Photo “into every life some rain must fall” Uploaded on April 26, 2010 by JustACoolCat

Minnesotans have been talking, but I haven’t been listening. Spring has arrived early in the Land of 10,000 lakes and with an early spring comes early allergy symptoms. For me this has included a fever, chills, burning eyes, and plugged up ears to name a couple symptoms. Weeeeeeeeeeeee. Luckily rained all weekend temporarily knocking the pollen out of the air.

In a bit of sad news Gordy, 400-pound gorilla, dies suddenly at Como Zoo, we just saw Gordy a few weekends ago and he was in rare form guarding his territory and chucking clumps of dirt at the onlookers and other goriallas. It’s a shame to see him pass.

Over the last week there’s been much hoopla about how much we trust the government, apparently not very much is the answer.

MPR ran a show and liveblogged Live-blogging Midmorning: The people and their government

A new study by the Pew Center sparks a debate on the role of trust and mistrust in American political life. Less than a quarter of Americans polled say they trust their government. Some experts say people in this country rarely express confidence in Congress and the executive branch. Others note a disturbing trend of increased polarization in government and among voters.

I found this comment interesting and it makes me want to meet the author.

While a doctoral student (management and psychometrics) in the mid-1970’s, I had the opportunity to read many of the management, sociological and behavioural theorists from 1870 on. Much of what I read has come too-much true.

Max Weber: the longer an organization exists, the larger and more complicated it becomes. TRUE! Example: existence of several competing intelligence agencies.

Max Weber: over time, a “bifurcation of interest” develops between an organization and its clients. The organization considers itself more important than its clients, AND what’s good for the organization differs from what’s good for its clients. TRUE! Example: campaign contributors versus voters.

C. Northcote Parkinson: every year, it costs more to perform the same amount of work. TRUE! Example: how much the Federal budget grows (removing natural and financial disasters) every year while income doesn’t.

Lorimer and Lorsch: organizations must maintain the optimal balance of differentiation (territory of task and professional discipline) and integration (pull together as a team). Hyper-differentiation turned territory into fiefdom while hypo-integration never pulls everyone together to work toward a common goal (consistent with Weber). TRUE! Example: Republicans versus Democrats on any topic. Intelligence agencies AGAIN.

We need the wisdom of the past to inform our vision of the future.

Bill J
Posted by Bill Jolitz | April 22, 2010 10:53 AM

Speaking of government, our own Minnesota brings a little bit of the crazy Republicans push for Minnesota sovereignty

Senate Republicans introduced a constitutional amendment Wednesday that would make Minnesota the first state to require a two-thirds majority vote in the legislature to approve federal laws affecting the state. “Minnesotans enjoy inherent, natural, God-given rights,” the bill states, and “Citizens of Minnesota are sovereign individuals, subject to Minnesota law and immune from any federal laws that exceed the federal government’s enumerated constitutional powers.”

Read it. You’ll be shocked to discover that the comments quickly turned to racist undertones.

In a story that could easily have turned totally racist (has it been published somewhere else) Minnpost points us to a new ruling Duluth wins round in lawsuit over casino money

A federal judge has sided with the city of Duluth in a high-stakes legal battle over sharing revenue from slots machine in a downtown casino.

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa stopped sharing the money last year and was demanding that the city return $75 million it had shared over the past 25 years.

But the ruling by U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery says the band must resume sharing its slot-machine revenue with the city of Duluth and provide back payments to the city

Word on the Rez is that this unpopular lawsuit could cost RBC head Karen Diver in the next election.

Citypages has a fascinating report on the behind-the-scenes happenings of the Minneapolis Civilian Review Authority
Dave Bicking: How politics ousted the Civilian Review Authority’s loudest member

Let’s wrap it up with some music, Minnesota’s own Spaghetti Western String Co. Live at Orchestra Hall .

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NoT-OHlj44[/youtube]