St. Paul E-Democracy Links http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/links.html _________________________________________ Say, Mitch, if Ruminator doesn't have Ann Coulter on the shelf... I bet they could order it for you :)
Erin Stojan North End, Ward 5 --- Mitch Berg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > St. Paul E-Democracy Links > http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/links.html > _________________________________________ > > > At 02:16 AM 1/25/2004, List Manager wrote: > > >There appears to be some discussion about the city > organizing a low > >interest loan for Ruminator Books ($50,000 - > $100,000). Any comments or > >suggestions? > > I was about to write about this. > > I have always loved shopping at Hungry Mind, and > then at the Ruminator. It > is one of my favorite bookstores around (since > Odegaards finally tanked). > > But let's be straight about this: This is not just > a "low-interest" loan, > it's a *high risk* loan - as in nearly zero chance > of being repaid. Owner > David Unowski has made a lot of stupid, disastrous > decisions, and > squandered an unbelievable amount of money at a time > when the bookstore > market is, to say the least, changing. And it could > involve more than a > loan - Jay Benanav wants to *give* the store $50K > STAR grant, from > sales-tax funds. > > OK - so everyone who gasps in horror at the thought > of supporting business > through TIF, or giving money to sports teams for > stadiums - it's time for > an integrity check here. Does the city have the > right, much less the need, > to bail out a private business whose only real > problem is a complete > inability to run a successful business in a changing > market? > > Further question: Does anyone think, in a million > years, that Jay Benavav > would be flying to the aid, Council Ex Machina, of a > bookstore that was not > noted as a huge supporter of acceptively > "progressive" causes? That > featured readings by P.J. O'Rourke and Ann Coulter > instead of Al Franken > and Michael Moore? > > Not a chance. > > Local bloggers Fraters Libertas have written about > this at greater depth. > > http://www.fraterslibertas.com/2004_01_01_archive.html#107496238800295579 > > No loan. No way. > > Mitch Berg > English major, outraged taxpayer > Da Midway! > > Shot In The Dark > The Truth about MNPOL > http://www.mitchberg.com/shotindark/2003_12_28_archive.html#107297559725691783 > > > > > _____________________________________________ > NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your > password - visit: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul > > Archive Address: > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ > _____________________________________________ > For state and national discussions see: > http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ===== ----------------------------------------- There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!--- Mario Savio ------------------------------------------ Erin Stojan North End, Ward 5 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/ _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/ _____________________________________________ For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract
