In the Bemidji Pioneer, Kyle Farris reports in Rep. Collin Peterson visits Bemidji:
Peterson said our elections are poisoned by money and special interests. Campaigns should be two months, he said, and publically funded.
He said Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are a little like him, because they speak their minds.
"I tell the truth," he said. "whether or not people want to hear it."
That's not exactly feeling the Bern, but one can't fault Peterson for speaking his mind.
MN07 food fight in the school lunchroom
On January 19, the Associated Press's Mary Clare Jalonick reported Michelle Obama, GOP Congress Head Toward Truce on School Lunches:
First lady Michelle Obama and congressional Republicans may be headed toward a truce on meals served to the nation's schoolchildren, but at least one GOP presidential candidate is signaling the political battle isn't over.
A bipartisan Senate agreement would revise healthier meal standards put into place over the last few years to give schools more flexibility, easing requirements on whole grains and delaying an upcoming deadline to cut sodium levels on the lunch line. . . .
After more than two years of public quarreling, the bill signals a possible armistice between school lunch directors, congressional Republicans and first lady Michelle Obama, who has highlighted the standards as part of her campaign against childhood obesity.
Farris reports Peterson's reflections on the compromise being cooked up in Washington:
U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson spoke with local leaders in education on Wednesday, shuffling through his opinions on topics including private funding of political campaigns (opposed) and attempts to relax health requirements for school lunches (in favor).
Perhaps most relevant to the audience of educators, he voiced support for a Senate bill that would loosen whole grain requirements, and extend a deadline to cut sodium levels. Other meal standards created by the Obama administration would remain in place.
"It sounds like schools like it better. Schwan's likes it better," he said. "It's good for everyone."
That might not be good enough for Peterson's presumptive opponent, Amanda Lynn Hinson, who wrote in Why I'm Running for Congress:
I put my kids in public school this year. My kids don't like the taste of skim and 1% milk, and I’m a firm believer that Minnesotans in cold weather require a few more lipids. When I checked with the school to see if there was some way we could have 2% milk available to my kids, I had to work my way up from the school lunch guy to the MN Department of Education and then was told I would have to talk to my U.S. Congressman about getting my kids 2% milk.
I’ve called congressmen about this; they confirmed it’s up to them. The National School Lunch Program touts that school lunch is "a matter of national security", rhetoric Collin Peterson has used about the food industry. Really? When we have to talk to our congressman about what our kids eat and drink at school lunch, I think we have a big problem with government overreach.
Can you imagine what this is like having national policies for anything educational? It's like playing volleyball, and the ball just volleys back and forth with no real resolution about anything. The very spirit of the law is lost, and we keep aimlessly trying to follow it-- this is stupidity. Federal regulations on local schools brings an environment of fear as our schools attempt to do everything by regulation and can't do anything about parents' concerns. Eventually, we all have to give up, give in, and drink the skim milk.
Hinson lists "federally mandated school regulations" in the "No" column on her issues page. In the first post of her webpage's blog, Is Ben Franklin rolling in his grave?, Hinson writes:
Hunger-Free Kids Act. This bill was so championed by the first lady, children don't complain about the lunch lady anymore, they blame Michelle Obama for their dislike of school food. Last year, when the House Republicans tried to answer the complaints of their constituents (people and schools), Michelle Obama got into the scene and fought back. The people lost! Try calling your congressman or the USDA today about what they're "offering" your kids at school, and you will find that your opinion falls on deaf ears. I, personally, was told by the USDA that since this was public school lunch, I didn't have a say-- the Government was the one in charge. I beg to differ! We all have a say! We pay for that school lunch with our tax dollars and some of us still opt out of the free lunch program, paying additionally. As you can read in her own speech, Michelle Obama is more concerned about what a handful of "experts" say about food than what your kids and you would prefer they eat.
Give us 2% milk or give us a congressional campaign. Hinson filed with the FEC today.
Kathie D. Roberts, who served as treasurer for the Dan Severson for Secretary of State campaign in 2014.
#1 Bestseller print on cover of Hinson's self-published book
Hinson seems ready for the world of politics and spin. Elsewhere, on the cover of her self published book, Hinson claims that her memoir was a #1 Bestseller.
The Amazon page for Wide Open Curtains: A Journal of a Pregnant American in Russia Kindle Edition lists these rankings:
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #164,952 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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- #22 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Travel > Asia > Russia
- #44 in Books > Travel > Asia > Russia > General
- #53 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Ideologies & Doctrines > Communism & Socialism
Within very narrow categories, she's done fairly well, but the book doesn't show up on the 2013 Ebook 100 Bestsellers list, much less as #1. The page states that the book was published in 2013.
The paperback, which was self-published via the CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 22, 2012), according to the book's Amazon page, also doesn't appear to have been a bestseller. According to Amazon, these are the rankings for the paperback:
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,484,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2683 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Medical
We looked elsewhere to find reviews of the volume or mention of it in the book trade, but were unable to find any reviews outside of reader sites like Goodreads.
The claim that the book was a bestseller (though not #1) was made in the 2014 Perham Focus article, Where are they now? From Russia, with love:
That book, “Wide Open Curtains: A Journal of a Pregnant American in Russia,” went on to become one of the best-selling e-reader books on Amazon in 2012.
When we look at the Best Sellers of 2012 in Kindle eBooks online at Amazon, we don't see the book. Perhaps it sold well in the narrow categories.
As she campaigns for office, let's hope Hinson clarifies for the media which bestseller list her self-published book topped.
Photo: U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson (left) talks with Superintendent of Bemidji Area Schools Jim Hess in front of other educators on January 27, 2015 n Bemidji. Via Jillian Gandsey | Bemidji Pioneer.
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