Cancelling votes: The Republican myth of vote nullification
from Thoughtful Bastards by Paul Udstrand
The idea is that legitimate votes are nullified by illegitimate or illegal votes and a photo ID is necessary to prevent that nullification.
The nullification argument is based on no fewer than 4 basic fallacies.
Word games local politicians play to avoid responsibility for raising taxes
from Brick City Blog by Sean Olsen
Local units of government take great pride in announcing that they aren’t raising your taxes — they pretty much seem to make that announcement every year, in fact. How is this possible? Can it be true? As you might suspect, the answer here is “not exactly”. Let’s take a step back and see how this works.
A legitimate doofus's timeless principles
from Neorenaissance by Shawn Lawrence Otto
So if the science doesn't seem to support this. what is Rep. Akin using as the basis for his understanding? Because, give the man credit, he is on the Science Committee. He must be basing his conclusions on something. It turns out the advocacy group Physicians for Life posts this stuff on their website.
Why the new stadium won’t save Downtown East, and why that’s a good thing
from streets.mn by Chris Keimig
In short, stadiums are not economic saviors. Which—if you’re in favor of making downtown a more attractive and prosperous place to live and work (in addition to a great place to catch a game)— should come as good news.
Because once we stop insisting that the stadium will be the savior of Downtown East, we can finally get down to the business of making downtown a place in which people actually aspire to live, rather than one in which they simply aspire to tailgate.
Shelter report: The choices he's made and the ones he hasn't
from Across the Great Divide by Charlie Quimby
At People Serving People through the first half of the year, 652 families have come through those doors, including 510 single parents and 61 teen parents.
About 60% of the guests are under age 18 and 34% are 5 or younger.
That means most of the residents didn't make the choices that brought them here.
Primary aftermath: Cravaack vs. Nolan in MN-8
from Minnesota Brown by Aaron J. Brown
Considering the degree to which he was outspent by Clark, Nolan won fairly handily. Some of this may certainly be attributed to the DFL endorsement and corresponding get-out-the-vote effort. But I doubt that alone would have done the job for him. Nolan received, and ended up needing, a great deal of support from his base of support in Crow Wing County and surrounding areas. He had a crushing victory there.
Faribault festival offers opportunity to bridge differences & connect
from Minnesota Prairie Roots by Audrey Kletscher Helbling
TODAY I’D LIKE TO EXTEND an invitation to you. Pull out your calendars right now and add this event to your schedule: International Festival Faribault, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturday, August 25, Central Park.