Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/category/uncategorized/page/22/)
A new organization of radicals calling itself the Coalition for Restoring Anarchist Principles has come out with an endorsement of the Minnesota GOP’s lawsuit asking the State Supreme Court to order a shutdown of all Minnesota state government functions in the event that the Minnesota Legislator, controlled by the Republican Party, and DFL Governor Mark Dayton cannot r Continue Reading
Over the past few weeks as Michele Bachmann’s star has risen in the firmament of GOP presidential hopefuls, I have been reading a flurry of emails, blogs, and Facebook status updates from fellow Minnesotans of a leftish bent decrying Bachmann not only for her extremist ideology but for being “insane” or “crazy.” Last week she was even treated to Continue Reading
I realize that I haven’t written about running in a while… Mainly because a friend came up to me and said, “Hey! Are you still running?” Well, HECK yeah! I’m still running. This marathon isn’t going to run itself, though it would be lovely if it would.
Q: How did you get here?
A: What do you mean?
Q: I mean did you come here by a boat, bus, plane…?
You can tell this person really wants to add, “Did you walk here?”
I just answer “by plane.” I mean I am freaking from Somalia! In Africa! For goodness sake, people, ask a better question. Continue Reading
White House! Communications Director! Dan Pfeiffer! was the clear headline act on Friday morning at Netroots Nation. Probably a couple hundred people gathered in the big room to hear the Angry Mouse (Kaili Joy Gray, associate editor of Daily Kos) quiz him in a no-holds-barred session.
An hour later, Peggy Flanagan took the floor in a much smaller room to talk to about “Governing the Wellstone Way.” Flanagan is a former school board member, an organizer/trainer with Wellstone Action, and a member of the White Earth band of Ojibwe, which she identifies as “the largest tribe in Minnesota and the best-looking tribe in Minnesota.” Continue Reading
Minneapolis is the site of the national Netroots Nation convention this week, and Minnesota media is making a good s Continue Reading
Earlier this month I visited the Lac qui Parle EDA and their Computer Commuter. I’ve written about the Computer Commuter before; it’s a tricked out van outfitted with 7 computers and space for a few more for folks who want to bring in their laptops. Continue Reading
A few days ago, I made a trip to Wat Po, a huge complex of Buddhist temples, stupas and learning halls attached to the Royal Palace in the center of Bangkok. I was there not to gain enlightenment, however, but a Thai massage. In the end, I got some of both.
A message from the publisher(Jeremy Iggers is the executive director of the Twin Cities Media Alliance, a non-profit organization that publishes the Twin Cities Daily Planet)Dear Friends,Many thanks to all of you who responded to my recent message asking you to support the Twin Cities Daily Planet by making a membership contribution. We really need the support, and many of you responded generously. But I received one response that really caught my attention: “Would totally make a donation once you start paying your writers.”I replied immediately: “Actually, we have been paying our writers for years. We don’t pay for blogs and commentary pieces, but we do pay for assigned news stories and most reviews. You can find the details here: https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/contribute.”And then I added this reminder: “If you feel like making a donation, you can visit our secure online donation page, or send a check (in any amount) to TCMA, 2600 E. Franklin #2, Minneapolis MN 55406.”The reader was not impressed: “Guess I just don’t want to support a business model that relies primarily on unpaid/underpaid bloggers, whether it’s HuffPo or Patch or eHow.com or Daily Planet.”Here’s the gist of my reply: “Actually, our business model is quite different…”Those other publications give priority to stories that generate the most search engine traffic. Our editorial priorities are covering under-reported stories, and giving voice to under-served communities. “”Many of Huffington Post’s unpaid bloggers felt cheated when Ariana Huffington and her investors cashed out and got $315 million dollars. We can’t cash out because we don’t own the Daily Planet. The Twin Cities Media Alliance is a non-profit, and the Daily Planet belongs to the community. We get 95 percent of our revenue from foundation grants, memberships and individual gifts, and only 5 percent from advertising.” “We operate on a shoestring budget, and all that money goes back into the community – to pay our writers, our editors, our support staff and our rent. Continue Reading
On Saturday I joined a legion of 2,000 volunteers as people from all around the Twin Cities continued to clean up NoMi after the tornado. My group spent the bulk of our time around 29th Avenue and Morgan Avenue North, cleaning up the yard of an immigrant couple. Most of the heavier branches had already been cleared up, but plenty of other debris remained. When they found Continue Reading