Will St. Cloud Rescind Controversial Gag Rule on City Councilors?

It may finally be dawning on the St. Cloud City Council that the gag rule prohibiting individual members from publicly disagreeing with council actions approved by the majority violates the constitutional right to free speech. The issue surfaced last September after city councilor George Hontos wrote a letter to the editor criticizing his colleagues’ decision to move the period for public comment to the end of city council meetings. The council quickly censured Hontos for violating its rules of conduct requiring members to “respect the majority vote of the council, and do not undermine or sabotage implementation of ordinances, policies,...

Capitalism is the greatest anti-poverty scheme ever discovered

When your big question is 'How do we limit the amount of rich people?', you reach for socialism. When your big question is 'How do we limit the amount of poor people?', you reach for capitalism.

MIT: Organic Farming is Worse for the Environment Than Conventional Farming

If you’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting someone who eats organic food because they think they are saving the world from climate change, you know first hand how insufferable this situation can be. Luckily for you, you can deliver a comeuppance for their snobbery the next time you see them because a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has found that organic farming is actually worse for the environment than conventional farming methods because it is less efficient. The summary of the study begins: Organic practices can reduce climate pollution produced directly from farming – which would be fantastic...

AMERICAN EXPERIMENT BOOK SHELF

Finland’s test scores drop, teachers’ union says solution is more funding

Finland, whose education system has been the envy of the world, has had a recent trend of poor student performance and widening achievement gaps. The teachers' union's solution? More funding, of course.

Sunday Funnies: Rep. Omar Says PolyMet Setback Is a Victory Against Fossil Fuel Executives

Jim Morrison once said “I’ve noticed that when people are joking they’re usually dead serious, and when they’re serious, they’re usually pretty funny.” This phrase was spot on this week, as my Congresswoman, Ilhan Ohmar, Tweeted out that the Minnesota Court of Appeals decision to send two of PolyMet’s permits back to the Department of Natural Resources was “An important victory for the people of Minnesota!” and “This is what happens when communities come together to oppose mining projects that will line the pockets of fossil fuel exces at the expense of our planet.” PolyMet will be a copper-nickel mine....

In The Tank (Ep226) – Shrinking States vs. Growing States, Sanders Warren Feud

Heartland’s Donald Kendal, Justin Haskins, and Jim Lakely join Isaac Orr in episode 226 of the In The Tank Podcast. The crew starts off talking about the Democratic Presidential debate that was held this week. CNN chooses Warren over Sanders and some of the candidates talk about the national debt! They then talk about a new poll that shows which states are growing in population and which states are seeing their residents flee.

Minnesota’s economic news, w/e 1/17/20

A round-up of the last week’s economic news stories in Minnesota.