Dave Zaffrann
@dzaffrann.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.4K following 490 posts
Minneapolitan working in local government to solve problems, waiting for the great leap forwards. Also posts about baseball and soccer (YNWA). I bike and I know things.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
governorwalz.mn.gov
Can’t believe I have to say this, but in Minnesota you will continue to have the freedom to get your COVID and flu shots.
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
wedge.live
Mayor Frey is an enigma: A 2-term mayor with a message suggesting he's the zero tolerance on encampments candidate, yet he has presided over an endless string of encampment tragedies. The shootings, fires, the wackamole strategy, those are his results. The rhetoric doesn't match reality.
dzaffrann.bsky.social
In other words, the entire AI industry is built and predicated on a massive theft of intellectual property.
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
elliottpayne.org
Tonight a resident posted a picture of racist and Islamaphobic language written on Johnson street that called for @omarfatehmn.com to be deported and wished death upon the Somali community. @doronclark.bsky.social and I showed up right away to get this racist garbage off of our streets
Elliott and doron cleaning up the shared use path on johnson
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
britculpsapp.bsky.social
incredibly normal paywalled wapo story here while we live in some times
Opinion
Six surgeons general: It's our duty to warn the nation about RFK Jr.
We took an oath to declare dangers when we found them. We're doing that again today.
Today at 6:00 a.m. EDT |
62 6 min|
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during his Senate confirmation hearings in the District on Jan. 29. (Demetrius
Freeman/The Washington Post)
By Jerome Adams, Richard Carmona, Joycelyn Elders, Vivek Murthy, Antonia Novello and
David Satcher

The writers are all former U.S. surgeons general.

As former U.S. surgeons general appointed by every Republican and Democratic president since George H.W. Bush, we have collectively spent decades in service as the Nation's Doctor. We took two sacred oaths in our lifetimes: first, as physicians who swore to care for our patients and, second, as public servants who committed to protecting the health of all Americans.
Today, in keeping with those oaths, we are compelled to speak with one voice to say that the actions of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are endangering the health of the nation. Never before have we issued a joint public warning like this. But the profound, immediate and unprecedented threat that Kennedy's policies and positions pose to the nation's health cannot be ignored.
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
qasimrashid.com
3 MAGA extremists have re-intro'd a bill that allows South Carolina to execute women who receive an abortion. If you haven't heard about S 323, it's because corporate media has completely ignored it.

Here's the overview, the sponsors, & how to fight back:
www.qasimrashid.com/p/s-carolina...
S. Carolina RE-Intros Bill To Kill Women For Getting An Abortion
Here's what's in the bill, why it is so dangerous, and the meaningful steps you can take to fight back, support women's health, and help block this bill from becoming law
www.qasimrashid.com
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
adapalmer.bsky.social
I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
blindeke.bsky.social
This is an amazing, very in-depth explainer of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, the most inscrutable / powerful government in Minnesota. If you want to learn a ton about the politics of the MPRB, which has a $150M budget (!), check it out.
jk9.bsky.social
New episode out now! Big changes ahead for the composition of the Park Board, and real substantive policy ideas coming from the BET millcityhall.com/episodes/202...
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
Understand what they are doing: using the massive power of the state - including military power and the power to imprison - to carry out a campaign to eliminate their political opposition.

It's growing in seriousness by the hour.
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
apnews.com
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC, will run out of federal money within two weeks unless the government shutdown ends, experts say. The food aid program helps more than 6 million low-income mothers and young children.
Government shutdown threatens food aid program relied on by millions of families
Experts say a food aid program that helps 6 million low-income mothers and young children will run out of federal money unless the government shutdown ends within two weeks.
bit.ly
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
itsafronomics.bsky.social
A must read for ANYONE who wants to understand why Black women are experiencing a uniquely bad labor market and why the 300,000 number isn't telling the full story.

Dr. Valerie Wilson gets deep into the data around job losses and why paying attention to Black women matters. #blacksky
What’s behind rising unemployment for Black workers?
For the last five years, I’ve given the same answer in response to questions about any one-month increase in the Black unemployment rate. Given the relatively small sample size used to calculate the n...
www.epi.org
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
thebulwark.com
Pritzker: “The Trump administration is following a playbook: Cause chaos, create fear and confusion, make it seem that peaceful protesters are a mob by firing gas pellets and tear gas canisters at them. Why? To create the pretext for invoking the Insurrection Act.”
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
chibdm.bsky.social
Robin Williams' daughter has some quality thoughts on AI slop
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
volts.wtf
Reminder that @governor.ca.gov is reportedly considering vetoing SB79, the best housing bill to clear the CA legislature in decades.

It would be a *disaster*, substantively & for Newsom's political future. Really hope he doesn't self-immolate.

Tell him!
Contact the Governor | Governor of California
You can contact the Governor a few different ways. The best way is through his online form.
www.gov.ca.gov
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
blindeke.bsky.social
The Strib got a week's worth of text complaints to Metro Transit -- 74 in total -- & published the 3 worst ones. Is 74 a lot? 10 complaints per day for the 2 light rail lines, which see 40K daily riders, seems pretty good to me actually. (.025% complaint rate.) www.startribune.com/metro-transi...
What a week’s worth of rider text messages reveals about Metro Transit’s problems
Serious crime is down on Metro Transit, but riders continue to report “quality of life” crime that makes some feel unsafe on light rail.
www.startribune.com
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
klasfeldreports.com
This footnote to Illinois and Chicago's lawsuit against Trump is an important reminder:

* There is no Department of War or Secretary of War, which are make-believe names for the actual agencies created by Congress.

Doc storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
coachfinstock.bsky.social
This is insane.

Mark Sanchez picked a fight with a spent fry oil truck driver for no reason. Just drunkenly walked up to the driver and said you can't park this here and 'I talked to the manager of the hotel and he said you can't do it' and started a fist fight. I mean this is crazy shit.
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
taylordahlin.com
never forget linea palmisano was the only councilmember to vote against being against slave wages

bsky.app/profile/wedg...
wedge.live
You're all wondering who was the only Minneapolis council member to vote against being against slave wages. Sorry to report it was my friend Linea Palmisano. Bc I have a new policy where I don't discard friends over their objectionable views, I'm going to keep the dialogue open.
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
bbkogan.bsky.social
Literally just a few months ago Mike Johnson just spearheaded the largest Medicaid cuts in history, four times as large as the Reagan’s Medicaid cuts
atrupar.com
Mike Johnson: "Let me look right into the camera and tell you very clearly: Republicans are the ones concerned about healthcare. Republicans are the party working around the clock everyday to fix healthcare. This is not talking points for us: we've done it."
dzaffrann.bsky.social
Pro-slave-labor op-ed in the @startribune.com -- great work Steve Grove.
catconlan.net
The answer to a question in the headline is always ‘no,’ but Tolkkinen finds it hard to argue against cheap labor.
Headline from the "rural issues" columnist:

Tolkkinen: Minnesota’s Constitution allows $1-an-hour labor for inmates. Should it?
In two rural counties, that labor is being used to build affordable housing.
By Karen Tolkkinen
The Minnesota Star Tribune
Reposted by Dave Zaffrann
aaronsojourner.org
"...ambient temperature is among the largest external threats to human health, and is responsible for a remarkable 5-12% of total deaths across countries in our sample, or hundreds of thousands of deaths per year in both the U.S. and EU."
www.nber.org/papers/w34313
	Understanding and Addressing Temperature Impacts on Mortality
Marshall Burke, Andrew J. Wilson, Tumenkhusel Avirmed, Jonas Wallstein, Mariana C. M. Martins, Patrick Behrer, Christopher W. Callahan, Marissa Childs, June Choi, Karina French, Carlos F. Gould, Sam Heft-Neal, Renzhi Jing, Minghao Qiu, Lisa Rennels, Emma Krasovich Southworth #34313

Abstract:
A large literature documents how ambient temperature affects human mortality. Using decades of detailed data from 30 countries, we revisit and synthesize key findings from this literature. We confirm that ambient temperature is among the largest external threats to human health, and is responsible for a remarkable 5-12% of total deaths across countries in our sample, or hundreds of thousands of deaths per year in both the U.S. and EU. In all contexts we consider, cold kills more than heat, though the temperature of minimum risk rises with age, making younger individuals more vulnerable to heat and older individuals more vulnerable to cold. We find evidence for adaptation to the local climate, with hotter places experiencing somewhat lower risk at higher temperatures, but still more overall mortality from heat due to more frequent exposure. Within countries, higher income is not associated with uniformly lower vulnerability to ambient temperature, and the overall burden of mo! rtality from ambient temperature is not falling over time. Finally, we systematically summarize the limited set of studies that rigorously evaluate interventions that can reduce the impact of heat and cold on health. We find that many proposed and implemented policy interventions lack empirical support and do not target temperature exposures that generate the highest health burden, and that some of the most beneficial interventions for reducing the health impacts of cold or heat have little explicit to do with climate.