Despairing Resident Turns Big Stone Lake Pollution into Art

Some lemons just don't make lemonade... but I can appreciate the effort "mbt" from Ortonville is making to publicize the algae pollution on Big Stone Lake. "mbt" has two photoblogs: Lottapolluta and PollutionSolutionAnybody.

LottaPolluta is the more artistic protest against the gruesome green, with some color effects applied to the photos.

mbt, Where Have All the Snails Gone? LottaPolluta, 2009.08.11

PSA is the raw footage, straight photos of the scummy, smelly algae that has prevented mbt's family from using the lake in front of their house for three straight summers.

mbt, Crayfish Crawling, PollutionSolutionAnybody, 2009.08.11

Yes, that green is so thick you can walk on it... well, if you're a crawdad.

mbt's profile offers this raison d'être:

This blog is the result of smelling stench 24/7 for 4 weeks now due to the prevailing winds. I've made many calls, emails, and yes, this is a shallow lake, but to suggest any of this is natural is like saying cigarettes don't cause cancer. Maybe these photos can be my voice. If we admit there's a problem, then we can fix it.

Algae is a natural organism in prairie lakes, but we can fix it. Remember, it grows faster when run-off carries the nutrients algae thrive on—especially nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizer—into the lake. We can control those nutrients through regulations on fertilizer use and a number of other practical actions:

Algae blooms and their associated problems are usually the result of excess nutrients in the water. Therefore, the primary strategy for preventing algae problems is to control the sources of nutrients washing into the lake. Using no-phosphorus fertilizers, maintaining septic systems regularly, diverting roof and driveway runoff into grassy areas rather than directly to the lake, disposing of pet wastes in the garbage, and planting a buffer of native plants next to the lake shore are the best actions to help prevent nutrients from reaching the water [Snohomish County Public Works: Surface Water Management Division].

Of course, lake residents can't solve the problem themselves; they need the help of folks all along the watershed upstream.

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And I wonder: even if we could filter all the fertilizer out of Big Stone Lake, how much pollutant might still be rolling east from Rick Millner's giant foreign-funded cow poop lagoons up by Veblen? Let's hope Millner hasn't been so absorbed in resisting the legal orders of the state of Minnesota that he's forgotten to maintain proper environmental practices back here in South Dakota.

Steam Train A-Not-Comin'! DM&E Coal Line on Hold

Did anyone else catch this? (Oh, well, of course Kevin Woster did.) The Dakota Minnesota & Eastern Railroad filed papers in federal court in Wyoming yesterday to drop its condemnation actions against several Wyoming landowners. That's good news in itself: any day landowners escape eminent domain proceedings is a happy day in my book. One attorney for the Wyoming landowners says DM&E probably spent more on litigation than it offered the landowners for right-of-way across their land... so serves DM&E right!

But the court papers contain bigger news: DM&E isn't dropping the eminent domain push because it just became the Good Fairy of Property Rights. DM&E is dropping the suits because it is dropping (for now) its Powder River Basin coal train project:

[DM&E says in the court papers] “There are uncertainties regarding the time when DM&E will be able to meet the necessary thresholds for the project, and it is clear that the project will not proceed in the immediate term.”

...In today’s filing, DM&E’s attorneys also stated, “Due to significant changes in the economic climate, DM&E cannot say that there is a reasonable probability that it will proceed with its Powder River Basin project in the near term.”

...“Available financing has tightened, and the country has seen a record economic downturn altering the strategic growth plans of nearly every industry in the country,” DM&E attorney wrote. “This has resulted in a longer timeframe for commencement of the project than anticipated at the time these condemnation actions were filed” [Dustin Bleizeffer, "DM&E Drops Condemnation Against Wyo Landowners; Railroad Suspends Powder River Basin Project," Casper Star-Tribune, 2009.08.26].

More cause to celebrate:

• The Powder River Basin Project is the same project that would have sent coal trains rushing along refurbished track in South Dakota and Minnesota. DM&E might still go condemning land for other purposes here in South Dakota, but with this project on hold, the company has that much less reason to do so.
• Score another victory for recession: if industries are slowing down enough to stop this rail project, that means they're also slowing down enough to use less coal. That means less emissions, less pollution, less demand for new coal plants... and more energy resources saved up for our great-grandkids.

Funny how a few legal papers can brighten one's day. Yahoo!

Update 15:15 CDT: Don't celebrate too hard, South Dakota. I hear on SDPB that Mike LoVecchio, spokesman for DM&E's parent company Canadian Pacific, is changing the story, saying the project isn't on hold, but that the company simply plans to deal directly with Wyoming landowners. The rail line will still happen; they'll just wait until the economy improves.

And here in South Dakota, CP/DM&E are still more than happy to have the power to take your land (remember 2008's SB 174?), granted to them by a Republican legislature. Grrrrr....

Credit Card Reform Act Kills No Jobs Yet

...Rounds Preaches Fear Instead of Forming Plan B

The Credit CARD Act of 2009, passed by Congress back in May, took effect seven days ago. The giant sucking sound you don't hear is jobs draining out of the Sioux Falls metro-usurial area. Anyone at Premier Bankcard sending out résumés yet? Anyone?

Governor Mike Rounds insisted that the law would kill thousands of South Dakota jobs. Governor Rounds' needle is still stuck in that groove. He argues that limits on fees on low-limit cards will drive the industry to increase fees on transactions. Another commentator echoes my own mild fear that we credit-card deadbeats may lose our bonus points and rebates. Governor Rounds thus predicts that credit card companies will lose customers and thus fire up to 3,000 good South Dakotans.

It is perhaps noteworthy that Governor Rounds was previously citing 5,000 as the number of jobs we could lose. Keep rounding down, Mike....

But 5,000, 3,000, whatever the number, I actually think 3,000 fewer South Dakotans profiting from usury would be an improvement in our quality of life. And if those job losses do ever happen, maybe the state can help those people transition to a more honest, satisfying work that actually produces something useful: growing industrial hemp!

New New Media Coming to Eastern South Dakota

My Web-Spidey sense is all a-tingle! We've got at least a couple new online news ventures coming our way in September:

• ThePostSD.com: My social mediarologist friends at 9Clouds Twittered about their upcoming venture Monday. Their Facebook page promises an "online alternative newspaper that focuses on the rich and unique culture of Eastern South Dakota." I am intrigued!
• Also under development: The Dell Rapids Area News. A WHOIS search shows the website is owned by Debra Henriksen, wife (I'm betting) of well-known South Dakota media dude and Sportscaster of the Year Mike Henriksen of SportsMaxRadio.com. The under construction page shouts local local local: "Local News, Local Happenings, Local Advertisers." Looks like someone is about to give the Argus-owned Dell Rapids Tribune some welcome competition. Saddle up!

Locally grown news—yahoo! So where's Joe Prostrollo nowadays?

Lake Herman Sanitary District Dodges Bullet on Constituent Info Sales

The Sioux Falls School District has gotten itself into hot water over selling the addresses of its constituents. And indeed, I must agree with Sioux Falls parent Shannon Barnes:

They tell them, you know, 'Don't post your personal information on Facebook. Don't post your personal information on MySpace. Don't give out your address. Don't even give out what school you go to,' And yet, they are selling these names and addresses [Shannon Barnes, quoted in "Complaint Alleges Names Could Fall into Wrong Hands," KSFY.com, 2009.08.25].

As Lake Herman Sanitary District president, I received a call earlier this summer from a salesman for a local retailer who asked if we would give him our address list so they could do some direct mail advertising. As noted in our minutes from last week's meeting, I declined to hand out that list. (At least Lawrence and I can agree on something! ;-) )

Of course, I hear the Lake Madison Sanitary District will sell you a copy of their address list for a reasonable fee. Porbably a good deal. Besides, Lake Madison folks spend more money, anyway—much better targets for an ad campaign.

I'm also happy to note that my current employer, Dakota State University, does not sell its student lists to commercial interests or anyone else. Heck, we aren't even printing a paper directory this year.

Breaking: SD Computer Network. Culprits: Sensible Shoes...

...and some guy in stripey bibbers.

Evidently the statewide computer network is broken this morning, with the City of Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County, and half the K-12 network unable to log on.

If you believe the graphics on KELO, the culprits are some big shoes and a pair of stripey bibbers:

Actually, "a fiber-optic line was cut during renovation of the state library in Pierre" this morning. Oops. Notice the effective use of the passive voice to avoid assigning responsibility.

Update 10:35 CDT: That Sioux Falls paper and surely-peeved BIT commissioner Otto Doll need no passive obfuscation of the obvious: they say simply that contractors cut the line.

Harvard Backs Judge Schreier: No Such Thing as "Abortion Trauma Syndrome"

Judge Karen Schreier got one thing right in her ruling last week on South Dakota's law putting bureaucrats and ideologues between women and their doctors. Her Honor declared that the portion of the law "requiring doctors to tell pregnant women that abortion increases the risk of suicide and suicide ideation is 'untruthful and misleading.'"

Funny: that's what I said last year about the sloppy science cited by abortion-ban proponents. And that's what the Harvard Review of Psychiatry said just this week:

In a review of 216 peer-reviewed articles on the subject of abortion and mental health, the authors of this study found that “the most well controlled studies continue to demonstrate that there is no convincing evidence that induced abortion of an unwanted pregnancy is a per se significant risk factor for psychiatric illness.” (p. 276) [cited by "Serena", "New Study Debunks 'Abortion Trauma Syndrome,'" Feminists for Choice, 2009.08.24]

But I'm sure Harvard is biased. They're just liberals who want women to kill their babies so there will be fewer kids growing up to go to college and pay tuition... oh, wait a minute....

Some more interesting facts from Feminists for Choice:

• The percentage of pregnancies termianted by induced abortion is about the same in the U.S. as worldwide, about 22%.
• In terms of physical risk, women are more likely to die from childbirth, appendectomy, or tonsillectomy.
• If women who have abortions suffer any depression, it's more likely caused by the very anti-abortion protestors professing to protect them:
  

  "[Entering] abortion clinics through a group of anti-abortion demonstrators [is] a stressor that has been shown to be associated with psychological distress . . . [And] increasing a women’s belief in her ability to deal with having an abortion decreased her likelihood of experiencing depressive symptoms following abortion. Such findings suggest that insofar as inaccurate “informed consent scripts” undermine a woman’s belief in her ability to cope after an abortion, they may contribute to her risk for depression [p. 270 of the Harvard study, emphasis Serena's]."

The whole anti-choice movement appears to be doing more harm than good. If Leslee Unruh and Steve Hickey are truly worried about women's well-being, they'll at least stop trying to bad laws based on bad science.

Why No Town Halls... with Insurance Agents and CEOs?

Quick thought: our elected officials are catching heck for not holding more town hall meetings to answer to their constituents for their health care policies. But why don't we hear similar cries for the folks in charge of our health coverage now, our insurance agents and their managers and CEOs, to hold town halls and explain their inefficiency, their exclusion of maternity and pre-existing conditions, their unfair legal tactics and anti-competitive practices?

Surely we have at least as much cause to be enraged over the actual harm done by insurance companies and the 22,000 Americans dying for lack of health insurance each year as we do over the potential problems in an evolving House bill that hasn't even had floor debate yet.

But do I get to march into Tim Campbell's office and shake in his face a poster showing him with a Hitler mustache? I think Monica would come from behind the desk and throw me out on my ear (and I'd have it coming).

Do I get to call for the firing of the folks running DakotaCare for their unwillingness to take hard questions about fascism and euthanasia at a public meeting called by local political agitators?

Learn to Park! South Dakotans Color Outside the Lines

Hat tip to Jeff Martin, who Facebooks this video of bad parking in Aberdeen, courtesy of Lonestar's Jason Robinson and Keech Rainwater:



It's interesting how slight automotive improprieties rouse us to such ridicule. I do the same thing, shouting "Learn to park!" at kittywampus cars from behind the safety of my rolled-up window. I almost never yell similar things about the way my neighbors walk or sit or bicycle. Why are we so hypersensitive about each other's automotive behavior?

Sleep Well, Says Robert Reich: Deficit No Big Deal

Worried the deficit is too big? Robert Reich (no ignorant fellow) says don't worry, it's nothing:

Second, deficits and debts mean just about nothing anyway -- at least out of context. In 1945, the federal debt was 120 percent of the entire U.S. economy. Yeegads! Yet only a few years later, the debt as a proportion of GDP had been tamed -- and not primarily because of cuts in government spending. Yes, of course, wartime spending ended. But the big change was in the denominator of the equation. Economic growth kicked in big time, and reduced the debt as a proportion of the economy to manageable levels [Robert Reich, "Don't Succumb to Deficit Hysteria," Robert Reich's Blog, 2009.08.25].

As a matter of fact, Reich actually thinks the deficit needs to be bigger. I kid you not: with the economy still sluggish, Reich says we need to pour on more government spending to get people back to work. Uff da! Sing yourself to sleep with that one, and tell me what you think in the morning!

Badlands Blue Rides Again... with Real South Dakotans!

Badlands Blue is back, in the form it should have taken in the first place. Three South Dakota boys—Travis Dahle, William Anderson, and Nate Mason, fellow debate veterans all!—have gotten hold of BadlandsBlue.net. They're already going hard on health coverage reform and GOP hypocrisy.

No Dem money wasted on sneaky snarky out-of-state consultants on this Badlands Blue: just real commentary from real South Dakota progressives. That's my kind of blog! And with Todd Epp on hiatus, there is a gap in the progressive South Dakota blogosphere that could use some filling. Welcome to the show, fellas!

Speech Tournament at Ha-vard: Now That's an Away Game!

New restaurateur and Madison ex-pat Mark O'Loughlen sends me a copy of the high school sports schedule from his new home in Thermopolis, Wyoming, population 3172.
Mark notes with approval (as do I!) the inclusion of the speech team schedule on the flyer distributed at the bank at elsewhere around town. Now that's the respect for debate I like to see!

Also noteworthy is Thermopolis's speech competition scchedule: a full slate of twelve contests, including one very remarkable away game:


Alas, the Thermopolis debaters are passing up the Karl Mundt Debate Tournament here in Madison to travel to Boston and debate at Harvard. Harvard. (Notice they even spell it with due homage to local pronunciation: Haaa-vard!)

Note that a Class 3A high school with 233 students, in a county with 4900 people, manages to find the resources to send its debate team to 12 contests, including a four-day trip to Harvard, and compete in extemp, oratory, interp, and all three divisions of debate. Meanwhile, Madison High School has been cutting events and debate trips to faraway places like Yankton.

Oh well. Go Bobcats!

Don't forget: Eat at Butch's!