody Avenue (by the Walker Art
Center) Parking by the parade site will be limited and difficult so if you
can't make the tailgate try to walk or bus it there. Please try to be there by
7:00 p.m. The parade starts moving promptly at 8:30 p.m. No children under 10
are allowed to march in the parade. No pets.
Please wear your neighborhood t-shirt or carry a neighborhood sign. We will
have "Jazzin' up Minneapolis Neighborhoods" t-shirts available at both the
tailgating site and the parade site. When they are gone, they are gone so if
you really want one show up early.
Please let me know if you plan on marching with us or have physical challenges
that prevent you from walking and want to be on the float. e-mail me or call me
at 673-5216.
There will be music that will move the crowd as we walk down Hennepin. It's
going to be fun. Don't miss it. We have a special surprise!!! I found the song
"Minneapolis" that I was looking for and found a second song about Minneapolis
as well. Both are VERY COOL! The library nor the Hennepin County Museum have
these songs. (but they will now) It was a fun adventure looking for them. If
you don't want to be in the parade come and watch and celebrate 150 years in
the greatest City on the planet!
hasEML = false;
TC Daily Planet Headlines: Full of festivals; Growing kids in the garden; Fighting employment fraud; Bachmann vs. Planned Parenthood
From:
Mary Turck
Date:
Jul 19 00:42 UTC
Short link
SATURDAY, July 19
HEADLINES
A summer full of festivals
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12892
by Marion Gmez, TC Daily Planet
Be sure to check out some of these free and exciting festivals
happening in a neighborhood near you in the weeks to come, starting
with Rondo Days, Lake Street Festival, Fallout Arts Fest, Colombian
Independence Day, the Sister City Festival, and Highland Fest this
weekend.
Growing healthier kids and communities, in the gardens
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12778
by Clara Peterson, Special to Minnesota 2020
When I first heard the term "community garden," I pictured a big, open
plot in the middle of a neighborhood-a large garden accessible to, and
maintained by, any and all members of the community who would like to
help maintain it. In fact, community gardens take many forms.
<a href="">Judge approves rules that fight misclassification of
independent contractors
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12780
by Michael Kuchta, Workday Minnesota
An administrative law judge has given Minnesota the green light to
pursue its crackdown on the fraudulent misclassification of workers in
the construction industry.
Bachmann calls to defund Planned Parenthood
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12782
by Andy Birkey, Minnesota Independent
Rep. Michele Bachmann called for the defunding of Planned Parenthood
last week. In a "special order" floor speech organized by Bachmann and
Chris Smith, R-N.J., Bachmann called for an end to any federal money
for the network of reproductive health care clinics because Planned
Parenthood offers abortion services.
INSIDE THE DAILY PLANET
Twin Cities Dragon Festival 2008
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12834
by Ian Yue, KFAI
Dragon Boat Racing, while traditionally a Chinese sport, has spread
internationally and is an integral part of the annual Twin Cities
Dragon Festival.
OLM's board chair expresses disappointment with progress in OLM
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12802
by staff, The Liberian Journal
As if the leadership of the Liberian community in Minnesota is
struggling to find its bearings, major departments of the Organization
of Liberians in Minnesota, also called OLM, are slowing grinding to a
disappointing halt more than six months into President Kerper Dwanyen
Administration.
OLM's Kerper Dwanyen leaves for Liberia
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12803
by staff, The Liberian Journal
The Liberian Journal has confirmed that Mr. Kerper Dwanyen, President
of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota, will be leaving for
Liberia to pursue what he termed" Business opportunity".
Business news briefs
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12887
by Staff, The Bridge
Citgo closes to become Metro Petro; poles to be replaced for wi-fi;
Seward Redesign gets new digs, SNG nerw office mates; Resource Center
of Americas building to reopen.
NEW IN BLOGS
Interview with a vampire
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12689
by Paul, 7/3/08 Virtually every day, one or more of our interview
subjects postpones or just doesn't show (despite the standard 2-3
confirmation phone calls that precede each interview). Usually, their
excuses for bailing are lame, but today we had a good one.
Fringe Top 20 - #19 Culture Mesh Collective
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12883
by Matthew A. Everest
After seeing Culture Mesh Collective's first preview of "Trying Guilt"
at Fringe-For-All, I was still on the fence, but having seen a
followup preview at one of the libraries in St. Paul, I'm sold, and
there's two primary reasons why - the writing of Anton Jones, and the
acting of Christina Frank.
Fringe-For-All 2008
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12880
by Phillip Andrew Bennett Low
Fringe-For-All was a pretty wild time, as usual: a packed house of
enthusiastic theatregoers, and a rapid-fire smorgasboard of various
categories of lunacy.
Jon Olson running for 58A
From:
Justin C. Adams
Date:
Jul 18 21:17 UTC
Short link
I too would have preferred Peggy, and remain very sad about the circumstances
which led to her withdrawal from this race.
That said, I think commissioner Olson could mount a significant challenge. He
has difficulties to overcome, but the people in this district deserve someone
who will return emails and phone calls, who will stand up for residents rather
than special-interest "constituencies", and who will use their committee
assignments to get progressive/liberal results rather than using them to block
any potentially controversial bills. My more complete opinion on this subject
is available at mnblue.com <a href=http://mnblue.com/blog/259>here</a>.
I will be very interested to see issue statements and, well, his website in
general, once the commissioner gets it up and running.
Institutional racism & public schools
From:
Doug Mann
Date:
Jul 18 21:02 UTC
Short link
In a message dated 7/13/2008 5:29:38 PM Central Daylight Time,
writes:
> The Center for School Change worked with North Star faculty (along with
> several other Mpls district schools) for 4 years, beginning in 2001. I
> agree with Mr. Mann that North Star had a number of terrific senior faculty
> who provided marvelous modeling and mentoring for younger teachers.
I never said that North Star had a number of terrific senior faculty
who provided marvelous modeling and mentoring for younger teachers.
Though North Star's senior faculty may be deserving of praise, it wasn't
their modeling and mentoring that rapidly improved the quality of
instruction at North Star, according to a report to the Board several
years ago, from a North Star teacher who said that the key to turning
things around at North Star was keeping the team of mostly young teachers
together for a few years. The district did get a commitment from teachers
at North Star and Hall elementary schools to stick around for at least a
few years, and the district supported these teachers in ways that
helped motivate the teachers to not leave those schools. Success
was also a great motivator: Teachers became more satisfied with their
jobs as they became more effective, and student outcomes improved.
The district needed a couple of model minority schools to demonstrate
that schools attended by very few or no white and middle class
students could educate 'at risk' students as well, or even better
than the district's other schools. Why? The NAACP lawsuit against
the state of MN argued that high-poverty, high-minority
schools were inherently inferior. As former Board member Ross
Taylor put it, black kids don't have to sit next to white kids in
order to learn. And Ross Taylor was right. However, racial
segregation is clearly a means by which black students can
be deprived of an 'adequate' education.
In theory, school don't have to be racially integrated in order provide
an education of comparable quality to all students, regardless of
race. However, in practice, the Minneapolis Public Schools have
failed to provide more-or-less equal accommodations to a majority
of black students who are concentrated in schools that few whites
attend.
Once the NAACP settled its education adequacy lawsuit with
the state in 2000, the school district no longer needed any model
minority schools, and soon began to signal its intention to
shut down North Star school. North Star's attendance area
was shrunk and parents residing outside the attendance area
were discouraged or prohibited from enrolling their children
in North Star as an alternative to their neighborhood school.
Another example: In 1998 Sheridan Fine Arts school posted
impressive results on the Minnesota Basic Standards reading
exams. The eighth graders taking the test at Sheridan had
scores comparable to those registered by schools in Edina
and Minnetonka. That raised the district average a good bit.
You might think the district administration and Board would
approve of that, support it, and try to make the same thing
happen in other schools. Instead, the district quickly moved
to shut down an after-school tutorial program set up by the
teachers on their own initiative (and on their own time). The
teachers who played a key role in strengthening the schools
program of reading instruction were dispersed.
Why would the district want to shut down or sabotage programs
that work for so-called 'at risk' students, such as low-income black
students? The district gets compensatory money from the state
and federal government, based on the idea that its designated
at risk students are hard to educate. The at-risk students are
damaged by poverty, a cultural of poverty, and other things, or so
the argument goes. What happened at North Star, Hall, and
Sheridan suggests that most of the so-called at-risk students
are really not so badly damaged as the district administration contends.
-Doug Mann, MPS Board candidate, King Field neighborhood
Why fewer MPS students, less revenue?
From:
Doug Mann
Date:
Jul 18 19:32 UTC
Short link
In a message dated 7/13/2008 11:21:36 PM Central Daylight Time,
writes:
> The biggest reason for the exodus [of Hmong students] was because of bus
rides.
>
> Like other Minneapolis high schools, North high had a two mile exclusion
> zone: you had to live more than two miles away from North High to
> qualify for a bus ride. Most Hmong Thai students had to walk, many
> almost two miles.
>
> The Hmong Thai were very worried for their safety. A Hmong girl had
> been murdered and stuffed into a van while on her way to school. Many
> students had to walk past known drug houses. Many Hmong Thai had to
> walk across Broadway, a favorite route for morning commuters to find
> prostitutes before heading into the office. Hmong Thai girls were
> propositioned.
While canvassing the North Side as a school board candidate,
many parents voiced concerns about safety, and wanted their
children to take a bus to their designated neighborhood school,
but the district no longer provided bus service.
In the school board candidates forum at Washburn High School
in 2002 I spoke out against the cuts in bus service, warning that
this would do the district more harm than good financial because
many parents would try to enroll their children in schools where
bus service was offered, including charter schools.
David Jennings, superintendent in 2003-2004, presented the
outline of a plan to charterize a large part of the public school
system. The district would get out of the business of running
schools, with the possible exception of the SW area public
schools and high performing public schools in other areas of
the city. Students leaving the public schools would be enrolled
in charter schools, and the district could lease out its empty
school buildings to the charter schools.
Charterization of much of the public school system along the
lines recommended by David Jennings appears to be a
strategic goal of the board. The last round of school closings
on the North Side left the remaining school buildings with
too little classroom space. This past year most of the district's
schools on the North Side were reportedly overenrolled. Actual
enrollment was much higher than had been predicted. And some
parents were reportedly encouraged to enroll their children in
charter schools.
Why did the issue of teacher-turnover get no attention in the
district's new strategic plan? The goal of bringing teacher-turnover down to
low levels in all schools was part of the district improvement plan
adopted in 2002, though that plan lacked baseline data, interventions,
and measurable goals and timetables related to cutting teacher turnover
rates. However, district research and experience with North Star and
Hall elementary schools indicates that cutting teacher turnover rates would
help to improve the quality of instruction.
-Doug Mann, Minneapolis School Board candidate, King Field neighborhood
Neither Democrat nor Republican
From:
Wizard Marks
Date:
Jul 18 18:28 UTC
Short link
Michael Cavlan: "I guess the progressive community are quite happy with Keith
Ellison and Al Franken. ... We get the government we deserve."
This is the quip always applied when third parties cannot muster the signatures
or votes to go through the elimination games/election process. To a certain
extent, it is true. But in the principle way, it is entirely false.
I think it was George Washington who warned that a two party system is not all
it's cracked up to be. The two party system is divisive on its face. Any third
party has to garner enough support to overthrow the smallest of the two
parties, thus becoming the very enterprise they railed against. We have spent
the last quarter century watching that happen on the national scene. The
religionists and right-most rapacious fringe took over what was once the
Republican Party to disastrous effect.
These instances, Al Franken and Kieth Ellison, are two different cases, neither
one of which warrants the quip. Kieth Ellison has had two years to get his feet
on the ground in Congress. For a freshman member of Congress, he's done fairly
well. He's an intelligent man with a good grounding in logic. He's also a DFLer
in a system which allows for only two parties. (Even the architecture of
Congress screams TWO PARTY!)
For the people of Ellison's district, he probably is better than whatever
opposition presents itself because of his two advantages, DFL endorsement and
incumbency. He now gives his constituency a leg up. If he were a disaster as a
congressman, his constituency would make short work of him, theoretically.
Al Franken, apparently, has out politicked his first opponents, Ceresi and
Nelson Pallmeyer. While I would have preferred either Nelson Pallmeyer or
Ceresi, the tyranny of the majority prevails. After watching a couple of
Franken commercials post convention, I've decided his face is what gives him
the edge. Franken has a comfortable face to look at, neither threatening nor
beguiling. He's also tall, which definitely helps in the world of instant film,
and he's mildly amusing. Luckily, he's way smarter than, say, Sonny Bono, who
was merely amusing and largely ignorable as a senator.
In the Franken case, we may be getting the the government we deserve although
he does present himself as adhering to the old-fashioned DFL values (when the
farmers and laborers were still prominent). But I would also argue that we are
getting television government and we seem to want that. (Think about Thompson,
who dropped out of the presidential race a few months ago. Even Reagan thought
he was dumb, yet he could get enough people on recognition of his bit part
face.) In truth, your Senator is not in his position to entertain you. He's
there to squeeze the federal treasury for goods and services for you. If you
are lucky, he/she will have sense enough to ask you what you want instead of
assuming you had agreed to want what he/she wants.
Franken's opposition within the DFL has faded. Ceresi, not a stupid man by any
measure, dropped out when he realized that he could not compete for the
attention of the electorate against Franken. Ceresi is a very button down
figure on the television, whereas tv is Franken's metier. Nelson Pallmeyer did
not have the money to compete against Franken, even though he was the most
progressive of the three. (This is the argument for government supported
elections. It allows the best and the brightest to at least be equally heard.
It gives the electorate an opportunity to think and evaluate.)
But it does sound like sour grapes, Michael, coming from someone who just
failed to make the playoffs. The Green Party hasn't been able to garner enough
members to invade the DFL successfully. It has not even kept what it once had,
the magic 5% to warrant state recognition. Mind you, the DFL is the larger of
the two parties, so it's going to take more to overthrow than it took Ronald
Reagan and subsequent tv owned no brains to swamp the GOP. Welcome to Orwell's
1984 (a.k.a. The Reagan Revolution), me hearties, it came right on time.
Neither Democrat nor Republican
From:
Bill McGaughey
Date:
Jul 18 16:42 UTC
Short link
Thanks, Michael Cavlan, for your comments. The Greens are rather unique among
parties in leading with a focused vision of the future. Our democracy would be
improved if ballot access for all political parties were eased and instant
runoff voting were adopted so that supporters of the Democratic and Republican
parties could not use the “spoiler” argument to squelch candidacies from
other parties. They offer the voters stones for bread and then complain that we
are stealing their votes.
In the early ‘90s, I had the privilege of submitting articles on
international trade to a national Green Party publication,
Synthesis/Regeneration. One, titled “A Labor and Environmentally Oriented
Trading System” appeared in the spring 1993 issue of that publication; the
other, “A Search for Trade Standards to Protect Labor and the Environment”,
appeared in the winter of 1996. Today, the concepts developed in those
articles are the heart of the program that I am proposing as a Congressional
candidate.
Locally I was involved with a group of landlords called Minneapolis Property
Rights Action Committee which played a part in the Greens’ amazing victories
in two Minneapolis City Council races in 2001: Natalie Johnson Lee’s victory
in the 5th ward and Dean Zimmermann’s victory in the 6th ward. To date, these
two elections represent a high water mark in my experience of citizen activism
going up against an entrenched structure of political power in what is
basically a one-party town.
The Independence Party has a rather different focus. It began in Ross
Perot’s presidential campaign in 1992 and the subsequent organization of the
Reform Party. In my views, the Perot campaign consisted of three issues: (1)
opposition to perpetual federal budget deficits, (2) opposition to NAFTA with
its “giant sucking sound” of jobs going south, and (3) sympathy for the
forgotten victims and veterans of the Vietnam war. As the Reform Party changed
into the Independence Party, it dropped its opposition to free trade. I would
say it lost its focus. Instead, it has adopted a platform consisting of 70
plus planks which individually are commendable but collectively amount to a
blur. I want to narrow the focus so that, in this campaign at least, voters
have a clear idea of what I stand for as an Independence Party candidate.
If the Republican Party were what it was 50 or 60 years ago, I might belong to
that party: a bunch of “old fogeys” who believed in balanced budgets, free
markets and business promotion, and “isolationism” (which I would call
“minding your own business” internationally) while also producing reformers
like Theodore Roosevelt and visionaries like Harold Stassen, one of the persons
most responsible for the creation of the United Nations. I would gladly accept
a president such as Dwight Eisenhower who liked to play golf when he might have
been shuffling through papers in the Oval office or Calvin Coolidge who in the
summer of 1928 took an entire month off to go fishing in northern Wisconsin -
provided that the country was prosperous and peaceful.
Instead, the years of the Bush-Cheney administration have been pure hell.
Whether it’s the disastrous Iraq war, the neglect of our veterans, the
foreclosure crisis, the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the $900
billion budget deficit and the $700 billion trade deficit, the costly
prescription-drug benefit, the “no child left behind” program, the torture
policies and violations of civil liberties, the lucrative no-bid contracts in
Iraq, etc. etc., it seems that everything Bush has touched has turned to ashes.
You know something is seriously wrong with this Republican presidency when
Julie Nixon Eisenhower contributes thousands of dollars to Barack Obama’s
campaign.
I continue to support free markets and economies regulated primarily by the law
of supply and demand. At the same time, government needs to regulate the
economy by impartial laws. As economic growth butts up against finite natural
resources, government needs to intervene in the free market by giving tax
incentives and subsidies to support renewable energy while imposing an
additional tax burden on consumption of petroleum and other nonrenewable
resources. If the government can get its act together, this would be the time
to push wind and solar energy and invest in battery technologies and
people-moving systems of public transportation in congested urban areas.
As a party which supposedly believes in the free-market economy, the current
Republican administration was run by three individuals who got rich through
their contacts with government rather than through honest free-market
competition: Bush himself who sold his interest in the Texas Rangers at a huge
profit after getting the Texas legislature to build that baseball team a new
stadium; Dick Cheney, formerly of Halliburton, who led the charge on the
wasteful privatization of U.S. military operations in Iraq; and Donald
Rumsfeld, who became CEO of the Searle drug company by virtue of his ability to
convince the FDA to approve its medications. This is corrupt capitalism. As
a pro-capitalist party, the Republicans need to come to grips with who they
have actually become.
If the Democrats were an effective “loyal opposition”, they would be
aggressively challenging all this in Congress instead of complaining that Ralph
Nader or someone else was on the ballot stealing their issues. When I listen
to the nominating conventions of the Green Party or the Libertarians, I hear
earnest proposals for government being discussed and not just vague references
to “health care”, “transportation”, or “education”, as if that
covers it. So, standing on the back of past Independence Party candidates such
as Tim Penny and Peter Hutchinson who exceeded the 5% vote requirement, I’m
proud to be someone out there in the political wilderness running for Congress
at a time when our country desperately needs to change its politics.
The renaissance of the tram
From:
Chris Johnson
Date:
Jul 18 16:23 UTC
Short link
For those who have an interest in the viability and usefulness of any sort of
rail-based transportation for Minneapolis, such as LRT, streetcars, trams, PRT,
etc., this article will probably be of interest:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,566419,00.html
It describes a large resurgence in usage and construction of tram lines in a
variety of French cities, and the many urban renewal benefits they are
accruing.
KIPP: a party to end all parties
From:
Dan McGuire
Date:
Jul 18 13:52 UTC
Short link
I'm going to jump on this band wagon with Kersten and CM Samuels even
though I'm somewhat dubious of his standing as a " good Democrat" who
"stands in stultified, singular loyalty to the current public school
solution" or that he has "actually fully paid obeisance to the stiffly
drawn lines of party politics."
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/25596404.html?page=2&c=y No
matter that, CM Samuels, lets have the party begin. Why don't we just
insist that the MPS put all African American kids in schools that are
comprised of all African America kids and are run by idealistic twenty
something white folks,: and have the schools run from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM
and Saturday mornings, too (that solves a lot of day care issues); and
make sure that the teachers all have cell phones instead of the
antiquated voice system the MPS is currently using; and insist that
discipline be enforced strictly; and minimize the curriculum offerings
to the very basic; and provide door to door bus service for all kids at
these schools. We'll leave the ELL kids, the special kids, all but 3%
of the white kids, and those requiring any other special services to the
"current public school solution." Oh yeah, and let's not forget to
funnel any extra money that comes in over the transom from conservative
union busting corporate sources directly to the schools and not bother
with that wasteful district administration. Sounds like a great plan to
keep our tax dollars where they ought to be. Let's not bother to wait to
see if KIPP can actually produce the results that their advertising
campaign claims. Let's not bother to examine independently their
results and practices-we've got lots of idealistic twenty something
white folks to churn through the KIPP system and we won't need to bother
with pesky retirement packages for them and we can keep benefits to a
minimum because they are twenty somethings. The MPS can give KIPP a
break on the rent because it has so many unused buildings; that's a real
win-win.
And then, after a year or two, we will be able to market our segregated
quasi public school system to other markets, kind of like the convention
and visitors software system. Let the party begin.
Problem w/ Mpls' TJ Waconia 'seizures' ?
From:
Michael Katch
Date:
Jul 18 12:39 UTC
Short link
Judge Blaeser denied Ms Yagger's on behalf of the Plaintiff's order to compel
and began discovery as of July 17th. This being the case, information that was
requested of 76 properties that the Plantiff requested wanted to admit into
evidence was previously denied. It was mentioned that Wells Fargo had similar
information on 36 properties and that they should have been in contact with
Wells Fargo as they are a client of Fabre and Benson, Ms Yagger's employer.
Wells Fargo had according to Ms Yagger agreed that they would not seek a
conflict of interest against Fabre and Benson. Ms Yagger wanted as a part of
discovery to know what information Sun Trust was providing to the new owners as
to code violation, property taxes and special assessments. As far as sale
already made all taxes owed would have had to be paid at the closing table in
order to provide clear Title. I don't believe any Title guaranty agency would
accept any thing less and any mortgagor would provide title insurance without
clear title. According to Mr Platt " there are no claims against Sun Trust" so
Sun Trust is current disposing of the homes in question as quickly as it can in
an attempt to regain some of their losses as they are not currently under any
court order.
Problem w/ Mpls' TJ Waconia 'seizures' ?
From:
cheryl luger
Date:
Jul 18 05:44 UTC
Short link
Sorry, Michael....
Michael's article, Terry's Mirror post.
best wishes,
cheryl luger
nokomis east