Minnesota
Category archives for Minnesota
The Upper Mississippi in Spring
Posted by Greg Laden on March 14, 2009 This is the river just above the dam (you can click this picture for a whopping big version): And these birds seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop:
The Greening
Posted by Greg Laden on March 14, 2009 Spring is an ecological phenomenon of weather and biota linked to orbital geometry. More importantly, spring is here, as of this very moment, in Anoka County, Minnesota.
Darwin Year Panel Discussion, Sunday in the Twin Cities
Posted by Greg Laden on February 14, 2009 Feb 15 – Darwin Year Panel Discussion Featuring Myers, Laden, Moore, Cotner and Phillips 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origins of Species. In honor of this, we have assembled a distinguished panel of scientists to give us their thoughts…
Bell Museum Events
Posted by Greg Laden on January 31, 2009 from The Bell … This February the Bell Museum of Natural History will be celebrating the opening of the internationally acclaimed exhibit LIFE: A Journey Through Time; Photograpy by Frans Lanting. We hope you will join us on the evening of February 12th for a special exhibit opening event that will combine University of Minnesota…
You know you are a Minnesotan if …
Posted by Greg Laden on December 22, 2008 The following is actually a Facebook group, but now I’m turning it into a sort of internet meme. I believe this is an accretitive list: People have added to it. You can tell by some of the redundancies. I myself have edited it slightly. I was born and raised in Upstate New York, but lived…
Do you live in Minnesota?
Posted by Greg Laden on December 10, 2008 If not, ignore this blog post.
What do they call this when it is sushi?
Posted by Greg Laden on December 10, 2008 A good friend of mine, whom I shall call L.R., got a job … a pretty nice job, with benefits and a salary and everything, in the “helping” industry, which she’s good at and which she likes. So I took her out for a congratulatory dinner (and just because we had not seen each other…
An Evening with Dave Jacke (Twin Cities)
Posted by Greg Laden on November 24, 2008 Gardening Like The Forest: Home Scale Ecological Food Production Learn how you can grow an abundant food-producing ecosystem in your backyard! Join us and learn how to grow food, fuel, fiber, fodder, fertilizers, farmaceuticals, and fun. We can meet our own needs and regenerate healthy ecosystems at the same time! Friday January 16, 7pm to…
Snow, Loons, Eagles, Otters bloody with fish
Posted by Greg Laden on October 26, 2008 The lake is icy-green and in the distance almost blends into the sky through a fast moving fog bank. The bald eagles (a pair and one offspring) are up to something in the back, one of them making swings over the bay and then back into the yard where they are vocalizing quite a bit.…
McCain PWNED by Minnesota. Race Over.*
Posted by Greg Laden on October 10, 2008 Thank you thank you thank you all Americans from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Great White North to the Rio Grande. We accept your adoration, we revel in your awe. We, the Minnesotan. Yes. Sometimes we mess up. Like when we sent Norm Coleman instead of Walter Mondale to the Senate in a…
Minnesota Science Standards: Comment now or forever hold your peace!
Posted by Greg Laden on September 22, 2008 Members of the Public: Now is your only chance to comment on Minnesota’s new Science Standards. My suggestions: Take out the woo, dampen down the special interests, and please, consider NOT removing biology from the High School standrds!!!!!
Another Day in the Life of The Twin Cities
Posted by Greg Laden on September 2, 2008 Have you ever visited a culture entirety different than your own (or even moderately different, like you’re from New York and you visit Kentucky, or you’re from Belgium and you visit Italy)? You will see things …. things people do differently, right away. Then you leave and you figure these things are what ‘they’ ……
What I had for brunch: A Trip to Bitch Lake
Posted by Greg Laden on August 25, 2008 They say Lake Itasca is the source of the Mississippi. This is why there is a big state park surrounding the lake, a park that preserves some beautiful old forest despite the best efforts of 19th century lumberjacks to cut it down. Amanda next to the tallest white pine tree in Minnesota I’ve been to…
McCain Might Tap The Governor of the Falling Bridges for Veep Slot
Posted by Greg Laden on July 27, 2008 On August 1st, 2007, the I35W Bridge over the Mississippi collapsed, probably because the Minnesota DOT, run by a crony of the Republican no-taxes (and thus no spending on essential services) governor Tim Pawlenty failed in the areas of inspection and/or engineering. It was a big mess, people died, and we are spending millions to…
Minnesota Teacher Lasts 20 Hours On Carnival Ride
Posted by Greg Laden on July 24, 2008 Claims, “It was a lot like teaching summer school, but with fewer ups and downs.” A Minnesota high school teacher has lasted 20 hours on a carnival ride to win the Ride the Tide Challenge at the Mall of America. Forty-year-old Jim Salava, of Oakdale, was declared the winner at the Nickelodeon Universe theme park…
Let us praise the lord ….
Posted by Greg Laden on July 15, 2008 … and raise our voices in thankful prayer to God Almighty..
Atheist Talk Radio and Minneapolis Gay Pride Guy Wayne Besen
Posted by Greg Laden on June 26, 2008 Minnesota Atheists’ “Atheists Talk” radio show Sunday, June 29, 2008, 9-10 a.m. Central Time In honor of Minneapolis Gay Pride, Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out discusses “Exposing ‘Ex-gay’ Ministries” and Jane Bowman of Project 515 discusses “515 Minnesota Laws that Discriminate Against Gays.” “Atheists Talk” airs live on AM 950 KTNF in the Minneapolis/St.…
Rally for El Tinklenberg
Posted by Greg Laden on June 5, 2008 Minnesota’s Sixth District is represented in congress by a lunatic right winger known as Michele Bachmann. She will be opposed in the next election by DFL Endorsed El Tinklenberg. Tinklenberg is having a rally tonight in Saint Cloud. Hat Tip PZ
Bell Museum Happenings – June 2008
Posted by Greg Laden on May 28, 2008 Special Events; Summer Camps; Exhibits’ Field Trips; Nature Play; Nature Tots Read all about it:
Minnesota. If you don’t like the weather …. you better get into the basement.
Posted by Greg Laden on May 27, 2008 Got home from the lake last night happy to see that our neighborhood was spared any significant damage from the big giant storm that engulfed several local communities, including ours. There was very large hail up-stream from us and there are a few big trees down not far from here. The people really hit were…
Can Darwin Make You Healthy?
Posted by Greg Laden on May 19, 2008 A talk by Mark Decker! May 20, 7 p.m. Bryant-Lake Bowl, Uptown $5-$10 (pay what you can) Darwin wrote about the competition between individuals that results in the survival of the fittest. But what about competitions within individuals, between the cells inside our bodies? In that struggle, cancer cells could be considered the most successful…
Too Many Tornadoes
Posted by Greg Laden on May 11, 2008 Marilee Thomas of Beaver City, Nebraska. And a tornado. [source] Mid-Americans … Minnesotans, Texans, Nebraskans and denizens of Arkansas, and everyone in between, understand tornadoes, but to varying degrees. There are differences by region in how we deal with them. In Arkansas, I’ve seen foolish bravado. The tornado shelter there is known as the “fraidy…
‘Sodans and Sconsinites, Sharpen your Quills!
Posted by Greg Laden on May 2, 2008 Vaccine denialism and related issues is something that I took a great interest in many years ago with the publication of Laruie Garret’s “The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance,” a book which presaged a great deal of later popular and more technical literature on diseases. My interested was piqued…
Academic Freedom Bills on Talk Radio
Posted by Greg Laden on April 30, 2008 This Sunday, on KTNF AM 950 Minneapolis Atheist Talk Radio, Host Mike Haubrich will host the 9:00 AM talk show. His special guest, speaking about Academic “Freedom” bills and related matters, will be Me. Details here.
Actifest!!!!
Posted by Greg Laden on April 27, 2008 Actifest promotes student political involvement and civic engagement by providing students and community members alike with a wide range of free events supporting different causes during a one-week span.
Ellison Endorses Madia
Posted by Greg Laden on April 11, 2008 Minnesota Third Congressional District hopeful, Democratic candidate Ashwin Madia, was endorsed by Fifth District’s Keith Ellison. You will remember that Keith Ellison attained sudden national attention when he was first elected to congress last year because he is not a Christian, and many right wing fanatics thought maybe he’d swear his oath of office on…
Oh Crap, What are we Gonna Do Now?
Posted by Greg Laden on April 10, 2008 This is the first time we are forced to weather a major storm in the Twin Cities without Paul Douglas! We’re doomed!!!! This storm is supposed to go for another 24 hours or so. I am reminded of last spring when there was a particularly bad storm raging outside…
Minneapolis Print Making Exhibition
Posted by Greg Laden on March 29, 2008 Minneapolis Event: Lightning and Thunder
Posted by Greg Laden on March 28, 2008 Details:
, which is now available for the 
