Terrell Brown mentions an important point. There is going to be a 30 percent increase in natural gas costs. If school buildings burn it to heat in the winter, something that can hardly be cut, how much teaching do the children lose so they don't have to shiver? If the insurance company that provides health coverage raises its premiums in double-digit numbers, how does that impact the instruction of Minneapolis students. In short, is "held harmless" double-talk considering the REALITIES of operating a school district? Politics is to a large degree about half-truths. I'm pretty sure there were lots of them in Pawlenty's budget defense. But since we're talking education in Minneapolis, that's what we have to look at. And on the surface, it seems likely that all "harmless" meant was simply not TOUCHING it even though such neglect did have ramifications for the ability to educate Minneapolis children.
Authority
All students should be trained to think critically. There is no NEED to teach them to be skeptical of authority if they simply are able to sort out the hogwash from the truth. Authorities routinely dispense a lot of the former, and the students (and the rest of us) need the ability to cope with that flow and not be misled. Uniforms neither help nor hinder that approach. Frankly, the "individualistic" clothing I see on kids isn't individualistic at all. I see hundreds of Brittney Spears knockoffs every week. They are already wearing a "uniform". And it is designed to make hormone-crazed boys even more distracted. If a uniform would get them out of that and the boys out of "gangsta rap" knockoffs, I think eveyone would be well-served. I really hate to see the brainwashing of commercial media working so well on them. They are being prepared to salivate everytime another PR campaign starts up. They need working brains before being subjected to that. By the way, if you want uniforms but not the kowtowing to authority implication, make the uniforms something cheap the kids like. I thought maybe the James Dean/Fonzi outfit of blue jeans and t-shirt. My family was poor but my father could afford that outfit. Heck, make it blue jeans and white t-shirts for BOTH sexes. Girls seem a lot less eager to wear skirts. So let 'em wear blue jeans. Very practical, and if you buy at Target or K-Mart, very inexpensive.
Molly's
Longfellow Community Council sponsored a public meeting with Molly's on the agenda. The owner of the building and the owner of the business name both attended. The story I have told is what they told all of us directly. And the Molly's owner said the new location was in ST PAUL. Now, I understood they hadn't signed a lease, so maybe there's a chance it would change, but I would guess they are going to St Paul because St Paul is THE Irish city! It really isn't a fault of Minneapolis as Vicky would have you infer, it is because they want to be where the IRISH are! Not our fault they aren't here in Minneapolis. And they won't be here in Minneapolis. What is too bad is when the one NORWEGIAN restaurant on Hiawatha closed when the INS chased the proprietor out of the country. Where was Vicky then????
Crime Forum
I'm planning to go to the Crime Forum tonight at 7pm (SW High). Anyone else?
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Jim Mork
Cooper Neighborhood
No bonds for colonial wars. Say "no pay no play" and spare the grandkids from a life of poverty.
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