Mark Wilde wrote:
Sure the Mayor has strong political views as an individual, but as Mayor I would
expect him not to be so partisan.
I assume that you've leveled similar criticisms at former St. Paul mayor Nahm Coleman,
chair of W's 2000 presidential campaign.
Robin Garwood
SE Como
Bill wrote:
If we choose to patronize companies based on the political beliefs of the
owner, that will push our most successful people out of politics. Who (in
their right mind) would take a public stand and risk loosing all they built
solely because they spoke out?
I prefer to believe that we
I'm not sure about capping private towing companies. I do, however, know how I feel
about towing done by the city: it's a regressive tax. Those of limited means tend not
to have off-street parking, and are therefore towed at a higher rate. Like all
regressive taxes (property, sales,
Chris Johnson wrote:
Is there any chance at all of getting such a change made to the city
charter?
Yes, there's a chance. If those of us who support the idea put in quite a bit of hard
work to get PR on the ballot. Having seen the process used to redistrict this city,
I'd imagine many
I could agree with what Mark wrote except for one thing: Sullivan (and Dayton, for
that matter) financed their campaigns largely with their own personal wealth. Until
we have a campaign finance system which does not reward the wealthy with easier access
to elected office, doing business with
Vicki:
I would argue that labor priced itself out of the free market. GM can't compete in a
global
economy - its costs are too high. Which is better, closing plants or going bankrupt?
There are numerous academic (and other) voices that trace problems at American auto
makers not to the high
As an undergraduate at the U, I'm helping with the push to find alternate locations
for classes in the event of a clerical workers strike. We're attempting to offer
students and professors the opportunity to continue their learning and teaching
without crossing picket lines.
Would any of our
Dennis wrote:
No one should suffer the type of assaults he's accusing the jailers of while in
custody. However, what amazes me is that this individual was STILL walking around
free when last arrested.
This is what makes ending police brutality so difficult. On no other issue is it as
easy
The differences and similarities between free markets and government are far more
complex than either Mark Anderson or Victoria Heller assert.
Firstly, free markets have tremendous coercive power. Capitalized interests make
decisions with tremendous real-life consequences for non-capitalized
There is a serious logical fallacy common to every example Jim, Renee and Barb have
tried to make analogous to the handgun. Here it is:
A handgun exists for one purpose. To put holes in human beings.
An automobile exists to move people around (though it is an extremely inefficient
method to
My understanding of Molly Quinn's situation is much the same as Jim Mork's, with one
slight difference. Here's the story I heard (from a friend and Molly Quinn's
employee):
Molly Quinn's was forced/decided not to continue renting on the same piece of land.
They had planned to remain a bar
Krasnov:
Isn't it time we expect a citizen of this city to give cops some slack?
What on earth for? If a law exists for a reason, it should be followed by every
sector of society and enforced equally. Infringements should not be overlooked based
on the status of the individual breaking the
Mark Anderson wrote:
You know, I tried before, to no avail, to fight this perception that property taxes
are 'unfair.'
Perhaps you're running into difficulties persuading people because you have a
different definition of fair than those you're trying to convince. In my opinion,
the measure
JC Harmon:
The woman interviewed on television the other night, relative to the
shooting of a toddler, had a nine-inch tattoo running up the side of her
neck.
Tattoos are a sure sign of gang membership, eh? Maybe Joan Campbell co. were right
to go after the Hard Times a couple years back -
First of all, Dyna, your application of the word yuppie as a pejorative to everyone
who shops at a local co-op not only crosses the line to inflammatory rhetoric, in my
view, but is also quite false. It's still eminently possible to buy cheap food at
North Country - buy your food in bulk.
N.I. Krasnov wrote:
Suburban culture, meaning the lack of gunfire, and Ghetto culture, meaning no lack of
gunfire, are equivalent?
All cultures are equivalent. To distill the culture of North Minneapolis to the
presence of gunfire - perpetuated by a tiny minority of the residents - is
Krasnov:
They are? Please explain.
Read a book on anthropology. It's not my job to educate you.
Krasnov:
Obviously it's not benign. Participants on this list complain about the violence. It
exists. West Bloomington is different from West Broadway in Minneapolis.
Of course. But if an
It's amazing to me that anyone thinks there's balance in the two party
system. I agree with Mary that the Minneapolis DFL hegemony is less than
healthy, but the two-party domination of our larger democracy is only
slightly better. We just elected a governor with less than 50% support for
the
I think I haven't fulfilled my quota of silly posts lately. I'm going to
remedy that situation with this one - and probably leave myself with a
ridiculo-debt for some time to come. Only serious posts for several
months, at least.
Anyway, here we go...
I've noticed a trend of amusing
Here we go...
Atherton writes:
I think that its fine to do the many small things we feel will change the
world (I do mine as well), but I also think that we need to introspect a
little about how much these actions will affect the lives of others and the
extent to which they are our own emotional
Atherton wrote:
To be consistent with your philosophy you need to move to a third world
country.
I hate when people criticize those who're trying to do *something* because
they can't do *everything*. Sure, we have infrastructure advantages and
corresponding opportunities not afforded to folks
It appears Jim decided to answer the first question in my previous post with
a resounding YES. The offense I took at his first post was not caused by
his choice to disagree with me on policy, or having a different
perspective on the issue of transportation. It stemmed directly from his
JIM GRAHAM wrote:
The anti-car people need to get real and stop trying to fight until there
is a viable alternative to automobiles. I am sorry but bicycles are not a
viable option for anyone but the crazy, the militant, or the desperate from
now until April each year.
Jim, do you consider your
Jim, you're off base on a number of points. First of all, Rep Kahn's bill
is squarely, obviously in the realm of Minneapolis issues: it allows
municipalities to decide for themselves whether to continue to restrict
voting or not, a decision we Minneapolitans can not currently make. Hence a
Michael, you've made numerous assertions and defended none of them.
The line must be drawn somewhere as to who are citizens and who are not.
Why? And, more importantly, why must this line be drawn in Minneapolis?
Even if one agrees with you that as a country (again, why are we talking
about
I'd like to publicly thank RT for joining more than 500 people of like mind
yesterday to protest the war against Iraq. According to MPR, he made quite
clear that he was only acting as a private citizen, not in his capacity as
mayor, but I consider this an effective use of the mayoral bully
The implication that we should totally ban automobiles, busses and anything
else that pollutes isn't very reasonable, either in Minneapolis or any other
major city.
Which would be a legitimate point, had Gary ever said anything about banning
motor vehicles. Since he hasn't, this sentence is
Unnecessary:
You're going a mile and a half. It's a sunny day. You own a working
bicycle, or have the time to make it a walk. You're of able body.
That's a pretty tame version, really. Today, in this cold nasty rain, I
biked the four miles to work, the three miles to school, the three miles
I second Diane Wiley on this one. And when the driver in the lane beside me
swerves to miss the median, I'm not insulated by a large steel cage... I
suppose MNDOT (or whoever is responsible) figured we need more opportunities
to create dead bicyclists in Minneapolis.
This irresponsible
David Asked:
Where are the other Minneapolis coffeeshops that have great play areas?
The Riverview Cafe, kitty-corner from the Riverview theater (both on the
corner of 42nd Ave and 38th St.) has a play area. They also have a story
time, from what I've seen posted on the door, though I don't
I realize this puts me squarely in the minority - it has for years - but a
meeting at a place with Vegan food options would make the outing much more
doable, for me. Ethiopian restaurants tend to be safe, though y'all chose
Lalibela last year, right?
Robin Garwood
Seward
-Original
Sorry it took me so long to respond to this...
Victoria Heller wrote, of campaign financing:
Those in the know make a $50 profit by applying for the political
contribution refund.
Sorry, Victoria, but the PCRP is not available to those who make donations
to candidates for Minneapolis offices.
Mark Snyder wrote:
I remember specifically when the St. Paul officer handed me my ticket, he
said that I should be careful to watch my speed in that area because
residents had been complaining enough about speeders to make it a high
priority for the St. Paul police.
This raises an important
I believe Ken is making a larger point than what you read, Wizard. True,
all of your strategies for dealing with speeders in neighborhoods are
wonderful ideas, and should be implemented by all involved and concerned
neighbors, especially through the block club or neighborhood system.
But why is
Jim's post strikes me as a perfect example of just how silly the concepts of
left, right, and center are, when used as political identifiers.
Perhaps they always have been, but they sure seem to be getting sillier by
the day.
One of Ed Felien's biggest issues in his race against Peter McLaughlin
I agree with Jason wholeheartedly. CM Johnson behaved terribly throughout
the meeting, in my opinion - at one point taking an inappropriately
accusatory tone with a Hispanic man whose son was recently beaten by the
police. She took him to task for not using the current CRA system which
she'd
Terrel Brown wrote:
MOST Minneapolis residents don't care. No one north of Lake Street and in
some areas north of Crosstown is affected by airport noise.
I live more than eight blocks north of Lake street in Seward, and I noticed
yesterday that I can't hold a telephone conversation with the
I agree with both sides on this issue. The school board may not be best
served by the current system of party endorsement in nonpartisan campaigns.
But the worst possible option is to expect voters to make a decision on too
little information. Party endorsement is a quick values-methods
Kate Carey wrote:
Is there a law about how much a tenants rent can be raised and how often?
No, but there should be. What percentage increase per year is reasonable?
Fifty? One hundred? Thirty-three and a third? Fifteen?
We as a city can and should have this discussion. And then we should
Alan Shilepski writes:
I disagree with people who would zone out entire groups from
participation in public life. I believe that if we are going to tax at
the rates we do, and hand out grants as generously as we do, then a
diversity of groups should have access to the largese, including some
Michael's point underlines what I was going to say: if human-power is an
option for accomplishing a given task, it is the best option. All of our
energy comes from somewhere, and the sad fact is that most of our sources
are almost deliriously unpleasant. Given the figures Michael quoted, it is
For Be Bop day (which I had never heard of until it was over) I, um, biked
to work. Good commuting, David, and thanks for the acknowledgement.
Bob, the one piece of advice I have for you is to bike as if you have a
right to the space. There is nothing less safe, in my experience, than
mincing
Here we go...
Michael Atherton writes:
Many of the kids in the movie ... may have been better off in the juvenile
justice system rather than ending up in prison for life.
The easiest way to find oneself in and out of prison for life is an early
introduction to the juvenile justice system.
Though I fully support the idea behind this - making clear the indirect,
unseen support from citizens that allows corporations to look like a better
idea than they really are - I think you'd be relatively hard pressed to find
a business that does not benefit somehow from government subsidies.
A few points about Representative Kahn's call for a continuation of the
mandatory nature of bicycle registration in Minneapolis:
-- The most important goal at this point is to remove from the MPD a power
they have proven they can and will abuse. If we can draft a measure do that
without
I take exception to Bob's assertion that it is the responsibility of
bicyclists to stay out of the way of automobiles. When the entire street
is clogged with auto traffic at all times - as most Minneapolis streets are
during rush hours - the only option would be not to bicycle at all. Given
An interesting thread between Alan and Brandon. A few thoughts:
I don't think you can accurately categorize opinions as groupthink that the
dominant culture outside a system does not hold to be true. Not only is our
state and national government not governed by the principles Alan listed, in
In the days after the police overreaction to the last Critical Mass, there
seemed to be some disagreement on the process of registering a bicycle in
Minneapolis. I wanted to share my recent experiences.
I bought my first new bike in years a week ago today. I asked the clerk at
the store about
I agree with Emilie that it would be ideal if our police officers lived
within the boundaries of our city. However, my understanding is that the
Supreme Court struck down municipal laws requiring residency of city
employees. Can someone out there let me know if this is the case? If I'm
wrong,
Constance Nompelis wrote:
I know of two other candidates: Steve Braa, a
Republican, and Luverne Turner, an Independence (I
think?) I don't know the ancestry of either. The last
time I checked with the Greens, (about a week ago)
they were not disclosing -at least to the Republicans-
who their
As far as I'm concerned, the recent actions of the MPD in the Dinkytown
riot underscore a conclusion that I find increasingly inescapable:
The Minneapolis Police Department is completely out of control.
Read David Brauer's recent article on the Critical Mass debacle. There's
one very
A note inspired by the recent thread on bicyclist pedestrian rights:
This month's Critical Mass is tonight, Friday, the 29th of March. It
convenes in Loring Park at 5pm (or at 4:30 on the West Bank end of
Washington bridge--on the top where bikes and pedestrians are welcome, of
course).
Officers of the Minneapolis Police Department were involved in the another
tragic death yesterday. I'm trying not to jump to any conclusions, but I
must say it doesn't look good. Here are a few observations I've taken from
the news reports I've seen and read:
1) According to police spokeswoman
Kudos to CM Zerby on pushing this necessary change. Recent events have
proven the need for an active Civilian Review Authority, with the power to
compel individuals--both officers and citizens--to appear before it.
However, we must bear in mind that the lack of subpoena power was only one
of
Michael Atherton wrote:
There's a simple solution to this problem: make the penalty for
first offense pedophilia a mandatory life sentence or the death
penality, then everything is legal and there's no violation of
civil rights. Then all you have to do is decide the age at
which it becomes a
Dave Piehl wrote:
The real question, though, is why this gentleman, who apparently sought
treatment in January after hearing voices in his head, was not treated for
his mental condition.
I agree that this is a real and valid question, but it is not the only
question we must answer. We must
A few points. Mr. Swift's belief that we are well past the point where
racist attitudes have precluded some racial minorities from receiving fair
and just treatment from the cops and society in general is really only
worth the words he strung together if he happens to be a member of one of
said
I agree with Matthew, Wizard, and Jordan on this one.
One of the points I took away from Jordan's post was that a limited
investigation of the individual police officers' behavior will most likely
exonerate them, since they were ostensibly following police procedures.
Therefore, an effective
Thomas,
I'm rather curious why this Brandon's campaign matters to you at all, since
you will not have the opportunity to vote either for or against him?
Just for the record, I think it's absolutely valid, reasonable, courageous
and therefore honorable to take a stand against war, when the
Bert Black wrote:
Given that inevitability, why not have legislation?
That's a good question, but it isn't the only one I'd like to have answered.
Here are the others, for me:
1) Why not have legislation (or the city version of that word) come from the
city level? If the need for a new
Is it just me, or is this topic less than narrowly focused on Minneapolis?
Robin Garwood
Marcy Holmes
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Michael Hohmann wrote:
Seems to me that effective oversight of the police rests largely within the
confines of our criminal and civil laws and court systems... Effective
litigation
should impose a self-regulating system based on cost-effective,
results-oriented policing.
If court action, either
Walt Cygan wrote:
The absolute last thing that the Police Department needs (IMHO) is to
try and be equally accountable to more than one authority.
It is a
nightmare. Can you imagine if in your job you reported to
one manager
Emilie Quast wrote:
AND, I think that posting their mug shots is just a great
idea, thank you
very much to whoever did it. Fools names and fools faces
are often seen
in public places as the doggerel has it. If the mug shots
are real, maybe
Sorry if this info has already made it to this list and I just didn't see
it...
Based on the recently published 2000 Census
Supplemental Survey, Minneapolis is ranked #1 in the
country for bicycle commuting with an estimated
average of 5,366 people riding to work each day on a
bike. That is a
Bruce Gaarder wrote:
It's quite clear that transportation related deaths are way down on a
deaths
per million passenger miles basis
I can believe and accept this assertion. However, it does not get to what,
in my opinion, is a fairly central question: why must we put in so many
Just so it's clear that I'm a good little Minneapolitan... I've
cleared this message for local-specificity with our manager. By reading,
you are not breaking the rules.
Terrell Brown wrote:
The Avidor assessment that drivers are bad, unfortunately
Michael Atherton wrote:
Ok, so maybe it's just the cynic in me, but is Ms. Kahn's concern about
one-person-one-vote somehow related to the success of the
Greens in
the last election? She has make it obvious that she still
harbors ill feelings
I second Mark's relief. Along with the looks of wow... one garners while
bicycling through the snow, not having to park in winter is one of the
greatest pluses to going car-free.
On a somewhat related topic: in this time of snow emergencies, it is
interesting to note that Josh Jore, the
Mark Wilde wrote:
quit asking the police to smile more, its naive.
Isn't it possible that some of what makes the job of
policing dangerous and dirty comes from lack of community integration in
the job of policing, and lack of community support for
Timothy Connelly wrote:
Do the residents of Stevens Square and Whittier who oppose this project
believe in the concept of change? Healing? Remission? Redemption?
This really isn't the question. The question is: is a segregated,
saturated environment the most conducive to healing, remission,
Could we possibly all make an attempt to leave hyperbole, unproven
aspersions, and unhelpful insults aimed at those with whom you disagree out
of future posts to the best of our abilities? I know I've dabbled in that,
too, but it really just serves to cloud the discussions with unnecessary
Robert Gustafson wrote:
Or is the city also supposed to have a
road way system and mass transit system for when the
bicyclists need them?
I think it is in no way unreasonable for the city to provide
adequate public transit options for
Thomas Swift wrote:
An obvious answer is to incorporate schools that are
designed specifically to meet the needs of
disadvantaged kids. Grouping kids allows us to put
resources directly where they are needed, and
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