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Ray Marshall

Commenter for
5 years 19 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 01/03/12 at 02:32 pm in response to Iowa's role in presidential politics makes no sense

The Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary are ways to admit marginal candidates into the electoral process before moving to larger states where the cost of television advertising would eliminate all but the most well financed candidates.

You can blame the thousands of reporters that show up to cover the Iowa caucuses for blowing them all out of proportion to their real significance.

You can also blame Iowa and New Hampshire officials who love the attention they get and...

Posted on 12/23/11 at 09:52 am in response to Should the media report Brodkorb rumors in Koch scandal?

Mr. Brauer:

You have been a reporter for a long time. Is this the first time that you have been aware of a politician being involved in a "relationship" with an a government employee? Weren't most/all of those incidents involving males with the power?

The following sentence exemplifies why the law serves only to protect government employees.

"The law prohibits me from talking about any specific Senate employees or even former Senate employees."

The law also...

Posted on 12/02/11 at 07:05 pm in response to Law firms struggle with recruiting and retaining minority lawyers

"Part of the problem with recruiting and retaining minorities in this area of the country is the currently nearly lily white composition. It's not intentional, it's merely population."

Lots of journalists and government officials think that we in Minnesota are evil because we live so far north and remote from jobs in this country. it is our fault that when Blacks started migrating out of the South that they found jobs and some prosperity in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, etc.

We...

Posted on 11/29/11 at 02:31 pm in response to Why aren't we more worried about global warming?

Wikipedia: "The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth's atmosphere is approximately 392 ppm (parts per million) by volume as of 2011[update][1] and rose by 2.0 ppm/yr during 2000–2009. 40 years earlier, the rise was only 0.9 ppm/yr, showing not only increasing concentrations, but also a rapid acceleration of concentrations."

An increase of 2 parts per million per year in an atmosphere containing 392 parts per million doesn't sound like much to me: 1/2 of 1% per year.

...
Posted on 11/23/11 at 08:26 pm in response to Why you may want to avoid canned food this Thanksgiving

This article brings back very fond memories of the beginning of the "You're all going to die if you eat this movement."

About 1957-8, I was the president of the Eager Eaters [I wasn't the most popular, I was the fattest] club at my high school, a bunch of nerds who sat together each day at lunch.

That Thanksgiving the newspapers were filled with stories about how we were all going to die if we ate cranberries. A closer examination of the articles in the newspapers showed that...

Posted on 11/22/11 at 03:40 pm in response to Minneapolis Target store's new checkout system 'test' raises customer hackles -- and questions

"I object to having to line up and wend my way around the aisles filled with more stuff. It's an offensive marketing tool."
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You mean she likes to check out 14 checkout lines to see which one is shortest and then stand in line waiting for three people in front of her? And she has no willpower and ends up buying five more things?
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I think it's slick! Fast! I don't have to make a decisions as to the...

Posted on 11/22/11 at 03:47 pm in response to House DFLers: Enough with the tobacco bonds already!

I'm surprised that MPR and MinnPost are using the word "Chippewa" for the Ojibway/Anishinabe Fond du Lac band.
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Just like it is OK to mock women politicians if they are conservative, it's OK to dis-respect Native Americans, I guess.

Posted on 11/08/11 at 11:17 am in response to On marriage amendment, Catholic Church leaders would be well served by words of the Gospel and history

Rob Hahn, like so many, only reads the parts of the Holy Bible with which he agrees. He might want to take a look at James 5:1-6 for other thoughts on life on our lives on this earth:

"1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the...

Posted on 09/19/11 at 06:12 pm in response to Union Depot project: Another development flop in St. Paul?

I think it is an excellent, realistic, article.

The vast majority of the riders on the Light Rail will get off at the State Capitol stop.

There will be some who will save lots of money on parking if they work in downtown St. Paul and live along University Avenue or in Minneapolis.

Some auto commuters might be able to find free parking along University someplace and then catch the train downtown. But if merchants and residents sense that is happening, the NIMBY...

Posted on 09/16/11 at 11:17 am in response to Bachmann's vaccine blunder is a trademark of her public life

"That someone [like her]could be a first-tier candidate for the presidency...."

It's totally due to the Washington media. There has never been a president of the U.S. who has not been a Senator, Governor, Vice President or General. Congressional Reps to have a large enough constituency or "rep."

So I find quite amusing how hard you have been bashing her over the past six months. Don't you worry about your feminist credentials?

Between Palin and Bachmann, the liberal...