Pills are more popular than pot, and meth and booze use are trending down among teens, according to a study released Monday by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. The study was done by the University of Michigan for NIDA. Continue reading
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Colin Peterson, Dick Day, election updates
Despite a push from the Republican National Congressional Committee urging him to retire, Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson is still running for another term, reports Eric Black in MinnPost. Why the RNCC thought they would/could/should have any influence on the 10-term Democratic representative, who currently chairs the House Agriculture Committee, is a mystery to me. Continue reading
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Texas firm screwed up – so it sues Minnesota
Minnesota state government contracted with Lookout Services, a firm in Texas, to E-verify the immigration status of new employees. E-verify is a system much loved by immigration opponents and widely criticized by others as inefficient and prone to errors. Lookout, however, had a different problem. The company was inept enough that the personal information of 500 employees became available to anyone who knew how to operate a mouse. Obviously, that’s a no-no, so Minnesota severed all ties with the company, after MPR turned up the story.
Instead of slinking away, hoping no one would sue for invasion of privacy or breach of contract, Lookout Services is suing the State of Minnesota, and maybe MPR, too. The Minnesota Independent quotes an E-Verify statement: “[L]imited portions of the company’s proprietary software may have been illegally compromised by The State of Minnesota and Minnesota Public Radio.” Apparently they think that going to the company website and noticing that they have left personal info hanging out is illegal – but leaving said info accessible is not.
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Borrowing from Peter to pay St. Paul
Governor Tim Pawlenty’s latest budget-balancing trick is to “borrow” money from the Minnesots State Colleges and Universities to help with the state’s cash flow problem. The state is also delaying payments to the University of Minnesota, and payments of corporate and sales tax rebates. Continue reading
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Diplomas and debts
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The Department of Education has just released stats on student loan defaults. The worst in Minnesota: Duluth Business University with a default rate of nearly 35 percent, and Rainy River Community College with a default rate of almost 29 percent.
In general, reports MPR, Minnesota students did a lot better than that, with only a 6 percent overall default rate, compared to 12 percent nationwide. All Minnesota private, for-profit colleges and two-year colleges had default rates in the teens, while public four-year colleges had a default rate of only 3 percent, and private four-year colleges had a default rate of only 2.5 percent. MPR has a table of all MN colleges and default rates.
Students who finish their degrees have lower default rates, because they have a better chance of being employed. No surprise there.
Harris Miller, president and CEO of the Career College Association, which represents for-profit colleges, told APthat part of the reason for their high default rate is that they accept so many low-income students. Funny, I’d guess that it has more to do with their high tuition, low graduation rates and consequent inability of indebted ex-students to find jobs that pay enough to make the loan payments.
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War reports: Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen
Iraq At least three car bombs in downtown Baghdad, near the Green Zone, killed at least five people on Tuesday, reports NPR.
“There were two military checkpoints using detectors at the beginning of the street, how can such car bombs manage to enter and explode?” said a woman who identified herself as Um Ali, her cheeks smeared with blood as she screamed at reporters, echoing the frustrations voiced by many Iraqis.
The explosions came exactly a week after suicide bombers killed 127 people and wounded more than 500 in a series of five bombings across the capital – three of which appeared to target government buildings. Suicide bombers on Aug. 19 and Oct. 25 also targeted government ministries and buildings in a series of horrific bombings in which more than 250 people were killed.
BBC reports that the Baghdad bombing was followed by another car bombing in Mosul.
Pakistan A car bomb outside a politician’s home in Dera Ghazi Khan town in Punjab province killed at least 22 people and injured 70 more Tuesday, reports the New York Times.
Afghanistan At least 16 policemen and possibly two militants were killed in two attacks Monday on police posts, one in Baghlan province in the north and one in Helmand province in the south, reports BBC. More than 1,000 police officers have been killed in Afghanistan this year.
A car bomb in central Kabul on Tuesday morning killed at least eight people, reports the New York Times. The bombing was near the home of a former Afghan vice president, and also near a hotel that is used by many Westerners.
Yemen Some 70 civilians were killed in an air force bombing of a market in the Bani Maan village in the border region between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, say rebels known as Houthis. The renewed fighting between rebels and the Yemeni government has been going on since August, but the insurgency dates back to 2004. The Yemen air force says that it, and not the Saudis, carried out the bombing, according to BBC. The Yemeni army spokesperson said the village was one of the most fortified Houthi strongholds.
Human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch in New York, accuse the Yemeni government of abuses, according to another BBC article. Until 1990, Yemen was two separate countries.
The authorities have suspended publication of several newspapers, censored coverage of sensitive issues and arrested popular bloggers, Human Rights Watch say.
In 1994 there was a civil war in Yemen after an attempt by the south to secede was quashed by the northern government of Mr Saleh.
People in the south, home to most of Yemen’s oil facilities, have long complained the central government takes advantage of their resources but marginalises and discriminates against them.
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Obama accepts Nobel Peace Prize
Less than ten days after escalating the war in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. Whether you count that as irony or tragedy, his speech is part of the public record and debate – and TPM is one place to get the full text and video. Obama offers an eloquent defense of just war theory, though IMHO even just war theory doesn’t support the current war(s). Continue reading
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November unemployment down slightly
November’s unemployment rate, announced this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, stands at 10.0 percent, down slightly from October’s 10.2 percent, surprising economists who had predicted either holding steady or a slight increase. The total number of officially unemployed, plus discouraged workers, people working part time because they cannot find full time jobs, and those “marginally attached” to the work force – 17.2 percent in November, down from 17.5 percent in October. Continue reading
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Waconia watchdog was right on target
You may remember when the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) issued (and then rescinded) a “gag order” against Carver County Commissioner Tom Workman. The order came after he showed — on camera — that their inspector’s report about a sewage system was wrong, wrong, wrong. The sewage system in question belongs to the Waconia ballroom, which had just been purchased by Carver County. Continue reading
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Minnesota forecast: $1.2 BILLION in red ink
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State economist Tom Stinson released the November 2009 budget forecast yesterday, and the numbers are grim: a looming $1.2 billion shortfall in the 2010-2011 biennium and a staggering $5.4 billion deficit in 2012-2013. This is by far the biggest news in Minnesota today – yes, much bigger than the headlined Petters conviction, the rally at the capitol for a new Vikings stadium, or the MOA apology to Sarah Palin. The shortfall is due to declining employment and income for Minnesotans, which results in lower tax collections. The governor’s initial response was to talk about delaying local government aid (LGA) due to be paid to local governments in December, and to slash LGA for next year. Of course, he won’t consider raising tax rates, even on the wealthiest Minnesotans, even though LGA cuts will mean less police and fire protection, less road and highway maintenance, and less money for medical care and schools.
Stinson said that the recession is over, but that recovery will be extremely slow.
Minnesota’s October unemployment rate was well below the national average, but that does not mean the state’s economy has avoided the worst of this recession. … Employment in Minnesota is now expected to fall by more than 150,000 jobs between the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2010, 30,000 more than projected last February. If this forecast holds true, more than a decade of job creation will be lost. The combination of substantial current and expected job losses and what is expected to be a slow recovery, leaves Minnesota employment below its pre-recession level through 2013.
Here are links to the report itself, and to insightful commentary:
• Summary of the report (pdf, 9 pages)
• Full text of the report (pdf, 77 pages)
• Press conference handouts (pdf, 9 pages, mostly tables and graphs)
• MPR report:
After seeing the forecast, Gov. Pawlenty repeated his long-standing opposition to tax increases of any kind. He said the budget should be balanced by spending cuts alone. Pawlenty also said he may be forced to unilaterally cut state aid payments to cities and counties known as LGA.
“For the most part, we are going to wait and invite the Legislature to join us in trying to find a collaborative solution to this challenge, but we may not be able to do that entirely as it relates to some payment schedules,” Pawlenty said. “One of them could be the LGA payment schedule at the end of December.”
• Minnesota Budget Bites calls for “long-term solutions to long-term problems,” and insists that tax increases are one part of the solution:
We need to raise revenues to help us resolve the current deficit – and future deficits. We can’t solve the whole problem by raising revenues, but it is unsustainable to continue to address budget deficits almost entirely by relying on one-time resources, spending cuts and budget gimmicks. Not only are those decisions hurting Minnesotans who need help the most during the current economic downturn, but they are also reducing the investments Minnesota needs to position our state to take advantage of an economic upswing. We wouldn’t be alone in raising taxes. Nationwide, 35 other states are currently facing budget deficits. And during the last year, at least 30 states have enacted tax increases to help close budget holes. It’s our turn.
• The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) noted in a press release that “Last May, MAPE outlined millions of dollars in waste that included out-of-state travel, uncollected revenue and the Pawlenty Administration’s bloated management. The result of MAPE shining the light on certain administration practices was $10 million trimmed from out-of-state travel and the Department of Revenue stepping up collection efforts on money owed to our state. These are positive steps, but more action is needed to cut waste to preserve vital services for Minnesotans.” The May MAPE press release identified $350 million in proposed savings.
• Politics in Minnesota offers Steve Parry’s analysis of the amount of money being spent, month by month, and the implications for unallotment and budget cuts.
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Mary Turck