Red Lake Tribal Council to research feasibility of marijuana

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RED LAKE, Minn. – Although the subject was not on the printed agenda for the Red Lake Tribal Council at the regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Jan. 13, recent acts by the federal government concerning Indian tribes, hemp and marijuana prompted several tribes to explore the feasibility of growing medical marijuana and industrial hemp.Red Lake Chairman Darrell G. Seki, Sr., added the agenda item shortly after the call to order. He said he felt the federal ruling should at least be discussed. Seki cited several tribes that are looking deeper into the issue and mentioned fewer yet that were actually taking action.Immediately, Red Lake citizen and Gardening Tech at Red Lake Traditional Foods David Manuel asked to address those assembled and spoke of the economic advantages to getting involved with at least industrial hemp and possibly medical marijuana. Continue Reading

Obama nominates Katherine Simonds Dhanani as first U.S. Ambassador to Somalia in 24 years

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President Barack Obama has nominated the first U.S. ambassador to Somalia in 24 years. She is Katherine Simonds Dhanani, a Foreign Service veteran who has previously served in five other African countries in various capacities. Dhanani will be based in neighboring Kenya until the situation in Somalia stabilizes to allow the U.S. embassy to reopen.U.S. State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said in a statement to Mshale that the nomination was a sign of the “deepening relationship” between Somalia and the United States. “Somalia has considerable work ahead to complete its transition to a peaceful, democratic, and prosperous nation. The United States is committed to supporting Somalia on this journey as a steadfast partner,” she added.Two years ago, the U.S. recognized the new U.N.-backed Somali government which continues to battle al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab.Other African countries that she has served in: Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe from 2007 to 2010 as well as at the U.S. Embassy in Libreville, Gabon from 2005 to 2007. Additionally, she was the Political and Economic Section Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Lusaka, Zambia from 2002 to 2005 and Economic Section Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1999 to 2002.Dhanani also served as Staff Assistant in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs at the Department of State, as Consular Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.Dhanani received a B.A. from Kenyon College and an M.A. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.The U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu closed in 1991 when Somalia’s government collapsed as civil war ensued.”As security conditions permit, we look forward to increasing our diplomatic presence in Somalia and eventually reopening the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu,” Psaki said.Dhanani’s nomination requires senate confirmation. Continue Reading

Becoming a Lao Restauranteur: Eric Virakhone Panya

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When I first moved to Fort Worth, Texas in July 2013, I was told that there was vibrant Lao community nearby. In fact, according to the U.S. Census, there are about 10,000 Laotian Americans in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex alone. Out of that 10,000, about 3,000 reside in the Fort Worth Area. I was excited; perhaps adjusting to life in Texas wouldn’t be too hard with a Lao community nearby and most of all, Lao comfort food readily available right around the corner.A quick Yelp! search led me to Sikhay Restaurant in Northeast Fort Worth. Continue Reading

Downtown East Commons is a Blank Slate, Except for the Vikings. And the Traffic.

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[You can see the original post here: http://streets.mn/2015/02/27/downtown-east-commons-is-a-blank-slate-except-for-the-vikings-and-the-traffic/]On Tuesday night, a healthy crowd of local downtown residents and other interested parties gathered in the rustic lobby of the Mill City Museum for the first of several public meetings about the forthcoming Downtown East Commons park. It was a fun atmosphere, with the palpable enthusiasm that comes with the chance to shape big changes in the place where you live. There were also cookies.There were two purposes to the meeting. The first was to give locals the chance to hear from the landscape architecture firm chosen by the city, Hargreaves Associates. The presentation given by Hargreaves’ President Mary Margaret Jones was well received, and it’s clear that the city has made an able hire. Continue Reading

TASTE OF WEST BROADWAY: Celebrating Northside business in style

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The West Broadway Business and Area Coalition is setting out to prove that its business district has everything one needs to throw a spectacular party. For the upcoming Taste of West Broadway fundraiser on Thursday, February 26th, food will be prepared and served by eight local chefs from Avenue Eatery, K’s Deli, Cookie Cart, WholeSoul, Pimento Kitchen, Louisiana Purchase Seafood, Broadway Pub and Grille and Breaking Bread Cafe. Event patrons will have the pleasure of enjoying a wine tasting hosted by Cliff ‘n Norm’s, Merwin Liquors and Broadway Liquor Outlet. Boom Island Brewing will serve beer samples and its nearby taproom will host the event’s After Party.Hopewell Music Cooperative North’s string quartet will perform, and an artist from the Capri Theater’s Legends series. Silent Auction items include Cookies for a Year from Cookie Cart, visual art, a backyard BBQ for 8 from a local grill master, as well as concert tickets and other eclectic pieces.The WBC chose the Mpls Photo Center, located just off West Broadway on North 2nd St, in one of the most beautiful historic buildings in all of Minneapolis. Mpls Photo Center has stunning views of downtown and guests can peruse two photography exhibits, Rock and Roll and Vivian Maier.”We are excited to host this unique experience for the community, exhibiting many of the great food and cultural offerings on the avenue. Continue Reading

Texas congresswoman Molly White needs to reaffirm her allegiance to the US and apologize to all Americans

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Yesterday’s fiasco by Texas congresswoman Molly White is diagnostic of her deep bitterness toward American Muslims as well as, perhaps, her own temperament challenges. However, not all anger is unjustified. In fact, sometimes anger is required. But in the case at hand, White should get ready to contend with Americans being rightfully angry at her.That’s because she decided to have Muslims be greeted at her office with an Israeli flag. That is, she demanded that Muslims display their allegiance to the US while proudly holding the flag of a foreign country to their face.While this should be sufficiently comical, one wishes White’s choice of flag was for just any foreign country.As congresswoman White claims that her patriotism is somehow more than that of American Muslims, White shows allegiance to a country that has been proven tospy on the US and continues to do so at alarming levels. Continue Reading

U rightly shifts stance on alerts

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The University of Minnesota announced Wednesday morning that it will modify its crime alert policy after more than a year of scrutiny for how the messages can perpetuate racism and stereotyping, particularly harming young black men.Under the change, Vice President for University Services Pam Wheelock and the police chief will evaluate on a case-by-case basis whether there’s enough information to include a suspect description when a crime alert is sent.This change is just one of many steps the University must take to make all its students feel comfortable on campus. But effective reform takes time, so we are pleased to see the University finally take this action.The Minnesota Daily’s newsroom uses a similar policy to the University’s new one when reporting on crime. As evident in the Daily’s pages and those of other major newspapers, suspect descriptions are almost always too vague to be helpful.Sufficiently broad policies allowing for case-by-case decisions can be effective, but they require great care.In a crime alert sent Monday, the University listed a suspect as having spoken “with an accent” without any indication as to what that manner of speaking may have been. This exemplifies a detail that does more harm than good in keeping the community safe — the opposite effect the alerts should have.As the University continues with its new, improved policy, we urge officials to err on the side of not using suspect descriptions unless they could clearly benefit to campus safety. [For original article click here: http://www.mndaily.com/opinion/editorials/2015/02/25/u-rightly-shifts-stance-alerts] Continue Reading

Eating the Traditional Asian-American Diet is Healthy!

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[See original article here: http://biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org/?p=507]Asian Americans who grew up in the U.S. have been influenced over their lifetime of how to eat healthy. The American diet is shown in a food pyramid that doesn’t really represent or incorporate foods from other cultures. Many people choose to mix in both diet and switch other things. But did you know that many Asian cultures actually have a healthy diet too? Here’s an example of what many Asian foods consist of.So what are the main differences between the two diets?1. One difference between Western and Eastern diet is at the bottom of the pyramid. Continue Reading

Demands by Whose Diversity? aren’t new

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[See original post here: http://www.mndaily.com/opinion/letters-editor/2015/02/23/demands-whose-diversity-aren%E2%80%99t-new]It’s clear. Many in this administration are out of touch with the weight of the equity and diversity issues they extol. In a speech to the North Hennepin Area Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 13, 2014, University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler stated, “I want to speak about serious matters — from student debt to how we seek to tackle some of the state’s and world’s grand challenges — from widespread hunger to the inexcusable achievement gap in our schools. But I do need to put first things first … Continue Reading