Jack’s daughter, Hug Nugget, figured out how to get out of her crib.
Jack no longer has a baby. He has a toddler. Next, she’s gonna want the car and date boys.
Stop growing up, Hug Nugget!
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EXCLUSIVE: Likely Franken opponent Mike McFadden has a U.S. Senate campaign logo
On May 3, Politico reported that wealthy executive Mike McFadden was “considering a statewide campaign” for U.S. Senate.
McFadden “will formally announce plans next week to run for the US Senate as a Republican challenger to Al Franken in November 2014,” according to the April 30 inquiry, which a source shared with POLITICO.
Today, Politico’s Alex Burns tweeted that the soon-to-be-announced campaign has a domain name: mikeforminnesota.com. All the site says now is “soon”.
Looking at the source code shows that the site will be built on WordPress. Typing in the default WordPress log-in address brings us to a log-in page with a fancy campaign logo in burnt orange and light blue.
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This the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen.
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Minnesota’s licensed child-care providers don’t just oppose forced child-care unionization, they absolutely, positively, no-doubt-about-it oppose it.
“We thought it would be beneficial to have a survey of licensed providers showing the reality of where they’re standing on this issue,” said Vicki Shofner, a MLFCCA representative. “This issue is very, very personal for these family providers on both sides. They feel very strongly about it.”
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Dayton: Don't blame me on e-pulltabs, I had good intentions
This week, we learned that revenue estimate for e-pulltabs, the thing that’ll fund the state’s portion of the new Vikings stadium, was not only grossly inaccurate, but driven by the gambling firms that would profit from the project. Then we learned that Governor Dayton was unaware of the source of the e-pulltabs estimate.
Now Mark Dayton is trying to weasel his way out of his embarrasment by saying that all sides “acted in good faith”.
Jim Ragsdale at the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Gov. Mark Dayton said all sides acted “in good faith” in depending on new e-pulltabs to fund a Vikings stadium and must accept responsibility for the fact the games have produced a fraction of the revenue that was predicted.
“We’re all in this together,” Dayton said Tuesday. “We’re all responsible for its creation.” He said it is far too soon to panic about whether the games will eventually cover the state’s share of the new stadium.
First, when it was just a proposal, it was “Governor Dayton’s People’s Stadium”. Now we’re all in the same shithole together, but it’s alright because we got here with good intentions.
It reminds me of a quote from the Simpsons:
Well, my family and I can’t live in good intentions, Marge! Oh, your family’s out of control, but we can’t blame you, because you have GOOD INTENTIONS!
— Ned Flanders to Marge Simpson
Hurricane Neddy, S08E08 (4F07)
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The creators of MnSure's $162k logo are a bunch of damn hippies
There was a lot of anger when taxpayers learned that the new Minnesota health insurance exchange, called MnSure, paid $162,425 for their new logo. Todd Nelson of the Minneapolis Star Tribune blows smoke up the ass of the PR firm behind the MnSure logo, Haberman, without ever bringing up how much they fleeced Minnesota taxpayers, much less their connection with the insurance exchange.
Minneapolis marketing firm Haberman is unabashedly “an agency with an agenda,” aiming to help clients pursue both business growth and positive social change, according to co-founder and CEO Fred Haberman.
[…]
Doing good has led Haberman to launch such side projects as Urban Organics, a partnership to redevelop the old Hamm’s brewery in St. Paul into an aquaponics operation that will produce fish and produce; the Dude Ranch, an employee garden that highlights the benefits of eating fresh, sustainably produced food; and the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, as a showcase of the agency’s abilities, a way to benefit youth hockey charities and local parks.
Did Haberman buy ad space for this article? How does Todd Nelson get away with not mentioning the health care exchange or their invoice of $162,425. This isn’t journalism.
Haberman markets themselves as “modern storytellers”.
I hate this flowery, hippie bullshit. I’m a graphic designer, so I’m used to being around people that justify their decisions with silly clap-trap. I’ve met far too many designers and marketers and journalists who got into their business to “change the world”.
I don’t want to change the world. I don’t want to highlight the benefits of eating aquaponic produce. I just want to study typefaces and use them better than anyone.
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Congressional ethics office interviewing former Bachmann staffers
The Daily Beast has learned that federal investigators are now interviewing former Bachmann campaign staffers nationwide about alleged intentional campaign-finance violations. The investigators are working on behalf of the Office of Congressional Ethics, which probes reported improprieties by House members and their staffs and then can refer cases to the House Ethics Committee.
[…]
“There are no allegations that the Congresswoman engaged in any wrongdoing,” [Bachmann’s campaign counsel William] McGinley said. “We are constructively engaged with the OCE and are confident that at the end of their Review the OCE Board will conclude that Congresswoman Bachmann did not do anything inappropriate.”
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This is how a Vikings writer is SUPPOSED to talk about Packers fans.
Michael Rand of the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
A TAXONOMY OF WHO MOST MALE PACKER FANS RESEMBLE BY AGE:
Ages 12 and under: Jerry O’Connell in Stand By Me
13–30: young Chris Farley
31–34: Chris Farley the rest of the time
35–55: one of the BoDeans.
56 and older: Ed Gein
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The Times of Saint Cloud and New York take shots at Michele Bachmann
On Thursday, the Saint Cloud Times complained that two events with Rep. Michele Bachmann left her constituents wondering:
Two events — a national speech Saturday and a St. Paul lobbying appearance Monday — not only reflect how there is no clear answer to that question, but highlight why district voters will remain frustrated if all they want is a hardworking, level-headed House member.
The Saturday speech was vintage Bachmann — heavy on political red meat and light on accuracy. Monday’s lobbying effort for expanding Interstate 94 from Rogers to St. Cloud was about bipartisan service to the western end of the district — a rare focus for her since elected.
On Friday, New York Times opinionist Upchuck N. Blow – er – Charles M. Blow blamed the GOP’s woes squarely on people like Bachmann:
People like Bachmann represent everything that is wrong with the Republican Party. She and her colleagues are hyperbolic, reactionary, ill-informed and ill-intentioned, and they have become synonymous with the Republican brand. We don’t need all politicians to be Mensa-worthy, but we do expect them to be cogent and competent.
Even thought the election results are often close, Minnesota’s sixth district seems to want their principled firebrand. But it would be nice for her to get her facts straight first.
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Minnesota's health insurance exchange is a governor's signature away from being law
The Associated Press by way of the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
The Senate voted 39 to 28 on Monday and sent the bill to Gov. Mark Dayton, who has vowed to sign it. It creates a new state office to oversee a website meant to let the uninsured and others shop for health coverage at competitive rates, a cornerstone of President Obama’s federal health care overhaul.
The House passed the bill Thursday. No Republican lawmakers voted for the bill in either chamber.
A $55 million/year website prepared by an unelected seven-member board with no budget oversight. The DFL majorities have made MnHIX so much worse than I could possibly imagine a new bureaucracy could be.
Politicians always complain about the extreme partisanship unless there are no roadblocks to passing their partisan legislation.
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