MN-01 special election: Is Trump fading as a factor?

March 30, 2022

Walker Orenstein does a lot of good reporting. From an article of his that got my attention, a couple of days ago: Early voting for the May 24 primary for the special election to replace U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District starts next Friday, and candidates have begun crisscrossing the region to […]

by Dan Burns

MN lege: What’s the real deal with the Party of Trump insanity?

March 23, 2022

From earlier this month: A Minnesota program that protects the addresses of victims of intimate partner violence and others with high safety needs has become the latest target in the Republican drumbeat over voter fraud, stalling a proposal at the Capitol that proponents say is needed to ensure the safety of participants. Changes related to […]

by Dan Burns

The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances

March 16, 2022

The US guaranteed the territorial integrity and soveignity of Ukraine in 1994 and reaffirmed it in 2009

by Steve Timmer

hPVI 2021, Senate edition

March 16, 2022

The 2021 Edition of Minnesota’s Oldest and Most Beloved Legislative District Partisan Metric

by Tony Petrangelo

What President Biden should really do about gas prices

March 9, 2022

Over the years I’ve seen estimates that oil speculators drive up prices by anything from 15 to 25 percent during spikes. (Even the ultra-conservative, market fundamentalist Fed acknowledges that they’re a real factor.) Here’s why they do that. Traders with connections to the oil companies can also make big bets on the opaque crude oil […]

by Dan Burns

Growing voices of righteousness vs. ethanol

March 2, 2022

I have to note right off the bat that the terms “growing” and “righteousness” in the title of this are open to a measure of debate. For example, not all anti-ethanol voices have been righteously motivated. Ever since the mandate’s inception, farm-state senators in particular have pushed to increase it, and oil-state senators have tried […]

by Dan Burns

Twin Metals looks to be a goner

February 23, 2022

A gentleman does not “gloat,” but certainly I was pleased to see this (and I have plenty of company): About three weeks after President Joe Biden’s administration canceled two federal mineral leases near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says it has stopped work on the state’s environmental review […]

by Dan Burns

Sylvia Schwartz wins a Spotty ™

February 20, 2022

Pointing our 1st Amendment muzzling in Minnesota law

by Steve Timmer

Are the school deformers shifting their tactics?

February 14, 2022

I’m in full agreement with what’s in most of the article from which I’m quoting. “School choice” advocates often claim to promote “freedom” for parents to choose the form of education they see best for their children. But the strategy of “school choice” is to move public funding away from public schools into private hands. […]

by Dan Burns

About that Musk mine

February 2, 2022

With updates.

by Dan Burns

Anti-vax, Big Lie acolyte gets humiliated. Does it matter?

January 23, 2022

Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers NFL team. For the most part he’s really good at it, and as the NFL is now by far the biggest sports draw in America that makes him a major public figure, like it or not. From a couple of days ago: “When the president […]

by Dan Burns

Topsoil loss proceeds apace

January 19, 2022

According to a new study, about 35% of the best topsoil in the U.S. Corn Belt is gone. The mechanization of plowing began in the mid-1900s. While this allowed farmers to work larger areas of land, it has resulted in some negative effects on soil health. Tillage breaks up the soil and unlocks nutrients, but […]

by Dan Burns