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Ann Spencer

Bloomington, MN
Commenter for
5 years 27 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 07/06/10 at 03:07 pm in response to Emmer and Olive Garden

Even more pertinent are New York prices, since that state, like North Dakota, has a tip credit. I found these prices online for the Olive Garden in Times Square, a restaurant with profound personal associations since a woman who announced that she had eaten there threw up on my daughter and me at a Broadway show a few years ago.

According to the Olive Garden website, bruschetta in Times Square will set you back $9.25, artichoke dip $11.25, pizza $16.25, lasagna $18.50 and tiramisu $7....

Posted on 06/21/10 at 10:12 am in response to Emmer's radical idea to change government: How can it possibly be constitutional?

As a lawyer, Mr. Emmer surely knows this amendment is unconstitutional and that, as a practical matter, it has a minuscule chance of being adopted in Minnesota and no chance of withstanding constitutional challenge. It is however, a politically useful position to take and energizes a certain portion of the electorate that Mr. Emmer is counting on to turn out and vote for him.

The most disturbing thing about this proposal is not that it has a realistic chance of being implemented, but...

Posted on 05/14/10 at 12:58 pm in response to Ozzie Guillen, baseball manager/philosopher king

Thanks for paying tribute to Ozzie Guillen, whose White Sox are a worthy opponent for the Twins and whose quotability I relish.

My all-time favorite Guillen-ism relates to White Sox catcher, formerly of the Twins, A.J. Pierszynski, whose irascible personality is well known. Of the volatile A.J., Guillen said, "If he's on the other team, you hate him. If he's on your team, you hate him less."

Posted on 04/27/10 at 06:13 pm in response to GOP's Tom Emmer makes the 'right' -- and surprising -- choice of running mate: Annette Meeks

Is there anything more idiotic than this new "rule" that male gubernatorial candidates must choose female running mates? Talk about tokenism.

Posted on 03/24/10 at 03:27 pm in response to Women: If you want to ward off the middle-aged spread, you’ll need to rev things up

My dictionary defines "normal" as "occurring naturally."

In what sense is a weight that requires constant, strenuous effort to maintain "normal"? Isn't it, rather, normal to gain weight as we age and wouldn't it be more accurate to say that avoiding this fate requires an unremitting fight against Mother Nature?

Posted on 02/24/10 at 05:58 pm in response to On saturated fat and LDL cholesterol, messages may well be counterproductive

Surprise, surprise! (Not).

As a previous poster noted, advocates of low carb eating have been saying this for years and Gary Taubes' exhaustively-researched book Good Calories, Bad Calories, establishes pretty conclusively that it's refined carbs, not dietary cholesterol, that cause heart problems.

The mystery is why orthodox opinion still clings so stubbornly to a hypothesis (saturated fat in the diet causes heart disease) for which there has never been convincing evidence and...

Posted on 02/09/10 at 06:21 pm in response to How Coca-Cola fought for our right to be obese

Regardless of the nefarious activities of the Coca-Cola lobby to block this tax (which are repeated over and over again whenever legislation threatens someone's profits), I think this tax is a stupid idea. It's not going to prevent obesity because there is an almost infinite number of cheap calorie sources out there to replace soda calories. You can't tax them all. I agree that the tax will fall most heavily on those with lower incomes. In fact, the whole effort is unpleasantly reminiscent...

Posted on 01/25/10 at 12:10 pm in response to Can we handle the truth?

It's pretty obvious that any real solution to the state's budget problems will involve both tax increases and significant spending cuts---which is not a recipe calculated to win favor with voters. Hence the question posed by the article's title. I don't envy the gubernatorial candidates of either party.

Economic recovery would boost tax receipts across the board---let's hope it happens, for all sorts of reasons.

By the way, are your proofreaders taking the day off? This post...

Posted on 01/20/10 at 03:23 pm in response to What it means: Minnesota politicians assess Massachusetts vote

Further clarification: Per the New York Times, 97% (not 93%) of Massachusetts residents now have health insurance coverage.

Posted on 01/20/10 at 02:45 pm in response to What it means: Minnesota politicians assess Massachusetts vote

To set the record straight: I did NOT say that 85% of Massachusetts residents have health insurance, nor did I say that 85% of anyone (Massachusetts residents or otherwise) like their health insurance. I did read online (I think it was in the New York Times) that 93% of Massachusetts residents now have health care coverage after reform.

The figures that I referred to (contained in numerous sources, including the Gallup-Healthways-WellBeing poll of July 2009) indicate that 84% of all...