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Rachel Kahler

Rachel Kahler's picture
Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
Commenter for
2 years 14 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 05/02/13 at 08:53 am in response to Hunter mistakes a county cop for turkey

My preferred narrative is that we find solutions, not simply poke at the problem, which is what's happening. The problem is that we look at the guns, not the violence. We look at the guns, not the neglect. We look at the guns, not the paranoia. We look at the guns, not the mental illness. Why don't we look at something other than the guns? Because it's so easy to focus on the guns (oh, and to denigrate anyone who doesn't buy your opinion). It's hard to actually make a difference. If...

Posted on 05/02/13 at 09:05 am in response to Hunter mistakes a county cop for turkey

Great. Do them. It doesn't change the fact that beating the dead horse doesn't make background checks happen. Every day people die from gunshot wounds. But, until they're mostly white or mostly children, no one really paid attention. And even when they do, they don't address the issue. It's not about guns. It's about violence, mental illness, a profound lack of empathy, and just plain laziness. At some point, the ranting just becomes noise, and we're back to square one. Especially...

Posted on 05/02/13 at 01:18 pm in response to Hunter mistakes a county cop for turkey

Fine, let's discuss mental health issues, not that that is the only problem to be addressed. You ask how I would define mental illness, however, I am not a mental health expert, so it would be preposterous for my opinion on the matter to become policy. Besides which, mental illnesses are already defined. The problem is that we treat mental illness as something we should sweep under the rug. The majority of people with mental illness are perfectly harmless--at least to others. However,...

Posted on 04/30/13 at 05:04 pm in response to Cartoonist Ohman's offense? Starkly provoking a debate over politics and public safety

I admit that pretty much the exact same thought went through my head as illustrated by the cartoon. Those who thought that he was making fun of those killed in the tragedy are simply looking for an excuse to be angry. It might be more helpful if they redirected their anger to the cause, not the commentary.

Posted on 04/29/13 at 06:55 pm in response to Lack of diversity will hurt your bottom line, marketers warned

Of course, it's not just about wanting diversity or even ordering it from the top. Diversity requires effective recruitment (which is made more difficult, believe it or not, by MN's reputation for being next to Antarctica) and effective retention. Retention is a bit of a chicken and egg situation because it's difficult to be the token [fill in the ethnic, racial, etc. group] in a group full of people who haven't ever had to learn how to behave in a diverse group. No matter how well...

Posted on 04/26/13 at 09:29 am in response to The only path to settlement: Orchestra musicians, board members must negotiate

Negotiation doesn't mean "here's our offer, take it." To put an ultimatum on the table and then accuse the opposition of not negotiating is dishonest.

I also agree that it's inappropriate to compare the musicians' salaries with patrons, PhDs (I have one, by the way), staff, etc. Apples and Elephants, there. It is clear to me that these comparisons are an underhanded attempt to sway the public into demanding that the musicians submit to the lowest bid out of jealousy. How very...

Posted on 04/25/13 at 01:46 pm in response to Legislators should rethink costly renewable-energy mandates

There really isn't a question about whether or not CO2 has a cost. While plants love it in the right doses, food type plants tend to outgrow their ability to provide proper nutrient density when CO2 levels are higher. Not to mention that CO2 has a proven greenhouse effect. Even assuming the sun would begin rising and setting in coordination with the global warming introduced by increased greenhouse gases in order to provide a longer growing season, the lack of deep frosts and freezes in...

Posted on 04/26/13 at 09:17 am in response to Legislators should rethink costly renewable-energy mandates

Why everyone is so fixated on "the grid?" My guess is that the various alternative energy sources will have the biggest impacts if they are used locally. Placing thousands of solar panels in the desert might be a decent use of the space, but it provides no more energy than thousands of solar panels spaced out (assuming similar solar availability). Similarly, wind power can be useful as a co-op resource rather than a utility. Geothermal works great on an individual use basis. And by...

Posted on 04/29/13 at 04:28 pm in response to Legislators should rethink costly renewable-energy mandates

Is not a great model for anything other than China. We're talking about a communist country with a fledgeling and, largely unregulated, capitalist economy. Besides, backyard digesters and smelters are not the equivalent of solar, wind, and geothermal. California, too, was largely the result of deregulation, not decentralization.

Let's compare apples to apples here.

A suggestion to decentralize and de-monopolize isn't a call to deregulation. While I appreciate the...

Posted on 05/01/13 at 09:37 am in response to Legislators should rethink costly renewable-energy mandates

While I see a comparison of costs, I don't see anything to back up the claim that wind uses as much natural gas and emits as much CO2 as if wind wasn't part of the equation. While I understand the need to keep energy relatively affordable, I don't understand the mind set that we should stick to the present because nothing will ever change. Even if wind uses as much natural gas and emits as much CO2 as without it NOW, the net effect is not worse. And with wind, solar, and geothermal energy...