It is interesting to consider the "education question" not as usually cast, K-12 and the dire costs of obtaining a BA these days, even at a "State school."
An education is important for upward mobility opportunity, with Al Franken being an example where doors might have been less open had he not had the opportunity to attend Harvard. But that does not go to the question of the need to maintain absolute post-graduate excellence at the U.Minn. Twin Cities campus, now and steadily into the future, when funding for that might not be as plentiful as during "Sputnik" days I can recall.
So, Tinklenberg holds a theology degree from a private school, Northwestern; Bachmann got her law degree from Oral Roberts; and Immelman earned his series of degrees from University of Port Elizabeth, (which sounds as if he is the only graduate of exclusively public university training). Apparently renamed Nelson Mandela Municipal University, there still is an active "www.upe.ac.za" web address.
Presumably while studying in Psychology Immelman either utilized Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant aid or had it available and is familiar with how post-graduate education availability is often dependent on such assistance capability.
The ultimate question for the three - where do you stand on maintaining post-graduate excellence at the Twin Cities campus along with plentiful available post-graduate financial aid where needed [it being more frequent that post-graduate education might involve a marriage with possibly the only family income being from a teaching or research assistanceship, something especially true for Post-Doc research, which reaches an older population segment]?
Is it an, "I worked my way through, others can," mentality, or "My parents paid, other parents can," mentality, or is it a recognition and strong and perhaps unwaivering support for advanced education training, as a social benefit to us all and something all should share in funding?
I would hope each of the three advanced degree holders would publicly take a stance.
Because if you are for it, you have to be for funding it, and that means it is a priority over funding something else because you see the long-term social benefit.
If post-graduate excellence is not funded, it will not be maintained. The best scholars are the ones most vigorously recruited by the other excellent universities, public and private, in our nation. Indeed, Prof. Immelman appears to have been recruited internationally, which is not an uncommon thing, either.
Friday, July 18, 2008
More Fundraising - Third Congressional District - Millions at play.
Other reports are online, this is from Political Animal:
Madia, relative to his opponent, a non-incumbent, has done better than non-incumbent Elwyn Tinklenberg in the Sixth. Paulsen, also a non-incumbent, lags slightly behind Bachmann's Sixth District total on hand, with Bachmann the incumbent.
It appears the Third District a focal contest locally and nationally. I expect the GOP also aims to fight to hold its two incumbent posts, Bachmann and Col. Kline.
Madia 3rd District candidacy tops $1 million
Ashwin Madia's campaign for retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad's 3rd District seat has generated almost $1.1 million in campaign contributions so far.
Madia, a Democrat, announced today that his campaign raised almost $700,000 in the second quarter, leaving him with about $740,000 cash on hand.
Last week, Republican congressional candidate Erik Paulsen said he raised more than $600,000 in the second quarter, giving him more than $1.1 million in cash.
Independence Party candidate David Dillon was well behind those two. Dillon reported raising slightly more than $16,000 in the quarter, providing him about that much cash on hand.
Madia, relative to his opponent, a non-incumbent, has done better than non-incumbent Elwyn Tinklenberg in the Sixth. Paulsen, also a non-incumbent, lags slightly behind Bachmann's Sixth District total on hand, with Bachmann the incumbent.
It appears the Third District a focal contest locally and nationally. I expect the GOP also aims to fight to hold its two incumbent posts, Bachmann and Col. Kline.
MPR reports on Aubrey Immelman.
Below is the screenshot, so you can click and read the introductory notes. I encourage using this link to read the entire MPR item.
UPDATE --- GOP candidate Aubrey Immelman. Plus some questions.
Immelman: He has a contribute window on the website, for donations online, and there is a post office box address for snail mail sending checks.
He is a GOP candidate, and Anderson appears to have not retreated from his filing as an IP candidate for the Sixth District Congressional position. As noted, Anderson appears to have been the only IP candidate to have filed, and so should not face a primary ballot. It appears only the GOP will have a primary. If anyone has filed as a DFL challenger I have not seen that reported, so if any reader knows of a challenge, please leave a comment.
Immelman has been updating the site's news, see his homepage.
Here, he has posted information about his thinking on immigration. Unfortunately, he like the other candidates indicates it is problematic, without proposing any concrete solutions. Any reader believing either Tinklenberg or Bachmann have taken a concrete policy position, please post a comment and link to where that might be stated.
Saying the plumbing is broken is different from saying "I can fix it, here's how."
Immelman's website indicates two other policy/issue areas he will address in coming days.
He looks to be a serious GOP candidate, and an alternative to Michele Bachmann. His homepage news blurbs indicate a position on the war differing substantially from that of Bachmann.
FEC filing uncertainty and lack of publicly released polling numbers: Immelman, as a recent entrant having filed during the July filing period, may not need to do FEC reporting except starting for the third quarter. I do not know what financial reporting FEC requires that way. Using figures Blue Man first posted, I have also posted about the Tinklenberg and Bachmann numbers.
Anderson, the IP entrant is in a recent-filing position similar to Immelman. (Something also holding for the newly filed Senate candidates.)
I expect whatever filing is required of either of the new Sixth District entrants will be watched by the existing campaigns; Tinklenberg people watching Anderson; and the Bachmann people watching Immelman. All that with Tinlenberg and Bachmann people watching each other's FEC reporting, and doing polling which neither, for now is making public.
If anyone has seen any early polling, Tinklenberg vs Bachmann, please post a link in a comment.
_______UPDATE_________
For new readers, If I catch a typo or see an awkward unclear sentence I might rewrite that in a post. Usually, I try to keep it as originally written, with added thoughts via an "UPDATE" footnote like this one.
An issue flag I put up while discussing Lord Faris and Franken, and the Lord Faris Friday 7 pm appearance on Almanac, where I see NOTHING on the Immelman website, is healthcare, with the following what I said while posting about Lord Faris:
I understand a "Ron Paul conservative" might say it should remain a private sector thing, and a Goldwater conservative might look to Reagan's nomination speech where he discussed Goldwater's dedication to providing first rate employee coverage. With globalization a related question is whether our domestic corporate operations are at a disadvantage with healthcare being employer paid, while competing European-sited firms have government healthcare programs where the added cost is not directly carried by firms operating there.
And the multinationals operate everywhere, and shift jobs one place or another based in part on such costs, and other market factors, including lax or stringent environemntal regulation. European firms with US affiliates, for their employees in the US, do the normal thing since there is no government run program. And Ford, in Canada, takes advantage of Canada's excellent universal coverage single payer system.
I hope that at some point Immelman defines himself on healthcare.
He is running against a primary opponent, Michele Bachmann, who in the 2006 cycle DID NOT PROVIDE ANY healthcare coverage for the family's clinic workers at Bachmann & Associates - and still might be doing that.
Tinklenberg is on record from the Anoka Q&A pre-endorsement session. Tinklenberg Group employees are covered, line of business, "transportation services."
He is a GOP candidate, and Anderson appears to have not retreated from his filing as an IP candidate for the Sixth District Congressional position. As noted, Anderson appears to have been the only IP candidate to have filed, and so should not face a primary ballot. It appears only the GOP will have a primary. If anyone has filed as a DFL challenger I have not seen that reported, so if any reader knows of a challenge, please leave a comment.
Immelman has been updating the site's news, see his homepage.
Here, he has posted information about his thinking on immigration. Unfortunately, he like the other candidates indicates it is problematic, without proposing any concrete solutions. Any reader believing either Tinklenberg or Bachmann have taken a concrete policy position, please post a comment and link to where that might be stated.
Saying the plumbing is broken is different from saying "I can fix it, here's how."
Immelman's website indicates two other policy/issue areas he will address in coming days.
He looks to be a serious GOP candidate, and an alternative to Michele Bachmann. His homepage news blurbs indicate a position on the war differing substantially from that of Bachmann.
FEC filing uncertainty and lack of publicly released polling numbers: Immelman, as a recent entrant having filed during the July filing period, may not need to do FEC reporting except starting for the third quarter. I do not know what financial reporting FEC requires that way. Using figures Blue Man first posted, I have also posted about the Tinklenberg and Bachmann numbers.
Anderson, the IP entrant is in a recent-filing position similar to Immelman. (Something also holding for the newly filed Senate candidates.)
I expect whatever filing is required of either of the new Sixth District entrants will be watched by the existing campaigns; Tinklenberg people watching Anderson; and the Bachmann people watching Immelman. All that with Tinlenberg and Bachmann people watching each other's FEC reporting, and doing polling which neither, for now is making public.
If anyone has seen any early polling, Tinklenberg vs Bachmann, please post a link in a comment.
_______UPDATE_________
For new readers, If I catch a typo or see an awkward unclear sentence I might rewrite that in a post. Usually, I try to keep it as originally written, with added thoughts via an "UPDATE" footnote like this one.
An issue flag I put up while discussing Lord Faris and Franken, and the Lord Faris Friday 7 pm appearance on Almanac, where I see NOTHING on the Immelman website, is healthcare, with the following what I said while posting about Lord Faris:
For me the big ISSUES question is: In reasonable detail how do you propose to fix or work to fix healthcare? Single payer government run universal coverage with insurance only to meet extended risk coverage but having no place in core coverage; or less? Do your view healthcare as a right, or a privilege?
I understand a "Ron Paul conservative" might say it should remain a private sector thing, and a Goldwater conservative might look to Reagan's nomination speech where he discussed Goldwater's dedication to providing first rate employee coverage. With globalization a related question is whether our domestic corporate operations are at a disadvantage with healthcare being employer paid, while competing European-sited firms have government healthcare programs where the added cost is not directly carried by firms operating there.
And the multinationals operate everywhere, and shift jobs one place or another based in part on such costs, and other market factors, including lax or stringent environemntal regulation. European firms with US affiliates, for their employees in the US, do the normal thing since there is no government run program. And Ford, in Canada, takes advantage of Canada's excellent universal coverage single payer system.
I hope that at some point Immelman defines himself on healthcare.
He is running against a primary opponent, Michele Bachmann, who in the 2006 cycle DID NOT PROVIDE ANY healthcare coverage for the family's clinic workers at Bachmann & Associates - and still might be doing that.
Tinklenberg is on record from the Anoka Q&A pre-endorsement session. Tinklenberg Group employees are covered, line of business, "transportation services."
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Two DFL Senate Candidates - Lord Faris now has a campaign website.
Franken has been a candidate for some time. He faced two formidable pre-convention opponents and gained a first ballot DFL party endorsement.
Lord Faris entered during the July filing period for the primary without much, if any, advanced notice.
Franken has had a website for a long time. His staff has kept it current, with frequent homepage updating.
Lord Faris now has a webpage.
It is clearly in construction, with no "ISSUES" toggel yet, on the top menu line.
Here are top screen shots from each candidate's site, as of today, Thurs. July 17, 2008. As always, click on an image to enlarge it to read.
Site links are: Lord Faris ---- Franken.
THE BIG NEWS: Advance notice, Lord Faris will be on Almanac tomorrow.
There is no indication of format, whether it will be a meet the candidates for discussion, or what.
Earlier opponents Franken faced, Jack Nelson Pallmeyer and Mike Ciresi, have already had a public say about who they are, why they felt their candidacy best, and what they felt on the issues.
Franken had the delegate votes. He was popular enough, that way.
He is the endorsed candidate.
Lord Faris has chosen to simply bypass the entire winnowing process. That is a start facing skepticism. If the most promising candidate, why the delay?
For me the big ISSUES question is: In reasonable detail how do you propose to fix or work to fix healthcare? Single payer government run universal coverage with insurance only to meet extended risk coverage but having no place in core coverage; or less? Do your view healthcare as a right, or a privilege?
I await an answer, completely, from either Franken or Lord Faris.
At the endorsement conventin, Franken faced an air of problematic opposition, not from another candidate but from McCollum and her dissatisfactions, which perhaps never were resolved to McCollum's satisfaction.
But others moved on.
Now Lord Faris [it's hard to discuss her without sounding as if someone from the British House of Lords is under discussion]; Lord Faris is saying that her candidacy is premised mainly on a worry that Franken is slipping, losing it, and for unclear reasons might not prevail against Norm Coleman where she, somehow, could.
Present poll results have been mentioned. However, early polling traditionally is unreliable. (Indeed, at times last cycle Wetterling looked like the winner in a Sixth District Congressional race ultimately won clearly, by Bachmann.)
And then, whose poll is it, and how were the questions sequenced and worded?
That is relevant when somebody wants to sell you some set of poll numbers.
Lord Faris has biographical info on the website. This Friday's Almanac appearance will be her key opportunity to answer the question begging attention, "Why me."
The contest has not been cast as about what Franken says on the issues, it is about what is wrong about Norm Coleman and right about me, candidate Lord Faris, that will defeat Coleman while I say Franken cannot defeat Coleman. I have yet to hear a line of cogent reasoning that way.
Surely, once Lord Faris' ISSUES are added to the website we will have a better view.
And if it is ISSUES-lite, as too many websites opt for these days, she will have a hard time charging from several lengths behind the front runner late in the race, to win a DFL primary.
The Friday, 7 pm Almanac show on PBS will be the start of our being able to see who she is and what she has to say.
I will try to catch the show, and I hope she's on an early segment so I don't have to wait through boring stuff -
Run it first, PBS guys. It is important. It's what we care about for now.
Strangely, Lord Faris says Franken is right on the issues but her candidacy is largely a claim that she feels she has a better cause for voters to favor her over Coleman, than to favor Franken over Coleman. She must convincingly explain that.
Obviously, there is no polling that way, and it would be unfair to put an as yet "new face" into a polling test this early, before she has appeared publicly.
Again, that is cause to watch Almanac. And because she is the new candidate I will excerpt reporting; link to here for the full item:
That polls say yadda, yadda, is, well, Ventura was well behind Coleman and Humphrey all the polling time, and won the election. That argument does not hold water. If the position is in case something very bad happens before the primary to hurt Franken, there is another DFL option. If things go sour after the primary, as with the late Wellstone death, it is too late, so this is a safety net candidacy lasting into September? Or is there more to it? But, saying the polls bother her now, well fine, they don't bother me and apparently don't bother Franken. Had Ventura running for governor relied on polls he'd have quit before winning. Polls - give me more, please, they are of limited credibility.
And Franken DOES have real personal credibility, as well as being sound on the issues.
If Franken is "flawed" as some say, Christopher Truscott has blogged that, the vagueness of that kind of claim, the subjectivity, is its problem. It is a feeling, unless more against him exists than has so far been leveled by GOP interests. Or if Franken "squandered a lead" what lead was that. Early alterations in polling is a tenuous thing to contend as justification for avoiding the endorsement process, then entering, with vague "worry" over early polling.
His slip in the polls has an easy explanation, the nominating convention was not that far in the past and he was publicly assailed needlessly from within DFL ranks and that assault on his character more than anything may have "squandered" hypothetical leads.
If it is Betty McCollum attacked him, and now I am running, more is needed.
It is quite early, and you pay the fee you can have a primary that is how the rules work so Lord Faris is fully justified that way; yet the question I have for Lord Faris is, "Why you?"
As with Jack Nelson Pallmeyer, explain that - and to my feelings Jack did and he was my choice, but others voted, I did not, and he yielded to the endorsement process.
I identify with Al Franken. Growing up in the Twin Cities without any special privileged childhood, having a chance at education, leaving to see much of the larger world and to graduate from Harvard and prosper in an unconventional career without ever losing sight of his roots, without turning his back on where he'd come from, and then living some time in Hollywood and New York settings but staying normal, married and in love over thirty years and raising children who by all appearances turned out well -- all of that leads me to say I have no problem at all voting for Al Franken - certainly not when looking at Norm Coleman as an alternative.
So why not stick with Al? That's the thing Lord Faris has to convincingly show. Saying, I agree with Al on the issues but I am more electable then go on -- say:
Why?
_______________
It seems almost a perceptible unspoken undercurrent exists, can Al Franken sufficiently connect with women voters? Has he burned some kind of bridge?
There was that gender dimension to the McCollum criticism, and the current Franken web homepage has a focus on women voters.
Oberstar, of the other gender, said let him go to the convention, apologize for extreme satire and disown it, then get him endorsed and move on.
So, is it an unspoken gender appeal issue, or something else that makes some say Franken is flawed? I do not see it. I do not know any women in my small circle of acquaintance who have that problem. Aside from family, I know a former Ramsey council member who liked Franken early on, she said so when I favored Ciresi and Nelson Pallmeyer more (but thought all three candidates outstanding).
Why not Franken? He had the delegates. He received the nomination. He looks fine to me.
He is no outsider. He grew up here. His roots are here. More than Coleman, for certain. He is a good man. What's not to like? Why a late challenge, other than as a safety net, in case ...
Lord Faris entered during the July filing period for the primary without much, if any, advanced notice.
Franken has had a website for a long time. His staff has kept it current, with frequent homepage updating.
Lord Faris now has a webpage.
It is clearly in construction, with no "ISSUES" toggel yet, on the top menu line.
Here are top screen shots from each candidate's site, as of today, Thurs. July 17, 2008. As always, click on an image to enlarge it to read.
Site links are: Lord Faris ---- Franken.
THE BIG NEWS: Advance notice, Lord Faris will be on Almanac tomorrow.
There is no indication of format, whether it will be a meet the candidates for discussion, or what.
Earlier opponents Franken faced, Jack Nelson Pallmeyer and Mike Ciresi, have already had a public say about who they are, why they felt their candidacy best, and what they felt on the issues.
Franken had the delegate votes. He was popular enough, that way.
He is the endorsed candidate.
Lord Faris has chosen to simply bypass the entire winnowing process. That is a start facing skepticism. If the most promising candidate, why the delay?
For me the big ISSUES question is: In reasonable detail how do you propose to fix or work to fix healthcare? Single payer government run universal coverage with insurance only to meet extended risk coverage but having no place in core coverage; or less? Do your view healthcare as a right, or a privilege?
I await an answer, completely, from either Franken or Lord Faris.
At the endorsement conventin, Franken faced an air of problematic opposition, not from another candidate but from McCollum and her dissatisfactions, which perhaps never were resolved to McCollum's satisfaction.
But others moved on.
Now Lord Faris [it's hard to discuss her without sounding as if someone from the British House of Lords is under discussion]; Lord Faris is saying that her candidacy is premised mainly on a worry that Franken is slipping, losing it, and for unclear reasons might not prevail against Norm Coleman where she, somehow, could.
Present poll results have been mentioned. However, early polling traditionally is unreliable. (Indeed, at times last cycle Wetterling looked like the winner in a Sixth District Congressional race ultimately won clearly, by Bachmann.)
And then, whose poll is it, and how were the questions sequenced and worded?
That is relevant when somebody wants to sell you some set of poll numbers.
Lord Faris has biographical info on the website. This Friday's Almanac appearance will be her key opportunity to answer the question begging attention, "Why me."
The contest has not been cast as about what Franken says on the issues, it is about what is wrong about Norm Coleman and right about me, candidate Lord Faris, that will defeat Coleman while I say Franken cannot defeat Coleman. I have yet to hear a line of cogent reasoning that way.
Surely, once Lord Faris' ISSUES are added to the website we will have a better view.
And if it is ISSUES-lite, as too many websites opt for these days, she will have a hard time charging from several lengths behind the front runner late in the race, to win a DFL primary.
The Friday, 7 pm Almanac show on PBS will be the start of our being able to see who she is and what she has to say.
I will try to catch the show, and I hope she's on an early segment so I don't have to wait through boring stuff -
Run it first, PBS guys. It is important. It's what we care about for now.
Strangely, Lord Faris says Franken is right on the issues but her candidacy is largely a claim that she feels she has a better cause for voters to favor her over Coleman, than to favor Franken over Coleman. She must convincingly explain that.
Obviously, there is no polling that way, and it would be unfair to put an as yet "new face" into a polling test this early, before she has appeared publicly.
Again, that is cause to watch Almanac. And because she is the new candidate I will excerpt reporting; link to here for the full item:
"I am concerned that the Franken campaign has squandered a lead and fallen behind in the polls even as Barack Obama has opened up a wide double-digit lead," Lord Faris said. She praised Franken for his two-year commitment to the campaign and his ability to raise large sums of money for other DFL candidates as well as his own campaign but questioned his electability given the downward movement of his campaign. She cited a recent poll that stated had Jesse Ventura entered the race, he and Franken would have been neck-and-neck, as further evidence of the weakness in the Franken campaign.
"Make no mistake: I am in this race to win. My candidacy is 100 percent aimed at replacing Norm Coleman this November with a U.S. senator whose legislative and policy positions are consistent with the views and priorities of most Minnesotans, and not just a rubber stamp for the Bush-Cheney agenda that most Minnesotans oppose," said Lord Faris.
"This Senate seat is not just one vote. It is potentially the 60th vote in the Senate which can break the gridlock and help get us back on the right track. With President Obama and 60 Democratic votes we can end the war in Iraq and invest in jobs, infrastructure, education and health care. These are the urgent needs that the Bush-Cheney-Coleman team chooses to ignore," Lord Faris stated.
Lord Faris emphasized that Franken was right on most issues but said she shared the concern of many other DFL'ers that the campaign had failed to connect with Minnesotans.
That polls say yadda, yadda, is, well, Ventura was well behind Coleman and Humphrey all the polling time, and won the election. That argument does not hold water. If the position is in case something very bad happens before the primary to hurt Franken, there is another DFL option. If things go sour after the primary, as with the late Wellstone death, it is too late, so this is a safety net candidacy lasting into September? Or is there more to it? But, saying the polls bother her now, well fine, they don't bother me and apparently don't bother Franken. Had Ventura running for governor relied on polls he'd have quit before winning. Polls - give me more, please, they are of limited credibility.
And Franken DOES have real personal credibility, as well as being sound on the issues.
If Franken is "flawed" as some say, Christopher Truscott has blogged that, the vagueness of that kind of claim, the subjectivity, is its problem. It is a feeling, unless more against him exists than has so far been leveled by GOP interests. Or if Franken "squandered a lead" what lead was that. Early alterations in polling is a tenuous thing to contend as justification for avoiding the endorsement process, then entering, with vague "worry" over early polling.
His slip in the polls has an easy explanation, the nominating convention was not that far in the past and he was publicly assailed needlessly from within DFL ranks and that assault on his character more than anything may have "squandered" hypothetical leads.
If it is Betty McCollum attacked him, and now I am running, more is needed.
It is quite early, and you pay the fee you can have a primary that is how the rules work so Lord Faris is fully justified that way; yet the question I have for Lord Faris is, "Why you?"
As with Jack Nelson Pallmeyer, explain that - and to my feelings Jack did and he was my choice, but others voted, I did not, and he yielded to the endorsement process.
I identify with Al Franken. Growing up in the Twin Cities without any special privileged childhood, having a chance at education, leaving to see much of the larger world and to graduate from Harvard and prosper in an unconventional career without ever losing sight of his roots, without turning his back on where he'd come from, and then living some time in Hollywood and New York settings but staying normal, married and in love over thirty years and raising children who by all appearances turned out well -- all of that leads me to say I have no problem at all voting for Al Franken - certainly not when looking at Norm Coleman as an alternative.
So why not stick with Al? That's the thing Lord Faris has to convincingly show. Saying, I agree with Al on the issues but I am more electable then go on -- say:
Why?
_______________
It seems almost a perceptible unspoken undercurrent exists, can Al Franken sufficiently connect with women voters? Has he burned some kind of bridge?
There was that gender dimension to the McCollum criticism, and the current Franken web homepage has a focus on women voters.
Oberstar, of the other gender, said let him go to the convention, apologize for extreme satire and disown it, then get him endorsed and move on.
So, is it an unspoken gender appeal issue, or something else that makes some say Franken is flawed? I do not see it. I do not know any women in my small circle of acquaintance who have that problem. Aside from family, I know a former Ramsey council member who liked Franken early on, she said so when I favored Ciresi and Nelson Pallmeyer more (but thought all three candidates outstanding).
Why not Franken? He had the delegates. He received the nomination. He looks fine to me.
He is no outsider. He grew up here. His roots are here. More than Coleman, for certain. He is a good man. What's not to like? Why a late challenge, other than as a safety net, in case ...
Wind Power - It is not the quaint Dutch tourist windmills kept as historic preservation.
When wind power is discussed, at the utility scale where economies of scale are such that unsubsidized fully grid-connected units are feasible, and away from urban areas where noise is a worry, the scale of things should be realized.
Not that the unit Anoka shall be acquiring, if all things work out as reproted, will equal this image, from the Danes who have been leading innovators, online here but without the image in the English language version, there is this:
There is a lot of aerodynamic engineering that goes into a blade design, and manufacturing methods, involving performance and cost effective constraints, are still evolving. The standard design because of mechanical stresses is three blades in a roter rather than two, and the power varies as the swept area, so longer blades on higher platforms allow larger generators to be driven. The trick is to ramp up to optimal output and then to control the blade pitch, its angular positioning relative to the direction of the wind, to get a long flat power output without overloading and damaging the generator or gearbox. Storm resiliency is an engineering necessity. It is highly sophitiscated optimized design and manufacturing at the utility scale, not quaint and rustic in any historically preserved sense. It is state of art technology.
And it is an area that will offer skilled and decent paying jobs in the near term future, onward, depending on the rate of deployment. And that depends on the varying market dynamics in oil. If long term pricing holds as now at the pump, wind will be exploited sooner, if there is a drop-back to forestall energy alternative development as has happened in the past, full realization of the potential of wind power will grow more slowly. But it will grow. There will be jobs in the sector.
Not that the unit Anoka shall be acquiring, if all things work out as reproted, will equal this image, from the Danes who have been leading innovators, online here but without the image in the English language version, there is this:
There is a lot of aerodynamic engineering that goes into a blade design, and manufacturing methods, involving performance and cost effective constraints, are still evolving. The standard design because of mechanical stresses is three blades in a roter rather than two, and the power varies as the swept area, so longer blades on higher platforms allow larger generators to be driven. The trick is to ramp up to optimal output and then to control the blade pitch, its angular positioning relative to the direction of the wind, to get a long flat power output without overloading and damaging the generator or gearbox. Storm resiliency is an engineering necessity. It is highly sophitiscated optimized design and manufacturing at the utility scale, not quaint and rustic in any historically preserved sense. It is state of art technology.
And it is an area that will offer skilled and decent paying jobs in the near term future, onward, depending on the rate of deployment. And that depends on the varying market dynamics in oil. If long term pricing holds as now at the pump, wind will be exploited sooner, if there is a drop-back to forestall energy alternative development as has happened in the past, full realization of the potential of wind power will grow more slowly. But it will grow. There will be jobs in the sector.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Bjorn Skogquist, always a citizen, progressive, and always responsible.
I have written, here, about how attentive to the twenty-first century Anoka's gaining a wind turbine is. In stark contrast to talkers Anoka, under Mayor Skogquist, is acting. And acting progressively. A smart man, and a smart town.
I have used this image previously, to good advantage. It was prescient.
Now this Strib online news.
For everything there is a season, a time. A time to cast away stones.
I sincerely hope Mayor Skogquist, in running, will press for detail as to why a 1.2 acre patch of land crammed right next to a loud and extremely busy pair of railroad tracks was acquired by the County, for over a half million dollars per acre, when it was not a location-dependent use, and when that use, a County-owned morgue, did not add a single penny to Ramsey's needful Town Center tax base.
It was a lose-lose situation for Ramsey taxpayers, and county taxpayers. I think Mayor Bjorn Skogquist should have forestalling needless waste as a point of his campaign.
If the fact Jim Deal was seller is at all at play, as a deciding factor in the purchase going down, then the issue of possible cronyism could also be raised by Mayor Skogquist as a question begging an answer.
___________________
For those interested in the dinosaur extinction question, there are over a hundred thirty-one thousand Google returns, including one University of Vermont geology professor's favored extinction theory, with the lead photo a part. When I first used the image Google returned over a million hits; so they are tuning and changing their retrieval algorithms.
I have used this image previously, to good advantage. It was prescient.
Now this Strib online news.
Anoka mayor sets sights on county board; other races set
By PAUL LEVY and LORA PABST, Star Tribune staff writers
Last update: July 15, 2008 - 9:45 PM
Bjorn Skogquist -- the four-term Anoka mayor who was 22 years old when he first filed for candidacy eight years ago -- filed Tuesday for the county commissioner's seat that Dan Erhart has held since 1982.
Eugene Rogers, a longtime Coon Rapids resident, is also running.
Four candidates filed to run for mayor of Anoka, prompting a primary. Erik Skogquist, 24, filed for his brother's seat.
The two other county commissioners' races are also primary-bound. In the fifth district, incumbent Scott LeDoux, of Andover, is being challenged by Becky Fink and Daniel A. Nelson, both of Coon Rapids. In the sixth district, incumbent Rhonda Sivarajah, of Lino Lakes, will face Kevin Ryan, of Stacy, and Patrick Davern, of Lino Lakes.
Skogquist, who said he has pushed historic preservation in the city of Anoka and helped establish housing standards, was just 4 years old when Erhart became a commissioner.
For everything there is a season, a time. A time to cast away stones.
I sincerely hope Mayor Skogquist, in running, will press for detail as to why a 1.2 acre patch of land crammed right next to a loud and extremely busy pair of railroad tracks was acquired by the County, for over a half million dollars per acre, when it was not a location-dependent use, and when that use, a County-owned morgue, did not add a single penny to Ramsey's needful Town Center tax base.
It was a lose-lose situation for Ramsey taxpayers, and county taxpayers. I think Mayor Bjorn Skogquist should have forestalling needless waste as a point of his campaign.
If the fact Jim Deal was seller is at all at play, as a deciding factor in the purchase going down, then the issue of possible cronyism could also be raised by Mayor Skogquist as a question begging an answer.
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For those interested in the dinosaur extinction question, there are over a hundred thirty-one thousand Google returns, including one University of Vermont geology professor's favored extinction theory, with the lead photo a part. When I first used the image Google returned over a million hits; so they are tuning and changing their retrieval algorithms.
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