In the PiPress story on the opening round of gun control hearings at the Capitol, Megan Boldt writes: “But Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, said the police chiefs and sheriffs testifying in support of these proposals represent city councils and mayors, not the frontline officers. Cornish, a former police chief himself, said these ‘worthless gun bills’ do nothing to address gun violence, pointing at the Brooklyn Center case as a prime example of how gun restrictions would not have worked. … Andrew Rothman, vice president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance, said more background checks won’t stop criminals, but they will put an unfair damper on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.”
Obamacare could save Minnesota hospitals how much? Christopher Snowbeck of the PiPress says: “The federal health law should reduce the need for charity care and other uncompensated care costs at Minnesota hospitals by as much as $168 million, according to a state report issued Tuesday, Feb. 5. In 2011, hospitals in the state provided $308 million worth of uncompensated care, a category that includes costs for people in charity care programs as well as money owed by people who don’t pay their hospital bills. Without implementation of the federal health law beginning next year, hospital uncompensated care costs in Minnesota likely would grow by 2016 to somewhere between $319 million and $411.9 million, according to the new report from the Health Economics Program at the Minnesota Department of Health.”
Minnesota loses an estimated $1 billion a year through off-shore tax havens. At the ThinkProgress site, Travis Waldron writes: “State and local governments lost $39.8 billion last year because corporations and the wealthy shifted profits to offshore tax havens, an amount roughly equal to what they spent on firefighters in 2008, according to a new report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). The federal government lost $150 billion in revenue to the same practices. … offshore tax havens make America’s small businesses less competitive with large corporations. A previous PIRG report found that it would cost each small business $2,116 to make up revenue lost to corporate use of offshore tax havens. Eight states — California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and North Carolina — lost at least $1 billion to offshore tax havens last year.” Those are havens for real job creators, I’ll have you know.
The actual number of Minnesota jobs whacked by Boston Scientific is … 500. The McClatchy papers report: “The figure, which came from a monthly publication by the state Department of Employment and Economic Development, is the first specific word about how a recent series of job cuts at Boston Scientific have affected the company’s local workforce.The medical device manufacturer makes pacemakers and implantable defibrillators at a division based in Arden Hills. Boston Scientific makes heart stents and other devices at a division based in Maple Grove. … [The company] did not comment on the 500-job figure.”
Tell this to Tony Sutton and the Voter ID crowd … Doug Belden of the PiPress writes: “Minnesota is among seven states singled out for best election administration in 2008 and 2010 by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The ‘Elections Performance Index,’ released Tuesday, Feb. 5, tracks indicators including voting wait times, availability of information online, rejected voter registrations, percentage of voters with registration or absentee ballot problems, rejected military and overseas ballots, voter turnout and accuracy of voting technology. Minnesota was tops along with Colorado, Delaware, Michigan, North Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin among the 50 states and District of Columbia.”
Speaking of … Tim Pugmire of MPR tells us: “After an inquiry prompted by complaints from Republican lawmakers, Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles has concluded that Minnesota does not have a clear standard to assess the actions of two state officials accused of using public funds to oppose constitutional amendments on the ballot last November. Nobles released a letter today that he sent to Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson, last month detailing the findings of a preliminary assessment. Newman, who was a chief sponsor of the voter ID constitutional amendment, accused DFL Secretary of State Mark Ritchie of wrongly using his official capacity and public funds to oppose that ballot question. Similar accusations were later leveled against Human Rights Commissioner Kevin Lindsey, who publicly opposed voter ID and the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. In the letter, Nobles noted that state law only goes so far on prohibiting certain political activity by public officials and employees.”
Also at MPR, Tom Scheck’s story on the push for more disclosure of conflict of interests says: “The Minnesota Campaign Finance Board voted Monday to encourage the Legislature to pass tougher economic disclosure laws. A proposal backed by the board would require officials to make public their consulting interests and details about income earned by their spouses. The Minnesota Campaign Finance Board’s action does not change how public officials disclose their outside income. But their recommendations will carry considerable weight with lawmakers who could make the changes. Board member Neil Peterson, a former Republican House member, said he hopes the board’s recommendation will motivate legislators to update a law that hasn’t changed since the 1970s.”
Sweet god almighty! A Denny Hecker story! John Welbes at the PiPress says: “The trustee in the Denny Hecker bankruptcy case is appealing a recent court order that said the bankruptcy estate won’t get a $1.1 million home in Medina that Hecker used to own. Randall Seaver, the trustee, filed the appeal Tuesday and wants it heard by the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the 8th Circuit. He’s seeking to recover more assets for distribution to people that Hecker still owes money. The case in question involved Seaver suing a handful of Hecker creditors that had been able to secure the Medina house on Northridge Drive back in 2010. … A decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Kressel last month said Seaver wasn’t due either the house on Northridge Drive or $1.2 million — Seaver wanted one or the other.”
Almost by definition, if you’re a diva, you make demands. Edgar Linares at WCCO-TV reports on Lady Gaga’s dressing room requirements for her Xcel Energy Center show tonight: “Here are a few items on the [Tour] Rider:
1 large comfortable sofa
1 sofa chair
2 end tables
5 lamps
1 full length mirror
4 unscented candles
3 fans
1 heater
1 cool-mist humidifier
Food and drinks:
2 bottles of white wine
4 pack of Red Bull light
4 assorted flavors of Vitamin Water
2 bottles of green tea
1 half-gallon of skim milk
1 bag of corn tortilla chips
1 package of dried apples
1 package of dried mangoes
1 box of cereal (Go Lean) with berries.”
What about the brown M&Ms?
She has no taste
What’s with the chips but no molten velveeta? Does she know where she’s visiting?
Forgive the pun,
but there is no magic bullet for the problem of gun-related deaths.
Guns are tools, tools which may be used responsibly and irresponsibly. They do not belong in the hands of the young, the untrained, the angry, the mentally ill, the drunk, the drugged or anyone else who, momentarily or otherwise, is incapable of exercising good judgment or self control.
Unlike most other tools, their primary purpose is to injure, whether human or animal. As such, they merit special consideration.
We can and should place restraints on who may own or possess guns. I hope we can all agree that minors should not own or have unsupervised access to either handguns or long guns. (Research on the maturation of the human brain suggests re-evaluating the concept of adult.) I also hope that we can all agree that those convicted of crimes involving the injury or threatened injury of another should not own or possess handguns, at a minimum.
Achieving these goals requires that there be some means of enforcing the laws, before the guns change hands, not after. Background checks are one of first steps in doing so. Prohibiting the knowing transfer of a proscribed gun to a person not legally entitled to own or possess the weapon is another. Imposing criminal and civil liability on those who make such a transfer is yet another. None of these steps will be completely effective.
In recognition of this, the the question becomes, “What else can we do that will have a worthwhile impact?”
Most of the deaths caused by gunfire each year are suicides. Homicide is the next largest category. Many of both are impulsive events, spur of the moment killings. A small but tragic percentage are accidental, often involving young children. Some of these deaths can be avoided by finding ways to prevent or delay access to and the use of the weapon. Gunlocks and gun safes, when actually used, can provide such a delay, for both the owners and the owners family members. We can require that gun owners purchase and use such devices, but can only enforce such requirements after the fact, by imposing civil and criminal liability for the failure to do so, where doing so might have prevented the injury or death by gunfire.
Mass murder is a too frequent event in the United States, but one which results in only a tiny fraction of the total deaths each year. (See the recent Mayors’ Report on Mass Murder for more details.) The question that we have to address here is simply this: what are we willing to do, to give up, to contribute to the common good in an attempt to reduce the number of lives lost in this way? Some favor decreasing the lethality of the available weapons by limiting the rate of fire in some way, most often by limiting the number of rounds a weapon holds. I find this a reasonable trade-off, because it may give a target one extra second to escape or a responder one extra second to take down the attacker. The arguments against this are, in my view, insufficient. Modern semi-automatic weapons equipped with large magazines may not have the rate of fire of the Thompson submachine guns outlawed in the ’30s, but they are capable of dealing death and injury at rates far in excess of any threat any individual is reasonably likely to encounter in this country – unless of course, that person is engaged in gang warfare or mass murder. (With all due respect to those who fear some form of jack-booted dictatorial government, your fears are unwarranted. Even if they were not, you’re never going to be able to compete with the modern weaponry of our armed forces.) The mere convenience of a 30 round clip is meaningless when set against the life of a single individual.
Whatever we do, we must do universally. Past efforts have clearly shown that anything less is insufficient. That means action at the federal level when it comes to the transfer of ownership and the manufacture and sale of high capacity magazines.
These are the easy steps, which can be taken in a matter of weeks or months. The harder steps, and the most important steps, will take much longer and involve a makeover of American attitudes on a number of fronts. These things we can not legislate. They can only be accomplished person by person, family by family, community by community. Let’s get past the easy part and begin the real battle.
Those lists from performers
The no brown M&Ms in the bowl was famously a part of the Van Halen performance contract, but not because the performers were fussy. The provision was in the contract because in each city they performed the stage and setup crews were different. The band provided a long list of technical details that had to be complied with for the safety of the band and the audience, and the smooth running of the show.
The presence of brown M&Ms in the bowl meant the technical requirements for the show had not been thoroughly read and followed. Turns out the band was being smart, not persnickety.