tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-230363632024-03-13T23:05:06.516-06:00robbinsdale radicalProgressive musings from that most ironic of places, Rapid City, South Dakota.cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.comBlogger713125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-69377324384151040342022-03-06T12:16:00.003-07:002022-03-06T12:24:21.501-07:00Why Leave South Dakota #9South Dakota not among states taking action against RussiaTwo prominent Republican governors, Florida’s Ron DeSantis and South Dakota’s Kristi Noem, who are widely seen as angling for a White House bid, mostly took aim at President Joe Biden rather than issuing executive orders targeting Russia. They criticized his energy policies and said that had made it difficult to slap sanctions on Russia's cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-16593702177592762702022-02-21T17:31:00.005-07:002022-02-21T19:54:21.489-07:00Why leave South Dakota #8Wouldn't it be nice to have a state government that isn't so incompetent that they spend a huge amount of money for an absolutely pathetic digital assistant for the state's web page. Think of the actual web content $1.6 M could have bought to get what we need from the state. Digital assistants are a 1990s idea that has never worked - remember Clippy?Don’t Shoot Fez, the 1.6-Million-Dollar Robot cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-26848471511463158142022-02-18T23:34:00.006-07:002022-02-18T23:34:51.304-07:00Why leave South Dakota #7It's not so much Noem herself, amhorrent as she is, but the strong support she enjoys in our state. So much hate in this state.
Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), who just signed the first anti-trans bill of 2022 into law, is asked why she thinks 90% of LGBTQ+ youth in South Dakota are diagnosed with anxiety or depression:“I don’t know. That makes me sad, and we should figure it out.” pic.twitter.com/cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-66888993194385667562022-02-16T19:39:00.004-07:002022-02-18T23:45:25.575-07:00Why leave South Dakota? #6On Monday, the Governor again displayed her LGBTQ+ hate, on Equality Day in Pierre. My dear spouse and I were involved in the formation of Equality South Dakota after the same-sex marriage ban constitutional amendment (barely) passed in 2006. After years of activism and hard work, there is a lot more support in the community (now even Pierre, Watertown has an active equality support group cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-74513427283983496252022-02-15T21:54:00.002-07:002022-02-15T21:54:37.053-07:00Why leave South Dakota? #5Florence Thompson (and her friends in the Legislature). Another stupid piece of legislation that has no meaning outside of the right-wing echo chamber. Again, let's threaten teachers and continue to pay them 50th in the Nation, giving them reason to leave South Dakota.cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-5627231774024538722022-02-09T13:18:00.002-07:002022-02-09T13:18:26.570-07:00Why leave South Dakota? #4 On the docket today in House Education today. It's looking like both these outrageously stupid bills are headed to the floor on party line votes (13 R, 2 D):From today's testimony:Apparently our new Rapid City neighbor Carolyn has come here so she can get personal veto power over school library books she doesn't like. Or convince the Legislature to outlaw them!People like cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-89938577240183026042022-02-08T21:45:00.016-07:002022-02-09T08:04:48.305-07:00Why leave South Dakota? #3CNN article (Omicron may be on the decline, but this South Dakota hospital is still feeling its peak) - the pandemic of the unvaccinated is in full speed ahead here. Two reasons: 1) lower vax rate and 2) no COVID safety policies, anywhere (to be fair, there are recommendations, but they are largely ignored).I looked up a county in western Washington State for comparison and these were the cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-44585717132829059882022-02-05T12:25:00.001-07:002022-02-05T12:25:05.855-07:00Why leave South Dakota? #2In 2020, the South Dakota Legislature killed my right to be represented by SDEA (COHE). This means low pay, and no representation when pay, benefits, and policies are set. Also, if something goes bad, each University has appointed an "ombudsman" to represent us, so the state will represent me against the state. That would go my way for sure!And now, they are going after the K-12 SDEA with HB1216,cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-44025394021050153112021-12-30T19:47:00.005-07:002022-02-05T13:23:32.139-07:00Why Leave South Dakota? #1I live an an urban Rapid City district but starting Nov 2022 I will most likely be represented by the Family Heritage Alliance favorite Phil Jensen in the new District 33.Over the years I have (sometimes successfully) lobbied my reps on various issues, but I can be certain my engagement with my new state reps will be about as useful as my recent one-way discussions with my school board cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-32739138127156646012021-11-12T20:49:00.006-07:002021-11-12T20:52:42.714-07:00Another letter to my school board member, Deb BakerSubject: Anti-health resolutionDear Ms. Baker,I strongly urge you to vote down the resolution reported on by the RCJ today that is proposed to disallow any COVID testing or vaccination on school grounds. It's bad for our community's health, bad for our teachers, bad for our community in general as it promotes false information, scaring people away from a life saving vaccine, in apparently anothercphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-41163679840262247272021-11-01T16:00:00.008-06:002021-11-12T20:58:00.486-07:00Letter to my school board member, Deb BakerSubject: Grandview closingDear Ms. Baker,The need to close Grandview is directly related to the RCAS Board's refusal to implement basic safety measures in our schools. Yes, children are generally safer from negative effects from this infection, but our school teachers, admins and staff, and the student's families have been put at great risk. Many of those parents are now in quarantine and cannot cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-85186637190834562672021-09-05T20:00:00.009-06:002021-11-12T20:57:17.799-07:00A letter to my school board membersSubject: Dear Ms Baker and other RCAS board members,I am disheartened to read the proposed changes to RCAS board by-laws to remove first and second requirements for RCAS board action. These changes would eliminate public comment and discussion with the board before substantive board action is taken.This change would reduce transparency and accountability of our school board -- the opposite of cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-71273824098650825102021-09-03T20:00:00.001-06:002021-11-12T20:54:44.963-07:00Letter to my school board member, Deb BakerDear Ms Baker and other RCAS board members,Cases are rising, many of our staff are out sick and covid-isolated in numbers that never happened in the worst of last winter. We need mask mandates and we need them now. This is not a political issue, it's about our kids' ability to be educated and for their families to stay healthy and safe this year.The time for politics on this is over, medical cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-66504656723498550722020-08-15T11:33:00.002-06:002020-08-15T11:33:50.533-06:00Yes it is hard. But, you are not the only one noticing.A dear friend who I so miss, used to have a bumper sticker on her wheelchair:If you aren't outraged you are not paying attention.Someone on facebook in a private group I belong to just posted today:Terrified they will steal the election. Outraged at the complicity of our MOC’s. Enraged at the idiocy of our governor. Feels like I am drowning. I just want to breathe again.Yes these are hard times. cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-61332949503287220392019-04-13T20:56:00.000-06:002019-04-13T20:57:31.397-06:00In God We Trust, Not So Much the South Dakota Legislature
I am just furious with our provincial, back-woods prairie Legislature forcing "In God We Trust" to be posted in our our schools, for no purpose except to make smug "christians" feel good about their "serving" in Pierre.
One of the proponents of this nonsense said on Facebook today (it's so stupid I chose not to insert his name here, too embarrassing to his wife):
As a country that was cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-7527270895598902922018-09-23T21:30:00.001-06:002018-09-23T21:38:41.207-06:00Voter Guide Fall 2018
Robbinsdale Radical Voter Guide Fall 2018
Hi everyone, time to push the needle away from disaster. The ballots are posted, early voting has started and we're off the races. So let's start.
Register to Vote
Don't assume anything here, who knows what's been happening to our registration records. Here are the links that you should check right now:
Register To Vote (details) (form)
Check cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-71191076574415262642016-05-03T18:38:00.002-06:002016-05-03T18:38:31.473-06:00We have a race for District 32 House!
Here we are! Be sure you register to vote by May 15!
cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-22652163443041105532014-12-04T17:52:00.003-07:002014-12-04T17:54:40.080-07:00How big is that Alex Johnson Starbucks sign anyway?Okay, first, here is the artist rendition the Historical Society approved (thanks RCJ):
I took a picture today and cropped the above picture for easy comparison:
Scaling these pictures above:
AJ sign on left : ~65 pixels
AJ sign on right: ~70 pixels
Starbucks sign as advertised to commission: ~18 pixels
As build after approval: ~37 pixels
Width difference = 70/65 * 18 /cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-69739475585689895142014-10-10T00:18:00.004-06:002014-10-10T08:36:44.727-06:00Which way on Initiated Measure 17?
I've been pondering Initiated Measure 17, (see Ballotpedia.org summary) which we have to vote on in a few weeks.
The law asks the question whether we want to continue to allow insurance companies to charge more for "out-of-network" care than "in-network" care. I finally found an article that helped me think about it. This article talks about how it is done in New York. In that state, like cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-82244883055342781122013-10-04T08:37:00.000-06:002013-10-04T12:03:31.032-06:00Government Shutdown Day ThreeToday begins the third (full) day of lockout for me; with a nasty blizzard to match my mood.
I am one of the more than 8,500 proud Federal public servants who live and work
in our fine state.
My office in Rapid City, which hosts some 35 Federal scientists and support
staff that study and protect natural resources across the State is shuttered.
I am not allowed to visit my desk, or even power cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-51991075585690419902013-05-02T23:04:00.001-06:002013-05-02T23:04:26.279-06:00Help recall Bill Clayton - Saturday @ BHBagelsDo you remember Bill Clayton? He's the Rapid City Councilman who is an embarrassment to himself, his city Ward, our fair City, and frankly the whole State.
Many citizens of Rapid City agree, and, my friends, here's a chance to do something about it:
Sign Petition to Recall Clayton at Black Hills Bagels on Saturday
Gary Brown will be at Black Hills Bagel at 913 Mount Rushmore Rd cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-85374768860174593402013-02-11T19:42:00.003-07:002013-02-11T19:59:43.485-07:00Pierre provides another "not The Onion, really" moment
As Dave Barry famously puts it, "I'm not making this up":
(Mitchell Republic, Feb 9: Medicaid expert: 'Never been a decision thrust upon the states more consequential'
[Medicaid consultant] Vernon Smith [told the Legislature (did we pay for this?) that]the decision ultimately is “political” whether to accept the federal government’s offer for expansion of Medicaid to cover adults up to 138 cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-15675192547420046632013-01-29T18:46:00.002-07:002013-01-29T18:49:53.621-07:00Gov Daugaard: Take the money!There's a very active petition going on at signon.org to send a clear message to Governor Daugaard:
Governor Daugaard: Accept Federal Medicaid FundsOver 13% of South Dakota residents don't have health insurance, including many children.
By rejecting Medicaid expansion funds from the federal government, you are hurting over 40,000 South Dakotans who would benefit from it.
Please reverse course cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-7352269272747018812013-01-18T19:53:00.001-07:002013-01-21T14:31:09.603-07:00In which I ask Sen. Adelstein: why no sex?To: Senator Stan Adelstein
Subject: SB 109
Senator,
I am in favor of amending the Human Relations Act.
However I do not understand why you did not use the legally standard terms "sexual orientation" and "sexual preference", instead of the vague terms "gender" and "gender preference". I believe these terms weaken the law and in my opinion would make it difficult to align South Dakota law with cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23036363.post-3187383059817364522013-01-04T05:58:00.001-07:002013-01-04T05:59:04.867-07:00The real problem with Rep. Gosch signing his own petitionsWell, it seems that Brian Gosch has successfully avoided any consequences (besides loss of credibility for himself and the State House he presides over).
Madville Times has a good summary.
The key thing to learn from this in my opinion was well stated by a commenter on that Madville Times post, and it applies to SOS Gant and Rep Gosch, and anyone else who holds a notary stamp:
...even without cphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13163860831438587167noreply@blogger.com0