Why is corporate “news” media behaving so despicably on Afghanistan?

September 2, 2021

My belief is that Afghanistan won’t have a lasting political impact. Some people have been noting that we’ll see how many Republicans campaign on sending U.S. troops back there. But I have, not at all rarely in fact, been wrong, and the last time corporate “news” media behaved this despicably overall, Trump ended up in […]

by Dan Burns

Rangers ride the Bomb – A reprise

September 1, 2021

When Rangers play investment bankers

by Steve Timmer

Mining fun with numbers! – A reprise

August 31, 2021

Do you want to hear about the Doug Fund?

by Steve Timmer

Now it’s flagrantly time to get rid of corn ethanol as fuel

August 23, 2021

Despite the drought, most of the corn and soybeans around here look pretty good. (“Around here” means the parts of Mille Lacs, Isanti, Sherburne, and Benton counties that I drive across now and then.) That’s because the larger farms around here mostly have irrigation systems. (It’s different with the small operations.) Which brings us to […]

by Dan Burns

What’s the deal with these proposed carbon capture pipelines?

August 12, 2021

I gotta admit that I am none too thrilled about this. Navigator CO2 Ventures, which is planning a pipeline that will stretch over 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) through Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois, says it is offering “carbon capture solutions for a greener planet.” While Summit Carbon Solutions, whose pipeline will connect refineries […]

by Dan Burns

What will the advertising-pharma complex do with the new, “can’t miss” weight loss drug?

August 6, 2021

That’s right, the ultimate “blockbuster drug,” that could dwarf even “Vitamin V” in terms of “impact,” may have arrived. Scientists and doctors have praised the active ingredient in both drugs, known as semaglutide. They’ve gone as far as to call it a “game-changer” that could usher in a new era of obesity treatment, both because […]

by Dan Burns

Stephen B. Young’s excellent adventure

August 1, 2021

Wherein Young doubts the existence of bias in the legal system

by Steve Timmer

MN lege: How did the DFL get a decent budget to happen?

July 31, 2021

Not a great one, by any means, especially in the matter of making the thieving, greedhead plutocrats start to pay up. Actual budgets are never great from a progressive standpoint, which is no reason not to keep trying. But there is plenty of investment in the state to like, even if some of the increases […]

by Dan Burns

Do we really need all the progressive doom and gloom?

July 22, 2021

Based on the progressive internet, these days, and the general tenor of the emails I subscribe to from a variety of generally progressive organizations, the best that Democrats in general, and progressive Democrats in particular, can possibly hope for in the 2022 elections is that the overall outcome won’t be too much worse for us […]

by Dan Burns

William Beyer is a repeat Spotty ™ winner!

July 19, 2021

Star Tribune letter writer William Beyer provides a tidy history of the U.S. relationship with Cuba

by Steve Timmer

Your taxes will be feeding Enbridge’s insatiable greed

July 12, 2021

I wrote here, back in March, about how the repugnant greedheads at Enbridge were looking to gouge Minnesota counties. They got their way. The state of Minnesota will pay Canadian energy company Enbridge nearly $30 million to cover northern counties’ costs from a tax case settlement. The deal — a last-minute addition to the state […]

by Dan Burns

MN lege: Daudt gets spanked by the Draz

July 5, 2021

From July 1: Sitting lawmakers will no longer be able to work as lobbyists, after a Republican amendment taking aim at House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, was adopted nearly unanimously in the House and later approved by the Senate as part of a broader tax bill. Offered by state Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, the […]

by Dan Burns