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Dimitri Drekonja

Minneapolis, MN
Commenter for
4 years 26 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 11/27/12 at 10:42 am in response to State kids failing graduation test, so drop math requirement?

Those 5 threats Ms Pugh is worried about are hilarious, each for their own reason. 1) Blame it on the lazy, illiterate, and disengaged voters (whom you need to appeal to again in 2 years). 2) The damn government, which she hates but wants so desperately to be part of. 3) The media. Ah, the perpetual whipping boy. But if voters are so disengaged and illiterate, should it matter? 4) The progressive movement on "both sides of the aisle"??? I can only presume that she means the republicans who...

Posted on 11/21/12 at 10:11 am in response to Montana ads add a genuine regional flavor to the urban landscape

Thanks for highlighting these great ads-- I too love the simplicity and the beauty, and my kids and I get to talk about the memories of past camping trips in Yellowstone and Glacier every time one of these rolls by. Glad to see CO is joining in.

Posted on 11/19/12 at 09:55 pm in response to Why Gallup hates Nate Silver

People calling Silver an "aggregator" don't understand statistical modeling. Silver does not just calculate a raw average, thus turning 10 smaller polls into one larger poll-- he also adjusts the poll's relative weight based on methodology, sample size, historical partisan slant, and others. He also includes structural predictors of the race, that have nothing to do with these polls-- unemployment, GDP, consumer confidence, etc. This is only "aggregation" in the sense that someone who...

Posted on 11/14/12 at 10:30 am in response to Vikings defend their right to charge seat license fees

Dayton is indeed being silly. He planted his flag as being pro-stadium, and the idea of personal seat licenses certainly was there for everyone to see when he did it. Now he just risks the appearance of trying to straddle both sides of the fence-- "I was against it after I was for it". This typically turns off voters, as would any attempt to re-debate the whole stadium issue (see our neighbors in WI and their ill-fated recall attempt).

Face it-- the stadium decision is over, and now...

Posted on 11/13/12 at 04:53 pm in response to Gov. Dayton tells Wilf he's unhappy about possible Vikings ticket licenses and overseas 'home games'

I like the governor, and am with him on most things, but the stadium is a big exception. Anyone watching this train come down the track knew this was coming-- multiple people pointed out that the "team's" contribution would be largely paid by fans (gullible ones) in the form of personal seat licenses and overall higher ticket prices. If Dayton's intent was to not allow personal seat licenses to count as the team's contribution, that should have been explicitly spelled out. Fact is, the bill...

Posted on 11/07/12 at 12:13 pm in response to Republicans try to figure out what went wrong with legislative races

Recipe to lose both houses of legislature:

1- Claim to focus like a laser on jobs
2- Put divisive (and non-job related) constitutional amendments on the ballot
3- Include a sex scandal, and remind people of it a month before election time
4- Shut down government to avoid any sign of weakness by compromising
5- Run party coffers into the red, while preaching fiscal restraint
6- Fire your party chair and snipe via the press

Not sure what else they...

Posted on 11/07/12 at 12:25 pm in response to Republicans try to figure out what went wrong with legislative races

Oh, and I have to point out the irony of Mr. Klugherz wearing a Dropkick Murphy's shirt. Here's the lyrics to their song "The Worker's Song":

"Yeh, this one's for the workers who toil night and day
By hand and by brain to earn your pay
Who for centuries long past for no more than your bread
Have bled for your countries and counted your dead

In the factories and mills, in the shipyards and mines
We've often been told to keep up with the times
For...

Posted on 10/29/12 at 11:36 am in response to Obama up only 3 in Minnesota? Is that plausible?

Wow, under 10% response rates-- that's pretty dismal. And we're supposed to assume that the sample still is representative of the population it's drawn from? In my field (medicine), a response rate of 10% would kill your survey, or at best have it published in such a low-quality journal that no one would take it seriously. I've had a few small survey studies published with 35% response rates; they got into second-tier journals largely because of the potential for non-responder bias. 0%...I...

Posted on 10/05/12 at 03:56 pm in response to Orchestra lockout prompts the question: What are experts worth?

Having just looked over the MN orchestra site where it lays out it's position on the lockout, I'm dumbfounded as to how they think this can end well for them.

Among other things, they:

-Tout a 6% reduction in administrative costs since 2002 as evidence that it's not just the musicians sacrificing (hmm, they're asking for over 30% reductions. 6% vs 30%)
-Describe how musician pay has risen in recent years, and don't acknowledge that it coincides with the orchestra's...

Posted on 09/10/12 at 08:57 am in response to Pedestrian fatalities at alarming levels

I hope this doesn't degenerate into which group is more at fault, but I have to agree that bikers seem to want it both ways. They tend to be incensed at any car that doesn't yield to them (and they often have a point), but then proceed to roll through stop signs and stop lights a few seconds later. I was running across a crosswalk by lake Nokomis on Friday, and nearly got plowed into by a biker who apparently felt the stop sign (and the laws regarding pedestrians in crosswalks) applied to...