We get comments!

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On Minneapolis Park Board has pattern of problems with free speech, Meadowlark Lemon writes: Every couple of years the city council wags the dog, shakes down or shuts down viable, sustainable job growth to take the preassure of the issues they want to see slip through their cracks. If you think ‘the city’ isn’t going to exploit land now managed by MPRB then you haven’t been paying attention. MOREOn Ethanol, bugs, and drugs, commenters disagree vehemently. Anonymous #1 protests “So antibiotics are supposedly just another “normal” component of what goes into our mouths???? If antibiotics are approved as a “human food additive”, it’s proof positive that lobbying interests in the name of making money trump the interest of public safety.” Continue Reading

The power of speaking out

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This week on a 6 a.m. public radio station news I heard the broadcaster say that President Obama “and his wife” are in Europe. They are on Official Government Business. I wrote an email to the station’s news manager; he blamed AP “who should have known [her official title] better,” and apologized he hadn’t caught it.This morning on the 6 a.m. public radio station news that same broadcaster read, “President Obama and The First Lady.” Respectfully,Elizabeth Ellis Continue Reading

We get comments!

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If you think outdoor couches are a hot topic in Minneapolis, take a look at Pittsburgh, writes one reader:They won the Superbowl then took my couch away!!!Submitted by A guy from Pittsburgh (Comment on City could ban porch couchesIt sounds like Minneapolis students may be a little less, um, pyrotechnical than their Pittsburgh counterparts, but the most recent celebration led to this here: MOREOn a more serious note, a reader suggests growing your own — food, that is. Surviving the Recession: Food ProductionSubmitted by JakobO (Comment on State’s employers cut payrolls to weather recession)Let’s face it. The odds of recession have grown. Aside from cutting back our payrolls, there are other econo-friendly ways we can do to survive the recession. In these way you can your money and do something interesting. Continue Reading

Baseball ties that bind

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Jean Gabler writes: “I think it is always good to have a little baseball connection to the big events in life. My husband proposed to me at a Twins game, and I went into labor with our first child at a Twins game.” She already has her tickets for this year’s first and last games and will be keeping you up to date with a Knothole View through the season. Continue Reading

Figuring out DC

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“A Nobel scientist is more likely to figure out Washington than a career politician is to figure out how to deal with carbon sequestration.” — Dan Leistikow, the Energy Department’s director of public affairs, on Steven Chu’s adjustment to his new job as energy secretary, quoted in the New York Times. [Hat tip to Ken Bearman] Continue Reading

Housing prices: Stabilize the market or let them fall?

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Stopping the free-fall: Stabilizing Minnesota’s housing market, with its proposal for the Minnesota Home Values Guarantee Program sparked comments from readers who disagreed with the proposed solutions. What do you think? Read their comments and add yours. Andrew wrote:
The problem with stabilizing housing prices is that they are too high. If we try to keep them where they are, then average people will not be able to afford to buy a house. Continue Reading

Your Turn: Talk back on the state of the city in Minneapolis

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Mayor Rybak gave the state of the city speech March 25, Scott Russell wrote about it in the TC Daily Planet, and now it’s your turn to have your say. Tell us what you think — as a comment, as an op/ed article, in an email or in a video. Take a minute to give your feedback to Mayor Rybak, to TCDP readers, to anyone who is concerned about the state of the city in Minneapolis. Tell us what’s on your mind, what you think of the mayor’s speech, what you see as priorities, problems and solutions. • What do you want the leaders of the city’s new economic roundtable to understand about your current work situation?• The city has major roles in providing pubic safety and quality local roads. Continue Reading

Bachmann wants Minnesotans ‘armed and dangerous’ against Obama energy policy

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During a radio show on Saturday, Rep. Michele Bachmann described herself as a “foreign correspondent on enemy lines” in Washington, D.C. The Republican congresswoman went on to tell WWTC-AM:
I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us, having a revolution every now and then is a good thing, and the people — we the people — are going to have to fight back hard if we’re not going to lose our country. And I think this has the potential of changing the dynamic of freedom forever in the United States. Smart Politics notes it’s not the first time since the election of President Obama and a new Democrat-led Congress that Bachmann dubbed her conservative compatriots “foreign correspondents reporting to you from enemy lines.” The metaphor, combined with her “armed-and-dangerous” rhetoric, drifts close to Sean Hannity’s excited speculation about a militant right-wing reaction. But if she sounded like any kind of journalist, it was a 1950s writer for the show-biz rag Variety. Continue Reading

Talking about youth employment

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Responding to Neighborhood Youth Corps: Lessons for Recession:I have been talking about this for years! In my neighborhood there are seniors who just cannot mow/shovel/paint/plant, and who can pay for help if it is reliable and safe. Then maybe they can stay out of assisted living and in their own homes that much longer. And maybe some of the teens revving their engines could find something more interesting to do, as well. In the same vein, a screening program for people looking for roommates, or to rent out part of ther house (or trade household chores for rent) There are so many possibilities that would be helpful in all directions. Continue Reading