After reading the stats and noting the fact that there is a HUGE difference between the population of the largest and smallest wards, I am also scratching my head on WHY the city collects stats on Hawaiians. Why aren�t they lumped with �other� when they constitute a miniscule fraction of our population (actually, what I�m WONDERING is why Hawaiians live in Minneapolis at all! Was it the lutefisk that lured them here from the South Pacific? Had to be)
Racism
Krasnoff says because we have two councilmembers who are nonwhite, ergo, we MUST not have institutionalized racism. Well, this does accomplish one thing. It does go a LONG way to explain why Americans are oblivious to racism. Sure wish we could get CM Johnson Lee on this board to explain to Krasnoff WHY her successful run for office is NOT a refutation of institutionalized racism.
Laurel Cushions
In 2000, a Strib article claimed Minneapolis was in a backslide that would have dangerous consequences. Steve Berg claimed that other cities were taking away our advantages. I wrote Steve today and asked if things don�t look different now that the dotcom bubble has burst. He said, yes, we were better positioned to ride that out but that our INFRASTRUCTURE was still falling behind. I had noticed he put arts and sports facilities in the area of �neglected social investment�. Somehow I thought that was the real point of the article, that public money wasn�t flowing into entertainment to an adequate degree. I wrote him back and asked him to show me ANY data that said public money in entertainment facilities made an area �cutting edge�. Now that I think about it, I think it is the opposite. When the BENEFITS of being cutting edge roll in, luxuries like entertainment are one of the REWARDS that absorb some of the money. But they aren't the very FIRST thing a thinking, caring city ought to think of.
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Jim Mork
Cooper Neighborhood
Crimes against Peace: namely, planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a Common Plan or Conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing; -- Nuremberg War Tribunal
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