Minnesota precinct caucuses tonight

Republicans in Minnesota have their chance to help select the GOP presidential nominee tonight at precinct caucuses across the state.  State GOP officials expect high turnout.

At tonight’s caucus, Minnesota GOP voters are choosing between Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.   Unlike a primary where voters walk in, vote, and then leave, a caucus is more like a meeting.  Speakers are encouraged to speak on the merits of favored candidates and voters discuss  public policy positions should be adopted as part of the party’s platform.   A straw poll is taken, but it is nonbinding and the results may not match the eventual way Minnesota’s delegates are eventually awarded at the Republican National Convention.

The caucuses are the first step in the process to awarding Minnesota’s 40 delegates.  Precinct delegates from the 4137 local meetings continue on to county conventions where a similar process takes place, thinning the ranks of delegates.  This is followed by another vote to winnow the delegates at the congressional district conventions, and finally to state and eventually national conventions.

Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Pat Shortridge is predicting a high turnout at tonight’s GOP precinct caucuses.  “Folks are pretty motivated,” Shortridge said. “For Minnesotans, this is really their first opportunity to cast their vote against the Obama agenda, and it’s their opportunity to cast a vote to start the process of making Barack Obama a one-term president.”

Democrats are also caucusing tonight to show their support for President Obama’s re-election campaign and to voice their opinion on  issues such as voter ID.

Minnesota’s precinct caucuses are Tuesday, February 7, at 7:00 p.m.

Minnesota Caucus Finder: http://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/

More information on Minnesota caucuses:  (From the Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State)

Q: Are there restrictions on meetings and events on caucus nights?

A:

There are restrictions for some governmental and school events after 6 p.m. on caucus nights:

  • No school board, county board, town board, or city council meetings
  • No U of M or MnSCU events without permission of the Board of Regents or MnSCU trustees
  • No public elementary or secondary school may hold a school-sponsored event
  • No state agency, board, commission, department or committee may hold a meeting

See M.S. 202A.19 for details.
Q: What is a precinct caucus?

A:
A caucus is a meeting organized by Minnesota’s political parties where citizens can engage each other in a conversation about which candidates to support in the next general election and what public policy positions should be adopted as part of the party’s platform.
Q: Who can attend a caucus?

A:
Precinct caucuses are open to the public and participation is encouraged by the political parties. In order to vote, offer resolutions or become a delegate at a precinct caucus, attendees must be eligible to vote in the next general election, live in the precinct, and be in general agreement with the principles of the political party.
Q: Are caucus meeting locations accessible to individuals with disabilities?

A:
Most caucuses are held in accessible buildings. Anyone needing interpretive services or caucus materials in alternate formats should write or e-mail their political party’s state office in advance for further assistance.
Q: What do caucus attendees do?

A:
  • Discuss public policy issues and pass resolutions
    Caucuses provide a forum for citizens to engage their neighbors in a conversation on a wide range of public policy and political issues. Attendees  may also offer and vote on resolutions to shape the party’s platform.
  • Vote in a straw poll
    Political parties may conduct a straw poll to gauge caucus attendees’ candidate preferences for state or federal elected offices.
  • Elect precinct officers
    Caucus attendees elect officers who will be responsible for organizing political activities within the precinct.
  • Elect delegates
    Caucus attendees elect delegates and alternates to represent their precinct at the political party’s county or district convention. District convention delegates in turn, elect delegates to the political party’s congressional and state conventions. Delegates influence which candidates and policy positions their party ultimately endorses.

Community Notes; February 6-12

This week there are still more reasons to celebrate the wonderful local Pagan community.

Winter Witch Camp is almost here: February 16-20. Learn more at http://winterwitchcamp.com/wwc2012/Joomla_1.5.18/

This year, Earth House Project of MN is once again going to be giving the Sacred Paths Center 25% of the profits again from its Midsummer Gather. The Midsummer Gather is a nearby week long festival, June 17-24. You can learn more at http://earthhousemn.org/, and read a review of last year’s event at https://pncminnesota.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/earth-house-midsummer-gather/

Two national guests were announced this week for the 15th Sacred Harvest Festival, August 6-12; Lady Yeshe Rabbit http://harmonytribe.org/content/lady-yeshe-rabbit-national-sacred-harvest-festival-guest and Andras Corban Arthen http://harmonytribe.org/content/andras-corban-arthen-national-guest-sacred-harvest-festival-2012.

February 13 marks the official 3rd birthday of the Sacred Paths Center. We’ve had our own community center for three years. That’s pretty cool.

February 11, the Sacred paths Center will be holding their annual Bread & Brew contest from 5-8pm. Whether you enter in the competition, or judge the competition, it’s a good place to be. Delicious bread, and brews. This is such a brilliant idea. http://www.sacredpathscenter.org/?page_id=348
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For more detailed information (addresses, descriptions, etc.) or further updates, check out the much ballyhooed Twin Cities Pagans Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TwinCitiesPagans/

Gallery in search of taboo art

Art often expresses, and breaks, societal norms.  At it’s best, it causes us to think about the world we live in and stirs up an emotional reaction.  Artists weave pieces of their soul into their creations and then hope it connects with someone strongly enough that they pay to take it home.  It’s not a profession known as a safe way to make a living.

Sage Magee, photo credit: facebook

Sage Magee, a senior at Avalon Charter High School, is hosting an art gallery to examine both of those issues – breaking societal norms and building bonds between starving artists and art lovers with pocketbooks.

The Taboo Art Gallery is looking for art that breaks taboos in any culture.  Art will be displayed at Sacred Paths Center during a weekend run in April.  Magee says the exhibit is accepting art submissions from any US resident and there is no age barrier.  Painting, drawing, printmaking, fiber, and mixed media or photography are the preferred disciplines.  Magee says pieces are picked for display based on relevance to the theme and difficulty in display.

Magee’s exhibit is part of her larger senior project “In Search of a Well-fed Artist” which she says is helping her explore a career in art management,  “I’ve been using my senior project as a way to test the waters in a career in arts management. It’s my practice run you could say.”  While she’s learning about gallery management first hand, she hopes that attendees learn about different taboos from cultures around the globe.

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6th Century Temple to Aphrodite to be buried to make way for Apartment Building

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Editor’s note:  It is not often that PNC publishes a press release, instead of using the press release for background information to write our own article.  Press releases are, by their nature, written from a biased point of view.  However, we felt the information presented and the point of view represented would be of interest to our readers and are publishing it as a Letter to the Editor.

In an ancient part, of the modern city of Thessaloniki, now a part of the municipality of Thermaikos lays the Square of Antigonidon. Once part of a sacred district of Temples, today if one were to drive by the square you would never realize that under the areas urban sprawl and sandwiched in-between modern buildings lays a treasure of enormous significance, a beautiful 6th century Temple to the Goddess Aphrodite.
First excavated in 1936, the temple, which is 200 years older than the Parthenon was all but forgotten during the Nazi occupation of Greece in World War II. It was not until 2000, that fate of this lost treasure resurfaced due to the demolition of a two story building, which rested above the Temple. This allowed archaeologists once again to excavate the location. This time having the opportunity to uncover one-third of this forgotten piece of Thessaloniki’s history and thanks to the efforts of those involved, a small fraction of the treasures from this site is now on display in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.

At present, the Greek Government is attempting to entomb and conceal the Temple, rather than fully excavating the site. Originally upon its discovery, an initial decision was made to continue its excavation; however, this decision was later overturned. Since then the fate of this important part of Hellenic history has been ‘frozen’ and was rescheduled to be discussed in April of 2011, but has since been postponed to be reopened early this year. If the Greek Government and the property owner get their way, the temple will remain buried, and an irreplaceable national treasure will be lost.

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