Age of Austerity?
This is the term being bandied about in the media.
We are living in a new Age of Austerity.
Get it, America? The party is OVER. No more philandering and hoarding for you. No more giant profits, no more tax breaks. Welcome to the new normal, where everyone has to sacrifice (Right? RIGHT?!).
The Age of Austerity.
Screw that. Most of us are not living in a Wharton novel, and a nice little title that makes this sound sexy and elegant is not going to change that. I guess "Age of Public Austerity, " "Age of Middle Class Austerity?" and "Austerity! Now, with more Poverty!" were not considered, and "Age of Fleecing the 99% in the open, now that America no longer cares about evidence, data, and facts and is convinced that civil servants are the problem" is a bit too long.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
School Votes
Voters approve 70% of all school referenda; many raise own taxes
Can we set up a comparison to provide data on what happens to schools who got a "yes" and schools who got a "no"?Thursday, October 27, 2011
The Minnesota Legacy Fund & the Minnesota Vikings
Dear Minnesota Lawmakers,
The voters approved the Legacy Fund to "protect drinking water sources; to protect, enhance, and restore wetlands, prairies, forests, and fish, game, and wildlife habitat; to preserve arts and cultural heritage; to support parks and trails; and to protect, enhance, and restore lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater."
It is beyond a stretch to think that a private corporation such as the Minnesota Vikings could be included in this definition.
It would be a violation of the amendment, as approved by voters, to divert funds to a project that will benefit a small sector of the population.
It is furthermore a violation of the public trust to be diverting any public money to private interests such as sports franchises.
If you want to waste public money on a stadium, let the voters weigh-in.
Sincerely,
-kitty
Minnesota Legacy Fund
Minnesota Historical Society's page to take action
Art Rolnick MPR op-ed on Early Childhood Education or Stadium
The voters approved the Legacy Fund to "protect drinking water sources; to protect, enhance, and restore wetlands, prairies, forests, and fish, game, and wildlife habitat; to preserve arts and cultural heritage; to support parks and trails; and to protect, enhance, and restore lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater."
It is beyond a stretch to think that a private corporation such as the Minnesota Vikings could be included in this definition.
It would be a violation of the amendment, as approved by voters, to divert funds to a project that will benefit a small sector of the population.
It is furthermore a violation of the public trust to be diverting any public money to private interests such as sports franchises.
If you want to waste public money on a stadium, let the voters weigh-in.
Sincerely,
-kitty
Minnesota Legacy Fund
Minnesota Historical Society's page to take action
Art Rolnick MPR op-ed on Early Childhood Education or Stadium
Monday, October 10, 2011
Don't Believe in Evolution?
Fine.
Evolution doesn't believe in you. Doesn't matter. It's still happening. Even to you, hard as that may be to believe, given that you don't believe in evolution, which says something about your evolution. Your lack of belief in facts is probably a result of evolution as well, which is another point against the "idea" of intelligent design.
My only caveat is that you keep your disbelief out of the public schools and out of public life in general. It has no business there. If you want to live out a pre-Darwin existence, have at it. I suggest you also disbelieve in airplanes, computers, women's suffrage, The Emancipation Proclamation, and the world-wide-web.*
*(Unfortunately, if you don't believe in evolution, you may already be half-way to not believing in two of these things.)
Evolution doesn't believe in you. Doesn't matter. It's still happening. Even to you, hard as that may be to believe, given that you don't believe in evolution, which says something about your evolution. Your lack of belief in facts is probably a result of evolution as well, which is another point against the "idea" of intelligent design.
My only caveat is that you keep your disbelief out of the public schools and out of public life in general. It has no business there. If you want to live out a pre-Darwin existence, have at it. I suggest you also disbelieve in airplanes, computers, women's suffrage, The Emancipation Proclamation, and the world-wide-web.*
*(Unfortunately, if you don't believe in evolution, you may already be half-way to not believing in two of these things.)
Bravo, Mr. President
"You wanna be commander in chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States even when it's not politically convenient." --President Barack Obama at the Human Rights Campaign dinner, regarding the boo-ing of a US soldier during a GOP presidential debate
Monday, October 3, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Please don't let it be an atheist, please don't let it be an atheist*
Religion-hating anarchist vandalized 7 Edina churches.
Everything I hear something like this, I think, "Oh crap." Now, the gentleman in question does not seem to have identified himself as an atheist, but I bet many in the public will assume that he is an atheist because everyone knows that atheists are religion-hating anarchists. Every. Last. One of us.
Every time someone from a marginalized group does something untoward, everyone else in the marginalized group is asked to explain, atone, and take responsibility. This never happens when, say, a white dude commits a crime. All white dudes don't go around hanging their heads in shame or feeling defensive, thinking, "Man, you're making us look bad!"**
*the above is not a supplication to any sort of supernatural sky-daddy.
**Perhaps this is different when a white congressman sends sketchy texts, but even then, he makes only his party look bad, not all white men, and the party is supposed to answer for it and shun the rogue individual.
Everything I hear something like this, I think, "Oh crap." Now, the gentleman in question does not seem to have identified himself as an atheist, but I bet many in the public will assume that he is an atheist because everyone knows that atheists are religion-hating anarchists. Every. Last. One of us.
Every time someone from a marginalized group does something untoward, everyone else in the marginalized group is asked to explain, atone, and take responsibility. This never happens when, say, a white dude commits a crime. All white dudes don't go around hanging their heads in shame or feeling defensive, thinking, "Man, you're making us look bad!"**
*the above is not a supplication to any sort of supernatural sky-daddy.
**Perhaps this is different when a white congressman sends sketchy texts, but even then, he makes only his party look bad, not all white men, and the party is supposed to answer for it and shun the rogue individual.
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