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The earth is burning up and we don't seem to care


Fri, Aug 11th, 2006
Posted in Commentary

Anyone who still scoffs when the global warming subject is brought up must either have his or her head stuck quite deeply into the sand or slept through the past month. In all of my 50-plus years, I cannot remember a spell when it has stayed as hot for such an extended time, as it did in late June and all of July. We've had hot stretches before, but at least it seemed to cool off at night. That hasn't been the case this summer.

Although we have central air in our home, we try not to use it - partially because we try to be energy conscious - but also because my wife and I feel it just isn't real healthy. But during this recent sweltering period, I don't think there were more than two or three nights that we shut off the AC and opened up the house. It just didn't seem to be cooling off at night.

It was quite ironic that the morning after I was commenting to my wife about the intense heat wave and the lack of nocturnal cooling we had come so accustom to, I came across an Associated Press article on this subject.

"Summer nights are much hotter in U.S. over past years," the headline read. According to the article, we have been suffering through three times more than our normal share of extra-hot summer nights, government weather records show. And climatologist and health experts both warn that this is a very dangerous trend.

During heat waves, one of the major causes of heat deaths is the lack of night cooling that would normally allow a stressed body to recover, scientists say. Some scientists say the trend is a sign of man-made global warming.

One top federal research meteorologist said he almost fell out of his chair when he looked over the U.S. night minimum temperature records over the past 96 years and saw the skyrocketing trend of hot summer nights.

From 2001 to 2005, on average nearly 30 percent of the nation had "much above normal" average summertime minimum temperatures. By definition, "much above normal" means low temperatures that are in the highest 10 percent on record. On any given year, about 10 percent of the country should have "much above normal" summer-night lows.

However, in both 2005 and 2003, 36 percent of the nation had much above normal summer minimums. It was even worse in 2002 when 37 percent of the nation suffered with above normal summer minimums.

While the highest-ever figure was in the middle of America's brutal Dust Bowl, when 41 percent of the nation had much abov .....
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JEM Movie Theatre

An immediate cease fire is needed in Lebanon

Wed, Aug 2nd, 2006
Posted in Commentary

"You see the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s--t and it's all over."

George Bush to Tony Blair at the St. Petersburg G8 Summit, referring to the conflict in Lebanon.

According to Presi ..... 
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Why not offer a smoke-free night?

Fri, Jul 28th, 2006
Posted in Commentary

"Just try it. You might find that you like it."

I really don't know how many times I've utilized that sage line of thinking when trying to encourage our daughter to give a healthy entrée a try. Usually, the eatable item is a vegetable. I'm s ..... 
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Administrative Law Judge will decide Spring Valley Ponds case

Fri, Jul 21st, 2006
Posted in Commentary

The July 17 article by John Bondhus in the Fillmore County Journal, "Misinformation threatens Spring Valley Ponds" hardly is worth the effort to respond to. But a few points where he has committed slander against Jeff Broberg and me need to be corre ..... 
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Misinformation threatens Spring Valley Ponds

Fri, Jul 14th, 2006
Posted in Commentary

A front-page story in the June 12th edition of the St. Paul Pioneer Press addressed my efforts to “turn an old hatchery into a world-class fish farm and park” and detailed many of the state permitting issues that have put the project on hold. In the ..... 
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Open enrollment and athletic eligibility

Fri, Jul 14th, 2006
Posted in Commentary

An Associated Press story that ran in quite a few Minnesota dailies last week caught my attention. According to the article, the Minnesota State High School League has reacted to complaints of abuses of the state’s open enrollment rules by appointin ..... 
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A chicken in every pot

Fri, Jul 7th, 2006
Posted in Commentary

Governor Tim Pawlenty, fresh from his Republican endorsement as a candidate for a second term to lead the state, proposed back in June to offer free tuition for the first two years to the top 25 percent of Minnesota’s high school graduating class at ..... 
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Friendship is fading

Fri, Jun 30th, 2006
Posted in Commentary

A “friend,” according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is “a person whom one knows, likes and trusts; a favored companion; one with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade; one who supports, sympathizes with or patronizes.”

..... 
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The World Cup is the real Super Bowl of fútbol

Fri, Jun 23rd, 2006
Posted in Commentary

Every four years the countries of the world get together to see which nation has the best soccer team. They call it the World Cup. Brazil won in 1994 and again in 2002. France won it in 1998. This year, Brazil is picked to lead the pack, but I have m ..... 
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