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Breaking the code
In a March 27 op-ed in the Mesabi Daily News, Republican congressional candidate Stewart Mills argued that environmental regulations aimed at reducing the carbon emissions from coal is akin to a “war on ore.” “As your congressman, I will fight the Environmental Protection Agency, which has been weaponized by Democrats in the fight against safe…
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Ode to Deviled Eggs
Carnivores eat eggs. They have for a long time. I recall an artist’s rendition from my childhood “Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs” depicting a sneaky rodent-like dinosaur spiriting away some big egg from the Mighty Somethingosaurus. I imagined the crafty lizard cracking open that big egg, devouring the eggy goodness inside like slop from a trough. I…
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Let us see what we believe
When immigrants came to America, their first image of the new land was the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. This wasn’t just some green lady. She represented freedom and opportunity. She was all of America, welcoming those in need. The Statue of Liberty told a story that was happening in real time. She…
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Every man a king; one man an emperor
Spring air refreshes our winter-weary lungs, yet most of that delicious smell comes from rot. Such is the nature of change. Here in 2016 the political winds gust and swirl with unusual gusto, an El Niño year at the ballot box. Three out of the five candidates with any hope of a major party nomination…
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New vision for Range future
Life was hard for people who lived along Minnesota’s iron ranges 100 years ago. Working conditions in the mines were dangerous. Women had few rights. Nevertheless, it’s remarkable how much aspiration and hope these people delivered to future generations. Just read what they put on the walls. Found in the Keewatin City Council chambers are…
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The front lines of democracy
Ever since control of the major parties was (at least partially) wrested from chain-smoking whiskey-soaked power brokers, Minnesotans have indicated their Presidential preference at caucuses. So what is a caucus? A caucus is a community meeting. Minnesota’s major parties hold them every two years in the late winter/early spring. Your caucus location is often, though…
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How low can iron ore go? We’ll find out
To paraphrase an old cliche, do you want the good news or the bad news? Well, the bad news is that a recent commodities forecast by BMI Research predicts iron ore prices will find their floor in 2016, with prices falling further from their current lows through next fall. Iron ore is expected to trade at $35/ton on…
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Lost Mittens: A Love Story
It’s fitting that Valentine’s Day, a holiday celebrating romantic love, comes in the thick of Northern Minnesota’s sprawling winter. Just as many people have lost love over the years, so it goes for our gloves and hats after months of regular use. By now, gloves have been removed and placed in pockets more times than…
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Super Bowl bread and circuses
“Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.” ~Roman poet Juvenal, circa 100 A.D.…
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Laskiainen 2016: the flax and the furious
(The complete Laskiainen schedule is at the bottom of this post) The winter doldrums of Northern Minnesota now roll over us with workmanlike routine. Don hats and gloves. Scrape the windshield. Warm up the car. Walk like a penguin. Repeat. Perhaps small comfort, but true the same, is how for millennia these same cold squalls…
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Talkin’ middle school parking lot blues
Let me be clear. I do not plan to murder anyone. But if I did the crime would almost certainly take place in the parking lot of my son’s middle school. Winter parking in Northern Minnesota is hard enough. Ice and snow cover the yellow lines. Every slight maneuver involves spinning tires and the risk…
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Fit, just a bit
I recently went to the thrift store to buy “surrender pants.” This is the periodic occasion where I acknowledge that, yes, most of the pants in my house no longer fit. Nevertheless, I am not willing to pay normal prices for new pants. What a waste! Or rather, waist. Both, I guess. Why not? Because,…
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Iron Range lessons from Mars
Every time NASA beams down new pictures from Mars we are reminded how much this desolate planet resembles an Iron Range taconite mine. The red landscape. Pits like craters. Dumps like dunes. Yet, every time commodities prices tumble in topsy-turvy global trade we are also reminded that economic survival here can seem just as difficult…
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Oracle breaks winds of change in 2016
The gas burner spews a flame of blue, red, orange and yellow into the ghostly white sphere above. I’m trying to type on an old manual typewriter, no easy task on a hot flying monstrosity operated by a muskrat. “Gnnaaaaagh!” shouts the muskrat. Steamy breath in cold air, his jaunty captain’s hat adding authority to…
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‘Microaggression’ top word of 2015
Before I begin, have you checked to see what you’re supposed to be outraged about today? See, it’s important to know, because the bulk of small talk in our times dwells on anger over etherial, untouchable matters. That might be a red cup at a coffee shop. The comments of a mayor in a small…