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John Olson

Lakeville, MN
Commenter for
5 years 27 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 01/12/12 at 07:54 am in response to Best Buy CEO Dunn takes a ripping ... on his own blog

// There are also layout problems [in the Capitol] that make it difficult for the public to find legislators.

Some legislators might consider that to be a building "feature" instead of a problem.

Posted on 12/22/11 at 06:29 pm in response to GOP leaders take heat for misleading public on Koch affair

If the proverbial "shoe was on the other foot," Mr. Berg and his ilk would have no problems (figuratively) drawing and quartering a DFLer in a similar circumstance to that of Sen. Koch. Early and often.

I continue to ponder two questions:

1) What would the Republicans have done if the Majority Leader had been a male? How would he have been treated differently-if at all?

and

2) Why hold a press conference with four male Senators and essentially lie?

Posted on 12/15/11 at 08:05 am in response to CDC study: 22% of Minnesota women have been raped

//OK. Place your bets. Who wins in a showdown among Zygi Wilf, the mayor (with an assist from the Strib) and aligned downtown Minneapolis business interests?

I'm all in on Option 4: Nobody.

Posted on 12/15/11 at 07:52 am in response to College Republicans: Why can't Emmer teach at Hamline?

Job offers to persons qualified for a job (or not) have been withdrawn after being offered throughout history.

I'm not going to debate whether Emmer is qualified to teach business law versus Obama teaching constitutional law. I suspect nobody reading this website ever took Obama's class, so there is only conjecture and speculation to go on. And the usual talking points from the usual suspects.

Since Hamline is a private institution, it seems to me that they have the same right...

Posted on 12/15/11 at 08:08 am in response to New poll: Obama and Gingrich are tied in 'unfavorability,' but far apart in 'favorability'

All these polls mean exactly squat right now.

Posted on 12/13/11 at 08:17 am in response to MnDOT's high-speed rail vision is worth rallying around

Personally, I hope that one day I would be able to take a train to and from Chicago that does not take 8+ hours to go one way. But I do have to ask a question.

Has anyone--ANYONE--asked Amtrak if they would ever consider bringing back the old Hiawatha Line? And if so, under what preconditions? In the Twin Cities, we have exactly one Empire Builder eastbound daily and exactly one westbound daily.

We can restore Union Depot to its previous grandeur, lay down mile after mile of...

Posted on 12/07/11 at 02:55 pm in response to Radio ratings: KFAN and KS95 surge; KQRS and KDWB drop

Is there any way to measure the effect(s) of Sirius and/or XM on ratings?

Since both vehicles have Sirius in them, I will confess to abandoning AM/FM with the exception of driving in bad weather conditions.

Posted on 12/07/11 at 09:04 am in response to Duluth, Bemidji, Rochester, St. Cloud mail processing centers face the ax

One has to wonder how the USPS is even going to survive. With electronic billing and electronic payment options on just about everything, I can count on one hand how many letters I send out via "snail mail" in a year.

Posted on 12/07/11 at 12:18 pm in response to A small step forward for intercity rail

I continue to be amazed that nobody seems to take into account the possibility of Washington cutting Amtrak funding back to the point that passenger rail service of any type in "flyover land" is going to evaporate altogether.

Don't misunderstand me, I would love to be able to take a train from Union Depot into Chicago and back again. However, the reality continues to be that we have ONE train that goes east to Chicago and ONE westbound that passes through St. Paul daily. Washington...

Posted on 12/03/11 at 07:11 am in response to Celebrities with vague Minnesota connections: Marlon Brando, John Astin and ... Nudie Cohn

Another person with a "Minnesota connection" is Gene Sperling. He currently is director of the National Economic Council and also served during the Clinton administration.

He lived down the hall from me at the U of M many years back.