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The issue: will a future governor and legislature be able to opt out of a federal health care plan? According to the Star Tribune:
The stakes are high. According to federal estimates, 875,000 Minnesotans could be directly affected: the 519,000 uninsured, plus another 356,000 with nongroup coverage who could be eligible for health insurance through a federal exchange that includes the public option. Continue reading
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Black women and breast cancer Black women would be disproportionately affected by changes in mammogram practices, report the TC Daily Planet and NPR. The TC Daily Planet reports:
According to the National Cancer Institute’s Snapshot of Breast Cancer, the incidence of breast cancer is highest in whites, but African Americans have higher mortality rates. In fact, African Americans have higher mortality rates from breast cancer than any other racial or ethnic group, and the gap is widening.
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As delegates from about 192 nations gather in Copenhagen to take action to mitigate or reverse global warming, only about half of the U.S. believes that climate change is happening. The Copenhagen conference, nicknamed COP15, runs December 7-18. The official website offers numerous articles, and links to live webcasts of proceedings, both in the original language and in English.
An NPR story explains two reasons for decreasing U.S. citiizen concern. First:
Anthony Leiserowitz of the Yale University School of Forestry puts one reason above all the rest: “First of all, it’s the economy, stupid.”People can only worry about so many issues at one time, he says. So it’s no surprise they worry about issues that hit closest to home.
Then there’s the psychological reason:
Even as scientists become more confident that climate change is a serious hazard, public opinion is shifting the other way, says Kari Marie Norgaard at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. …
[As] as people start to feel overwhelmed by the scope of the problem, they simply turn away from the topic. It’s a form of denial, she says.”We just don’t want to know about it, so we are actively distancing ourselves from it or trying to protect ourselves from it.”
Finally, “There’s a large and well-funded effort to block legislation that could hurt the industries most responsible for carbon emissions.”
The private prison in Appleton is closing, which means 125 jobs gone from the west central town of 2,700 people, report the Star Tribune and MPR. The job loss is only part of what looks like a disaster to Appleton. Continue reading
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Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak jumped into the gubernatorial race on Sunday, becoming the 11th DFL candidate. Rybak says he will abide by the party endorsement and not go to a primary fight, according to the Pioneer Press. The Star Tribune reports that Rybak and former Senator Mark Dayton have the most DFL support, with each of them polling at 30 percent. Other DFLers include House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, former House minority leader Matt Entenza, State Senator John Marty, State Representatives Tom Rukavina and Paul Thissen, State Senator Tom Bakk and former State Senator Steve Kelley, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, and perpetual candidate Ole Savior. Continue reading
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More Minnesotans are using food shelves and food stamps, according to a series of reports this weekend. The Twin Cities Daily Planet reports that food shelf use is up across Minnesota, and particularly in the Twin Cities: Continue reading
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November’s unemployment rate, announced this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, stands at 10.0 percent, down slightly from October’s 10.2 percent, surprising economists who had predicted either holding steady or a slight increase. The total number of officially unemployed, plus discouraged workers, people working part time because they cannot find full time jobs, and those “marginally attached” to the work force – 17.2 percent in November, down from 17.5 percent in October. Continue reading
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You may remember when the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) issued (and then rescinded) a “gag order” against Carver County Commissioner Tom Workman. The order came after he showed — on camera — that their inspector’s report about a sewage system was wrong, wrong, wrong. The sewage system in question belongs to the Waconia ballroom, which had just been purchased by Carver County. Continue reading
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Somalia A suicide bomber disguised in women’s clothing attacked the graduation ceremony for medical students in Somalia, killing at least 19 people, including four government ministers. BBC reports:
The students had been graduating from Benadir University, which was set up in 2002 to train doctors to replace those who had fled overseas or been killed in the civil war.
Students, families and government officials had gathered at the Shamo Hotel to celebrate the medical school graduation, the second in the country in more than two decades, according to AP.
The attack targeted one of Somalia’s most important efforts to extricate itself from anarchy and violence, explaining the presence of so many top government officials. The graduating medical students were only the second class to receive diplomas from the medical school. [The first class was last year.]
“The loss of our ministers is disastrous, but it is an outrage to target the graduation of medical students and kill those whose only aim in life was to help those most in need in our stricken country,” Somali Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke said.
Militant groups control most of the country and most of the capital of Mogadishu, while the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) struggles to survive. While anti-government militants belong to more than one group, the al-Shabab mlitia is the dominant militia and is believedto be linked to al-Qaida.
Pakistan Suicide bombers struck a mosque in Pakistan Friday, killing at least 35 people, reports NPR. They sprayed the crowd at prayer with gunfire and tossed grenades before blowing themselves up. The mosque was close to Pakistan’s army headquarters in Rawalpindi. Insurgents have targeted army and government installations over the past few months.
On Nov. 2, a team of militants attacked the army headquarters and held dozens hostage in a 22-hour standoff that left nine militants and 14 other people dead.
Violence in nuclear-armed Pakistan has escalated since the army launched an offensive in mid-October against Taliban militants in the northwestern tribal area of South Waziristan near the Afghan border.
Afghanistan NATO pledged to send an additional 7,000 troops to Afghanistan, starting in January,t. It’s not clear where the troops will come from.
Britain has already pledged 500 more soldiers, while Italy, Poland, Georgia and Slovakia are sending new deployments, from a few dozen to 1,000 — bringing the total NATO commitment of additional forces to as many as 8,000 troops, according to a senior diplomat at NATO headquarters here.
Adding up the numbers, that’s clearly less than half the 7,000. France previously said it would not send any additional troops.
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Qwest is closing two call centers, one in Duluth and one in Pueblo, Colorado. MPR reports that 52 workers in Duluth will lose their jobs, but that other Qwest offices in the city will remain open. Qwest cited a reduction in the number of 411 calls. Continue reading
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Mary Turck