Secrets of the City

If I have to read one more story about a teacher molesting a student, I’m going to be sick. So let’s find something light and amusing to talk about.

Oooo, wait… here’s something I should have put up a day or two ago.

The Vikings play the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Predictions?

Here’s a game preview from Vikings Gab.

“The Vikings will dominate this game as the Seahawk’s will provide little more than a few speed bumps as resistance.  Home field advantage, nearly at full health, and superior talent spells a victory for the Vikings.”

Seems like a no-brainer. Put money on it.

As for the home field advantage, however, looks like it’s going to be the Metrodome for a while still — which the Vikings aren’t very happy about. The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission approved a plan to force them to extend their Metrodome lease by two years.

A White Bear Lake man pulled his ninth-grade daughter out of school this week to protect her from racial threats. Over the past three weeks the young African-American girl “has been called a racial epithet on a White Bear Lake school bus, been stared at menacingly in a North Campus classroom, and had her life threatened by a weapon-wielding student.” A police report shows that a juvenile from the school was arrested on Wednesday and put into juvenile detention, but the school has not confirmed this.

Meanwhile, between 6 and 16 officers were patrolling the halls of Owatonna High School this week after a fight broke out between white and Somali students. Tension had been building for a couple of weeks, “stemming from a student’s inflammatory paper alleging Somali privilege that was posted on a school blog.”

And in St. Paul, the final candidate for Saint Paul Public Schools superintendent was met with a protest of about 30 high school students yesterday, claiming that North Branch superintendent Deborah Henton “was not supportive of minorities.”

A well-written account from the University of Minnesota newspaper of a bus ride in the Twin Cities. The reporter definitely didn’t seek out any normal people, so take it with a grain of salt.

MinnPost writer Michael Bonafield sat down with Strib columnist Katherine Kersten for a two-hour interview, and here’s the first of a two-part Q&A piece, in which Kersten discusses “same-sex marriage, liberal rage, and life at the Star Tribune.”

Her argument against same-sex marriage, as we saw early last week, lies strictly on the grounds that marriage is for procreation and, ultimately, for the perpetuation of society and civilization.

The truth is, historically marriage as an institution was more about money and power. It was an economic arrangement. Women were commodities, sold in marriage to the highest bidder in order to secure wealth and strengthen family bonds.

In Ancient Greece a woman whose father died without male heirs was often forced to marry her nearest male relative. So much for Kersten’s theory that same-sex marriage will lead to incestuous marriage as well. Already been done.

Anyhow, if Kersten really believes that marriage should be based strictly on procreation, then she’s probably in favor of annulment based on lack of conception, and she’s likely a huge fan of Henry VIII.

Or maybe she’s just fanning the fires to secure her position as “lightening rod of liberal rage” — a position she claims to enjoy immensely.

A good article with a common sense approach to the h1n1 flu season.

The Facts About Swine Flu

… and cut jobs.

[via Strib:] Facing a crippling loss of state health care funds, Hennepin County Medical Center plans to stop seeing uninsured, nonemergency patients [emphasis mine] from other counties, cut 150 to 200 jobs and close two clinics on its downtown campus …

… Hospital officials said that the shutdown next spring of a state program for the indigent, General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), could cut reimbursements to HCMC by as much as $40 million next year and another $50 million in 2011.

Way to go, T-Paw. I hope this is remembered between now and 2012.

As expected, a core of Lutheran leaders out there aren’t very happy about the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s August decision to allow gay pastors to serve as clergy.

Lutheran CORE, a subgroup of the ELCA that has opposed letting gay pastors serve, held a news conference in New Brighton to voice their opposition and try to lure more ELCA congregations into a new church body. The reason, they say, “it contradicts Scripture.”  (Not according to Jerry Maniker.)

Last week, the Rev. Bill Bohline, leader of one of Minnesota’s largest Lutheran congregations, announced his Lakeville church plans to leave the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America due to their gay clergy policy.

A week early, The Rev. Nate Bjorge quit his position with the First Lutheran Church in Little Falls after the church voted to remain a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

And about a month earlier, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church voted (a 96-percent vote) to leave the denomination.

Of course, let’s not forget those that speak out in favor of gay clergy and marriage equality.

In 1999 the century-old Shubert Theater was miraculously moved a-block-and-a-half down Hennepin Avenue, where it has since sat, neglected, as some kind of strange monument to Minnesota dance. Now, 10 years later, Artspace is finally set to break ground tomorrow on the new Minnesota Shubert Center, transforming the historic building into a flagship center for dance.

Meanwhile, Twin Cities entrepreneur Greg Frankenfield announced that he is walking away from his purchase agreement to buy the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. According to the Strib, “Frankenfield’s inability to close a deal with the musician’s union at Chanhassen precipitated his withdrawal.”

According to MPR, “The Minnesota Department of Education on Wednesday said it will fine a charter school $139,800 for employing teachers who didn’t hold valid teaching licenses.”

Sure the school has teachers without valid licenses. And sure, they’ve been given plenty of time to correct this. But, what the story fails to stress — leaving it for the last two paragraphs — is that the school, which caters to Muslim students, is actually being targeted for allegedly promoting the Muslim religion, which is unlawful as long as they receive state funding.

My question: why not address the real issues here? Why the sideways attack?

In January of last year, the ACLU sued the school for promoting Islamic culture. In January the school counter-sued. And in August the school threatened to sue the Minnesota Department of Education for defamation. This might sound extreme, but in a year-and-a half the department had already conducted 19 inquiries in the school. Excessive?

And come now, let’s face the facts: the Buffalo teacher who sent sexually explicit notes to a student probably has a license; the high school teacher who pleaded guilty to a plot against her stepmother probably had a license; and the Sleepy Eye Public High School teacher who was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old student probably had her license, too. As a former teacher without a license (and a good one at that), I have to wonder how important these darn licenses are to begin with.