February 2011
46 posts
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January 2011
41 posts
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WatchAnd while I’m being crotchety….
nationaljournal:
Today’s Must See Moment — Fast forward to 0:47 for Bachmann’s second SOTU rebuttal.
I guess I should be used to it, but every time SNL is given the opportunity for political satire and instead chooses personality gags, I’m disappointed. This lady says some crazy things, and the joke they went for is “the chart is...
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You know, everybody loves The Current, and I’m a member and all, but really, it’s around 4th on my list of stations I can listen to for a long time before getting irritated enough to turn the dial. Jazz 88 plays long stretches of music that is sometimes merely pleasant background, but often challenging, stirring, or just beautiful. And it’s run by a bunch of high school...
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isopod:
Things that crack me up: I was carded at the grocery store the other day. I was so surprised, I reached for my ID before thinking to ask “sure, why?”
She gestured at my purchases. “For your…” pause. “…root beer. Oh.”
After I got here, I briefly started getting carded again, which was surprising! Eventually I realized it was because they were checking IDs outside the club, and what...
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“Der Gründungszuschuss roughly translates into “start-up grant.” It...”
– brooklynbadboy, “Der Gründungszuschuß”
(via MNPP)
Here in Minnesota, Republicans say we have to cater to big business and millionaires because they’re “job creators.” PSA: startups create jobs too.
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“How many Senators do you need to get on the floor to break a filibuster? 60.
...”
– Josh Marshall, “How to Reform the Filibuster”
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“When I was in middle school, I earned spare money by babysitting for a lot of...”
– post.culture.shock: An open letter to an Iowa State Representative (via michellej)
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Twin Cities Maker » Handmade Music Update: HMMM4 →
“Handmade Music Minneapolis is an open venue for people who like to manipulate sound. Instrument makers, circuit benders, software hackers, sound designers, sonic spelunkers.”
I’ll be at First Avenue seeing the reunited Jayhawks this Sunday, but I’m sorry to miss this. Click through for details on who’ll be showing off what.
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Seeing the Bunyan for the Trees: Storytelling and... →
I’ve been thinking about this passage in Deborah Carver’s thought-provoking article:
At that panel, an audience member mentioned that Twin Cities artists are less open to critique than in other communities, and one of the panelists said that this may be due to our small population. Even though we are “cold,” there is little active criticism of local arts and cultural communities,...
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A 'Bulge' in Atmospheric Pressure Gives Us a... →
In case you were wondering. (When the Strib reprinted this article, the headline was something like “Upside-Down Weather Confounds Climate Scientists.”)
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“ I have a memory from 18 years[!] ago, still vivid, of walking around the CU...”
– Paul O’Brian, “Game As Life, Life As Game”
(via Jay Carlson)
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Those 33 terrorist groups in Ramsey County? It was... →
This story from the Twin Cities Daily Planet is pretty amazing: Early evidence suggests that former Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher basically made up an anti-terrorism unit. Or rather, he made up the terrorism, and he made up the unit’s active efforts:
Much of the unit’s “research” into groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Animal Liberation...
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Mississippi River Critical Area: Legislators... →
I posted a link about this earlier but this is the new part: “The Committee on Environment and Natural Resources will meet on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at 3:00 p.m. in Room 107 [of the Capitol] to discuss this issue. Interested parties are invited to attend - and to arrive early.”
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“If every year, the government sent every American — from the richest CEO...”
– Ezra Klein, “The welfare state for the middle class”
One of my few regrets about changing from an employee to an independent contractor is the way the American health insurance system turned against me.
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“No woman wants an abortion as she wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche. She...”
– Frederica Mathewes-Green
isopod asks, “Has anyone checked the source here? I think it’s being reblogged from a pro-choice perspective, but the author is a pro-life advocate.”
Right source, wrong intent. The source of this exact quote doesn’t seem to be online (although there...
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Legislators seek repeal of Mississippi River... →
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WatchStructure, “this is what it’s like most of the time”
(via M. Incroyable)
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I can’t seem to quantify it, but there’s something about being out in the city, without a car, that makes me feel incredibly free.
Tonight I sat in a dark theater watching a tolerable film and it felt, rarely, like part of the same life I used to live on weekends in New York.
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“Congress on the Corner” at Global Market →
Rep. Keith Ellison will hold a “Congress on the Corner” event at the Midtown Global Market on Friday, January 14.
(via We Like It Here)
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“The political rhetoric has grown increasingly toxic, and making allusions (to)...”
– Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
(via MNPP)
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“I analogize it to weddings,” Pawlenty says. “I say to people, go to two weddings...”
– Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty kicks off his book tour with a health care analogy.
I keep reading this as “I apologize to weddings.”
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“Loughner is almost certainly insane and, like the countless other mentally...”
– Laura Miller, “The real message of Loughner’s book list”
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“It was probably not the best idea to run toward the gunshots, but people needed...”
– Daniel Hernandez, intern for Gabrielle Giffords
(via Tiger Beatdown)
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I think everyone who wants to talk about the politics of yesterday’s shooting in Arizona should read Ezra Klein’s first thoughts on the incident. Seriously, go read it.
It’s far from clear that Jared Loughner was in any way motivated by Sarah Palin or any other politician. The shooting probably wasn’t political violence in any normal sense.
Despite that, it was...
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Even When Frozen, Soils Get Busy Emitting CO2 →
“But scientists have discovered in recent years that the carbon cycle never sleeps for soil bacteria. Using trapped pockets of salty water and creating their own antifreeze, bugs are stubborn survivalists. Up to a third of yearly CO2 emissions from northern soils can occur in winter, driven by microbes. And recent research has found that not only are these bugs surviving. They’re...
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Q&A With a Bike-Riding Bus Driver: Can Bikes and... →
Spoiler: Yes, they can. Here are some tips on how.
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Every time I hear somebody describe Minneapolis as “white,” I think, “You should ride the bus sometime.” This isn’t what you’d call a rousing defense of Twin Cities diversity, but really, they should ride the bus sometime.
(Mulling over fightwithknives’s latest.)
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African Huts Far From the Grid Glow With Renewable... →
Even without 24-hour reliability and industrial-scale deployment, solar power can make a big difference in people’s lives.
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“Have liberals become so rigid, so addicted to reality, that they can no longer...”
– Patrick L. Coleman,
in a letter to the Star Tribune.