MinnesotaBrown

• Talkin’ Dylan, Hibbing on Australian radio
• Solution to Mars colonization ‘madness’ problem
• Nolan rankles environmentalists with pro-mining vote

Talkin’ Dylan, Hibbing on Australian radio Posted: 19 Sep 2013 07:24 AM PDT Bob Dylan’s childhood home in Hibbing, Minnesota. As more evidence of the world’s constant drive to become smaller, I enjoyed hearing thisAustralian radio interview of my friend David Leaver, a marketing professor in Manchester, England. Leaver is a scholar of tourism, specifically music tourism as it relates to the hometowns of famous musicians. He visited Hibbing, Minnesota, a few years ago on tours of the hometowns of Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and the Beatles. You can hear the interview here (the part about Hibbing is about ten minutes in). His observations about Hibbing and the mystique of Bob Dylan’s story in this Iron Range mining town is spot on. And the fact that this interview exists is pretty good evidence of Dylan’s ability to put the Iron Range on the world map. I am one of the co-organizers of Dylan Days, an live music and arts event held ever May in Hibbing. Written by Aaron Brown for Minnesota Brown © 2013 | Talkin’ Dylan, Hibbing on Australian radio

Solution to Mars colonization ‘madness’ problem Posted: 19 Sep 2013 06:38 AM PDT Not Mars. If you ever look at a taconite mine pit on northern Minnesota’s Iron Range you might remark on it’s similarity to pictures of Mars. Film crews have even considered the Range as an ideal site for science fiction movie shoots for just that reason. If you ever spend a winter in northern Minnesota you might remark on the phenomenon often called “cabin fever,” the concentrated insanity of feeling trapped in a small warm place surrounding by deadly cold for months on end. So you can imagine my interest in an article about the push to colonize Mars. Shaunacy Ferro at the magazine Popular Science describes what Mars colonization might really mean for early space explorers in the article “Why Mars Colonists Will Definitely Go Crazy.” Mars. Courtesy of Popular Science. In essence, early human travelers to Mars would be signing up to leave Earth forever and live in small Martian “Habitrol” for the rest of their lives. Their communication with Earth would forever be marred by a data lag of several minutes. Their quarters, while comfortable, would be small. Traveling outside the “house” would require space suits and the risk of instant death. There wouldn’t be any mental health services. And there wouldn’t be much people on Earth could do except watch these people go insane on television. And it occurs to me; we get a taste of this every winter in northern Minnesota. Perhaps some people around here might want to give Mars colonization a try? That’s a pretty sweet TV. (h/t reader Chris) Written by Aaron Brown for Minnesota Brown © 2013 | Solution to Mars colonization ‘madness’ problem

Nolan rankles environmentalists with pro-mining vote Posted: 19 Sep 2013 05:15 AM PDT U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN8) voted yesterday to support HF 761, a bill streamlining the federal permit process for new mines, such as controversial nonferrous mines proposed in northern Minnesota. Nolan was one of only 15 Democrats to support the bill which passed 246-178, mostly with Republican House majority votes. John Myers of the Duluth News Tribune reported on Nolan’s vote. In a written statement, Nolan said: Even though this is not the bill I would have written, I voted yes on H.R. 761 because we need to streamline and standardize a broken mining permitting process that is delaying projects with the potential for thousands of good paying jobs and billions of dollars in economic development. I will continue to do everything within my power to advance good paying mining jobs and work for strong environmental protections in all the laws and policies that affect the mining industry. Nolan’s support of the bill seemed to surprise and dismay some of his own supporters: environmentalists skeptical of mining company claims about environmental protection, jobs and long-term risk. Nevertheless, many of Nolan’s Iron Range constituents and elected leaders in this region lobbied Nolan hard for his support of the bill. Nolan appears to have concluded that the vague language in the bill which he had previously lamented was worth accepting in favor of reform to the permit process, which routinely takes many years for most large projects. It was certainly the politically sound choice for an Iron Range congressman in an increasingly volatile district which has sent three different people to Congress since President Obama was elected. I’ve been writing recently about the big picture of planning northern Minnesota’s future, specifically here on the Iron Range. My newspaper column this week goes into the need for economic diversification beyond mining. I also wrote about the cultural history of land, water and mining on the Iron Range for The Daily Yonder. These pieces were well received, but you also have to consider the immense political pressure to support the abstract concept of mining in this region which has leaned hard on the power of the mining industry for more than a century. If you want a feel for what that pressure looks like, watch the video below. It’s from the recent “launch party” of “MINE II,” the second of a special newspaper publication series in the Mesabi Daily News, Hibbing Daily Tribune and Grand Rapids Herald Review. The first “MINE” publication was a mostly benign, occasionally interesting, ink-festooned “tab” that is essentially the revenue-generating symbol of the strong pro-mining editorial position of the three largest newspapers due north of Duluth. The second one promises to be the same thing with different stories. I expect they’ll go on like this for as long as they make money, which I expect they will. The event shown in the video was attended by about 100 people, mostly elected officials, opinion leaders, editors, reporters and many of the people who have significant influence over the dynamic of future elections. And they were all there to celebrate something they all agreed should be in all the newspapers. Nolan had no play here except the one he ran. The devil is in the details, and he’s hoping he can mop up what he doesn’t like in the bill later. In any event, the bill has almost no chance of making it to the Senate floor. So, here we are again. Big Drama. No Impact.