Category Archives: Uncategorized

What is the dollar value of saving one adolescent girl from a pimp? What about four, or five or 381? How much are we, as a state, willing or able to pay? Continue reading →

SAT reading scores hit a four-decade low trumpets the Washington Post headline. That means one point lower than last year. The average reading score dropped from 497 to 496. Is that even statistically significant? Continue reading →

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has published its 2011 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. With 109 of its114 pages devoted to tables of immigration numbers, it’s not coffee-table reading. Here’s what it says about Minnesota immigrants: Continue reading →

 My favorite season.  Continue reading →

On Friday, September 21, the Minneapolis City Council will decide whether to substantially end civilian-controlled review of police behavior. The proposal before the council would abolish the current Civilian Review Authority, which has limped along with only two civilian investigators and an overburdened board, working hard to review cases even though the police chief usually disregards its recommendations. In its place, the new proposal would put a predominantly police-officer-conducted investigation process and review boards with two civilian and two police officer members. The only constant: the police chief could still ignore their findings and recommendations. Continue reading →

Ron tells me Friday is cat blogging day. Continue reading →

August’s slow news days are over, and news is popping off around the globe. Three big stories this week are worth careful reading. Oh, you don’t want to wade through pages and pages of links and analysis? Fine — I’ve done that, and have links to a bare minimum of articles with the inside stories of the assassination and aftermath in Libya, the Chicago teachers’ strike, and taxes in Minnesota. Continue reading →

Homicide Watch tracks every homicide in Washington, posting news reports and court records and hearing dates and verdicts and sentences. Its motto: “Mark every death. Remember every victim. Follow every case.” Continue reading →

The Romney-Ryan campaign paid good money ($120,000 per day) for the Twitter hashtag #areyoubetteroff. Then they waited for the “no” answers to roll in. And waited. And waited. Continue reading →

The Chicago battle between the teachers union and the city/school district is about the “reform agenda,” not about salaries and benefits. That agenda focuses on standardized tests — to test students, to judge schools, to evaluate teachers. If students fail, they don’t move from one grade to the next, or don’t graduate. If schools fail, they are closed, or restructured (with principal and teachers fired), or privatized and turned over to charter schools to run. Teachers are evaluated on how their students perform, though study after study shows that the numbers don’t provide consistent or accurate evaluations. Continue reading →