The Senate has voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act , which contains a provision that would allow the military to abduct American citizens, on US soil, without charges or trial, indefinitely. Ex CIA analyst Ray McGovern discusses it here. Both Minnesota senators voted yea. This is a big deal!

I am wondering how Duluth small businesses are fairing during The Great Recession. I’d like to hear from business owners, employees, the self-employed , the unemployed, etc. How is business compared to, say, ’07? How are you adapting? I’m really curious about this, and I don’t want to start an overly-political thread here. So, how’s business, Duluth?

Organic vegetables sold by the honor system along Highway A in Iron River, Wis.

I didn’t wanted to go off topic on the thread regarding signs and free speech at the Cravaack town hall meeting, so I thought I’d start another one to discuss the content of the meeting.

This is from the Norwegian Institute for Air Research for April 14 through 18. You can adjust the model to run for radioactive Iodine, Cessium, etc. Here. There is no “safe” dose of radiation, according to Dr. Helen Caldicott

Someone recently wondered why there had not been a PDD post regarding Social Security being “bankrupt.” Here goes:

Social Security currently has a 2.5 trillion dollar surplus. This is partly due to Ronald Reagan raising SS taxes on working people. Then he started to raid the fund to make it look like he could cut taxes on the rich and corporations, bloat the military, and still “balance” the budget. Well, he still wound up turning a surplus into a massive deficit, but I digress.
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Dalton Trumbo was one of the “Hollywood Ten”. Duluth is mentioned in passing in the documentary Trumbo” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>. And judging from his description of the weather he must have been here.

Uncle Paul Steklenski, aka “The Cider Man”, is retiring after 27 years of baking wholesome breads for the community. He is one of the bakery’s founders, establishing the worker-owned co-operative in 1983. Luckily he will still do some part-time maintenance.

The Bemidji City Council voted on Tuesday to return the beaver sculpture which had been removed from display over concern that decorations on it resembled a pudendum. DNT story here

Losing Daugherty Hardware was bad enough. Now Ace Hardware downtown is closing. The big-box stores cannot compare, and downtown takes another hit. Poop!

The mayor’s jump in the lake to support Google Fiber made a splash in the NYT. How about that?

I heard that Japanese tourists visit Enger Park to view the “Bridge to Heaven,” as Park Point resembles a famous pine-tree covered sand bar in Japan. Both are viewed upside down, by bending over and looking between your legs. Here

Farmer Doug and Lois Hoffbauer , who sell xmas trees out of the farmer’s market, are offering these free trees to their neighbors. How nice is that?

I just learned that this section of the Lakewalk is open. Does anyone know when it opened, or the story about volunteers working on it to meet a deadline? The Private Property signs are on 23rd Ave East. The other signs are at the beginning of this section of the Lakewalk,at the end of 23rd. How about a sign that says ” Public Welcome”?

Not only is Violet Days in the November Funny Times, but Twiggy the waterskiing squirrel is shown skiing in Duluth!

Here are a few excerpts from Duluth’s Skyline Parkway Corridor Management Plan of 2003:

” New buildings should be compatible with surrounding buildings in size and scale and SHOULD NOT BLOCK IMPORTANT VIEWS.”

“Limit residential development where it can damage….IMPORTANT VIEWS…”

“Avoid lakeside (downslope) development whenever possible”.

Skylinepart1.pdf

They could have at least added a couple coils of razor wire for ambiance.

One of the oldest and prettiest cemeteries in the area is also one of the most obscure. This one is on Cemetery Road off County Road Z, near County Road A, just south of Superior.

This is Senator Al Franken drawing a map of the US from memory at the State Fair. Doggone it he IS smart enough.

Duluth/Superior is mentioned in this article about the pipeline which will bring Tar Sands Oil through town. Go here.

Harold Nelson, the old fellow often seen walking along Central Entrance and elsewhere, was struck by a car and killed. The News Tribune has an article in the August 16th edition.

My favorite question on the Hells Angels Web Site FAQ page: ” Shouldn’t there be an apostrophe in Hells Angels?” I don’t think the answer is correct, but, uh, do you wanna tell ‘em?

http://www.hells-angels.com/FAQ.html

This behemoth was about 30′ long and aptly named.

The “Beloved Character” thread made me curious about people’s experiences at Emerson School. Any stories?

(+trivia question: What best-selling author went to school at Emerson as a boy?)

Does anyone know of a junkyard near Duluth which has lots of old Honda motorcycles in it? Thanks.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/05/14-1

Just got back from the new book store in the old Seventh Day Adventist Church on 14th East and Superior St. They have nice books and lots of ‘em and they’re still expanding into the basement.