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Bill Davnie

Minneapolis, MN
Commenter for
2 years 6 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 04/09/13 at 03:05 pm in response to The Fairview/U of M-Sanford merger: 3 good and bad questions to pose

I'm not sure the third 'bad' question is irrelevant. While a gift now would be out of the question, anticipation of large gifts down the road could also influence decision-makers, conceivably. Having a major donor also have business connections (of any sort) with the U makes for potential conflicts of interest, perhaps especially when it's not really Sanford's business interests here but his ego and desire for influence -- makes conflict of interest look less obvious, when it may be just...

Posted on 02/05/13 at 10:21 am in response to Behind the Hagel bashing, real differences on security policy

One wonders if one source of the difference in perspectives on the use of force is the fact that McCain was an Air Force pilot, and Hagel an actual participant in ground combat with an often unidentifiable enemy. Without in any way demeaning McCain's endurance as a POW, the Air Force experiences war very differently than do ground forces, and has a much higher confidence in the effectiveness of airstrikes, that military history supports. Bombing campaigns in WWII Germany, the former...

Posted on 08/31/11 at 10:32 am in response to Viking stadium advocates busy trying to contain lots of 'little fires' of controversy

How would a new stadium in Arden Hills create 13,000 new permanent jobs? Is this a projection based on eventual development? Wouldn't many Vikings/stadium-related jobs simply move from downtown Minneapolis to the new site?

Posted on 04/01/11 at 11:12 am in response to Policies that built first-ring suburbs in 1950s now foster their decline

There certainly were policy and program decisions that drove the expansion of metro areas, with some unintended and now unwelcome consequences. But the previous Berg article demonstrated the comparatively worse 'doughnut hole' situation in MSP compared to some peer metro areas. That is, it seems some areas are coping with this hollowing-out dynamic better than others. Any idea why we're worse off?