Life Is Not Fair

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, the pursuit of Happiness and the right to purchase Hannah Montana tickets at a "fair" price*...

"Hannah Montana" Bill Passes State Senate:

Legislation that bans using software that allows ticket brokers to buy large amounts of concert tickets online and then re-sell them for inflated prices was given unanimous approval in the state Senate on April 10, according to the bill's author, Senator Ron Latz (DFL-St Louis Park).

"This bill has been dubbed the 'Hannah Montana' bill because the issue really came to light after thousands of young fans and their families in Minnesota couldn't purchase tickets to the young teen's concert because tickets had been bought up by professional ticket brokers and were being sold at inflated prices, sometimes 2 to 5 times the face value," Senator Latz said. "Professional ticket brokers used special computer software to cut to the front of the line and snatch up most of the tickets, beating out the average fans who simply wanted to enjoy the concert. That's not fair--that's cheating, and this bill will make that illegal."

Our State Senator at work. I don't know about the other good people of SD44, but I know that I'll sleep easier tonight knowing that this urgent public concern has finally been addressed by our brave public servants. We breathlessly await Latz's next effort to make life more "fair." Maybe it's time to to put some meat behind those "Ten Items or Less" express lane rules at retail establishments and use the full force and power of the government to ensure there's no cheating.

* As amended by Ron Latz

Down In The Valley

In the most recent civic newsletter, we learned that the city that we now call home has signed on to the climate change bandwagon:

This past winter, the City of Golden Valley signed the US Climate Protection Agreement. Participants in the agreement are encouraged to work toward meeting the 2005 Kyoto Protocol initiatives as well as educate the public about green practices.

Golden Valley is one of about 40 Minnesota cities to sign the Climate Protection Agreement so far. Under the Agreement, participating cities commit to take the following three actions:

* strive to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities, through actions ranging from anti-sprawl land use policies to urban forest restoration projects to public information campaigns

* urge their state governments, and the federal government, to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction target suggested for the United States in the Kyoto Protocol--7 percent reduction from 1990 levels by 2012

* urge the US Congress to pass the bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation, which would establish a national emission trading system

Golden Valley has already started to make changes, says Al Lundstrom, environmental coordinator. As building improvements are made, the City has installed energy efficient lighting when possible, improved insulation during roof replacement projects, installed energy efficient air conditioning units when replacement is necessary, retrofitted energy efficient bulbs in traffic signals, and installed an energy efficient tankless hot water system in the utility maintenance shop. The City also implemented an idling policy (see sidebar on the Police Department's idling policy).

"As we have opportunities to make capital improvements, we're looking to see where we can go greener," Lundstrom says.

I don't have problem with the City taking steps to conserve energy. In fact, I commend them for it, especially since it saves money. What troubles me however is the idea that my taxes would be used for public information campaigns on climate change. Or in any way be used as part of this effort to "urge" state and local governments to "meet or beat" Kyoto targets or even worse to "urge" the Congress to pass "bipartisan" greenhouse gas legislation. It hardly seems like an appropriate role for local government to be playing.

You can see the complete list of participating cities mayors here. The bright side is that when the temps do go up and those poor bastards in New Hope and Crystal are sweating it out, we'll be nice and cool down in the Valley.