The Twin Cities exurbs seem to have become a favorite stalking ground of print journalists. This Times recently paid a visit to the residents of Chisago County to examine their attitudes on government assistance; the same assistance upon which many of them rely to keep themselves afloat. What the reporters uncovered is a mix of semi-articulated resentment and compassion that elected officials will have to confront when we finally have a serious discussion about public spending and entitlements. Many of the people expressed frustration that they need assistance and that such assistance is readily available, but they also conceded that life would be much more difficult if those benefits were taken away.

It’s easy to label such attitudes as childish, but decades of poor leadership on the part of both Republicans and Democrats made this collective schizophrenia possible. Both parties were eager to expand benefits when it suited their political agendas, but nobody was willing to lead an adult conversation about the financing. And now that a reckoning looms, people are bewildered and angry. I don’t think we’re on the verge of Greek-style riots–not yet–but everyday people like those in Chisago County need to have their faith in the political process restored if there’s to be any hope of reaching a consensus on tough solutions that will be needed. And I don’t think Ron Paul libertarian utopianism or Tea Party nihilism can restore that faith.

I’ve been thinking that it might be fun/interesting to teach myself some basic coding skills. Nothing fancy–I don’t plan on making my fortune by designing the next Instapaper. But it might be handy to know some Javascript or another language in case this lawyer gig doesn’t work out. Codecademy looks like a good resource, but I’d appreciate suggestions on other tutorials. Acquiring some basic programming skills might also resolve some lingering math-related insecurities that date back to a miserable experience with high school trigonometry.

I’d like to thank the Republican voters of Minnesota (as well as Colorado and Missouri) for handing a victory to Santorum, ensuring that this circus of a nomination process will go on for at least another month. Your steadfast refusal to anoint Mittbot-9000 as your party’s standard bearer is both amusing and more than a little touching considering that Mittbot-9000 is still the overwhelming favorite. I’m also loving your renewed focus on gay marriage and contraception. I thought the culture wars had become passé, but here you are all suited up for battle like it’s 2004. Adorable! In a world full of uncertainty, it’s comforting to know that conservative outrage is still predictable.

Rolling Stone reports on a recent spate of suicides involving teenagers in the Anoka-Hennepin school district, a suburb north of the Twin Cities. Many of the teens were constantly bullied for being gay or perceived as gay. The article also looks at the woefully inadequate response from the school district and the culture of silence it created with its absurd “neutrality” policy on controversial topics, effectively muzzling teachers and school staff from saying anything about homosexuality. The policy was designed to appease local evangelical activists who see themselves as the vanguard against nefarious conspiracies to promote the “gay agenda”, but instead it has left kids feeling vulnerable and isolated as they endure daily torment from their less enlightened peers.

The Anoka area has long been a hotbed of Christian conservatism (it’s the home district of Michele Bachmann), so stories like this aren’t exactly a shock to us locals. Still, it’s disheartening to read about school officials exhibiting the kind of immaturity and herd behavior that one would normally expect from their charges. Perhaps the discrimination lawsuit recently filed against the school district will prompt school officials to begin acting like compassionate adults.

Plenty of nerds are up in arms over the fact that DC Comics is planning a series of prequels to Watchmen, the seminal comic that ushered the medium out of drugstore racks and into crit lit seminars. The move doesn’t particularly bother me. It may not be necessary, but I’m curious to see what the series does with the characters, particularly the omnipotent Dr. Manhattan. Then again, I liked the film adaptation of Watchmen (which a lot of geeks treated with contempt), so perhaps I’m in the minority on this as well. Alan Moore pulled himself away from his dog-eared copy of the Necronomicon to express his displeasure at DC for expanding upon his creation, but it’s a safe bet that DC doesn’t care what Moore thinks.

And while I’ll probably give the series a try, I’m not sure I want to know why the Comedian is wearing a bondage mask as shown below.