True North

Moving house: True's new domain

2008-07-31T17:54:00.009-05:00

True is moving to a new domain. Alas, all the 550-plus old posts will have to stay behind but friends can always come back here to http://www.truenorthgm.blogspot.com to enjoy them all over again or use the labels to look up all entries under a topic of interest.
In future, you can also look to more changes, such as hiring an editor and spending more time on research and investigation as we seek alliances with other progressive blogs and websites across Minnesota and nationwide.
This sea change began after True attended the National Conference on Media Reform in Minneapolis in June and was inspired by Bill Moyers, Dan Rather, Arianna Huffington, Naomi Klein, Louise Erdrich, Amy Klobuchar, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Jonathan Adelstein, Medea Benjamin, Byron Dorgan, Keith Ellison, Amy Goodman, Caroline Fredrickson, Robert Greenwald, Joel Kramer , John Nichols, and a hundred more progressive media luminaries who came together with 3,500 bloggers and activists to generate a truly independent and free press on the Internet as the print media is dying, strangulated by big corporate owners. The Owners have two agenda items: 1) suck the newspapers dry to feed huge proft margins and 2) get rid of all the best, most experienced journalists and replace them with Infotainment and Lite News so that nobody out there can possibly get any real news.
So, please, old friends, keep in touch with the New True at http://www.truenorthgm.com/ as we work toward an improved web site and more news coverage.

Thankful for Harbor Friends

2008-07-17T20:20:00.006-05:00

True, a card-carrying charter member of Harbor Friends, is thankful for the selfless hard work by the dedicated founders. These folks have virtually single-handedly saved the Grand Marais Harbor as well as the RV Park and Campground from a takeover by misguided folks who would rather see a Bayfield-style marina in our tiny harbor than an eclectic shared space for campers, boaters, birders, rock skippers, hikers, and everybody else who loves Grand Marais. It wasn't an easy struggle and the Friends got grant support to show that a mega-marina was not likely to be successful based on a study of other marinas around Lake Superior.
Some recent letters about the Friends in the papers have delegated the level of public dialogue to somewhere near the scum layer in my septic tank. So, you didn't like the anti- snowmobile- skipping campaign by the Friends? Hmm, neither did True. But, that's only one issue and not a biggie at that, not like devastating the Grand Marais harbor with a mega-marina that would eat up all the RV Park and campground space for boaters' parking and send all revenue to the DNR. Not like allowing the city to dump toxic landfill in harbor wetlands or overturning the conservation easements adopted to protect the harbor permanently....
All of this, the Harbor Friends have saved us from, us being a public interest that reaches far beyond the nearsighted few who put dibs on the "process" and refused to allow any other public input.
One writer this week brings his old grudge forward as if it is relevant to snomo skipping, sniping at the Friends even though the marina issue has now been resolved by the city in a good way that benefits everybody. The writer conveniently forgets that the process was deeply flawed by rejecting public input, and that there would have been no Harbor Friends without a great outpouring of concern and longing to protect the harbor beloved by city, county and statewide residents.
Another letter writer who doesn't like the Harbor Friends decided to attack the lifestyle of its president, Lonnie Dupre. How mean-spirited, how petty, how unkind, and how inappropriate. Stick to the issues, folks, and stick to the facts.
Public dialogue needs to be respectful and thoughtful. Most newspapers recognize this and have standards for publishing letters. True doesn't only blame the letter writers; the papers ought to have more sense than to publish letters that exceed the bounds of decency and fair play and ignore or deny the reality of a broad public consensus regarding the harbor that belongs to all of us who love it.
Thank you, Friends.
True

Cleveland-Cliffs & Northshore Mining, for shame

2008-07-16T12:53:00.011-05:00

Where the rain never falls and the sun never shines,
It's dark as a dungeon, way down in the mines.

Nothing, but nothing, epitomizes the greed of big corporations more than the innocuous-sounding "surface mining" that is destroying Appalachia just to pull more tons of filthy coal from the mountains. Filthy coal, that sends megatons of carbon emissions into the air along with other pollutants, filthy coal that Minnesota Power burns at Taconite Harbor and releases into our airshed, filthy coal that could within a decade or two choke all of us trying to breathe. This we knew, or at least True knew.
But the merger of Cleveland-Cliffs with the Appalachian coal mining company with the Orwellian name of Alpha Natural Resources makes us accomplices. Last year alone in Kentucky, 50 million tons of coal were dredged from the surface of the Appalachian mountain range by, among other methods, cutting off the tops of the mountains and throwing them down into the valleys. The mountaintops are called "overburden." I shit you not.
Compare this with the five million tons of magnetite pellets being produced annually by Northshore Mining, a subsidiary of Babbitt-based Cleveland-Cliffs, now to be known as Cliffs Natural Resources, "A Leading Diversified Mining and Natural Resources Company."
It is time for residents of northern Minnesota to admit their culpability. The mountaintop leveling now supported by the merged company surely ranks right up their with the proposed Polymet copper-nickel mine that will create dead zones in our watershed.
Where is your outrage, North Shore citizens? What will you leave of earth, water and air to your children? Here's a link to the Duluth Tribune story that conveniently glosses over the devastating truth:

Duluth News Tribune | Cleveland-Cliffs announces merger with Appalachian coal company in $10 billion deal

Be nice, if you please

2008-07-13T20:14:00.011-05:00

The guest is God.
- Hindu proverb

The guest is a jewel resting on the cushion of hospitality.
- Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe

If ever there was any doubt that summer residents at the RV Park are considered to be second-class citizens, that issue was put to rest by the rude and insulting letters published in both papers last week in response to a reasonable request by park resident Norm Larsen. Norm was speaking on behalf of many others who are themselves expected to quiet down after 10 p.m. but find sleep impossible due to loud music from the Birch Terrace and the Gunflint Tavern.
What insults they were subjected to, simply for a noise complaint that even in rowdy Minneapolis would have resulted in a visit from the police asking that the noisemakers tone it down. Grand Marais is currently considering adoption of a noise ordinance and I Truly hope they will despite "noise" from people who must never have lived in a big city where such ordinances are routine.
Many others besides Norm and the park "guests" (who according to the letter writers don't deserve a voice since they don't pay taxes) either live in or visit Grand Marais because of the beauty of the harbor, the nearby lakes and woods, the shops and art galleries, the folk school, the hiking trails, and a rather endless list of sports and attractions other than late-night entertainment.
As a tourist some years ago, staying at a cottage on the hill in town, I was kept awake by some musicians jamming outside, behind the present-day Gunflint Tavern. In my nightclothes, I followed the noise to the source and to their astonishment, burst in on them wild-eyed and said, "I can't sleep, so could you please STOP."
Why is this not okay? Those who break the peace and silence that most "guests" come to enjoy ought to be the ones to compromise. Surely there is a way to mitigate sounds: keep doors and windows closed, don't use loudspeakers, quiet down at a reasonable hour OR install soundproofing. This didn't used to be a problem. True himself has attended concerts at both venues that did not impinge on the surrounding tourists and resident families.
Lots of families with young children all over the residential parts of town can hear open-air noises from near the lake; sound carries. The burden is on the noisemakers; the great majority of "guests" or tourists or summer residents want quiet enjoyment and don't need to stay up half the night partying. That's not why they come to the North Shore.
As for locals all their lives who want to exclude those "guests" they don't like, hello? You are truly cutting off your own noses, my friends.
And the 86-year old lady who sleeps through the night? Hmm. Like many young people whose hearing has been decimated by loud decibels, the elderly commonly have some hearing loss.
But True is most appalled by Stephan Hoglund's jibe about "poverty level" rents paid by RV park visitors. Even were it True it is not NICE, and it would not be said of boat slip renters who pay even less (about $900 per year).
Assuming that the 50 or so RV renters who return year after year stay an average of four-and-a-half months, they pay $500 per month for their space alone, without the house or the electrical hookup. All of those dollars go into the Grand Marais City coffers... If that is "poverty" level, many of us who are year-round residents might be the target of Hoglund's ire for not having enough money to matter.
But it needs to be reiterated that locals don't have the only say in what happens here; if the tourists don't like it they won't come back.
Norm has gotten signatures from 60 or more residents of the RV park as well as neighbors around the Birch Terrace. Let's face it, most people don't like to stay up carousing all night. Surely 10 or 11 p.m. is a reasonable hour to quiet down. Those who want to party on through the night, let them stay indoors.
True

My house is my castle: Barack's betrayal

2008-07-09T22:00:00.004-05:00

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and ther persons or things to be seized."
-The Fourth Amendment, US Constitution, 1789

Barack Obama won the joyous support of progressives not so very long ago when he promised to FILIBUSTER any attempt by Congress to provide retroactive immunity for telecoms against spying on Americans.
His spectacularly disastrous reversal in the Senate vote today calls into question all of the ways that progressives have believed in Barack, because we wanted so desperately to believe. Even Hillary Clinton voted against telecom immunity today.
Yes, all politicos have to be strategists, as an old campaigner True knows all about that.... But, we Loved Barack because his strategy seemed to be telling the truth and generating support from the vast majority of Americans who have suffered under the lies of the neocons. It diminishes his campaign when he caves rather than stands up for what is right, and what can be more right than the Fourth Amendment?
The MSM have contrived to make it appear that government surveillance without a warrant applies only to the very baddest guys. Barack knows that this is not so but he also suspects that most people don't realize this and so he can get away with reversing a stand that brought him huge support from the Democratic wing of the Dim Party.....
And not only them; the 3,500 journalists at the National Conference on Media Reform believed in Barack's promise to protect the Fourth Amendment. Every single one of us understood what was at stake and we all believed Barack would stand up for the Constitution even if he had to cave on some issues in order to get elected.
Every single one of us who were there, from Bill Moyers down to the lowliest journalist like True, feel betrayed. Barack had a chance to stand up and be counted for something that the vast majority of Americans believe in: the sanctity of privacy, the home as castle.
The Repug neocons have sold the FISA surveillance by telecoms in several ways, mostly by denying that surveillance creeps into our homes in ways never imagined by the founders, but also by insinuating that anybody who is spied deserves to be, and that YOU and I have NOTHING to HIDE.... depending on who raises or lowers the bar. Who is listening and to whom? The answer, well-documented though you will NEVER see it in a MSM story, is that the National Security Agency is listening to EVERY conversation that you and I make by phone or email. Yes, modern technology permits them to do this.
True doesn 't care, True follows Her mandate to peaceably address grievances in the First Amendment and takes Her role in a Free Press very seriously.
So, who cares? Well, friend, you ought to, perhaps. You have been led to believe that only the bad guys are spied on and even if you are spied on, you have nothing to hide, right?
Don't be so sure. They go by code words in your phone conversations: did you ever say you are sick of America these dahys? Or anything mildly critical?
It never was intended -- OR EVEN IMAGINED -- that every single phone or email conversation would be monitored by paid spies of the government.
Bushcos are bragging that they WON a big victory and it is True.

Barack is/was our leader and we adored him, but we adored him BECAUSE he spoke truth to power in this essential, critical issue of the Fourth Amendment. When he doesn't do that, how can we trust him to do all the other things he promises?

Free press in Cook County?

2008-07-09T17:33:00.004-05:00

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
-First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
called the Bill of Rights, adopted in 1789

"Go now, and tell it on the mountains and in the cities. From your Web sites and laptops,tell it. From the street corners and the coffee house, tell it. On campus and at the mall, tell it. Tell it at the synagogue, sanctuary, and mosque. Tell it. Tell it where you can, when you can, and while you can. Tell America what we need to know--and we just might rekindle the patriot's dream."
-Bill Moyers, keynote address
National Conference on Media Reform
Minneapolis, June, 2008

Cook County is blessedly free of corporate-dominated media. Oh ya sure, the News Herald is owned by a media group but it's not Fox, not Murdoch, not even a very big player in the control-of-information game that was invented by the neocons who now control all three branches of the U.S. government--at which the founders would turn over and rise up from their grave to peaceably assemble and protest.
Lucky, yes, but well-served for the 21st century? True says no. Mind you, True is only a humble, ragtag collective. But She formed in response to a gap between the grapevine and the published Word a couple years back when Grand Marais was being invaded by Big Developers. That issue was happily resolved, to the benefit of most if not all.
New issues emerge, however, in our 21st century where technology daily changes the nature of the "press" even as most information is not now printed but rather published in cyberspace. And our backward local "press" have not joined the free and open Internet where anybody, anywhere can google something like "Poplar River impairment" and get all the published news articles from the local angle. Well, once we could get it from the News Herald but now it has gone private and you have to sign away your life story and pay money just to see an article. As for the Star, they are SO 20th century, you just have to save a copy of every paper.
And even here in our cozy little county our media have more serious limitations than Internet access. Let's name them:
The Star, the News Herald and WTIP are beholden to advertisers. Once the News Herald did editorials about issues in Cook County but now, nobody does.
WTIP is the emerging leader in comprehensive and substantive news coverage. They do a great job, covering issues and meetings that neither paper seems to manage to attend or explore.
But nobody gives us a big picture, nobody tries to put it all together (even inadequately, which would be a start), nobody fills in the gaps between the gossip mill and the deep truth.
Outsiders, even summer residents, can read and listen to every word but they still can't figure out what is really going on. That's partly because covering meetings, the basic stuff of the three branches of media, doesn't tell the stories but only describes the meetings.
OK, let's get specific, with a couple of examples.
1) The new major issue in Cook County is the big plans for development of Lutsen Mountain into an Aspen-like monstrosity. While this huge proposed travesty of the Cook County development ordinance looms large as an even greater threat than turning Grand Marais into a huge marina with Disney condos, there is scarcely a peep about it in the news.
2) Directly related to the Mountain Megalomania is the impairment of the Poplar River and the big misinformation being disseminated freely in both papers by--you guessed it--the OWNERS of Lutsen Mountain, who call themselves the "Poplar River Mangement Board." The irony here is that although these guys could well afford to BUY a page in both papers, they got it for free, in direct conflict with the policies that opinions and letters be strictly limited in word count. True will be exploring the Poplar River issues, trying to sift Truth from Sediment, in future posts.
But the point is, nobody else is looking at the big picture here, or taking any kind of a stand. Certainly not the county board which dances around and dodges with silly stuff about the legality of a special tax district that would force other Poplar River landowners to pay for the damage wreaked by the Lutsen Mountain owners, or the Lutsen Town Board that agrees to anything they want.
And here is the great failing of the media: what the Founders feared most when they wrote the First Amendment: that people can't make informed decisions without all the information. Both papers have printed full-page ads purporting to be "facts" by Lutsen Mountain owner Tom Rider. NOBODY has bothered to do any fact-checking.
Editorials have two purposes: one, to engage a public discussion and two, to bring a truthful perspective to the slipshod, piecemeal and disconnected stories that make up the daily news. We badly need them here, even without Rupert Murdoch's blockade of any facts at all.

RETIREES: $300 REWARD!

2008-07-09T14:43:00.001-05:00

Dear COOK COUNTY NEWS MEDIA

Need your help!! Please publish and broadcast to our community

AARP/MN estimates that there are 64,000 Minnesotan's who are eligible
to claim the Stimulus payment from the Federal government and have
not yet done so.

Please, if you know someone, who is retired or is living on a limited income,
and for this reason does not normally file a Federal Tax return,
have them contact Harriet Walsh (387-1367) or Chuck Flickinger (475-2776)
so that we may help you with this matter -

Many people who do not earn enough income to file and pay taxes think
they do NOT qualify
for the Stimulus payment, however
* BUT all you need to qualify is $3000 of earned income, OR,
* $3000 of social security, disability, SSI, or
Veteran benefits to qualify

Thank you all for your help
I am Chuck Flickinger
187 Whippoorwill Lane
Hovland MN 55606

Friends, lighten up, have a heart

2008-07-03T20:50:00.003-05:00

True has received a letter from Amanda Plummer about the water-skipping event in the harbor during the 4th of July and Fish Pic. Amanda's arguments seem sound to True: high attendance, jumping through the hoops to get approval, and FUN, fun fun for folks including the almighty Tourists on behalf of whom many a PC sin has now and then been committed.
Ya sure, it probably isn't that good for the fish. BUT, what about those big boats and their ballast? What about the, excuse me, detritus left behind by every single motorized vehicle? What about the city itself and its failure to clean up waste in the harbor?
Hey, we are talking about only a few hours per year at most. How much environmental damage can that do?
As for the conservation easement, which True soundly supports, that has been repeatedly violated by city and developers alike. So why pick on these little kids who just want to have a little fun?
True, it is not my idea of a fun fest, but I don't need to agree with everything that everybody wants to do. This seems relatively harmless and enjoyed by a lot of folks.
Another big issue at play here is the hubris of Homeland Security, who has now taken over the formerly friendly and service-oriented Coast Guard. They claim to own the harbor! This raises my hackles; it would never have happened when the Coast Guard was simply the Coast Guard and not an outpost of the heavy-handed Homeland Security, home of the Unitary Executive.
Plummer's letter shows that some Coast Guard personnel were willing to approve the skipping permit. This apparently got nixed at a Higher Level.
Harbor Friends, please lighten up. Coast Guard emissaries of the Homeland Deciders, please remember that WE remember you fondly as partners in protecting our harbor, not as the Heavies who Rule Jurisdictions.
-True

Politics is war

2008-06-29T20:19:00.005-05:00

Recently the media (both papers and WTIP) have nearly peed their pants over the visit by Governor Plenty-for-the-Rich. His speech was broadcast on WTIP. He was featured in photos with his oh-so-adorable wife and kid.
At the same time there were stories about the local delegates to the Dim and Repug annual love-fests.
Hey, politics is no longer a ball game, if it ever in fact was. Politics is war, at least since the 1980's when a group of Machiavellan plotters later known as "neocons" hatched up a battle plan to take over the US government permanently. Soon they also hooked up with the then-toothless "Moral Majority" and combined the advantages of wealth, power and a supposed channel to God to build a permanent one-party government. A government not of the people, by the people and for the people, but of the rich, by the rich and for the rich.
They have all-but succeeded. They have bought two presidential elections and brought to power a fool who is also a willing tool of his ultra-right, ultra-rich buddies from Yale and Texas oil.
They have decimated the middle class by outsourcing jobs and attacking unions, made college education an unaffordable luxury for many, slashed public school funding, pandered to big corporate interests to the detriment of health and well-being, created new classes of homeless people and near-poor, stacked the courts with their far-right-wing appointees, squandered the future of our children with overwhelming debt for their stupid wars-for-oil while also destroying thousands of young people's lives who idealistically wanted to serve their country after 9/11, made us the most hated people in the world, allowed and even encouraged big corporations to take over the media so the people would never get the real news, condoned torture and spying on all Americans, created a new Big Brother called "Homeland Security" that makes J. Edgar Hoover look like a pussycat, and tried to dismantle Social Security and Medicare.
Perhaps worst of all, these rich-and-powerful morons have probably doomed the earth to unmitigated disaster by denying global warming despite the melting of Artic permafrost, promoting environmental devastation in ever more invasive mining and lifting of regulations to protect air, land and water. This list actually only scratches the surface of the terrible damage done to the world by the neocons and their tame but hateful Religious Right.
This is war, war against the American people, waged by the party that controls the White House, the judiciary and even the Congress despite the 2006 election mandate to throw the suckers out. Pelosi, Reid, and the Blue Dog Dims don't have the stomach or the gumption for the hardball tactics that they COULD employ to bring democracy back to America.
Barack Obama has been voting party-line lately, too, for funding the Iraq war for another year, for giving amnesty to the big telecoms that were spying on our emails and phone calls...
I grew up in a world where the parties jousted and fenced, but had basic respect for the two-party system, the checks & balances of the Constitution, and yes, Truth, Justice and the American Way.
I was a "Nixonette" who later came to love JFK. I went to DFL bean feeds. It was all good fun in those days, until one party started assassinating the charismatic leaders of the other party.
Now it is war. Gov. Plenty has reduced taxes on the rich and replaced them with horrendous fees and sales taxes paid by the poor. He has refused to rebuild our failing infrastructure and bears direct responsibility for the 35W bridge collapse. He is angling for a high place in a McCain administration. He's a snake and also a seller of snake oil and he's looking out for Number One with every photo-op.
-True

Loose cannon, loaded gun, and Bomb bomb bomb bomb-bomb-Iran

2008-06-29T13:47:00.010-05:00

Dear readers,

Please do take the time to read this excellent and as always well-researched article by Seymour Hersh that appeared in today's issue of The New Yorker magazine.
Possibly the forced resignation of Admiral Fallon in March, head of US Central Command in Iraq and Afghanistan, raised your eyebrows as it did mine. Admiral Fallon had expressed misgivings about an attack on Iran.
Hello, folks, it's deja vu Iraq all over again.... the secret shenanigans, the cooked intelligence reports, the public lies, and, voila! a new war, just in time for the 2008 elections.
True wrote to Rep. Oberstar with concerns about the recent resolution in the House (H. Congr. Res. 362) that would facilitate The Unitary Executive's fast track to war by declaring Iran to be a threat to peace and stability in the Middle East. Oberstar wrote to True that he will be thinking hard about whether to vote for it and he also said he is opposed to war with Iran as he was to war with Iraq. So, what's to think about?
On the same page, the Israelis are also making noise about attacking Iran. Now THAT would be a biblical situation so longed for by the end-times folks, would it not? The Israeli right joins the unholy American alliance of the Christian Right with the Big Oil Rich in a new Armageddon? Or Apocalypse? Because we can be sure of one thing: a war with Iran will unleash a world war like nothing we've ever seen.
Oh, the loose cannon? Of course that is King George the Dubya. The loaded gun? You guessed it, Darth Cheney. And Bomb-bomb-bomb Himself? That's the Repug presidential candidate who knows he won't win unless the goofy voters are rallied round the flag again.
-True

Here's the link:
Preparing the BattlefieldThe Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran. - CommonDreams.org

Founding fathers and religious liberty in Cook County

2008-06-28T14:14:00.024-05:00

Dear True,

I'm writing to comment on the troubled and sad column by Mitch Dorr in this week's News Herald, "The Death of Faith, Family and Country." I have some sympathy for Mr. Dorr, as I too recall a time in America that I think was better than today, but I'm not willing to blame the changes on "intolerant intellectuals," radical politicians, or Muslims. Also, methinks I have heard the tune he is singing before, on right-wing talk shows and in emails that sometimes come my way--such as naming Barack Obama a Muslim terrorist and other nonsense claiming to be "God's truth."
I know from Mr. Dorr's other writings that he is a good and loving family man and I don't mean to attack him in any way. But I do feel an urgent need to put forth an alternative view of religion and society.
I want to address the parts of Mr. Dorr's column about religion and try to infuse a dose of historical fact-checking. One of my personal regrets about modern society is the dismal failure of our schools to teach history. When I was a child in the 1950's we were rigorously taught to understand the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We studied the Revolutionary War and we read the speeches by Washington and Jefferson and the other so-called "founding fathers." Back then we had no problem that there were no founding mothers.
The first thing to remember is that the men who devised the Constitution were, yes, mostly Christians (in fact mostly Episcopalians) but they were even more firmly for freedom of religion, the right to worship or NOT worship as anyone may choose. They were best termed "deists" rather than Christians, however, as followers of the "Enlightenment" philosophies of Locke, Rousseau and Voltaire promoting individual liberty and equality. Of course they were referring to the equality of white men, and several were slave owners but in their time they were visionaries.
Several of them spoke quite firmly on the issue of religion and government, for example:

"I believe in one God, Creator of the universe...That the most acceptable service we can render Him is doing good to His other children...As to Jesus..I have some doubts as to his divinity..."
-Benjamin Franklin

"Every man ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience."
-George Washington

"I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of..."
-Thomas Paine

"Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned, yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half of the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth."
-Thomas Jefferson

"That religion, or the duty we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and therefore all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience."
-Patrick Henry

"The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretence, infringed."
-James Madison
(original wording of the First Amendment, 1789)

In short, the founders were clear and adamant about protecting the rights of all to worship as each one chooses. The Religious Right have made an issue of actual non-issues like worship in public schools or government buildings.
Granted, the founders never specifically forebade worship in public buildings because they never foresaw free public education for all, the great immigrations of many races and creeds that would re-make America in centuries to come, or that one day some people might feel excluded by a government display of one religious viewpoint such as the Ten Commandments. Nonetheless, they foresaw that there would be possibilities they couldn't cover, and so laid down the principle of religious neutrality in the brilliant First Amendment.
But ironically, what has been decreed in the past is subject to change under those same principles laid down by the founders.
And so, a "Unitary Executive" (anathema to the founders), a judicial system stacked to favor the rightest of the right wing, and a gutless Congress have conspired with the right-wing corporations that buy votes, that control our media and that are supported by the Christian right to perpetrate untruths about the role of religion in America.
The right to worship in government buildings and display the Ten Commandments smacks of a state religion. Or, why not the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism instead? Why not face Mecca and chant?
Mr. Dorr, it was not about keeping you from your Christian worship, at home, at church or within the community, but rather about respecting those who are not Christian that the founders had in mind when they decreed there would be no mixing of religion and government. They understood only too well how easily any religious group may drive "unbelievers" to become second-class citizens, refugees, or victims of genocide, as in recent times we were appalled to witness in Nazi Germany.
Genocide, by the way, proceeds unabated today in many parts of our lawless corporate dominated world. Our aid is urgently required and yet the Religious Right is silent.
In Cook County, Christians have many forums of expressions, unlike urban areas. There is a religion page and a column by a minister in both weekly papers and these are exclusively Christian. There are Christmas pageants and activities at school. Perhaps, you say, this does not matter because everybody in Cook County is a Christian? Not so. I am not.
On the other hand I am more than happy to read the thoughts of Christian ministers, SO LONG AS other voices are also heard equally (or at least occasionally). Such as columns about Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, or my own faith of Hinduism which embraces the teaching of the saints and sages of all religions.
And for those who can't bear to make it through the school day without prayer, you can always pray silently, pray with your heart and mind if not your mouth. Pray while taking tests or eating lunch.
The commonality among religious faiths is what tolerance is all about, and tolerance is the very foundation of a free and just society. I don't know how we can co-exist with one another in harmony without it.
If you seriously study Islam you will find its teachings not very different from those of Christianity. The Islamic fundamentalists who believe in jihad or holy war are not all that different from the Christians who slaughtered Muslims during the Crusades.
Any who kill in the name of religion are not practicing the great moral and universal truths of their faiths. The similarities have always been apparent to great religious leaders like the Dalai Lama, Pope John XXIII, Gandhi and Mother Teresa as well as humbler students of comparative religion, like my personal hero, Bill Moyers.
Shortly after reading Mr. Dorr's column, I chanced to read a speech by Moyers made at Union Theological Seminary in 2005 on receipt of the President's Medal, their highest award. Bill is a devout Christian. He begins his speech by, like Mr. Dorr, looking back to happier times when he was growing up but in a very different vein: "At the Central Baptist Church in Marshall, Texas, where I was baptized in the faith, we believed in a free church in a free state. I still do."
Bill goes on to describe the First Amendment as "a remarkable arrangement honoring 'soul freedom'--the inviolate right of each of us to believe and worship as our conscience determines, in a society that honors freedom over conformity." He sees that fundamental right at risk in the rise of a new religious movement that is based in the Republican party, well-funded and organized, and resolved on a "sectarian crusade for state power." "The religious right has become the dominant force in America's governing party," he said, and thereby also complicit in "upholding a system of class and race in which the rich thrive and the poor barely survive."
"This is the crux of the matter: to these believers there is only one legitimate religion and only one particular brand of that religion that is right; all others are immoral or wrong. They believe they alone know what the Bible means."
Bill concludes, "As I look back on the conflicts and clamor of our boisterous past, one lesson about democracy stands above all others: bullies--political bullies, economic bullies and religious bullies--cannot be appeased; they have to be opposed with courage, clarity and conviction. This is never easy. These true believers don't fight fair."
Well, this says it all to me, Mr. Dorr, and it is why I feel obliged to take issue with your view of MY country as a CHRISTIAN country while to me it is still, if precariously, a FREE country.

Sincerely,
Nancye Belding
Grand Marais

"Kindness is my religion."
-The Dalai Lama

2008-06-26T19:57:00.002-05:00

Save Our Blue Waters

to me

show details 10:38 AM (9 hours ago)

"the rest of the story" about the sulfide copper-nickel mining industry

being proposed for northeastern Minnesota.

Info for; HR 4292: Superior National Forest Land Adjustment Act of 2007

http://www.sosbluewaters.org/oberstar.htm

To: http://www.twoharborsmn.com/
Subject: sulfide mining

Lake County Chronicle

An inquisitive group of about 45 Lake and St. Louis County residents gathered last week at the Two Harbors Community Center, anxious to hear "the rest of the story" about the sulfide copper-nickel mining industry being proposed for northeastern Minnesota.

Local mass media has painted a rosy picture of jobs and economic growth coming from this new kind of mining. Not surprisingly absent in the mining propaganda are the grim realities of the toxic pollution problems inherently associated with the mining of sulfide ore bodies and the legacy of public-funded clean up costs to taxpayers, which number in the billions of dollars nationwide. Sulfide mining, also called non-ferrous metallic minerals mining and copper-nickel mining, is "not your father's mining". Its environmental impact greatly exceeds that of the iron and taconite mining we have all grown up with. Sulfide ore bodies, in which trace amounts of valuable metals are embedded, once exposed to air and water, generate sulfuric acid. Once this chemical process (Acid Mine Drainage) starts, it cannot be reversed and will continue for hundreds, and more likely thousands of years. Sulfuric acid runoff from the massive volume of waste rock piles and strip mine pits will leach into our surface waters and groundwater if not effectively controlled and treated. This kind of control has not yet been demonstrated. A metallic sulfide mine has never failed to pollute its watershed.

Our good neighbors in Wisconsin have found an effective control measure for sulfide mining. They have legislatively enacted a moratorium that will permit sulfide mining only after it has been demonstrated that it has been done elsewhere safely for 10 years and that such a mine has been closed for 10 years without any negative aftereffects. So far no company has been able to meet the criteria of this law. Minnesota has not yet adopted this kind of caution to protect our environment.

A new Canadian mining company, PolyMet is presently in the permitting process with Minnesota's DNR, including an environmental impact statement (EIS) which is due out soon, to be followed by a brief period of public input. The proposed mine site is just outside of Babbitt MN, and surrounded by the Partridge River, a Lake Superior tributary. If PolyMet is allowed to proceed, it will set off a ripple effect, with many other mining companies ready to pursue prospects of their own. These new mining prospects will expand mining into new areas of the Arrowhead country, including the Spruce Road area near Birch Lake, less than 1 mile from the BWCA. Settled areas such as the Bassett-Fairbanks community, could be next, with more than 9000 acres of 50-year mineral rights leases recently purchased from the state in that area.

Even though our iron mining industry is healthy, our politicians are anxious to bring even more non-diversified non-sustainable industrial growth to Minnesota's Arrowhead. Rep. James Oberstar has introduced a bill in the House to facilitate the sale of 6,700 acres of Superior National Forest land to PolyMet, without waiting for the results of the EIS, and without possibility of appeal of its authority or provisions. The bill, HR4292, sets a dangerous precedent of sale of such a large parcel of national forest land to a foreign, private industry without public input.

North Shore Watershed Watch and ACTNOW, the groups which organized this meeting, believe that the environmental problems such an industry would bring to our water-rich environment are not being adequately addressed or shared with the public. After viewing the evening's presentation, most of those in attendance, including residents who traveled from Brimson and Ely areas, agreed and were looking for ways to express their anger and frustration.

Other questions coming from the group which should be considered in deciding about the future of this industry in our state were: how long are the jobs generated locally likely to last? Do domestic or foreign companies stand to profit most from extraction of these minerals? Where are the markets for the minerals – we all use them, but would these be used domestically or go to China, India, etc.? What is the rush – the minerals aren't going anywhere are they? There will still be a market for them after however many years it takes to find out if they can be mined safely. Has there been an energy budget proposed for this industry? Given the rising cost and diminishing supply of energy, will it have to compete with the taconite industry for energy? And the taconite industry requires clean water – will they be working at cross purposes on that front too? You mean, I can't run over a cattail with my ATV, but a Canadian mining company can destroy a thousand acres of wetlands? So, this is like a grand experiment with our forests and water resources?

Will the financial benefit to today's generation be at the expense of tomorrow's generation? Only our descendants' will be able to answer that question.

Todd Ronning

Two Harbors MN

Reader wants water skips in harbor to continue

2008-06-26T19:11:00.003-05:00

Gmail - Disappointed in City Council decision! - truenorthgm@gmail.com:

I am a citizen of Cook County that has been attending the water skips activities in the Grand Marais harbor during various times of the year. I am greatly disappointed in the city council’s decision to not allow this event any longer. I feel that not enough research and time was spent looking into this topic before a decision was made.

The city may not have known that permission was needed from the Coast Guard to have the water skips, but we did. We have worked with them the previous 2 years to make sure it was a safe event that followed their guidelines. We followed their 30 min rule about retrieving a sunken snowmobile, we followed their rules regarding fire extinguishers and buoys attached to our sleds. We even made sure to stay in the area that was roped off for us and to not get to close to the many people who came to enjoy this event. We will now work to try and get our activity back, and I think that the city council should work with us. There is nothing for anyone over the age of 15 do during Fisherman’s Picnic, and now that the water skips aren’t happening, I have absolutely no reason to go downtown or spend any money. This event not only brought local people into town to watch it, but it also brought new people into Cook County who wanted to partake in this event. It also drew more people than any other event during Fisherman's Picnic down to watch. Let's all work together and get this great asset to Fisherman's Picnic back!!

Amanda Plummer

Oppose Rep. Oberstar's HR 4292 Bill

2008-06-21T22:56:00.003-05:00

Oberstar's HR 4292 is a "sellout": Selling Superior Forest land to Polymet for its disastrous proposed copper-nickel-palladium mine near Hoyt Lakes and within the Duluth area watershed:

Please link to this Duluth Tribune story by John Myers, who has written extensively on this issue, and let Rep. Oberstar know this sale of forest land to a private mining company with intent to destroy the environment is unacceptable.

-True

On the Internet

Oppose Rep. Oberstar's HR 4292 Bill Superior National Forest Land Adjustment Act of 2007 This bill would sell 6,700 acres of Superior National Forest public land to PolyMet, a Canadian mining company. The main purpose of this bill is to avoid Federal environmental protections for public land near the BWCAW!

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/rss.cfm?id=67963&freebie_check&CFID=43336610&CFTOKEN=22072022&jsessionid=8830129b032e39576a23

Bill sells Superior National Forest land to Polymet

John Myers Duluth News Tribune
Published Friday, June 06, 2008

Legislation in the U.S. House would sell 6,700 acres in the Superior National Forest to the Polymet copper company without an environmental assessment or public input.

The federal land is precisely where the company hopes to mine for copper, nickel, platinum and palladium as early as next year.

It would be the first major sale of Superior Forest land to a private company.

The bill, HR 4292, introduced by U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., has not advanced in any committee.

Without legislation, the Forest Service is prohibited from selling any land to a private party, though exceptions are made for tracts smaller than 10 acres, said Jim Sanders, supervisor of the Superior National Forest.

Instead, the Forest Service usually trades land with property owners. The Forest Service has been negotiating with Polymet for about a year to exchange the land for other land in or near the Superior National Forest, Sanders said. But a land exchange of this size is more cumbersome, forcing Polymet to find multiple willing sellers, bargain over price and acquire purchase agreements.

The legislation would require the Forest Service to use money from the sale to buy private land of equal value in or near the Superior National Forest boundary. The bill exempts the land sale from a separate environmental review, but supporters note that an environmental review of the mining project is under way.

Supporters say the bill simply speeds up the process of trading the mine land for other forested land.

“The legislation gets us to the same end, the same result as a land exchange,” Sanders said. “It’s the same value, the same appraisal process, whether it’s a sale or exchange.”

Selling the land directly to Polymet probably would speed up the process by a year or so because it avoids the environmental assessment required with a land exchange and allows the Forest Service to deal with directly with willing sellers.

“We think it avoids a lot of duplication on the environmental assessment. … And it saves a lot of time and effort for both us and the Forest Service,” said Latisha Gietzen, Polymet vice president of public, environmental and government affairs.

Mineral rights vs. land ownership

Sanders said the Forest Service purchased the land from U.S. Steel in the 1930s but has never owned the mineral rights below the surface. Polymet controls those mineral rights.

Polymet officials say they had been moving ahead with mining plans, assuming their mineral rights “superseded” surface ownership, Gietzen said. Regional U.S. Forest Service officials last year informed the company that they didn’t hold the same legal opinion.

Rather than battle it out, the two sides agreed on the legislation to sell the land, Gietzen said. But if that fails, the company still could try to sue the government to gain access to the minerals.

“We certainly can challenge their opinion. … But nobody wants to go that route,” Gietzen said.

Because the 6,700 acres is surrounded by mining-related activities — a railroad to the south and an active taconite mine to the north — Sanders said it makes sense to sell the land and use the proceeds to buy other, more environmentally sensitive land closer to the heart of the forest.

The forest covers more than 3 million acres; about 2 million of that is owned by the federal government. There are hundreds of tracts of private, state and county-owned land within the forest boundaries.

Sanders said he is eying private land in the Kawishiwi River area, near Trout Lake, the Fernberg corridor and near Mud Lake, where landowners are willing to sell and where “it makes sense to consolidate our holdings.”

But critics of copper mining in the north woods say the legislation seems to offer a special deal to the mining company.

The land in question includes undeveloped forest and 1,200 acres of wetlands, said John Doberstein of Duluth, chairman of the Mining Without Harm committee of the Minnesota Sierra Club. The bill was introduced in December with no announcement.

“Not only does the bill exempt them from doing an Environmental Impact Statement [on the sale], it also sets a dangerous precedent of taking public land and transferring it to a private company for their profit without any public input,” Doberstein said. “This really seems to fast-track the land sale for the convenience of the company, without any regard whether this is the right thing to do with the forest.”

Critics say that copper mines in other areas of the world have almost always brought extreme environmental problems.

John Schadl, an Oberstar spokesman, said the bill was introduced at the request of the Forest Service and Polymet to speed the company toward mining operations.

“It’s an effort to expedite the process but still do it in an environmentally sound way,” Schadl said. “And the bill as it is now [will] not be the same bill that moves. … There will be some changes.”

No Senate version has been introduced yet.

Congressional action to sell national forest land to private parties is not unheard of, Sanders said. About a dozen such bills have been passed in the past decade, he said.

Polymet would be Minnesota’s first copper-nickel mine. But Polymet is only one of several companies eyeing rich deposits of copper, nickel, platinum and palladium under northern Minnesota forests and lakes. The interest is being sparked by record-breaking prices for those minerals and new technology that make it easier to separate copper from other rock.

Polymet is the farthest along toward developing those minerals and has purchased land, processing equipment and buildings from the former LTV Mining site near Hoyt Lakes. The company’s proposed open pit mine on federal property is several miles away toward Babbitt and would be connected by railroad to the processing plant.

http://www.sosbluewaters.org/oberstar.htm

Alert on HR 4292: Superior National Forest Land Adjustment Act of 2007

Link to bill ; http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-4292

This bill would sell Superior National Forest public land to a mining company in order to avoid public

environmental review and environmental protections !

HR 4292 mandates a sale of approximately 6,700 forested/wetland acres of Superior National Forest land near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, to PolyMet, Inc., a Canadian company hoping to open the first metallic sulfide copper strip mine in Minnesota. The U.S. Forest Service owns the surface rights to the land, but not the mineral rights. The underlying purpose of this bill would be to benefit the mining company by eluding steps in the standard land exchange process which includes public comment and environmental review.

PolyMet Mining proposed NorthMet site

Click on image to enlarge

Mineral Ownership of the Superior National Forest

Progressing with land transfer before completion of the environmental process

According to HR 4292, the U.S. Forest Service would be given required to sell 6,700 acres of public land to PolyMet before completion of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This is contrary to the National Environmental Policy Act (1969) and negates the purpose of the EIS, which is to allow for disclosure of environmental impacts of an action and for public input. There is an existing process for the Forest Service to exchange lands with private companies but exchange takes place after review that is open to the public in the form of an Environmental Impact Statement. This bill would circumvent that existing process.

This bill would also require the U.S. Forest Service to assume the responsibility for wetland replacement credits over a ten year period. The Army Corps of Engineers, in conjunction with the Forest Service, is responsible for assessing impacts and mitigation alternatives for wetlands as part of the PolyMet EIS process. In addition, the Wetland Conservation Act of Minnesota is intended to prevent further loss of wetlands within the State. Thus HR 4292 is contrary to both Federal and State law.

HR 4292 further disregards public input by specifically denying appeal of the outcome.

Special favors for mining companies

The U. S. Forest Service owns less than half of the mineral estate in the Superior National Forest and in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Likewise, the Forest Service lacks mineral rights to many of its lands nationwide. This bill, if passed, could set precedence for the sale of public lands to private mining companies across the country. It would also open the doors for a dozen other mining companies who are currently exploring the Duluth Complex of rocks throughout Minnesota and other sulfide mineral deposits in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. These sulfide-bearing rocks encompass an area that extends underneath the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and between Voyageurs National Park and Lake Superior, before dipping down into the southern part of the state.

Ignoring potential harm to the environment

At the same time that a bill designed solely to help PolyMet bypass existing environmental and public disclosure law is being circulated through the halls of Congress, PolyMet is downplaying the potential effects of acid mine drainage. Sulfuric acid is a byproduct of metallic sulfide mining and in all previous mines required perpetual treatment of any affected watershed.

PolyMet spokesmen claim their company is "following all of Minnesota's environmental laws." HR 4292 seems contradictory to this statement.

Action requested Concerned citizens need to contact their U.S. representative, and Minnesota senators Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman in opposition to HR 4292. More specifically, citizens can request an explanation from Rep. Oberstar regarding the intention of this bill to circumvent current environmental law, to sell public land for private investment, and to ignore opportunity for public input as part of the environmental impact statement process.

Primary Contact;

Senator Amy Klobuchar http://klobuchar.senate.gov/

E-Mail: senator@klobuchar.senate.gov

Toll Free: 1-888-224-9043

302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
phone: 202-224-3244
fax: 202-228-2186

1200 Washington Avenue South, Suite 250
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Main Line: 612-727-5220
Main Fax: 612-727-5223
Toll Free: 1-888-224-9043

1134 7th Street NW
Rochester, MN 55901
Main Line: 507-288-5321
Fax: 507-288-2922

121 4th Street South
Moorhead, MN 56560
Main Line: 218-287-2219
Fax: 218-287-2930

Olcott Plaza, Suite 105
820 9th Street North
Virginia, MN 55792
Main Line: 218-741-9690
Fax:218-741-3692

Senator Norm Coleman http://coleman.senate.gov/

E-Mail coleman.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Washington Office:
320 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Main: 202-224-5641
Fax: 202-224-1152
Scheduling: 202-228-1503

Minnesota Office in St. Paul:
2550 University Ave W, Suite 100N
St. Paul, MN 55114
Main: 651-645-0323
Fax: 651-645-3110
Toll Free: 800-642-6041

Minnesota Office in Mankato:
12 Civic Center Plaza
Suite 2167
Mankato, Minnesota 56001
Main: 507-625-6800
Fax: 507-625-9427

Minnesota Office in Grand Rapids:
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Northeast 3rd Street
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
Main: 218-327-9333
Fax: 218-327-8637

Minnesota Office in Moorhead:
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Moorhead, MN 56560

IEN news release

The Sale of Federal Lands to a Mining Company in the 1854 Treaty Area of Minnesota

Representative James Oberstar from Minnesota’s 8^th congressional district has introduced HR 4292 in the U.S. House of Representatives. This act, titled - the Superior National Forest Land Adjustment Act of 2007 – would, require the Secretary of Agriculture to sell certain lands in Superior National Forest in Minnesota to Polymet Mining Company within 180 days of enactment. The act requires:

(1) The sale of 6,700 acres of Forest Service lands;

(2) The first offer for the sale of the lands under this Act is to be made to Poly Met Mining, Inc explicitly for the purposes of strip mining;

(3) Elimination of the requirement for public disclosure and environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Compliance under NEPA is usually met by the writing and review of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that informs the Secretary, affected federally recognized Tribes, and the public about possible environmental impacts of a federal land exchange. A major environmental impact will be the mining company dredging or filling with mine waste 1,200 acres of wetlands included in this sale adjacent to the Partridge River, a tributary of the St. Louis River. The St. Louis River flows through the Fond du Lac Indian reservation on it’s way to Lake Superior.

(4) There can be no administrative appeal of the sale.

(5) The sale must take place within 180 days of the enactment of the act.

This legislation would create a precedent by which the Superior National Forest could sell public lands each time a mine gets close to the permitting phase of development. This act relieves the Forest Service from their responsibilities to protect public lands here in Minnesota. This could become a precedent elsewhere each time a federal land agency chooses to ignore it’s mandated management responsibilities on order to expedite mining operations.

Exchanges of federal land routinely happen all over the country. The Bureau of Land management and U.S. Forest Service conduct approximately three hundred land exchanges annually. There is a process delineated in law (the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976) that describes how this happens for both Bureau of Land Management holdings as well as U.S. Forest Service. There is no need to introduce legislation that circumvents existing law. There is a time tested federal process in place that gives the Secretary of Agriculture, the public, and Federally Recognized Indian tribes input into the land exchange process. While this process does not guarantee that all concerns are addressed, it guarantees that concerns are heard. The proposed legislation would take away the right for all citizens as well as other state, tribal, and federal agencies to have their voices heard on this land exchange.

This sale will have, as yet, undetermined impacts on treaty-reserved rights in the 1854 treaty area. There will be both short-term significant environmental consequences in the form of filling or draining approximately 1,200 acres of wetland and long term environmental and water quality degradation in the form of discharge from large waste rock piles. Loss of wetlands coupled with runoff from the mine waste stored on this site can adversely affect water quality as well as other cultural, and natural resources for miles downstream from the mine site. Chemicals from existing iron mines have already been detected in the St. Louis River where it enters the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation.

Let the Minnesota congressional delegation know that there is no need to sell this Forest Service land as proposed in HR 4292; there is an existing land exchange process that should not be circumvented. Let them know that all U.S. citizens and the tribes in the region have a right to express their views on the fate of this land. Let them know that there is an existing process for this type of transaction and that you favor the use of that process.

The author of H.R. 4292, The Superior National Forest Adjustment Act of 2007, is:

Congressman James L Oberstar

Eighth Congressional District of Minnesota

Duluth Federal Building, Room 231

Duluth, Minnesota 55802

(218) 727-7474

TDD: (218) 727-7474

FAX: (218) 727-8270

2365 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

(202) 225-6211

FAX: (202) 225-0699

http://www.oberstar.org/contact/

In the Senate, Amy Klobuchar is considering the introduction of companion legislation:

Senator Amy Klobuchar

1200 Washington Avenue South, Suite 250

Minneapolis, MN 55415

Main Line: 612-727-5220

Main Fax: 612-727-5223

302 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Phone: 202-224-3244

Fax: 202-228-2186

senator@klobuchar.senate.gov

For additional information, contact Robert Shimek, IEN Mining Projects Coordinator, 218-751-4967

Letter to the Duluth News Tribune-

To the editor:

I am writing to inform readers about H.R. 4292, the Superior National Forest Land Adjustment Act of 2007, which is being sponsored by U.S. Representative James Oberstar. The sole purpose of this bill is to fast track a land sale between the U.S. Forest Service and PolyMet, Inc. in anticipation of the permitting of PolyMet’s proposed metallic sulfide mine near Hoyt Lakes.

The U.S. Forest Service would be given the authority to sell 6,700 acres of public forest land to PolyMet without any environmental review of the sale (which goes against current Federal law) and to assume the responsibility for wetland replacement credits over a ten year period (which goes against current wetland policy). Any administrative appeal would be denied. This bill would specifically help facilitate the permitting process for PolyMet.

The bill, if enacted, would also set a precedent for the selling of public land to private mining companies nationwide, based upon the fact that the U.S. Forest Service does not often hold the mineral rights to its lands.

Considering that PolyMet spokesmen claim they are asking for no favors and are following all of Minnesota’s environmental regulations, it seems a little strange that a bill designed solely for the benefit of PolyMet is currently circulating through the U.S. Congress.

At the same time, PolyMet is downplaying the effects of acid mine drainage, a problem associated with metallic sulfide mines, and which basically requires perpetual treatment. I believe it’s time for area citizens to take a closer look at the effects that the permitting of an entirely new mining industry will have upon the Arrowhead Region, and upon future generations.

Please let your elected officials know that you oppose this bill.

Sincerely,

Elanne Palcich

Chisholm, Minnesota

218-969-9557/218-254-3754

Blog-

http://www.theenvironmentsite.org:80/forum/environmental-news-discussion-forum/12434-6700-acres-superior-national-forest-being-sold-polymet-mng-no-eis-no-hearing.html

6700 acres of Superior National Forest being sold to POLYMET mng, NO EIS, NO hearing

Why is the National Forest Service selling 6700 acres of SUPERIOR NATL FOREST, MN, to Polymet, with no EIS??

There is a bill in Legislature in Minnesota to allow the National Forest Service to sell, directly to Polymet mining, 6700 acres of Superior National Forest, with no public hearing, no Environmental Impact Statement, nothing. that land includes 1200+ acres of wetlands.

My question is: why would the NFS suddenly, with no notice, place a bill to sell DIRECTLY, with NO public input, land to a mining company, land...that is the publics land?

Incidentally, Polymet intends to, within 12 months, have an open pit mining operation in place and active in that land. Have you seen what damage an open pit copper mine DOES to the earth?

WHY ARE WE ALLOWING THIS?

Contact your fellow environmentalists and please, make this an issue of contention. Its important!!!

Representative Jim Oberstar http://www.oberstar.house.gov//

E-Mail: http://wwwc.house.gov/oberstar/zipauth.htm

D.C. Office
2365 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-6211

Duluth Office
231 Federal Building
Duluth, MN 55802
(218) 727-7474

Chisholm Office
City Hall, 316 Lake St.
Chisholm, MN 55719
(218) 254-5761

Brainerd Office
City Hall, 501 Laurel St.
Brainerd, MN 54601
(218) 828-4400

North Branch Office
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North Branch, MN 55056
(651) 277-1234

Contacting Office of the Governor http://www.governor.state.mn.us/contacts/index.htm

To contact Governor Tim Pawlenty and Lt. Governor Carol Molnau, please write, phone, fax or e-mail.

Mailing Address:

Office of the Governor
130 State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

Other ways to reach our office:

Telephone: (651) 296-3391
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Facsimile: (651) 296-2089
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Contact Congress

http://www.mfc.org/grass/congress.htm

First District
Congressman Timothy J Walz(DFL)

Washington, DC Office:
1529 Longworth HOB
Washington DC 20515
ph: (202) 225-2472
fax: (202) 225-3433

Manakato Office:
227 E Main St
Suite 220
Mankato, MN 56001
ph: (507)388-2149
fax: (507) 388-6181

Rochester Office:
1134 7th St NW
Rochester, MN 55901
ph:(507)206-0643
fax: (507)206-0650

E-Mail:
Web site: http://walz.house.gov

Second District
Congressman John Kline (R)

101 E. Burnsville Parkway, Ste 210
Burnsville, MN 55337
952-808-1213
Fax 952-808-1261

1429 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-2271
Fax 202-225-2595

Internet e-mail: http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Web site: http://www.house.gov/kline/

Third District
Congressman Jim Ramstad (R)

1809 Plymouth Rd S, Suite 300
Minnetonka, MN 55305
952-738-8200
Fax: 952-738-9362

103 Cannon House Office Bldg
Washington DC 20015
202-225-2871
Fax: 202-225-6351

E-mail: mn03@mail.house.gov
Web site: http://www.house.gov/ramstad

Fourth District
Congressman Betty McCollum (DFL)

165 Western Ave N, Suite 17
St. Paul, Minnesota 55102
651-224-9191
Fax: 651-224-3056

1029 Longworth House Office Bldg
Washington DC 20515
202-225-6631
Fax: 202-225-1968

E-Mail: http://www.mccollum.house.gov/index.asp?Type=NONE&SEC={AC61FD79-AD5F-440D-A7F0-555B12349E5B}
Web site: http://www.house.gov/mccollum/

Fifth District
Congressman Keith Ellison (DFL)

2100 Plymouth Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55411
Phone: (612) 522-1212
Fax: (612) 522-9915

1130 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4755
Fax: (202) 225-4886

E-Mail:
Web site: http://ellison.house.gov/index.shtml

Sixth District
Congressman Michele Bachmann (R)

6043 Hudson Rd
Suite 330
Woodbury, MN 55125
Phone: 651-731-5400
Fax: 651-731-6650

412 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2331

E-mail:
Web site: http://bachmann.house.gov/index.shtml

Seventh District
Congressman Collin Peterson (DFL)

714 Lake Ave Ste 107 Detroit Lakes MN 56501 218-847-5056 Fax: 218-847-5109	320 S Fourth St, Centre Point Mall Willmar, MN 56201 320-235-1061 Fax: 320-235-2651
Minnesota Wheat Growers Bldg 2603 Wheat Dr Red Lake Falls MN 56750 218-253-4356 Fax: 218-253-4373	2159 Rayburn House Office Bldg Washington DC 20515 202-225-2165 Fax: 202-225-1593

E-Mail: tocollin.peterson@mail.house.gov
Web site: http://www.house.gov/collinpeterson/

t r u t h o u t | Bush, Musharraf, Ahmadinejad Least Trusted Leaders

2008-06-18T19:03:00.003-05:00

t r u t h o u t | Bush, Musharraf, Ahmadinejad Least Trusted Leaders

True laughed out loud, an uncommon behavior in these precarious latter days of Worst President Ever, who is however SO OVER.
Here's the funny (really, not so funny) news: That a survey of people in 20 countries found Dubya the Decider the 3rd WORST in terms of trust. Who outranked him? Number one, Musharraf, that Pakastani dictator who everybody but Bushco and the neocons love to hate, with only 18 percent trust rate. Number two, that tricky fellow Ahmadinejab of Iran, who DARES to challenge the American Empire and courts nuclear war with his defiance., with an actual 22 percent trust rate (Noted here: the MSM press use "defiant" to undermine a person, as was done by AP today in calling Obama "defiant" because he actually stood up to a McCain attack).
AND THE NUMBER THREE LEAST TRUSTED WORLD LEADER: King George Dubya Bush with the astonishing trust rate of 23 percent! Dig it!

The World's Longest ATV Parade is here!

2008-06-14T14:42:00.007-05:00

WebEvent: Show Single Event
This link gives you all the skinny on that hoped-for world-record-breaking parade of ATVers gathered in Silver Bay today. That's right folks, today. They're expecting 2,500 people from all over the country, loud and proud, to ride some 50 miles of trails and play lots of fun games and churn up some topsoil and spew some fumes into the air.
It's the 25th anniversary of the All-Terrain Vehicle Association of Minnesota. Reason enough to bring out the storm troopers, last gathered two years ago in Harlan County, Kentucky, that bastion of coal mining greed where moutaintops are getting cut off and thrown down. A little ATV erosion seems but a small thing next to that, n'est-ce pas?
Here's where the rest of the world discovers the newest ATV destination: the North Shore!

Michael Winship on media reform and the economy

2008-06-14T14:14:00.008-05:00

http://www.truthout.org/article/media-reformers-its-economy

This piece, written for Truthout by Michael Winship, and reprinted here, is the second in a series about the amazing National Conference on Media Reform and its implications for True, Cook County and the nation.
-True

Last weekend's National Conference on Media Reform in Minneapolis was a freewheeling, articulate, committed gathering of activists, policy wonks and everyday citizens dedicated to the idea that there can be no real democracy without a media democracy - independent reporting from diverse communities free of the interference and spin of government and big business. Perhaps, nowhere else can you witness an FCC commissioner like Michael Copps get a rock-star-like standing ovation worthy of Mick Jagger, or hear the words, 'Common carrier rules are hot!'
Some 3,500 assembled to participate in panels and hear a range of speakers that included my colleague Bill Moyers, Senator Byron Dorgan, Center for Internet and Society founder Lawrence Lessig, Naomi Klein, Louise Erdrich and Dan Rather. Participants grappled with mobilizing grass roots movements around such hot-button issues as continuing big media consolidation and net neutrality - the latter two words perhaps more elegantly phrased as "Internet freedom" - keeping cyberspace open and accessible to all, regardless of income. As Moyers has pointed out, neutrality sounds too much like Switzerland, and as my colleague Patric Verrone, president of the Writers Guild, West, says, the notion of fighting for neutrality seems oxymoronic. So, "Internet freedom" it is.
Marty Kaplan, director of the University of Southern California's Norman Lear Center, told those gathered they were a crowd that "may not color inside the lines but sure can connect the dots." Yet, as perceptive and informed as attendees were, sadly absent from the weekend's energetic dialogues was any significant discussion of this country's economy, the vast gap between rich and poor, the way gross inequality in such desperate times is being largely ignored by the media, our candidates and the progressive movement.
"The economic crisis is just not that compelling or sexy to the many progressives who are stirred into action by every ugly utterance by Bill O'Reilly," media activist and journalist Danny Schecter writes. "... Cheering on political personalities or mounting one more issue oriented e-mail campaign is certainly easier than confronting the economic and power imbalances caused by the structural conflicts in our economy."
Schecter goes on to quote an executive with the Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank, who describes our current situation as, "A CRISIS OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS." The exec elaborates: "I'm not talking New Testament biblical; I'm talking Old Testament hellfire and brimstone. This is the worst credit crisis we've ever seen."
Thirty-six and a half million Americans - one in eight Americans, one in six children - that we KNOW of, because there are no good ways to really measure - live below the official federal poverty level, $20,000 a year for a family of four. Half of us - half! - will have gone through a year or more of poverty by the time we turn 60.
In contrast, behold the woeful case of Alan Schwartz, former CEO of the now defunct investment bank Bear Stearns. As that company nosedived last year, with subprime mortgage hedge funds crashing in flames, Schwartz relinquished his usual annual bonus, which meant his total compensation for 2007 and the prior four years was a piddling $141 million. Poor guy had to rent out his 7,800 square-foot house in the New York suburbs and squat at his new, $28 million Manhattan apartment; his seven-acre home in Greenwich, Connecticut; and his Colorado condo. Just a couple of weeks ago, shareholders approved Bear Stearns's merger with JP Morgan, which received $30 billion in taxpayer-funded, federal loan guarantees to take over what little was left.
John McCain says the fundamentals of the economy are strong, but admits it's a subject he doesn't know a lot about. He counts among his economic advisers Carly Fiorina, fired chief executive of Hewlett Packard, where, you'll recall, she was accused of breathtaking mismanagement and street-bully tactics. Of her role in the McCain campaign, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of the Yale School of Management told The New York Times, "You couldn't pick a worse, non-imprisoned C.E.O. to be your standard-bearer."
Among McCain's other top advisers are John Green and Wayne Berman, who received $720,000 in lobbying fees from Ameriquest Mortgage, one of the noteworthy, predatory lenders in the country's mortgage mess. As The New York Daily News reported this past spring, Ameriquest, which has since been bought out by Citigroup, "was forced to settle suits with 49 states for $325 million. More than 13,680 New York homeowners got taken for a ride by the company, records show."
Barack Obama believes our current economic crisis is "the logical conclusion of a tired and misguided philosophy that has dominated Washington for far too long." Nonetheless, his economic policy director, Jason Furman, has been a defender of Wal-Mart and was director of former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin's Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, a group of Wall Street Democrats committed to continuing Bill Clinton's economic doctrine - i.e., growth based on deficit reduction and free trade.
Until his resignation Wednesday, Obama's team also included Jim Johnson, ex-Mondale chief of staff and former CEO of Fannie Mae, the government-sanctioned banker that buys and resells loans from other banks and lenders. According to The Wall Street Journal, Johnson, who was leading the search for Obama's running mate, was given preferential treatment when he received $2 million in personal loans from one of Fannie Mae's biggest customers, subprime lender Countrywide Financial Services.
A front page story in Wednesday's Washington Post added that Johnson was also "the beneficiary of accounting in which Fannie Mae's earnings were manipulated so that executives could earn larger bonuses. The accounting manipulation for 1998 resulted in the maximum payouts to Fannie Mae's senior executives - $1.9 million in Johnson's case - when the company's performance that year would have otherwise resulted in no bonuses at all, according to reports in 2004 and 2006 by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight."
Both candidates need economic advisers untainted by association with corporate interests, folks who know what it's like to have to live on macaroni instead of meat, to spend sleepless nights in subways or shelters, to let diseases like cancer and diabetes gnaw away at a person's insides because they can't afford medicine and doctors. And the media need to tell their stories, not only to make the rest of us aware and stir us to action, but also to validate and empower with web space, column inches and airtime the plight of those so afflicted, to bring dignity and gravitas to their predicament. Attention must be paid.

It's our turn now

2008-06-10T21:03:00.001-05:00

“I gotta tell you, these people are crazy…the furthest left people in the face of America,” Bill O’Reilly told his loyal fanatics about the 3,500 illustrious journalists and activists who attended the National Conference on Media Reform in Minneapolis last weekend. He was trashing people like press legends Bill Moyers and Dan Rather, Sen. Byron Dorgan, FCC member Jonathan Adelstein, Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, Nation editor Katrina van den Heuvel, award-winning blogger Ariana Huffington, Stanford genius prof Larry Lessig, novelist Louise Erdrich, True, and lots of other very, very smart people. All of them are dedicated to a free and independent press, guaranteed in our Constitution but decimated by corporate media owners and their hate-mongering shills. Thanks to Murdoch-style media consolidation, 2,400 senior journalists took buyouts last year. Now these folks don’t have to be censored by their bosses any more and they are making the most of it.
For once BillO didn’t have the last word. He made the fatal mistake of sending a reporter to videotape the conference, and Noah Kunin from The Uptake followed this Foxy guy around. There was a stellar scene when Bill Moyers called O’Reilly a pugilist and a blowhard, but not a journalist. The time of hate media is so over. True is so overjoyed. You can catch this magic moment on YouTube. Find the link at http://www.freepress.net.
Scripture tells us that the Last shall be First. And so, I’ll begin this story about the conference at its end. The charismatic closing speaker Van Jones told the wowed crowd, “It’s our turn now. It’s 40 years ago this weekend that we lost Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Van predicted that Barack Obama will win in November but will not necessarily win a second term unless the deep, deep crises of poverty, energy, war, media consolidation, and the devastating and rapacious corruption of the “Dragons on the Right” are addressed in his first term. Van says FDR’s New Deal has to be the model for change that addresses our 21st century problems of poverty and global warming: put people to work providing green energy solutions like the New Deal put people to work rebuilding America’s infrastructure.

Van asked his joyous and energized closing audience to do five things in the service of a pro-democracy movement to save the First Amendment. “We need to unleash the best in the country. The stakes are high, high.”
One: Hold the new President accountable, but HOLD him too.”
Two: Move from agitation to education; there is no longer only one right (PC) way. Meaning that the movement needs to embrace all people of good will and not only the ones who name everybody else as sellouts.
Three: Keep us united. We need each other, need ALL the Democratic leaders. The Clintons and the Edwards and the Kennedys, we all can work together.
Four: Don’t give up on your ideals in the face of challenges and setbacks. Tell the naysayers, “We have plenty of money—strip it out of the Pentagon budget, take it from the jailers.”
Five: Remember how it was after 9/11 when people turned the flag into a war flag, how lonely it was; remember the sick Reality TV of Hurricane Katrina. Remember when we didn’t have any power. Remember when homophobes divided our families and created shattered young suicides in the name of Family Values.
“Those days are over now. Everybody in the Family has Value. We get to be the people now:
Big now.
Wise now.
Proud now.
“We will finally, 40 years later, be the generation NOT to ‘Take America Back,’ but that takes America forward.”
And to cheers and tears and shouts and hugs and promises and hope, the fifth National Conference for Media Reform came to a close.

Obama! The world rejoices, the nutcakes rant

2008-06-04T19:41:00.002-05:00

Though you might not know it from reading the MSM, the whole world is rejoicing with the nomination of Barack Obama. Of course as progressives and people of good will we also are happy, but do we really know HOW happy we should be? Consider these awesome words: "America, this is our moment. This is our time:"

America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.

The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment — this was the time — when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. -Barack Obama on claiming the 2008 Dem presidential nomination.

AND NOW.... look at the craziness making the rounds on the Internet. Again you won't see THIS in the MSM or even in the progressive media! Honestly, sometimes True thinks his friends have their heads up their.... er, I mean, in the sand. If you don't think McCain, a Bushie clone, can possibly win because of the 68 percent against failed policies, think again. This kind of Swift-boating stuff is pure poison, the more so because all those folks who send it on saying, "This is interesting" are just dumb enough to believe it. Come on, read it, don't say you don't want to spoil your happy day. Know your enemy:

http://snopes.com confirms this is factual. Check for yourself. Look in the box on the left side of the screen and click on Barack Obama - what they say wil chill you to the core!

IF THIS IS TRUE NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT. WHAT IS IN THE BIBLE WILL TAKE PLACE .

A man will come from the east...

MAY WE ALL PRAY FOR WISDOM AND DISCERNMENT

AND PRAY FOR EACH OTHER AS WE MAKE THIS DECISION

OF A LIFETIME! OUR LIVES, CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN'S

LIVES WILL BE CHANGED FOREVER BECAUSE OF OUR CHOICE

THIS ELECTION. MAY GOD BE WITH US ALL!

God help us if this man is elected!! But it is all stated in the Bible

and it will happen sooner or later. This is from Darlene Millican,

wife of the pastor of Trinity Baptist Church here in Sun City I have felt

for sometime now that Obama is the one person that 'Frightens Me'.

I believe the Bible has warned us that 'A man will come from the East

that will be charismatic in nature and have proposed solutions for all our

problems and his rhetoric will attract many supporters!' When will our

pathetic Nation quit turning their back on God and understand that this

man is 'A Muslim'... First, Last and always... and we are AT WAR with

the Muslim Nation, whether our bleeding-heart, secular, Liberal friends

believe it or not. This man fits every description from the Bible of the

'Anti-Christ'! I'm just glad to know that there are others that are frightened

by this man! Who is Barack Obama? Very interesting and something that

should be considered in your choice. If you do not ever forward anything else,

please forward this to all your contacts... this is very scary to think of what lies

ahead of us here in our own United States ... better heed this and pray about it

and share it.

Who is Barack Obama?

Probable U. S. presidential candidate, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu ,

Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel,

Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHEIST from Wichita , Kansas Obama's parents

met at the University of Hawaii . When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced.

His father returned to Kenya . His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL

Muslim from Indonesia . When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to

Indonesia Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta . He also spent two

years in a Catholic school. Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that

he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, 'He was once a Muslim, but that

he also attended Catholic school.' Obama's political handlers are attempting to

make it appear that that he is not a radical. Obama's introduction to Islam came

via his father, and that this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior

Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct

influence over his son's education. Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama's

mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a

Wahabi school in Jakarta . Wahabism is the RADICAL teaching that is followed

by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world.

Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major

public office in the United States , Barack Hussein Obama has joined the

United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background.

Barack Hussein Obama will NOT recite the Pledge of Allegiance nor will he

show any reverence for our flag. While others place their hands over their hearts,

Obama turns his back to the flag and slouches. Do you want someone like this

as your PRESIDENT? Let us all remain alert concerning Obama's expected

Presidential candidacy. The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the

US from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level -

through the President of the United States , one of their own! The Bible says

'He will come from among you!'

Press gives free full-page ads to Lutsen Mountain owners

2008-06-02T20:27:00.003-05:00

Both the Star and the News Herald have strict policies about word limits on their editorial pages. Lots of just plain folks as well as elected officials have gotten the brush-off when they attempted to exceed the limits, maybe because they were writing about an issue too complex to cover in 400 words.
Not so the Poplar River Management Board, that thinly veiled cover for the owners of Lutsen Mountain who want a North Shore Aspen of megadevelopment to add to the already overtaxed Poplar River...
No, both papers gave these folks a full page, right a full page, presumably without charging for the advertising that their devious spin on the facts amounted to.
Corporate owners don't deserve to get public support, period. And when they are part of the problem they darned well ought to pay for the solution, and not pass it on to the hapless residents who can so ill afford to pay more taxes.
True

Trolling for terrorists: what does that look like?

2008-06-01T19:58:00.004-05:00

Mulling over the wonderful story and editorial comments by Jane Howard about the sad court case of the Border Patrol agent in the death of Dr. Ken Petersen....
Howard said she is glad to know that the Border Patrol is there to stop terrorists from coming in through Canada... Well, then, how do those PaTrollers stop those Terrists (as they are called by our Fearless Decider)? Do they recognize them by their assault weapons, or their camouflage gear? Or is it the color of their skin? Or maybe the faintly Arabic cast of their features? Is there some secret sign that they are taught in their Terrist Training? Or is this just one more instance of racist profiling?
It seems that driving up and down the Gunflint Trail is one of the big ways the Border Trollers carry on their fearless hunt. What exactly are they looking to find? Hmm, True looks a little scruffy, like much of Cook County, when he goes off fishing. Is scruffiness a sign of Terrism? A couple of years ago, True's friend Toivo watched a scene in the Grand Marais Harbor parking lot, where a couple of tourist families in vans were having a picnic. Trouble was, those couple of families looked like they might be Middle Eastern. Toivo watched in astonishment as one after another Border Patrol vehicles appeared, slowly TROLLING by the innocent families, obviously trolling for terrists posing as tourists.
It makes True laugh and laugh that the mouthpiece hired to represent Weber quoted bloggers and even our wonderful Sheriff Falk to prove that in Cook County the Border Patrol is perceived as the enemy more than "invisible terrorists." Now why would we ever think that?
Well, silliness aside, at least give those Trollers some Driver Training and don't let them off the hook when they get well-deserved traffic tickets.
Immunity? Because Ms. Weber was diligently pursuing those invisible Terrists she gets to run down and kill a good man?
Honestly, what country are we living in? Maybe a Latin American dictatorship? That's what they do down there, folks, with the blessing of our big corporations like Coca Cola. But that's another story.
True

Border Patrol-Petersen case story: True salutes Jane Howard

2008-05-31T23:42:00.006-05:00

True nominates Jane Howard for the First Place Investigative Journalism in Cook County Award (an apocryphal but still powerful accolade). Her story, "Border Patrol agent seeks court elsewhere in vehicular death case," is a remarkable piece of journalism.
Jane did her homework and did it well, interviewing everybody concerned and taking good notes. Then she assembled the facts she gathered, as well as evidence regarding all those things that we all have been wondering and grieving about: how could it have happened? why did Ms. Weber fail to appear in court? what is her story about why she is not to blame for the death of a beloved resident? what will happen next to offer closure (if not justice) to county residents? are we really the ogres that Ms. Weber claims us to be? is the Border Patrol adequately trained to drive here? do the increasingly large number of agents have a clue about our community? is it appropriate for the DHS to impose Texas border rules on our quiet backwoods?
Well, True might (and has in the past) offer comments on all of the above questions, but the point is that Jane has raised them and brought them to a place where we can now have a community conversation. Ms. Weber has escaped the wrath of our traffic ticket. So it seems we can go ahead and dissect the lingering unanswered questions and sorrow that remain for us living here, that will perhaps never be resolved and yet in the seeking give us some peace of mind.

Don't trust DNR on ATVs

2008-05-31T23:21:00.002-05:00

Dear True,

If you are one of those who still trusts the DNR to do the right thing for the environment this webpage should completely eliminate that thought.
Anonymous

http://www.angelfire.com/mn3/dnrdocuments/HayCreek.html

Hay Creek ATV damage

The Hay Creek ATV damage site is on an 80 acre parcel of our state land within thousands of acres of Cass County land. Cass County controls the access and refuses to restrict ATV riders access.

On April 4, 2005 I was hiking my favorite trail and photo documenting the massive amount of ATV damage that is taking place on our public lands because of the do-nothing MN legislature and the MN DNR.

I came across severe ongoing erosion caused by ATV riders. The trail is a winter logging trail and is designed to be used only during winter when the ground is frozen. Beavers had dammed a flowage and caused the water to run down the trail as they had done in the past only this time the deep ATV ruts concentrated the flow. Without the root matt to hold the soil it was rapidly eroding into Hay Creek during fish spawning season.

This first series was taken as I walked towards Hay Creek on 4-4-05. It shows only a very small portion of the rutted trail. I have only used a few of the photos in order to speed loading. This spring I took hundreds of similar photos of ATV damage to our forest trails in Cass and Crow Wing County forests. Gross negligence on the part of Cass and Crow Wing County officials and the MN DNR has allowed the creation of literally miles of ruts just like those shown in these photos.

Here's the beginning of the washout next to Hay Creek. The photo was taken looking backwards. It was taken on 4-4-05.

On 4-5-05 I notified the MN DNR and Cass County of the ongoing damage and emailed photos of the site.

Here is what the same site looked like on 4-12-05 seven days after I notified the MN DNR and Cass County.

Still no action from the MN DNR or Cass County was taken to stop the erosion into Hay Creek.

Here is what the same site looked like on 4-21-05 sixteen days after I notified the MN DNR and Cass County..

Still no action from the MN DNR or Cass County was taken to stop the erosion into Hay Creek.

Here is what the same site looked like on 5-4-05 one month later. I brought the MN DNR and Cass County staff to look at the site on that day.

Still no action from the MN DNR or Cass County was taken to stop the erosion into Hay Creek.

Here is what the same site looked like on 7-3-05. Vegetation covers most of the site so the 4 foot deep gully is barely visible.

Still no action from the MN DNR or Cass County was taken to stop the erosion into Hay Creek.

As of January 16, 2006 despite numerous group hugs and agency visits to the site nothing has been done to restore or stabilize this trail from continuing to erode into Hay Creek. I expect that spring runoff and spring rains will continue the process of erosion.

Even though $475,000 sits in the ATV damage account for just this sort of restoration the MN DNR still refuses to use that money. I believe it it so that pro-ATV legislators (Bakk, Dill, Penas, Hackbarth, Saxhaug and Irv Anderson) and certain DNR staff can claim it isn't needed. In 1999 when our very own MN DNR Commissioner Mark Holsten was Representative Holsten he teamed up with then Representative Tom Bakk to push an 11th hour amendment that allowed ATV riders to leave the trail and ride randomly through our forests. That helped create a No Boundaries attitude that can be seen in the ATV trails around closed signs to this day. It's no wonder that ATV riders are destroying our forest trails and wetlands with a so-what leadership like that at the very top of the MN DNR.

I was able to email a question to DNR Commissioner Holsten on MPR Midday. The host asked DNR Commissioner if he regretted pushing the 1999 amendment that allowed ATV riders to ride randomly off trail through out forests. You can hear him tapdance around the question here http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/02/05/midday2/ . Click on the listen button to the left of the image. Then scroll to 11:36 minutes to hear the question and his evasive answer. I doubt that he regrets it and only regrets that people know what he did.

You can add Senator Satveer Chaudhary's name to the Hall of Shame when it comes to supporting irresponsible and destructive OHV use in MN state forests. He is the chair of the Environment and Natural Resource Committee in the MN Senate. His actions and the bill he passed out of his committee puts him in the same league as the scoundrels above.

The MN DNR finally "restored" the Hay Creek ATV damage site. You will see what I mean by "restored" in the following photos. It is PATHETIC. Now they will refer to this site as a success story about how they, the great protectors of the environment rushed to the rescue and made everything right despite great obstacles. The MN DNR and irresponsible legislators like those named above are the obstacles to protecting our state forest from irresponsible ATV riders.

Here are before and after restoration photos of the site.

Before After

The "before" photo was taken well before the erosion was complete. The final gully was 4' deep and up to 11' wide.

Before After

I don't have any good before photos of this part of the trail shown below but as you can see it doesn't matter because the DNR didn't make any attempt to restore this portion of the trail. The majority (90%) of the trail was not touched in the "restoration".

It's no doubt that the DNR was more concerned about saving ATV damage account dollars than restoring the trail.

Cass County has refused to control access to this site even going so far as to place the gate at the east entrance to the area in such a way that ATVs and mudder trucks can go around the gate.

Cass County also refuses to close the west access point even though ATVs are riding in Pistol Lake. These photos represent only a tiny portion of the ATV ruts along the shoreline of Pistol Lake. They are clearly visible from the air and Cass County is well aware of the ongoing damage. The water from Pistol Lake flows into Hay Creek and then to Daggett Brook and finally into the Whitefish Chain before joining the Pine River on it's way to the Mississippi River. Without the cooperation of Cass County Commissioners there is little chance of enforcing any ATV regulations or protecting this site from further ATV damage. They seem to have embraced a slash-and-burn economic development philosophy when it comes to ATV regulation with their stated goal of leaving 90% of Cass County land open to ATV riders.

Unfortunately Crow Wing County has adopted the same reckless position of allowing ATV riders to destroy our trails. It is evident in that we have NO county ordinances that would allow any realistic regulation of these machines despite the fact that Crow Wing County commissioners have had years to write those ordinances.. I have photographed literally miles of deep ATV ruts in Crow Wing County.

Some of those images can be seen at http://www.crowwingcountymn.org

MN legislature stealing our gas tax dollars to give to ATV riders

Each time you buy gas the ATV riders illegally siphon off 0.27% of the Constitutionally dedicated gas tax that you paid. Each year ATV riders are stealing nearly $2 million from our badly needed transportation fund. It's called a "refund" because supposedly ATV riders cannot use our highway system but ATV riders ARE using our highway system ditches. It also violates the MN Constitution to divert money from our highways and bridges.

The ATV lobby pushed legislation that requires all ATV owners to license their vehicles even if they never leave private property. Then they steal that license money to build ATV trails. It also inflates the numbers of ATVs so that the ATV lobby now uses that massively inflated figure to justify building more trails and prevent any reasonable ATV regulations.

A study was commissioned to find out how much gas tax ATV riders pay and where they ride. After spending our tax dollars to fund the study and collecting all the data the MN DNR looked the other way when 1/2 of the study was left undone. The half that was left undone with the DNR's permission would have drastically reduced the amount of our gas tax funneled into the MN DNR Trails and Waterways. The missing part of the study showed that only 15% of riders use trails on public lands.

In a nutshell the gas tax "refund" is based on the false premise that ATV riders aren't riding in our ditches, massively inflated numbers of ATVs and that 100% of ATV riders ride on public land instead of only 15%.

Gene Larimore from the Jack Pine Coalition finished the second half of the study. Here are the results of his analysis. Gas tax His analysis has never been contested by the MN DNR or the ATV lobby.

Home

Mr. True goes to Minneapolis (reprise: Mr. Smith goes to Washington)

2008-05-29T21:16:00.002-05:00

Yes! True is going to join his lifelong media heroes in Minneapolis next weekend. Dan Rather, Bill Moyers, Katrina Van der Heuvel and a hundred more who, like the late great Molly Ivins, weren't afraid to speak the truth. For True it is like a Catholic gaining audience with the Pope, like a Daydream Believer as Homecoming Queen, like a lowly sadhaka in the presence of the Dalai Lama.

The National Conference for Media Reform on June 6th through 8th will focus on challenges to that Free Press that the Bill of Rights guaranteed. Nobody ever foresaw Rupert Murdoch, or big corporate takeovers of the formerly free press.

There are huge media issues in Cook County as well as everywhere else.... True hopes to bring the inspiration of the greatest journalists in his lifetime. So important to True, that he will be sleeping in his car.... Hey! It costs $150 per night minimum to stay downtown by the Convention Center.

Your True Correspondent

Cook County: Torture is a moral and a religious issue

2008-05-29T21:07:00.002-05:00

Who will stand against torture?

If not me, who? If not now, when? Cook County has more people of faith per capita than almost anywhere. Read this story and take it to your congregations.
True

Where Is the Outrage?

by Robert Scheer

Are we Americans truly savages or merely tone-deaf in matters of morality, and therefore more guilty of terminal indifference than venality? It's a question demanding an answer in response to the publication of the detailed 370-page report on U.S. complicity in torture, issued last week by the Justice Department's inspector general.

Because the report was widely cited in the media and easily accessed as a pdf file on the Internet, it is fair to assume that those of our citizens who remain ignorant of the extent of their government's commitment to torture as an official policy have made a choice not to be informed. A less appealing conclusion would be that they are aware of the heinous acts fully authorized by our president but conclude that such barbarism is not inconsistent with that American way of life that we celebrate.

But that troubling assessment of moral indifference is contradicted by the scores of law enforcement officers, mostly from the FBI, who were so appalled by what they observed as routine official practice in the treatment of prisoners by the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo that they risked their careers to officially complain. A few brave souls from the FBI even compiled a "war crimes file," suggesting the unthinkable — that we might come to be judged as guilty by the standard we have imposed on others. Superiors in the Justice Department soon put a stop to such FBI efforts to hold CIA agents and other U.S. officials accountable for the crimes they committed.

That this systematic torture was carried out not by a few conveniently described "bad apples" but rather represented official policy condoned at the highest level of government was captured in one of those rare media reports that remind us why the Founding Fathers signed off on the First Amendment.

"These were not random acts," The New York Times editorialized. "It is clear from the inspector general's report that this was organized behavior by both civilian and military interrogators following the specific orders of top officials. The report shows what happens when an American president, his secretary of defense, his Justice Department and other top officials corrupt American law to rationalize and authorize the abuse, humiliation and torture of prisoners."

One of those top officials, who stands revealed in the inspector general's report as approving the torture policy, is Condoleezza Rice, who in her capacity as White House national security adviser turned away the concerns of then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft as to the severe interrogation measures being employed. Rice, as ABC-TV reported in April, chaired the top-level meetings in 2002 in the White House Situation Room that signed off on the CIA treatment of prisoners — "whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called water boarding. …" According to the report, the former academic provost of Stanford University came down on the side of simulated drowning.

As further proof that women are not necessarily more squeamish than men in condoning such practices, the report offers examples of sexual and religious denigration of the mostly Muslim prisoners by female interrogators carrying out an official policy of "invasion of space by a female." In one recorded instance observed by startled FBI agents, a female interrogator was seen with a prisoner "bending his thumbs back and grabbing his genitals … to cause him pain." One of the agents testified that this was not "a case of a rogue interrogator acting on her own." He said he witnessed a "pep rally" meeting conducted by a top Defense Department official "in which the interrogators were encouraged to get as close to the torture statute line as possible."

That was evidently the norm, according to FBI agents who witnessed the interrogations. As The New York Times reported, "One bureau memorandum spoke of 'torture techniques' used by military interrogators. Agents described seeing things like inmates handcuffed in a fetal position for up to 24 hours, left to defecate on themselves, intimidated by dogs, made to wear women's underwear and subjected to strobe lights and extreme heat and cold."

In the end, what seems to have most outraged the hundreds of FBI agents interviewed for the report is that the interrogation tactics were counterproductive. Evidently the FBI's long history in such matters had led to a protocol that stressed gaining the confidence of witnesses rather than terrorizing them into madness. But an insane prisoner is the one most likely to tell this president of the United States what he wants to hear: They hate us for our values.

Robert Scheer's new book, "The Pornography of Power: How Defense Hawks Hijacked 9/11 and Weakened America," will be released June 9 by Twelve.

Untreated wastewater: seven million gallons a year in Tofte and Schroeder

2008-05-28T20:58:00.002-05:00

Tofte Schroeder Sewer District gets grants for inspections, fix-up and educational manuals

In Tofte and Schroeder, compliance inspections of Individual Septic Treatment Systems have begun on the approximately 100 lakeshore properties south of Highway 61. These inspections follow up a survey conducted in the summer of 2006 by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency licensed inspector Jeff Crosby. Crosby has been hired jointly by the district and the county to determine whether a system is in compliance or requires repair or replacement.

The inspections are funded by a $20,000 Clean Water Legacy grant to the district from the MPCA. In some cases, to complete the inspections a pumping of the septic tank may be required. The district anticipates having some grant funds available to provide pumping discounts in cases of need. Crosby expects to complete most of the inspections around the beginning of July, when letters will be sent by the county to property owners describing the results.

A recent letter from Leroy Halberg, Cook County Environmental Health Inspector, and Rick Anderson, TSSSD Chair, stated: “We all have a common desire that wastewater treatment systems in Cook County and in the TSSSD adequately treat wastewater to protect our health, drinking water, and the environment. The area along Lake Superior is very sensitive, and adequate wastewater treatment there is important to us all.”

Crosby’s 2006 survey results suggest that as many as seven million gallons of wastewater per year are not being adequately treated, in the Tofte Schroeder district alone. There are more than 300 wells in the district as well as three rivers, many streams, and the shore of Lake Superior; all are affected by wastewater.

The district has also received a CWL grant for $42,000 to help a limited number of property owners who are required to repair or replace their systems. A cost share of up to $8,000 will be made available to those systems identified as Imminent Public Health Threats, meaning that there is surfacing wastewater. Income guidelines will be established, using the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic sliding fee scale.

Anderson says that the district wishes to engage public dialogue about the important issues of noncompliant and failed septic systems as well as the best use of the $42,000 grant. Meetings are held on the third Monday of each month at 5 p.m. at the Tofte Town Hall and everyone is welcome. Next steps include a five-year plan for wastewater management that could serve as a pilot for the county as well as other rural Minnesota communities.

Another big goal of the district is education of property owners about how to care for and maintain their septic systems. Toward that end, every ISTS owner within the district was sent a copy of The Septic System Owner’s Manual, a very readable and entertaining guide, with funds provided by grants from Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program and the Arrowhead Electric Cooperative’s Roundup. Extra copies will be available at a public seminar following the inspections, as well as to county educators interested in raising awareness of septic maintenance issues.

The lowly lynx: fed's environment trump card

2008-05-28T20:22:00.003-05:00

True loves the environment and also loves the Lynx, along with every other sentient creature on the planet.
But I can't help but notice that the feds don't really give a s**t about the polar bears, nearing extinction on account of global warming, the wolf who can now be shot from the air in some places with impunity, and a host of other species endanged by such atrocious practices as cutting off mountaintops to get more coal.
Ah. But, they stand firm on the lynx. In Cook County, where 90 percent of the land is publicly owned and lynx habitat protected, they are determined to regulate the rest of us and restrict our back yards. Lynx, to my delight, run through my small private forest and presumably feed upon the abundant snowshoe hare that also live here. I hope they always will feel comfortable visiting. BUT. Restrictions on whether I can build something new on my land? It makes me want to spit on those who lop the tops off moutains that have stood for thousands of years.
Or maybe they just have it in for us in Cook County. We aren't allow even limited commercial fishing on Lake Superior although conservative projections show that won't adversely affect local fish populations. The white settlers here survived by commercial fishing and our 150-year history here would never have happened without it.
Where is there any perspective? Fishing does not cause global warming, and doesn't harm anything or anybody except the unlucky fish who are caught. But protecting the lynx on private property could have devastating effects on our local economy.

Dying during dialup

2008-05-24T19:35:00.002-05:00

Gasp, choke! I'm mad enough to have a stroke! It only took me two hours to read my email today, with DIALUP!
The whispering grapevine assures True that We are not the only one. Dialup is slow and would you believe, getting slower. Everybody says so. Boreal says that the quality of the phone line determines the quality of your dialup. And it's an open secret that Qwest phone lines in Cook County are the worst. True in fact has a phone line a couple of inches above the ground which is often tripped by passing deer or other critters.
Two things:
1) You can pay for Wi-Fi at the library and a few other sites sponsored by Boreal. OR, you can connect for free at Neptune's Cyber Cafe, next door to the coop. That's right, FREE. It would be nice of you to indulge in one or two of John's lovely lattes and chai and fruit smoothies, not to mention delectable treats from Lola's Sweet Life Bakery, while you blessedly check you email and watch U Tube. It would be poor manners indeed to bring your own coffee.
2) Broadband access in the United States is very limited compared with other so-called civilized nations. This is mostly due to the Repug philosophy that if you can't afford it you don't deserve it, reinforced by huge new expenses to local governments thanks to the "No new taxes" of P-lenty for the Rich and the neocon nuts who still rule Washington.... So, rural Cook County can't afford to invest in broadband, and only the locals lucky enough to spring for satellite or cable can compete in the 21st century economy. Or, pay $3.00 per hour at the library.
True is just a lowly journalist, a "stringer" as they used to call it. In any big city this wouldn't really matter that much. But he can't run a competitive business from home while waiting.... and waiting... and waiting.... zzzzzzz

Pro-ATV Tofte board throws hissy fit

2008-05-23T21:15:00.002-05:00

Confronted with safety concerns cited by Cook County engineer Shae Kosmalski about connecting Highway 61 and the "600 Road" where ATV trails begin via the Sawbill Trail, Tofte township chair Paul James said that ordinances have "driven people out of the woods." "What are kids supposed to do? Stay home and watch TV?" (quotes from the Cook County Star). James was backed up by Supervisors DC Olsen and Tom Muntean.
Might True respectfully suggest that kids could hike, canoe, kayak, swim, backpack, camp out, bird watch, or in any of a thousand other ways enjoy the North Country woods without the devastation caused by ATVs, not to mention the egregious waste of gas and concomitant carbon emissions that hasten the day of reckoning when global warming destroys life as we know it on the planet? This could happen in our lifetime.
True uses gas only sparingly, only for basic necessities of life. Why the hell should spoiled kids squander gas for their destructive ATVs, and in the process erode yet more of our dwindling soils?
The "recreational" use of gas-guzzling and habitat-destroying ATVs should be going the way of the horse-and-buggy if we are to survive the 21st century.

White trash go for Hillary

2008-05-20T19:21:00.003-05:00

Dear True,
I grew up in the Kentucky mountains of Appalachia. So I know from White Trash. They don't want no "Boy" to be president and so they cut off their own faces to vote against him. Obama is the only candidate who cares about the working poor. Hillary? Ha! She is the working rich. She and Hubby sent zillions of good jobs overseas with their trade agreements.
But the White Trash of Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia hear from the pulpit how to vote and it ain't for the only guy who cares about them.
A terrifying parallel exists between Appalachia and Northeastern Minnesota. Both are victims of big coal, big mining. In Kentucky the beautiful mountains of my childhood are being cut off at the top to get more coal. The debris of the dynamiting and destruction are plunged into the watershed; toxic chemicals are re-named as the bland label "fill." So it well may be here in Minnesota if Polymet goes ahead with a new copper mine that leaches into the St. Louis county watershed and ultimately creates a new dead zone where life just doesn't go on.
Ya, the White Trash of the South and the dumb shits of the Northeast either don't know or don't give a shit that their lands and waters are being destroyed by big money interest to whom both Clinton and McCain are beholden. BUT, here at least we like Obama. Down there they won't ever, ever vote for a "Boy."

A "Sub-deb" from Kentucky (meaning I was White but not Trash)

PS If it is True that 56 percent of Minnesotans approve of "Pawlenty for the Rich" who was in large part responsible for the Minneapolis bridge collapse and our tanking economy, well I guess you get the government you deserve.

Ugly America

2008-05-16T04:29:00.004-05:00

Dear True,

I’m thinking about the Ugly Americans, about what evil they have done to the world so far in the first decade of the 21^st century. Let me count the ways:

First there was what we might call 9/11 revenge: to avenge the deaths of 4,000 Americans on that tragic day we have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent citizens in other nations, mostly Iraq and Afghanistan. We have left millions homeless, we have destroyed their infrastructure and centuries of culture, we have committed rape and murder by our hired mercenaries like Blackwater, we have caused 4,000 soldiers to die and untold others ruined lives, suicides, post traumatic stress unlike any war in living memory and we have failed to provide jobs or health care or training to these fractured souls when they come home. Have we taken enough revenge yet? Can we finally say, yes, we now understand why “they” hate us so much?

Second, the markets of the whole world are reeling from the bad mortgage loans given out by greedy profiteers, yes, here in the US of A. The dollar has tanked for similar reasons and the trillions of dollars of federal debt are owed by and large to other countries like Japan and China.

Next, look at our record on torture of prisoners, warrantless spying on everybody, destruction of a free press by the big media giants, dirty tricks politicking to win at any cost, the Bush-Cheney-Rove cabal’s devastation of our own constitution which so wisely provided separation of powers, the dismantling of all the good and great social nets that brought widespread security and prosperity after the Depression…. This list is endless. Look at the millions of people here and billions elsewhere who can’t meet their basic survival needs for food, clothing and shelter thanks to our ruinous economic policies and the rampant greed of big oil. Look at how everything costs so much because it has to be delivered via oil-based energy, at how diverting grain production to ethanol has caused starvation.

Worst of all, don’t look too hard at how fast the Arctic permafrost is melting and releasing poisonous methane into the air we breathe, or at the dizzying speed of carbon emissions already spiraled beyond sustainable levels (i.e. that 350 ppm). Don’t look because you will recoil in terror, because there is probably no turning back from global disaster even if we stopped all coal-fired plants NOW and we won’t. No it’s bidness as usual in the good old US of A, the greed and hubris capitol of the world. It’s ME, NOW, SPEND, PILLAGE and PLUNDER. It’s cut down the mountaintops and create dead zones where no life survives just to mine a little more treasure trove out of Mother Earth, an astonishing and horrific metaphor for all we have done, all we have become.

Anonymous

A chance to stand against torture

2008-05-15T19:22:00.000-05:00

To Minnesota supporters of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture

Dear Friends:

One of NRCAT's projects is a collaborative one with the Center for Victims of Torture and Evangelicals for Human Rights called the Campaign to Ban Torture. That effort is urging the next president to issue an executive order prohibiting torture.

We are collecting endorsements from leaders in the faith, foreign policy, security and military communities now for the statement below my name Declaration of Principles for a Presidential Executive Order on Prisoner Treatment, Torture and Cruelty which will be used to encourage the president to issue an executive order prohibiting torture. After we garner the names of leaders, we will be working on a grass roots strategy this summer to collect the endorsements of many people of faith and others across the nation.

The June 26, 2008 public launch of the Campaign to Ban Torture will mark the beginning of an intensive public education campaign. Leading up to the campaign's national launch, we hope to talk with local and regional organizations that want to be a part of this effort. A staff person for the Center for Victims of Torture, Lauren McGrath, will be working in Minnesota and three other states to talk with faith and other organizations about this project. Lauren will be in Minnesota May 19-22. The Declaration is embargoed for public release until June 26, so please don't publicize it until then (although after June 26 we would greatly appreciate your help publicizing it).

If you are interesting in talking with Lauren about this project either when she is in Minnesota or later on, please email lmcgrath@cvt.org.

Sincerely,

Richard Killmer

Rev. Richard L. Killmer
Executive Director
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
316 F Street NE, Suite 200,
Washington, DC 20002
Tel: 202.547.1920 or 207.846.1614
Fax: 202.547.1921
www.tortureisamoralissue.org

Declaration of Principles for a Presidential Executive Order On Prisoner Treatment, Torture and Cruelty
(This statement is embargoed until released on June 26, 2008)

Though we come from a variety of backgrounds and walks of life, we agree that the use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment against prisoners is immoral, unwise, and un-American.

In our effort to secure ourselves, we have resorted to tactics which do not work, which endanger US personnel abroad, which discourage political, military, and intelligence cooperation from our allies, and which ultimately do not enhance our security.

Our President must lead our nation back to our core principles. We must be better than our enemies, and our treatment of prisoners captured in the battle against terrorism must reflect our character and values as Americans.

Therefore, we believe the President of the United States should issue an Executive Order that provides as follows:

The "Golden Rule." We will not authorize or use any methods of interrogation that we would not find acceptable if used against Americans, be they civilians or soldiers.

One national standard. We will have one national standard for all US personnel and agencies for the interrogation and treatment of prisoners. Currently, the best expression of that standard is the US Army Field Manual, which will be used until any other interrogation technique has been approved based on the Golden Rule principle.

The rule of law. We will acknowledge all prisoners to our courts or the International Red Cross. We will in no circumstance hold persons in secret prisons or engage in disappearances. In all cases, prisoners will have the opportunity to prove their innocence in ways that fully conform to American principles of fairness.

Duty to protect. We acknowledge our historical commitment to end the use of torture and cruelty in the world. The US will not transfer any person to countries that use torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

Checks and balances. Congress and the courts play an invaluable role in protecting the values and institutions of our nation and must have and will have access to the information they need to be fully informed about our detention and interrogation policies.

Clarity and accountability. All US personnel-whether soldiers or intelligence staff-deserve the certainty that they are implementing policy that complies fully with the law. Henceforth all US officials who authorize, implement, or fail in their duty to prevent the use of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners will be held accountable, regardless of rank or position.

This initiative is coordinated by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, Evangelicals for Human Rights,

and the Center for Victims of Torture.

You have received this message because you endorsed the "Torture is a Moral Issue" statement of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture OR you signed up to receive more information from NRCAT.

If you no longer wish to receive emails from us, please click here to unsubscribe from this mailing list.

Questions? Please email campaign@nrcat.org
National Religious Campaign Against Torture: www.tortureisamoralissue.org

Let them eat Triscuits

2008-05-14T05:38:00.010-05:00

Dear readers,
Who will speak for those of us devastated by rampant inflation of food, gas, heat and electricity? Hmm, looks like it is up to little old me...
What is the deal here in Cook County? While the busy-ness elected officials continue to seek new sales taxes-a regressive burden on the poor-look out! Prices are rising at alarming rates.
Maybe not so surprising, since the world we know is also disintegrating (carbon emissions, melting Arctic permafrost releasing methane that humans can't breathe...)
Back to the point: True tries to eat right while respecting sustainable agriculture. For True, this does not mean buying organic fruits and vegetables! Ya ya it is the right thing to do BUT...
True is broke. So far not reduced to seeking macaroni from the food shelf, but no way being able to afford organic produce. Is that a sin?
There's a disconnect here. The rich can afford to buy organic, but I can't. I still owe big bucks for my winter fuel bills. My well water line doesn't work.
And yet I get guilt-tripped by the organic PC club?
Hello, folks. I used to have Triscuits and (Wisconsin, no hormones) cheese for dinner. Ya? When you are old and creaky maybe this will look good to you too.
Somehow I manage to buy fairly healthy food for myself and my beloved companion animals.
But, I won't be buying any more Triscuits, my former fave, 100 percent whole wheat with no trans fats.
Last week the price of a box was $3.19 for 9.5 ounces (a reach, by the pound this would buy some very fancy cheese at the coop); this week it is $4.00....
Like lots of poor folks, I can still get fat on the cheap stuff: white bread, pasta, potatoes, and corn chips. Nobody in Cook County need go without Kraft Dinner! Yum yum, everybody loves comfort food...
But what to do to make a difference in this world where people in Burma starve without even empty calories? True can't afford to make a difference!

New mining industry leaves Arrowhead wetlands vulnerable

2008-05-14T05:34:00.002-05:00

MinnPost

New mining industry leaves Arrowhead wetlands vulnerable

By Elanne Palcich

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

In the late 1800s, the U.S. government claimed the land of Minnesota, and pushed the indigenous people onto reservations. The huge pine forests of northern Minnesota were cut, red earth was discovered, and immigrants from a variety of struggling northern and southern European nations moved in to become workers for the mining companies.

While the Iron Range continues to be mined, following bands of taconite rock, the Arrowhead region of Minnesota escaped the mining process. Some of the northern counties were in large part wetlands, while others remained forestland. The Arrowhead region became known for its lakes and for the quality of outdoor recreational opportunities — the vacation land of the north, where campers "hear the lapping waters, hear the whispering of the pine trees."

These northern wetlands escaped the destruction that occurred as the rest of the state turned urban or agricultural.

Scientists know that wetlands have evolved over the past 10,000 years, since the recession of the last glaciers. We also know now that wetlands sequester carbon — and that destroying wetlands releases carbon that has been stored over centuries. There is evidence that global climate change is literally being fueled by the burning of fossil fuels and the accompanying release of CO2 into the air.

A new threat in the Arrowhead
Minnesota's wetlands may hold the key to moderating climate change on a local level, except for one thing: the threat of an entirely new mining industry poised to begin in the Arrowhead.

The industrialization of the burgeoning populations of China and India is driving demand and prices for copper, nickel, platinum, and gold — precious metals bonded within sulfide ores throughout the Duluth Complex, the underlying rock formation of the Arrowhead Region.

These precious metals are very low grade — 0.4 percent copper, 0.1 percent nickel and 0.01 ounces per ton of platinum, palladium, and gold. But the current price is enough to bring a half-dozen Canadian companies into the Arrowhead, exploring in an unregulated fashion and pulling every political string for funding and support.

The international balance of economic power is changing. Just three generations after the take-over of native lands by extractive industries, Canadian companies are seeking to turn the remaining Arrowhead Region into a colonial outpost for China and India. For basically a handful of jobs, we are turning over our land and our culture so that Canadian companies and their shareholders can earn fantastic sums on precious metals while our workers will receive $40,000-a-year nonunion wages (translate into no pension and no health care) based on the price of copper. And when the price of copper drops, or the precious-metals market collapses, or the price of diesel fuel makes mining uneconomical, the Canadian companies will pull up stakes and leave northern Minnesota with an acid-mine drainage problem requiring perpetual treatment — almost forever.

No way to replace lost wetlands
The Arrowhead region of northern Minnesota is our Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It's our Brazilian rainforest. It is the equivalent of the remaining special places left on each continent, in each country. When we lose our wetlands, there is no way to replace them. There is no way to reconstruct a process that took thousands of years to form. There is no way to recapture the carbon released when wetlands are destroyed. There is no way to rebuild the wildlife habitat and plant communities that will be eliminated.

At the same time, this new mining industry would spew hundreds of thousands of tons of CO2 into the air, further contributing to global warming.

Consider, too, that the Arrowhead is just the first piece of the metallic sulfide pie. While exploration is progressing in the Birch Lake area, along the Kawishiwi River, Partridge River, and the St. Louis River, companies are also exploring along the Rainy, Pigeon, Root, Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, the Mille Lacs area, in the Big Sandy Watershed (Aitkin County), and in Carlton County.

Bill would set a precedent
In the meantime, U.S. 8th District Rep. James Oberstar has introduced a bill in Congress (H.R. 4292, the Superior National Forest Land Adjustment Act of 2007) that would fast track a land sale between the U.S. Forest Service and Polymet, Inc., in anticipation of the permitting of Polymet's proposed metallic sulfide mine near Hoyt Lakes. While this bill singles out Polymet for special treatment, it would also set a precedent for the selling of public lands to private mining companies nationwide, or wherever the Forest Service does not own the mineral rights. Much of the mineral estate in Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters is owned by mining interests, not the Forest Service. What implications might this have for the future?

What exactly are those of us living here thinking? Are we in denial regarding the ecological degradation that is taking place on a global scale and how this is going to affect our future? Are we naive enough to believe propaganda about clean mining technology that is being pushed upon us by mining-company spokesmen who are set to receive huge bonuses once the sulfide industry gets up and running?

Or are we going to believe in our own ability to create an alternative future that allows us to finally acknowledge the true heritage of the Arrowhead Region — that of living in harmony with the land?

Elanne Palcich, a retired elementary school teacher, lives in Chisholm, Minn.

The media is the message

2008-05-10T04:25:00.002-05:00

True here.
Well, we at True claim to confront the big issues nobody else will take on...So, the media.
You might think that we in Cook County aren't affected by the machinations of the Bushies to buy and control the press...
And, in that you might be correct. Nonetheless, we are hampered in our press coverage by the FACT of the existence of two papers. Neither one has the resources to cover all of the news. Neither one has the courage to express opinions about the decisions being made that will determine our future. Such as, what would be the impact of closing our pool and making it part of a new county facility? Commissioner Fenwick appears to be the one in favor of this proposal. But who reports on this critical news?
Recently the Cook County News Herald hired a new editor, not a local, to replace Jay Anderson. Since then, the News Herald reporting has detioriated sadly. Meetings are missed, especially on the West End. Issues are not addressed, such as the impairment of the Poplar River and the septic system impairements in Cook County including Clean Water Legacy Grants in mitigation.
Is there any virtue in having two papers, which have to divide advertising revenue and need to cover the same stories?
NO, what we need is one high quality local paper and that is what we don't have. It's sorta like Obama and Hillary.
Meanwhile, if you want to get the real news, tune into WTIP and/or check out the website: Http://wtip.com
If y'all would like to weigh in on the merits of the two papers, feel free to publish your comments here OR perhaps more important, send directly to the papers.

The traffic tickets charged to Maranda Weber

2008-05-10T03:49:00.003-05:00

True recognizes the enormous community concern over the death of Dr. Ken Peterson last fall. In our posts we have expressed the opinion that charging Ms. Weber with the equivalent of a speeding ticket does not satisfy the grief and puzzlement experienced by our residents.
So we are truly astonished by the claims of Ms. Weber and her attorneys that she cannot receive a fair trial or hearing in Cook County.
Ask any citizen on the street: they will tell you that she has already had a fair hearing with the grand jury.
Many others have received similar misdemeanor tickets for far lesser offences that don't involve the death of a human being.
These traffic tickets have been consistently upheld by Judge Sandvik. True can speak to this, having been "convicted" himself of a similar offense some years ago and subjected to a lecture by the judge despite the fact that there was no harm done.
Why is Ms. Weber resisting even this mild slap on the wrist? Actions need to have consequences. Justice and reparation satisfy deep needs of human society.

Oberstar Speaks on "Harsh Realities" of Record Diesel Prices

2008-05-10T03:41:00.000-05:00

STATEMENT OF
THE HONORABLE JAMES L. OBERSTAR
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HIGHWAYS AND TRANSIT
HEARING ON “RISING DIESEL FUEL COSTS IN THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY”
MAY 6, 2008

I am pleased that the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit is holding this important hearing today to shed light on the reasons behind ever-escalating prices for gasoline and diesel fuel, and the tremendous impact this continues to have on the trucking industry, its drivers, consumers, and our national economy.

The price of both gasoline and diesel are currently at an all-time high. Consumers, who are squeezed by having to pay $3.61 per gallon at the pump, are hit again with escalating costs for food and other basic consumer goods, in part due to the rising costs of getting these goods to market.

The men and women in the trucking industry who bring these goods to market are also facing situations that were unimaginable just a few years ago. The cost of a gallon of diesel fuel has risen 48 percent in the past year; 78 percent in the last three years; and 166 percent since 2003. Every one-cent increase in the price of diesel fuel translates to an annual additional cost of $391 million to the trucking industry. It costs nearly $800 more for a driver to fill a standard tractor-trailer than five years ago.

As hard-working Americans struggle to adjust to the harsh realities of record fuel prices, oil companies continue to report record profits. ExxonMobil, which earned over 25 percent of the $155 billion profit enjoyed by the oil industry in 2007, reported a quarterly profit last week of $10.9 billion dollars – the second biggest quarterly profit in the history of this nation. The record for the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history is held, perhaps not surprisingly, by ExxonMobil.

Without a doubt, the gross imbalance between enriched oil companies and captive consumers must be addressed. Yet some have called for a myopic, short-term “solution” to this complex and pervasive problem by proposing to suspend the Federal gas tax for the summer months.

Leading economists have confirmed that this proposal would provide little relief to consumers while providing another multi-billion dollar windfall profit for the oil companies. This irrational proposal will bring the Highway Trust Fund to the edge of insolvency; will eliminate approximately 300,000 family-wage, highway construction jobs; will cut highway safety funding; and increase the cost of congestion.

The problem of high fuel prices is unrelated to the Federal gas tax. The 18.3-cent gas tax rate was established in 1993, when the average retail price of a gallon of gasoline was $1.05. The Federal gas tax has not changed in the last 15 years, yet the average price of a gallon of gasoline has more than tripled.

High diesel prices have also brought into sharp focus fuel surcharges in the motor carrier industry. Today’s hearing will examine the relationship among motor carriers, brokers, shippers, and independent drivers with respect to setting and collecting fuel surcharges. Currently, fuel surcharges are left to the discretion of an individual motor carrier or broker arranging for transportation, with few disclosure requirements and without any government oversight.

This lack of transparency affects independent owner-operators and drivers who often do not control if, and what amount, a broker or motor carrier charges a shipper for the rising cost of fuel. This makes it very difficult for drivers to verify whether the fuel surcharge is being passed through. When it is not, drivers are nonetheless the ones stuck paying the higher price at the pump.

I commend Chairman DeFazio for holding this hearing, and for his strong leadership on this important issue.

Treasured life, needless death, a traffic ticket

2008-04-26T18:21:00.001-05:00

Nearly six months after the tragic death of Dr. Ken Peterson on Halloween night of 2007 on the Gunflint Trail, a grand jury has decided to charge his killer with two misdemeanor traffic offenses, tickets routinely issued by the Minnesota Highway Patrol in ANY accident, even where there is no damage to life or property.
The few facts so far released to the public (aside from the name and age of the killer, Maranda Weber, 27) provide only negatives: she was not drunk, not on drugs, and not speeding. So, how is it that she killed a man who was trying to remove a downed tree in the middle of the Trail? Hmm, it seems she was "careless."
Careless? What does that mean, a slap on the wrist, a fine of a couple hundred dollars at most?
Well, no way would I or any other driver I know be "careless" enough to slam into a tree across the road!
Dr. Peterson was an exceptional person, evidenced by his last act of trying to remove a hazardous tree blocking the Trail, but even more so by his life of giving so much to the residents of our county.
And is his death so meaningless that the county attorney has chosen not to pursue any fault? And would that be because the killer was a member of the Border Patrol?
CA Tim Scannell has obfuscated the issues, and probably influenced the grand jury (as nearly always happens) with his statement that there was no evidence for "vehicular homicide" and therefore would be no jail time.
HELLO? Jail time? Oh no way, not for a Homeland Security employee. Still, there are lots of options between jail and a traffic ticket. The community as well as Ms. Weber deserve some healing, such as community service in penance or at least some required driver training. Or at best some parole, again commonly prescribed by the courts even in cases not involving the death of a human being, a recognition that there needs to be a period where the perpetrator is held accountable for her actions by society.

True

Real pet lovers spay and neuter

2008-04-21T18:08:00.002-05:00

On behalf of the Animal Advocates, who selflessly provide foster homes as well as shots and spay-or-neuter to the endless litters of unwanted kittens and puppies they care for, I am just enraged by the boreal letters about the so-called wonderful cat owners who produce litter after litter of adorable and lovable kittens.

Hello, folks? All kittens are adorable and lovable. All companion animals bred for the pleasure of humans, if they are not mistreated, will love us dearly in exchange for a place to live and food to eat.

Trouble is, there are nowhere near enough homes for these little ones. Most of the rest of the USA recognizes the need to spay and neuter to reduce pet population growth and the inevitable killing of the unwanted and abandoned.

If you want a new pet, DON’T get it from people who are part of the problem because then you are just reinforcing needless death for generations to come. Most people now understand they shouldn’t buy puppies from puppy mills. Rescue organizations are better equipped to save them if they can be saved. And so it is with unwanted cat litters: if you MUST have kittens, give them to the Advocates who will make sure they don’t grow up to multiply the problem. Did you ever learn about “compound interest” in math class? That’s the concept that one and one makes more than two, more than even two hundred, when compounded over time.

If you continue to support these “free-to-good-homes” folks you are condemning hundreds of unwanted pets to horrible deaths. You are complicit in acts such as the horrific beating murder of a stray cat a couple of years ago in the RV Park because it was homeless and somebody didn’t like it killing birds in her back yard.

True takes in as many of the abandoned and lost as he can and faces a lot of grief from people, even friends, who think this is a waste of money. But there are so many more who die from starvation or predators or neglect. The same people who don’t want True to spend money on pets would be glad if he bought stuff he doesn’t need from their local businesses and wouldn’t actually complain if he patronized Wal Mart, that destroyer of local economies.

Please, support the Advocates and SPAY or NEUTER!

True

The helipad in the harbor

2008-04-13T20:03:00.005-05:00

Like everybody else True was shocked to learn that the feds have decided to use the Coast Guard station to house their expanded Border Patrol.
This came about after more than a year of secrecy, rebuffs to the press who tried to find out what was going on, and a general "Up Yours" attitude as people continued to wonder where they planned to build their 10-acre compound surrounded by barbed wire fence and enclosing an underground parking bunker, a helipad, and a jail.
Turns out, the Department of Homeland Security, thanks to the machinations of the Bush administration, now owns our historic Coast Guard station. Nyaa, nyaa, too bad for us.
The PR team insists the facility will only be used for "office space." Even so, the harbor parking lot is a favorite tourist spot. Even locals like to have lunch while watching the changing landscape. As County Commissioner Bruce Martinson said, the Homeland Honchos have chosen the "worst possible" site for their military hi-jinks (apologies to Bruce, the honchos and hi-jinks are my own words not his).
But DHS's credibility is sorta in doubt here. Why should we believe what they tell us now after they have lied for so long?
Here is one possible reason: the new satellite surveillance system being imposed as we speak on every citizen in the "Homeland" and described in this week's Washington Post...This could mean there doesn't have to be so many night surveillance flights or Border Patrol staff riding herd on people who don't look like us: the satellite sees all. Are you out on your deck on a summer eveing, enjoying the Milky Way, and perhaps entertaining a friend? Big Brother will take note.
Still, True is not so sure there won't be a high fence around the Coast Guard station and worries about tourists finding their way to our beloved Artist's Point without DHS harassment.
They do it because they can. The community can't stop them. They are the Deciders. They own the property.

The ATV song: Ride roughshod over the rivers and through the woods

2008-03-31T18:47:00.003-05:00

Oh, here we go again!
Not content with inviting all the ATVers in the world to their June parade in Silver Bay, the local ATV crowd is demanding that the North Shore State Trail be opened to their noisy and destructive vehicles.
As for the old slogan that "We just want a place for locals to ride," the latest demand is to eliminate the 90-mile limit on trails in Cook County. So, how many miles do you locals want permission to destroy fragile ecosystems and wildlife habitat on?
The US Forest Service process started last year with mucho public input to try to keep everybody happy has tanked. How thankless to try to find a way to preserve the environment by limiting the damage done by ATV rough riders, not to mention protecting quiet spaces. It isn't only the people who need peace and silence, it is the wild creatures who are terrified by the noise and smells and speedy depradations of the clueless folks who bring their joyless and lawless midget psyches blundering into the ancient forest.
It looks to be a long summer. Lovers of peace and quiet, beware!

Here's a pretty mess!

2008-03-31T17:44:00.003-05:00

Reprise: Developer mania once seen in downtown Grand Marais is alive and well on Lutsen Mountain. True is reminded of the neocon power domination philosophy so eloquently stated by Karl Rove (or was it Darth Cheney?): You just push and push and keep pushing until you get stopped.
So it is on Lutsen Mountain. The rich owners who here shall remain nameless wish to turn the moutain into an Aspen-like city of huge buildings (55 plus feet high) and infrastructure paid for by the government (as in "public-private partnership" meaning public subsidies of private enterprise) and utterly destructive of the moutain's steep-slope land with its limited soil on bedrock, and the Poplar River watershed that supports all life within its domain.
The nameless management has shamelessly advocated for a new one-percent sales tax that will like the proverbial straw break the backs of us poor folks already suffering from huge new costs for food, energy, gas and health care.
Says Leroy Halberg, water and septic inspector for Cook County, "No one is lookiing at the overall picture, the cumulative effect of development on the watershed."
A recent letter was sent to the Lutsen town board from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Health. In part this letter read, "We are starting to question whether the area can sustain such increased pressure on its water resources without impacts to human health and the environment. Currently there are 14 noncommunity wasterwater treatment systems in the area and all of this water is obtained from aquifers that have limited capabilities for providing drinking water."
In case y'all haven't noticed, neocons in the years since Reagan have increasingly de-clawed regulation; all the more remarkable that two Minnesota regulatory agencies have the courage to send a letter like this to challenge the corporate-owner dominated Poplar River Management Board.
There will be public meetings between the PRMB and the county coming up to consider wastewater treatment and drinking water safety.
Folks, turn out! Or failing that, write letters or emails or call your West End Commissioner Bruce Martinson.
Do you think Lutsen Mountain makes a profit from its disregard of the Poplar watershed? Does the Pope shit in the woods?

"My religion is kindness": US MSM strikes out again

2008-03-23T20:38:00.005-05:00

The Dalai Lama is the most honored being on the planet, whether the US MSM knows it or not (mostly not). This holy man has sought a peaceful solution for his native Tibet by all nonviolent means for nearly 50 years of repressive rule by China. During that time he has never neglected his students. He has been tireless in his teaching of love for all sentient beings. "My religion is kindness," he once said.
This holy sage is being dissed by the Beijing government: not a new thing but escalated as the Tibetan people rise up against Chinese oppression as the Olympics draw near. The Dalai Lama will never associate himself with violent protest no matter what the Chinese propagandists say.
The US MSM has mostly reported that China is putting down "violent protests" against Chinese rule of Tibet. Although many Americans honor and revere the Dalai Lama, the Bus$cos don't want any interference with trade with China. Several news reports have quoted the spiritual leader of Tibet as barely speaking English. True knows this is bullshit, having read several books he has written about Buddhist philosophy. These erudite tomes would glaze over the eyes of your average MSM American journalist looking for the sleazy angle. They are filled with the wisdom of the Buddha and they aren't sound bites for the evening news.
Look, then, to this UK report on the truth, as mirrored by the rest of the world. No one alive is holier than the Dalai Lama. No one speaks more forcefully on behalf of peaceful dialogue. No one else declares a love for all sentient beings, especially those who Americans like to hunt, kill and eat.

Dalai Lama: "I Am Prepared to Face China. I Will Go to Beijing"
By Andrew Buncombe
The Independent UK

Friday 21 March 2008

As crisis over Tibet deepens, Dalai Lama makes extraordinary offer to negotiate directly with President Hu Jintao.

Dharamsala - Almost half a century after he fled to India, the Dalai Lama has raised the extraordinary prospect of travelling to Beijing and holding face-to-talks with the Chinese regime in an effort to resolve Tibet's most serious crisis for two decades.

Having watched helplessly from exile as his Tibetan homeland has suffered under Chinese rule, the man regarded as a living god by millions of his followers said yesterday that he was ready to negotiate personally with the Chinese leadership. The Dalai Lama, 73, acknowledged the difficulty associated with a face-to-face summit, but said he was even ready to meet President Hu Jintao, notorious in Tibet for his hardline approach when he served as Tibet's local Communist leader. "I am always ready to meet the Chinese leaders, and particularly Hu Jintao. I am very happy to meet," he told a small group of journalists at his office in Dharamsala. "But as I mentioned earlier, to go to Beijing and meet leaders... that would be big news. Many Tibetans would think... may develop some unrealistic expectations. I have to think very carefully."

While a visit to Beijing would leave him open to criticism of appeasing the Chinese, the undertaking the Dalai Lama gave yesterday underlines his desperate wish to avoid further bloodshed in the country of his birth.

Seeking to put pressure on China, he said he was willing to travel to Beijing in a matter of weeks if there was a "concrete indication" that the Chinese authorities were prepared to negotiate and if the protests in Tibet had concluded. His spokesman later confirmed that while he did not wish to simply provide the Chinese with a photo-opportunity that could be used against him, he was ready to discuss a "mutually agreeable solution" to the issue of Tibet.

The remarkable prospect of a summit between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese leadership - either in Beijing or elsewhere - came as China said police had opened fire and wounded four Tibetan protesters in Sichuan province and arrested dozens of others who had ignored a deadline to end the most serious demonstrations to rock Tibet for more than two decades.

Earlier this week, the Chinese leadership indicated it would be prepared to talk to the Dalai Lama if he stopped "separatist activities" and recognised Tibet and Taiwan as parts of China. Gordon Brown told the Commons on Wednesday that the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, had told him he was ready to meet the Dalai Lama if he renounced violence. But assessing the genuine intentions of the Chinese leadership remains at best a guessing game. Beijing is concerned about sullying its reputation ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games, but while giving an undertaking to meet the Dalai Lama, various Chinese officials have continued to demonise him and accuse him and his "clique" of orchestrating the demonstrations in Tibet.

"For the Dalai Lama, we not only listen to what he says, but more importantly, we focus on what he does," said the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Qin Gang. "He has said he is not a separatist. But all of his propositions and actions prove that he has never stopped his splittist words and deeds."

The Dalai Lama knows his only real leverage as head of a Tibetan government in exile is in winning over international opinion to his cause. Today he is due to meet Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, while tomorrow he is scheduled to have lunch with the actor Richard Gere in Delhi. Both have supported him for many years.

Winning the backing of camera-friendly celebrities and power-wielding politicians has long been the strength of the smiling and avuncular 1989 Nobel laureate. Laughing, joking and yet utterly serious all in the space of a sentence, this is a role he continues to play to perfection as the cause to which he has devoted his life receives unprecedented world attention. Never more than now has he needed to stress the importance of non-violent protest and the limited nature of the movement's demands.

"The Chinese constitution already mentions autonomy [for Tibet]. So that should not be just a word on paper but implemented on the spot," he said, sitting in front of a statue of the Buddha. "The whole world knows Dalai Lama is not seeking independence, one hundred times, a thousand times I have repeated this. It is my mantra - we are not seeking independence."

In Beijing, the authorities admitted for the first time that the often violent protests that swept through Lhasa 10 days ago in protest against Chinese rule had spread to other Tibetan communities in additional provinces. Subsequently, the government has dispatched more troops and paramilitaries across the region as it seeks to reassert its control in those areas. It has banned the media and foreign tourists from travelling to the region.

Precisely how many people have been killed or injured as a result of the protests and the subsequent crackdown is unclear. The Chinese government says 16 people have died while the Tibetan exiles say the number stands at 80. On walls and buildings throughout Dharamsala, exiles have posted graphic and disturbing photographs of Tibetans apparently killed by Chinese police or soldiers.

"It's horrible. There are many bodies. The Chinese are holding the bodies," claimed Tenzin Thangh, who was participating in a candlelit vigil through the main street of the town - a procession that has become a nightly occurrence. "The soldiers are going into all parts of Tibet."

>From Dharamsala, a former British hill station established on the peaceful fringe of the Himalayas, Chinese accusations regarding the Dalai Lama's ability to direct events in Tibet and the description of him as "a devil with a human face but the heart of a beast", appear little short of preposterous. Indeed, his cautious "middle way" approach has been criticised by some Tibetans, including the Tibetan Youth Congress which seeks full independence from China. While many younger Tibetans have been outspoken in their criticism of the Dalai Lama's tactics, in recent days they have halted such comments in an apparent effort not to appear divided at a crucial juncture.

What certainly does not seem in doubt is the reverence with which he is held as the community's religious leader. Before meeting reporters yesterday, the Dalai Lama spent time in the flower-filled gardens of the compound receiving and blessing various visitors, including a family who had travelled secretly from Shanghai.

Asked later how he felt about the personal insults that Chinese officials had directed towards him, he said such comments mattered little to him. He also said he did not believe that the international community was taken in by what the Chinese said.

"As a Buddhist monk, it does not matter what they call me," he said with a chuckle. "The outside world doesn't believe that I am [a] devil."

A man's house is his castle?

2008-03-23T18:56:00.004-05:00

The feds are spying on us, our phone and email conversations, and we can't get a driver's license or a post office box without providing our physical address location. What happens to that information? For a fee, anybody on the Internet can get it....
So True was dismayed to find another privacy leak courtesy of Cook County. ANYBODY, that's right, anybody, can pull up your name, property identification number, taxpayer information, property information and assessed property value.
Who lobbied for this Big Brother privacy invasion? Realtors? Collection agencies? Or maybe the NSA (for those of you who don't know: the NSA spies on all of us, all of the time, with no oversight, thanks to Bush, Cheney, Rove, et al who nonetheless delete all of their own computer hard drives so we can't find out what THEY are doing about, say, torture memos, firing of federal attorneys who don't agree with them, big big payouts to crony corporations, lies to the media, to name only a few of their crimes....)
Please, dear Cook County, DON'T make it easier for anybody to invade my privacy. And WHY are you only announcing this new travesty of individual rights after the fact?
True

The Creechville dilemma

2008-03-23T18:24:00.003-05:00

In 1909, J.S. Creech opened his sawmill operation at a 12-man camp on Elbow Lake near Maple Hill, during a time that logging was bringing new local jobs to the pioneer settlers. His 1,300 acre parcel along the Elbow River was the source of his timber. Within a few years Creech hired only locals for his logging operations.
Today, 99 years later, his descendants Leroy and Barbara Creech are opposing annexation of Creechville by the city of Grand Marais. "We can't afford to live here now," Leroy Creech told WTIP reporter Barbara Jean Meyers in an interview. "When they charge us more, how will we afford that? ... We don't need the water and sewer."
The county has declined to support the annexation by the city after hearing concerns from Creechville residents. Commissioner Bob Fenwick says it is a tough choice; although property values will go up tax increases will in some instances more than double, not including the new sewer and water assessments.
There are no villains in this story. The city has been working toward the annexation project for years now at the request of some Creechville residents. They did go through a public process and did get approval for the project. However, property owners like Creech didn't realize that everyone would be required to sign on, not only those who wanted city water and sewer.
It's hard for True to imagine what it would be like for a pioneer family to be driven out of their century-old home because they can't afford to pay for amenities that they don't need.
Mayor Larsen told WTIP in an interview that the project will benefit all sewer and water users by spreading out the cost, and that the city is applying for grants to help those who need assistance. The grants could be jeopardized if the project is held up.
Here is True's idea: Don't look now but in the last 20 years or so onsite wastewater treatment technology has skyrocketed. Yes, the city ought to provide sewer and water for those who want it, but it also ought to allow new onsite cluster system technology as an option for those who can't afford to buy in. The townships of Tofte and Lutsen are looking at cluster systems with small waste package plants. Grand Marais ought to look to 21st century options for those who can't afford city taxes, sewer and water. Honor your elders and your pioneers, folks!
True

Poor Lynddie England, chump and poster child of bad soldier

2008-03-19T22:31:00.005-05:00

The MSM vilified Lynndie England as the evil incarnate of Abu Ghraib after the world looked on in horror at the photos of her tormenting prisoners. Poor dumb Lynddie admitted her guilt and said she knew she was wrong and got sent to jail despite the obvious sexual abuse by her superior officer (namely, she was preggers with his kid).
It boggles the mind that the press could demonize this subnormal child-woman for obeying the orders of her bosses while exonerating the Commander-in-Chief who made it all happen, who now admits with pride that he authorized torture of the "hardened terrists." You surely know who I am talking about? The "mission accomplished," "heckuva job, Brownie" guy? Yep, the buck stops with him.
Lynndie recently gave an interview. She's really mad at the press (well, who isn't?) But for Lynndie they are entirely to blame for the whole scandal that damaged America in world opinion, and why is that? Why, because stuff like the Abu Ghraib torture is just doing business as usual in the Army but the people can't be expected to understand that. They need to be protected from the truth.
Lynndie, poor boobie, took the rap like a good soldier but she is really pissed because the press didn't go along with the Big Lie that her "superiors" bamboozled her into pleading guilty for.
What a mug! She doesn't even get it, that her latest admisison about torture-as-usual is the most damning evidence we have that we need to look way up to the top of the food chain for the real perpetrators of the horrors at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo and all those secret detention sites in countries that don't fool around denying that they torture, and torture, and torture.
Thanks, Lynndie, for helping us get the big picture

Relaxing with the Sunday paper: It's the news, stupid

2008-03-16T18:41:00.011-05:00

How astonishing that only 40 percent of Americans know that nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq so far. If that is the case I imagine far fewer know that over a million Iraqis have died, mostly civilians, and four million have been displaced. Or that returning soldiers have huge suicide rates and are refused treatment for PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder for you dummies). Or that to the rest of the world the United States is synonymous with torture and unilateral aggression against other sovereign nations.
Ya ya, Fox news is a Repug mouthpiece and the MSM parrot the Bushcos. But, even an ordinary reader of the Sunday paper should know how many soldiers have died in Iraq. Even dummies ought to figure out that the Iraq war was a disaster which will also cripple our children's generation with debt, and that the impending war of aggression with Iran orchestrated by our nutty right wing neocons who welcome the Apocalypse will ignite a new world war with superpowers Russia and China against us. What IS it with you, amigos?
Hmm, reading on in the new Strib Lite, there's a story about how folks are leaving their houses behind so they can make their car and credit card payments. Say, what? Isn't that deja vu Depression all over again? Why aren't people asking that question? If you can make your own house payment, do you just blow it off?
Another story, about Tibet:
The repressive Chinese government is blaming the victim, not to mention killing them and rounding them up into jail. The Chinese regime has refused to acknowledge Tibetan Buddhism ever since their 1951 coup and takeover of this small country in the Himalayan mountains. The Dalai Lama, the holiest person on the planet, who now "rules" his worldwide constituencies of faith from Dharamsala, India, is being blamed for the violence perpetrated by the Chinese. Buddhits devotees and monks are imprisoned for their nonviolent protests. Look more closely at the photos: the monks are in pain on account of the "violence" by the Chinese police with their night sticks and guns.
People will rise up when their deepest beliefs are subjugated (except in the modern-day US of A where the pioneers have morphed into limp wimps who cave at the bogey "terrists"). This is sorta mentioned in the LiteStrib story but like everything else the MSM reports it favors the party line. In this case, the Chinese party line.... And who will stand up for the peace-loving Tibetans in the press? So far, nobody. Not even the groupies who reverently attend appearances by the Dalai Lama around the world, and who listen to his wise and loving message of peace to all beings.
Soldiering on, as we move into the afternoon and toss the junk pages that could have saved a couple acres of rainforest: Readers learn how fed reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is "improvising" and making "bold moves" to save the U.S. economy. Hmph. Jumping ahead: On Monday it appears that the latest bold move bails out Wall Street mega-giant Bear Stearns to the tune of billions, just a little blip, while children go without health care, our infrastructure crumbles and collapses, and people don't have jobs. Even AP reported this news but maybe you missed it on Fox.....
We get the government we deserve. True admits it is harder to get the real news now but it is the duty of us citizens to try. You just have to actually read the paper and skip front page which might as well be what we used to call the "Women's Page," back in the day.
The people divided will always be defeated. The people, stupid, will always be conned.
True

The Gunsmoke Monologues: Oh those f*****g PC Police!

2008-03-16T18:35:00.000-05:00

Dear True,

Now the PC police are raising the “bar”: charging bar owners who allow smoking when a play is in progress, a loophole in the new Minnesota ordinance, the so-called “Freedom to Breathe” Act. Yep, in Babbitt. Presumably everybody there was either watching or participating in the play, “Gunsmoke Monologues,” (get it?) and chose not to breathe all on their own.

What the hell? If y’all want to police smokers, if you PLEASE, make them stop smoking right outside the building where I can’t escape the fumes. But, NO. This is considered on the level of “nuisance crimes” like littering our precious forests, that nobody bothers to enforce.

Smokers get to have a life and they ought to get regularly screened for lung cancer—which also attacks non-smokers but usually gets diagnosed too late to save their lives because the PC Police decree that they are Bad, that they Deserve to Die.

I used to be a smoker. In the 20th century there were allowances made. Railroads had smoking cars, clubs had smoking rooms. Now in the 21^st it would be so easy to create comfortable and pleasant rooms for smokers, with our high tech options to mitigate, ventilate, and separate. But, NO. The evil Smokers must be punished. No leeway is permitted, no comfort allowed, no recognition for the social community of smokers (Think, a ciggie after sex? After dinner?). NOT, you say: They are so bad, bad, bad, even if you were once one of them.

Well, except for letting them puff away while I am trying to enter a building, any building, y’all make me want to smoke again (in a comfortable room at home with the window open or lazing on my deck). After 13 years, I Need a Smoke! In Kentucky where I come from tobacco is a good thing. For Native Americans, tobacco is a sacred thing.

Minnesota is one of the worst states in terms of trying to find a sensible solution for non-smokers and smokers alike. Ugh. I wish I could move to Canada, but with Repugs like Pawlenty, Bachmann, Bush & Cheney in charge, the dollar is tanked and so I can’t afford to leave this stupid state. Don’t forget, it wasn’t the best and the brightest who left the old country for the New World (as dear Garrison Keillor has pointed out)!

Last but not least, Minnesota “allows” corporate polluters hundreds of thousands of pounds per year for environmental pollutants discharged in the course of their business activities. The state wants to invest in more filthy coal-powered electrical plants and a copper mine (Polymet) that will destroy all life in local lakes and streams. The state has jumped on the Ethanol Bandwagon even though it is widely understood that the consequences of ethanol production will increase poverty and hunger while destroying wildlife habitat around the increasingly fragile world we inhabit.

Minnesotans, get your priorities straight. Have a little compassion for smokers, give them a filtered space to light up, and think outside the PC Police Law. If you want to be really PC, start charging those corporate giants with the “new sin” of pollution as per the Pope and letting THEM pay the big fines.

Anonymous

Lutsen: who's minding the henhouse?

2008-03-10T23:06:00.002-05:00

The day dawns for Lutsen township elections and Paul Quinn is challenging incumbent Supervisor Marland Hansen. Sounds like a healthy democratic process? Guess again.
Hansen and Quinn are both on the same page when it comes to the HUGE issues facing Lutsen township, namely the downtown development design approved by a public process and the Lutsen Mountain mega-developers who are not answerable to anybody. Not for their mega-slump dump of dirty water into the Poplar River. Not for their increasing push toward the limits of the TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) that can't absorb additional turbidity. But most of all, not for their Mega-Development of a new McCity on Lutsen Mountain with 55 foot high buildings, curb-and-gutters designed for a mini-urban area, and no, repeat, no, plans to mitigate the already challenged TMDL on the Poplar River watershed, a huge area affected by the Mega Mountain Corporation.
So, people of Lutsen, do you want to elect Tweedle Dum or Tweedle Dee? Either candidate washes his hands over the Poplar River/Lutsen Mountain pollution issues. Either candidate expresses disdain for the public-process-approved downtown design by the U of M Center for Changing Landscapes. True, having closely studied these designs, has nothing but praise for them, especially for the seamless integration of the bike trail into the overall plan and for the "intelligent design" (if you will pardon the reference) that will limit new development to the town center and to the publicly determined good--i.e., housing and commercial development that serves citizens.
Lutsen citizens: True can't vote for y'all. You need to stop being world-class wimps while others decide the fate of your lovely, lovely township.

To the GM Park Board: Government Ethics 101

2008-03-07T21:47:00.002-06:00

One of the biggest problems with having two local papers in Cook County is that neither one can devote adequate resources to the big issues. The Park Board meetings, for example, often get bypassed entirely.... it has been True's experience that these folks want to encourage the rich and get rid of the middle class who now support Rec Park with their huge fees for utilities and space for their RVs....
So, the latest brouhaha is the decision to add nine (count em, nine) new docks to the present marina of 16 slips. By True's calculations this is an increase of MORE THAN HALF (56 percent) without, as far as True knows, any public process.... The new slips obscure the lake view of North House and the Hjordis. It looks like a hostile takeover by the downtown Bidness interests from where I sit....These guys compare our tiny harbor to MegaMarina Bayfield. They think the big bucks are just waiting to descend on Grand Marais, despite recent studies that rich yacht owners are on the decline. Wheareas our loyal Rec Park tenants have stayed year after year despite knockout increases in fees. Hello, Grand Marais? The rich will see us as a "slapdash" town and won't want to be bothered to stay here. Too totally funky. So, why do we care? The ordinary folks, the working folks and the middle class, love us. They are our bread-and-butter, our biggest fans.
Bidness doesn't like North House because they pay their way and yet they still make money, they draw in tourists from all across America, and they are committed to sustainable development of the harbor. Bidness couldn't care less about sustainability so long as they can sell more gas to the rich s---ers who want to dock here but don't want to pay their fair share like the rest of our tourists who pay for lodging and meals or the RV Park folks who pay horrific fees to retain their spaces...
Worst of all are the statements by board member Carol Backlund and Recreation Area Assistant Manager Dave Tersteeg. True is appalled that they just don't get it, that conflict-of-interest means DO NOT VOTE. Ya shure, anybody can express an opinion. Carol, Dave, do your worst... but DO NOT VOTE. Hello, you think your opinions are valuable? Duh.... so is everybody else's opinion, but the rule goes that if you have even the slightest interest in the decision you DO NOT VOTE.
Civics and Government appear to be low on the list of classes for Cook County students.
The ultimate decision about extra slips in the marina should be considered in terms of its impact on existing businesses and the environment, as well as the view shed that visitors expect during their holidays. NOT NOT because anybody might even conceivably profit from additional slips....
It is no wonder that the neocons who control the government slash away all legal challenges to their limitless power: The Sheep are putty in the hands of the Wolf.

True's fave paper is not the Star and yet they had the story this time.

Reader protests ATV world parade in Silver Bay

2008-03-02T15:28:00.000-06:00

Dear True,

What's the matter with these people? Why don't they meet in Las Vegas? Or Sturgis? Why not pick a site more compatible with their hobby? They drive noisy, gas fume generating, tippy little doodlebugs. They want to bring these noisy, smelly, hazardous (to themselves, thankfully) machines in great numbers to a pristine, quiet wilderness area where they hope to roar around disrupting other people's peace of mind and polluting the air. Why not ride in the National Cathedral or the Library of Congress or some other place where quiet is the norm?

The majority of the rest of us are here for the quiet, dammit.

Pam Dorris

Lutsen

Viva New Scandinavia!

2008-03-02T15:27:00.000-06:00

Dear True,

I vote whole-heartedly for the Republic of New Scandinavia, independent, generous, ecologically sensible, full of nice people, and yet stern and swift in the removal of loud, greed-based, showy, silly visitors, including profiteers, speculators, and "motorheads."

Viva New Scandinavia!

Pam Dorris

Lutsen

Minnesota: raise income taxes!

2008-02-29T20:19:00.004-06:00

Hello, Governor Pawlenty. Hello, Cook County. Hello, Minnesota legislators!

Stop taxing the poor! New gas taxes, new sales taxes, new fees, but NEVER new income taxes! Y'all are shifting the tax burden from the richest to the poorest.
Can you say, REGRESSIVE TAXES?
Minnesota used to be all about graduated taxes, all about ability to pay. No more. Cook County and Grand Marais are hollering for a new one percent sales tax, claiming that it is borne by tourists. Hello, hello? WE are the ones who live here, who pay the tax every single day on every single thing we buy.
The legislature passed a new gas tax without even asking what anybody thinks about that. This happens even as gas prices break all records. Us po' folks can hardly manage to buy gas to get to work. Our food, our heat, our rents and mortgages, not to mention our health care have all shot through the roof. How much blood can you squeeze out of a stone? How much poorer will we have to be before the big D word is spoken aloud?
As for property taxes, nobody seems yet to have caught on: we are being taxed on inflated property values!!! We can no longer sell our homes for their inflated values but we still have to pay taxes on them. Property taxes are also regressive, but necessary at the local level, WHICH is why Minnesota used to offer lots of aid to local governments as well as homeowners. Back in the day when Minnesota government meant something good for people, before the Repugnants took over.
As for the No New Bridges governor, who keeps sending my "tax bill" spiraling by increasing all those fees like license tabs in the name of "no new taxes" meaning no new FAIR income taxes, well I hope you will be soundly defeated by an old-fashioned Minnesota DFL progressive next round.
True

Ta da! Here comes the world's biggest ATV parade

2008-02-29T20:11:00.003-06:00

The Cook County Star has announced that our ATV club is "recruiting ATV enthusiasts" to attend a hopefully record-breaking ATV parade in Silver Bay on June 14th. So much for "just wanting a place for locals to ride their ATVs around."
ATV clubs from around the state will be trying to make the North Shore the premier destination for the nation (and the world?). You can trust this info, it came from the horse's (I mean the ATV's) mouth.
True

Duluth News Tribune | Pawlenty vetos transportation bill

2008-02-25T04:59:00.000-06:00

Ah, so! Finally the True Colors emerge: the RichPlenty Gov goes for more highway, bridge deaths

Duluth News Tribune | Pawlenty vetos transportation bill

Cattle Abuse, Beef Recall Highlight Systemic Weaknesses - CommonDreams.org

2008-02-20T18:53:00.002-06:00

Here's a link to a St. Paul Pioneer Press story about the beef recall, and a press release on the same subject from Food and Water Watch:.

Stay tuned for a post-in-progress to be called "The Lunch Box," reflections on school lunches, animal rights and those animal rights "terrorists."

Cattle Abuse, Beef Recall Highlight Systemic Weaknesses - CommonDreams.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 20, 20082:18 PM
CONTACT: Food & Water Watch Jennifer Mueller at (202) 797-6553, e-mail: news (at) fwwatch.org

Video Reveals Big Problems at Meat Plant

WASHINGTON DC - February 20 - The February 18, 2008 announcement that more than 140 million pounds of frozen ground beef produced by a plant in California was being recalled has sparked lots of media coverage, not only because of the sheer size of the recall (the largest in U.S. history) but because of the dramatic video footage of the humane handling violations at the plant that sparked the recall. To top it off, the company that produced the recalled meat, Hallmark/Westland, is the second largest supplier of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program. So it’s no surprise that this has become a pretty big story, just the latest in a string of examples of our broken food safety system. But, as always, there is more to the story that what you see on the news.
What are downer cows exactly?
The recall was instituted because the plant violated a rule that downer cattle (those that cannot walk into the slaughter plant under their own power) are not allowed into the human food supply. This is because these animals could be suffering from neurological problems and are considered to be high risk for mad cow disease. When plants try to use downers, workers end up pushing, dragging, or otherwise forcing them into the plant. That is what the video footage obtained by the Humane Society of the United States shows. In addition to being cruel and inhumane, it is illegal, and that is why the USDA shut down the plant earlier this month after the video was released.
How did the plant get away with this?
We think this is one of the most important questions. USDA has a longstanding problem with vacancies in the ranks of its meat inspectors, so there are questions about whether there were enough USDA inspectors in this plant to do all of the things they need to, including looking at live animals before they go to slaughter. Additionally, some inspectors have raised concerns that USDA management in the plant instructed them not to go outside to check animals. Click here to read more about these concerns.
Why was the recall so big?
The amount of meat covered by this recall is so large because the USDA included all products that came from the plant for a long period of time – two years. This means that USDA is concerned that these violations may have been happening for that long, a sad commentary on their willingness to enforce their own rules. Because the recalled product is from such a long time period, most of it has probably been eaten, which makes the recall too little, too late. The other issue with this recall is that not all of the meat went to schools – some went to retail stores. For years, we have been urging USDA to include the names of stores where recalled product was sold in their public announcements. This massive recall just shows once again that this information is vital for consumers and the agency is irresponsible not to release it.
What can I do to avoid meat from plants that don’t treat animals humanely?
Check out the Eat Well Guide to find out where to buy local, sustainable meat in your area.

How do I find out if I bought meat involved in this recall?
The ground beef from Hallmark/Westland will have a stamp on it that says "Est. 336" on the package. This is the indentification number for this plant. Click here for a list of types of product types that were recalled.
###
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New Scandinavia: a modest proposal

2008-02-20T11:27:00.002-06:00

If you don’t like it here, move to the USA

Cook County voters supported Obama by mega margins. What this tells True is that we want change. What True knows is that no matter who succeeds the Bush Throne, change won’t come because a quarter century of right-wing policies exacerbated by wars of aggression have allowed the military and their rich backers to dictate policy. The Supreme Court no longer hears redress of grievances, from Kangaroo Court trials to spying on every American citizen 24/7.

True loves Obama, but there is no way he can reverse the right wing wars on the environment, worker safety, sovereign nations who have oil that the USA wants, and the transfer of an independent media to the new Unitary Executive. Our fall-back supports, the Supreme Court and Congress, cave at every turn. Wimps? Not. These guys buy in to the international-corporate-free trade-imperialist-bloody war fought by pawns-decimation of constitutional rights-global domination-torture apologists-environmental pirates that exploit child labor and kill union organizers…. Hmm, you get the picture.

Cook County is home to the sovereign nation of the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa. The casino and resort have brought jobs and prosperity to the tribe, who has shared generously with the rest of us.

So, here’s my idea: Let’s declare Cook County a new sovereign nation (except for the Portage Band). We won’t subscribe to the international policies of death and cruelty and we won’t be subjected to Big Brother spying and we won’t pay any state or federal taxes. We’ll follow the Monaco model: people will come here for luxurious vacations and spend tons of money. Or even the Texas model, the oil and gas companies subsidize the state and the people pay zilch in taxes.

We can “nationalize” our greatest assets, like the East Bay Condominiums, Bluefin Bay and the Lutsen Mountain complex that aspires to become a tourist Mecca using public funds while dumping wastes into the Poplar River. Let them pay for mitigation! They can afford it, and even after that we can use their profits to restore our wetlands and repair our aging infrastructure: wastewater treatment, roads, harbors and inland lakes. Or, if they don’t want to do that, tax them up the wazoo. They use up our natural resources without recompense now; the government of New Scandinavia will have a few words to say in its own behalf.

In our new land, we can declare that silent sports trump invasive noisy and gas-guzzling ATVs. Our ultra-rich patrons like the peaceful expanse of woods and water. They might fly in but they expect we will shelter the airport from their personal experience of wild beauty. We are sovereign. Spy satellites from the USA can be shot down. Say, what Border Patrol? We are the Border. We invite visitors, we welcome them. We don’t try to shoot them down or build barb-wire fences to keep them out. We are a neutral nation, no wars of aggression, ever.

Other assets, like the Grand Marais Harbor, Artist’s Point, the pool, the campground and many another beloved tourist site, await nationalization. These are resources owned by the New Scandinavia state.

We’ll be so sought after, so longed-for, by the ultra-rich who find their own playgrounds increasingly destroyed or polluted. Clean and green and we already know how to behave towards the Muggles.

Yes! Let’s do it. The West was in a big hurry to recognize Kosovo’s independence. So, why not recognize New Scandinavia’s independence? We don’t have oil but we do have the breathtaking beauty of our lakes and forests, the Lorelei lures to attract the ultra-rich who are by their nature limited in number.

Not that our old friends won’t be welcome. The Rich Bitches will subsidize their stays as well as our infrastructure that will protect us into the next century…

Hey, hey, what do you say?

New Scandinavia is here to stay!

True

AlterNet: Blogs: Rights and Liberties

2008-02-13T23:12:00.001-06:00

True just read this post from Alternet.... It says everything and We hope you will read, mull over and take to heart.
True

AlterNet: Blogs: Rights and Liberties

Great Lakes pollution threatens public health

2008-02-13T22:46:00.001-06:00

Government Suppresses Major Public Health Report
By Maggie Mahar
AlterNet

Tuesday 12 February 2008

The public has been denied important information on the link between pollution and health problems including lung, colon and breast cancer.

This article originally appeared on Health Beat.

The Center for Public Integrity, a public interest investigative journalism organization, has obtained copies of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study of environmental and health data in eight Great Lakes states that was scheduled for publication in July 2007. The report, which pointed to elevated rates of lung, colon, and breast cancer; low birth weight; and infant mortality in several of the geographical areas of concern has not yet been made public.

A few days before the report was slated to be released, it was pulled. Meanwhile, at precisely the same time, its lead author, Christopher De Rosa, has been removed from the position he held since 1992. The Center for Public Integrity is asking why.

The study, "Public Health Implications of Hazardous Substances in Twenty-Six U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern" was developed by the CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) at the request of the International Joint Commission, an independent U.S-Canadian organization that monitors and advises both governments on the use and quality of boundary waters.

The CDC report brings together two sets of data: environmental data on known "areas of concern" - including superfund sites and hazardous waste dumps - and separate health data collected by county or, in some cases, smaller geographical regions.

The study does not try to prove cause and effect. Instead, it outlines areas for further study and data collection on the link between pollution and health.

"Let's say we have a superfund site and we also find elevated risk of leukemia in the county - is that related? We don't know, but people living in the area can logically argue that we ought to find out," Dr. Peter Orris, a professor at the University of Illinois School of Public Health and one of the peer reviewers of the study told Oneworld.net.

Since 2004, dozens of experts have reviewed various drafts of the study, including senior scientists at the CDC, Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal agencies, as well as scientists from universities and state governments, according to consumeraffairs.com. Orris is just one of the several experts who reviewed the study and who, along with the International Joint Committee in a December letter to the CDC, have called for the report's publication.

Canadian biologist Michael Gilbertson, a second peer reviewer, told the Center for Public Integrity that he felt the findings were being suppressed because they were "inconvenient." On the record, he added: "The whole problem with all this kind of work is wrapped up in that word 'injury.' If you have injury, that implies liability. Liability, of course, implies damages, legal processes, and costs of remedial action. The governments, frankly, in both countries are so heavily aligned with, particularly, the chemical industry, that the word amongst the bureaucracies is that they really do not want any evidence of effect or injury to be allowed out there."

Orris also raised concerns that the publication may have been halted based on orders outside the CDC. Once again, it seems that the Bush administration is trying to shrink government by making sure that a federal agency doesn't do its job-a problem that I wrote about here in a post titled "The FDA- What Happens When You Starve the Beast." Corporate interests are protected-at the expense of the nation's citizens.

"I have an overall concern with respect to the culture of this administration, which permeates all levels of the scientific wing of the government," Orris said. "The administration has regularly cut funds so that they don't find statistics that could be potentially politically embarrassing - for instance, the sampling of toxins in fish in the Great Lakes has been cut way back."

"If the messenger doesn't come with the message, no one knows it's there," he added.

CDC spokesperson Bernadette Burden told OneWorld that the report was held back because internal and external reviewers - including the Environmental Protection Agency and several state health departments - identified "numerous discrepancies and deficiencies" and determined a rigorous review was needed. She added that the CDC plans to release the report after the review is completed, in "weeks rather than months."

Burden cited several examples of "discrepancies", including the fact that the county-level health data "reflected people's illnesses from 1988 to 1997, while much of the environmental data used in the report came from the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory dated 2001 and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination system with 2004 data."

As Oneworld.net points out, CDC did not clarify why these issues were not identified until July 2007 despite several years of review.

A new director of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health and ATSDR, Howard Frumkin, was appointed in July 2007, shortly before the report was due to be released. He replaced De Rosa, who had served as director of the Division of Toxicology for fifteen years. De Rosa was named special assistant in Frumkin's office - a position that appears to carry "no real responsibilities" according to a Feb. 2008 letter from members of the Congressional Committee on Science and Technologies to CDC director Julie Gerberding. The letter called the move an apparent retaliation.

As many as 9 million people - including residents of Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee - may be at risk from exposure to pollutants including pesticides, dioxin, PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls), and mercury, according to Sheila Kaplan, an investigative journalist who covered the story for the Center for Public Integrity.

Kaplan has read all three drafts of the study, from 2004 to 2007.

"It's important for this work to be followed up on," she told OneWorld. "What I hope from this report is that communities will say, 'We deserve to know this information and whether exposure to these chemicals and metals is killing us.' More work needs to be done."

You will find Kaplan's full report here.

Stop that spying or I'll give you something to spy about!

2008-02-13T19:54:00.005-06:00

True,

Who still believes in the sanctity of the home? Or would you believe a person's house is her castle? Does anybody else care that satellite spying on our every email and phone conversation has just been okayed by the US Senate?

Oh ya I know the argument, that only the bad guys have anything to hide. NOT. I have my private thoughts to hide. I have my friends, my memories, my saints, my sins, my longings and hopes and dreams and fears to hide from a merciless Big Brother who would shred the American Dream for the sake of imperial domination, for the sake of oil and wealth and limitless power.

Well, then, scumbags aka elected officials, put this in your pipe and smoke it:

As a person of peace I am the enemy of the United States who stands for endless war. Enemy, enemy, enemy. USA equals Evildoer, evildoer, evildoer.

Ah so, you spy on me? OK then I will spew out all that stuff you are looking for and dare you to come and get me:

F**k Bu$hco. Death to the Repuglican agenda. Impeach Bush and Cheney and put them in jail. End Torture and arrest all those who condone or practice it. Let you be judged and sentenced to your own wicked and cruel torments of others, like the old fairy tales where the baddies were dragged behind a team of horses in a nail-studded cask. YOU ALWAYS PAY FOR WHAT YOU DO, or so I wish.

Nya nya nya, You Can't Catch Me I'm the Gingerbread Man...... by the time you head to my Castle I will be so out of here, out of this friggin country where I was born but no longer belong....
Anonymous

Oberstar Praises Minnesota Transportation Bill

2008-02-13T19:48:00.002-06:00

Dare we hope that our beautiful but dangerous highway by the lake will be repaired and made safe? Or that light rail will allow us to travel from Duluth to the Cities in a few years? Or that the no-brainer, i.e., paying people money and giving them jobs to fix our failing infrastructure, so disdained by Pawlenty and his ilk, may actually come to pass? Oh, ya you betcha. Just go ahead and hope.
True

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Washington DC – Congressman Jim Oberstar says the transportation plan unveiled by Minnesota legislators on Tuesday is one of the best he has ever seen. “It’s a realistic, futuristic, investment plan that binds greater Minnesota with the metro area,” said Oberstar.

As chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Oberstar has been critical of the Pawlenty Administration’s lack of investment in the state’s transportation system. “There’s been an ideological mindset in the Governor’s office and with our Commissioner of Transportation that somehow these road needs will be simply be met on their own, by some deus ex machina coming in to solve the problem. Well that’s not happened.”

Oberstar calls the legislation unveiled by state lawmakers a “bold initiative” that recognizes that maintaining and upgrading transportation infrastructure need constant attention and a dedicated source of revenue. Minnesota has not increased the highway user fee for road maintenance and construction since 1988. Since that time, the cost of road construction materials and labor has increased by 47 percent.

“State Senator Steve Murphy and Representative Bernie Lieder have crafted a bill that makes the resources available to address our most critical concerns immediately. They are also ensuring the revenue stream keeps up with inflation,” said Oberstar.

Oberstar says the Minnesota state transportation bill will stimulate the economy and is a good investment for taxpayers. “It’s a sustainable investment program that will create 33,000 jobs a year in the construction sector that will stay at home; they are home grown, Minnesota jobs, using Minnesota materials,” said Oberstar.

A 2007 study found that traffic congestion costs Minnesota’s economy $1.1 billion a year. In effect, Oberstar says those costs are a congestion tax paid by everyone in the state in the form of lost jobs and higher cost goods and services. He adds that there are clear consequences for the state if a comprehensive transportation investment plan is not passed. “Greater Minnesota will be disadvantaged, travel and tourism will be hurt, our state economy will suffer; there is a cost to failing to invest,” said Oberstar.

###

Oberstar Says Congress Will Not Pass Bush Budget

2008-02-13T19:44:00.002-06:00

So you want to puke over Bu$hco's 2009 budget? Take heart, folks with this news release from our Jim Oberstar:

Monday, February 04, 2008

Washington DC – Congressman Jim Oberstar is calling the budget for fiscal year 2009 that President Bush submitted to Congress today “proof positive that the President’s economic policies have failed the American people.”

“Seven years ago, President Bush took office with a projected surplus of $5.6 trillion. He’s turned that surplus into a $2.4 trillion dollar deficit and added $3.5 trillion to the national debt; the taxpayer’s share of the national debt grew from $25,000 to over $30,000. Under President Bush’s watch, we’ve seen our government’s effectiveness decline dramatically, as evidenced by the debacle of Hurricane Katrina and the disgraceful treatment of our veterans at Walter Reed Hospital. The budget President Bush unveiled today promises to saddle our children and grandchildren with more debt, while offering fewer services to working families,” said Oberstar.

President Bush’s budget proposes cuts of over $196 billion to Medicare and Medicaid in 2009. “Cutting back on health care for the poor and elderly will only increase the numbers of uninsured and underinsured in our country,” said Oberstar. “There were 40 million uninsured Americans when President Bush took office; today, there are 47 million, and that number will grow even larger if we enact this budget.”

Oberstar says there is no chance that Congress will approve the President’s budget as it was introduced today. “Democrats in Congress are going to introduce a fiscally-responsible budget that focuses on the priorities of the American people. It will be a blueprint for investing in America’s future that will address education, health care, tax relief for working families and reinvigorating the nation’s economy,” said Oberstar.

###

Toxic Government Report Uncovered - CommonDreams.org

2008-02-08T14:49:00.000-06:00

Link to this Truthout report of a report the government refuses to publish about toxic contamination in the Great Lakes, including Duluth harbor. In the story, there's also a link to excerpts from the report itself. This is scary not only because it's endangered health and safety of Americans and Canadians but also because the government would rather not let us know.

Toxic Government Report Uncovered - CommonDreams.org

Bush Administration Argues Veterans Have No Right to Mental Health Care

2008-02-07T22:26:00.000-06:00

Support our troups? Of course, unless you are a Bushie. Put troops in a desperate no-win situation, then opt out on caring for their PSTD among other egregious lapses in thankfulness....Read on:

Bush Administration Argues Veterans Have No Right to Mental Health Care:
"Tuesday 05 February 2008

Veterans have no legal right to specific types of medical care, the Bush administration argues in a lawsuit accusing the government of illegally denying mental health treatment to some troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The arguments, filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, strike at the heart of a lawsuit filed on behalf of veterans that claims the health care system for returning troops provides little recourse when the government rejects their medical claims.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is making progress in increasing its staffing and screening veterans for combat-related stress, Justice Department lawyers said. But their central argument is that Congress left decisions about who should get health care, and what type of care, to the VA and not to veterans or the courts.

A federal law providing five years of care for veterans from the date of their discharge establishes 'veterans' eligibility for health care, but it does not create an entitlement to any particular medical service,' government lawyers said.

They said the law entitles veterans only to 'medical care which the secretary (of Veterans Affairs) determines is needed, and only to the extent funds ... are available.'

Go to the link for the rest of the story.

True

Obama landslide winner in Cook County: Yes!

2008-02-07T20:56:00.000-06:00

Nobody even came close to challenging Barack Obama's caucus victory in Cook County on Super Tuesday. This is good. True is old enough to remember the 1960 election of President John Kennedy, also an inspiring and charismatic figure but he only won by a short margin. How different the future of our country might have been if he had lost; despite the right wing assassins who took him down along with his brother Bobby, MLK Junior and John Lennon, we at least had a time where idealism found a place in the sun, where young people were thrilled to work on behalf of their country, where the rich and the poor united in working for America and for the world. "Ich bin ein Berliner," said JFK to screaming crowds in Berlin, long before the Wall was torn down. "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Thousands of young people flocked to the Peace Corps and millions more of us worked on a more local scale to bring peace and justice to our people.
Much of being a great leader is being a visionary, capturing the hopes and dreams of the people. John Kennedy made some big mistakes early on, most noticeably bringing us to the brink of nuclear war over the Bay of Pigs. But, he learned and he always led from the heart.
And that is why True believes in Barack Obama. He might not stand up so strong as John Edwards on behalf of the poor, the two Americas, but when elected I believe he will step into the big footprints of history. I believe he will try to extricate us from the endless and evil war in Iraq, will start a new dialogue with other nations, will build a base of Americans with his experience as a community organizer guides him....Nobody else has the capacity to inspire the young, to bring everybody back to the table where peace and justice might be on the agenda.
YES, Cook County!
True

Oh, look out! Here come the PC police

2008-02-04T20:10:00.000-06:00

Dear True,
Anonymous here again.
This time I am writing on behalf of all the expanding waistlines that used to be considered a normal part of aging. Now we are a great obesity hazard! We threaten the world more than AIDS or war or global warming. These decisions are made by the young and the frequently anorexic, the crazed gym members who pump iron but circle the parking lot to find a space so they won't have to walk.
Whatever data the PC Police are using, it does not include my grandparents who grew portly and stately figures in their old age.
It's just fat-bashing, another way to make us feel bad. Like so much reporting by the MSM, many facts are missing. Like the PC Police who refuse to allow anybody to smoke, even in the privacy of their homes, like the Temperance Ladies who got liquor banned and created the lovely speakeasies and the smugglers' heaven, there is just no tolerance for being normal, growing old, finding some anodyne in a little wine or whiskey, or enjoying a smoke now and then.
BOO to you, PC Police! You are the natural heirs of the spies who prey on our phone calls, emails, and posts such as this one. Why don't you take a peek at the mote in your own eye?
-Anonymous

Go to your precinct caucus (if you can)!

2008-02-04T19:11:00.000-06:00

Dear True,
Coming of age in the fabulously hopeful 1960's I learned that the precinct caucus in Minnesota is the true way to grassroots politics. It's a nice idea. And I urge anyone who can to go to the Super Tuesday caucuses here in Cook County tomorrow night. There won't be another opportunity to choose the presidential candidate for your party.
Being much older now, I don't have such good night vision to be driving around on icy roads and highways. Being a resident of Cook County now I have only one place to go for my precinct caucus, and if I go I probably won't be able to get back home given the weather predictions and my remote location.
So! Is it fair, is it right, to deny the many homebound citizens of our 60-mile long county the chance to choose the next presidential candidate? We don't have taxis. Our Arrowhead bus doesn't run at night. And those of us who are most marginal are the very ones who need to let the pols know who we want to have a chance to vote for.
Minnesota, you need to do better. In the early glory days of Bean Feeds and long speeches by HHH, when most of us could drive or take the bus, it seemed good. Now I would like to demand an absentee ballot for my presidential choice, who happens to be Barack Obama. I am not a Hillary basher and would love for a woman to be the next prez, but she is just way too far to the right for me. She gets megabucks from the megacorporations and she is fuzzy about Iraq where we are pouring trillions of treasury dollars down a sinkhole and by the way generating bitter hatred against us, when we could be investing in desperately needed infrastructure.
Anonymous

Gmail - [True North] Gmail - 'Tremendous potential' for non-ferrous /Keewatin $300 ex... - truenorthgm@gmail.com

2008-02-04T19:10:00.000-06:00

Here's some important info about non-ferrous mining, check the link:
Gmail - [True North] Gmail - 'Tremendous potential' for non-ferrous /Keewatin $300 ex... - truenorthgm@gmail.com

Read my lips, no new taxes

2008-02-01T04:50:00.000-06:00

A good decision by the county board

Dear True,

Times are tough. It’s a safe bet that Cook County, at the tip of the Arrowhead, is especially hard hit by rising costs of gas and food; everything that other people take for granted has to be trucked up here and so we pay extra.

People are losing their homes. More and more of us visit the food shelf to make ends meet. We apply for fuel assistance but find it cut; Bushco prefers to spend tax dollars destroying Iraq. Budgets are scrunched down.

And so, it is with thanks and relief that I report that the county board decided not to ask for a continuation of the one percent sales tax now that the hospital bond is paid off. One percent doesn’t sound like much, but it can buy a couple of meals or a tank of gas over the course of a month.

The board voted unanimously to keep a sales tax referendum off the table this year. It will probably come back later, and most of us would probably support a tax that would give us a new library and a fix for the pool. But, not now. Now we need to help each other to survive these hard times. While the MSM won’t even admit to a recession, ordinary older folks are talking about their memories of the Great Depression, brought to mind by recent events.

There’s a time and a place for everything, and I am thankful that the county board recognizes that a one percent tax is not the solution now.

Anonymous

Oberstar disses Shrubya

2008-01-30T19:36:00.000-06:00

Our Rep. Oberstar doesn't much like Shrubya's swan song.... well, who does?
-Anonymous

Oberstar: Bush Recycles Failed Policies in the State of the Union
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Washington D.C. - Congressman Jim Oberstar is disappointed that President Bush failed to introduce innovative proposals in his final State of the Union address.

“As he recycles his flawed plans for the war in Iraq, the war on terrorism, and the economy, President Bush has demonstrated that his administration is intellectually bankrupt. There are enormous challenges confronting our nation, but President Bush’s obstinate pursuit of failed policies confirms that he is unwilling to embrace new ideas.”

“The American people want leadership and a new direction. Instead, President Bush missed an opportunity to communicate to the nation that he has given thought to creative solutions to address our national and international challenges. The state of our economy is very serious as health care, energy and education costs increase as family income and housing values decrease. President Bush believes that tax rebates are sufficient to assist the economy. I couldn’t disagree more, and continue to believe that our nation needs to create jobs with an immediate increase in infrastructure funding.”

Rather than acknowledge that his economic policies have produced reckless budget deficits, President Bush sought to blame Congress for excessive spending. “It is intellectually dishonest to suggest that congressional earmarks are responsible for our budget deficits. As a coequal branch of government, members of Congress have a responsibility to respond to the needs of their constituents. I do not apologize for my advocacy for meritorious projects that will benefit Minnesota. If President Bush was serious about reducing wasteful government spending, he would stop the $12 billion a month we are borrowing to fight an unending war in Iraq.”

Oberstar also criticized President Bush’s plan for additional free trade agreements. “At a time when our nation should be making investments in education, job training and our infrastructure to compete in the global marketplace, President Bush continues to advance flawed trade agreements that encourage the outsourcing of high-quality U.S. jobs.”

Oberstar offered these final thoughts. “To be sure, our nation has unfinished business. As President Bush begins his final year in office, he has not fulfilled his commitment to unite the country and leave no child behind; with his unwise decision to engage in a unnecessary war against Iraq, he has undermined our moral authority to win the war against terrorism; his unsound economic policies have burdened our nation with unsustainable deficits and now economic decline. While I am pleased that President Bush has sought cooperation to enact an economic stimulus package, I encourage President Bush to join with Congress to work for effective bipartisan solutions to address our nation’s urgent needs.”

###

Gmail - New mining era for northeastern Minnesota -- and new environmental worries

2008-01-25T15:48:00.000-06:00

Here's a post we received today by gmail from Save our Sky Blue Waters, about how the new mining projects could affect all of us in northeastern Minnesota adversely:

Gmail - New mining era for northeastern Minnesota -- and new environmental worries

New Border Crossing Rules May Cause Problems

2008-01-25T14:14:00.000-06:00

Op-Ed jusst in from Rep. Oberstar:

New Border Crossing Rules May Cause Problems
Friday, January 25, 2008

In just a few days, it will become more confusing to cross the border between the U.S. and Canada or Mexico. Because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is not ready to implement the new Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), DHS is moving ahead with a temporary system to screen travelers and commerce at our border crossings.

Here is what travelers need to know about the new requirements that take effect on January 31:

Adults traveling to Canada or Mexico will need a government-issued photo ID as well as proof of citizenship.
To satisfy this enhanced travel requirement, you can present a passport or you can use your driver’s license plus your birth certificate.
Children under the age of 18 are only required to have a proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate.
There are also exemptions for members of the U.S. armed forces traveling on orders and youth and school groups.
For more information, visit http://travel.state.gov before you leave the U.S.

A passport is a good investment if you travel between the U.S. and Canada on a regular basis. For the last year, U.S. airline passengers have needed a passport to fly to Canada or Mexico, and passports will soon be one of the key documents accepted for travel by land. Regardless of the new system that DHS implements, a passport will serve as absolute proof of your U.S. citizenship.

I am disappointed with the way that DHS has developed this temporary screening process. According to a recent report by the General Accountability Office, DHS does not have the resources or manpower to make the plan work smoothly. I am concerned this will result in long lines at the border that will hamper the movement of people and goods and harm the economies of border communities like International Falls.

I have signed a letter with my congressional colleagues to request that DHS suspend its interim program. DHS should focus its resources to implement the new WHTI and developing an alternative, efficient document for those who cross the border frequently.

The current system that allows travelers to make an oral declaration of citizenship gives border agents the ability to use their common sense and experience to screen people. Border agents used this very system to catch the terrorists who were planning the Millennium Plot in Seattle in 2000.

The new WHTI must preserve this ability of our Customs and Border Patrol agents to draw on their judgment and experience. It must quickly identify travelers who do not pose a threat, so resources can be used more effectively. DHS must devise a system that strikes the right balance between protecting our national security and ensuring the economic vitality of border communities.

###

Oberstar Announces Energy Assistance Funds for Minnesota

2008-01-22T14:19:00.000-06:00

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Washington DC – Minnesota seniors and low-income families will receive additional assistance to help pay their heating bills. Congressman Jim Oberstar announced today that Minnesota will receive nearly $20 million in emergency funding for heating assistance programs. The funding is Minnesota’s share of a $450 million disbursement of emergency funding from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

“Skyrocketing crude oil prices are driving the cost of heating oil and natural gas to an all-time high. We need to act quickly to make sure that seniors and low-income families can get the help they need,” said Oberstar.

Oberstar has worked for an increase in LIHEAP funding in his role as the chair of the Northeast Midwest Coalition, a bipartisan group of lawmakers who are concerned about legislative issues that impact the northeast and midwest states. The coalition’s efforts led to an increase in the emergency LIHEAP account in the current budget

Between 2003 and 2007, the number of households receiving LIHEAP assistance increased by 26 percent from 4.6 million to about 5.8 million or about 15.6 percent of the eligible population. During this same period, the federal appropriation increased by only 10 percent with the resulting average grant declining from $349 to $305.

The Energy Information Administration estimates that households can expect to pay between 10 to 22 percent more for heating fuels than during the 2006-2007 winter, and many of these families are carrying energy debt from previous years.

###

Courageous amputee healing after accident 9:32 PM | Local News | News for Charlotte, North Carolina | WCNC.com | Top Stories

2008-01-21T23:23:00.000-06:00

True here, posting this information received from ATV Report.
It's a feel-good story but I have some questions. Why was a seven-year old riding an ATV? Here in Cook County I see children who look to be in that age range roaring around on their snowmobiles, no adults in sight.
What are the ordinances about children driving ATVs and snowmobiles? And why are they apparently not enforced? Yes, Andrew is a swell little guy. But, where were his parents when he lost his leg? What the hell was he doing driving an ATV?

Courageous amputee healing after accident 9:32 PM | Local News | News for Charlotte, North Carolina | WCNC.com | Top Stories

Copper mining debate squares off in legislative hearing

2008-01-21T20:40:00.000-06:00

Divisive debate on mining copper gets legislative hearing

Supporters, skeptics on northern mining square off

NEWS ADVISORY Contacts

Jan. 18, 2008 Janette Brimmer

Legal Director

MCEA

651-223-5969

jbrimmer@mncenter.org

Ron Meador

Executive director

Friends of the BWCA

612-332-9630

ron@friends-bwca.org

Chuck Laszewski

Communications Dir.

MCEA

651-223-5969

claszewski@mncenter.org

Divisive debate on mining copper gets legislative hearing

Supporters, skeptics on northern mining square off

ST.PAUL--What promises to be a contentious debate throughout 2008 will kick off Friday, Jan. 25 during a joint Legislative hearing by environmental, work force and economic development committees over proposed metallic sulfide mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

Two Canadian mining companies are vigorously pursuing state permits to mine copper, nickel, gold and other precious metals from sulfide-bearing rock in northeastern Minnesota. Polymet Corp. is expected to release its draft environmental impact statement on its proposed operation in the spring.

Metallic sulfide mining is different from taconite mining and much more hazardous to the environment. Once exposed to air and water, excavated rock produces sulfuric acid that drains into rivers, lakes and even ground water, killing fish, birds and other wildlife. Often the drainage carries toxic metals as well. States are usually left with millions of dollars of clean-up when the mine companies leave, a chore that can go on virtually forever.

Two of the expert witnesses Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy is bringing to the hearing will detail the damage done throughout the country by sulfide mining, explain that the Iron Range’s economy has rebounded from the taconite bust of the 1980s and show how sulfide mining could hurt, rather than help, the area’s economy.

WHEN: 12:30 p.m. Friday Jan. 25

WHERE: Room 200 State Office Building

WHO: Joint meeting of House Environment and Natural Resources Finance Divisions, Senate Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Budget Division, House Higher Education and Work Force Development Policy and Finance Division, and Senate Economic Development Budget Division. The chairs of the committees are Rep. Jean Wagenius, Sen. Ellen Anderson, Rep. Tom Rukavina and Sen. David Tomassoni.

Some thoughts on peace, nonviolence and power

2008-01-20T10:43:00.000-06:00

Pack a Punch With Spiritual Energy

(Published in The Times of India on 18 January 2008)

Swami Veda Bharati

We often hear phrases like ‘power yoga’, ‘power breathing,’ and perhaps even ‘power meditation’. These phrases convey images of a heavy punch delivered by a wrestler or a country beefing up its armed forces. However, this is not the kind of power a practitioner of meditation pursues.

The Upanishads do state that atman is not to be found by one devoid of bala or power. Here, power refers to spiritual energy. The yoga sutras of Patanjali mention virya as one of the five ways of attaining samadhi and Brahmacharya or practice of celibacy confers virya. However, this virya arises out of shraddha or reverent conviction and is synonymous with the power to grant diksha or initiation which means shakti-pata, the power to transfer a higher state of consciousness to the disciple. This is the true meaning of power yoga.

The power in yoga means the power to extinguish one’s anger like that of taming a wild tiger, for instance. It means the will to overcome temptation and thereby altering the mental state of one who may approach a yogi with passionate thought. It is the power of Buddha whereby he converts Angulimala, the dreaded robber who cut off his victims’ fingers and wore them as a necklace round his neck. The Buddha walks into the robber’s lair and says “Come along, monk!” and helps transform the marauder into a monk instantly. The latter follows him like a tiger that has been tamed. That is true power.

The power of yoga is that of ahimsa whereby one abandons in all possible manner, at all possible times, towards all beings, any inclination to hurt or harm. With that power one may approach two combating armies, stand between them and through sheer power of presence, make them lay down their arms. Alexander had massacred many in battle during his conquests. Yet, he gave up violence after meeting with monks who advocated ahimsa.

Chengiz Khan established a large empire by sheer force of violence. When he reached what is now called Afghanistan , he began to have doubts; he questioned the meaning of his life. He invited a Taoist master to talk to him. The Taoist master’s spiritual energy convinced Chengiz Khan to stop his conquests and instead, set about consolidating what he had, peacefully. There is a painting depicting this in a Taoist temple in Beijing .

While the energy received from meditation may help one to win a long race, a true yogi uses the power to sit. Sitting still requires greater shakti or power than does running. True power is the power to stabilize yourself.

In the yoga sutras certain meditative practices are termed ‘sthiti-nibandhana’, establishing stability. Abhyasa or spiritual practice involves stable posture and undiluted relaxed concentration. During Abhyasa your breathing becomes calmer, deeper and lighter. Coupled with manasa japa or mental chanting, there is an even flow.

The ever-flowing mind-stream generates awakening of kundalini whereby one may conquer all intangible worlds and states within oneself. For a self-conqueror of the interior worlds the exterior conquests are mere pursuit of mirages, a wastage of power. He puts a stop to this. This vi-rama or ceasing is true power. We need to attain to this power of purity.

Let's have a local peace event in March

2008-01-20T09:57:00.000-06:00

Is anyone interested in having our own peace event, including some nonviolent civil disobedience, during those 10 days in March?

Let True know.

- Anonymous

Plans in the Works to Stop-Loss Congress

http://resistinmarch.org

By David Swanson

The peace movement is planning 10 days of resistance in March 2008. New additions to the plans include an effort to "stop-loss" Congress. Here's a schedule from http://resistinmarch.org

MARCH 10 to 12, 2008 (Monday to Wednesday) in Washington, D.C.: Stop-Loss Congress
This March, while tens of thousands of Americans in Washington, D.C., and all over the United States will be participating in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience to protest the ongoing occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and involuntarily deployed U.S. soldiers and innocent civilian victims will begin another year of occupation, torture, and murder, U.S. congress members will be on vacation (from the 15th to 30th, technically a "district work period"), ignoring the killing and suffering they have enabled, supported, and financed.

To intensify the irony, Congress has condoned a widespread stop-loss policy in the military which requires soldiers to involuntarily extend their tours and prolong the killing. It is time to Stop-Loss Congress!

On Monday March 10, and Tuesday March 11, we will deliver "official" stop-loss notices to all members of Congress in their Capitol Hill offices. These will notify them that all of their LEAVES, VACATIONS and HOME VISITS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED until further notice. Just as they require that active-duty personnel endure involuntary extensions of their tours of duty, we, the people for whom they work, are notifying them that they, too, will have their tours of duty INVOLUNTARILY EXTENDED until every foreign soldier and mercenary is out of Iraq, and home. When all the troops and contractors get home, then Congress can go home, and no sooner.

On Wednesday March 12, we will take nonviolent action on Capitol Hill, to ensure that, while thousands of Iraqis, Afghanis, and foreign invaders die and are injured for life, the members of Congress and their staffs do not go home but remain to DO THEIR DUTY, and immediately end the funding of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. No members of Congress goes home until THE TROOPS COME HOME.

To participate in planning these events, to learn meeting times and places, to help distribute flyers and organize travel, training, and other preparation, join this listserve.

Participating Organizations: Hip Hop Caucus, AfterDowningStreet.org, Backbone Campaign, Camp Casey Peace Institute, CODEPINK Women For Peace, Common Ground Collective New Orleans, Democrats.com, Global Network, Gold Star Families for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America, Our Spring Break, The Critical Voice, Artists Against The War, Cities for Peace, ConsumersForPeace.org, Grandmothers Against the War, Kennebunks Peace Department, New Orleans Voices for Peace, Daughters of Vietnam Veterans, Why Not News, DC Chapter of IVAW,

MARCH 13-16, 2008 (Thursday-Sunday) in Washington, D.C.: Winter Soldier
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW)'s Winter Soldier Testimony

Everywhere:
Local Events Supporting Winter Soldier and other Anti-Occupation local events
Local events supporting Winter Soldier.
March 15 in Santa Barbara, CA
March 15 in London, England

MARCH 17 and 18, 2008 (Monday and Tuesday) in Washington, D.C.: Training, Lobbying, Restoring the Constitution
Training in Nonviolence in preparation for March 19, Training in lobbying, Lobbying and on the 18th: Take Back the Constitution Day lobbying 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and evening event at 8 p.m.
Join us for a spirited day in the Halls of Power in Washington, D.C., from Congress to the Justice Department to the Parties' Headquarters to the White House, and an evening event with Constitutional scholars and writers. This is a call for impeachment, an end to the occupation, an end to torture.
[COMING SOON: Link to trainings and lobbying info.]
[COMING SOON: Link to Code Pink page on Take Back the Constitution Day.]
Participating Organizations: AfterDowningStreet.org, Grassroots America, DC Chapter of IVAW, CODEPINK Women For Peace, Our Spring Break, Democrats.com, Backbone Campaign, Progressive Democrats of America, The Critical Voice, Artists Against The War, Cities for Peace, ConsumersForPeace.org, Replace Pelosi (petition to be delivered), Grandmothers Against the War, Kennebunks Peace Department, Delaware Valley Veterans for America, New Orleans Voices for Peace, Daughters of Vietnam Veterans, Why Not News,

MARCH 19, 2008 (Wednesday) Everywhere and in Washington, D.C.: Nonviolent Resistance
Nonviolent Civil Resistance and/or Disobedience in All 435 Congressional Districts and in the Nation's Capital on the Fifth Anniversary of the Occupation of Iraq
Locations in each congressional district, to be determined locally, can include congressional offices (Congress Members and Senators will be in their districts on this day), federal buildings, military recruiters, weapons makers, war profiteers, or corporate media outlets. In Washington, with Congress out of town, the focus will be on war profiteers in the military industrial disaster-capitalism complex. Where possible, events will include a place for people not willing to risk arrest. Evening town hall forums can also include a larger audience.
Local Events.
Washington D.C. Events.
Participating Organizations: AfterDowningStreet.org, Backbone Campaign, Camp Casey Peace Institute, CODEPINK Women For Peace, Common Ground Collective New Orleans, Democracy Rising, Democrats.com, Global Network, Gold Star Families for Peace, Grassroots America, Hip Hop Caucus, Progressive Democrats of America, United for Peace and Justice, Voters for Peace, World Can’t Wait – Drive Out The Bush Regime!, DC Chapter of IVAW, Activist Responce Team (A.R.T), Washington Peace Center, Our Spring Break, The Critical Voice, Artists Against The War, Cities for Peace, ConsumersForPeace.org, Grandmothers Against the War, Kennebunks Peace Department, Delaware Valley Veterans for America, New Orleans Voices for Peace, Daughters of Vietnam Veterans, Why Not News,

ASPCA calls kitten murderer to account

2008-01-18T19:39:00.000-06:00

Dear True,

I am sure you remember the horrific cat beating murder at the campground a few years ago. Awful as it was, to me it was even worse that the perpetrator was never prosecuted and the county attorney deliberately mis-interpreted the animal cruelty statute for Minnesota. I was and still am so appalled. But it is good to know that some one else is out there who might in future help those of us who complained bitterly but without success after that incident, which was actually witnessed unlike most murders. Read the following excerpt from the ASPCA news alert at http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_newsalert011808#1.

ASPCA also urges us to take special care of our companion friends in this severe cold weather. Frostbite in 15 minutes. Stay home and keep the dog and the cat indoors too.

Anonymous

ASPCA ANNOUNCES ARREST OF SUSPECT IN BRONX KITTEN KILLING
In late November 2007, the ASPCA was alerted to suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of a stray kitten who had been socialized, cared for and fed by the residents and employees of a building at 1581 Fulton Avenue, The Bronx. Witnesses told ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement investigators that 17-year-old Robert Tull, a resident of the area, struck the 4 1/2-month-old male kitten with a garbage pail lid on the night of the kitten's death. Back at ASPCA headquarters in Manhattan, an examination of the kitten's remains proved that he had suffered head trauma and that he had been drowned.

ASPCA Special Agent Patrick Breen arrested Tull without incident on December 17, just a short distance away from the Fulton Avenue building. At 17, Tull is considered an adult by New York City law. He has been charged with felony aggravated animal cruelty and faces up to two years in prison and a $2,000 fine.

It is a well-documented phenomenon that those who hurt animals without provocation—especially young people—often move on to commit acts of violence against humans. Please report animal abuse in New York City by contacting the ASPCA's anonymous tip line at (877) THE-ASPCA. To learn how to report cruelty elsewhere, visit our Report Cruelty section.

A Poem

2008-01-18T10:12:00.001-06:00

The whole of Cook County

Remembers the day

The influx of realtors came

Surging our way.

There were thin ones and fat ones.

The young and the old,

Determined to mark every

Scrap of land "sold."

They came in such numbers,

In waves, like the tides,

Hungry and greedy

And vocal besides.

Never mind we were happy

Without feeling stuck,

The realtors cried "Progress!"

Meaning: "I smell a buck!"

"Let's bulldoze the roads

And plat out the woods,

Cut down lots of trees,

Hey! Who cares if it's good?"

"We're here for the lucre

So we feel that it's fair

To change laws & zoning

And shout down the mayor."

"Downtown needs a facelift."

The city was told.

"Something screwing the view

Like the Cobblestone Cove!"

"We don't like your lifestyle

But don't start to slobber,

'Cause we'll trash, if you let us,

Your cute little harbor."

"Divide and conquer,

Or wear you right out,

We don't care 'cause it's money

That we're all about."

"Like lambs to the slaughter

This town's right for the plucking.

Let our greed be the instrument

Used for the...er...job."

There's been nothing but discord,

Machinations, and worse,

A rash of bad poetry in

Multiple verse.

Always poking and sniffing for

Holes in the hedge,

They're constantly seeking

To insert a new wedge.

I like my sweet town just

The way that it is

And I'm sick of their schemes

And wish they'd take a piss.

But not in our well.

They should take a long hike --

And hurry along --

'Cause I'll be ecstatic the day that they're gone.

Anonymous

I'm anonymous, who are you? Are you anonymous too?

2008-01-17T20:15:00.000-06:00

Because we can, we once again plagiarize, and print this poem in today's News Herald. So, sue us:

Anonymous Poems (bold in headline type)

Anonymous poems
And the papers that print them
Speak volumes about
The people who write them

Though you did not attend, or
Stand or defend them
Your opinions you "Herald" regardless

Anonymous poets write
Anonymous poems about
Anonymous unfounded fears

Let go of the past because
Time moves so fast, and
You cannot go back to the '70's

Bummer!

John Gorski
Grand Marais

Like dear Emily, a great poet, we at True believe that Anonymous (Nobody) are the yeast that rises the creative spirit. Certainly not the bad, bad poetry of locals with agendas.

Consider Emily's really good poem:

I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us — don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

We love being nobody, aka Anonymous. We celebrate our freedom from nya nya, shamey shame politics as usual. And we hope and pray we are better poets, though nobody could top Emily.

Seriously, the issue here is not anonymity. No, it is being able to speak out in the public media on a critical issue without losing personal credibility and income in a county where Texas-style Bidness calls the shots. That's why True decided to blog without revealing any of its individual contributors.

And at the end of the day, most people either do not want downtown residential or they don't give a shit. That's a documented fact by those so-called visionary planners who really wanted it to happen along with a 35 foot height limit that would have been manna from heaven for downtown bidness owners but NOBODY else liked.

So. It's the issues, stupid. Who cares who said it? The News Herald caved by apologizing. We all need to be able to speak out freely, both locally and globally.

True

True North

Moving house: True's new domain

Thankful for Harbor Friends

Cleveland-Cliffs & Northshore Mining, for shame

Be nice, if you please

My house is my castle: Barack's betrayal

Free press in Cook County?

RETIREES: $300 REWARD!

Friends, lighten up, have a heart

Politics is war

Loose cannon, loaded gun, and Bomb bomb bomb bomb-bomb-Iran

Founding fathers and religious liberty in Cook County

Save Our Blue Waters

Reader wants water skips in harbor to continue

Oppose Rep. Oberstar's HR 4292 Bill

Bill sells Superior National Forest land to Polymet

John Myers Duluth News TribunePublished Friday, June 06, 2008

t r u t h o u t | Bush, Musharraf, Ahmadinejad Least Trusted Leaders

The World's Longest ATV Parade is here!

Michael Winship on media reform and the economy

It's our turn now

Obama! The world rejoices, the nutcakes rant

Press gives free full-page ads to Lutsen Mountain owners

Trolling for terrorists: what does that look like?

Border Patrol-Petersen case story: True salutes Jane Howard

Don't trust DNR on ATVs

Mr. True goes to Minneapolis (reprise: Mr. Smith goes to Washington)

Cook County: Torture is a moral and a religious issue

Who will stand against torture?

Where Is the Outrage?

Untreated wastewater: seven million gallons a year in Tofte and Schroeder

The lowly lynx: fed's environment trump card

Dying during dialup

Pro-ATV Tofte board throws hissy fit

White trash go for Hillary

Ugly America

A chance to stand against torture

Let them eat Triscuits

New mining industry leaves Arrowhead wetlands vulnerable

New mining industry leaves Arrowhead wetlands vulnerable

By Elanne Palcich

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The media is the message

The traffic tickets charged to Maranda Weber

Oberstar Speaks on "Harsh Realities" of Record Diesel Prices

Treasured life, needless death, a traffic ticket

Real pet lovers spay and neuter

The helipad in the harbor

The ATV song: Ride roughshod over the rivers and through the woods

Here's a pretty mess!

"My religion is kindness": US MSM strikes out again

A man's house is his castle?

The Creechville dilemma

Poor Lynddie England, chump and poster child of bad soldier

Relaxing with the Sunday paper: It's the news, stupid

The Gunsmoke Monologues: Oh those f*****g PC Police!

Lutsen: who's minding the henhouse?

To the GM Park Board: Government Ethics 101

Reader protests ATV world parade in Silver Bay

Viva New Scandinavia!

Minnesota: raise income taxes!

Ta da! Here comes the world's biggest ATV parade

Duluth News Tribune | Pawlenty vetos transportation bill

Cattle Abuse, Beef Recall Highlight Systemic Weaknesses - CommonDreams.org

New Scandinavia: a modest proposal

AlterNet: Blogs: Rights and Liberties

Great Lakes pollution threatens public health

Stop that spying or I'll give you something to spy about!

Oberstar Praises Minnesota Transportation Bill

Oberstar Says Congress Will Not Pass Bush Budget

Toxic Government Report Uncovered - CommonDreams.org

Bush Administration Argues Veterans Have No Right to Mental Health Care

Obama landslide winner in Cook County: Yes!

Oh, look out! Here come the PC police

Go to your precinct caucus (if you can)!

Gmail - [True North] Gmail - 'Tremendous potential' for non-ferrous /Keewatin $300 ex... - truenorthgm@gmail.com

Read my lips, no new taxes

Oberstar disses Shrubya

Gmail - New mining era for northeastern Minnesota -- and new environmental worries

New Border Crossing Rules May Cause Problems

John Myers Duluth News Tribune
Published Friday, June 06, 2008