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Rachel Kahler

Rachel Kahler's picture
Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
Commenter for
2 years 15 weeks

Recent Comments

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...

Posted on 04/26/13 at 01:38 pm in response to Speaker Steve Perry provokes heated exchange on education reform

I was instantly turned off by your attitude in your letter to MPS. It was disgusting. If you had a point, it was lost in the "oh puh-leeze" and "fee-fees." If you thought you were being funny, you sent your message to the wrong venue. If you meant to write a serious commentary, you failed. I guess though, the response by MPS being in favor of your ridiculous letter points out that MPS isn't necessarily following reason, but would rather embrace immaturity and a condescending attitude so...

Posted on 04/24/13 at 01:51 pm in response to Catholic Church favors anti-bullying efforts — just not so-called 'Safe and Supportive Schools Act'

I like your list of "problems," none of which has a stitch of support. But let's look at that list, shall we?

-It's unconstitutional because someone said so? I don't buy it. I know lots of people who are willing to say all kinds of stuff in public. That doesn't mean they have a defensible position. I mean, c'mon, the guy who wrote the "First Amendment Nightmare" bit says something can be both discrete and overlapping. I can't bring myself to trust him for interpretation of lay...

Posted on 04/22/13 at 10:46 am in response to Catholic Church ramps up opposition to Minnesota anti-bullying bill

So, in addition to throwing lots of money that could be used to do good for the poor, the sick, and the hungry, to trying to keep gay people from having the same legal rights as everyone else, the Church, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that gay children (and/or those perceived to be gay), too, should be fairly treated as inferior creatures to human beings. In order to supposedly save money on schools...money that they're spending on campaigns to denigrate gay people. Quite frankly, I...

Posted on 04/22/13 at 10:38 am in response to Examining the boundaries of the Second Amendment

You know what? I'm a gun owner and believer that the 2nd Amendment actually protects individual rights to own firearms. However, this is ridiculous. It takes one bullet to stop a man. It takes 2 to stop 2 men. If you need a large clip to "protect yourself" from 2 men, you have no business handling a dangerous weapon. In other words, I do not support the arming of incompetent people. The 2nd Amendment means more than simply sticking a weapon in the hands of the masses. The first part...

Posted on 04/22/13 at 01:32 pm in response to Thoughts on the Boston bombing developments

The accident in Texas was an act of negligence that was clearly a risk to human lives, and sure enough, lives were lost. While it is undoubtedly criminal to plant a bomb amongst a crowd, how much less criminal is it to plant a bigger bomb and put the crowd inside as workers? The first was to commit terror without regard to human life. The second was to make money without regard to human life.