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Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher is raising all kinds of ethical issues with a recent fundraising effort, and across the river, Sheriff Rich Stanek’s newest initiative seems to be based on the premise that there’s no place like jail for the holidays. Continue reading
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In two sunrise votes on Tuesday morning, Senators continued the march toward approval of their version of health care reform. Republican opponents can delay a final vote until Christmas Eve. Paul Krugman says the Senate needs reform, too (below). Continue reading
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David Brauer at MinnPost says that WCCO radio and television will have to combine their on-line operations, creating “a single WCCO news site here. Right now, TV has wcco.com and radio has the angry-on-the-eyes wccoradio.com.” The reason for the change is a new CBS mandate, described by Chief Operating Officer for local media, Anton Guitano: Continue reading
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Last week, the demonstration was on the ice of Lake Minnetonka, targeting UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley, and meeting with vehement objections from a neighbor who insisted that demonstrating outside someone’s home is just wrong, especially because “it’s f#%&ing Christmas!” The health care protests, with the support of Physicians for a National Health Program continue with bannering over area freeways. Continue reading
NOT writing about health care or COP15 today. No, I’m not. Not going to write about the minute-by-minute, breathless coverage of the cloture vote in the Senate, now dramatically scheduled for Christmas Eve on a watered-down bill that will give big new profits to insurance companies — or about the fact that this bill, once passed by the Senate, heads to conference committee for compromises with the House bill, so we really don’t know what will end up on the President’s desk. The nastiness of the final debate, rather than the substance of the bill, was the focus of much coverage. With one Republican Senator calling for prayer that a Democrat would get sick or die to prevent the final vote.
And NOT going to write about COP15, or how it fizzled to a close with an unenforceable sort-of-agreement that might or might not make any difference, after Denmark showed that its cops could compete in the worldwide bash-a-demonstrator competition. If you want to see what happened, go to The Uptake, and if you want to read about it, BBC sums it up.
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Shivering your way toward the end of the year? You’re not alone. The Star Tribune reports increasing numbers of MInnesotans appyling for heating assistance, up eight percent statewide over 2008 and 19.5 percent over 2009. Increases in the metro area are even higher: Continue reading
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The FBI is bringing a gang task force to town, moving in as the investigation of corruption, mismanagement and abuses by the now-disbanded Metro Gang Strike Force continues. The FBI will operate under a whole different set of rules — or maybe the main difference is that it promises to play by the rules. Continue reading
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Michele Bachmann is co-sponsoring a resolution to protect Christmas from … well, it’s not entirely clear from whom. She wants the House of Representatives to recognize the importance of the symbols and traditions of Christmas (and NOT Hanukkah or al-Adha or Kwanzaa) and to say it “strongly disapproves of attempts to ban references to Christmas” and to express “support for the use of these symbols and traditions by those who celebrate Christmas.” Non-Christians — keep your hands off the trees and lights and gift-giving! Continue reading
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For about an hour last night, Twitter users were redirected to a page showing a message declaring it had been hacked by the Iranian Cyber Army (which, of course, might not be Iranian at all). Continue reading
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President Barack Obama spoke Friday to the leaders of 193 nations gathered at the climate change summit, after a pre-speech summit with leaders of 17 other countries. China refused to attend, reports the Washington Post: Continue reading
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Mary Turck