Today is Tuesday November 12th, the primary elections are today.

GO VOTE.

Today is the day when the people who will run for office for each party are chosen.

GO VOTE.

Most of the time, the general elections will be a matter of whether the Democrat or the Republican gets chosen.  Most voters will just select the one that is in the party they prefer.  Today is when that person gets selected.

GO VOTE.

Minneapolis is pretty much a Democratic town.  The democrat will likely win in November.  If you’re a progressive Minneapolitan, today is when you get to choose who those Democrats will be.  If you want to choose the representatives for the Republican or Independence parties instead, today is the day.

GO VOTE.

If you live in this area, today is the day you get a bit of a voice.  In this area, 15% typically show up for this election.  Today is the day when your vote means the most.

GO VOTE.

Your employer is required by law to let you vote.

GO VOTE.

If you think representative democracy can work, now is when you need to play your role.  For it to truly work, people need to do more than just vote, but voting is the baseline.  The minimum.  The only reason not to vote is if you think that democracy is an irredemable failure.  So, unless thats what you believe,

GO VOTE.

Tomorrow are the primaries. I’ve gone over these a bit in previous
posts, but here are my choices for Hennepin County, Minneapolis, Ward
3, Precinct 6:

Partisan
US Senate (*meh*, Darryl Stanton)
US Congressional District 5 (Very strongly supporting Keith Ellison)
State Governor and Lieutenant Governor (Lourey/Baylor)
Secretary
Of State (Mark Ritchie – I’ve heard some interesting accusations
linking him with radical enviornmental groups… Moved him up from a
*meh* to an “ok”.)
Attorney General (Lori Swanson)

County Commissioner District 2 (Supporting Gregory Gray but voting for Steve Wellens in the primary)
County Sheriff (Fairly strongly supporting Juan Lopez)

Attorney General. Most information grabbed from http://www.lwvmn.org/EdFund/Election.asp

I’m
not researching this one as much as I might because I’m probably not
voting DFL in the generals on it. For the most part, the answers were
along the same lines and predictable. The question that most
distinguished the candidates was the first one on the lwv website.

“What are your top priorities for the office of Attorney General?”

Steve Kelley
http://www.kelleyforattorneygeneral.org/
State Senator

As
attorney general, I will vigorously defend the rights of every
Minnesotan, especially in the areas of health care, public safety and
privacy. I will crack down on fraud and abusive business practices that
target seniors, homeowners and renters. I’ll enforce laws that protect
public health and the environment.

OK. That doesn’t sound bad.

Bill Luthor:
http://www.lutherforattorneygeneral.com/
Former State Senator

Cracking
down on oil companies that gouge Minnesotans at the pump is the most
important issue. Other priorities are tackling the epidemic of drug
abuse and gangs; domestic violence and sexual assault; health care
costs and coverage; and consumer protection initiatives against
identity theft and internet crime.

Drug war and cheap gas?
Not my man. OK, gotta admit, he said gangs and addiction not drug war,
but I can read between the lines. The guy’s a lawyer, not a social
worker, how’s he going to deal with addicts?

Lori Swanson
http://swansonforattorneygeneral.com/
MN Solicitor General and Deputy Attorney under Mike Hatch

I
will be an advocate for patients, consumers, seniors, and citizens. I
will stand up for people and fight corporate wrongdoing, HMO and health
care abuses, and financial and other privacy invasions. I will also
protect public safety by helping counties to prosecute crimes and
commit dangerous sex offenders.

OK. That doesn’t sound bad.

I’m
supporting Lori Swanson in this one. Kelley is also a good one, but I
think she’s got the edge on the job experience in a attorney general’s
department that has been quite effective, and I like the way she’s
focused a bit better than Kelley.

I am supporting Juan Lopez. Stanek turns me off for a few
reasons. I couldn’t find enough information on Rusch and Lachner, but
their focus on homeland security and terror speaks to me of wrong
priorities given the challenges the metro area is dealing with.
Anderson and Fitzhenry seem like good guys and good officers, but I
don’t think they’ll bring anything special to the job. I think Lopez
has the capability of helping the Sheriff’s department work best with
immigrant and minority communities and I think those groups are not
currently well enough served or treated by our law enforcement agencies.

I
think that a society where justice is uniform and fair will be a
society with less problems and I think that Lopez will be the most
effective at delivering that, both in perception and actuality.

I
also have heard people in marginalized communities who have interacted
with the man speak with excitement in their voice. That does count for
something with me.

Bruce Anderson
http://www.brucelanderson.com/
Experienced
police officer, mostly in Orono with some experience as a Deputy US
Marshall. I couldn’t really find much on his website about what his
points are other than being an experienced officer that wants to do a
good job.

Tom Fitzhenry
http://www.fitz4sheriff.com/
Richfield
police officer for 28 years. Motorcycle cop. Former Air Force. Believes
a Sheriff should get out in the field regularly. “I have no other goal
then to make this the best department to work for in the state.” … “I
lead by example. All my employees must be respectful, honest, and have
the interest of the citizens of Hennepin County in mind over their own.
” Again, looks like an experienced officer that wants to do a good job.

Linda Lachner
Couldn’t find website. Here’s a profile: http://mpls.startribune.com/news/metro/elections/profiles/26907.html
Officer
in the Minneapolis Sex Crimes unit. Couldn’t find much info, but the
first point made in her essay was homeland security.

Her Essay:
The
most important issue to me if I were elected would be homeland
security. Safety is always the most important issue. I am concerned
about our public facilities that we work in, visit and travel through.
I am sure that the safety plans on all places of high importance would
be reexamined for any shortfall of security. I want everyone to be
aware of possible dangers and deal with them on a daily basis. Hennepin
County deserves the safest roads, waterways, airspace and land we could
possibly strive to ensure for our residents, leaders and loved ones.
Please vote Sept. 12, 2006.

Juan Lopez
http://www.lopez4sheriff.com/
DFL Endorsed, Labor Endorsed, 10 year vet of Hennepin County Sheriff office, vet.

“People in Hennepin County deserve law enforcement that is unbiased and accountable.”

“More
community involvement. I think law enforcement has lost touch with the
citizens we serve and I want to be that reconnect between law
enforcement and our communities. I want to be more visible and I want
folks to know who their sheriff is. “

“Four years later what do
you we have? The same status quo. I still grit my teeth when I hear the
ongoing concerns of the rank and file of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s
office and the community. “

“I cut my teeth at the Hennepin
County Jail – one of the most difficult facilities in the State. It is
a tough place, but I treated everyone with respect. Every human being
deserves respect – no matter what your gender or color are.”

Daniel Rusch
Couldn’t find website. Here’s a profile: http://mpls.startribune.com/news/metro/elections/profiles/26748.html
Also,
he posted on an MPR site: A 23 year veteran of law enforcement and am
currently a sergeant in charge of night shifts for the South Lake
Minnetonka police Department. I’ve been with SLM for 22 years. I have a
bachelors degree in physical education and a masters degree in public
safety administration and education. I grew up in Minnetonka and have
been a resident of Tonka Bay for 20 years.

His Essay:
As
Hennepin County sheriff, my primary mission would be to carry out the
duties of the office in a professional and impartial manner with
special emphasis placed on providing police agencies within the county
specialized services. The sheriff’s office will take the lead in
pursuing advancements in law enforcement technology and criminal
apprehension techniques. It will also maintain eternal vigilance and
constant readiness against any who would threaten or terrorize the
citizens of this county. Employees will have an empathetic leader who
will encourage input and participation before implementing changes, yet
will accept ultimate responsibility and consequences for decisions made.

Rich Stanek
A
captain with the Minneapolis police. Endorsed by Sheriff Office
Deputies Association, the Minneapolis Police Officers Federation,
Police Officers Alliance of Minnesota and the Firefighters Association
of Minneapolis local #82. Resigned as Public Safety Commisioner in 2004
over racist comments he made in 1992 but claims that he’s learned a lot
since 1992 and that while he can’t change what happened, he’s changed
since then. Has a reputation as a thumper and has a relatively high
number of complaints made against him for excessive force.
http://www.stanekforsheriff.com/

Don’t forget the primary, Tuesday September 12th!

The League
of Women Voters site is often a good resource. You can also check your
ballot there (as well as find out everything you’ll be voting for on
November 7th)
http://www.lwvmn.org/EdFund/Election.asp

You may be able to find some more candidate info here:
http://e-democracy.org/wiki/Minnesota_elections

County Commisioner, District 2

Well,
I really don’t see anyone that really excites me. Gray seems pretty
good, but I’d really like to know more about his stance on
Transportation issues as well as infrastructure issues. He has some
plans to release position papers on some of these, but that doesn’t
help me today.

Of these three candidates, two will go on to the
general election. It is highly likely that those two are going to be
Mark Stenglein (the incumbent for a decade now) and Greg Gray (endorsed
by the DFL and the last three Minneapolis mayors).

I see Steve
Wellens as the most obvious “protest” candidate for the stadium tax. I
don’t think I like his take on transit or crime and I didn’t see nearly
enough on infrastructure issues. About the only thing I like about
Stenglein (at least based on his published positions) is supporting
methods for helping people that have been incarcerated work.

Given
the choice between these three, I’m probably going to want to see Gray
win in the finals. However, as I beleive that he will move past the
primaries and doesn’t need my vote, I’m going to cast this ballot for
Steve Wellens as a protest vote. I only wish we had STV/IRV so I didn’t
have to gamble with my ballot.

Gregory Gray
http://www.grayforcountycommissioner.com/
I wish his position papers were more fleshed out.
*
He is pro-stadium but anti-how it was done. His bolded text in his
position paper on the topic makes sense to me: “I still support a
stadium. However, I do not support the current position of the Hennepin
County board which puts the entire burden of public funding on Hennepin
County residents. Furthermore, I pledge I would never support the
creation of a new tax for a non-essential govenment purpose, without a
vote of those citizens who would be impacted by the new tax.”
* He supports getting more police and getting them out of cars and onto beats where they can interact with the community more
* He supports reducing crime by creating more summer jobs for youth.

Steve Wellens:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/6997/HennepinCountyCommissioner.html
A software engineer contractor.
* Focus on bus rather than LRT for mass transit
* Do what he can to reverse the stadium decision without a referendum
* Anti-lawn sign
* Sentencing guidelines for repeat offenders

I agree with his anger about the stadium thing. The rest doesn’t really grab me.

Mark Stenglein’s website focuses on public safety and infrastructure concerns.
http://www.markstenglein.com/
* Voted for the stadium w/o a referendum
* Supporter of more cops on the street and a better workhouse program to reduce recidivism
* Most of the infrastructure things he lists are roads.

I agree with his focus on reducing recidivism. Nothing else really grabs me and the stadium thing really ticked me off.

BTW:
If I were in Commissioner Peter McLaughlin’s district (District 4), I’d
have a tough decision. On one hand, he supported the stadium thing. On
the other hand, he’s been a strong proponent of multi-modal
transportation and alternative power and been fairly effective at
getting things done. I’m glad I don’t have to decide about him:

* He’s a big part of the reason we have any light rail

*
He’s been pushing actually make renewable energy sources such as wind
power available. He managed to get a contract in place that will fuel
at least 130,000 homes in the county with wind power. Part of this
arrangement helps rural farmers get more “productivity” out of their
land.

* He was a big factor in making the Midtown Greenway happen.

Well, the primaries are coming up fast, so here’s my take on the situation as of today. ONLY
15% – 20% SHOW UP TO THE OFF YEAR PRIMARIES, SO IF YOU EVEN GIVE 1/4 OF
A SHIT WHO RUNS THE CITY, COUNTY, STATE AND THE COUNTRY FOR THE NEXT 2
- 6 YEARS, GET YOUR ASS OUT THERE AND VOTE!

And for the anti-climax…

The only really strong recommendation I have is Keith Ellison

I
think Gregory Gray and Juan Lopez may also be exciting candidates, but
I’ve got a bit more research to do. I’ll post what I decide later.

I can only vote one party for the partison seats in the primary. I very much want to vote for Keith Ellison,
so that sticks me on the DFL ticket this time around. I probably
wouldn’t be voting for many of the other DFL choices if the primaries
didn’t work this way.

So, here are my current votes for Hennepin County, Minneapolis, Ward 3, Precinct 6

US Senate (*meh* Darryl Stanton I guess)
US Congressional District 5 (!! Keith Ellison !!)
State Governor and Lieutenant Governor (Lourey/Baylor)
Secretary Of State (*meh* Mark Ritchie I guess)
Attorney General (Undecided)

County Commissioner District 2 (Gregory Gray or Steve Wellens, still researching)
County Sheriff (Probably Juan Lopez, still researching)

During the primary, there are two aspects to the ballot. The non-partisan ballot and the partisan ballot.

The non-partisan ballot is for all the non-partisan seats in contest. It will be on the back of your ballot. DONT FORGET TO VOTE FOR THESE. THE NON STATEWIDE ELECTIONS ARE THE PLACES WHERE YOUR VOTE CAN MAKE THE MOST DIFFERENCE!

County Commissioner District 2
Gregory Gray
Steve Wellens
Mark Stenglein (Incumbent)

I’m
not yet sure between Gray and Wellens although something’s making me
say Gray. I definitely won’t be voting for stadium taxer Mark
Stenglein. Stenglein’s going to win though.

County Sheriff (Incumbent Patrick McGowan is retiring)
Linda K Lachner
Rich Stanek
Daniel Rusch
Bruce L Anderson
Juan Lopez
Tom Fitzhenry

I’m
pretty sure I’m voting for Juan Lopez, but I have to look further into
Fitzhenry, Anderson, Rusch, and Lachner. I will NOT be voting for
racist thumper Stanek.

########

On the partison ballot,
you can only vote in one party’s primary. The parties you can choose
from are: Independence, Republican, or DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor).
This year, I’ll be voting under the DFL as the US Congressional
District 5 primary is a tight contest with a DFL candidate I actually
want to vote for.

US Senate (DFL Incumbent Mark Dayton is retiring)
Darryl Stanton
Amy Klobuchar
Republican: Harold Shudlick, John Uldrich, Mark Kennedy
Independence: Stephen Williams, Miles Collins, Robert Fitzgerald

I
didn’t really give this one a lot of thought as I doubt I’ll be voting
DFL in the general on this one and Klobuchar will win the DFL primary
hands down. I’m voting for Stanton as a vote in support of
non-millionaire candidates who voice their desire to stand up for
middle class and working poor. His campaign slogan appears to be
“Darryl will always put people first and not big money interest.”

US Representative District 5 (DFL Incumbent Martin Sabo is retiring)
Gregg A. Iverson
Andrew Vincent Favorite
Ember Reichgott Junge
Keith Ellison
Mike Erlandson
Paul Ostrow
Patrick J Wiles
Republican: Alan Fine
Indepenence: Tammy Lee

KEITH ELLISON!
Good god. If this guy doesn’t win the Democratic primary, then … I
dunno. I just don’t know. Ellison does have the DFL endorsement. If you
go down the list of issues, as far as I’m concerned, he’s pretty much
on the right side of everything.

Of course, you could vote for
Republicrat Junge, Cadillac Escalade SUV driving defense industry money
taking thinks-he’s-heir-to-the-post Erlandson, Ostrow (yeah, I’m not
insulting him, but I consider him to be well on the conservative side
of Minneapolis’ current city council).

But Keith Ellison
is the only candidate who, in my opinion, is actually worth getting
excited over. A Democrat that I really do support – who’da thunk it.
Well, there’s Kucinich (who, btw, has endorsed and campaigned for
Ellison).

Send this guy to Washington. If you don’t vote for any other reason, for for this guy.

Governor and Lieutenant Governor
Mike Hatch/Judy Dutcher
Becky Lourey/Tim Baylor
Ole’ Savior/Dan Fischer
Republican: Pawlenty/Molnau (Incumbent), Jeffers/Hendrycks
Indepenence: Ellison/Johnson, Hutchinson/Reed

Well,
I’m definitely voting for Pentel/Provencher for Governor in the general
election. Strategically, I should vote for Ole’ Savior, ’cause he’d be
the easiest to beat, but that just doesn’t feel right. I’ll be voting
for Lourey because I like her strong anti-war stance and her work
towards trying to get public health care. Hatch probably wouldn’t be
too bad, but I can’t support a guy who sent a bunch of Somalis to their
deaths. Who knows, if Lourey takes it, I might have to consider her for
the generals.

Secretary of State
“Dick” Franson
Mark Ritchie
Republican: Mary Kiffmeyer (Incumbent)
Independence: Joel Spoonheim

Good
lord, I don’t know. Definitely Not Kiffmeyer. I couldn’t even find
decent information this year on who was running on the Secretary of
State website. Beyond that, there is some sticky stuff like her
refusing to implement laws she didn’t like. Ritchie is going to win the
DFL hands down, but I’ll probably give him my vote anyway. Franson is a
“frequent” candidate who can’t even manage to field a website as far as
I could tell – one of the things a Secretary of State has to be good at
is getting information accessible and easy to find. I’ll look at this
election more carefully for the general.

Attorney General
Steve Kelley
Lori Swanson
Bill Luther
Republican: Sharon Anderson, Jeff Johnson
Independence: Dale Nathon, Jual Carlos Carlson, Richard “Dick” Bullock, John James

Well, again, I’m probably going with Independence or Green (Papa John Kolstad), but given that since I want to vote for KEITH ELLISON,
I only get to put opinions on the DFL ticket, I’m going to have to
think some more on this one – I’m not really excited about any of the
DFL offerings.

There is a voting reform referrendum in Minneapolis this year:

A Proposal to use Instant Runoff Voting in Minneapolis Elections

Should
the City of Minneapolis adopt Single Transferable Vote, sometimes known
as Ranked Choice Voting or Instant Runoff Voting, as the method for
electing the Mayor, City Council, and members of the Park and
Recreation Board, Library Board, and Board of Estimate and Taxation
without a separate primary election and with ballot format and rules
for counting votes adopted by ordinance?

So, the big question is, what is Single Transferable Voting?

Part of a definition from wikipedia:
“The Single Transferable Vote, or STV, is a preferential voting system
designed to minimise wasted votes and provide proportional
representation”. Here’s a quick overview of how it works:

To the voter who just wants to know how to vote:

Rank
the candidates on the ballot in your order of preference. You do not
need to rank all of them – any candidates you don’t wish to see
elected, you do not have to vote for.

To those wondering how the ballots are counted:

1. Determine the threshold of votes required to win a seat.
2. Tally
   the votes. Any candidates receiving more than the threshold have gained
   the seat. If all the seats are filled, you are done. If not, go to step
   3.
3. If no candidates received over the threshold, go to step 4.
   If a candidate received over the threshold, transfer the excess portion
   of their votes to the next choice on the ballots then return to step 2.
   Any ballots without a next choice become exhausted.
4. Eliminate
   the candidate with the lowest number of votes. Transfer their votes to
   the next choice on the ballots. Any ballots without a next choice
   become exhausted. Go back to step 2.

Definitions and Math:

“Threshold of votes”

The number of votes required to win a seat.
Calculated as: [(number of votes)/(number of seats + 1)] + 1

“Excess Portion of”

The
amount of the vote not needed to elect the candidate. If a candidate
got 20% more total votes than they needed, 20% of each of their votes
is “excess” and available for transfer.
Calculated as: (Votes received – Votes needed) / Votes received

“Transfer”

Any
portion of a ballot not yet used to elect someone can be used to elect
the next choice. The next choice is based on a numerical ranking. If a
number is missing, it is skipped over (eg: 1,2,3,4 is equivalent to
1,2,4,5)

“Exhausted”

A ballot that can be transfered
but has no candidates chosen that have not either been elected or
eliminated. This is functionally equivalent to voting in a primary but
choosing not to vote in the general because there are no acceptable
candidates remaining.

What it does:

• Eliminates the “spoiler” factor for single and multi-seat elections
• Eliminates the need for primaries in single seat and multi-seat elections
• Ensures proprtional representation in multi-seat elections.

It is also expected that it will:

• Improve campaign tactics as negative campaigning will be more likely to backfire.
• Improve
  discussions of issues among politians as undermining your opponent will
  be less effective so you’ll have to distinguish yourself by your issues.
• Decrease
  the municipal costs of an election due to the elimination of the
  primary. This will be offset for a period of time by the initial costs
  of implementation.
• Improve voter participation by giving more
  reason to show up for the general because there is a broader choice of
  people to vote for and there are no reason not to vote for the
  candidate you support most.

The other two terms:
Ranked Choice Voting: Any form of voting where you rank the candidates in the order of your support.
Instant
Runoff Voting: Another term for Single Transferable Voting when it is
used for single seat positions (Mayor as opposed to the Library Board)

Please vote YES in November.

Oh, shit. This is so not cool. Yeah, I know Minneapolis has hate crimes, I just don’t like it when it happens.

###

Some of you will have gotten this already. If you didn’t, you may wish to consider joining TrueMajority:

Tell National TV News Anchors to Focus on Stories that Matter

Last
week, guess which story topped the national evening news on ABC, CBS,
and NBC? JonBenet Ramsey. Who was the big guest on Nightline and the
Today Show? JonBenet Ramsey’s father. What story made front-pages of
America’s newspapers, including the New York Times. You got it.

It
wasn’t the war in Iraq or the tenuous truce in Lebanon, or even 10
million kids here at home who lack health insurance. It was JonBenet.

We’re so disgusted with “journalism” in America that we’re suggesting an action today that we’ve never suggested before.

Contact the News Anchors at ABC, CBS, and NBC, and tell them we’ve had enough JonBenet by signing the petition to the right.
Send this petition to:

* Brian Williams, NBC
* Charles Gibson, ABC
* Katie Couric, CBS

As
professional journalists, I cannot understand how you can justify your
decision to make the murder of JonBenet Ramsey the number one story
last week on your evening broadcast.

Sure, it’s an interesting
mystery and a terrible murder, but under what criteria of professional
journalism could it possibly merit being the top story in America last
week?

There’s the war in Iraq, which continues to kill Americans
and Iraqi civilians alike, including six-year-olds like JonBenet.
There’s the fragile truce in Lebanon. There’s global warming, Darfur,
the budget deficit, the health care crisis at home, the upcoming
elections, and so much more.

Please, get your journalistic priorities straight.

If you’ld like to jump on this bandwagon, click here.

###

Did you make it through all that? Cool, here’s a couple light things:

Embrace your inner idiot.

and

Twin Cities are #2 on drunkest cities list.
here and here

My theory is that it is compensation for not being able to buy booze on Sundays.

And, speaking of beer and religion, here’s a YouTube.

Today’s post to the city issues list (written yesterday):

This is a long email and really didn’t come out as articulately as I would like.

All I really want you to do is watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LayaGk0TMD

And then think about what we can do locally about this issue.

#######

Ever since moving to the “big city”, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that much of our society’s crime is fueled by the “War on Drugs”.

As Prohibition fueled the rise of the Mafia, so have these laws and efforts fueled the rise of the modern gangs and all the pain that has gone with them.

But how to voice that without sounding like just another whining progressive?

I’ll let someone else say it – the officers whose job it has been to fight the war. Please turn your attention to this presentation by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LayaGk0TMD

One thing they don’t really focus on is what happens to a kid who gets caught up dealing or using? How easy is it to get out? You can die, you can go to jail, but how hard is it to go legit? Especially if you’ve picked up some jail time or obvious gang tattoos? Once you’ve thought of yourself as a criminal and been seen as a criminal, how easy is it to stop? Especially for the non-living wages that are likely all that is available to some of them? Former street dealers likely have a bit more trouble than I do finding a paying gig.

There are people who do manage it. They deserve the respect they’ve earned, but are we really surprised that many don’t?

Beyond that, what does it do to a kid to be raised in a society that defines success as wealth but in a neighborhood where the most blatantly wealthy are violent criminals? Yes, parents can teach them better, but isn’t it a pretty destructive social force? How many of these kids get the chance to see that there even is an alternative before their reality has gone a long way towards shaping the adult they will be?

Beyond even that, what does it do to a society to have laws that are seriously enforced that are blatantly disregarded by people in all walks of life because they are laws against human freedom and those laws are never followed? What does it mean about the general social respect for the rule of law? We live in a “don’t get caught” society rather than a “I follow the law because its the right thing to do” society. Whether its OK or not for people to feel that way is irrelevant – many of them do.

So, what can we do about it? Even though they are fueling the fires that burn in our city, our City Council can’t change the drug laws. The general response is “more law enforcement”, “push harder to crush the violent criminals”, “run the drug dealers out of here”. It doesn’t work. Its like pushing on fluid – you can squeeze it somewhere else, but its going to still be there, somewhere and its always going to look for the places it can fit the best.

I keep wondering if there’s another way for us to deal with it. Sure, I’d like it if people could go buy them at the pharmacy but we probably wouldn’t get away with that for long w/o state or federal permission. Is there some way for us to decriminalize it and put some of the money used enforcing laws against non-violent users and dealers into helping addicts who want help? Have the efforts of our police focused on those who actually commit crimes against people and property?

I guess to an extent, that’s whats already happening by default. There aren’t enough police to go after every law breaker, so presumably they go after the highest priorities leaving non-violent offenders in peace (I hope I’m not being too optimistic). In its current form, it doesn’t seem to be working so well.

I this know is full of holes, but here’s what I keep thinking of:

Say we were to set aside some areas in a few of our city parks or buildings that aren’t too near schools and make them adult only locations where drug dealing is tolerated. Keep enforcement as usual in the rest of the city, but in these locations people can buy, sell, possess or use drugs as they wish as long as they do not break any other laws. Have them well patrolled by police (on foot/bicycle/horse – not in vehicles). Let the police and these dealers establish a relatively cordial relationship. If anyone commits violence or brandishes a firearm, be johnny on the spot to shut them down and lock them up. Heck, we could even warn them if the feds are coming in to do a bust.

Given a “shelter” that makes them safe from inter gang violence and jail, dealers that operate like this should be able to undercut everyone else in the city. Sooner or later, drug dealing the way its done now just wouldn’t make ends meet.

Like I said, I know its pretty full of holes. It isn’t a realistic solution – just an idea to prime the pump. There’s GOT to be some way to think outside the box and improve the situation. Maybe the city can sue the state or the feds over this?

I don’t know exactly what to do, but I do know that we’re GOING to have these problems as long as we have these laws. We may tone down the violence from time to time, but it’ll flare back up. We may fix it in one neighborhood, but it will come back in another one. It has to because how it currently works is that we’re basically providing a cash cow to the bravest and most ruthless parasites willing to go after it.

Again, whether you agree with me or think I’m a nut (you’re right either way), listen to some folks that have been there, done that and have a much better perspective on the situation than I ever could:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LayaGk0TMD

So, yeah.

1) This seems a bit off. Minneapolitans, you’ve till tomorrow to call
your council members if you’ve any strong feelings on this:

8/23/06
after 1:30 PM (That is when the Public Safety & Regulatory Services
Committee meeting starts, the public hearing could be anytime
afterwards) – Public hearing on Use of Alleys by Pedestrians: Ordinance
prohibiting use of alleys for through pedestrian traffic, except for
abutting property owners, tenants, their guests and invitees, law
enforcement personnel, emergency medical or fire personnel, persons
performing public service activities or inspections, and person
performing services for public or private utility, garbage collection,
or communication companies.

Well, at least bikes aren’t
peds, but it seems to me that anything limiting the spaces where its
legal to be a human on two feet is a bad thing.

2) In other
news, We are so stupid! I am part of a survey panel that occasionally
has quick one answer surveys when you’re just logged in. Todays (with
30,000 respondents) was:

Should laptops and cell phones be banned as carry-on items for air flights as a way of preventing terrorist attacks?

The results:

9%: On international flights only
1%: On domestic flights only
45% On all flights
46% Should not be banned

Today
I made an assertation that congress does not follow the will of the
people. More and more, I fear it does. The obvious question is why is
that will what it is and when did We become a bunch of cowardly sheep?

3) Imagine you’re this guy.
Detained for 5 years. No charges. Welcome to Amerika (With help from
Kanada). Yes, I can see why this guy got flagged, but for crying out
loud, this is WHY that constitution of ours is more than just a damn
piece of paper.

4) OK, so say you support the idea of reducing
the use of and dependence on oil. Obviously one of your significant
opponents are the oil companies who like their fat profits. So now say
you hear that someone (Democratic candidate for Minnesota Attorney
General, Bill Luther) is planning on spearheading a movement to sue/prosecute the big oil companies for price gouging and making huge profits.

What
do you do? Do you support it figuring they have been making record
profits and you’re against them anyway so whatever can be done to
weaken them is good? Do you not support it figuring all it wants to do
is get gas prices low again which would increase consumption? Something
else?