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Randall Ryder

Stillwater, MN
Commenter for
2 years 13 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 06/14/12 at 06:45 pm in response to Let's stop the war on public school teachers

I am aghast at many of the comments on this thread. If you read any reports on comparisons of public and private workers you will find that when you hold education and qualifications constant, public workers earn less in wages, about the same in health insurance, and more in pension plans. This does not account for many private employees in higher paying positions who receive bonuses. All told, public workers earn less when factoring in fringe benefits. There was a time when they had more...

Posted on 05/17/12 at 09:42 pm in response to Michele Bachmann withdraws Swiss citizenship

Can someone list Bachmann's accomplishments as a congresswoman? Or, can anyone testify to how she has helped constituents who are in need of assistance with such matters as Social Security, Medicare, assistance to veterans, etc.? I have never read anything that would suggest she has represented the people of the 6 th District. I can, however, list many things she has done to promote herself through her position as a congresswoman.

Posted on 05/09/12 at 01:53 pm in response to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Switzerland)

Anything for a headline. Could it be she will seek public office there and hold dual legislative responsibilities?

Posted on 04/30/12 at 03:15 pm in response to Target should acquire Best Buy

Wow, I would like to send the author of this post to business school. Target already has a huge footprint out there and a viable on-line presence. If they would acquire Best Buy, how would it advance their business? Let's see. They would inherit some of the worst customer service programs, terrible inventory control, a murky distribution system, and dated inventory. Oh yes, they would also inherit a miserable company ethos with shoddy business practices. You know, after reading my own post I...

Posted on 04/18/12 at 06:54 pm in response to Congressman Allen West believes 78-81 members of the U.S. House are communists

Crazy like a fox. This is about attention and headlines which seems to be the mantra for a politicians these days. Politicians need to be held accountable for their comments. They are, after all, public employees who are supposed to be doing the business of the public and in the best interests of the public. Unless he has documentation to support his accusations, he should be censured.

Posted on 03/28/12 at 05:59 pm in response to Proposed Minneapolis teachers settlement falls short of district's change agenda

There was a time when cognitive psychologists demonstrated that what is essential in learning is time on task and the amount of time that a learner is truly engaged in a task. In other words, what enhances learning is a teacher's ability to engage the students in learning activities that are meaningful and focused. Additional school days without effective instruction is not likely to turn student achievement around.

Posted on 03/28/12 at 05:47 pm in response to Poll: Wisconsin Gov. Walker ahead, barely, in recall vote

Voters' intentions in this recall election would be very difficult to measure until the democrats' candidate has been selected. And I am not so certain the validity of a poll conducted by a law school cannot be questioned.

Posted on 03/25/12 at 09:51 pm in response to Senate approval clears way for Voter ID constitutional amendment

Precisely how many people in Minnesota vote illegally? I suspect it is less than .001 of the population. OK, just for fun, let's say .01 perception of the population. Now let's presume there is some parity is this scheme and people of both political partie vote illegally. Enought to change an election? Far, far from likely. Indeed, this is about disenfranchisement which will effect far greater than 0.01 percent of the population. When will the legislature propose separate, but equal, water...

Posted on 02/14/12 at 09:12 pm in response to Integration task force forwarding results to Cassellius

I recall the decision in 1968 to desegregate our schools very well. At the time I was in a federal program to train teachers in urban schools in an effort to enhance teacher quality and infuse better teaching methodology in our urban classrooms. On the day of the announcement of the desegregation initiative, tears came to the two professors that worked with us in the urbana classrooms. Both were progressives in education in embraced wholeheartedly the idea of educational equality.But they...

Posted on 02/15/12 at 08:49 am in response to ‘The Walz-Obama Plan: More Job-Killing Taxes for More Failed Stimulus Spending’

So where is the proof that taxes kill jobs? And we have seen what happens which the top 1% and corporations taxes are reduced--fewer jobs or jobs moved overseas.