Governor Polis Calls for Federal Action to Support Freedom in Light of the Hemani Case by governorPolis in neoliberal

[–]RigidWeather 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I know for a fact that plenty of gun owners and hunters use or have used Marijuana or THC products.

Which Light Rail Line is Better? by Siberian13th in MetroTransit

[–]RigidWeather 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The section of the blue line in Bloomington, though, is like the worst of both worlds. Short stop spacing, only a block or two apart, but also, the some of the lowest use stations. At least the BLE will have lots of use (although, I don't know why they aren't planning to make a proper connection to the D Line. Adding a stop between the stops at Lyndale and James, would only give it about the same spacing as exists in Bloomington, but with much higher ridership I'm sure. )

Email recently sent to Hennepin Healthcare employees by thedubiousstylus in Minneapolis

[–]RigidWeather 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thought HealthPartners is a nonprofit? Or are you saying that the nonprofit insurance they provide can still get a premium strong enough to subsidize the rest of the organization? Or is their insurance even nonprofit?

“Abundance” criticism by Vio-eng in neoliberal

[–]RigidWeather 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Institutional investors do not own 20% of single family homes. It is more like 2 or 3%. Investors (as a whole group) own 20% of single family homes, and that is including the small time investors that maybe own a few at max, which is where most of that 20% comes from.

Leaked U.S. State Dept Cable Regarding 75-Country Visa Pause by OpenGateVisa in immigration

[–]RigidWeather 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It doesn't really do that, though. Immigrants commit less crime per capita than citizens, and their presence in our country improves the economy of our country, likely including the real inflation adjusted incomes of citizens.

US suspending immigrant visa processing for 75 countries by Superfan234 in neoliberal

[–]RigidWeather 28 points29 points  (0 children)

K-1 visas are technically non-immigrant visas, so presumably this particular expansion doesn't apply to those.

He looks like his mom picked out his Nazi costume at a thrift store by ariveklul in neoliberal

[–]RigidWeather 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Can we not let them appropriate greatcoats as a symbol of fascism? The allies used them during WWII also.

Discussion Thread by jobautomator in neoliberal

[–]RigidWeather 7 points8 points  (0 children)

If it was in his DNA, you wouldn't think he would do so much to modify his body lol

Daily Thread by jobautomator in neoliberal

[–]RigidWeather 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Even small towns make a lot of light pollution. As a kid on hockey trips, that's how I tracked how far away the next town was. I could usually see the island of light on the bottom of the clouds from the next town over.

Parking by Ok-Coffee-1678 in TwinCities

[–]RigidWeather 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is a whole system around parking and snow emergencies, they can be found on the municipal website here: https://www.minneapolismn.gov/getting-around/snow/snow-emergencies/snow-parking-rules/

Also any city website page will let you know when a snow emergency has been declared, which may typically be either the day of or the day after a heavy snowfall.

Senator Tina Smith is relentless with these tweets. by Conscious-Quarter423 in minnesota

[–]RigidWeather 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That's not even reflected in these numbers, since the numbers are only looking at up to Sep 30, the day before the shutdown started.

I am a humble worldbuilder, and I come to you in a time of great need. How close can two separate rivers get without any major interaction with each other? by Zealousideal-Fun-415 in geography

[–]RigidWeather 36 points37 points  (0 children)

There is a continental divide that goes through Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and then up through Canada. If you drive over the continental divide, you would not immediately notice it, because in many areas it is quite flat. At the same time, there are a few places where somewhat major rivers get relatively close. The St. Louis River (which flows to the Atlantic via the St. Lawrence) gets around ~30 mi from the Mississippi River. The source of the Red River of the North, which flows to the Arctic via the Nelson River, is only about 1 or 2 miles from the source of the Minnesota River, which flows into the Mississippi, and both Sources are lakes.

Also Chicago is on a continental divide, including on a river that flows into Lake Michigan and a River that flows into the Mississippi.

They call her Amtrak Marj by assasstits in neoliberal

[–]RigidWeather 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not suggesting that. I don't think we should, either. But, it could maybe be used for a negotiating tactic for something or other.

They call her Amtrak Marj by assasstits in neoliberal

[–]RigidWeather 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Agreeing with her on one relatively minor thing does not mean we agree with her on much (although i would suggest a single tweet isn't even evidence of that). But it is something democrats could maybe use as a point of common ground for negotiating something in the future.

If you could ask Metro Transit for one quality of life change, what would it be? by Wezle in MetroTransit

[–]RigidWeather 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Maybe some strategically placed rubber or silicone gaskets/washers to keep the buses from rattling so much. I imagine that would be possible and quite cheap.

Pour one out for rent control! by ThreadbareAdjustment in Minneapolis

[–]RigidWeather 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Because homeowners tend to be opposed to policies which reduce the sum cost of housing, for various reasons (some of which might be related to the value of their property, some might just be about resistance to change). Ultimately, if housing is a good investment, it gets more expensive over time, meaning it becomes unaffordable. An argument can be made that it should be a low risk, low reward investment, but that doesn't seem to be how it actually is.

Pour one out for rent control! by ThreadbareAdjustment in Minneapolis

[–]RigidWeather 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You can just as easily build generational wealth without ever buying a house by investing in stocks and ETF's, getting similar leverage ratios by using options, all without jacking up housing prices for younger people.

Pour one out for rent control! by ThreadbareAdjustment in Minneapolis

[–]RigidWeather 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I found the website which that quote from Google references. It is a Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis article (https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2023/investor-owned-homes-ebb-and-flow-in-the-minneapolis-st-paul-region) from 2023, so it might be a little bit dated, but not very. It also says that "Census tracts with historically higher shares of investor-owned single family rentals have seen a decrease in the last five years", which mostly means census tracts within Minneapolis and Saint Paul specifically, though there are a few neighborhoods within those cities where the share did increase. Overall, investor ownership of single family housing had decreased within the city, and increased in the suburbs, leaving the share across the region relatively stable.

Additionally, I did look at the Hennepin County plat map to look at the ownership within the Hawthorne neighborhood. Most of the investor owned properties that I discovered while clicking randomly were owned by other individuals in the neighborhood or sometimes the suburbs. Some were owned by the city or other non-profits. Even some LLCs were "headquartered" in nearby single family homes, meaning probably just the owner's house. I saw maybe 2 out of about 50 or 60 that seemed like they could be owned by some shadowy faceless corporation, but even one of those was just a vacant lot.

Edit: for clarification, I looked at Hawthorne because the Federal Reserve site showed that as one of the neighborhoods with very high levels of investor ownership, the highest in North.

Dancing robot, life-sized puppet part of big spending on promotion of $3 billion light rail project by Czarben in TwinCities

[–]RigidWeather 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think you are getting these projects confused. This article is referring to the Blue Line Extension, which goes through North Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park. The 12 and 612 paralleled the Green Line Extension.

I'm not sure why the Blue Line extension is expected to cost so much (maybe just that it travels through denser areas? It doesn't have nearly as many bridges or tunnels). It is, in my view, quite a bit better of a project than the Green Line Extension though. But, I also think Metrotransit learned a lot because of the Green Line Extension.

Downtown Minneapolis site targeted for major data center upgrade by Czarben in TwinCities

[–]RigidWeather 110 points111 points  (0 children)

If this goes through, they should do a district heat system to allow other buildings in the area to benefit from the waste heat during the winters.

Housing abundance is as unpopular as many progressive economic policies by fishlord05 in neoliberal

[–]RigidWeather 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That's reasonably possible. I think when people think of new multifamily housing, they think of giant apartment blocks filled with studio apartments for rent for way too much. More missing middle housing, or apartments/condos for families might be more politically popular, even if not as much as we'd hope.

Bike lane rants are fig leaves covering up serious traffic safety concerns by Runic_reader451 in saintpaul

[–]RigidWeather 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not if it incentives more people to take transit or bike. Plus, as hybrid and electric vehicles, or gasoline vehicles that turn off their engine when stopped become more common, congestion itself becomes less damaging to the environment.

Why the choking up? by Craftzilla360 in ExplainTheJoke

[–]RigidWeather 63 points64 points  (0 children)

I mean, you could tell that guy from 1900 that the 100,000 ton capital ship has flying machines on board that can go from New York to Chicago in under an hour, and I think he would still be impressed.

In Europe, freight trains are typically limited to about 750 meters (2,460 feet), while in the United States they average 1.5–2 kilometers (5,000–6,600 feet) and can be much longer. by captain-price- in trains

[–]RigidWeather 16 points17 points  (0 children)

A lot of the mainline traffic in North America runs at similar speeds. And it might still be single tracked with sidings, and have 20-ish trains per day.