Tuesday, September 30, 2014

All the animals on Animal Farm are endorsed, but some are more endorsed than others.

Where'd he go, Comrade Joe?

Old timers may remember the story of Stalinist purges. The purged individual's name and photos would be removed from official listings and retouched from group photos. Luckily such a thing is from totalitarian tyranny times, not a thing of our place, our times.


That said: This link. Find the missing endorsee. (Of course you will not find her. She's not listed.)

Hint: Michelle. Do you need a second hint?

Don't peek now if you think you know the answer, but if not: MacDonald.

There they go again ... This image.

____________UPDATE______________
How about how they go on. Just last election cycle Oct 24, 2012, ABC's LTEs:

Hard work in the city

To the Editor:

As a Ramsey resident, I feel it necessary to commend the current city council for their “visible” hard work in the city.

A simple look around will show you that Ramsey is one of the few cities in Anoka County and possibly the state, that has investment and construction under way.

Consider the new VA Clinic, Allina Clinic, Residence at the COR, McDonalds, two Convenience stores, upgraded Bunker Lake Boulevard, upgraded Highway 5, current upgrading of Armstrong Boulevard for the eventual grade separated overpass at Highway 10 and finally the Ramsey Rail Station.

Currently up for election is the Mayor, Ward 2, Ward 4 and At Large city council positions. Ward 4 and the at large seats are open with excellent candidates both in Marine Sergeant Wayne Buchholz, and current chairperson of the Charter Commissioner, Attorney Joe Field.

The Mayor and Ward 2 council seats have candidates up for re-election, Mayor Bob Ramsey and Councilmember Colin McGlone (chairperson of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority), both of whom have worked tirelessly to turn the project around and close on projects currently under construction and bring taxbase, jobs and development to the city of Ramsey.

Some are currently advocating for….. “if it ain’t broke fix it.” On the other hand a more reasonable approach would be to believe the progress that we can clearly see and support these candidates that have implemented a vision that has in the face of a downturn economy, attracted over $50 million in private investment to our small town.

Some are advocating pushing through a change to our charter, in order to overturn a vote recently taken two years ago to retain an administrator form of government as opposed to a manager form of government.

This measure was defeated two years ago as it was seen as taking power from the people and giving it an un-elected bureaucrat.

Despite the overwhelming opposition, current candidates are promoting yet again what the people have clearly spoken on. I feel the opposition is clearly out of touch.

The challenging mayoral candidate is confused in believing that we should not be investing time, energy and resources in the cities largest investment…the COR, where infrastructure investment has already been made, but rather diversify to other parts of the city.

Anyone that understands tax base should understand that tax base anywhere in the city is still tax base, regardless of where it is.

Conventional wisdom would say to focus on areas that already have hard infrastructure, as opposed to spending millions to drag sewer and water to northern sectors of Ramsey that clearly have not survived in the past and will struggle unless millions more of public resources are invested to artificially subsidize their survivability. Again, clearly out of touch.

Please join me in supporting Mayor Ramsey, Councilmember McGlone, Joe Field and Wayne Buchholz. They all have Ramsey’s best interest in mind.

Jeri Bates
Ramsey

Writer's name ring a bell? Yeah. THAT Jeri Bates.

There they go; and there it is:

Please join me in supporting Mayor Ramsey, Councilmember McGlone, Joe Field and Wayne Buchholz. They all have Ramsey’s best interest in mind.

Help me please, which one was it of the four that won, that election?

Oh.

Yeah.

Well ... Airbrush the other three from the picture. Warmed over leftovers, tasty, yummy.

FURTHER UPDATE: That Republican Party official's 2012 letter - MacDonalds, two convenience stores? We were told that. Actions speak louder than words. I recall first being told of that, and the liquor store to close on moving. Three "closings" along the rerouted Sunwood Street that cost millions. It was Matt Look telling me that as he and I spoke after the LWV County Board session (where Sivarajah and West declined to attend); he said the announcement was being made, in Ramsey. How he knew that it was a you-can-take-it-to-the-bank certainty when it was not in the newspapers astonished me; and now two years later I am still eagerly anticipating this set of convenience outlet developments to take place as told to me. A burger, gassing up, soon I am sure. Just be patient. Not skeptical, please. Patient.

Is it wordplay only, or is eradication a good word to consider?

I think of the DEA, Drug Enforcement Agency. There "enforcement" can mean maintaining a status quo in a way some might think best, but others might think cynical; whereas "eradication" might carry a larger and more universally appealing meaning.

Then, CDC, Center for Disease Control. Those who might consider weaponized biological agents would want control, avoidance of blowback, ability to pinpoint but then not worry about epidemiology implications outside of a targeted controlled intention.

Wouldn't you be more supportive of a Center for Disease Eradication? That word eradication seems to have a place at the table, if allowed it.

Met Council in separate Strib news and op-ed online items today.

Here and here. News and op-ed respectively.

Tax-and-spend Republicans, raising Anoka County property taxes.

KSTP, even, reports it. However, taxing and spending is what any government does. It is what governments have done, before Rome, during Rome, after Rome.

It is a bombastic term "tax and spend" and yet it takes Republicans doing it for the idiots in their circle to quit using the term derisively.

And wow, have you heard all that woofing from the whats-his-name WATCHDOG over this tax increase?

The man simply will not silence his din of incessant criticism of Matt Look, Rhonda Sivarajah, Robyn West, and the auto shop guy from Coon Rapids who replaced Dan Erhart and who with his Republican confederates is raising your taxes.

That dog just keeps woofing, and woofing, and woofing; and then doing more woofing; because he's not a partisan hack, he dislikes tax increases whichever party is in control and upping the tithe. It's what you have to love and respect, from the Watchdog. His objectivity.

After all, Mr. Watchdog heads a Taxpayer League, pays the cost to be the boss, and that League ostensibly exists for no purpose whatsoever but to to be ever opposed to tax increases. Of any kind. From any quarter.

Something like that. It, that man's Taxpayer League, most certainly is not a mere dispicable propaganda front organ operation for Republicans.

No more so than the NRA, the Chamber of Commerce. It is OBJECTIVE. Who cannot see that? It is capital "S" Sincerity at work, for you.

______________UPDATE_______________
What's the paycheck, annual basis, for a seat on the Anoka County Board? How does it compare to a Minnesota House paycheck, where the workload is far greater? What's the pension package? Medical coverage? When looking to curtail tax increases, were such questions asked? Anybody have a guess? I have not kept up with meeting minutes, and the open meeting law of Minnesota would not have cabal practices off record, out of the sunshine. So, compensation for the board, was it a factor even considered for tax savings? Ask the WATCHDOG? Surely Taxpayer League would know.

If I had been invited to the one fundraiser, there'd be board members aplenty I could approach and ask. Perhaps one who was an invitee, attending, might ask and then report the answer via a comment? It would be a civic act of great merit, doing that.


Politico has two new items online about NSA dragnet spying on citizen communications.

Here and here. The items speak largely for themselves, with the first stating:

Some opponents of the NSA surveillance program are clearly nervous about leaving the arguments against the program solely to Klayman, a longtime conservative activist known as a rhetorical bombthrower. In an online commentary last week, Klayman called for the U.S. military to use tactical nuclear weapons against the Islamic State militant group. However, he predicted that President Barack Obama will not do so because he "simply has no stomach for killing his creed en masse."

The D.C. Circuit has not yet ruled on either of the motions to join in next month's arguments.

[bolding and link in original]

___________UPDATE_____________
In the linked item, Klayman bloviates:

Let us finally face it and stop pussyfooting around. We are in a religious war! In the end, it is either them or us. If we intend to have any chance of survival, it is also time that we face reality. Either we kill these radical Muslim ISIS cockroaches – all of them – before they spread like cancer and infest the globe, or in time they will kill all of us. It is survival time, boys and girls. No time for the weak at heart. God understood this when he sent a plague to kill the Egyptians, allowing Moses to flee with his enslaved people for the Promised Land. God acted similarly when he destroyed the Roman Empire and the Jewish high priests after they conspired to crucify his Son. How can we humans, with the divine grace and guidance of the Father and his Son, act differently under these dire circumstances?

This is simply red-baiting of the worse 1950's kind, dressed up differently. And after all that red-baiting, look, we've had our leadership get in bed with the Chinese [literally it appears for Neil Bush], while these are the same Chinese who have kept [and wave] their red flag dating to Mao, and who remain Marxist in name but ruling cabal elitist in fact in all ways relevant to trading relations between nations; the reds did not invade our shores; and we have survived.

We trade with Vietnam. We leave the Balkans to their people, these days. We got out of Iraq and are exiting Afghanistan. Red-baiting in hindsight was super stupid and wasteful of time. Sunni and Shiite factions fight, the Saudi royal family feels discomfort, the Isrealis disproportionately kill Palestinians and continue taking their land, but is interventionism by our nation an answer to much of anything? And if we do not fund intervention, what better things might we do with all that cash?

If Larry's in some religious war, would he be accepted for some role in the IDF, and why has he not volunteered? It would be refreshing to see him catch employment with Mossad, where silence and stealth and keeping a low profile are premium skills.

Last night I left it at guess the fundraiser candidate, the fundraisers - and is there surprise after the hint.


Well, sign discountor and discountee, players again in the game (click the image to enlarge and read).

And yes, the discountor was supportive of Darren/Landform, to a fault some might judge.

When, last election, that bloc entry of council candidates having signs together all around town were all voted down, the discountee WAS among them.

Darren/Landform is no longer getting regular cash out of Ramsey taxpayer money. Because of the election result, and different levels of judgment at Ramsey's council table post-election Darren/Landform is in Ramsey's rear view mirror.

Heidi Nelson moved to Wayzata as that town's city administrator, and while I would not do it, any reader who cares can phone her at Wayzata city hall and ask if Darren/Landform has any contract with her town, there.

And, wow, speaking of Darren/Landform - check out the venue for raising combat Marine bucks.

Of all places.

So last thing, what's the tie that binds -- the dots that connect? Buchholz at the fair booth, Sivarajah signs with his; West and Sivarajah already shown in Buchholz disclosure docs as giving the combat Marine veteran campaign cash; Buchholz getting that super sweet in kind discount of sign cost - $275 for what Whelan reported [presumably same relative amount of signs] at $1700 cost-to-her; West sponsoring the let's all us by-invitation-only invitees pony up a wad of cash for the running man; only one in the donor pack as so far identified [the in kind sign discounter] living in Ramsey but the three two of the three wise county board members all noted as participants [actually Sivarajah's name IS absent and that's a bit of a surprise]; and then - for reasons unknown to me - I was not invited. Me, Kris Williams, who else was by non-invitation excluded from mixing with that crowd, whatever it's makeup, there inside of Flaherty's thing by the rails?

Yet hurt feelings for not being invited aside - everything is alright, uptight, out of sight per this cabal of folks of influence - the invitees at Flaherty's place.

Big lingering question in my mind - big one:

Was Darren invited? You'd expect he'd have some cash to donate.

______________________
P.S. I was misstating one truth in that prior "doorprize" item. I did know when it was scheduled, the image above discloses that. I just did not want to make the hint too easy. I bent one fact a bit that way; so excuse me.

I bet it fooled a lot of people, saying "when" was in doubt. Hope so. In terms of a candidacy, isn't it great when other people carry the load? Gives you time to choose and buy flags on their dime.

Monday, September 29, 2014

Reader challenge: For whose fundraiser would you say eBay has the ideal door prize - and at a modest bidding price?

Here's the idea for a doorprize; now, guess.


Don't know when it is. But do know where. And an attendee or two, hint: county board members.

More tomorrow.

Minnesota House District 35A candidate forum. The link again, with all readers urged to view it and figure who best to send to negotiate district interests. Follow the link in the image caption.

recorded and posted online by QCTV - this link

The screen capture is from the beginning with Mayor Strommen making introductory comments. Peter Perovich [DFL] to Strommen's right, Abigale Whelan [GOP] to Strommen's left. It is a contest on the non-judicial side of the ballot, in Cities of Ramsey and Anoka within the District. It is a district without an incumbent in the contest. It is a district in a region where transportation needs are a major concern. K-12 and workforce training are concerns. Jobs and community amenities are a concern. How might the legislature best serve the district, and important to the voting, which of the two candidates suggests the greater capability to go to the hilltop in St. Paul and do what is best for the full range of district needs.

UPDATE: At this point neither Strib, PiPress, nor ABC Newspapers have made editorial endorsements. Readers might weigh such things once published, but the most important thing is you can be comfortable at home and screen the forum session as frequently as needed to cement an idea of the candidate to favor with your vote. What could make the process easier for you, and fairer to each of the two individual candidates?

Wayne Buchholz at it again.

How many flags do you feel a need to wrap yourself in? If any. Some feel exceptional wants, that way. But wants are not needs ...

This screen capture:



This is not a fellow wanting to be head of his Legion post. He is running for a civil office, and his main campaign focus is back on Vietnam, and he waves a bunch of flags but says little of whether he is happy we went there doing what was done, or whether it's a lesson learned about government making boneheaded decisions that killed a lot of Americans and many, many more Vietnamese by following the French into the quagmire of opposing a post-WW II freedom fighting effort against imperial reassertion.

Why is the guy doing this? It has zippo to do with qualification for office or hopes and goals if elected. It's theater, not discussion. It makes no sense to me.

He served. Okay. A marine, hence he volunteered back when he was young. So?

What from there? Half a century ago he volunteered for a war many questioned at the time and many more now say it was a mistake. So elect the guy?

Does any of that hang together as logical, to you?

It's like saying elect me because I am left-handed, or elect me because I had surgery in 2004 for a medical condition, or elect me because I am a blonde. It's irrelevant.

Is the suggestion we should further militarize our police, give them flags too? I fail to understand a cogent message to "combat marine veteran" in terms of being on a town council.

Wave that bunch of flags all you want, but what's your policy on Town Center? More Darren, as it was last election? Has it changed? Is there any evolution of THOUGHT?

UPDATE: For Buchholz, this link. From there, the chorus:

Wave that flag
Wave it wide and high
Summertime done
Come and gone
My oh my

Readers are encouraged to submit cogent comments explaining how half a century ago volunteering as a youth to go as a marine to war in Vietnam is relevant to whether to vote Kris Williams or to vote Wayne Buchholz. (Cogent being the operative term.)

FURTHER UPDATE: More Buchholz at it. This link. Two political opportunists get five hundred nine signatures that Minnesotans should be allowed conceal/carry without any background check, without any permitting process, their logic being,

One does not need a permit to attend the church of your choice, to write a letter to the editor, to be free from search and seizure, or to speak your mind in public. Why are our Second Amendment rights so much more difficult to exercise?

Well, for one, going to the church of your choice does not make it easier to kill somebody in a fit of rage and passion, unless the hymnal is really big and heavy and an enemy is in the pew in front of you. Come on. This stuff is super stupid. How about:

Wave that handgun
Wave it wide and high
Summertime done
Come and gone
My oh my

Personally, I think it best if that bunch stuck to flags. It's less disconcerting.

FURTHER UPDATE: Everybody loves a parade; flags and stuff; crypto-military parahnenalia as at hand to display. This image, from this item. But that's not Buchholz. Not Vietnamese either.

However, do acknowledge, the Vietnamese have war memorials too. It was war on their soil. They won.

Flags. A discliplined display. Carried by hand, not parked as props on some truck by a civilian politician.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Sober as a judge ...

Salon, here. It's early in the post and possibly easily missed, "the 2002 George W. Bush lifetime-appointee to the federal bench." Sure, we all make mistakes, but we do not all make political alliances, etc.

Apart from that one partisan note, this is Ray Rice stuff from a senior public servant, not a ball carrier. Yes, it is Alabama, but that's only an explanation, not an excuse.

UPDATE: More coverage, same author, here.

ABC Newspapers: "Kmart stores in Anoka, Blaine closing in December -- By Eric Hagen September 26, 2014 at 3:05 pm"

This link. Looking at the bright side, maybe this is an opportunity for MicroCenter to open an outlet in the north metro.

Does this suggest something about "big box" retail hopes among some, for Ramsey Town Center?

UPDATE: This Sept. 29, Strib item.

Why, again, has it been so hard to get needed state dollars for Highway 10? Has it been the fiscal constipation of some of our Republican friends?

Taxpayer League Boss Chairman Harold Hamilton, aka Blind Eye to the Right Watchdog, has this to say in his so-called "newspaper," about that:

click image to read relevant part

_________UPDATE__________
What exactly is a "ding dong," and how is it different from a "woof woof?"

The dog never barked about Michele Bachmann until she almost lost to Graves, and the sin in a dog's mind's eye was almost losing, not being a "ding dong."

So, again, what's a "ding dong?"

And do Republicans of any faction want Reagan's 11th Commandment broken, via indiscriminate ding-dongism? Is it right? Far right? Isn't it true, ding-dongism in defense of liberty is no vice?

There is a lot to hope for as correct in the most recent writing of one Minnesota Republican.

Let us hope the dirge may be justified; and any/all hopes alluded to about the Minnesota House may prove fruitless.

This link.

It's All Over But The Shouting Whining? (The finger-pointing is in full gear, present and clear, and any Republicans disagreeing with sentiments within that post are welcome to submit on-point comments.)

___________UPDATE___________
Well the item has only been posted a few hours, but the expected groundswell of Republican comments has not happened. Try a provocative mid-item quote, perhaps -

Once Charlie Weaver, of the Minnesota Business Partnership, and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, got behind former state representative and former Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers, no one else had a chance at their financial support. It was their guy or nothing and their ads almost got them there as Zellers finished second in the primary. His race was the proposition that money can buy primaries but neither his nor Scott Honour's campaign managed to do it. That proposition has now arrived despite this outcome; look for the Zellers model to be replicated in the future.

All this, of course, because, as Speaker, Zellers did these supporters' bidding by bringing the Vikings stadium bill to the floor. Mission accomplished. Business isn't beyond keeping its word.

That business community, however, is neither conservative nor republican; it's the business community, first, last and always. Why this isn't more widely understood somewhat baffles me. Republicans are as easily bought and sold as democrats, they're just more cheerful about it, waving around their 100% voting record with the Chamber as though we are as stupid as they apparently believe. I can't be the only one who has taken the red pill; others must surely see this as well.

Well, in my crossover primary vote, I went with Zellers; the rationale being that while he and cohorts precipitated the government shutdown showdown, he and Koch as leadership then (correct me if I have that wrong) were able to notice its extreme unpopularity and sensibly opted to do a cramdown on their budget numbers, but acheiving that by agreeing that all the offensive non-numerical crap the cohorts attached would be jettisoned. Those cohorts could not remain mischief free, and subsequently put out their stuff in the form of two soundly rejected constitutional amendments, proving Zellers half-way correct (his cramdown numbers unfortunately being wrong, as well as a throwback to do nothing, fund nothing, Pawlentyism). Johnson, now as the current GOP candidate, is warmed over Pawlenty, but - believe it it's true no matter how hard to imagine - with even less charisma than Pawlenty ever could muster.

Comments from Republican readers about the Gilmore thoughts, again, will be most welcome.

___________FURTHER UPDATE___________
With Glen Taylor having bought Strib and it already showing he wants to drive the car he bought, readers can puzzle out whether that's consonant or dissonant with Gilmore's, "That business community, however, is neither conservative nor republican; it's the business community, first, last and always. Why this isn't more widely understood somewhat baffles me."

Those folks now own and run the biggest statewide daily, and it's already showing. And, why this isn't more immediately and widely understood somewhat baffles me.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Channel 5, at it again. Only politco mentioned, Rhonda, when it's Franken and Klobuchar who delivered.

This link. Compare more local, more in touch reporting, here.

Channel 5 hypes Anoka County, another item mentions lobbying cost projections, and Tinklenberg, proving you have to look at multiple sources and then do a lot of guessing with skepticism, when success has so many parents; with more successful offspring anticipated.

And of all things, on the eve of a Senate election federal money appears.

As noted previously, the house district sent Michele Bachmann to DC too many times, and she got a bridge at one far end of the district, her end, Stillwater, and ignored the district's middle. Good luck folks, on improving House rep. effectiveness in serving the middle part of the district. Start with the right people ...

Yesterday evening's HD 35A NMMA candidate forum had an awful lot of "me too." [UPDATED: QCTV has the forum session online - link given below]

I am still mulling over what the candidate session demonstrated. It will be available online. First impressions can be immediate and strong, but wrong. The two things that stood out for me were first, that Perovich suggested that, to use the cliche term "bending down the cost curve," the medical providers need to be uniform in pricing and to give pricing information up front, not to ignore talking of it and then send arbitrarily extreme and disconcerting billing invoices. At the super market you get pricing information item-by-item to make buying decisions, taking your car in you get estimates, but it seems "what the market will bear" pricing is the norm in medical care provision, with the providers prospering from that and liking it as a paradigm amenable to their comfort levels. It was, to me, the one innovative thing said during the session.

Whelan largely gave three or four atta-boys for Jim Abeler, apparently her mentor this election cycle, and one wonders about how capable those coattails will prove to be.

She did so, while representing the party that went after Abeler with knives and torches and pitchforks when he broke party ranks and voted to override the Pawlenty transportation veto. That sits a bit strange with me, and I need to think it over.

She's a me too on transportation and education and the environment, in general terms without specifics provided, and that reduces the question to who's likely to be the most effective person at bringing state money back to the district; a point both candidates emphatically noted as in their view an important voter concern.

So how does that thought play out? Another minority Republican out of the area sent to St. Paul complaining like Harold Hamilton all the time about budget, or taxes, but wanting the benefits of government spending in her district more than elsewhere, or a most moderate Democrat sounding and appearing able to represent the district while living over the years through the same housing, employment security, and child rearing concerns shared by the majority of district voters?

With each saying much of the same thing, you get to weighing your gut level reaction to the genuineness of the persons saying it. Perovich was proud of the DFL effort on raising minimum wage, while Whelan did not say boo about it (while having earlier published a belief the job creators will react negatively and job numbers will drastically shrink).

The major area of disagreement was on healthcare reform, with Perovich noting it as an ongoing issue that will not go away and Whelan not suggesting anything precise about what she did not like or how she'd make a better situation for voters if going to St. Paul to represent them.

Perovich had a sound specific thing to say, on the pricing dilemma, and while others might not be impressed, I was. Voicing platitudes and generalities while whining on an already implemented first series of steps does not suggest it would lead to making positive improvements ever, to any status quo.

Whelan talked more than once about "her generation" and that smacked very much of intentionally playing the generational divisiveness card in a way that was not dispelled when she did briefly say something about Medicare and Social Security, in the future. It was a most brief allusion, and reviewing the online forum to catch it again might be the idea. As an immediate impression when she said it, it sounded very much like Paul Ryan being channeled at the dais. But then it was as if she caught herself and cut it short to stay on script.

Clearly, that might be a misimpression. Again, the recording will be online at QCTV, and we all should access it more than once to be informed.

QCTV: There was a QCTV technician in the control room recording the event. My understanding by email from QCTV is that, barring any problems, streaming online replay of the event will be in place very soon; email stating:

For a complete listing of election forums affecting the Quad Cities, please go to our web site [homepage] qctv.org. We have set up a special page on our web site for the election coverage. Click on the tab 2014 Election for updated information. We are videotaping the forums and require 24 hours to turn them around. The forums will start to playback on the channels Saturday.

BOTTOM LINE: I cannot too strongly urge readers to anticipate that schedule, and to view the HD 35A candidate event online. Whether readers will see it as much of a me too thing or not is an uncertainty, but if so, then the question would be where were the indicators of actual differences, and ultimately, who do you trust for the job. If you were a job recruiter and had two applicants, with that as each one's job interview, which would you hire? Put all politics aside and answer that one for yourself, in viewing the event.

UPDATE: I learned QCTV requires a 24 hr turnaround on things it records, and, Saturday posting is quite likely. Moreover, please note:

The forum listings on the front page of our web site are for promotion for folks to attend the forums. Use the 2014 Elections tab to view the forums (just like with city government meetings).

Because there will be an October candidate forum for Ramsey council candidates, we in Ramsey may want to note that link is:

http://www.qctv.org/election/election.php

Checking that link will show that today, Saturday, the HD 35A forum has indeed been posted.

FURTHER UPDATE: There will be a Monday, Oct. 13 LWV [League of Women Voters] candidate forum for Ramsey's council candidates. For the two contested seats the two pairs of candidates will be invited; Buchholz and Williams for the at large seat, and Howsmon and (Hesselgrave) Shryock for the Ward 3 seat (see the city website elections page:

http://www.ci.ramsey.mn.us/elections

for candidate detail). A guess is that Jill Johns running unopposed for the Ward 1 seat will not be a participant. I will seek information from the League about that and other detail.

Check back at the QCTV homepage, for time and place detail (place likely being City of Ramsey council chambers); presuming such detail will be finalized in the next few weeks.

Detail will be sought from the LWV and will be posted in a separate, subsequent Crabgrass item.

Noting detail in the YouTube archived HD 35A forum: Whelan's opening statement expressed her appeal to "millenials" (at about the 5:30 mark of the recording) which was not the audience make-up at the event. 29 minutes or so into the recording Whelan said she [her generation] were not counting on Social Security.

Later, at about the 32:50 mark, there, around 33 minutes into the session, and most striking to me, Whelan advocated "doing away with" Medicare and Medicaid taxes, (her wording if I recall correctly and viewers can check that), with that change to be made along with "give everybody a health savings account when they're born."

She did not flesh that proposal out at all, declining to explore what she meant by that or to comment on possible consequences and difficulties in such a drastic revision of our nation's ways of dealing with human issues, and it is where I had the "channeling Paul Ryan" feeling in a way that left me uneasy.

An account is fine, if people make enough to save but it appears to write off those on minimum wage [the raising of which Whelan has opposed], i.e., those who scrape to make ends meet living week-to-week with uncertainty stresses all the time while working full time (if allowed to do so by employers). Tax credit plans or proposals only help those using long form filing, while not a majority of wage earners do that when income is solely from wages and not with investment income of any great proportion.

Certainly millenials - unmarried single persons with limited low-wage and often part-time incomes, (like Ms. Whelan not earning herself a lot while primarily a steady student); they are not a class of major big time savers/investors.

They should be shaking their heads in wonderment if hearing that kind of a proposal. Presumably this "health savings account when they are born" thing would hypothetically allow additions tax free, with some tax credit provisions to boot. Tax credit proposals unevenly benefit the wealthy who are most able to plan their income streams to take full advantage of loopholes and exceptions and credits they have salted into the tax code and Treasury Regs.

Some benefit from credits greatly, while everybody else benefits less, and for those who might years from now need Social Security and Medicare to continue to live, what is the answer, let them be out in the cold with nothing but The Reaper as company - turn them out to cope with no social security, no medicare, no veteran healthcare benefits, and insufficient income and opportunity to save or even meet basic expenses? To go away and die?

Some account starting somehow, "when you are born" and if exhausted along the way by bad luck illnesses or genetics, then go die? What?

It seems there is an abject and cruel heartlessness to Paul Ryan, and his offering "answers" that are to problems that are not real were income and wealth in the nation more fairly distributed and were the trend toward greater concentration of power and wealth in fewer hands reversed; ends which would need only a simple pattern of extended government fair policy for a change, to acheive.

The United States is the wealthiest and most prosperous nation of all time, with the problem not being the amount of resources but the inequality of wealth, income and resource distribution. The resources are there to maintain Social Security and public healthcare assistance and funding for veterans and for the elderly. Some would deny the public will is there for that, but it seems otherwise. Doing less than what is now the norm is heartless, given that the resources exist and the Paul Ryan folks simply want more to themselves for discretionary luxuries, regardless of the needs of others. It is a big time Paul Ryan con job that the man is trying to sell us, despite truth being to the contrary.

One has to wonder how far down the Paul Ryan path Ms. Whelan wishes us to go.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Justice Wilhelmina Wright, is on the November ballot as having a challenger for the Supreme Court seat she currently holds. With the challenge to Justice Lillihaug by Michelle MacDonald gaining the lion's share of publicity, it is noteworthy that Justice Wright has recently been honored, and the online post about that includes biographical material voters should read.

This link.

Going armed to have a controversial discussion, Happy New Year, and other stuff at Volokh Conspiracy, now a Wapo feature. Bezos recruited a new friend, this one not an amazon. Also, Minnesota defamation law and California K-12 teacher tenure. Stuff to read.

The headline says enough to get readers to look here and here. Those items speak for themselves.

California teacher tenure, here.

The Minnesota criminal law appeal posture, and an EFF amicus brief are discussed here.

The amicus brief, pdf format, is online here.

With Moore v. Hoff as Minnesota precedent favoring First Amendment rights in stating a true statement about a public person, the case may involve a private person's greater rights against defamation; but it seems the statute is unreal; requiring a speaker or writer to have some hard to pin down litmus-test purity of motive. Motive failed to be a deciding factor in Moore v. Hoff, indeed, the trial court held motive relevant to the question of a true [hence non-defamatory statement under generally accepted law], being intentional interference with an employment situation, or an employment expectancy.

It seems the criminal statute is unconstitutional in cutting against long established law that truth is an absolute defense. The things lawyers think to argue, the things legislators write and enact; sometimes it leaves you shaking your head in disbelief.

Things being imposed to present chilling effects against fair speech are disfavored, as a general principle, because we treasure the First Amendment. After all, the framers made it the first one, for a reason.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

RAMSEY - Order vs disruption. If you don't like it get elected, with enough henchpersons, and change it. For now the way it is but better would be the way it should be.

Readers, figure out what should be. As a hypothetical, a Moss Moment, at a staid council session - on camera, all ages watching and not a simulation, the real thing.

Disruptive? What to do?

An arguably verbal Moss Moment [or two] spawned a protocol. This protocol - all meetings, each meeting, televised or not:


City staff, after formal adoption of the above, sent all board and commission chairs notice of things as they now will be.

The authority to enact measures to deal with disruptions comes from Minnesota State Statutes.

At the work session of September 2, 2014, the City Council discussed a Continuum of Action as it pertains to meeting disruptions. Because State Statutes speaks to a process for dealing with disruptions at meetings, Council did not have to formally adopt a policy. Council did, however review a sample Continuum of Action and agreed it should be tailored to fit the City of Ramsey and posted in the public meeting rooms at the Municipal Center. These rooms include the Council Chambers, the Alexander Ramsey Room and the Lake Itasca Room. The Continuum of Action that is posted in these areas is attached for your review.

Along with the Continuum of Action, Council reviewed “Disruption Instructions”. Council agreed with the instructions and directed staff to place a copy of the instructions at the Council dais. Extra copies of the Disruption Instructions were printed and laminated and will be placed with the Council/Board/Commission nameplates if the public meeting is held in either of the other two rooms.

Council asked that the Chairs of the Committees and Boards be made aware of the Continuum of Action and the Disruption Instructions. Please note there has not been a history of disruptions at our Commission/Board meetings and it is unlikely it will happen; however, we wanted the Committee/Board Chairs to be aware of the policy in case the need arises. As you are aware, a meeting/training was scheduled for Tuesday, September 23, beginning at 5:00; however, that meeting was canceled.

It is public data, the public deserves sunshine on good, bad and ugly, with readers to figure which this is.

Did I mention: All politics is local?

[Politics being singular despite ending in an "s." Politic, no s, can be an adjective, as in "the body politic." As in "Mr. Moss disruptively displayed his body politic." Verstehen Sie?]

It makes me remember Kurak-Hendriksen days. The old days.

____________UPDATE_____________
A procedure for enforcing the protocol, should an event trigger a need:


Can you envision: "Mr. Moss, this disruptive behavior should cease ... This meeting is recessed."

But wait --- It says "verbally disruptive" and not "verbally or demonstratively disruptive" - all they're doing is carrying signs, but NOT saying, "Hooray for our side." Mr. Moss insisting, "I did not SAY a thing ...".

Would signage be disruptive? What is to happen to the First Amendment under these new protocols and procedures? It smacks of prior restraint to me. This is not the danger of shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater at issue. Far from it. It's a will to curtail citizen input. Tell me it is not, explain that. Explain recent sequences and events.

___________FURTHER UPDATE____________
I do recall the old days. No "Mr. Mayor," "Madame Mayor," instead voices raised, a council table verbal flurry, an expressive exit. True theater. Days of yore.

Diogenes looks but cannot find young Mills III.

The light is bright, but I cannot see that guy, today,
looking at where he was only yesterday.

We are in the middle of banned books week. Think about who'd ban books. Your access to books they may feel are bad for you and your having a thinking mind.

This link. Those who'd ban books, disrespecting citizen Liberty that way, would likely be the ones also wanting Big Government to interfere in the privacy of family reproductive decision making; wanting to interpose themselves between a woman and her doctor. Ones wanting to make your decisions for you. With, of course, only the best of motivations. To protect you from yourself. Their way or the highway. Something like that. I forget what they call themselves ...

HD 35A - Doing some websearch, Abigale Whelan made Eric Lucero's Facebook favorites list. Make of that what you will. And check out those other favorites among which Whelan gets listed. It suggests a flavor to be expected from a candidate who has given hints of who she is but studiously has avoided detailed and firm issue positions, especially regarding economic equality issues faced by hard pressed House District working families.


click image to read it

With the other Republican politicians Lucero listed, Whelan's in like-minded company. Readers can scan the list or trust me; Jim Abeler, a long-time Republican repeatedly consonant with district moods, is not equally favored by Mr. Lucero.

Hat tip to an earlier Bluestem Prairie post back in June, here, stating in part:

The other women that the endorsed Republican for 30B supports are equally anti-marriage equality as Lucero is, though not as hyper-focused as he and Kihne.

Whelan, who is running for 35A (now held by Jim Abeler, who is running for U.S. Senate), has posted a website short of details, but clear about being "pro-life and marriage" with her "morals and perspectives built upon a solid faith in God." The district voted for the marriage amendment by 51.39 percent.

[...] The endorsed DFL candidate is Peter Perovich, who is running on bread-and-butter DFL issues of job creation, property tax reduction and infrastructure. Given that Abeler was one of two Republican state representatives to survive his party's outrage over a vote to override Governor Pawlenty's veto of a gas tax hike, focusing on transportation is a solid choice for connecting with voters in the suburban Anoka County district.

Mandy Benz is trying again to unseat Jerry Newton (who lost the swing seat himself in the 2010 Republican wave election). Like Loon's district, HD37A helped vote down the anti-marriage equality amendment, though by a far smaller margin than in HD48B. Benz fared even worse, losing to Newton in a 42.64 to 57.18 percent split.

Will the ladies experience a Lucero bump in August and November?

[links omitted - the original is thoroughly documented via extensive linking, and is focused more on the Kihne primary assault against GOP incumbent Loon as grist for Lucero's extremist mill]. As most Crabgrass readers now realize, Ms. Kihne's extremist agenda was turned down by voters, via Ms. Loon's GOP primary win.

In candidate forum action, expect Whelan and Perovich to equally state the belief that north metro road infrastructure upkeep and upgrades, i.e., MnDOT funding, are goals the state should pursue. However, voters should realize Whelan's Republican party in the legislature votes against responsible transportation legislation. In 2013, HF 1444, was voted against by Anoka County Republicans Abeler, Scott and Petersen. Whelan can advocate something her colleagues likely will continue to oppose, and go figure where that goes.

Remember, Abeler became a Republican persona non grata as one of the “Override Six” for voting against a Pawlenty veto - so the best way to assure transportation is a successful legislative issue in the next two years is to maintain DFL control of the executive and to send DFL legislators to St. Paul.

This is not to say the DFL is without fault. Readers may note Dayton's sidebar absence. Using the old saying, he can put that in his pipe and smoke it. While Peter Perovich is quite more conservative than I am, he is less so than Whelan. Where it matters. And what I look forward to seeing in candidate forum debate, are the minimum wage issue and the student debt burden issue. With Whelan largely a professional student in her adult life up to now, will she show sympathy to the latter issue, breaking ranks with her GOP colleagues, or will she largely state an "I got mine let them deal with getting theirs" issue answer, which after all is generally to-be-expected GOP dogma. Beat up on the next generations, to teach servility and obedience - and incite fears.

Last - saving the best for last - What is Ms. Whelan's position on Right to Work [for less]? That is a gaping hole on any campaign lit or website posting originating from the Whelan camp.

Where is this woman on that issue?

She's hardly held any long-term regular day to day job - that's in her resume - and she is in her late twenties. Where is she on bread-and-butter concerns? Finding answers is what candidate forum events are for. We should look forward to Ms. Whelan's participation to flesh out who she really is and who she'd be if sent to St. Paul by voters.

_____________UPDATE______________
It is hard to get started on Lucero, then letting go. Who would such an extremist appeal to? Good question, fine answer per the image below, and - reader quiz, old timers welcome - among those listed which one served but a single Minnesota House term for which he is to forever be remembered for a memorably unique legislative sponsorship proposal? (One with which Liberty Republicans might [and should] disagree since it went to curbing individual matters of lifestyle conduct and choice in a Constitutionally protected area, citizen privacy.) A hat tip to any reader posting a comment correctly identifying the individual and the legislative failed bill purpose for which his term of service shall always be remembered. Click the image to read:

Wikipedia page link

Ramsey - Fall Recycling Day.

Get rid of that stuff.

Click here for more information

Do note that link. It is a two-page pdf document listing items accepted and disposal fees, noting that other furniture not listed will not be accepted, that on the first page. The second page is a map of how to reach the Ramsey public works area that will serve as the collection site.

HD 35A and 35B, within SD 35 - TOMORROW EVENING - The stealth candidate forum you will regret missing. Perovich v. Whelan, live and on the issues. Apparently. Unfortunately, I've not seen any real agenda news. Readers having event links to provide are urged to do so. [UPDATED event agenda information is posted]

Trust me, it's real.

Apparently the North Metro Mayors Association is sponsoring a candidate forum for HD 35A and HD 35B candidates.

It will be an opportunity to see whether the major party candidates for HD 35A, neither an incumbent, are nonetheless skilled in issue ducking and speaking at length, saying little.

If either Peter Perovich or Abigale Whelan, HD 35A DFL and GOP candidates respectively, ducks issues, goes fuzzy, or does too much "me too" talking it will be a red flag for citizens attentive enough to attend.

(Jim Abeler while holding the seat was good in facing issues and stating beliefs and positions, and we should expect the same of Perovich or Whelan, whichever is elected in November.)

All I could find online about the event is here; City of Ramsey homepage, event calendar notice:

District 35 A & B Legislative Candidate Forum
Thu, 09/25/2014 -
6:30pm - 8:30pm

Hat tip to City staff for posting. Otherwise it would likely be a total stealth thing. The North Metro Mayors Assn.'s event page for September fails to list the event.

So, be there or be square.

___________UPDATE_____________
OFF ISSUE A BIT: I live in HD 35A and of the handful of readers Crabgrass has attracted, the best guess is most do too. I know little of HD 35B, hence, readers are urged to check the Secretary of State's HD candidate info page.

As a further update to an earlier post about absentee voting, my recollection is I did not give the SoS absentee voting link:

http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=211

Another SoS page of general interest to registered voters and citizens who may not yet be registered;

Voter Education and Outreach — Promote the Vote

__________FURTHER UPDATE__________
BACK ON ISSUE: Ramsey City Administrator Kurt Ulrich is the NMMA Operating Committee liaison for our town, and in response to an email request he was kind enough to forward information on the event.

Kurt forwarded an email with attachments, a package which fully explains the event. The email states:

Attached for your information are the 4 prepared questions to be asked at our D 35A&B candidate forum at Ramsey City Hall at 6:30 on Thursday, September 25. Also attached is a brief intro to the North Metro Mayors Association.

Ramsey Mayor Sarah Strommen will serve as moderator. She will pose the questions in rotating order with set time limits on answers. We will also accept written questions from the audience. Proposed time limits are as follows:

1. Opening Statements 2 min.
2. Prepared Questions each 2 min. with 45 Sec. 'rebuttal' or comment by other candidate
3. Audience Questions as time permits with 1 Minute response & 30 Sec. rebuttal
4. Closing Statements in reverse order from opening with 1 min time limit

We hope to conclude each District forum in about 45 Minutes. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Bob Benke, P.E.(Retired)
Director, Research & Advocacy Services
North Metro Mayors Association
612-669-0274

The moderated format should be familiar to those who have attended LWV candidate forum sessions over the years. Readers, think of the questions you most want to ask those seeking to represent you in the Minnesota House.

The Audience Questioning segment often is the most informative thing happening, since it shows spontaneity on the part of candidates; i.e., rehearsals are more difficult than working out responses to advance questions.

Next: In sequence, thumbnails readers can click and read - advance prepared forum questions; and an introductory item to the NMMA organization.


If I were running, that last prepared item might be a humdinger. However, both Ms. Whelan and Mr. Perovich are kind and polite people, so expect an informative but not provocative ending of prepared questions.

____________FURTHER UPDATE______________
Presuming a fact not clearly in evidence, the QCTV homepage notes itself as "your home for streaming and on-demand video of your favorite sports, government and community programs from Andover, Anoka, Champlin and Ramsey, Minnesota," and in its event listing, "September 25 - North Metro Mayor's Assoc.
Legislative House Dist. 35A & 35B," is listed. The assumption from that is it might not be a broadcast event but might be available after the fact via the streaming video feature of the site. Terminating the post at this point, interested readers can themselves check by phone or otherwise the broadcast and/or streaming video availability of the event. UPDATE: It was asked if the streaming video on the website is live or only on delay. I do not know, but it seems technically feasible to have live streaming and sidebar archiving for a time, as long as there is someone in the council chambers broadcast control room operating equipment. Readers are welcome to try to see if it is live streamed, or to phone QCTV to find out intentions.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Larry Klayman proves he was the perfect lawyer to represent Bradlee Dean in his humorously futile lawsuit against Rachel Maddow. Too much time for both in the same bat infested cave, breathing in their attitude.

Larry is the subject of a report here (while Bradlee Dean looks for ways to make a buck and get his name press and air time with Larry stealing that thunder pathetic meager sound bite, by being Larry). Larry and Bradlee, which one is Bevis?

The mouth:

... Says Military Should Oust Obama -- Like In Egypt

Larry Klayman is once again calling for the military to remove President Obama from office, telling Tim Wildmon of the American Family Association in an interview today that military leaders should “rise up” and “go to the president and say, ‘Your time’s up,’ just like they did to Mohamed Morsi in Egypt, ‘Take a hike guy, you’re destroying the country.’”

Klayman, who organized a White House rally last year that he hoped would lead to Obama’s ouster, insisted that the move would not be a coup d’état because Obama is “not a legitimate president” and is “having our people killed for no reason.”

[...] At another point in the “Today’s Issues” interview, Klayman said Obama “protects his Muslim brothers at the expense of Christians and Jews.”

“This president is anti-Christian, he’s anti-Semitic, he doesn’t like white people,” Klayman continued. “We’re taking strong legal action hopefully to get him removed from office as soon as possible before we go under for the count.”

The right-wing activist went on to say that Obama is a “socialist, a black Muslim in the mold of Louis Farrakhan” who wants people to “pay back African Americans” by “deconstructing the country, trying to bring the country down, in effect like revenge.”

“We can’t take it anymore, we just simply can’t take it anymore.”

This YouTube video. Larry wishes.

Take lessons Larry.

Get Networked.

Read that full item, it has links omitted in quoting above.

1- MN Progressive Project posts on the DFL candidates in two north metro house district contests. 2- Absentee ballots - sample ballot.

1- CANDIDATES: Susan Witt, here; Peter Perovich, here (citing Crabgrass about Whelan opposition to the minimum wage being increased). Perovich is the DFL candidate in RAMSEY, with the district including much of Anoka. The Perovich campaign website -

http://peterperovich.org/
http://peterperovich.org/contribute/

Ballotpedia page for Perovich,

http://ballotpedia.org/Peter_Perovich


2- ABSENTEE - SAMPLE BALLOT: Absentee voting is open this week onward, Ramsey elections page here. Ramsey residents can vote at city hall in person, at the reception desk, during regular working hours. HD 35A residents living in Anoka, this elections page (it is unclear from that page whether in person absentee voting at the Anoka city hall is available).

Any HD 35A resident can vote in person at the County elections office; see, this webpage for general election info, and here, for absentee voting detail, (whether you wish to vote absentee by mail or in person).

The Minnesota Secretary of State's find your sample ballot page:

 http://myballotmn.sos.state.mn.us/

As an example general election ballot, whether voted absentee or November at your polling place, this ballot from that SoS site - showing the contests appropriate for my home address in Ramsey, both sides, (click the thumbnail images to enlarge and read).

statewide and local side

judicial side

Sunday, September 21, 2014

MPP weekend reading.

Grace Kelly, here. Eric Ferguson, here.

As to Kelly's post; originality, Cucking Stool and Norwegianity and Dump Bachmann lamentably are gone. Blue Man in a Red District.

For posterity, one Cucking Stool timeslice. Nobody could agitate about Katherine Kerstin's limitations the way that blog did. Norwegianity archives were taken offline, with only a reverberation or two remaining alive on the web. Bachmann's retirement - to whatever besides MICHELEpac money scrounging - moots to a degree the survival of Dump Bachmann, but it went offline prior to the name Sorenson in connection to plea bargaining being news to us or Mitch McConnell.

Sam Smith writes a good one at Crooks and Liars.

This link.

Politico posts an excellent online item about Litigeous Larry Klayman and NSA dragnet style wretched excesses. His federal suit is to be argued on appeal, Nov. 4, D.C. Circuit. Serious people who are skilled wish to intervene as amici, and Larry bristles and belittles any stealing of his thunder. Like a cross between Brietbart and Geraldo Rivera, with a pinch of Michele Bachmann and Bradlee Dean mixed in, Litigeous Larrry persevers in marching to his own ill-tempered drummer.

This link. No excerpt. The part in there about citizens perhaps taking it to the streets if the courts go inattentive to his pleas; Larry's been spectacularly unsuccessful in fomenting riot; but trading on discontent appears to have yielded Larry a comfortable lifestyle of relative luxury. He seem satisfied with himself although others might find fault. Rachel Maddow and her media lawyers ate his and Bradlee Dean's lunch. But he's Eveready Bunny still going.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

RAMSEY - Sept. 13, and again now, overnight, campaign sign vandalization. Wayne Buchholz signs were targeted. It is not anything but totally deplorable. It should stop. [UPDATED]

How widespread it may be is unclear, but Wayne Buchholz signs are shown as vandalized on his Facebook campaign page,

 https://www.facebook.com/wayneforcouncil

It appears four signs were ruined. In one instance adjacent Whelan signs remained intact. It was specific targeting.

Vote however you like, think what you like, say what you like, but leave the signs alone.

People take time to put up signs and others should respect that and let them be. Agree or disagree with a candidate, that's a right, but let it not reach to vandalism.

____________UPDATE: 7:06 AM 10/1/2014___________
I meant to post this sooner. While it is only hearsay and I have not spoken to any eyewitnesses of purported happenings, my understanding nonetheless is that pre-primary Justin Boals allegedly had a sign tampered with which was authorized to be placed where it was by the owner-operator of the go-kart place, where several signs now are bloc-posted along the tracks at the place where Armstrong meets Highway 10. Boals was an interesting candidate, for a local Republican, but he appears to not have generated traction with the local base. Whelan, not Boals was the endorsed candidate. But regardless of that, the man had the right to post his signs and to expect they'd be left unmolested, in repose, and not removed by some dastardly vandal-malcontent idiot. Yet it is my understanding exactly such an idiot malcontent messed with a Boals sign. It did not make FOX that it happened, so, you know, maybe it didn't and then again, maybe something got swept under a rug. Who'd do a thing like that? It's not for me to judge. Let God judge it. Again, hearsay without direct evidence, but leave it in the hands of the Divine.

It should be added, one Boals sign is not the scale of vandalism happening to Buchholz signs. It should cease. Yet while Buchholz is posting a lot about it on his facebook page, (and he has the right to be angry), he is ignoring telling us what policy thoughts, if any, he has in terms of what he'd like to see done over a four-year term if elected.

Vandalism is bad, but in this instance it is no excuse for silence on the issues, i.e., silence is not always golden. Policy/issues are what elections should hinge upon, not sympathy for someone whose hard work posting signs is undermined by bad spirited people.

As to council citizen input session events, Buchholz has written, "On Aug. 11, 2014 I went to the Ramsey City Council meeting and made a statement about the PSD LLC land sale. [...] To the Mayor and Council members I make no apology, instead I will pray for them to have a more respectful consideration of opinions made by city residents. I do consider this matter closed." So, as an issue, he still resents Jim Deal's activity while having in the past praised Jim Deal having built the VA clinic, so he appears to be of two minds on his major issue, Jim Deal. Perhaps he can pray for the lost souls of those who vandalize signs, his, and Justin Boals'.

Back to issues, Buchholz has an attitude toward Jim Deal, he dislikes franchise fees which appears to be a dead issue given the standoff between council and charter commission opinion, and he criticized the city buying and tearing down one retail business along Highway 10 and feels justified to judge another retail establishment, instead of letting the market judge it as a success or failure in terms of the likes and dislikes of the buying public, vs. his own personal likes and dislikes. That is about all there is there on issues; the suggestion being he'd want to impose personal value judgments on retail license seekers and the lawful merchandise they'd offer the public, rather than following zoning code existing at the time of a business license application, i.e., go with personal whims and tastes rather than leaving such things properly to the will of the market and the rule of law. Not my bag of Tea.

________FURTHER UPDATE: 8:47 AM 10/1/2014__________
I don't want/need NO Nanny: Does one need to go to the decision maker of the family to gain an issues viewpoint?

And do you want the pair put into a position of any ability to be interfering in your own decision making needs and reproductive planning options? If not a city council issue, a hint of things to come if seeking higher State office. What parallel prejudices are implied for business license decision making, if elected?

Strength of conviction is not a bad thing, except if you'd want to impose your convictions over my own strengths of thought and action.

Do you, as a sentient reader, need that like a bad headache every day, day in, day out? Nanny will is fine with me, if you impose it on yourself, and leave others to be. Somehow that link has a miasma to me of interference with others' choice rights. Not my bag of Tea. Especially in the way the police union will was served by Dayton's half as baked approach. With that criticized. As going too far. Lighten up, folks. Life's yours to live. Your life that is, for you. Not mine, lived to your prejudices. Understand that intruding a nose in other peoples' business has implications to a candidacy some might like, but for many others; not their bag of Tea. Don't need no nanny. Don't need no prudes. Don't need no town scolds neither.

Rollerblades. We want rollerblades. This must be an imposter. An ill-chosen double.

Notice the cheering crowd.

Friday, September 19, 2014

The lyrics chronicle the feelings of lost love through the days of week, starting on Monday: "They call it stormy Monday, but Tuesday's just as bad". The mood improves by Friday, when "the eagle flies", a metaphor for payday, which allows for carousing on Saturday. The lyrics end with Sunday, "when the blues and spirituals converged [in] a continuation of a trend used by earlier Mississippi Delta blues singers" and conclude with a prayer asking for the Lord's help [...]

Yes, T-Bone Walker's "Call it Stormy Monday" has a Wikipedia page.

And the eagle flies on Friday - getting paid for doing the work. So, the eagle, bird of our nation, stern, unforgiving, regal. The eagle in one of the colors of our flag, those colors, below in three images -

eagle eye - exceptional color vision

Eric Lucero buys nationwide market-rate campaign signs

$275 campaign sign price - lukewarm pricing? Who's to judge?

______________UPDATE________________
One interesting aspect of Lucero's reporting, listing rebar apparently at cost, as his own contribution in kind. In reporting I have seen, which is in no way a full spectrum, almost nobody reports rebar. And, if rebar is lent by somebody to someone else's campaign, the proper thing likely is to guess at a fmv [fair market value] for one time use of reusable rebar for campaign sign posting. Lucero is the first I have seen reporting that way.

In Ramsey, so far, neither Buchholz nor Williams have reported any in kind loan of rebar expense line item. Curious. I'd like to know the in kind source of Buchholz's one-time use of rebar, who provided it to him. Buchholz declined in reporting to identify his sign printer, stating only the $275 price accorded him w/o vendor specificity. One wonders whether as a retiree he was pressed for time and omitted that data, or felt it irrelevant to due and proper campaign disclosure to give vendor identification. It seems for voters to judge disclosure vendor identification is a key factor, and should be reported in good faith. I could send an email asking, but Buchholz already declined to respond to a fair question about tee shirt color.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

RAMSEY - Budget and tax matters reported by ABC Newspapers.

This link. I find some of the report confusing, e.g.,

Finance Director Diana Lund is estimating the city’s tax rate could decrease from 44.24 percent to 42.67 percent, but a $200,000 home that paid $2,224 in city taxes in 2014 could be paying $390 more for a total of $2,614 in 2015.

Without having attempted any detailed study of the agenda charts and tables, many, many of them, I wonder if that paragraph could be further fleshed out by such a step. Reader comments are welcome.

It seems to say peoples' Ramsey share of property taxes will be going up $400 or more. I can understand that. The tax rate part of the quoted sentence is what confuses me.

In any event, the general revenue levy tax total for Ramsey may increase but there will be no franchise fee imposition. That appears to me to be the tradeoff the council reached.

"Dying in America." It sucks. Blame it sucking on rapaciousness of the doctors and hospitals, other providers, and good luck getting them to admit it. There's no easy way out.

Just as you'd expect, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has the full report behind an online subscription wall. The executive summary is online free, pdf or html. Are you ready, to contemplate this? From the opening summary - interleaved with commentary - most of what's there on that short linguistically challenged puff-summary presentation:

For the millions of Americans who work in or with the health care sector—including clinicians, clergy, caregivers, and support staff—providing high-quality care for people who are nearing the end of life is a matter of professional commitment and responsibility. Health system managers, payers, and policy makers, likewise, have a responsibility to ensure that end-of-life care is compassionate, affordable, sustainable, and of the best quality possible.

A substantial body of evidence shows that broad improvements to end-of-life care are within reach. In Dying in America, a consensus report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), a committee of experts finds that improving the quality and availability of medical and social services for patients and their families could not only enhance quality of life through the end of life, but may also contribute to a more sustainable care system.

Not knowing what others think, it seems what's wanted is making the passing, when it's time, quick, painfree, and well managed vs. mangled at great cost. No crap. Cash out the chips when the chip holder says to, and don't screw out one more fee, several more, because that's obscene. And, did I say quick, painfree? Yeah. Social services, back seat, quick and painless, front and center. The executive summary continues:

The Pressing Need to Improve End-of-Life Care
A number of factors make the IOM study particularly timely, including the rapidly increasing number of older Americans with some combination of frailty, physical and cognitive disabilities, chronic illness, and functional limitations. The U.S. population also is quickly becoming more culturally diverse, heightening the need for responsive, patient-centered care. In addition, the nation’s health care system is increasingly burdened by factors that hamper delivery of high-quality care near the end of life, including

-- barriers in access to care that disadvantage certain groups;
-- a mismatch between the services patients and families need and the services they can obtain; [... fluff omitted]
-- inadequate numbers of palliative care specialists and too little palliative care knowledge among other clinicians who care for individuals with serious advanced illness; and
-- a fragmented care delivery system, spurred by perverse financial incentives, that contributes to the lack of service coordination across programs and unsustainable growth in costs.

When the angel of death is wanted to come by the house, with the needle of end juice, don't put jack in the way, if that's what's wanted, and don't get the wrong address.

Opportunities for Improvement
Although the systems that support people at the end of life face increasing challenges and strain, there are new and encouraging opportunities for improvement. For example, there is growing knowledge within medical and social care communities about how to better engage patients and families in advance care planning and shared decision making, including seriously ill children and adolescents who may be able to participate in their own end-of-life care decisions. Other promising opportunities to improve care include utilization of new communications technologies, growing recognition and support for family caregivers, and the development of quality measures to increase accountability. Finally, according to the IOM committee, the greatest potential for positive change may lie in health care system reforms that affect the organization and financing of health services.

Amen.

The committee makes recommendations in the areas of care delivery, clinician–patient communication and advance care planning, professional education and development, payment systems and policies [got that one, eh] , and public engagement and education.

Delivery of Person-Centered, Family-Oriented End-of-Life Care

Ideally, health care should harmonize with social, psychological, and spiritual support to achieve the highest possible quality of life for people of all ages with serious illnesses or injuries. Toward this end, the IOM committee recommends that integrated, person-centered, family-oriented, and consistently accessible care near the end of life be provided by health care delivery organizations and covered by government and private health insurers.

[emphasis added] Mainly BS until getting to the nitty-gritty, don't get stiffed by the stiff.

The committee finds that a palliative approach typically affords patients and families the highest quality of life for the most time possible. For the purposes of the report, the committee defines palliative care as that which provides relief from pain and other symptoms, supports quality of life, and is focused on patients with serious advanced illness and their families. Palliative care may begin early in the course of treatment for a serious condition. Hospice is an important approach to addressing the palliative care needs of patients with limited life expectancy and their families. For people with a terminal illness or at high risk of dying in the near future, hospice is a comprehensive, socially supportive, pain-reducing, and comforting alternative to technologically elaborate, medically centered interventions. It therefore has many features in common with palliative care.

Although palliative care is well established in most large hospitals and professional education programs, the committee identifies the need for greater understanding of the role of palliative care—by both the public and care professionals—as one of the greatest remaining challenges in the delivery of high-quality end-of-life care.

This far, and no mention yet of Hemlock Society. Who are these people? Why the indirection and such? When people are suffering last illness extreme pain, they may want it to end quickly? Big surprise? To whom?

Clinician–Patient Communication and Advance Care Planning
Many people nearing the end of life may not be physically or mentally capable of making their own care decisions. In addition, family members and clinicians may not be able to accurately guess what a person’s care preferences may be. Therefore, advance care planning is critically important to ensure that patients’ goals and needs are met. Although advance directive documents can be useful, they should allow health care agents and care providers to make informed decisions in certain circumstances and should not take the place of open, continuous communication. According to the IOM committee, the advance care planning process can begin at any age or state of health and should center on frequent conversations with family members and care providers. Electronic storage of advance directives, statements of wishes, or other relevant materials holds promise for improving access to and effectiveness of these materials. Professional societies and other organizations that establish quality standards should develop standards for clinician–patient communication and advance care planning. Payers and health care delivery organizations should adopt these standards as a necessary component of high-quality care for individuals with advanced serious illness and their families and enable them to seek these services from their physicians and providers.

Professional Education and Development
The education of health professionals who provide care to patients at the end of life has substantially improved in recent decades. Hospice and palliative care is now an established medical specialty, and palliative care has a strong presence in clinical education, professional organizations, and research communities. However, the IOM committee finds that important deficiencies persist. First, recent knowledge gains have not necessarily translated to improved patient care. Second, the supply of palliative care and hospice specialists is small, meaning that many patients must rely on other clinicians who provide care for individuals with serious advanced illness but who may lack training and experience necessary to meet their patients’ palliative care needs. The committee recommends that educational institutions, professional societies, accrediting organizations, certifying bodies, health care delivery organizations, and medical centers take measures to both increase the number of palliative care specialists and expand the knowledge base for all clinicians.

Nitty gritty to the "provider community," and rocking that boat a little, coming up:

Policies and Payment Systems to Support High-Quality End-of-Life Care
Sustainable improvements in the organization and financing of end-of-life care must take into account the need to stabilize health care costs over time. The IOM committee finds that reform is needed in how resources for care provided near the end of life are organized. Current financial incentives encourage a reliance on acute care settings that often are costly and poorly suited to the needs, goals, and preferences of patients and their families. The committee recommends a major reorientation of payment systems to incentivize the integration of medical and social services, the coordination of care across multiple care settings, and the use of advance care planning and shared decision making to better align the services patients receive with their care goals and preferences. This reorientation will improve access to services that better respond to the needs of patients and their loved ones and may also help stabilize health care costs.

That soak them and the estate for all they're worth then cash them out uncerimoniously, the fleecing on the way out stuff, gently said, is indecent but too prevalent, and there should be "reorientation of payment systems." That last one's a mouthful. Call it "acute care," "intervention," and other euphemisms, but it's leaching off dying folk. Or can be. And likely too frequently is.

Again, this link.

Representative coverage of the situation, per the report, e.g., Strib's carry of an AP item, and also: here, here, and here. That last listed item is noteworthy, e.g., this mid-item quote:

The report reflects the growing concern over the dizzying array of high-tech interventions to emerge in recent years that prolong futile suffering, often at great emotional, physical and financial cost. Those interventions were the subject of this newspaper's yearlong series "Cost of Dying." To correct the current, misguided course, Medicare should boost coverage for home health services, not just high-tech hospital care, the report urges. And more doctors must be trained and licensed in end-of-life care, through changes in universities, state medical boards and accrediting agencies, it adds.

If that is not sufficient telling it like it is, or you are a reader wanting more; this link, source of this screen capture: