Frank Rich is among the best in the New York Times stable of columnists. Sure, I tend to agree with him more often than others, but I also think he makes the most reasoned appeals.

UPDATE: Apparently some kind of error occurred at the paper and an older column of mine ran Sunday. This column will appear in the hard edition of the newspaper at some point in the future.

UPDATE 2: This will run on Sunday, Sept. 7 in the paper. You got a scoop here on the blog.

This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Aug. 31, Hibbing Daily Tribune. A shorter version of this piece ran as my radio essay on KAXE's "Between You and Me" yesterday.

Questions spawn stories; stories are life
By Aaron J. Brown

Right now there’s a big silver trailer parked outside the studios of KAXE, near the library, on the Mississippi River in Grand Rapids. Inside that trailer people are talking to each other, to loved ones, telling them things they never knew. The trailer is part of the StoryCorps project, an initiative to bring understanding to families and record the human history of America. You can schedule a visit to the trailer with a family member or friend and simply interview each other. The recording is given to you as a free CD to serve as part of family history. With your permission, select interviews may be archived in the Library of Congress, used on National Public Radio or locally on KAXE.

Though the StoryCorps trailer is now located in Grand Rapids, a fact that might cause central and east Rangers to recoil, organizers say they hope to attract interviews from all over the area, especially the Iron Range. Our area, with its vibrant history and unique culture, was central to StoryCorps’ decision to come to northern Minnesota. The project will be running in Grand Rapids until Sept. 20.

These interviews are as simple, and complicated, as asking questions.

Who? What? Where? When? How? Why?

These are the questions they teach you at journalism school. There’s some other stuff, too, but good journalists are either too busy and/or drunk to remember. Just know that those words provide the nitty gritty of interviewing. A good question will lead to an enduring story.

The answers to the really important questions are easy to remember. You don’t need notes or a commemorative plaque. You’ll always know if someone said they loved you, or not; if they knew what was in that odd looking laboratory beaker that you just drank, or not. You do, however, need to ask the important questions, and sadly so many important questions die on the vine.

My life was changed entirely by a question. Though its exact phrasing is a matter of contention, a woman once asked me, “So, are we a thing?” The answer was yes. This one question ignited a marriage, indirectly created three human beings, and continues to line the pockets of a mortgage company somewhere in Ohio. So, that’s a pretty big question, but good questions don’t have to be directly related to the status of a relationship or produce babies to remain valid.

For instance, I am reminded of a story I heard one time about a new reporter on the Iron Range. She wasn’t from this country and was still learning English. Perplexingly, she was assigned to cover a hockey game despite having no idea what hockey was. After reading a book about hockey from the library, she attended her first game at an Iron Range rink and asked the local coach just one question afterward. “Why you lose game?”

That’s a deep question. It’s the only one you need, really. An experienced reporter might have known to ask about puck handling, skating strength and missed power play opportunities. But isn’t that all succinctly tied together in this foreign reporter’s query?

Right now we’ve all got important questions churning in our minds: questions we’d like to ask our families, our spouse, our friends, our kids. These questions are the substance of a good life. I don’t mean we have to ask them to survive. Many people live long lives never asking the big questions. One of the endearing traits of human beings is that we are born capable of asking questions, weaving the answers into our lives and passing on stories.

NOTE: For more information about StoryCorps and how you can schedule a time for you and your friend or loved one, see http://www.kaxe.org/ or call Heidi at 218-326-1234.

Every year writers make earnest efforts to pay homage to the labor movement and workers' rights on Labor Day. Some have more success than others. This year, Labor Day means something on the Iron Range. With a contract deadline looming at three Iron Range mines, strike preparations are being made in Hibbing, Eveleth and Virginia. Without a tentative agreement, the region faces a deadline of midnight Sunday for a potential strike.

Steelworkers at the Minorca mine in Virginia have authorized a strike if there's no agreement. Steelworkers at the Cleveland Cliffs mines at Hibbing and Eveleth are negotiating as well.

That charges the usual political and cultural events of the holiday even more than usual. I will be especially interested in what happens at the 5th Annual Day Before Labor Day Picnic at Olcott Park in Virginia on Sunday. (1-2:30 p.m., along 9th Ave. W.). Al Franken will be there on his 8th CD tour with Rep. Jim Oberstar. This gives Al a chance to demonstrate solidarity with Iron Range workers when it matters most. It also lets him point out the importance of health care reform, because health care costs are central to most collective bargaining contract disputes these days.

Labor Day itself brings the traditional favorites of the Cloquet Labor Day Picnic and Bovey Farmers Day. It's looking like I'll be at the Farmers Day Parade with the family (the kids are finally old enough to enjoy parades). These are great events, but this year carry even more meaning.

I almost forgot. I got an e-mail earlier in the week about the Carlton County DFL "fun-raiser" at "Larry the Laborers" house of 97 E. Palkie Road in Esko. It runs 1-5 p.m. today with music and food. Former Gov. Wendell Anderson, founder of the "Minnesota Miracle" education system and the only living DFL governor, will make a special appearance. They're asking $50 with the availability of Minnesota's political contribution refund program. Should be a good time.

I'll be getting my Alaska perspective on this whole Palin situation from my friends the Rudstroms in Alaska. We aren't on the same page, politically, but they'd be the first to say Alaska is an entirely different political universe. I think we'll be learning more about that universe in the national media as we go along.

Anyway, AnnMarie posted this amusing picture of their governor. I think this is a "huh?" moment that transcends political ideology.

Incidentally, the Rudstroms keep a family blog that is a fascinating look at life in a remote Alaskan Inuit village near the Arctic Circle. It's a blast to read about what they're up to. For instance, this week C.O. shows us what the inside of a musk ox looks like.

UPDATE: They're showing "North to Alaska" on AMC this morning. Coincidence? Or is the ghost of John Wayne meddling in yet another election.

While the blogosphere pulsed with speculation and gossip about John McCain's gimmicky VP pick Friday, Barack Obama's national campaign blog sported this image from the Iron Range's most iconic bar at the top. I declare that the first campaign to show the inside of Tom and Jerry's on its national website will win the Range. And Minnesota. And the election. But hey, I'm just a bro with a blog.


Legendary Iron Range newspaper editor and civic pioneer Veda Ponikvar addresses the crowd. Veda ran the Chisholm paper long before the Feminist Movement, and can hold her own. No Range candidate wins without her blessing. At left is House Majority Leader Rep. Tony Sertich.

Former State Rep. Joe Begich, uncle of Alaska's next U.S. Senator Mark Begich, reminds the Range of the importance of this election. If Joe and Veda are on board, we don't have to worry about the DFL base in this 70/30 DFL area.

One thing's certain. After this election, Alaska and Hawaii will no longer be just those states in the inset at the bottom left hand of the U.S. map.

Holy buckets! Of oil.

My Alaska friends will be suitably intrigued by the news today that John McCain is picking Alaska's first-term Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. There is the obvious observation that she becomes only the second woman on a major party ticket. Then there is the observation that she is holds the thinnest resume for a major party ticket member, which is curious given McCain's use of "experience" as his most important argument against Barack Obama, a native of the other "inset" state of Hawaii.

To be fair, I've said and I still say that experience is only one part of the mix of a good president. But Palin is just a few years separated from being mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (population approx. 8,500) and will be playing more catch-up on national security issues than I can even imagine. She's deeply and personally connected to the oil industry (which is fine in Alaska, an oil state, but of only limited appeal elsewhere). Apparently, McCain is saying that he has all the experience he needs to lead. But while a VP selection can only actually sway a few voters, it can do much to lose them. This pick doesn't do much for those concerned about McCain's age (72 today, happy b-day Senator).

On the other hand, I must admit I am very intrigued by the way this election is playing out. I disagree with Palin politically, but she was an improvement over the ultra-corrupt Republicans that had been running the state before. This is a high risk, high reward pick for McCain and will add a great amount of interest to the election. Historic election? No doubt.

Meantime, let's forget about the old phrase "Lower 48." It's "Upper Two" now.

The Iron Range Resources Board has finally approved a compromise budget for the upcoming year. Future meetings will divvy up the infrastructure and public works funds.

Here's who McCain didn't pick for VP, our Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Actually, I think this is a mistake. Pawlenty doesn't make Minnesota DFLers books quake. We would have relished that fight. At the same time, it would have been a fight. Pawlenty is a scrapper, and his pro-to-con ratio just seems higher to me than the other Republicans I keep hearing mentioned.

Whereas a lot of us kind of expected the Joe Biden announcement for the Democrats, I am really left wondering about McCain's pick today. We shall see.

My essay this Saturday morning on KAXE's "Between You and Me" will explore the show's topic of "Questions." That topic was picked in honor of the visiting StoryCorps project outside KAXE's studios. "Between You and Me" is a weekly call in show that features the voices and attitudes of northern Minnesota.

The United States of America. The words meant a lot to me yesterday. Today they mean more. That's what a president ought to do. I know not everyone enjoys partisanship, but that's the very reason I think electing Barack Obama is so important.

I grew up on an Iron Range salvage yard. Today, my kids have a house without wheels and boundless opportunity. That's America. That's the whole darn point. I teach speech for a living. This was a great speech.

I watched all the convention speeches on C-SPAN last night. The previous nights I had watched MSNBC. Let me tell you, it was like drinking water from a well instead of a septic tank. I don't think CNN has been much better than MSNBC and the clips I've seen of Fox News have all been horror shows.

With all of these hand-wringing, fist waving, bloviating, red faced talking heads talking over half the speeches and ignoring the actual content of the others, you miss the speeches as they were intended. Some of the speeches are good and make sense. Some of them are bad and don't. You'll know which are which. Trust me, you don't need to know what commentators think about these speeches. I've learned the hard way. I'm betting the same will be true of the Republican convention next week.

With a strike vote authorized by Steelworkers at Arcelor Mittal's Minorca mine near Virginia, Minn., we now learn that Cleveland Cliffs is negotiating with Steelworkers over soon-to-expire contracts at that company's Hibbing Taconite and United Taconite (Eveleth) mines. The big sticking point is health care. That problem will never go away until the system is overhauled comprehensively. These are the last three big mines on the Iron Range facing contract negotiations for this cycle.

The Itasca County Regional Rail Authority held a special meeting Tuesday. At stake, the future of a $1.6 billion project that has stood as the golden economic hope of the Iron Range people. Like I said, the Range often operates like the South in that vital decisions are made at the most obscure of public meetings or watering holes.

In essence, the county and city of Nashwauk are focusing its efforts on the steel plant and not the Mesaba Energy Project, the boondoggle coal gas power plant that has somehow united the state chamber of commerce and virtually all customers of whole foods co-ops in the region against it. By all means, try to read this tome from the Grand Rapids Herald-Review. The meeting and follow-up county board meeting was more notable for its drama than for any concrete decisions.

• Do the county and Nashwauk have enough money to build what Essar think they'll build?


• Is Essar still hemming and hawing about actually breaking ground on the project? If so, why?


• How do you build an Iron Range mining facility in the winter? (Groundbreaking is scheduled for September ... so far)

In this morning's Hibbing Daily Tribune was the following above-the-fold, top banner headline, with picture of visiting voters and 11-month old "Babies for Barack" caucus leader:

Here is the Duluth News-Tribune account of the House District 7B (West Duluth) DFL primary, which is heating up in advance of the Sept. 9 primary.

A reminder, tonight is the community reception for the StoryCorps project in Grand Rapids at 91.7 KAXE, a really cool studio and radio organization next to the Grand Rapids Public Library on the Mississippi River. There will be appetizers, wine and probably stories. My Saturday radio essay and Sunday column both highlight the StoryCorps project and how cool it is that it would come to northern Minnesota. Check out the info.

Well, the big education hearing in Nashwauk that I talked about was apparently a success. I was assuming that a daily newspaper would cover it so I could share a round-up with you, but the only media was the local TV repeater on Range 11 and the Scenic Range News-Forum, a weekly that doesn't publish until tomorrow.

Tom Anzelc tells me there was about 75 people in attendance, including representatives of many area school districts. I couldn't attend, so I will have to dig around for more information than that. I think this was a big missed opportunity to showcase the K-12 education issue up here.

For this being one of the most important, telling, and historic elections of our generation, you would think it was a wrestling match if you watch much broadcast news coverage. I'm referring specifically to the Democratic Convention coverage going on now, but I'll further apply it to the primaries before and the Republican convention and debates to come. Everything -- from news to commentary to "on the street" reporting -- is cut to fit a narrative determined by, well, we just aren't sure who or what.

I tried to watch "Morning Joe" this morning on MSNBC. Normally, I like that show but there's something weird going on. It's as though there is absolutely no memory on that (or most) cable news shows. No one remembers, for instance, that Obama's nomination was a statistical miracle, that there was a reason people flocked to him in Iowa. Today, Joe Scarborough says (paraphrasing) "Hillary doesn't have voters, she has followers. She has a movement." This is why her movement won't transfer over to Obama, which was the established universal narrative of Tuesday night's media programming.

Now, Hillary may indeed have developed a movement. I, for one, thought she was more impressive as a candidate later in the process. But don't we all remember that they said the same of Obama's voters after Iowa, that THEY might not vote for Hillary if SHE were nominated. It's as though they're ignoring the fact that the Democratic party is always full of division and that many of the problems that now exist are the same (the intellectual wing vs. the lunch bucket wing) but only amplified by the way they're being covered and the horribly twisted version of a race/gender discussion we're getting this year (a discussion that has left women and minorities no better off than before this whole thing started). I am truly left wondering if the problem is agenda setting in the media or just rank incompetence across the board.

This is the worst media coverage of any modern election I've ever seen. I'm talking Fox, but even MSNBC and the networks I watch regularly. I didn't think it could get worse than 2004, but it is much worse. There is no line whatsoever between facts and opinions, "stories" and "narratives." It's not a liberal or conservative bias, specifically; it's a biased on the worst of all things: the projection of this election and American voters as vacuous and cynical, and that we can't change anything, do anything or expect anything but deception and the same old.

Narrative: Barack Obama is simultaneously too wonkish and detached, but also too popular to be trusted.

Media-prescribed solution: Release more details, but not too many details. Be liked, but not too liked. But don't worry, if you what we tell you we'll report that you lack confidence and are preparing to lose. Also, we'll do that if you don't. Really, the problem is that your name is funny and that people think you're a Muslim. You aren't but we'll report that.

I'm in full rant mode now, but let me just say that I've got no problem with people who are voting for McCain because they are ideologically conservative and believe in him. I would hope people voting with me for Obama are doing so because of his vision for America. But I see so many people -- so very many -- in my life who are voting off of the media narrative, influenced by pop nonsense, even though the stakes are so high.

There are many examples of the poor quality of the media's handling of the Democratic convention and this election in general. Republicans, Hillary-backers and Obama-backers now share that loathing. And I'm well aware that "blaming the media" is something experts say you only do when you're down. But this election was supposed to be the highest-minded and purist of my generation and instead it is ugly and crass, the death throws of a wealthy empire unable to navigate its place in a changing world. I expect better and now believe that the only way things will change is if the people directly and specifically reject the media narrative and vote their conscious and/or pocketbook. The problem is, no matter how this one turns out, we may never know why people voted the way they did. I'm sure the pundits will tell us, though.

The bad news:

“The people can have anything they want, the only problem is they do not want anything. Or at least they vote that way on election day."
~Eugene Debs

The good news:

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

From "The Times they are a' Changin'" by prominent Iron Ranger Bob Dylan. (Note that he doesn't talk about political parties or ideologies, just the acceptance of change from one generation to the next. Change will come, even if the guy on your TV is a moron).

In about 90 minutes (sorry, late on this one) Barack Obama opens its Hibbing office and hosts its first Veterans for Obama meeting on the Iron Range. The meeting is at noon today at the Obama/DFL headquarters at 107 E. Howard Street. The HQ is somewhat symbolic in nature as the 5th SD DFL has operated there for some time, but it will be nice having a permanent national campaign presence through the home stretch of this election.

I don't know if the Republicans are going to open a formal campaign HQ up here. Usually, their volunteers organize out of someone's home or business. GOP efforts on the Range are largely surgical, picking off their voters using direct mail, phones and leaflets. Because of the Range's history of voting 2-1 DFL, the Democrats tend to run pure reinforcement/turnout operations.

UPDATE: I just got another press release. There will be convention watch parties tomorrow night where people can gather to watch Obama's acceptance speech. Here are the northern Minnesota locations:

Bemidji:
Beltrami County DFL Headquarters
422 4th Street SE
Bemidji, MN

Chisholm:
Tom and Jerry's Bar
201 W Lake St
Chisholm, MN

Duluth:
Dan Hartman's Home
1005 E 10th St
Duluth, MN

I just came across a great interview on a blog called "Another Signpost on the Information Superhighway." The blogger, identified as "bfpower," in a post called "The Rural Broadband Crisis" prints a transcript of an interview with Frank Odasz of Lone Eagle consulting, someone identified as an expert in rural broadband. I strongly encourage you to read the whole interview, which showcases Odasz's belief, shared by me, that efforts to improve internet infrastructure and usage are central to 21st century rural (and Iron Range) economic development.



Here are some highlights. First, Odasz talks about what he's seen happening with the Internet in rural communities starting 10 years ago.

There are “early adapters” in rural communities that have figured this out on their own. They typically are shunned by their neighbors because technology is something that makes a lot of people uncomfortable, and innovation is the same way. … It makes people feel inadequate.

So there are these success stories that are not being recognized in every community, and the flip side of that is the governor’s office, the economic developers, the elected leaders, are from the older generation. They’re also uncomfortable, and most rural developers today (despite pushes for broadband that goes back over ten years), don’t address broadband as an economic development solution.

The dot-com bubble burst gave many an excuse to say that the Internet was a fad or novelty, Odasz said, but that was more related to bad business models by early e-pioneers, not a lack of potential for the technology. In truth, he says high speed internet availability has the ability to allow people to hold a wide variety of creative, interesting jobs from anywhere. This allows locals to stay and attracts people who enjoy the lifestyle of a more rural location.

Our greatest export is our youth. They leave because there is nothing here for them. We are not teaching entrepreneurship in school, which should allow the students to understand they can live anywhere they want to.

And Odasz says that the next step isn't necessarily going to come with massive infrastructure projects

...most rural broadband initiatives have focused on the infrastructure. It makes sense, you’ve got to have it before you can use it. But if we look at most infrastructure projects in the past, most existing rural broadband, the take-up rate is so low as to dissolve the business case and incentives for the telcos to expand that access without government subsidies. Even if the government does subsidize it, if people don’t pay for the subscriptions, if the universal service fund goes away, so does the broadband.

So there needs to be a cultural shift at all levels, top down and bottom up, to embrace the application side for how this can contribute to rural sustainability and our way of life. And the rise in oil prices has pushed this dramatically in the short term.

What's the big picture? Nothing short of world peace.

I think the big vision is that now we have the capability to create a global information society and economy where everyone participates. And once we have uniform connectivity, the issue is helping everyone become part of the global supply chain through education. If economic disparities remain, that’s the main cause for war - if everyone is invested in the global supply chain, that’s the biggest step we could make for peace.

I read this and see a good idea of what I've been talking about in my rural broadband posts and columns. I don't care if it's an all-public infrastructure or public/private, just so long as people understand that internet is a utility now and a necessary one for a modern economy.

I am a writer, college instructor, arts event coordinator, radio essayist and political organizer who has gotten people elected to multiple levels of government. And I can, and often do, almost all of the core work from my home on a lake in the woods around the Mesabi Iron Range in northern Minnesota. That leaves the rest of my time to enjoy my family and friends in a place where I am from and want to stay. I'm not saying to support a major internet initiative in this region, state and country so you can be like me; I'm saying that this will allow your kids to be what they want to be, which might (and, dear God, should) be entirely different.

Sincere thanks to bfpower for posting this.

One of the taconite operations on the Iron Range may face a strike vote soon. Earlier, I had said that U.S. Steel's pending settlement with the Steelworkers might blunt strikes on the Range. This negotiation with Minorca by Virginia, Minn., is vital to keeping that peace.

Here's a line from a recent AP story on Joe Biden's selection as Barack Obama's running mate:

Two traditional aged female students overheard talking as they passed my office door at the community college where I work:

Twin Ports Action has posted a section of videos from its recent forum with the DFL and IP candidates for House District 7B in West Duluth. The topic of these videos is Duluth's so-called "Red Plan" for school infrastructure. Those looking for opportunities to see the candidates in action can get a look. I'm still working on getting my candidate questionnaire together and will post information about the candidates in the week leading up to the primary.

And, reminding you of an earlier post, here is more video of that same forum.

For those interested, a meeting of the Iron Range Community Journalism Club will be held tonight:

This is a reminder that the Minnesota House of Representatives committees on K-12 finance and policy will be holding a session to discuss the state of education at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 26 in the Nashwauk-Keewatin High School gym. Local State Rep. Tom Anzelc (DFL-Balsam Township) is on the committee and helped organize the visit. (Disclosure: I am Tom's campaign manager).

It's day one of a new school year. One of the nice things about working in education is that you have a natural flow to your year and every year brings a new beginning. Today is just such a new start. I've got a fresh pack of pens and a clean grade book, ready to fill with As. They might not all be As, but today is the only day where they could be.

UPDATE: Steam rising off the mine pits this morning. We almost had frost at my place and I hear that some places did. A fitting backdrop. Also, I hit a squirrel on the way in. Bad karma. Wish me luck, I'm about to walk into my 8 o'clock.

The more things change the more they stay the same. As with the past several elections, the GOP has determined that its best move is to use "Sportsmen" as their primary outreach group on the Iron Range. (The surprisingly balanced story is in Sunday's Mesabi Daily News).

I get the political strategy. Fleck off working class men who might be in unions or in lower income brackets who might otherwise vote Democrat by telling them that the Democrats want to take their guns and end the outdoor activities that comprise their favorite recreations. The orange "Sportsmen for McCain" signs are on the way. These tactics are used because, on a limited scale, they work.

What bugs me about the whole idea is that it sends the message that the most important issue is recreation. Not schools, not jobs, not health care, not even war, but "sportsmen" issues. (Sportswomen, well, they're OK, too, I guess, just not worthy of their own sign campaign). Gun ownership is ostensibly a more important issue, but that's masked over here by the emphasis on "sports."

There is no way that any law is going to be passed at any level that poses any serious threat to the practices of hunting and fishing. The Supreme Court has now established the right of individuals to own firearms, a decision embraced by John McCain and Barack Obama, and there is no way the Second Amendment will ever be repealed. Know your distracting wedge issues and get ahead of them. Granted, some in the Democratic party are more opposed to guns than me or most Iron Rangers, but they usually represent districts where there is no hunting, just gun murders. We must understand and reconcile the different cultural approaches to gun ownership that exist across the country. There is room for both, along with hunting, sports shooting, gun collecting and multiple interpretations of the term "well regulated militia."

(To prove the point, here is the column I wrote two years ago that says the same damn thing about these "sportsmen" signs).

I get the general idea behind what John McCain is trying to do on the "time line" portion of his website. It juxtaposes his life history with U.S. history to show how "American" his story is. But is it a good idea to have the thing scroll back to 1840? I mean, doesn't that just make it a little too easy for the jokesters? The folks most impressed by the 1896 antics of McCain's relatives are probably not on the Internet right now.

This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008 Hibbing Daily Tribune.

This Michael Kinsley column ("Convicted of Charisma") in today's Washington Post discusses the fact that John McCain and the Republicans are, thus far effectively, using Barack Obama's popularity and ability to communicate against him. How dare he be liked? How dare he attract people to attend his events in large numbers? Most Americans can't do that so he must not be American. John McCain is a real American because you wouldn't believe how few people care about what he says.

And it's working, for now. Kinsley looks at this phenomenon. It's a solid piece, but, alas, only elitists will click on the link. Damn us, and our critical thought. More bombs good kick ass America OK now! Super go time!

(Thanks Steve for the link)

I should have put the cellphone on the night stand, but we've all got our text messages now and have seen that Joe Biden is Barack Obama's running mate.

A long time ago, when I was analyzing the primary candidates from an "Iron Range" perspective, I commented that Joe Biden seemed like a guy who could hold his own in an Iron Range bar. I think that's still true and I think we'll see Sen. Biden in northern Minnesota before this election is over (though probably not at a bar). Campaign operatives in Duluth and on the Iron Range have all but been told that Obama will not be campaigning up north because of the push in more swingy states. But the Range got the VP candidate in 2004 (John Edwards in a huge Hibbing rally) and Duluth almost always gets the VP at least once. My call? Joe Biden at Checco's with a pitcher of Hamm's.

Build those bridges.

For a guy who loves puns, I can't go wrong with today's Cornival at the Lawron Presbyterian Church along Scenic Highway 7 in Itasca County. They've got silent auctions, flea markets, giant gorilla bouncy things for the kids, and ...

Earlier in the year, a Go Run Iron Range conference was held to gather and encourage women interested in political leadership and gave them basic training on how to conduct local and broader campaigns. The effort was an extension of the White House Project. Efforts to expand female leadership on the Iron Range continue and the Go Run initiative will hold some follow-up activities.

The Embarrass Fair starts today. I'm posting this in honor of Roland Fowler, the unofficial spokesman for the town, who manages to sneak references to the fair every time he is interviewed about Embarrass being the coldest place in the Lower 48 in the national media each winter. He grabbed about 30 seconds of CNN airtime in describing the fair a couple years ago. That's worth tens of thousands of dollars!

Paul Demko at the Minnesota Independent posted an excellent story about the challenges facing Barack Obama in Pine County. Pine County is considered "central Minnesota," but is right on the border of Carlton County which is considered "northern Minnesota." While always more conservative than Duluth and the Iron Range, it's hard not to notice the parallels in the conversations Paul had with voters in Pine County.

Many older or traditional voters, especially those who have bought into the myths about Obama, don't want to vote for McCain but still aren't able to come around and vote for Obama because of the race and culture factor. Something big is going to happen with this demographic as we move into the campaign's last stages. I wouldn't rule out a collapse of the traditional Democratic coalition, nor would I rule out major strides in the acceptance of a multi-cultural world. I wouldn't bet money on either, though. This will be a wild one. An Obama victory would resonate far and wide in places like this and across the globe. A McCain victory would be a collective "hhmmph" heard all over the world.

You can hear my weekly commentary on KAXE's "Between You and Me" this Saturday, Aug. 23 between 10 a.m. and noon (my piece usually airs around 10:30). "Between You and Me" is a call in and music show that features the stories, culture and attitudes of the people of northern Minnesota. This week's topic is cheese. The Green Cheese Picnic is Saturday afternoon (Green Cheese is the Saturday night trivia show on KAXE that features hundreds of callers and no prizes).

I talk about cheese the food, which is no small topic in my profoundly pro-cheese family. You'll have to tune in to 91.7 FM in northern Minnesota or streaming online at www.kaxe.org to hear the piece. Trust me, it's cheesy.

Bloomberg has a story about the global mining picture that includes PolyMet's operations on the Iron Range. Updating an older post, PolyMet's Environmental Impact Statement is on hold until September, according to the state DNR.

I wasn't going to join the pulsing mass of speculation about the VP picks, but I'll add this observation. According to this AP report (all the way at the bottom), Joe Biden takes his own stuff to the dump.

I drive my own garbage to the dump. I like this.

Today I am presenting at a workshop for Iron Range community colleges on the topic of blogging. I'll use this as a general reminder that just 10 years ago I was learning what the Internet was for the first time. What a world, what a world!

It's Ashwin Madia blog day on Minnesota's progressive blogs and I apologize that I am posting so late. I guess someone has to take the night shift.

An alert reader has sent me this You Tube clip link for a recent House 7B forum at Duluth's Lincoln Park school. The forum features all five DFL candidates for the seat being vacated by Rep. Mike Jaros (DFL-Duluth). If you have more You Tube or other links showing events like this, post them in the comments or e-mail them to me.

Two statewide campaign updates from the Iron Range:

Obama's campaign opened the first of two Iron Range headquarters. As many as 100 people were there for at least part of the ceremonies, according to the Mesabi Daily News. The accounts I've heard indicates that the event went well.

Norm Coleman made a campaign swing through the Range, including a stop at a Hibbing restaurant. He's playing up the character issue as his main argument for re-election ... not his character (the first rule about Norm's character is don't talk about Norm's character) but Al Franken's. Franken, a serial monogamist and non-party switcher, is not to Coleman's liking in this category. Coleman would rather talk about a clearly explained tax error and a literal interpretation of satire than his allegiance to President Bush on Iraq, the economy and oil policy. Because Minnesotans care most about things that will in no way impact them or their families. (Joe Minnesota to wife: "I am so sick of irony! You never know if people are kidding or not! I love war and tax cuts for the rich!" Wife: "I have no name in this satirical comment because it could be misinterpreted in a future campaign!")

And a final note to my friends all over the Internet. Chill the hell out about polls. You got used to whipping out those national poll numbers when our guy Obama was up by 12, but now you're deeply troubled that the race shows a tie. Listen, we Democrats nominated a wholly unique candidate, the first African-American major party nominee, whose name is easy to distort by the opposition. There will be a period where all the non-political junkies who have tired of the nonstop campaigning will wait to embrace Obama (Half the nation believes what it is told on the TV, and the TV has decided it would rather this election be close). Keep in mind further that the public has yet to embrace McCain, too. The debates will be crucial. I do believe that, one way or another, the core direction of the U.S.A. as a nation and historical force is at stake. Let's try to keep focused on the implications there, rather than the horse race that network TV would rather we talk about.

I found a great column via DailyKos (I know, I know; it's so not cool to link to Kos diaries, but this one isn't partisan) that explains the state of today's newspaper industry. What Walter Brasch describes is the EXACT problem facing small dailies across northern Minnesota and bigger regional papers like Duluth and Fargo.

An interesting story on the status of Polymet on the East Range from today's Mesabi Daily News. Here's the rather literary opening graphs from the Bill Hanna piece:

HOYT LAKES — The former LTV worker looked around the vastness of the crusher building, stunned by the eerie silence of a facility that she knew by its rumbling noise of production.

“It’s so quiet. It’s like it died,” she said to another former worker of the taconite plant that shuttered in 2000 during a tour last Thursday of the PolyMet plant site.

“It did,” the other worker said.

But the mining operation just north of Hoyt Lakes may soon come back to life, this time producing copper/nickel/precious metals rather than taconite pellets. PolyMet officials say they are set to go now — have been for some time — and are getting more and more frustrated by delay after delay in the environmental assessment process of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

This reminds me that I once wrote a short story based on the last shift of a shuttered Iron Range taconite plant. The ending was tragic, but did not include outrage over "delay after delay" in environmental review. I guess that's why it was fiction, right? Anyway, when this hits "delay after delay after further appalling delay" we'll start to worry.

The denizens of my favorite mushrooming boondoggle, Excelsior Energy, were at the county board begging to be included in the planning for a natural gas pipeline to be built through state bonding funds for the Minnesota Steel project near Nashwauk. Excelsior wants to build its Mesaba Energy Project close to nearby Taconite and also needs natural gas.

People have been clamoring to see pictures of the boat after my column from Sunday (Well, my friend C.O. anyway). So here it is.

It's a meld of fixtures and a motor from a 1957 wooden speedboat and a 1962 fiberglass hull from a similar boat. The original 35 horse (though not really) motor is a Johnson Javelin that my dad fixed up to have magical powers (mostly powers of survival, though it still provides a nice tight ride for a small boat with a 12-1 compression ratio). This information is based on my recollection from what my dad told me. I am, in fact, functionally incompetent in these matters.

Here's me (and my dad's hair) on the maiden voyage on my lake in northern Minnesota. Tell me again why I should live in the Twin Cities? Fuddruckers? I-49whatever? Seriously, it's better here. We also have wireless, allowing me to write this while watching the Olympics. In high-def. Oh yeah.

It's that special time of year when the national campaigns dispatch their people into the field for the fall push. The Republicans got a small notice in the papers and TV stations over the weekend by opening their John McCain office in Duluth, where Obama has had several staffers stationed most of the summer. Now the Campaign for Change, Obama's field organization, is opening two offices on the Iron Range. The first, Virginia, will be opening tomorrow (the official release is below) and another will be opening on the central or west Range soon, according to campaign folks. This is already double the staffing we normally see up here in a presidential year. Their goal -- accomplished effectively by the Kerry folks four years ago -- is to turn out massive numbers of voters in this strong Democratic area. UPDATE: Three things ...

• State Sen. David Tomassoni will also be speaking.
• This is the 10th Obama field office in Minnesota, with more to come.
• The second Range office will be opening in Hibbing, with field organizers floating all over the region.

The Nashwauk Public Utilities Commission has a legal judgment that they believe allows them to close meetings regarding the infrastructure for the proposed Minnesota Steel project in Nashwauk. The Hibbing Daily Tribune has the story.

Really, really bad idea. This is a public policy issue, not a missile silo. (Or IS it?)

This is my weekly column for the Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008 Hibbing Daily Tribune.

On proper boat maintenance and our fathers’ mysteries
By Aaron J. Brown

Today, I have a boat. Not a boat, but the boat. I would need to consult my notes, the dusty old owner’s manual and the title to tell you all the things true boat people would want to know. Most of this information – from the construction of the engine to the physics of the hull – is a mystery to me. Here’s what I do know. My great-grandfather bought some version of this boat when he lived on Serpent Lake down on the Cuyuna Range. It’s been through a lot; now, after last weekend, it’s mine.

Even though the old pictures show my great-grandfather standing in front of his 1957 wooden speedboat, wearing a brimmed hat and glasses, for me the boat will always be my dad’s. My great-grandfather died shortly after I was born, so my only memories of the boat are of dad rebuilding the relic from his childhood. The boat lived in our garage, always there and always changing, maturing from its old form to something greater. That’s how it seemed to me, anyway. The truth was that dad was always there and always working on the boat, usually to the detriment of his marriage, occasionally attempting and usually failing to explain the workings to his bizarrely academic son.

In the beginning, this classic wooden speedster sported blue paint and wood grain along the sides. Unlike the low, slow rides of a fishing boat or the high, powerful excursions of mightier vessels this boat mixes both, riding low to the water while using power and a unique shape to leap through waves. But, like many boats of its kind, despite Herculean maintenance efforts, the wood hull rotted beyond use when I was still very young. By chance, sometime in the ‘90s, dad found a ’62 fiberglass hull that almost perfectly matched the shape of the old wooden boat. So again he began a restoration, converting all the fixtures, adornments and the old motor over to the new hull, which bears a similar patch of blue over its white base. The title calls it a different boat but it is the same boat, certainly in spirit.

I’m part of the fifth generation of Browns on the Iron Range, the first in my paternal lineage to never work in a mine. I’m also the first to make a living in the vague, foggy margins of modern human society: writing, teaching and causing words to appear on something called “the Internet.” Most important, I only recently began to understand how this boat actually works, and even so only barely, like a child’s knowledge of animals at the zoo. The deep inner workings of machines have always been second nature to the men of my family. For some reason, perhaps simply an outcome of my time on this planet, all of that escaped my interest as a boy. By the time I realized how good it would be to know these things I was completely absorbed in other interests, my career, marriage and, now, my family.

Dad now lives in a big city and couldn’t bear to see the boat so far away from water when he knew I lived so close to it. So one day he called up and asked if I would take it. But the truth is that the transfer of my father’s boat to his eldest son was bound to happen eventually. This boat, so warm and familiar, but also so mysterious to me, was always something that I would have to reckon with. I tried taking notes when he explained the motor, the fuel mixture, the connections of tubes and ropes that make this boat go. Taking notes is what I know how to do. The notes, however, got wet. This transition will not be easy.

I can only be glad that my dad – now plotting his next garage project – is only a phone call away when the mystery grows too great. I can only hope that one day my own sons enjoy unraveling their father’s mysteries as I do today. For nothing rides on a Minnesota lake quite like this boat.

I archive my columns at my writing site. My new book "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range" is due out this fall.

The renaming of Highway 7 as the Bobby Aro Highway has been officially named in honor of the Iron Range polka legend who recorded a 1957 hit about the highway. Check out the story. I grew up on Highway 7.

State Rep. Tom Rukavina (DFL-Virgina), the sentimental icon of the Iron Range legislative delegation, has turned down an invitation to debate former State Rep. and Taxpayers' League conservative Phil Krinkie on KSTP, the station that aired last month's ridiculously unfair story about Ironworld. Rukavina said his beef is with KSTP, not Krinkie. This story tells us what I've suspected. KSTP enjoys this story solely as an opportunity to pick a fight with the Iron Range, knowing that A) KSTP's base audience would enjoy the attack, and B) Iron Rangers would fight back, providing "news."

The future show went reasonably well this morning. Thanks to all those who listened and participated. I'll be returning to my role as contributing essayist next week.

Now that a couple days have gone by I'm starting to calm down about Thursday's news about the PUC's denial of Excelsior Energy's mandated power purchase agreement with Xcel. The company's outrageously optimistic reaction to this news, a serious setback for EE's Mesaba Energy Project, is driving me nuts, but it's really all they can do so it shouldn't surprise me or you.

Fact is, legally speaking, this gaggle of lobbyists and lawyers can continue trying to sell their experimental coal gas plant until 2012, as pointed out in this Mike Jennings Hibbing Daily Tribune story this morning. We need to just settle in and wait for the spin machine to fire up over the next legislative session. That is, unless events this summer and fall precipitate an early conclusion. We shall see.

The Obama campaign is reaching out to women in several events across Minnesota this week. Up north, there will be a Women for Obama Kick-off gathering in Duluth on Wednesday, Aug. 20 at The Midi Restaurant in the Fitger’s Building at 600 East Superior Street. Doors open at 7 p.m. with a 7:30 start time.

The event will feature hosts State Sen. Yvonne Prettner-Solon, Duluth councilor Sharla Gardner and former State Sen. and gubernatorial candidate Becky Lourey. High profile women leaders will be hosting events all across the state. A "special guest" is slated for the Twin Cities gathering.

A Republican contact has informed me that Sen. Norm Coleman will be in Hibbing on Tuesday for an 8 a.m. town hall meeting at the Hometown Restaurant (formerly Country Kitchen, because all things on the Iron Range used to be something else).

The last time (also the first time) I interviewed Norm Coleman was during his 2002 campaign. I lead with the question, "So, you lost to a wrestler. What's that like?" He doesn't like me very much. Me thinks I'll skip this one.

This Georgian reporter is giving a standup during the ongoing war with Russia, gets shot and keeps reporting. And not in a weepy, Emmy-clip kind of way, but ALL BUSINESS.

Hardcore.

Passing this along:

Hey, Iron Rangers! Are you a writer (active or in your heart)?
Get together with like-minded people forming a Community Journalism Club.

Monday, August 25, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Room C156
Mesabi Range Community & Technical College
1001 W. Chestnut Street
Virginia, MN 55792

The Community Journalism Club is designed for anyone interested in using the Internet to communicate. Club meetings last one hour with short presentations on topics of interest to club members and networking.

August topic: Tips and technologies for conducting interviews. Shelly Ceglar, Mountain Iron-Buhl technology and media specialist, will provide information on interviewing technologies and uploading interview files (audio/video) to the Web. Scott Hall of 91.7 KAXE community radio will provide interviewing tips.

Free and open to anyone on the Range. No previous experience required.
There is no charge and pre-registration is not required, although RSVP's are requested.

Contact Jennifer Armstrong, KAXE Community Outreach, at jen3344@gmail. com or 290-8020 to RSVP or ask questions.

Sponsored by the KAXE Citizen Journalism Project.

Mike Jennings at the Hibbing Daily Tribune pens a story today with details about yesterday's PUC ruling against Excelsior Energy and reaction from the company's co-founder Tom Micheletti. The PUC ruled against Excelsior Energy, ending efforts to force Xcel to buy the expensive experimental coal gasification power proposed by Micheletti and his partners.

In short, bad day for Excelsior but so long as he draws breath, Micheletti will refer to everything as having "a silver lining." Interestingly, Micheletti reveals in the story an offer to sell part of the project to Minnesota Power, an offer that MP declined. Check it out.

UPDATE: In case you ever wondered what it was like to read Pravda at the peak of the Soviet Union, check out the Mesabi Daily News story on the same matter. The headline reads: "Mesaba Energy moves ahead, a bit." Yes, indeed. And by the way, "I'm sleeping with Angelina Jolie, a bit."

When the history of this terrible project is written, the Mesabi Daily News will bear a significant portion of the blame. Their abdication of the duty of newspapers to fairly consider the merits of public policy in this issue has been astounding. These are developers who will say what needs to be said to keep their cash flowing. The MDN takes Excelsior's word ahead of all others and has yet to seek an objective outside voice not provided to them by the company. I heard a story one time about a woman who bought massive amounts of expensive vitamins to receive a "free" hot tub. The hot tub was plastic and inflatable. The MDN has delivered to the Iron Range the equivalent of just such a plastic, inflatable hot tub in this project.

Remember to tune in Saturday morning for my first-ever guest hosting appearance on KAXE's "Between You and Me," the call-in and music show that's tearing up the northern airwaves.

We'll be talking about the future. The program is ready to go, I just need to keep from screwing up the boards or saying stupid things live. I make no promises. But I'll need calls and I think you'll enjoy some of the musical and mental surprises I have in store. There are two kinds of people who will really enjoy this show:

A) People who like robots.

B) People who fear robots.

I would add, C) robots, but robots are not people. Not yet, anyway.

It's not all robots. We'll be exploring the future of northern Minnesota, too, in a way that I hope borders on thoughtful. The show airs from 10 a.m. to noon on 91.7 FM in northern Minnesota or streaming online all over the world at http://www.kaxe.org/.