Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/barack-obama/page/3/)
I am amazed. Our government has tortured in our names, and the streets are empty, the campuses are calm. Our President wants only “torture-plus” investigated for possible prosecution. Arguably, not to investigate credible allegations of torture is itself a war crime. Continue Reading
by Pam Colby | September 12, 2009 • I rode my bike to the farmer’s market this morning, loaded up both bike bags with produce, listened to a great singer named Kari Tauring who is from Denmark and performs music of the Viking Age. Chilling to hear. Continue Reading
We’re trying out a new format – headlines here, individual articles when you click on individual headlines, or the entire blog on one page when you click on the News Day headline. We hope this will make it easier for you to comment — just click on a headline, read and comment. Let us know what you think of this format …T-Paw signing off – in 2010 He’s not running for governor, and he loves his wife … Vampire news of the day A guilty plea from “The Impaler” …Schubert vs. solar Minneapolis city spending … Continue Reading
Shredded documents at Gang Strike Force led to Strike Force commander Capt. Chris Omodt’s decision to padlock the doors ahead of schedule yesterday, reports the Strib.Officers in the Metro Gang Strike Force shredded documents at its headquarters late Wednesday night, hours after the state Commissioner of Public Safety announced plans for an internal investigation after a government audit found that the Strike Force couldn’t account for $18,000 in seized cash and at least 13 vehicles. After the shredded documents were found in dumpsters and garbage cans at the Strike Force’s Brooklyn Center headquarters, Omodt ordered an immediate closing. In an email obtained by the Strib, Omodt also reported that “someone apparently shut off a computer that records when someone enters the building with a security card,” and that Strike Force members had removed documents and personal property from the building.Adding insult to injury, Governor Tim Pawlenty vetoed the tax bill and told cities and local governments that their concern over cuts to local government aid were “hogwash” and that, “Instead of just whining and complaining, they need to figure out how they can reduce their spending by a few percent.” “Nothing short of insane” That’s Congressional Representative Betty McCollum’s characterization of the NRA/Republican success in tacking a concealed-guns-in-national-parks rider onto the credit card reform bill, reports the Minnesota Independent. This is a shameful example of the failure of the legislative process and I would urge President Obama to veto the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights and send it back to Congress to take the guns out. Continue Reading
Even without the legislature in session, the forecast for Minnesota is high winds and lots of heat today.T-Paw QOTD “The legislators are gone away and they are not coming back.”Health care, bullying, transportation More end-of-session news: Pawlenty plan is recipe for massive job losses from Workday Minnesota, and Pawlenty talks unallotment, veto plans from Session Daily. Getting down to specifics:Health care The governor’s cuts come amid a “hellish week for hospitals,” says MnIndy, reporting on staffing cuts across the state in large and small, public and private hospitals. The Strib reports that many people are cutting back on health care, waiting until they are very sick before seeing doctors, leaving prescriptions unfilled, and skipping routine screenings, such as Pap smears. Transportation In the single bright spot, MN 2020 reports that Minnesota moved forward on transportation in this session. Elections bill Although the legislature watered down the elections bill, leaving out provisions sought by both DFL and GOP legislators, the governor will still veto it, reports MinnPost. Continue Reading
Governor No No new taxes. No special session. No compromise. That’s essentially the message that Governor Pawlenty delivered with $400 million in line item vetoes and a threat that he will balance the budget by unallotment if the legislature does not agree to his terms. Rachel Stassen Berger’s PiPress blog describes who gets hit by the biggest line item veto:In signing the Health and Human Services bill the Legislature sent him, he slashed $381 million in funding for General Assistance Medical Care, a health insurance program for adult Minnesotans who don’t have health insurance but may not be eligible or may not yet be approved for other subsidized health care programs. Health insurance through GAMC is only available to folks who make $650 a month, about $7,800 a year, or less. Many covered under GAMC are homeless. Continue Reading
President Obama has declined to host a group of evangelical Christians to mark today’s National Day of Prayer, but Minnesota’s chief executive, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, will once again participate in the exclusive religious event and his office has endorsed the event. Last year, the Minnesota Independent reported that not a single speaker at the Day of Prayer event at the Minnesota Capitol was from a religion outside the evangelical Christian spectrum. Among the nearly two dozen speakers, all were pastors of churches or politicians that identified specifically as evangelical. This year appears to be the same. The Midwest Chaplains, the group coordinating the event, is strongly evangelical, and Gov. Pawlenty and Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, both evangelicals, will be headlining the event, according to their office’s public events schedule. Continue Reading
On Tues., Jan. 20, Barack Obama takes the oath of office as the 44th President of the United States. The ceremonies begin at 10:30 a.m. CST, followed by President Obama’s inaugural address. There’s no reason to feel left out just because we’re 1,100 miles away from D.C. There’s plenty going on right here. The events below will give you a place to start. Continue Reading
As I wrote a few months ago, and as I suggested in my 2007 TC Daily Planet op-ed piece,(1) the escalating destruction of biological life on our planet is by far the most serious problem that confronts our nation and all other nations. Therefore, as we begin a new year with a new American administration, all other problems must be addressed in that end-of-life context. The Free Speech Zone offers a space for contributions from readers, without editing by the TC Daily Planet. This is an open forum for articles that otherwise might not find a place for publication, including news articles, opinion columns, announcements and even a few press releases. Two recent publications that highlight the problem are “Obama Left With Little Time to Curb Global Warming,”(2) and the Center for Global Development’s 2008 Commitment to Development Index,, which shows that among 22 of the world’s wealthiest nations, the U.S. ranks 21st on the Index’s Environment Component and 17th on all seven of its policy components.(3)
Thankfully, 2009 will begin in just 17 days.———–
1. Continue Reading
A cast of big-name characters is vouching for Secretary of State Mark Ritchie — only their advocacy has nothing to do with the statewide election recount he’s overseeing. Food and environmental activists from Minnesota’s own Winona LaDuke to Omnivore’s Dilemma author Michael Pollan, Diet for a Small Planet author Francis Moore Lappé, restaurateur/food activist Alice Waters and poet Wendell Berry have signed a letter to Barack Obama calling on him to appoint a Secretary of Agriculture who’ll use the job to address the environment, rural economies and human health. Ritchie, who worked for the Twin Cities-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy prior to his current high-profile gig, is fifth in a six-name list of options for “the sustainable choice for the next U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.”Ritchie to ag secretary campaigners: Thanks, but I’ve already got a job!By Paul Schmelzer, Minnesota Independent
In a 2006 interview with the Minnesota Independent, Mark Ritchie sounded positively Obamian in his intellectual interests, referencing a range of topics from the 1930’s Chemurgy green-fuel movement, artist Francis Lee Jacques and the business filings duties of the Secretary of State’s office. But, despite the similarity with Obama, it sounds like Minnesota’s Secretary of State wouldn’t accept the position of Secretary of Agriculture were the president-elect to offer it to him. Last week, Ritchie — a former chicken farmer and founder of both the “November 2″ get-out-the-vote project and the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy — was included on a shortlist of “sustainable” agriculture secretary candidates sent to Obama’s transition team by 88 activists including authors Frances Moore Lappé, Bill McKibben and Michael Pollan. Continue Reading