March 2, 2019

Rochester man charged with stealing $172,000 from Mayo Clinic

A Rochester man has been charged with stealing a total of $172,000 in cash from his former employer — Mayo Clinic. It has been more than three years since the first detected theft.

Timothy Stafford, 47, was charged with 10 felony charges in a complaint filed in Olmsted County District Court Wednesday afternoon.

Five of the charges are for theft by swindle and five are for diversion of corporate property. If convicted, Stafford faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison or $100,000 fine or both.

“This is a particularly egregious theft. Not only is it a gross amount of cash, Mr. Stafford used his position of authority and the trust placed in him by his employer to take advantage,” stated Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem in the announcement of the charges. “It appears that Mr. Stafford used his position to alter procedures and create an environment ripe for his actions.”

Read more: https://www.postbulletin.com/news/public_safety/rochester-man-charged-with-stealing-from-mayo-clinic/article_6924e408-3ad8-11e9-aa1c-7bec3bf17106.html

March 2, 2019

We Just Discovered The Moon Moves Through Earth's Atmosphere

Where Earth’s atmosphere merges into outer space, there lingers a cloud of hydrogen atoms called the geocorona that extends beyond the moon. Its full extent was recently revealed in old data taken by the SOHO spacecraft. (Illustration only — not to scale) ESA


Three-quarters of Earth’s atmosphere sits within the bottom 6.8 miles (11 km). At the space station’s altitude of 250 miles (400 km), there’s next-to-no air. But the faint breath of Earth continues into space as the geocorona or exosphere, the outermost layer of the atmosphere. Older estimates put its size at around 1.5 Earth radii or 12,000 miles out in space. But a recent discovery based on observations by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) shows that it goes much, much further — all the way to the moon and beyond!

Scientists weren’t aware of how big it was until they took a look back at older observations made by the orbiting solar observatory. One of the spacecraft’s instruments picked up the signature of hydrogen up to 391,000 miles (630,000 km) above Earth’s surface or 50 times the diameter of the the planet. The geocorona is the extreme extent of Earth’s atmosphere and composed of hydrogen atoms. They’re very sparse with about 70 atoms per cubic centimeter (about the size of a fresh pencil eraser) at 37,000 miles (60,000 km) above Earth’s surface, and only about 0.2 atoms at the moon’s distance. On Earth, we’d call either place a vacuum.

Apollo 16 astronauts used the first telescope ever taken to the moon to capture the first photograph of the geocorona using a camera sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light. Their images show a modest glow around the Earth. Little did they know at the time that they were actually within in the geocorona as they stood on the moon.

You can only see the geocorona from space because it shines in extreme ultraviolet light which is both absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere and invisible to the eye. With no atmosphere, the moon was perfect for UV photography. Besides the geocorona the astronauts took photos of stars, nebulae and galaxies with the instrument from April 21-23, 1972.

Read more: http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2019/03/01/we-just-discovered-the-moon-passes-through-earths-atmosphere/


The Earth and its hydrogen envelope, or geocorona, as seen from the moon. This ultraviolet picture was taken in 1972 by John Young, Apollo 16 commander. NASA

March 2, 2019

Minnesota dairy farmers dump milk because of snow buildup

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Some Minnesota dairy farmers are being forced to dump their milk after heavy snowfall obstructed roads and damaged farms.

The Twin Cities saw the snowiest February on record with 39 inches of snow, and more than 27 inches fell in St. Cloud, Minnesota Public Radio reported. The buildup of snowfall in the Upper Midwest last month is causing some farm structures to buckle, adding to the problems dairies already face after years of low milk prices.

"There are tons and tons of dairies around the state that had to dump milk in recent days," said Lucas Sjostrom, executive director of the Minnesota Milk Producers Association. "I know it's in the hundreds. It may be over 1,000 dairies."

Accumulated snow is preventing many tanker trucks from getting down rural roads to pick up milk, Sjostrom said.

Read more: https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2019/03/01/minnesota-dairy-farmers-dump-milk-because-snow-buildup/3033637002/

March 2, 2019

Tomi Lahren, Fox News wannabe/never-was, says Minnesota has 'terrorist wannabe problem'

Minnesotans reading this story are either under federal indictment for terrorism, or will someday soon be murdered by a terrorist.

This is the perception of Fox News "commentator" Tomi Lahren, who took to the airwaves to voice her fear about our cold-but-otherwise-cool state yesterday. And look, we get why Lahren would be afraid of this place: Last time she was here, she gave some weird-ass talk, enjoyed a delicious and fair-weather brunch, and barely escaped an assassination attempt involving... a glass of water?

"What in the world is going on in Minnesota?" Tomi asks, after reciting statistics about (often U.S.-born) Somali youths leaving this state to join militant groups overseas.

"Hi," our host continues, "I'm Tomi, and I have some first thoughts."

Read more: http://www.citypages.com/news/tomi-lahren-fox-news-wannabenever-was-says-minnesota-has-terrorist-wannabe-problem/506490041

March 2, 2019

'When we strike, we win': Tentative agreement reached in Oakland teacher strike

The Oakland Unified School District and a union representing striking teachers have come to a tentative agreement after a week-long teacher strike in California.

The deal — an "historic no-concessions contract," according to the union — comes after more than 3,000 teachers and staff walked off the job on Feb. 21. The union reports that 95 percent of our members were on the picket line and 97 percent of students were out of school during the strike.

"When we strike, we win," the Oakland Education Association? posted to Twitter ahead of a Friday evening press conference.

The new contract would provide teachers a raise of 14 percent, Oakland Unified School District announced Friday. That's split into an an 11 percent on-going salary increase and a one-time 3 percent bonus for educators.

Read more: https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/education/2019/03/01/oakland-teacher-strike-tentative-agreement-reached-union-says/3033892002/

March 2, 2019

Minnesota House Republican upset about painting in which Trump gropes a woman's crotch

The real point of contention is in the bottom right corner. Bockley Gallery


Minnesota Rep. Josh Heintzeman doesn’t often criticize art on his Facebook page. But last week, the Republican from Nisswa went off on a painting currently on display in the Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis.

The piece in question is called Standing Rock 2016. It’s about 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide, according to a report by MPR, and its size and bright color palette give it a lambent, twilit glow from a distance. A metal pipeline disappears under a glowing river and emerges from the mouth of a beast. Attack dogs with two heads rush at a small crowd of protesters, as fat cats in suits smoke cigars and look on. Brightly colored frogs emerge from the river as if to come to its defense, lashing out with their tongues.

And, in the bottom right hand corner, a clearly depicted President Donald Trump gropes the breast of a blindfolded Lady Justice, all the while grabbing at her crotch. This was the part of the painting Heintzeman disliked the most.

“There's a number of very controversial depictions but President Trump's is especially offencive [sic],” he wrote on Facebook last week. He pointed out that the painting (and others in a series) was funded by the Minnesota State Arts Board with a $10,000 grant.

Read more: http://www.citypages.com/arts/minnesota-house-republican-upset-about-painting-in-which-trump-gropes-a-womans-crotch/506509391

Cross-posted in the Minnesota Group.

March 2, 2019

Minnesota House Republican upset about painting in which Trump gropes a woman's crotch

The real point of contention is in the bottom right corner. Bockley Gallery


Minnesota Rep. Josh Heintzeman doesn’t often criticize art on his Facebook page. But last week, the Republican from Nisswa went off on a painting currently on display in the Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis.

The piece in question is called Standing Rock 2016. It’s about 8 feet tall and 10 feet wide, according to a report by MPR, and its size and bright color palette give it a lambent, twilit glow from a distance. A metal pipeline disappears under a glowing river and emerges from the mouth of a beast. Attack dogs with two heads rush at a small crowd of protesters, as fat cats in suits smoke cigars and look on. Brightly colored frogs emerge from the river as if to come to its defense, lashing out with their tongues.

And, in the bottom right hand corner, a clearly depicted President Donald Trump gropes the breast of a blindfolded Lady Justice, all the while grabbing at her crotch. This was the part of the painting Heintzeman disliked the most.

“There's a number of very controversial depictions but President Trump's is especially offencive [sic],” he wrote on Facebook last week. He pointed out that the painting (and others in a series) was funded by the Minnesota State Arts Board with a $10,000 grant.

Read more: http://www.citypages.com/arts/minnesota-house-republican-upset-about-painting-in-which-trump-gropes-a-womans-crotch/506509391

Cross-posted in the Artists Group.

March 2, 2019

European Union Lawmakers Arrested Protesting US Nuclear Weapons in Belgium

“I have been arrested for breaking into a Belgian military airbase to protest against the stockpiling of American nuclear bombs.” This dramatic declaration came from Molly Scott Cato, a Green Party member of the European Parliament (MEP) who represents southwest England, and who joined two other parliamentarians and members of the Belgian peace group Agir Pour la Paix (Act for Peace) in a February 20 protest at Kleine Brogel air base in eastern Belgium.

Ms. Cato, 55, from Bristol, and two other MEPs boldly scaled a 7-foot fence and walked directly onto the runway used by F-16 fighter jets. Holding a banner calling for a “Nuclear free zone for Europe,” they symbolically blocked the runway to demand the ouster of US nuclear weapons from Europe. A fourth Green Party parliamentarian, Thomas Waitz from Austria, was arrested along with 11 members of Action for Peace at a simultaneous protest outside the base, The Guardian reported. The MEPs were arrested and released.

The lawmakers - Michèle Rivasi of France, Tilly Metz from Luxembourg, and Ms. Cato - all represent Green parties, and Rivasi is the Vice-Chairperson of the Green Party caucus in the European Parliament. The Greens have 51 of the EP’s 751 seats.

According to a press release from the Greens and the European Free Alliance, the action was based on three demands: the withdrawal of US nuclear bombs stationed in Europe; the ratification of the Treaty of Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by all European Union Member States; and the creation of a nuclear weapon-free zone for Europe. Kleine Brogel is one of six European air bases that deploy and train in the use of US B61 nuclear weapons.

Read more: http://duluthreader.com/articles/2019/02/28/16178_european_union_lawmakers_arrested_protesting_us

March 2, 2019

Expect to see the S-word beaten to a pulp by Election Day 2020

With plenty of help, Donald Trump is hoping to frame the 2020 election as a choice between “socialism” and four more years of whatever the heck “Trumpism” is.

“Socialist” is a word that has different meanings in different times and places. As he gears up for the next election, Donald Trump has decided to use “socialism/socialist” as a catchall scare term for anything he opposes/anyone who doesn’t support him.

In his State of the Union address, the president spake thus: “Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.” He gave no details on what that meant.

In gushing the day after the speech, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin upped the ante by suggesting that America, at some unspecified time and manner, had been a socialist country but, as he pledged on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” show: “We’re not going back to socialism. We’re going on an economic plan for America that works.“

Read more: https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2019/02/expect-to-see-the-s-word-beaten-to-a-pulp-by-election-day-2020/

March 2, 2019

Why Minnesota legislators are so worried about the state's farmers

Concern over the mounting strain farmers feel due to current economic conditions is coloring much of the discussion about rural focused legislation at the Minnesota Capitol.

Members of the House Agriculture and Food Policy and Finance committee have spent much of the session so far focused on bills that would address several issues affecting the financial and mental health of farmers in Greater Minnesota. And during a hearing last week, after Gov. Tim Walz unveiled his $49.5 billion budget, Andrea Vaubel, deputy commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, walked through a series of proposals put forth by the governor to specifically help the state’s farmers.

The efforts come as many Minnesota farmers cope with challenges not seen since the 1980s, including years of earning less on their crops and products; the impact of trade disputes and climate change; and questions of whom to hand over farms to when they retire.

“It would be nice to see more money,” said Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, chair of the House Ag committee. She added that while Walz’s budget sets the right priorities, it misses a couple of issues legislators will want to address, given the depth of the current ag industry crisis and the importance of the industry in Minnesota. “People need to understand how important ag is to the total economy of the state.”

Read more: https://www.minnpost.com/state-government/2019/02/why-minnesota-legislators-are-so-worried-about-the-states-farmers/