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Dimitri Drekonja

Minneapolis, MN
Commenter for
4 years 26 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 05/08/12 at 03:47 pm in response to By national standards, this stadium deal is better than most

Oops, yes, meant 1999. Thanks.

Posted on 05/08/12 at 08:45 am in response to House passes stadium bill, but NFL is not pleased

Gotta love the NFL-- their 50% off coupon gets moved to "only" 40% off, and somehow it's a deal-killer. I still would prefer no state money went to the team, but the extra 105 million off the public books is something-- assuming the senate can pass the same thing.

Posted on 05/03/12 at 10:48 am in response to Hiawatha struggles to become a destination, not a corridor

Huh? If you want to write about a depressing corridor, go scout out 394-- both are basically highways that funnel suburbanites into the downtown area, one with stoplights and a train, one with freeway speeds (and congestion) and buses.

394 has every chain restaurant known to man visible from the road- car drivers can go there (if they can figure out which exit), but bus-riders are at a disadvantage. Hiawatha has multiple unique locally-owned places within steps of the light rail--...

Posted on 04/30/12 at 12:32 pm in response to DFL Sen. Marty: Taxpayer subsidy for stadium is $77 a ticket

I'm fine with Sen. Marty minimizing "the non-football uses of a stadium", which the Gov. likes to emphasize with his branding it "a people's stadium," and others have likened to a town square. The fact is, the metrodome works just fine for truck rallies, high school football, running laps in the winter, etc. The only people who claim it's antiquated are the Vikings- and even there it's not an issue about an unsafe field, not enough seats, etc, it's just that they want more luxury areas where...

Posted on 04/24/12 at 10:45 am in response to Revived Vikings stadium bill suddenly is moving faster and faster

A state that can find 500 million for an industry that managed to turn huge profits during a recession has truly lost sight of what the purpose of government is.

The message passing this bill would send is clear: the only thing worth raising taxes for in this state is the Vikings.

Everything else: be more efficient, work harder, don't come crying for government handouts, live within your means, times are tough, blah blah blah.

If there's a better illustration of how...

Posted on 04/19/12 at 09:16 am in response to NFL is not pleased with Minnesota over stadium

I completely agree-- when stadiums were a few hundred million, and recessions didn't involve losing 750,000 jobs a month, this "build it or we'll move" threat worked. But the NFL and the owners have upped the ante, paying more and more for players, building ever more lavish stadiums, and upping prices on everything-- while many sectors of the economy are just trying to survive. They've basically priced themselves out of the market for almost all cities, just as they've priced themselves out...

Posted on 04/12/12 at 09:44 am in response to Congressman Allen West believes 78-81 members of the U.S. House are communists

I'm envisioning this award presentation: "Congratulations, here's you Master Parachutist Badge, and here's the file on the commies in congress we like to throw in as a special thank you. Don't share it with non-Master Parachutists."

Seriously, how do you envision these things being related???

Posted on 04/09/12 at 01:27 pm in response to Politics, marketing backlash behind public's reluctance to accept HPV vaccine

There's another factor I don't see mentioned in your piece-- the growth of the anti-science movement in this country. The fact that we still "debate" the validity of evolution, or our role in climate change, is a source of amazement abroad. When valid science is something that any politician can dismiss to fit ideology (and not get called on it by the public or the press), then it shouldn't be a surprise that the population makes choices that run contrary to the evidence.

That being...

Posted on 03/29/12 at 01:44 pm in response to Minnesota’s proposed Castle Doctrine expansion worse than Florida’s ‘Shoot First’

Mr Weyandt writes: "this proposal virtually would have negated the ability to prosecute anyone who applies deadly force under virtually any circumstance. It also would very likely negate the ability to prosecute any level of assault because all the aggressor has to do is claim self-defense."

He then also writes that he doesn't think that police would be at any greater risk.

To me, the inability to prosecute any level of assault by definition puts officers (and all of us) at...

Posted on 03/22/12 at 09:57 am in response to Michael Brodkorb 'faces uphill battle'

In the past the strib was decent enough to disclose that it owned land near the proposed stadium, that would presumably go up in value-- at least letting the readers judge whether or not this might be influencing their content. That quaint idea appears to be from a bygone era, unless I missed a land sale...

I will be quite proud if Minnesota starts a new trend in saying no to the "the price of admission for cities that want to attract or retain major-league teams." Just because the...