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All 7B candidates share stage for first time
The Progressive Minnesota House 7B Forum last night nabbed some local TV and newspaper coverage. You’ll remember there are five DFL candidate’s for State Rep. Mike Jaros’s West Duluth legislative seat left open after Jaros retired suddenly two months ago. The Duluth News-Tribune story gives an overview. I saw the WDIO (Channel 10, ABC) coverage…
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An empire or a beacon?
The Russia/Georgia situation is looking grim. It begs the question, how much can saber-rattling ensure democracy across the world? The message our country has projected the last several years has been “be democratic or we’ll whoop you.” Now, that might work if we could actually whoop every nation on earth, including Russia and China. But…
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Iron Range steel project again faces Iran problem
Oh, global economy. Why must you be so complicated? Let me start this locally and spread it out. LOCAL: Here on the Iron Range, people have enjoyed great hopes of a massive economic boost from a combined iron mine and steel plant near Nashwauk, a proposed project now known as Minnesota Steel. This idea has…
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Free Obama button via the missus
My wife, the Northern Cheapskate, is profiling a deal where you can get a free Obama button. Maybe you want an Obama button, but I’m pointing this out because it’s so very rare for my apolitical spouse to take a bold step like this. Her frugal mom readers tend to run a little more conservative.…
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Wood power woes
Here’s another story from Wednesday’s Hibbing Daily Tribune that shows an unexpected problem with wood biomass as a source of electricity. The treetops used for power generation rely upon there being outside demand for the larger tree trunks below them. If there is no market for the lumber, the boilers get shut down as is…
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Steelworkers settle with U.S. Steel
I meant to put this up earlier, but the Steelworkers have reached a tentative agreement for their contract with U.S. Steel, which owns the area’s top ore producer at MinnTac in Mt. Iron and KeeTac in Keewatin. The deal must be approved by union membership. U.S. Steel produces almost half the taconite pellets on the…
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Tonight … Tonight!
The brawl in the Hall … The 7B Seven Smackdown … West Side Gory! Call it what you will, the first forum of the hotly contested West Duluth House District 7B primary/open general election race is tonight at 5:30 p.m. in the Duluth City Council chambers. While actual physical confrontation is unlikely, I expect many…
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There Will Be Pelts
Check out this innocuous headline from yesterday’s Hibbing Daily Tribune: “Chisholm wins bid for national conference“ Snooze, right? Small town jibber jabber. I didn’t even click on the story when I saw it online. Then later I saw the print version of the paper. Guess who’s coming to the Iron Range in August 2009? Trappers!…
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Franken’s Iraq statement grabs national attention
Al Franken’s statement calling for the halting of reconstruction funds to the cash-flush Iraqi government is grabbing national attention. I read this on MSNBC.com. The red meat line? “There’s a line between being responsible for rebuilding a country you helped destroy, and being a chump, and I think we crossed that line,” Franken said. Related…
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Tracking the news
August could be an interesting month: Thursday brings some crucial decisions about the Mesaba Energy Project from the PUC. The Legislative Auditor is also going to be releasing some preliminary findings about the spending of public loan monies on this seemingly never-ending consumer of public funds and mental energy this month. All of this could…
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Behold … the FUTURE!
This Saturday, Aug. 16, I’ll be guest hosting “Between You and Me” on KAXE. I usually just write and record commentaries for the show but this week I’ll be live in the studio, pushing buttons and talking to callers. Each week features a special topic for northern Minnesotans (and online listeners all over the world)…
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Krugman’s take on universal health care
Paul Krugman offers a smart take on universal health care as an issue for this year’s election in today’s New York Times. He points out the merits of overhauling our health care delivery system but is wise to the many political barriers to ever doing so. This is an under-the-radar issue that could be used…
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A rare comment on foreign policy
So, here’s where it’s going with American foreign policy. A former Russian satellite, Georgia, challenges the mother country of Russia and is brutally attacked. Georgia, like many former Russian satellites, has formed close relationships with western powers like the United States. Why wouldn’t they? We are “The Superpower” after all. But now that they’re about…
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Tell a story in a trailer
I’m passing along this press release from KAXE. StoryCorps is a really cool thing. You take someone close to you over to this fancy little camper that will be parked in Grand Rapids and interview them, or each other. You get a recording of you and your friend/relative talking about important topics to you and…
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Same now as it ever was
This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008 Hibbing Daily Tribune. Same now as it ever wasBy Aaron J. BrownMost people know the political tradition here on the Iron Range: Independent, but generally Democratic, and heavily influenced by the past and present labor movement. Sadly, it’s almost impossible to talk about politics…