Dan Haugen

MNJAC update: Fusion center’s board adopts privacy recommendations

A state law enforcement center set up to collect, analyze and share suspicious activity reports has taken a step toward addressing some of the concerns raised about it by privacy and civil rights advocates. The governing board of the Minnesota Joint Analysis Center (MNJAC) unanimously voted on Monday to approve a new privacy policy for [...]

You don’t know MNJAC: Anti-terror fusion center grapples with security flaw, new privacy policy

A post-9/11 intelligence agency created to collect and analyze suspicious activity reports from across Minnesota is operating without an important and widely used safeguard meant to check against inappropriate use of data.
Most law-enforcement databases are protected with software that automatically keeps a record of every search that’s performed. That way supervisors can easily monitor who [...]

McCain, Clinton agree on energy plan: Here, take 30 bucks

In today’s New York Times, Thomas Friedman calls Hillary’s and McCain’s “gas-tax holiday” proposal what it really is: money laundering masquerading as energy policy. Both candidates say they want to temporarily suspend the 18.4 cents per gallon federal tax over the summer. Cheap gas is a strange thing to support for two candidates who are [...]

Minnesota’s Green Economy: Legislators want to power up state’s green-job strategy

In this two-part series, Minnesota Monitor examines the state’s efforts to build a greener industrial base and create new jobs in the process. Part I: When it comes to recruiting “green-collar” jobs to Minnesota, critics say Gov. Tim Pawlenty has had a lower profile than some of his peers. Part II: Minnesota has a “ground-up” [...]

Minnesota’s Green Economy: Pawlenty gets out-hustled by his peers in recruitment of green jobs

In this two-part series, Minnesota Monitor examines the state’s efforts to build a greener industrial base and create new jobs in the process. Monday: When it comes to recruiting “green-collar” jobs to Minnesota, critics say Gov. Tim Pawlenty has had a lower profile than some of his peers. Tuesday: Minnesota has a “ground-up” strategy to [...]

Minneapolis hip-hop group denied entry to Canada

Local hip-hop act Atmosphere canceled a show in Toronto tonight after Canada apparently banned their entry into the country. A message on the group’s Facebook page last night says the show was scrapped “due to an immigration issue.”

Their publicists released a short and vague announcement: “Attention Canadians! Tonight’s Atmosphere performance in Toronto at the Opera [...]

Capitalism consuming itself? Fund investors help inflate food prices

Ethanol critics have widely bashed the corn-based fuel for its role in inflating food prices worldwide. But a fascinating article in Der Spiegel, a German news magazine, says classic supply and demand can’t fully explain the recent food inflation phenomenon.

Aggressive hedge-fund investors have played a significant and underreported role in bidding up the price of [...]

Gallup Poll: Most Americans not too worried about global warming

A new Gallup Poll suggests Americans are no more concerned about global warming than they were almost two decades ago.

In a telephone survey last month, 37 percent of 1,012 adults interviewed said they worry a “great deal” about global warming. That’s virtually unchanged from 19 years ago, when 35 percent responded the same way.

The findings [...]

In defense of doing something

Here’s for all the cynics out there: Michael Pollan, author of “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,” argues in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine why seemingly small, individual steps to save the planet are worth taking:
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Minneapolis City Council decides on ranked-choice elections policy

The Minneapolis City Council voted this morning on logistics for adopting instant-runoff or ranked-choice voting in the city, but the ordinance cleared without unanimous support and only after significant debate on an amendment to count mismarked ballots.

Instant runoff lets voters rank candidates in order of preference. Council member Cam Gordon introduced an amendment that would [...]