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mark wallek

minneapolis, MN
Commenter for
1 year 42 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 03/27/13 at 09:12 am in response to Sequestration is a big blow to an already ailing mental-health system

When the concept of "mainstreaming" was introduced quite some time back, it was spun up as a more humane way of engaging the mentally ill. In reality it was only a cost saving measure that resulted in a prison cell for many of the mentally ill. "Inhumane" treatment, such as that offered by a state mental health system in places like Cambridge Hospital, were apparently less satisfactory than having a patient in a prison cell. Makes sense, apparently, to someone. Now, after decades of...

Posted on 03/07/13 at 10:23 am in response to The great senior sell-off: Our next housing crisis?

The full on, spun up capitalization of just about everything (Thanksgiving remains intact due to an inability to spin up turkey and family as salewable objects) has done nothing at all to improve the quality of life. I guess having a bunch of stuff, and having more stuff than one really needs is what it's about now. Having a home is just nowhere now. Having multiple investment properties is. Come northside and see the LLC's sucking the life out of the neighborhood.

Posted on 02/21/13 at 10:44 am in response to Michele Bachmann, quiet congresswoman

This woman is pitiful. She does not represent human beings, she clearly would have loved to rule the masses, now no longer possible, even in her outlandish dreams of power. Her best move is to abdicate and let a real human being with concerns for human beings fill the post.

Posted on 02/21/13 at 10:47 am in response to Feral cats? Minneapolis to consider St. Paul's approach to the problem

I remember whwen China went after the rat population decades ago. Feral cats need to be put down. They cannot be trapped as they prefer hunting live prey, usually birds in the urban environment. So it is necessary to put them down, and they should be.

Posted on 02/20/13 at 11:11 am in response to Minnesota's 'Think Big' effort aims to produce 'World’s Best/Smartest Workforce'

With the continuous degradation of our public school system I do not think this nation is going to be producing the "best and brightest" in large numbers. The capitalized educational system, just kicking off, is set to spin up the products of "education" for increased priofits, not smarter students. For the average human student, this means less education in a less well funded public venue. Home schooling and charter schools now handle communicating the proper dogma with the "education" to a...

Posted on 02/20/13 at 12:10 pm in response to Why motorists get so angry at cyclists — a psychologist's theory

I hate some cyclists for these reasons: 1) no road etiquite; 2) inadequate or non-existant illumination when night riding. I hate (some) motorists for equally good reasons. The author aggrandizes the issue. Sloppy drivers and sloppy bikers are equally detestable.

Posted on 02/20/13 at 10:56 am in response to Quick, fly away, snowbird!

Part year residents, individuals who can afford to maintain two places of residence, can afford the increase in taxes. Part year residents should be taxed at a higher rate.

Posted on 02/16/13 at 02:42 pm in response to Getting over our Portland envy

I lived in Portland for 18 years. In 1984 it was a city to envy. Now, it's crowded and yuppified, so it's a great city for the young. It used to be a great small town city. Now it's almost the same as everywhere else. It's warmer than Minnerapolis, and I do not mean climate, though that is true too. And oddly enough, Portland was hastened to ruin by it's most liberal mayor, the Cherryhomes-like, developer loving, where's my perk, the royal lady Vera Katz.

Posted on 02/13/13 at 10:37 pm in response to Weigh in on clean water: Help MCWD protect the Minnehaha Creek watershed

I suspect that the push for "clean" water will be ineffective. Water is one of the untapped (no pun intended) capital spin-ups set to deliver big dollars to whomever gets a chunk of that market. Bechtel tryed to get it all in Bolivia. Others will try again all over the world. First however, the amount of potable water needs to decrease a bit more. Then, when water needs are a front page issue (now they are critical, but as yet unexploitable), bingo, let's make some money.

Posted on 02/13/13 at 10:32 am in response to Americans can afford to educate everyone, and three new papers show us how

It's just like with hunger. There is enough food to go around, but most assuredly it will not go around. As a youth I used to hear that a healthy, educated nation was the best way to maintain freedom. Apparently that was not true. We could educate everyone and have an intelligent populace, but that is not really what is wanted by the power players, or we would in fact have it.