I spent some time yesterday watching the Minnesota Ways & Means committee debate the proposed minimum wage changes. While there are many things about the debate that caused a spike in my blood pressure, I am really concerned about those who think farm workers do not deserve the same rights as other workers in our state’s economy.
For some reason paying farm workers overtime after 40 hours is sacrilegious. Rep Sarah Anderson (R-Plymouth) tweeted, “When Minneapolis runs the #mnleg, they think farming is a 40 hour per week kind of job.”
Don Davis in his April 29th Capitol Chatter column quotes DFL Rep. Jeanne Poppe, “Ag workers are not necessarily like factory workers where they can clock in and clock out.” No, it is not necessarily a 40 hour per week job. Yes, you have to often “make hay when the sun shines”.
But then, a lot of jobs are like that. It is the beginning of the construction season and you will see workers taking advantage of the daylight and good weather to get as much done as possible.
Electrical workers recently worked seven days a week restoring power in SW Minnesota after the recent ice storms.
I wonder what the difference is between a worker putting in 70 hours a week on the farm and one putting in 70 hours a week paving a road. Both will be tired at the end of the week but the farm worker will get the shaft. Some legislators need to quit fantasizing about the “family farm” and realize that it is a business that should be held to the same standard for workers’ rights as other businesses. Get a clue people. It’s not your Grandpa’s farm.
A couple years ago I posted the lyrics to the song Eight Hours, by I.G. Blanchard, in a note to Facebook. I think it is relevant again today.
Eight Hours
We mean to make things over,
We are tired of toil for naught
With but bare enough to live upon
And ne'er an hour for thought.
We want to feel the sunshine
And we want to smell the flow'rs
We are sure that God has willed it
And we mean to have eight hours;
We're summoning our forces
From the shipyard, shop and mill
Back during the Republican Revolution in the 1990s, the drive to cut wages by weakening overtime took the form of then Senator John Ashcroft's "Family Friendly Workplace Act," but the principle was the same: allow private business to offer workers the supposedly voluntary option of working long hours, then taking time off rather than overtime. Nevermind that loophole that might allow management to schedule an employee for 60 hours one week, 20 hours the next, without receiving either comp time or overtime.
That was the 1990s version of family-friendly, because moms especially want time off and don't care so much about their paychecks, or so the "family friendly" narrative goes.
Say what
you will, but anti-worker politicians are good at giving deceptive names
to things. “Right to work” takes away your rights at work. “Paycheck
protection” puts your wages at risk. And who could forget Paul Ryan’s
plan to “strengthen Medicare” which ends Medicare as we know it.
House Republicans are pushing the “Workplace Families Flexibility Act of 2013,”
which they claim would allow busy working parents to spend more time
with their kids. That’s bogus. The bill replaces the 40-hour work week
with a “comp time” accrual system that would allow employers greater control over their hourly employee’s schedule.
What’s worse? The bill ends ”time-and-a-half” overtime pay for hourly
and non-exempt workers as we know it, giving renewed incentive for
businesses to work their employees as long as they want with near
impunity.
In other words, the bill does the opposite of what House Republicans say it will. . . .
Check out the deets in the post. Here in Minnesota's Seventh District, we'll be seeing web ads urging Blue Dog Democrat Collin Peterson to enlist in the Republican War on Women's paychecks. (Peterson's already in with the attack on reproductive rights and raising the minimum wage).
The National Republican Congressional Committee is demanding vulnerable House Democrats "support more freedom for working moms" in new web ads, a sign the committee is trying to improve the party's standing with female voters.
The ads call on Democrats to back the GOP-drafted "Working Families Flexibility Act," which would allow employers to give comp time for overtime hours rather than pay employees for them. The bill will likely be voted on in the House next week...
But a spokester for the D-Trip flipped the narrative:
Democrats fired back, pointing out that most House Republicans voted against the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Violence Against Women Act.
"House Republicans wish women voters would forget their past and ignore their agenda, but women voters are too smart for that," said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokeswoman Emily Bittner. "This Republican Congress has been the most extreme, anti-woman legislature in American history with an agenda to deny women equal pay, quality health care services and even domestic violence protections. If Republicans think their problem is the style of their marketing campaign — not the substance they're selling — they've missed the message of the 2012 elections.
Bluestem hopes that Peterson can stuff his latent Republican tendencies back in the closet with his boots and resist the urge to cut working moms' paychecks.
Photo: Blue Dog Seventh District Congressman Collin Peterson.
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In a recent radio interview broadcast by KDIO, Ortonville mayor Steve Berkner inveighed against "intimidation tactics" that had supposedly by used by "special interest" opponents of the Strata Mining Corporation's plan to open a granite quarry in a cow pasture that contains some of Big Stone County's namesake granite outcroppings.
Those tactics? "Busing in" people, carrying signs, chanting, swearing, pounding on tables, grandstanding. For this, Berkner cautions that the city attorney and Ortonville police have been ordered to prevent "intimidation" at the next hearing about Stata, on May 7. Berkner encouraged citizens to submit written remarks, since apparently speaking in public at hearings can be confrontational.
Now, Bluestem attended a number of the zoning and county board hearings on the matter last year, and doesn't remember seeing anyone being "bused in." As for the signs, those carrying them in February 2012 did sing on their way from the Land Stewardship Project's office in Clinton to a zoning meeting about a block and a half away, but set them outside before entering the hearing.
Law enforcement officials were present at that meeting and others, but that's not unusual for large public meetings. Berkner was accusing outside "special interests" (apparently Land Stewardship Project, which maintains a local foods program in Western Minnesota and Clean Up the River Environment, an Upper Minnesota River Valley watershed restoration group based in Montevideo, MN) of using "intimidation tactics," although he doesn't name names.
Since the singing sign carriers and those speaking at the meetings all seemed rather decorous, Bluestem contacted Big Stone County Sheriff John Haukos to see if his department had received complaints or reports of bad behavior. After reviewing his records, Haukos returned our call. No complaints or reports had been filed, although the presence of deputies at meetings were duly recorded.
Indeed, Sheriff Haukos, who had attended many of the meetings, thought that they could be models of public discussion of an issue. He had not observed swearing, pounding of fists, or any such behavior that could be charactized as "intimidation," although he did watch one confrontational exchange after a zoning meeting in Clinton between a citizen and a county commissioner. He determined that the exchange wasn't going to escalate and moved on.
Since Bluestem was there, we too observed that verbal jousting between Dakota scholar Waziyata Win, who lives in the Yellow Medicine Dakota community near Granite Falls and Big Stone County Commissioner Brent Olson. In light of Minnesota history, Bluestem hesitates to call her or the two other Dakota scholars from Marshall and South Dakota who spoke at another meeting "outsiders," however outspoken Waz might be.
Clinton resident Rebecca Terk dropped by both the Ortonville Police department and Big Stone Sheriff's office with the same question. She was told that no complaints or reports of intimidation had been made to either office during the 2012 hearing process.
It's curious that the mayor is inclined to declare opposition to a project by a North Dakota corporation to somehow be a product of "outside special interests," when signs objecting to the annexation of the pasture--since the local township where it had been situated originally enacted a moratorium on the development after residents objected--still grace lawns in his fair community. (To circumvent the township moratorium, the landowner divided his property among relatives, who petitioned to become part of the City of Ortonville; an MPR report here includes remarks by Berkner. An OAH judge ruled that only one parcel could be annexed.).
Also curious in the interview: the host's declaration that if one side doesn't want to speak about a controversy, it's best not to cover an issue at all. Bluestem was under the impression that journalistic convention held that one reported that folks were given an opportunity to present their side, but declined comment.
Indeed, the edited remarks below are characterized by a barely contained hostility toward those who might object to Strata's designs--while insisting that the public has the right to make "respectful" comments. His bar for "respectful" appears to be quite high--with no singing or signs allowed. Indeed, if only people could just write their comments down. That would be so much nicer. Want to speak up in Ortonville? Better meet Mayor Berkner's guidelines for form, presentation and content.
And if Strata Corporation decides to never comment to the press, why the nice respectful radio lady simply wouldn't have to report on anything that happens at all.
Here's the selected audio about the idea of order in Ortonville, drawn from a longer 20-minute interview.. Short fades mark the edits and photo is of Berkner, then a city council member, at a public information hearing held in Ortonville by the Ortonville Township board of supervisors.
Photo: Signs wait outside a Big Stone County planning and zoning board hearing in Clinton, Minnesota in February 2012. Ortonville Mayor Steve Berkner has labeled these signs an "intimidation tactic." Bluestem doesn't find the message "Outcrops Mean Tourism $" to be all that scary, but perhaps the mayor has a much different comfort zone than Bluestem and local law enforcement. (Photo by Rebecca Terk) Below: an anti-annexation sign in an Ortonville lawn last fall.
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While the Minnesota legislature considers the creation of standards for silica sand mining and a Senate committee guts provisions for the protection of trout streams, members of the Catholic Worker movement have taken much more radical direct action to address their concerns about industrial sand mining in the driftless area.
Dan Wilson was one of about 20 people arrested Monday for misdemeanor trespassing after blocking trucks loaded with silica sand from getting to a Mississippi River loading dock in Winona. But he believes the wrong group was taken into custody.
As far as the Winona man is concerned, police should have arrested those who own the facility for trespassing on the city with their sand, which can cause medial and economic problems.
"We are not the ones trespassing on the industry, they are trespassing on us," he said after he was booked and released. About 20 others were arrested at another site in the city. . .
Protesters have written letters to the editor, talked with local officials and did other things but to no avail, Wilson said. "We decided we needed to start making sacrifices," he said. . . .
Eileen Hanson, a member of the Winona Catholic Worker community, said the weekend seminar attracted about 100 people from several Midwest states. Those arrested at the CD Corp. site and another 20 or so at a sand-processing plant on the outskirts of Winona, were both local and from other states, she said.
"We're saying no to this dangerous and destructive industry," she said."This was just one more way of saying, 'Hey we have really strong concerns about this.'" . . .
Their concerns aren't completely groundless. Read on.
Trout fishery protections stripped from Fish and Game bill
On April 24, in an unconnected action back at the state capitol, the Senate Finance - Environment, Economic Development and Agriculture Division stripped out the provisions in SF 786 that would have helped preserve Southeastern Minnesota's trout streams.
The testimony begins around 1:15 here. Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Landwehr offered compelled testimony in support of the provisions, as did John Lenczewski from Trout Unlimited.
Before the roll call vote, committee chair David Tomassoni (DFL-Chisholm) said that these provisions were not
appropriate for a Game and Fish bill--and that there are trout on the Iron
Range and his area might be next for trout protection.
Tom Saxhaug (DFL-Grand Rapids) agreed but Bev Scalze (DFL-Little Canada), who sits on the policy committee,
rightly brought up that as a finance committee they should not be
undoing major policy provisions.
Here are the roll call votes that gutted the pro-fishery provisions. The first vote is to remove section 50 of the bill
requiring setbacks from trout streams, the second vote is on section 51 limiting groundwater usage and prohibiting mining within 25 foot of the
water table.
Tomassoni YES YES
Dibble NO NO
Dziedzic NO NO
Hawj NO NO
Ingebrigtsen PASS YES
Osmek YES YES
Ruud YES YES
Saxhaug YES YES
Scalze NO NO
Schmit NO NO
Sparks YES NO
Weber YES YES
Westrom YES YES
Listen to the testimony and discussion. It's enough to make Baby Jesus cry.
Photos: protesters in Winona (top, via Winona Daily News); brown trout in Southeastern Minnesota (bottom).
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The Blaze/ Associated Press is reporting that the founders of American Unity PAC, a national group of prominent GOP donors determined to change Republican minds about the freedom to marry, has formed a lobbying organization.
American Unity PAC was formed last year to lend financial support to Republicans who bucked the party's longstanding opposition to gay marriage. Its founders are launching a new lobbying organization, American Unity Fund, and already have spent more than $250,000 in Minnesota, where the Legislature could vote on the issue as early as next week.
The group has spent $500,000 on lobbying since last month, including
efforts in Rhode Island, Delaware, Indiana, West Virginia and Utah.
Billionaire hedge fund manager and Republican donor Paul Singer
launched American Unity PAC. The lobbying effort is the next phase as
the push for gay marriage spreads to more states, spokesman Jeff
Cook-McCormac told The Associated Press.
In Minnesota, the group has targeted its spending:
In Minnesota, the money has gone
to state groups that are lobbying Republican lawmakers and for polling
on gay marriage in a handful of suburban districts held by Republicans.
So far, only one Minnesota Republican lawmaker has committed to voting
to legalize gay marriage: Sen. Branden Petersen, of Andover.
"I think there will be some more.
There are legislators out there that are struggling with this," said
Carl Kuhl, a former political aide to former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman and
Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. Kuhl's public affairs firm
is contracted by Minnesotans United, the lead lobby group for gay
marriage in Minnesota and main recipient of American Unity's Minnesota spending. . . .
Though only one current GOP
officeholder in Minnesota is on record supporting gay marriage, a
handful of prominent Republicans have spoken out in favor of it. They
include former state auditor Pat Anderson and Brian McClung, who was
spokesman for former Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Prominent Republican donors including former politician Wheelock Whitney and businesswoman Marilyn Carlson Nelson have also lent support and donated money.
Since it first formed to campaign against last fall's gay marriage
ban and then shifted to pushing for its legalization at the Capitol,
Minnesotans United has been building Republican alliances, hiring
multiple lobbyists with Republican ties. . . .
Will national Republican money--and influential Minnesota Republicans--have an effect on swaying more conservative legislators?
. . . My friends, family and neighbors have all come a long way in their
recognition that lesbians and gay men like me have the same values,
hopes and aspirations as all other Minnesotans. We are your neighbors,
your co-workers and friends, your brothers and sisters, and we believe
in families just as you do. These are values shared across Minnesota
from the metro to the rural areas of Greater Minnesota.
Marriage
is a commitment, an aspiration, a bundle of hopes and disappointments.
Marriage is full of lessons that amplify our personal, social and
spiritual growth and fulfillment. There isn’t a need for a separate set
of rules. Gays and lesbians don't need a special status. Minnesotans
simply need to let committed same-sex couples share the same rules, same
responsibilities, and same respect that everyone else enjoys. . . .
Under 800 people live in Lake Park, a small town in Becker County that elected Wittnebel mayor.
It's telling that those who wish to block the freedom to marry often seek to use the issue as a line in the sand, whether along party lines or geographical boundaries. It's a politics that relies on divisions. Those supporting marriage equality, on the other hand, are seeking to unite the state across the those boundaries.
Divisive politics? It's worth noting that one side's all for that.
Postcard: It's one state, people.
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At first, few saw promise in Dan Patch, although the colt grew up to become Minnesota's best known racehorse. The legendary pacer's chances odds were nonetheless better that than of the chances of creating commuter rail to Northfield on the Dan Patch line, now used for freight.
Senator Kevin Dahle (DFL-Northfield) hopes to change that luck.
Buried deep in the Senate transportation bill at the Minnesota Legislature is a dead horse.
The Dan Patch rail line, named for the famous early 20th Century
harness racer, carries freight between the Twin Cities and Northfield.
Until 1942, it also carried passengers.
Some commuters would like to see service
restored. But the idea of running a passenger rail line through the
several Minnesota suburbs proved so controversial that more than a
decade ago lawmakers passed a special law to bar state and regional
transportation officials from discussing it.
This year, lawmakers are considering whether to lift the Dan Patch moratorium. . . .
Ron Ehrhardt (DFL-Edina) opposes the line, since he believes it will disturb the peace of suburban back yards near the line, the paper reports.
Dahle and other supporters are not discouraged:
"We shouldn't settle policy by gags," said Nakasian, who helped found
the Northfield Grass Roots Transit Initiative. "We should look at all
options and see where taxpayers' money is best spent....I just don't
think putting a prohibition that holds the rest of us hostage is quite
fair, or the way to do it."
Northfield's representatives in the legislature also want their city back on the transit map.
State Sen. Kevin Dahle, DFL-Northfield has been working to undo the Dan Patch moratorium since he first won election in 2008.
"It was one of the first things I had taken up,"
Dahle said. "We did get it out of the House and Senate once, but it was
vetoed by Governor Pawlenty."
This year, Dahle managed to push a "watered down"
version through the Senate that would allow the Met Council to study
the corridor again. But the bill didn't receive a hearing in the House,
where Erhardt chairs the Transportation Policy Committee. A conference
committee will decide whether the Dan Patch moratorium stays or goes.
As for the Met Council, it supports the effort to allow open discussion of the project.
"The Council supports lifting the prohibition
because it is an impediment to regional planning," spokeswoman Bonnie
Kollodge wrote in an email. "That's not a statement about the corridor
itself, but rather a statement in support of being able to plan transit
for the region without restrictions on specific corridors. The Council
will obviously act according to the law."
Given the two colleges in Northfield who might well hop the train--and number of metro commuters in the area--Bluestem thinks that Dahle is right. The discussion should begin again.
Photo: Postcard photo of a car on the Dan Patch Electric Line, which was an electric commuter rail line in the Savage, Minnesota area. via Wikipedia.
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When Tessa Hoffman Schweitzer received a mail piece from Minnesota for Marriage targeting Matt Schmit, her state senator, the divorced mother turned to social media to object to the notion that the freedom to marry would harm children.
She urged friends in the district to call Schmit and ask him to vote
yes, happy to have Schmit's number readily at hand, courtesy of the
anti-freedom group.
Schweitzer grew up in the Oronoco area and now lives in St. Charles.
Supporting the freedom to marry is a family tradition for Schweitzer; her father, James Hoffman, also believes all loving couples should be able to wed the ones they love.
What caused the Lourdes High School graduate who was "[r]aised a church-attending Catholic Democrat" to support the freedom to marry?
"Honestly, at first, I was like, "Why can't they be satisfied with civil unions?" Nope--not good enough. Separate is not equal! It's a matter of principle," Schweitzer said.
"It is a civil rights issue,"she added. "Sexual orientation is no different than race. The biological sciences, medical sciences, psychiatric and neurological fields all back me up on this. To those that work in those fields, homosexuality is not seen as a pathology. Civil laws must be based on science not religion or 'morality' if we are to have true separation of church and state and respect for all belief systems."
Yet rural values are important for Schweitzer--those based on acceptance and pulling together.
"Despite individual differences, pettiness, and gossip, people are there for each other when it counts," she believes. "I know my neighbors and the children play with each other in the alley. Out-state Minnesota is not as homogenous as one might believe, and there are many characters than populate the rural areas that I may not agree with but admire. It takes all kinds!"
Schweitzer feels that last year's amendment forced her to clarify her own values, making her almost an accidential ally, but her commitment to marriage equality has grown strong.
If she could sit down over coffee with an opponent, she'd ask, "Hopefully I'd do a little listening first. Some of my points however--I would start with Rep. Steve Simon's quote: 'How many more gay people does God have to create before we ask ourselves whether or not God actually wants them around?' And then ask them how they think gays being allowed to marry would impact them."
Schweitzer looks to her father for guidance on values; during the debate over the amendment to restrict marriage freedom, he wondered in a letter to the editor published in the Winona Daily News and the Rochester Bulletin: "I cannot conceive how any marriage between same-sex people in any way affects my 50-year marriage or marriage in general."
A 79-year -old parent and grandparent, a veteran of the US Army who holds a masters degree in mathematics education, James Hoffman has been a
resident of Minnesota for approximately 50 of those years. He now lives in Chatfield.
"Two of my
children and three of my grandchildren live in Minnesota," Hoffman notes. "Minnesota has
always been . . . known as a progressive state that placed a
high value on equality and education."
"In all of my life I have met a number of gay people but what I have
yet to meet is a gay person who chose that as a 'life style,' " he notes, adding, "Also it's too early to determine the ultimate sexual orientation of my grandchildren. Punishing people
for a condition over which they have little or no control is cruel and
unusual!"
"It's the fair and decent thing to do," Hoffman said of the Dibble and Clark bills.
Photos: Tessa Hoffman Schweitzer and her son (above); her parents (below).
This original story is underwritten by a sponsorship by Minnesotans United for All Families.
The chief refrain repeated by the sorrowful violins of the lobbyists for Minnesota's sand mining industry and its allies is that if the state legislator puts additional safeguards in place for our water and communities, the industry will fail to thrive in Minnesota as it has in Wisconsin.
We'll miss out on the new energy revolution.
A story broadcast Monday by Wisconsin Public Radio about a Preferred Sands mine in Trempealeau County near Blair suggests that there may be worse fates than starting the revolution without us--or dead trout.
.. . Last May, however, a heavy rainstorm liquefied one of the site's
waste piles, sending it crashing through an Amish home. DNR Enforcement
Specialist Deb Dix says their suggestions were ignored.
“With
this particular instance it was apparent that there were no best
management practices around this sand pile to attempt to hold it back if
rain was to occur.”
Dix
says the DNR referred Preferred Sands to the Department of Justice for
prosecution. Even then, she says the company continued to allow runoff
to leave the property. Trempealeau County conservationist Kevin Lien
says frac sand companies can afford to ignore the rules.
“So,
we’ve learned that citations are pretty much ineffective for this
industry. This industry has very deep pockets and a wealth of
resources.”
The DNR’s Deb Dix says more than a year later, Preferred Sands still hasn’t fixed the leaking sediment.
“At
this point in time we’re again having some runoff issues due to open
areas [and] unvegetated open soils, where the soils are being carried
offsite from the frequent rains and the snowmelt.”
Preferred
Sands didn't agree to an interview for this story. They emailed a
statement saying they've resolved some of the issues, but remaining
problems are exacerbated by the spring thaw.
Here's what people who visit Preferred Sands of Minnesota's web page read (and it's easy to understand why the less-than-curious members of the Minnesota Legislature might think that everything is totally copaceptic in this industry). Pay no attention Trempealeau County--and for pete's sake, don't worry about Southeast Minnesota's water or trout:
Maintain & Sustain.
Preferred Sands of Minnesota is dedicated to maintaining and sustaining, and when it comes to that, we’ll let our employees do the speaking for us:
“...Sand saved my farm. Excavating the sand deposits on my farm has allowed me to keep my land and home. I’ve been able to buy back the dairy cows I once had to sell off, who again graze on the hills that have been restored because of environmentally sound mine reclamation projects. When you choose to support the local sand industry, you are supporting the economic future of Western Wisconsin.” — Sam LaGesse
With locations in Woodbury, MN, and Bloomer, WI, Preferred Sands of Minnesota provides the much sought-after Jordan and Northern white frac sand.
Our Woodbury and Bloomer facilities have in excess of 40 million tons of high quality Northern White silica sand, and have the capacity to produce approximately 500,000 tons annually of our natural sand.
Our white sand deposits are strategically located near major forms of rail transportation: Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, Canadian National, and Canadian Pacific. Preferred Sands of Minnesota is unit train accessible and has convenient barge access along the Mississippi River, providing service to the Southern Mississippi and into Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Improving Best Practices
Preferred Sands of Minnesota is teamed up with the town of Cooks Valley and the town of Auburn to fund local recycling programs and we are actively involved in a 5-year Chippewa County, WI DNR ground water modeling program implemented to track any potential environmental impacts and gather data to advance best practices for mining and production.
The Wisconsin Chapter of Trout Unlimited
has not made any official statements on frac sand mining but has worked
behind the scenes. Duke Welter, who represents Trout Unlimited in
Wisconsin and the Midwest, says they are participating in a Chippewa
County study on sand mining's effects on groundwater and trout stream
levels.
He says they have also suggested a state run study of the industry’s environmental impacts.
“So
far I haven’t heard [a] positive response from most of the legislators
that I’ve talked to because they think that existing tools are just
fine, or they think it’s not important enough to try and put that effort
together.”
Welter says Trout Unlimited will
continue to advocate for scientific study of frac sand mining to better
inform policy and regulations.
No wonder Preferred Sands of Minnesota's webpage is talking about Chippewa County and not that other place. (In Wisconsin, Senator Vinehout is an exception with regard to the sand mining industry).
Is this the model pro-mining Minnesota legislators are touting? Really? For more information on language making its way in the Minnesota legislature that would protect water and trout streams in Minnesota's driftless region, please see our post from earlier this week, Frac sand mining: trout stream protection language to face test in key senate committee.
Photo: Sandslide in Trempealeau County. Credit: Wisconsin DNR (top); Preferred Sands of Minnesota's webpage. There's a lot more text there than for the new operation in Blair, where run-off continues to be an issue.
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. . . Timothy Zinniel, president of Sleepy Eye-based Zinniel Electric, said
his company started selling and installing solar panels in 2007 and now
makes 50 percent of its annual sales from solar power.
“If (municipal power providers) and power companies could offer
electricity from a local standpoint, they’d be creating more jobs
locally. Our largest export is our dollars. Let’s keep them here,” he
said.
Zinniel estimates he’d hire at least five more people if the solar standard passes.
That doesn’t include the jobs created by Minnesota’s two solar panel manufacturers, tenKsolar and Silicon Energy.
When Zinniel is working with a customer, he offers them both American-
and foreign-made panels. The Chinese ones are sometimes cheaper, but
Zinniel said many of his customers are willing to pay a bit more to buy
American. . . .
Zinniel supports a measure that would require Minnesota's utilities togenerate 4 percent of their
electricity from solar power by 2025 and to get 40 percent of their power from renewable sources by
2030.
Although Xcel Energy and other utilities oppose the bill, a representative for Xcel conceded that the development of Minnesota's wind industry hasn't led to higher rates for the out-of-state utility's customers in Minnesota. Linehan reports:
That said, McCarten said Xcel’s wind energy spending hasn’t led to any
price increases for customers. In other words, if the company had bought
natural gas instead of wind, customers would be paying roughly the same
amount.
[J. Drake] Hamilton, the renewable energy advocate, said people who support the
higher renewable energy standard should contact their legislators.
Bluestem suspects that as Minnesota's solar industry matures, costs will come down. Could the utilities' own commitments and contracts for fossil-fuel generated power be as much factor for the resistance to the development of solar as concern for the hypothetical costs for consumers?
Manufacturing jobs creating high-quality Minnesota-made products, as well as jobs based in Greater Minnesota small businesses, sounds pretty electifying to Bluestem. Governor Mark Dayton supports the development of Minnesota's renewable energy portfolio.
Photo: Solar panels, via Zinniel Electric.
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The Associated Press is reporting that Moorhead-area state senator Kent Eken (DFL-Twin Valley) will vote for the Dibble bill to extend the freedom to marry for all loving couples.
Eken's decision is a significant development for two reasons. First, Eken was one of four senate democrats who voted in March for a parliamentary maneuver intended to stall the marriage reform. Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reported in Senate Republicans try to block same-sex marriage bill:
The day after legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in Minnesota
cleared two committees, Senate Republicans tried to derail the measure
with some parliamentary maneuvering.
They failed to stop the bill's
progress but tried to use it to put some pressure on some rural
Democrats.
Republicans have previously said
that rural Democrats will have a tough time voting for the bill, when a
majority of their constituents oppose same-sex marriage.
DFL Senators Kent Eken of Twin
Valley, Lyle Koenen of Clara City, Leroy Stumpf of Plummer and Dan
Sparks of Austin joined Republicans in opposition to the adoption.
Another DFLer, Sen. Rod Skoe of Clearbrook, did not take the bait. Skoe
said he disagreed with Hann's characterization of what the vote meant.
Second, the move suggests that Minnesota for Marriage's strategy to demonize the effort to extend the freedom to marry as an epic "metro" versus "rural" battle isn't working.
Vicki Jensen says she has been honest with her constituents from the
start. The freshman senator from Owatonna is the first Democrat to
represent the area in several decades, and her Senate District 24 voted
56 percent in favor of the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage
last fall. But Jensen plans to vote in favor of a bill to legalize gay
marriage this session.
“I was clear with my constituents on the campaign trail, and I’ve
been clear with them throughout the session. This is the most important
vote I will take all year,” Jensen said. “I have to vote with what I
think is right.” . . .
Has M4M gotten a single additional commitment from a rural DFLer to vote no since launching its tour? Not that we've heard. Perhaps Minnesota Republicans United for Freedom could offer to pay for visits to key suburban districts held by Republicans.
That might help create the margin for clear passage of the marriage equality bills.
Photo: Senator Kent Eken will say yes to marriage equality.
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Our friends at Clean Up the River Environment asked people from the Upper Minnesota River Valley and West Central Minnesota to travel to the state capitol for an Earth Day rally for clean energy. A group of enthusiastic MPIRG students road in from U of M Morris; hundreds of passionate high school students turned out to join them.
In addition to those rallying in the rotunda, over 300 citizens showed up to lobby for solar and other clean energy on a day graced by another spring snowstorm and difficult driving in greater Minnesota.
Renewable energy advocates on Monday afternoon rallied in the state
Capitol rotunda in support of energy policy legislation that seeks to
boost solar energy in Minnesota. Gov. Mark Dayton and House Speaker Paul Thissen
were among the officials who rallied a couple hundred activists to
support bills in the House and Senate that would call for utilities to
generate 4 percent of their electricity from solar energy by 2030. The
bills sponsored by Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, had committee hearings on Monday with neither being voted on.
Dayton said the nation’s energy policy “has been to hang on to the
status quo for a long as possible.” He said he hopes Minnesota someday
runs on 100 percent renewable fuels. . . .
. . .“We need your help,” Hortman said. “Because as you know, the energy
lobbyists are here. The folks who like coal are here. The folks who like
natural gas are here. …You need to make sure you let your senator and
your representative know: Minnesota is ready for solar.”
The legislation is controversial, however, and was laid over on
Monday night in the Senate Environment, Economic Development and Energy
Finance Division in order to find a compromise in the next couple days.
Here's a video of several high points in the rally: Paul Bunyan puts in an appearance, as do labor environmentalist Javier Morillo-Alicea, polar explorer Will Steger and Governor Dayton.
Bluestem will swap out the Youtube with a higher quality video when we return to our fast prairie connection.
Photo: A few of the University of Minnesota Morris students who braved slippery roads to rally for clean energy.
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The Land Stewardship Project has sent out an action alert about the next step facing language in Senate File 796 protecting southeast Minnesota trout streams from frac sand mining and processing. LSP has been working with Trout Unlimited to carry the water for the prized game fish in southeastern Minnesota.
The bill may be heard in the Senate Environment Finance Committeeas early as Wednesday, April 24.
SF 796 is the Omnibus Game and Fish Policy Bill and Sen. Schmit is
the author. The provisions in the bill say that in southeast Minnesota:
• No frac sand mining is allowed within a mile of any spring, groundwater seepage area, fen, designated trout stream, class 2a water or any tributary of class 2a water or designate trout stream.
• The DNR cannot issue groundwater appropriation permits for frac sand-related activity, including frac sand processing.
• Mining frac sand within 25 feet of the water table is prohibited.
The bill applies these provisions in an area defined by the DNR as
the Paleozoic Plateau (222) Ecological Section. This area generally
encompasses Minnesota's five southeast counties. A detailed map is on
the DNR’s website HERE.
These provisions protecting trout streams would help dramatically in
limiting the harm frac sand mining can do in southeast Minnesota and
would go into effect immediately. As reported in a Rochester Post-Bulletin
article, Gov. Mark Dayton has weighed in against supporting a
moratorium at this time. Without a moratorium, we need standards in
place NOW before any more frac sand mines or processing facilities are
established in southeast Minnesota. The provisions in Senate File 796
are a good step in that direction.
LSP and Trout Unlimited provide recommended action steps. Check them out here and act.
Photo: A trout caught in a Southeastern Minnesota trout stream.
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Bluestem had some errands to do in Montevideo Saturday and so joined about 75 other people at the Minnesota For Marriage (M4M) road show rally in the parking lot of St. Joseph's Catholic Church.
Judging from media reports last weekend, yesterday's spiels from the in-state talent that M4M had packed on the wrappered RV were pretty much the standard arguments the group makes.
Morse was flown in from San Diego, California's second largest city and the eighth largest in the United States, to tell citizens in Chippewa County, Minnesota (population 12,135) that we should so not let our fellow Minnesotans living in the metro areas push us around (since she used the plural, Bluestem assumes she also meant the fleshpots of Cook, St. Louis, Blue Earth, Nicollet, Olmsted, Rice, and Winona Counties as well as the scary Twin Cities where most of the state's residents live).
Along the way, Morse tried relating to her audience by making references to hunting and livestocking farming, while weaving in an anti-divorce, anti-choice, and anti-equality message that predicted the end of marriage entirely if we let cuteboys have it. Her central assertion? Reciting Maggie Gallagher's claim that the "chief public purpose of marriage" was the production and regulation of offspring, Morse also insisted that the only argument that supporters of the freedom to marry made was that folks like her are bigots who are mean to cute boys in love.
And that's where the hunting earphones came in. Morse suggested that anti-freedom advocates silence the voices of their opponents by putting on metaphorical electronic ear protection to filter out those who don't agree with them:
. . .I was told that there might be a few hunters in an area like this and so I brought my ear protectors. I'm not a hunter myself. Do you guys have these sort of ear protectors? They're very snazzy. You can turn they on and they block out the noise, they block out a big loud noise like when you shoot your gun, it blocks out--you guys know what I'm talking about here?
Good, good, good. People in San Diego have no idea what I'm talking about. But I can hear you because I've turned up the volume on my little headset here. You can hear what you want, but you block out the noise.
Now why would I wear earprotectors to a marriage rally? Because there's a lot of noise in the marriage debate. You know what I'm talking about? Everytime somebody says, "You're a bigot," that's just noise. That is just noise. That is designed to keep you--when somebody says that, what happens? You go Ohh! . . .you suddenly immediately recoil, just like the shotgun going off in your ear.
So you have to do something to stop the noise, so you can think. And the people on the other side are very deliberate and intentional from keeping the subject away from the subject. Instead of the subject being, "What is marriage and why do we need it?," the subject is, "What's wrong with you guys that you're so mean to us and that you're on the wrong side of history?" That's what they want to talk about.
Did we mention she isn't from Minnesota? Bluestem also suspects that Morse never attended the Ozarks Famous Writers School, or she'd never have pulled out a howler of an analogy like that one.
It's fascinating how much folks like Morse talk about the word "bigot." Early on in the drive to defeat the amendment to restrict the freedom to marry, Bluestem's friend (and Thug in Pastels blogger) Javier Morillo-Alicea, a Minnesotans United for All Families board member, explained how the use of the word wasn't particularly helpful or descriptive, since while many people might be uncomfortable with the notion of marriage equality, that discomfort does not a bigot make.
In interviews before and after
Tuesday's results were known, key participants focused on these factors:
• Allies: From its beginning,
Minnesotans United for All Families sought to build a diverse,
nonpartisan coalition. It avoided confrontation and steered clear of
blunt words like "bigotry" and "discrimination."
• Faith: Although the side pushing
the marriage amendment enjoyed substantial support from Catholic and
evangelical churches, opponents of the amendment actively recruited help
from other faith communities. Several organizers put it this way: "We
refused to cede the religious ground."
• Money: Minnesotans United raised
more than $12 million for the drive to defeat the amendment. The
campaign dwarfed its opposition, both in the dollars raised and in the
number of donors named.
• Time: Opponents of the marriage
amendment had a full year and a half to organize and mobilize their
supporters. In fact, they had longer than that, because the effort to
ban same-sex marriage had made no secret of its existence ahead of time.
That's what Morse wants to filter out, and it illustrates why Morse's faux-folksie analogy about electronic ear protection misses the mark. Bluestem's editor loves shooting, and so knows that the voices of those around you aren't the shotgun blasts the ear protection gear filter out. It's your own gun firing that's likely to deafen you.
Indeed, Morse seems only able to hear her own thoughts and not the discussion in Minnesota.
Could Morse be a bigot? Bluestem would argue that her bigotry or lack thereof is immaterial to the debate. Fairness, respect and equal treatment are
positive public virtues, and the case for the freedom to marry is made
on this positive basis. It's not a repayment for insult and injury, like a tort claim, or a rebuke to Morse's personal cruelties, but rather an acknowledgement of full citizenship and fairness toward all citizens to acknowledge the claims of gay men and lesbians to marry the people they love.
As for the "essential public purpose of marriage," Morse can pretend that the conversation hasn't happened, as did Maggie Gallagher, with whom the phrase is most frequently associated online. But as The American Prospect's E.J. Graff wrote in What's the "Chief Purpose" of Marriage?:
. . . same-sex couples are following, not leading, the variety of changes in marriage's public meaning that were made by capitalism between 1850 and 1970—the time span between Anthony Comstock's anti-obscenity crusade and the paired Supreme Court decisions of Griswold and Eisenstadt. In addition, I would not agree that
the most important of these changes in marriage law and public
philosophy is snipping the link between sex and babies; that's just one
of them. Some of the other changes include formal gender equality, which
was won by the mid-1970s; and divorce with remarriage, which implies
that marriage is for love rather than being a lifetime sex-and-labor
contract, and therefore unbreakable. You believe that adding same-sex
couples to marriage is what really snips the link between sex and babies. I don't.
Later in the video below, Morse condemns divorce and reproductive choice, while going so far as to claim the freedom to marry will eliminate the institution entirely. It's one big plot or something.
Morse also tried to get folksy with a coy, nearly sniggering suggestion about rural and metro people having different understandings about where babies come from:
Every known society has something like marriage that attaches mothers and fathers to their children and one another. Now as soon as you see that that is the public purpose, the essential public purpose of marriage, then you can see right away that a same sex couple is different from an opposite sex couple with respect to that purpose. Can everybody see that?
It's basic biology. And I'm sure out here in a farm community, you all know how this works with the men and the women [she moves her hands back and forth while the audience guffaws] that stuff. Back in the metro area....ehhhhh, maybe not so clear on that, but out here, you all know how this works.
Bluestem suspects that Morse hasn't been to a modern livestock farm anytime recently to make that assertion--since sows and cows are artificially inseminated--or that she knows much about "the metro" either. Perhaps Rod Hamilton could give her a tour of a boar stud farm and farrowing unit if she wants to bring this up; as Harpers contributor Nathaniel Johnson wrote, it's a Swine of the Times in rural America.
Morse code: no stranger to controversy
One friend suggested that it might be a sign of M4M's desperation that it flew Morse in. Her most recent turn in the headlines was an almost Kluwesque turn, when the Chicago Bears and former linebacker Brian Urlacher ran from a Morse fundraising effort. The Chicago Tribune reported in the early April 2013 article, Urlacher, Bears reject link to group opposing same-sex-marriage:
The Bears and former linebacker Brian Urlacher denied any involvement
Wednesday with the Ruth Institute -- an affiliate of the National
Organization For Marriage, which opposes same-sex marriage -- after an online promotion for the institute stated a clear involvement of the team. . . .
In an advertisement for its June gala at an upcoming conference, the
California-based group stated, "For now, you should know that we have
two fabulous raffle items from the Chicago Bears Organization (and a huge THANK YOU to the Bears for supporting our message)."
Below the statement are images of an autographed Urlacher jersey and an
autographed black-and-white photo of deceased Hall of Fame running back
Walter Payton.
"I sign a lot of stuff for charity and I don't
always know where it goes," Urlacher told the Tribune. "If I would have
known it was for this cause, I wouldn't have done it."
Payton's
older brother Eddie Payton said he did not know of any memorabilia
regarding his brother used to support an anti-gay marriage group.
"This is the first I've heard of it," said Payton, a former NFL
kick returner. "Walter treated everybody equal. … Only Walter could
speak for himself, but it's a touchy subject. It should be a
non-subject."
The Bears issued a statement, saying "The two items
featured in The Ruth Institute gala invitation were personal donations
to (President) Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse. Neither was a club donation,
nor do they represent the team's view on any social issues. Any remarks
stating otherwise are false."
Reached by phone Wednesday
afternoon, Morse initially declined comment. But her website later
dropped all references to the Bears at the team's request, and Morse
issued a statement: "The Ruth Institute is not working with the Chicago
Bears organization or any of its players past or present to promote our
upcoming auction. The memorabilia we are auctioning off was acquired by
me personally, not through the team or players. We understand that the
Chicago Bears organization takes no position on social issues, and we
regret any confusion we may have caused on this point." . . .
Photo: Morse in Montevideo, tweeted by M4M. After watching the event, I wrote Andrew Falk, my state representative and asked him to vote "yes" on the Clark bill to legalize the freedom to marry for all loving adult couples. Video: Shot by Sally Jo Sorensen. Please credit Bluestem Prairie.
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While winter's pale blue eyes linger on here in Chippewa County, signs of spring are making a tentative entrance: a wren taking shelter in the garage during an ice storm, Tundra Swans wondering if this might be the place, a puzzled Yellow-Rumped Warbler perplexed by the snow, and this cycle's announcement by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) that Blue Dog Representative Collin Peterson is high on its list of targets.
In its first targeted campaign of the season, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of House Republicans, aired televised attack ads this month against Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn. — more than 18 months before voters go to the polls.
The ads attempted to tie Peterson to President Obama and his health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, both unpopular in his sprawling rural district. “Instead of voting to balance the budget, he voted to spend $1.8 trillion on Obamacare,” a narrator said in the ad.
Peterson did not vote for the Affordable Care Act, but voted against its repeal. He also voted against the House Republican budget, which brings federal spending in line with revenues over 10 years.
Peterson laughed off the attack. “They don’t have anybody else to go after,” he said. “It’s kind of ridiculous, but whatever.” . . .
. . .The NRCC spent $2,000 on the early ad campaign against Peterson, which is a paltry sum, said John Geer, a political scientist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. “It’s just not that much money.”
We're hoping that former state senator and ethically-challenged tweep Kvetchin' Gretchen Hoffman runs. Not because this would help the Republican Party's odds, but because Bluestem could revive our Tales of Hoffman series. She's rich, she's crabby, and she's from North Dakota. What's not for the RNC to love?
And then there's the press release, which is crystal clear about Peterson's offenses to humanity:
After chiding Peterson for expecting “Minnesota seniors to foot the bill for his unbalanced, irresponsible priorities,” the statement from communications director Andrea Bozek read: “Peterson owes Utah families an explanation for his poor record, and his support of wildly expensive law that hurts jobs and Utah’s seniors.”
That should provoke outrage from Biscay to Climax.
Photo: Utah, the extreme western part of Minnesota's Seventh District.
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Since the White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office
of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) began reviewing the Labor
Department’s proposed rule to reduce by one-half the permissible
workplace exposure to respirable crystalline silica more than two year
ago, the US has seen a dramatic increase in industrial sand mining, a
major route of workers’ exposure to silica dust. As Celeste Monforton reported for The Pump Handle
on March 20th, OIRA’s review of the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration’s (OSHA) draft proposed rule crystalline silica exposure
has now been going on for more than 800 days. During this time – since
2010 – the amount of industrial sand production in the US has increased
more than 50 percent. Industrial sand production is but one of the ways
workers can be exposed to the silica dust that can put them at increased
risk of developing lung cancer and other lung diseases, including
silicosis. Exposures often occur in stonecutting, sandblasting and
foundry work, in construction and – spurred by recent growth in natural
gas extraction – among workers producing, transporting and using
industrial sand in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations.
According to the most recent US Geological Survey (USGS) estimates,
US industrial sand production jumped an estimated 37% between 2010 and
2011 and another 14% between 2011 and 2012, with approximately 57% of
this sand destined in 2011 for US hydraulic fracturing operations. USGS
estimates that in 2011, sales of frac sand increased by 77% compared to
those in 2010. USGS calls the production and sale of hydraulic
fracturing sand the past several years’ “most important driving force in
the industrial sand and gravel industry.” USGS put the value of
industrial sand production in 2012 at $2.2 billion. . . .
. . .The bottom line . . . appears to be that while US
industrial sand production has skyrocketed – increasing about 50% in the
past two years – the businesses that produce this material and that use
the most of it maintain that it is too costly to improve protection for
workers who may be exposed to respirable silica dust, a known lung
carcinogen. At the same time there appears to be little progress in
expanding information available to workers or the public on where
industrial sand is being used in fracking operations, exactly how much
of this sand is being produced and where – and how many workers this may
put at risk of breathing this dangerous dust.
The city of Winona’s Citizens Environmental Quality Committee on
Thursday began discussing air-quality issues surrounding local frac sand
businesses.
The city’s planning commission and some city council
members have asked the committee to look into whether the city has the
resources and expertise to monitor the levels of silica sand in ambient
air at processing plants within the city.
Assistant city planner
Carlos Espinosa said the city should wait for recommendations from state
agencies and the Minnesota Legislature before writing any air quality
monitoring standards into city code.
Several bills regarding the
silica sand industry are being considered by state lawmakers, and the
state is in the process of setting a standard for airborne crystalline
silica by the end of 2013. There’s currently no state or federal
standard for a safe amount of airborne silica sand. . . .
Another indication of the sort of contentiousness sand mining is creating in Southeastern Minnesota? The Spring Grove Herald's government writer Craig Moorhead reports in New frac sand committee agrees on little in first meeting:
The most telling clue as to just how divisive the issue of frac sand mining has become in southeastern Minnesota is what happened when Houston County's Frac Sand Study Committee began its April 12 meeting. It took over 20 minutes just to approve the agenda. . . .
The bill includes almost $3 million that would go
toward creating a state board to establish standards for silica sand
mining, which is a booming industry in southeastern Minnesota. Lawmakers
have been grappling with how to regulate the budding industry, which
has the potential to be an economic generator as prospectors search for
new deposits of a product oil companies use later in hydraulic
fracturing. Some communities worry that the rush has outpaced
environmental concerns created when the sand is extracted and
transported.
Stay tuned.
Photo: Silica sand dust in Wisconsin. Photo by Jim Tittle.
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While the Des Moines Register reports about the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee's scrutiny of the gentlewoman's presidential campaign committee capers in Michele Bachmann knew about financial deal with Sorenson, former aide alleges, the Young Americans for Freedom are using her endorsement of toxic metal Christian rocker and radio talker Bradlee Dean for a Dean event at Des Moines Community College (see image, right).
ongresswoman Michele Bachmann was aware of the financial arrangement
between an Iowa senator and her presidential campaign that’s now the
subject of three separate ethics investigations, according to a former
aide.
Campaign aide Andy Parrish, a confidential informant who agreed this
week to step forward to testify to the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee,
will detail an arrangement for potentially improper payments to state
Sen. Kent Sorenson, R-Milo, for presidential campaign work, his lawyer
said today.
Parrish’s testimony could bolster statements another Bachmann
campaign aide made in an ethics complaint filed in January that alleges
Sorenson violated Iowa Senate rules that prohibit senators from
accepting employment, directly or indirectly, from a political action
committee. . . .
Waldron also filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in
January, citing the financial arrangement with Sorenson. And the Office
of Congressional Ethics contacted Waldron in February. . . .
Putting Bachmann's name at the head of a list of endorsements for Bradlee Dean must be capable of filling a couple of rows of seats.
Bradlee Dean has really screwed up the town of Dunkerton, Iowa.
Dean and his Christian-rap-metal troupe, Junkyard Prophet, hosted a supposed "anti-bullying" assembly
at the Dunkertown high school last week that literally left some of the
kids in tears. Among the more controversial messages delivered by the
anti-gay preacher and his cronies: The average lifespan for a gay man is
42, and if women have sex before marriage, they will have "mud on their
wedding dresses."
The principal of the school has since resigned, according to the WCF Courier, though school officials say there's no connection.
Earlier this week, a collective of advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, penned an open letter to school administrators, demanding that they be more careful about who is invited to talk to kids. . . .
That sort of attraction, in addition to ethically-challenged Bachmann's endorsement, should pack them in.
Image: A poster of April 25's coming attraction at the Des Moines Community College.
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A divorced single mother in St. Charles, who supports the freedom to marry, received a mailer yesterday from Minnesota for Marriage that she shared via Facebook.
Both sides of the M4M mail piece appeal to fear: one image features a startled blonde toddler and the text: "Which parent do I not need, my mom or my dad?," while the other carries an injunction: "Don't let the metro area force gay 'marriage' on the rest of the state," along with the command to tell Senator Matt Schmit to vote against the Dibble bill.
The quote echoes a statement by 11-year-old Grace Evans in testimony to the state legislature. (However sincere Evans was in asking the question, Bluestem believes it's a red herring, since marriage equality will not change Grace's own family).
A standard trope of the right, the metro v. rural trope roughly reflects the division of the no and yes votes on the marriage amendment, although a number of non-metro counties with larger and younger populations--Cook, St. Louis, Blue Earth, Nicollet, Olmsted, Rice, and Winona counties--voted no.
Bluestem has seen the divisive urban/rural split invoked to spook Greater Minnesota voters into picking Republicans in the past; however, the election of pro-marriage equality DFLers like Vicki Jensen in pro-amendment Steele County suggests that the issue isn't quite the 2014 or 2016 deal breaker that some are suggesting a yes vote might be.
Nor have M4M rallies drawn throngs in rural Minnesota, as we noted in Greater MN leaves M4M road trip out in the cold. Another is planned for this weekend, including a stop in Montevideo. Now that we've relocated to Maynard, Bluestem will be asking our new state senator and representative to vote "yes" in honor of the RV's visit.
Our friend in St. Charles was unmoved by the appeal, and planned to call Matt Schmit to vote yes on the Dibble bill. On Facebook, she writes of the absurdity of the logic in the mailer:
Definitely--the conclusion is that if gay marriage passes, a lot of us will adopt the lifestyle, leave our heterosexual partners and establish same-sex parented households. It's ridiculous. It's a virus..wha, ha, ha. But why do they care, and who appointed them the arbiters and judges of what society should look like? Take the stye outta your own eye...your neighbor is none of your business. And a lot of those rural folk may have gay sons or daughters--big blind spot for the marriage crowd.
Another sign that a "yes" vote might not be a death knell? Tim Kelly, who had introduced a bill that would allow recognition of civil unions, now is revising the language so that it will be civil unions for everyone, PIM's Briana Bierschbach reports in New civil unions bill would remove word ‘marriage’ from law:
Kelly is revamping his proposal to allow civil unions in the state,
which previously inserted “civil unions” alongside any instance of the
word “marriage” in state statute. The bill got a cold reception from
gay marriage advocates earlier this month, but his new bill would
eliminate “marriage” from lawbooks and enshrine “civil unions” in its
place.
“The arguments [from critics] have been that I’ve created a separate
but equal definition,” Kelly said. “Over the last week and a half, that
has been the only real kickback. People said, ‘We understand what you
are trying to do, but what you haven’t done is you don’t call it the
same thing.’ By removing marriage from statute we have the same rights
for everyone.”
Gov. Mark Dayton made an impassioned case Thursday that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry in Minnesota, kicking off a frigid outdoor Capitol rally that intensified pressure on legislators to pass a marriage measure.
“Yes to marriage, yes to same-sex marriage, yes to the constitutional right, the American right, to marry the person you love,” Dayton told hundreds of cheering supporters.
The DFL-controlled Legislature is weeks away from voting on a measure that would make Minnesota the 10th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Legislators are grappling with the issue as the U.S. Supreme Court takes a closer look at restrictions on same-sex marriage.
Dayton dismissed a last-ditch proposal by opponents of same-sex marriage to offer gay and lesbian couples the protection of civil unions.
“People don’t want to be civil unioned, they want to be married,” Dayton said.
The governor urged supporters to meet with legislators and “be respectful, but be persuasive.”
Right now, neither side is declaring victory, and those involved believe the margin will be only a couple votes. That has both sides frantically meeting with undecided legislators.
Perhaps the most encouraging cameo at yesterday's rally was put in by undecided state representative Tim Faust. On Saturday, KARE-11 reported in Anti-gay marriage rally held in Hinckley:
. . .State Representative Tim Faust of Hinckley told the crowd that he was
not entirely sure why he was speaking to them since he had not decided
yet how to vote on the gay marriage bills moving through the
legislature.
"I will always, always give you the opportunity to convince me that
you're right. Always. and the problem is that I also will give the other
side the opportunity to convince me that they're right too. It goes
both ways," said Faust.
He invited those assembled to write and call him with their opinions. . . .
Rep. Tim Faust, DFL-Hinckley, has been one of the most watched members of the House on the marriage issue. He’s an undecided DFLer from a largely rural area that voted overwhelmingly for an amendment in November that would have banned same-sex marriage in the state Constitution.
A week ago, Faust had told a group of gay marriage opponents that he was unsure how he would vote.
On Thursday, Faust said for the first time that he is leaning toward legalizing same-sex marriage — even if many of his constituents disagree.
Faust stood to the side of the rally Thursday, unprotected from the sleet and rain. He said nearly all the arguments against same-sex marriage are biblical but noted that many devoted people view it the other way.
“Then the question becomes, do we have the right to impose our religious belief on others?” Faust asked. “If the reason we are arguing we shouldn’t be doing this is because of religious beliefs, it’s pretty hard to make that argument.”
Moments later, state Rep. Karen Clark walked up to Faust. The Minneapolis DFLer is a lead sponsor of the same-sex marriage legislation.
She locked arms with Faust and smiled. Then the two walked though the driving sleet back to the Capitol.
Perhaps Faust had noticed that in much worse weather than a week ago, far more people from across the state came out to speak respectfully of Minnesota values like fairness and civility than to listen to Colorado resident Glenn Stanton talked about debunked anthropology. KSTP-TV reports in Rain, Sleet, Snow Doesn't Stop Gay Marriage Rally:
When supporters of a bill legalizing gay marriage planned an outdoor
rally at the Minnesota State Capitol for April 18, they probably thought
they had a good chance for decent weather.
It turns out, they couldn't have been more wrong. Of course, no one
was predicting "spring" weather featuring rain, sleet and snow on an
almost daily basis. Despite the weather, hundreds of people showed up
to hear Governor Dayton and gay marriage bill authors voice their
support for the legislation.
Meanwhile, opponents of the gay marriage bill continue a "Minnesota for
Marriage Road Trip" across the state. This weekend a bus caravan will
make stops in Montevideo, Eden Prairie, Owatonna, Austin and Rochester . . .
Some things are just better parked by the side of the road of history.
Photos: One side of the M4M mailer (top) and the anti-gay travel route for this weekend (bottom). Call your state senator and representative and ask them to vote "Yes" for the freedom to marry.
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The article tells of the establishment of an addiction program called Reformers Unanimous at Bethel Fellowship, a nondenominational church in Minneota. Like nearly every news report about RU that Bluestem found in searching Nexis, the reporter seems to have accepted the claims made by program organizers about the efficacy of the program--and the dismissal of other programs--without fact checking.
But unlike reports about RU in the database--and statements made by the organization's national director--the local organizers claim that RU "isn't meant to bring people into the church in general."
Moreover, the broad definition of what constitutes an "addiction" might raise eyebrows.
Success rates?
In the article, program administrator Dale Johnson tells reporter Karin Elton:
"In other programs, it's one out of 10 will make it," he said. "In this
program it's eight out of 10. When I first heard about the success rate,
I thought 'this is ridiculous,' but judges have endorsed it in
Rockford, Illinois, where it started and jails let inmates out to attend
meetings. A bus picks them up and takes them there. They have a good
relationship with the courts. (The courts) are seeing the fruit. They
don't want to keep seeing the same people over and over again. America
has more people in prison than any other country."
Oh really? First off, Bluestem couldn't find any independent verification of RU's self-professed "success rate," simply the assertion repeated year after year by organizers. Since Johnson is talking about a meeting-style program, perhaps RU might
be compared to the original 12-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous.
Finding an apples-to-apples comparison is difficult, especially given the glibness of RU's assertions. A 2011 Scientific American article, Does Alcoholics Anonymous Work?, reports:
In 2006 psychologist Rudolf H. Moos of the Department of Veterans
Affairs and Stanford University and Bernice S. Moos published results
from a 16-year study of problem drinkers who had tried to quit on their
own or who had sought help from AA, professional therapists or, in some
cases, both. Of those who attended at least 27 weeks of AA meetings
during the first year, 67 percent were abstinent at the 16-year
follow-up, compared with 34 percent of those who did not participate in
AA. Of the subjects who got therapy for the same time period, 56 percent
were abstinent versus 39 percent of those who did not see a
therapist—an indication that seeing a professional is also beneficial.
Relapse rates from addiction (40 to 60%) can be compared to those
suffering from other chronic illnesses such as Type I diabetes (30 -
50%), Hypertension (50-70%) and asthma (50 to 70%). Drug addiction
should be treated like any other chronic illness, with relapse
indicating the need for renewed intervention.11
And:
A major outcomes study with 10,000 patients in both in-patient and
outpatient treatment (Hoffman & Miller) found that 90% of patients
attending AA meetings at least weekly and participating in aftercare for
one year were able to abstain from the use of any alcohol at all during
that year.14
Thus, while RU's assertions for its success rate can neither be confirmed or refuted, the dismissal of other programs isn't particularly well-grounded.
Nomeland said the program is open to anyone who has any type of
addiction - it could be drugs, pornography, gambling, eating disorders.
It isn't meant to bring people into the church in general or to Bethel,
but the parishioners are there to help [emphasis added].
Reformers Unanimous is a faith-based program that focuses on reforming
behavior by transforming our thought processes according to spiritual
principles. Since the concepts of Reformer Unanimous are faith-based,
the student has a life-time support system when integrated into a local
church in his community.
Reformers Unanimous Ministries exists to help anybody worldwide who
wishes to experience a life of victory over difficulty. This victory
is obtained and retained not through an experience of ongoing effort,
but through a once in a lifetime decision to accept Jesus Christ as
their personal Savior and a subsequent dedication to developing a
dynamic love relationship with Him.
Since the national program is fairly upfront about the importance of a local church for the individual "addict," it's curious that the Minneota staff would claim otherwise.
About those addictions
Finally, there's the matter of the omnibus "addiction" approach. Recall that Nomeland told the Independent:
Nomeland said the program is open to anyone who has any type of
addiction - it could be drugs, pornography, gambling, eating disorders.
While there's some similiarity between anorexia and bulimia and addiction, one wonders if the catch-all approach of throwing the porn "addict" in with the anorexic is the best policy. Moreover, other sources suggest that RU considers queer sexual identity an addiction to be cured.
. . . Alcohol may be legal, but it is still sinful. Marijuana may be legal in
some states, but it is still sinful. The real issue is with God. That
is all that should matter. RU Principle #1 is the only real place to
start for recovery – “If God is against it, so am I”.
. . .I can take you across this great country and introduce you to people who
have started with Principle #1 and their lives have been enriched and
transformed. No longer are they addicted to sinful homosexual ways. No
longer are they ensnared by alcohol, marijuana, or any other sinful,
controlling substances. They have been changed.
Well then. "Homosexuality" is an addiction, as well as a sin for Burks. Search the Internet a bit, and one can find examples of individuals who are in RU chapters for this "addiction." BJUnity tells the story of Jonathan Nichols, whose mother sought an RU cure for his "addiction":
. . .Before I left, my mom asked me if I would consider going to the Reformers Unanimous men’s
home in Rockford, Illinois. For those of you unfamiliar with it,
Reformers Unanimous is an “addictions ministry” that is completely Bible
based. Basically what that means is that there is no certification
necessary. Church laypeople are acting as counselors to anyone,
regardless of what he or she is struggling with. The men’s house is a
place where the extreme cases can go for more intensive Biblical
treatment. The realization that my mother saw my being me as the same
level of non-desirability as a compulsive alcoholic or serial drug user
increased my desire to leave. . .
And that men's home? While certification isn't needed, the program isn't entirely a private affair. The housing application form online includes this bit:
FOOD ASSISTANCE: Provided by state
In an effort to
further lower
program costs for our students, we have partnered with the state of Illinois
to provide food
assistance to those who qualify. Each student will be taken to the local department of human
services to be assessed for food assistance eligibility and is
required to take the necessary steps to qualify.
Food stamps? For the poor, dependence in some conservatives' thinking. For RU in-patient services, a way to a personal relationship with Jesus. Never mind the The Lies and Dangers of Reparative Therapy that HRC outlines.
One wonders what other elements of humanity RU considers "addictions," and if Minnesota's courts or social services have shuffled anyone into the three existing RU programs in Minnesota.
Private individuals have the right to signup for whatever religious healing they want, but putting this on the public's dime or time--especially in the absence of evidence-based recovery rates--might not be the best course in Minnesota.
A push by agricultural groups to avoid an
evaluation this year by the state's legislative auditor has raised red
flags for some lawmakers.
Lawmakers on Wednesday directed the Office of the Legislative
Auditor to audit agricultural commodity councils, over protests from
some of those groups that the move is unnecessary and burdensome. Rep.
Andrew Falk, DFL-Murdock, said the "rampant amount of lobbying" that
some of the councils did to have their name taken off the short list of
potential audit targets was unusual.
Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, said he's
never seen that kind of pushback in his eight years on the Legislative
Audit Commission. Amundson did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
Falk said he's heard from several farmers who don't understand what the fees pay for and wonder if they're
being used effectively. Falk said he doesn't expect an audit to show
any wrongdoing and that the audit may merely help farmers understand how
each organization works.
Minnesota Public Radio's Tim Pugmire reports in Commission approves nine audit topics:
. . .one commission member said he found it "highly unusual" that
there was some lobbying against an evaluation of Agriculture Commodity
Councils, which the legislative Auditor hasn't taken a look at in more
than 30 years.
Rep. Andrew Falk, DFL-Murdock, said the farmers who fund the councils want to know if their money is being well spent.
"If their books are clean, and if they're doing a good job, they have nothing to fear," Falk said.
Since the councils have power to levy checkoff dollars, that's a good thing.
Photo: Corn. We grow a lot of it in Minnesota, and by statute, a check-off is allowed to be levied by a farmer-led state commodity council.
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Word comes to our new home office in sunny Maynard, Minnesota, via People for the American Way's Rightwing Watch, that Minnesotans Michele Bachman and Bradlee Dean will be taking part in the Awakening 2013 this weekend in Oviedo, Florida. The annual event is organized by the Liberty University-affiliated Liberty Counsel.
The theme? Fighting for the Soul of America. Food trucks are available on site on Saturday.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) will be joining some of the most extreme right-wing activists in the country at the upcoming Awakening 2013
conference, which is organized by the Liberty University-affiliated
Liberty Counsel. Along with Bachmann, Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Jim
Bob and Michelle Duggar are scheduled to take part in the Religious
Right gathering.
Just how radical are the conference’s leaders?
The fact that it is hosted by Liberty Counsel, the anti-gay group led by Mat Staver and Matt Barber that has been implicated in the Lisa Miller kidnapping case,
is the first clue to the Awakening’s far-right bent. On top of that,
the event includes 9/11 and Sandy Hook truther Bradlee Dean,
self-proclaimed prophet Cindy Jacobs and convicted domestic abuser and
anti-women’s rights activist Timothy Johnson.
On the program, we learn that Bachmann's keynote address is "America at a Crossroad: Pressing Forward to Victory," while Dean will be a presenter in two breakout sessions.
The first, "Families Under Attack: Pornography & Sexual Promiscuity and How to Fight Back," teams the toxic metal preacher with Bishop Harry Jackson and Patrick Trueman. Judith Reisman will moderate.
High Impact begins by pushing Jackson and Barna's own
"research," purportedly based on 100,000 personal interviews conducted
over the last 20 years, which uncovered "areas in which whites and
blacks are clearly divergent." One of those areas, according to Jackson
and Barna, is sexual temptation. Black people, they allege, are far
more prone to it, and specifically to "physical intimacy with a
nonspouse or enjoyment of pornographic materials."
In spite of
this allegedly innate promiscuity — a quality that most white
supremacist "race scientists" and hate groups also claim is an intrinsic
characteristic of black people — Jackson and Barna conclude that
African Americans are spiritually superior to white Christians, in that
their faith is more "integrated" into their everyday life. Since black
Christians spend more time in church than white ones, the book argues,
black God-fearers are more observing of the Sabbath, while "this concept
was lost more than a quarter century ago in white America" – just one
more "sign that the spiritual focus remains paramount among blacks."
Jackson has played a leading role in campaigns against marriage equality
in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, fights he described as a spiritual battle against Satanic forces. He said
that a demon called the Queen of Heaven is behind the push for same-sex
marriage, which he warned “corrupts, perverts and pollutes” society.
Jackson has also called marriage equality “a Satanic plot to destroy our seed” and warned that gay rights advocates “want to recruit your kids” and are targeting young people “just like during the times of Hitler.”
Patrick Trueman is a lawyer who serves as president of Morality in Media, which placed Attorney General Eric Holder at the head of its "Dirty Dozen" list, The Hill reported on April 1. Holder was joined on the list by Comcast, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Barnes and Noble and the Department of Defense.
Reisman, a visiting Liberty University professor who is fighting to criminalize pornography, has claimed
that schools are brainwashing children into becoming gay and that gay
rights advocates are emulated the Nazis. She also said that the Gay,
Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s Gay-Straight Alliances are modeled after the Hitler Youth and promote pedophilia.
Age ranges in the population were 0.3% under the age of 18, 0.3% from 18
to 24, 1.5% from 25 to 44, 40.4% from 45 to 64, and 57.5% 65 years of
age or older. The median age was 66 years.
Photo: Bachmann and Dean.
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