Where’s Northfield’s brain these days (2 Mar 2008)

You might remember that last time we visited we heard that the city council was on the attack with the mayor in full retreat while several million of the city’s money went missing and the planning commission did everything but. But wait! Why worry about all of that when we can also focus on … skate parks, where to put ‘em and why. Come to the Contented Cow for Politics and a Pint and tell the city where they should put those pesky skateboarders. Once the important stuff is done maybe we’ll talk about those missing millions and the personalities that make Northfield politics more entertaining than the Jerry Springer show. So, how is the political climate in Northfield … next at Politics and a Pint

We had a vigorous discussion focusing on the city’s many problems, from tyrannical staff to questionable tactics of one of the council members (Jon Denison) and the inability or unwillingness of the council to hold him accountable for his changing addresses and the impact of those shifting sands on his ability to represent the 4th Ward. The mayor’s problems were scarcely mentioned as the focus sat squarely on the council and the staff.

Legal details (in appropriately tiny font):

What: Politics and a Pint
Where: The Contented Cow
When: 6-8PM, 2 Mar 2008

Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed (24 Feb ‘08)

Although we at Politics and a Pint normally like to alternate between large global issues and local doings, we are shifting the schedule slightly so that we can listen to a presentation on “Collapse:How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed“, (Jared Diamond), a discussion of the end of the industrial age, as led by Alan Anderson. After the formal presentation we’ll chat about the concepts and ideas, then we’ll probably drift into some local issues as well. After all, Northfield seems to be engaged in its own form of “Collapse”.

Unintended consequences (17 Feb 2008)

The road to hell is paved with the good intentions of many a politician. With the best of intentions, Vermont passed a law banning billboards. What did they get instead? Giant “sculptures” that are probably at least as obnoxious. These monstrosities are examples of what happens when we try to write codes that our standing armies of lawyers cannot get around. Like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, they will find a way. There are many such examples of an unintended consequences … our next topic at Politics and a Pint.

Read more for other planned topics …

Philosophical Potpourri (10 Feb 2008)

Well, things got a bit off topic in a fun sort of way. We ended up spending a great deal of time on the merits of the skate park (and surprisingly concluded that it is overrated), then drifted out to visit with Representative David Bly (25B). David presented and listened to many comments on single payer health plans, and we can see that a full evening might be in order as this idea percolates through the legislature. It was good to see him there, considering that he was about to report to the capital city to make his mark on the state. We missed having a couple of our favorite participants, but had some new visitors who kept the dialog bubbling.

Pick your poison (candidate) (3 Feb 2008)

Well, the party caucuses are this coming Tuesday (5th Feb) and we ought to firm up our thoughts on the question of whom to support at those caucuses. We will be visiting the MPR Select a Candidate website, answering the questions from the viewpoint of the Republicans and the Democrats (played by volunteers in the audience, with the vocal support of their supporting caucuses). We may even play a neutral party picking the single best consensus answer (how willing to work together is Northfield?).Homework: go to the web site and run through the questions on your own so you can put together your arguments to sway the caucuses.

Adam Smith’s Invisible Fist (27 Jan 2008)

This week at Politics and a Pint I hope to draw some simple graphs that will show the relationship between Adam Smith’s invisible fist (he called it a “hand”, but he was a proto-victorian wimp) and the two big social constructs - capitalism and socialism. Then we’ll have a bit of fun before we digress into Kiffi’s talk on “the letter”.  Think of Adam Smith as a sort of pre-show bit of audience warming diversion, some mathematical fluff for an appetizer.