Do the media have an anti-arts bias?

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“True to form, Congress has loaded the [bill] with hundreds of billions in wasteful spending. The bill includes…$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts…[it’s] just old-fashioned waste.” (Op-ed in the Indianapolis Star)”The National Endowment for the Arts would get $50 million for new exhibits to deem America racist and sexist.” (Op-ed in the Norwich Bulletin)”The National Endowment for the Arts, for example, is in line for $50 million, increasing its total budget by a third. The unemployed can fill their days attending abstract-film festivals and sitar concerts.” Continue Reading

Today’s best Minnesota headlines

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Today’s headlines included some real winners:Minnesota Daily: Student cited for fake ID vomits in police carAnd this is news because? WCCO: ‘Vampyre’ Jailed After Allegedly Harassing TeenHe’s also a former gubernatorial candidate. Pioneer Press: Willmar man faces felony in fox urine caseActually, the night goggle charges trump the fox urine attack. MinnPost: Transportation is metro’s biggest concern, says group in charge of transitThe Met Council thinks (or says that we think) transportation concerns are number one. I wonder what a survey by the Department of Education would find? Continue Reading

What did they say? Gang-bang packages and foo foo dust

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Politicians make some over-the-top remarks from time to time, and last week a few quotes at the state capitol left observers wondering, “What did they say?”
Southern Minnesota Republicans had some choice words about adult parties and drugs. “Rochester has put together a gang-bang package,” said Sen. David Senjem, R-Rochester, of a reception put together by the city last week for Rochester Day at the State Capitol during Senate announcements on Monday. Hosting an adult party doesn’t seem at all like the modest city of Rochester. “I just think that this is so much foo foo dust that that’s coming out with all of these numbers,” said Sen. Dick Day, R-Owatonna referring to the estimates by Rep. James Oberstar for how much money Minnesota could see from the federal stimulus package. Foo foo dust is slang for crack cocaine. Continue Reading

Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey: Hero or victim?

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Last Thursday I posted a brief blog entry about an event that was bizarre even by St. Paul Winter Carnival standards: Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey, in town with the World’s Toughest Rodeo, was officially knighted (so now that’s Sir Whiplash, thank you very much) by Winter Carnival royalty.The blog touched a nerve with at least a couple of readers. I demeaned myself and the Daily Planet, wrote one reader, by giving publicity to the rodeo. “The constant abuse that these poor animals receive every day of their lives is horrible. Did you know that Whiplash has his hands wired to the harness attached to the dog he is riding?”Another reader piped up to defend the rodeo. Continue Reading

City Council fiefdoms? Starved to death or stabbed in the back? What’s going on in Minneapolis?

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City council members Paul Ostrow, Don Samuels and Ralph Remington have stirred up a hornet’s nest with proposals to fundamentally transform city government. Their three proposals: 1) replace the elected Park Board, which has actual decision-making authority, with an advisory board. 2) Eliminate the elected Board of Estimate and Taxation3) Create a city manager and change the supervision and reporting structure of city government so that departments all report to the new city manager rather than to city council committees. We reprint some of the initial reactions from Minneapolis E-Democracy below, and invite you to join in the debate. MinnPost comes out pretty clearly in favor of the proposal, headlining it as an initiative to streamline Minneapolis operations and asking in the lead paragraph, “Can Minneapolis afford the antiquated bureaucracy that seems often to hang as an anvil around its neck?” Continue Reading

Cut to the chase: Budget impact on higher ed in Minnesota

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To cut to the chase, the Governor proposed cutting MnSCU’s general operating fund base by $146 million, or 10.7%. It would be up to the MnSCU Board to figure out how to apply the cuts.There is no recognition of inflation or enrollment growth. The Governor urged the legislature to “institute a firm cap on tuition”, but he did not make any recommendation on what the tuition increases should be capped at.To put this in perspective, to make up the shortfall it would take:Over a 25% increase in tuition over the next two years, or the layoff of about 975 faculty in MnSCU. If the shortfall was made up half through faculty cuts and half through tuition increases, it would require the layoff of about 488 faculty and a tuition increase of 12.5% over the biennium. If MnSCU solved the shortfall with faculty layoffs alone, it would mean a reduction of around 10,000 course sections—and make it very, very difficult for students to get through in four years. Continue Reading

We’ve got comments

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Among this week’s many reader comments:Simple question, simple solution for I.T. at U of M: Give Me the $20K and I’ll Give You A New Name. “College of Engineering and Sciences.” Now where’s my money?Not so simple: Minn. Stat. 116.07 isn’t related to xmsnOld arguments never die: The boomer approach to Vietnam? Cripes, we had been helping the french try to hold onto that expensive piece of real estate (to them) since 1951, and when they couldn’t defeat them with our assistance of bombs, tanks and what have you, proceeded to bomb and expend as much firepower as the allies did during ww2. Continue Reading

Minnesotans on the inauguration

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Reflections from Minnesotans, far and near.The Uptake is at the RiverviewPhyllis Stenerson – With audacious faithColette Davidson – Watching from FranceDwight Hobbes – Not happy with ObamaAnne Nicolai – Standing room only and tearsMinnesotans in DCMary Jane LaVigne – Stand-up, Let-go: Inauguration at the RiverviewPhotos from the Riverview by Deb Pleasants. Click here to view slideshow in large format.Jennifer Godinez – My Day at Obama’s Inauguration

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The Uptake is at the RiverviewBy Christian Torkelson –On January 20th 2009 an eager and ecstatic crowd gathered at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis to watch Barack Obama assume the Presidency. Follow along as the crowd reacts to key events during the days ceremonies and Obama’s inaugural address. The Uptake is at the RiverviewPhyllis Stenerson – With audacious faithColette Davidson – Watching from FranceDwight Hobbes – Not happy with ObamaAnne Nicolai – Standing room only and tearsMinnesotans in DCMary Jane LaVigne – Stand-up, Let-go: Inauguration at the RiverviewPhotos from the Riverview by Deb Pleasants. Click here to view slideshow in large format.Jennifer Godinez – My Day at Obama’s Inauguration
Phyllis Stenerson – With audacious faith
“Happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again, let us sing a song of cheer again, happy days are here again!” Continue Reading

Blow by blow, ballot by ballot

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The Daily Kos writes that the “smell of desperation is approaching lutefisk levels in MN. (EPA warning for elevated levels of airborne toxins).” The Strib reports that the Coleman camp rejected 59 of 60 absentee ballots that elections officials in St. Louis County said should be counted. Among those rejected by the Coleman reps was election judge Shirley Graham, who voted absentee because she is an election judge in a precinct other than her own. Continue Reading