Some people are American Exceptionalists - they consider the United States the “one indispensable nation” in the world. Stories like this one in the New York Times make me a Minnesotan Exceptionalist. I think after reading the article, you will agree that Minnesota is the one indispensable state in the union, at least as with regard to food safety.
In just about every major contaminated food scare, Minnesotans become sick by the dozens while few people in Kentucky and other states are counted among the ill.
Contaminated peanuts? Forty-two Minnesotans were reported sick compared with three Kentuckians. Jalapeño peppers last year? Thirty-one in Minnesota and two in Kentucky became ill. The different numbers arise because health officials in Kentucky and many other states fail to investigate many complaints of food-related sickness while those in Minnesota do so diligently, safeguarding not only Minnesotans but much of the rest of the country, as well…
…If not for the Minnesota Department of Health, the Peanut Corporation of America might still be selling salmonella-laced peanuts, Dole might still be selling contaminated lettuce, and ConAgra might still be selling dangerous Banquet brand pot pies — sickening hundreds or thousands more people.
In these and other cases, epidemiologists from Minnesota pinpointed the causes of food scares while officials in other states were barely aware that their residents were getting sick. From 1990 to 2006, Minnesota health officials uncovered 548 food-related illness outbreaks, while those in Kentucky found 18, according to an analysis of health records.
The best blogger on the Range, Aaron Brown of Minnesota Brown, will be in the Twin Cities this week promoting his book: Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range (now available on Amazon). Brown is doing an event at Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota on Wednesday at 4pm and another at the Eagan Barnes & Nobles on Thursday from noon to 1pm. This is a great chance to meet one of Minnesota’s best bloggers.
In other Aaron Brown news, the Pioneer Press wrote up his book this week:
Made up of original essays on topics from Range culture to work ethics, politics to history, “Overburden” reflects Brown’s interest in the region where he is “the first in my paternal line to never work in a mine.”
Now a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune, Brown served as that daily newspaper’s editor for two years. He’s an essayist and contributing producer for a KAXE radio program and founder/editor of the Iron Range’s news and politics blog, Minnesota Brown.com. His book, which combines humor, history, personal stories and original observations, is published by Red Step Press of Duluth, one of the state’s newest small publishers.
Bart Sutter, former Duluth poet laureate, says, “The Iron Range has found its voice in Aaron Brown.”
I haven’t had a chance to read it yet (damn law school) but Overburden is definitely on my reading list.
I received some interesting data by email yesterday from Congressman Jim Oberstar’s office. The data show mortgage delinquency rates for each state in December 2008. Minnesota is fortunate to be pretty low on the list, but a lot of states have been hit really hard. You can hover over each state in the map below to see the delinquency rate for that state.
Messina, who is single, has also discovered a side benefit to working for the president. When he brought a date to a gala at Ford’s Theatre this month, Obama stopped by to chat.
“It turns out the president is a really good wingman,” Messina said. Obama, he said, “stopped by and said, ‘Messina, you look pretty good when you clean up.’ ”
For better or worse, there’s a lot that can be (and has been) said about September 11th, but with a tragedy of such magnitude, I like to dwell on the good. As terrible a tragedy September 11 was, it showed us and the world what we can be at our best. Coming together as one nation (for an all to brief moment), we declared that each and every one of us is as worth while as the next. And the stories of families broken apart and families who barely escaped such a fate remind us all about what’s most important in our lives. So, September 11th is a symbol of many things to many people, but I think most importantly it serves as a reminder to all of us to take a moment in our busy lives and reflect on what’s most important to us in this world and what we’re grateful for.
One year ago today, the I-35W Bridge crossing the Mississippi collapsed. We all have our stories of where we were and how we found out; I was luckily at home. A friend instant messaged me to tell me moments after she found out, I Twittered about it, and spent the rest of the evening with the laptop on the couch. I spent a bunch of time relaying information from Noah Kunin and posting to his website on his behalf — Noah essentially lived under the bridge. His photos taken after he was helping people at the site are pretty powerful. I spent the rest of the time reading news and blogs, helping aggregate new information at MNspeak.com.
My friend’s cousin’s husband died in the tragedy, leaving behind his wife and two children. Most all of us have connections and memories and different ways we were impacted.
The Franken campaign released a statement this morning saying that Franken will not be campaigning today and they are airing no advertisements. In Franken’s words:
This anniversary is more than a sad reminder of the lives lost and irrevocably altered one year ago, it’s also a reminder of how strong our community really is. We will never forget the stories of Minnesotans rushing towards the danger - into the water to save their neighbors. In the days following the tragedy, we made a firm commitment to rebuild. And forming over the Mississippi River every day, we see the results of that commitment. For Franni and me, this day will always be marked with solemn remembrance of what we have lost, and also a deep appreciation for what we retain and what we can build together.
I just stumbled across this twenty-something year old video from Spitting Image, the controversial English puppet show, of Madness singing their hit “Our House”
Our dads taken some stick
He’s still voting Tory though
By God he must be thick
This is a bit of a non-story, but it’s Friday so just relax. I’m not as big of a Facebook adherent as some, but I do check it with a frequency that frightens even myself. At any rate, I logged in this morning to find the note in the above picture in my news feed. I have absolutely no political analysis angle here, I just thought it was funny to log into Facebook and see that Al Franken and Rebecca Otto are now friends. When this thing has it’s IPO, I want in.
And, finally something wholly unrelated to politics.
Go to Target.com. Notice something? No not their stupendous deals on the entire box set of the Macgyver series (although, that is pretty dank). No what I’m talking about is the fact that they are already pimping Christmas!.
Memo:
To: Target
From: Sean
re: X-Mas
Maybe with the change in Daylight Savings Time y’all missed this. IT’S THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER! Put Christmas away until at least the morning after Thanksgiving! I know you couldn’t do anything more in the alloted month to cheapen and commercialize the holiday season but is starting a month early really necessary?!?!
While you are waiting for us to write something about Minnesota politics (we’ve got stuff coming later today), here is a shocking bulletin. Dumbledore, the Harry Potter icon, was gay!
It was a little late for National Coming Out Day, but a huge revelation nonetheless: Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling revealed Friday night that one of her main characters, Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, is gay.
The Associated Press reports that during a Q&A session with audience members, a young fan asked if Dumbledore finds true love.
“Dumbledore is gay,” the author, 42, responded, prompting gasps and applause.
So, which Republican Presidential candidate is the first to invoke Dumbledore’s name when decrying the demise of American culture? Did Sam Brownback miss his moment in the sun?
In much, much lighter news, the infamous “Fake Steve” has been outed finally. As a techie and Macvangelist, this is truly a sad day. For those who aren’t as nerdy as I, Fake Steve is a blog where an anonymous (until now) blogger took on the persona of Apple CEO Steve Jobs and blogged as him. It was surprisingly hilarious. Knowing who it is makes the whole thing much less fun, so I won’t reveal the secret here. The New York Times has the article if you want to spoil the secret for yourself.
This is a bit of a non-story, but it’s Friday so just relax. I’m not as big of a Facebook adherent as some, but I do check it with a frequency that frightens even myself. At any rate, I logged in this morning to find the note in the above picture in my news feed. I have absolutely no political analysis angle here, I just thought it was funny to log into Facebook and see that Al Franken and Rebecca Otto are now friends. When this thing has it’s IPO, I want in.
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