Central Minnesota Political

The MN350.org book discussion group read and discussed What We Think About (When We Try Not To Think About) Global Warming by Per Espen Stoknes. Here’s the group report from Brian Nowak. How did it go ? The book club was a great success, 30 people participated in person or over the phone on February 5th. We had some great discussions and learned a lot about climate messaging.  We have over 70 people who have contact MN350 about the book club. Send me your suggestions and let me know if you have a book to suggest for our next meeting in April. We will send out a list of suggestions next week and from peoples responses chose a new book to read. For those who called in we will be working on our technology to make the call in a better experience.   Book Suggestions so far: Motorcycles, Madness & Miracles  - A Badass Journey to Empowerment , a  book  Rowen Glaser wrote after attending a Pachamama Awaken the Dream Symposium.  H...

By Tim King One of the finest principles of Americanism is that we all are equal before the law and that we all have the same rights. That basic principle is right there in our Declaration of Independence from the tyrant Britain.  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Those words of Thomas Jefferson rang out across America and around the world and down through time. They inspired independence movements and movements for human dignity from the Caribbean and Latin America to Asia.  But living up to those self-evident truths has been a constant struggle for many Americans. There have always been, down through our history, the frightened and small minded people who have denied that we were all created equal by our Creator. Whether it was Native American or African American or Japanese America...

By Tim King Tyler Carlson is a friend and a grass fed beef farmer in Todd County. He generously spent some time answering questions about his work in the Sauk River Watershed. Tim: You’re on the Board of Managers of the Sauk River Watershed District. How did you get that job? Tyler: When a position opens up, the county places an informational ad in local papers and perhaps other appropriate outlets.  Interested members of the public then submit a letter of interest in the position to the county and the Commissioners approve one applicant to serve on the Board.  I saw the opening in the Herald. Tim: What is the Sauk River Watershed District? Where is it? Tyler: A watershed is defined as a geographic area in which all surface waters flow to a single outlet. The Sauk River watershed covers more than 667,000 acres from 5 counties; Douglas, Meeker, Pope, Stearns, and Todd. The River exits into the Mississippi at Sauk Rapids. The SRWD was created in 1...

By Tim King Painted Lady butterflies usually are a colorful treat for the eyes in the late summer or early fall. Last summer there was an explosion of them not only here in Central Minnesota but across the upper Midwest. Here, on our gravel township road there were clouds of them gathering moisture and minerals from the damp road. There were so many of them that as we drove slowly through orange and black clouds we could hear their wings. In mid-summer we spotted a couple of unusual caterpillars in our field of vegetables. Excluding Colorado Potato Beetles and Cabbage Butterfly larva, we generally welcome insects into our fields. We value and enjoy the diversity they bring to our field and lives. So, we just enjoyed the worms and went on with our work. This Painted Lady was photographed by Sue Farmer late summer 2017 It's feeding on nectar from a Blazing Star in Lindberg State Park in Morrison County About the same time we spotted the unusual caterpillars we started hea...

By Tim King We were driving around in rural Stearns County earlier this year and we discovered that there’s a lot more than corn growing there these days. There’s a huge wind electric generating project south of Sauk Centre. We also found two large scale solar electric projects. One of them is near St. Joseph and the other is not far from Avon. Along with these three industrial scale projects were a number of farmstead and homestead wind electric projects scattered throughout the countryside. Renewable energy seems to have come of age in Minnesota. Westmill Solar Cooperative, England http://westmillsolar.coop Thanks Wikipedia That’s why I was surprised when the U.S. Department of Energy tried to pitch coal to world leaders at the Climate Summit in Bonn, Germany in November. Not surprisingly the American coal promoters were scoffed off the stage. World leaders, just like the business people and investors in Stearns County, know that renewables are the future and coal i...

As we ponder the idea of a Great Show of military might in the form of a giant parade in our nation's capitol we should remember The Donald's comments following his State of the Union address. Just a few days before The Donald proposed his parade he complained that some Democratic lawmakers were unpatriotic because they did not applaud his State of the Union remarks enthusiastically enough. No, he actually said they were treasonous. Moscow - May 2015 Wikipedia Now, accusing members of Congress of treason for not applauding is ludicrous. But if The Donald said it you may be assured that there is a cadre of thugs out there who believe it. Now comes the parade. In The Donald's Brave New World will the children that are bussed in from the suburbs to observe the grotesque spectacle be required to wave their tiny flags with Great Enthusiasm? Failing that, will they be sent to camps for reindoctrination? Wikipedia The photos here are of the 70th anniversary victo...

Review by John King “Marketplace Ministers are part of how the Lord will reach the peoples of the earth in these last days.” Author Paul Gazelka wrote this astonishing sentence near the conclusion of his 2003 book, Marketplace Ministers , but it is a good place to start here because it so neatly encapsulates the message of the book which is that business people, by spreading the Gospel, are in a unique position to prepare us, for the end of the world.   Gazelka, an insurance salesman in Baxter, Minnesota, devotes chapters one through four to the story of his religious calling and how he came to adopt the “marketplace” as his personal ministry.  He goes to some length, relying in part on the “Fivefold Path” from Ephesians to convince the reader that the marketplace is a legitimate pulpit to spread the Word.  The remainder of the book, using personal anecdotes and biblical passages, he explains how a marketplace ministry would function and what its usefulness w...

Alex Hering is running to unseat John Poston in State District 9A. The Brainerd Dispatch ran an excellent article on Alex earlier this week. The first few paragraphs are below as is the link to the complete article. Hering makes his pitch for District 9A representative For Alex Hering, the vice-chair of the Cass County DFL, a keyword is "care"—health care, elderly care, home care and daycare, or caring for the environment and caring for one's neighbor. Care, in the sense of being valued and supported by one's community, is starting to diminish in Minnesota communities, Hering said. That's a central reason why he's running to be representative of District 9A (an area covering almost all of Wadena and Todd counties, as well as the southern portion of Cass County) in the Minnesota House of Representatives. "Who's taking care of who? Are we being represented by a government that wants to help people or help corporations or lenders or out...

Remember the kerflufflel over The Donald's physical examination a few weeks back? The examining doctor said The Donald was so healthy he was good to go for a second term. This subversive headline reporting on the boot licking MDs long term prognosis showed up in PEN America ( https://pen.org ) last weekend. It seems to be a slightly more accurate description of The Donald's health. Thanks to Twitter

Michele Bachman, Mary Franson, and Paul Gazelka are intolerant anti-democratic religious extremists. Having said that I am wondering if mocking their religious views is the moral and upright thing to do. Bachman recently took wide spread heat for telling a television commentator that she was going to ask God if she should become a candidate for governor in Minnesota. When she said that, knees set on auto-jerk went into rapid action. Ridicule was heaped on the former Member of Congress and Presidential aspirant. Bill board in St. Paul erected last weekend Thanks Twitter  But was ridiculing Bachman's comment that she was going to pray before reaching a decision becoming of those who would criticize Bachman for her intolerant and authoritarian views? Aren't we bigger than that. Can't we take on Bachman, and other zealots like her, without ridiculing their fundamental religious beliefs? I refuse to laugh at another persons religious beliefs. My brother-in-law and I we...

Join Land Stewardship Project members and supporters to prepare for  the 2018 Minnesota Legislative Session and  Build a Vision for Prosperous Rural Communities and Family Farmers LSP State  Policy Organizing Meeting Monday Feb. 12 from 7 to 9 p.m Registrations and Refreshments available at 6:30 p.m. Central Lakes College (1830 Airport Road in Staples Agriculture Center Assembly Room (C168) RSVP to LSP Organizer Amanda Babcock 612-400-6355/ ababcock@landstewardshipproject.org Directions: Central Lakes College is about 1/4 of a mile north of the Staples airport. Park in the south lot and use entrance #4. Topics to cover include: Brainstorming Big Wins for the Future : What should LSP propose to foster prosperous rural communities in Minnesota? Addressing the Rural Healthcare Crisis : How do we transform the current health care system to make it work for rural communities and put people over profits? LSP’s Vision : How ...