Author Archives: James J Heaney

What I Got Wrong About Lockdowns

by James J Heaney Posted on 4 March 2021

The Uptown Theater in Minneapolis on March 28th. Photo by Lorie Shaull under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license. Last March, I strongly advocated strict stay-at-home orders (aka “lockdowns”) throughout most of the United States. When they said “two weeks to … Continue reading →

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The Evil That Runs Through Everything

by James J Heaney Posted on 22 January 2021

Some months ago, a friendly acquaintance saw a casual remark I made on a politics forum about how Democrats will never win in states like West Virginia because they are anti-unborn. My acquaintance objected: “Democrats aren’t anti-unborn. We just believe … Continue reading →

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Special Comment on the Cruz Electoral College Objection

by James J Heaney Posted on 2 January 2021

The joint session to count the electoral votes, 1925 I haven’t blogged for a while–it was Christmas, I have a life, and my mea culpa post on lockdowns can wait a few more weeks–but I posted on Facebook about Sen. … Continue reading →

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Some of Minnesota’s ICU Beds are a Mirage (and that’s Very Very Bad)

by James J Heaney Posted on 15 November 2020

If you look at the Minnesota Department of Health’s hospital capacity stats today, they don’t look that bad. There’s an even more soothing version of this data circulating on certain Minnesota-centric Facebook groups: Ordinary ICU bed usage (in non-covid times) … Continue reading →

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Covid Weather Report for Minnesota, Guy Fawkes Day

by James J Heaney Posted on 5 November 2020

OVERALL: Minnesota is in the midst of a very dangerous outbreak of covid-19, the likes of which we have not seen before. The situation is much worse today than it was at any time during the lockdown. DETAIL: I put … Continue reading →

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Three Ways to Watch the Election Returns: 2020 Pandemic Edition

by James J Heaney Posted on 3 November 2020

The day of the Brexit vote, the very first constituency to report results, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, reported a defeat for Brexit, 51%-49%. The defeat for Brexit there was expected. However, the margin was wrong: experts had expected Brexit to fail in Newcastle by 12 points, not … Continue reading →

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West Saint Paul City Council: The Wakota Incident

by James J Heaney Posted on 30 October 2020

Guiding Star Wakota (formerly known as the Wakota Life-Care Center) is a charity which provides ultrasounds, childbirth and breastfeeding classes, pregnancy tests, material assistance (diapers, clothes, pack-n-plays, etc.), referrals, and other services to pregnant mothers in need of help. Wakota … Continue reading →

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Minnesota Presidential Electors, 2020

by James J Heaney Posted on 28 October 2020

Let’s start with the payload: here are Minnesota’s major-party electors. I’ve looked up and linked to public information about each elector if I could find any. In any event, when you’re deciding whom to cast your vote for on election night, … Continue reading →

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