Did you read the story about the Minneapolis teacher who was suspended for bringing a loaded gun to school?  Well that probably could not happen in North Dakota because teachers may have a right to bring their loaded weapons to school.

We wrote about this proposed legislation as the bill was working its way through the North Dakota legislature. (Click here to read about the state legislature's land grab.)

Here's what the law -- yes, it is a law now -- says:

A public or private employer may not... terminate the employment of or otherwise discriminate against an employee, or expel a customer or invitee for exercising the constitutional right to keep and bear arms or for exercising the right of self-defense as long as a firearm is never exhibited on company property for any reason other than lawful defensive purposes.

NDCC § 62.1-02-13(1)(e)

If you take this North Dakota law to its illogical conclusion, students -- assuming they are "invitees" -- might be able to bring weapons to school, too, if they plan to use them for "lawful defensive purposes." 

Makes perfect sense, right?

Well, there may be some confusion in the law.  First, this statute is horribly written.  I'd like someone to explain to me how a firearm can be "exhibited on company property" when there is no "company."  For example, let's say it's a sole proprietor that owns the business property; what then?  There's no "company."  What if it's public property? Is that "company property"?

But also, we have a law that says you can't possess a gun at a "public gathering" and "schools or school functions" are considered to be "public gatherings."  (NDCC § 62.1-02-05)  I don't pretend to know for sure how these two conflicting laws would interact. A general rule of statutory interpretation says that a more particular provisions govern more general provisions. I have an opinion as to which of these two provisions is "particular" and which is "general," but I don't wear a black robe so I can't tell you for sure which is which.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not sure if you can sit back and relax during the next volleyball game.  The crazy, angry guy sitting next to you at the game probably doesn't know how to interpret these conflicting statutes either.

I wouldn't worry about him though. He probably has horrible aim.

[Updated in red.]

I just have several random thoughts about the Newtown, Connecticut, Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, mental health care and gun violence, and I'll share a few links I've found to be enlightening.

(1)  I don't have a big problem with guns. I'm not "against" guns. My concern with guns has more to do with the fact that it seems like too many people (though certainly not all) who get their hands on guns seem to think it transforms them into a lot of things they are not, including, but not limited to one or more of the following:

• God
• Judge
• Jury
• Prosecutor
• Executionor
• A non-idiot
• Superman
• A hero
• A "tough guy"
• A wizard who can tell the difference between the Avon Lady and a burglar who's knocking on your front door just to make sure you're not home.

Bottom line: I worry that guns take some people and cause them to believe they have been turned into something they are not.

(2) There seems to be a mathametical/statistical/irrefutable correlation between the rate of gun ownership, and the rate of horrific, unjustifiable gun violence. Assuming you don't hate math and statistics and therefor agree with my #1, above, this probably seems obvious. People who don't like math or statistics or irrefutable things probably don't like this, and that's okay. I'm friends with a lot of people who don't like  math or statistics. It's hard to avoid math.

(3) Guns do not kill people; people kill people. Agreed. But the gun helps. Don't you figure that if this kid had walked into the school in Newtown, CT, and started trying to kill teachers and students with his bare hands or a knife or a baseball bat, that fewer than 25 people would have been killed? The problem isn't so much that people won't kill if they don't have guns; it's that the bloodletting will be slowed if those people didn't have guns.  With some people's logic you could also argue that "Atomic bombs, scud missiles, methamphetamines, and Agent Orange don't kill people; the people who use them kill people."  So let's make all that stuff legal, too.  So maybe a better way to think about is this: Guns don't kill people, but guns are a multiplier.

(4) I'm amazed how many socialism-hating right-wingers are coming around to the realization, after the Connecticut tragedy, that maybe "we" need to provide better mental health services for people who can't afford it or the insurance they would otherwise have if they could afford that. They almost sound pro-Obamacare.  Because mental health care is health care. 

(5) If you haven't read "I am Adam Lanza's Mother" yet, you should.  Here's an excerpt followed by a link to the whole thing.

Friday’s horrific national tragedy -- the murder of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut -- has ignited a new discussion on violence in America. In kitchens and coffee shops across the country, we tearfully debate the many faces of violence in America: gun culture, media violence, lack of mental health services, overt and covert wars abroad, religion, politics and the way we raise our children. Liza Long, a writer based in Boise, says it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness.

While every family's story of mental illness is different, and we may never know the whole of the Lanza's story, tales like this one need to be heard -- and families who live them deserve our help.

Three days before 20 year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother, then opened fire on a classroom full of Connecticut kindergartners, my 13-year old son Michael (name changed) missed his bus because he was wearing the wrong color pants.

“I can wear these pants,” he said, his tone increasingly belligerent, the black-hole pupils of his eyes swallowing the blue irises.

“They are navy blue,” I told him. “Your school’s dress code says black or khaki pants only.”

“They told me I could wear these,” he insisted. “You’re a stupid bitch. I can wear whatever pants I want to. This is America. I have rights!”

“You can’t wear whatever pants you want to,” I said, my tone affable, reasonable. “And you definitely cannot call me a stupid bitch. You’re grounded from electronics for the rest of the day. Now get in the car, and I will take you to school.”

I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me.

The Blue Review

That's just the beginning of it. Go read the rest.

I'd suggest this personal story isn't just a story about the Connecticut tragedy or gun violence or mental health care, but a much broader, equally important story about our nation's penal-industrial compex, and our country's health care system, generally.

[UPDATE:  There may be more to this story than first met the eye, too.]

(6) I was reluctant to say anything about this at all.  And I've been busy.  

It's hard to imagine the pain the families, friends, neighbors, teachers, co-workers, school administrators, first responders in Newtown are feeling. It's hard, partly, because it feels like there's nothing we can do for them. But we can. 

Send them your thoughts, prayers and other positive vibes.

That is all I have for now...

[Cross-posted, with permission, from "The Prairie Blog."]

I didn’t read about this in the Bismarck Tribune. I didn’t see it on KXMB or KFYR’s 6 o’clock news, and I didn’t hear it on Joel Heitkamp’s News and Views radio show. Apparently it wasn’t very big news here. But I just knew that there was a story out there, and I couldn’t get to the bottom of it. No one was reporting it. It was a mystery. Something was missing in my life and no one knew where it went.

Then, Saturday, I went to the mall. I’m not a regular mall-goer. I go once a year, and Saturday was the day. Christmas shopping. And my route took me right past Northwoods Candy Emporium. Aha, I thought, here I might find the answer. I went in and looked down each aisle, No luck. But I was the only one in the store at the moment, and so I mustered up all my courage and walked up to the fellow minding the store, and said “You probably know more about candy than anyone in Bismarck. I have a question.” He shrugged his shoulders modestly and said “What can I do for you?”

“What happened to Snaps®?”

“Well, they’ve been recalled,” was the reply. “They found lead in them or something like that.”

Huh. Bam. Just like that. Snaps® recalled. How can it be? Is nothing sacred? Lead? How do you get lead in Snaps®?

And then, a cold sweat. Lead? How much lead? My God, I must have eaten a hundred thousand Snaps® in my lifetime. Lead? Could that explain why my weight keeps creeping up? Do I have big lump of lead in my belly somewhere. Kind of looks like it, when I stand sideways to a mirror. Lead is bad. I don’t use lead shotgun shells any more. Paint with lead in it can’t be sold any more. But lead in Snaps? How could that be? And why didn’t I know about it?

I’m serious about a hundred thousand Snaps®. It’s one of my dirty little secrets. Lillian knows I like them, but she has no idea how many of them I eat. Or used to. I’ve been buying them for more than 50 years, ever since they sold for two cents in a little red cardboard box at Dale’s Variety Store in Hettinger. There were probably 20 of them in a box. And man, I bought a lot of boxes. My taste for Snaps® never went away, especially the white ones. Some of my friends said the pink ones were best, but I always like the white ones. What, you say, they all taste the same? Hardly! I guarantee you I can close my eyes and pop a Snap® in my mouth and tell you if it is a white one or not. Anyone know what the other colors are? First correct answer in the comments section below get a free bag from me when, or if, they come back (the manufacturer, the American Licorice Company, has promised their return by the end of the year).

The two-cent box went the way of all penny candy sometime in my youth, replaced by a nickel bag, then a quarter bag (the same size, I think) and lately, until August of this year, a  bag weighing four or five ounces, I suppose, for a couple bucks. Oh, yeah, and a theater box that costs about seventeen dollars.

So what happened in August? Well, apparently a scientist at the California Department of Public Health, during a routine test, found an unacceptably high level of lead in black licorice candy manufactured by American Licorice. Unacceptable meaning more than .1 part per million. Lead is very bad stuff if it is consumed by humans and other living things. The CDPH notified American Licorice and the company issued a voluntary recall. Here’s what they had to say:

On 8/22, we were notified by the California Dept. of Public Health (CDPH) that they had detected trace amounts of lead in one batch of our black licorice (16 oz. Bags of Black Licorice Twists with “Best Before Date 020413” printed on the label) that exceeded the amount of lead that they deem safe for candy products.

At that time we issued a voluntary product recall of this batch of licorice and immediately launched an extensive internal investigation to get to the root of the issue, including additional testing of our raw ingredients, products, equipment and water lines, in an attempt to identify what caused the elevated levels of lead. Our testing suggests that slightly elevated levels of lead above the recommended maximum levels of lead for young children may also be found in some recent batches of Red Vines Black Licorice Twists, Family Mix, Mixed Bites and Snaps. No detectable lead was found in recent testing of Sugar Free Black Licorice.

I noticed that they were gone right away, although I didn’t know why Snaps® had disappeared. You see, to this day, I still bought Snaps® pretty regularly. I always had a hard time finding them. But the CENEX station on West Divide Avenue had them hanging on their candy rack, and I usually ducked in a bought a bag when I filled up with gas. About once a week. I liked to munch on them when I was making my rounds as the ranger at the Bismarck public golf courses. And I often took them on my canoe and camping trips, when I was going to be out on the river or trail more than a day or two. Because not only do I like Snaps®, but they have some medicinal qualities, for me at least, as well. The black licorice helps keep me regular, if you know what I mean, on those forays into the outdoors.

Well, one day last summer, the rack at CENEX contained no Snaps®. And then the next time I went to get gas, and the next time, and I kept checking in there every time I got gas, but no Snaps®. And I never knew why, until the candy store clerk in the mall told me Saturday.

Now, it looks like there is good news ahead. Here’s what’s on American Licorice’s website right now, dated October 25:

Dear Consumers,

We are happy to share that Red Vines® Family Mix and Red Vines® Black Licorice Twist items began shipping to retailers on October 22^nd and will be available on the shelves of your favorite stores in mid- to-late November.  We are planning for Snaps® to be back on shelves later this year.

Since initiating the recall in August we’ve worked closely with the FDA, significantly increasing the depth and frequency of our internal quality testing, tightening our standards with ingredient suppliers and launching an extensive internal investigation of ingredients, equipment, and finished products.

As a result of the investigation, the FDA has classified the recall as a Class II, meaning that the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote, and initial health hazard evaluations for Red Vines® Black Licorice and Snaps® found that health risks from consuming black licorice with slightly elevated levels of lead are negligible.

You can learn about the FDA’s recall classification system at the link below:

http://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls/ucm165546.htm

We greatly appreciate your support for our company and products over the years and deeply value your loyalty.  We will continue our dedication to making delicious candy with a goal of always being better tomorrow than we are today.

Best, American Licorice Company

The candy store guy at the mall says he hasn’t been notified when he’ll get his new supply. When he does, he’ll sell them in bulk from his jars, like he does a hundred or so other kinds of candy. He’s going to be my new friend. Because I’m not sure, but my guess is that they’ll be cheaper there than they are in pre-packaged bags at Cenex. Looks like I’ll be going to the mall more than once a year now.

[UPDATED X 1]  

This week someone pointed out an op-ed piece in the latest issue of the "Bakken Breakout" monthly Bismarck Tribune insert. (I'd tell who pointed it out to me, but I'm not sure whether he'd want me to implicate him.) It's a piece by Tribune publisher Brian Kroshus, and it borders on hilarious. Kroshus starts out by outlining flaws he perceives in the electoral college system.  He writes this:

Arguments against the college include the belief that it gives outsized representation to residents of less populated states like North Dakota, despite its significant present day contribution as an energy rich state, something not in the minds of our nations' [sic] forefathers. There also exists the chance that even if a candidate wins the majority of the popular vote, they may still not be made president as was the case in 2000 when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore, despite losing the popular vote.

Other potential flaws of the system are that the presidency can be decided by only a handful of states toward the end, and as a result, campaign strategies are adjusted accordingly..

Bakken Breakdown, p. 5 (November 2012)

So what do you suppose is Kroshus' proposal for solving the problem?  Here's what he wrote (and I'm not kidding):

During a time when our country is in serious need of economic development, it's critical that government paves the way for innovation and expansion rather than suppressing it, particularly when it comes to oil production. That approach will not only create jobs, but ensure that America can reduce and eventually eliminate its dependence on foreign oil supplies. Based on the previous four years, that in itself could prove to be a tall order, but the case is sure to be made to those in power as it has in the past.

While the Electoral College will almost assuredly be around for years to come, one has to wonder what the outcome of the Presidential Election would be like if it were based on states' present day contribution to the national economy. Even our Founding Fathers would have had a difficult time getting their arms around that.

Bakken Breakdown, p. 7 (November 2012)

You know why our Founding Fathers would have had a hard time wrapping their arms around your idea, Kroshus? Because it's freakin' insane.  

Land doesn't vote. Buildings don't vote. "Contribution to the national economy" doesn't vote. And oil doesn't vote. No matter how much the Tribune whores itself out to the oil industry, oil will never be able to vote.

I'm convinced Brian Kroshus was drunk when he wrote this; not with beer, wine or other alcoholic beverage. Brian Kroshus was oil money drunk. Just take a look through the November edition of the "Bakken Breakout" newspaper magazine.  It's 96 pages long. These pages are 100% advertising:  2, 3, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 31, 32, 33, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45, 48, 49, 52, 56, 60, 64, 67, 68, 71, 74, 77, 80, 81, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 94, 95, 96.  These pages are 50% advertising:  46, 47, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59, 61, 63, 69, 73, 76, 79, 83,  So fifty-one (51) full pages of this ninety-six (96) page newspaper insert are made up of advertising.  That's 53% advertising.  I'd like to know how much a full-page ad in that insert costs.  It can't possibly be cheap.  

The reason Bismarckians are so horribly uninformed about all the crime, the school overcrowding, the horrible condition of roads and bridges, the pollution, the oppressive rent hikes, human trafficking, waste, fraud, abuse and all the other problems in the Bakken is that the Bismarck Tribune's publisher is oil money drunk. He's so drunk he apparently thinks oil should vote.

Remember, too, that the Bismarck Tribune has been operating without an Editor in Chief for over a year. So Kroshus really is calling all the shots.  (Not that he wouldn't be if there were an editor.)

If you've been wondering why the Tribune is such a oil company, chamber of communism cesspool -- printing oil company press releases as if they were news -- now you know at least one of the reasons why; it's being run by an oil drunkard.

[UPDATE:  Brenden makes a great point in a comment.  If you assume Wikipedia's info is correct (click here), North Dakota produced 0.23% of the US gross domestic product in 2010.  That's 50th place, out of 51.  So North Dakota would lose two of its electoral votes if states voted based upon their percentage of GDP.  See what happens when the publisher of your capitol city's only newspaper gets drunk on oil? He starts giving away your electoral votes.]

Yesterday, North Dakota Senator John Hoeven voted with 37 other radical Republican partisans to kill a treaty that would have helped protect people with disabilities worldwide.  From the MaddowBlog:

Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) made a rare Senate appearance this morning, sitting in a wheelchair just off the floor so that members would have to see him as they entered the chamber. Why? Because they were poised to vote on ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and Dole hoped to send a message.

It didn't work. The Senate killed the treaty this afternoon, with a final vote of 61 to 38, which seems like a lopsided majority, but which fell short of the two-thirds necessary for ratification. Eight Republicans broke ranks and joined Democrats in support of the treaty, but the clear majority of the Senate GOP voted to block it.

MaddowBlog on MSNBC.com

Hoeven was among the 38 partisan Republicans who voted to kill rights for people with disabilities.  (Click here for roll call vote.)  

Because here in North Dakota, we're definitely opposed to people with disabilities.  We believe people with disabilities already have too many advantages.  That's how we are.

Aren't we?

Well played John Hoeven.  Well played.

NBC News issued its list of 10 fresh faces to watch in the new Congress.  Here's what they said about Senator-elect Heidi Heitkamp:

The daughter of a school custodian, Heidi Heitkamp once spent a summer working on a highway construction crew to put herself through school. The Democrat served as North Dakota's attorney general and as the executive of an energy company before scoring an upset win last month over Republican Senate candidate Rick Berg.

The onetime director of Dakota Gasification Company, which operates a plant that turns coal into natural gas, Heitkamp is squarely at odds with her party's own standard bearer on energy issues. Asked during a campaign forum what she would tell President Barack Obama about the nation's energy policy, she flatly stated that the administration is "wrong."

"You're wrong on energy. You're headed in the wrong direction. You made bad decisions," she said, according to The Associated Press. "You promised that you would promote clean coal technologies, that you would be a champion of coal, and you haven't done it." She also urged the president to replace Energy Secretary Steven Chu and EPA administrator Lisa Jackson.

A Democrat who eked out a narrow win in a state that voted for Mitt Romney by 20 points, Heitkamp faces targeting by Republicans hoping to lure red-state Democrats over to their side on key issues. She'll be a player on agriculture issues; she has said she's been offered a spot on the Senate agriculture committee and that she hopes to help shepherd a five-year Farm Bill to passage.

NBCNews.com

As I read the article about Heitkamp -- who, after orchestrating an amazing victory over a sure-thing-winner opponent, deserves the attention -- I couldn't help but wonder what sorts of top-10 lists a Senator-elect Berg would have been on.  He was the 14th wealthiest member of the U.S. House, but that probably wouldn't have gotten him in the top 20 wealthiest in the Senate. Top ten tea partiers? Top ten girls-flag-football-for-charity fans? 

I can't think of one thing about Berg that would have made him an interesting new senator to watch.

NBC is right: It will be interesting to see how Heitkamp fits into the bigger puzzle that is the U.S. Senate.  

Or it might as well.

The Great Plains Examiner, a monthly newspaper that began operating in Bismarck and Mandan about a year and a half ago, has suspended publishing while a new ownership arrangement is finalized.

Matt Bunk, the editor and publisher of the paper, said once the deal is completed he will remain an owner of the paper but no longer have control over day-to-day operations.

Gary Emineth, a businessman and former chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party, said he and a small group of new investors in the paper plan to expand its coverage to other parts of the state, particularly the Oil Patch.

Fargo Forum

Doesn't North Dakota already have enough right-wing news rags? Do we really need another one? We already have the Bismarck Tribune, the Dickinson Press, the Williston Herald, the Minot Daily News, the Jamestown Sun, the Grand Forks Herald, the Valley City Times, and the Fargo Forum.  What used to set the Great Plains Examiner apart was that it actually had fairly objective news from fairly objective writers. North Dakota Republicans like Emineth just couldn't tolerate that. "We can't have an objective newspaper in North Dakota," they must have said. So they're gonna buy it and make it the new Dakota Beacon.  (For those not familiar, the Dakota Beacon is or was a ridiculously trashy, right-wing rag published by local plagiarism defender Steve Cates. I don't even know whether it's still published but suspect it is not; it doesn't smell as bad around here as it used to.)

According to the story in the Forum, Bunk declined to say what he is doing in the future. According to the "Contact Us" page at the Western News in Libby Montana, Bunk is now that newspaper's publisher and advertising manager.

I don't begrudge Bunk for wanting to make a buck by selling stock in a paper whose credibility he balanced on his own hard work and labor. I don't know how many people realize this, but the Great Plains Examiner was -- for the most part -- a one man show. Though there were other writers (some of them quite good), Bunk did a huge amount of work for that paper. He was the ad sales guy. He wrote most of its content. He did most or all of the editing. I think he did the set-up. He even did deliveries. Without Bunk, the Great Plains Examiner is some other paper.  Because it's being purchased by a secretive investor group that includes the former chairman of the Republican Party, I'd suggest to you that the "other paper" it is is the Dakota Beacon.  

Or it might as well be.

It's unfortunate that a fairly worthwhile paper will become the garbage the Great Plains Examiner is sure to become. I'd urge all of the GPE advertisers to cancel their ads, and any subscribers to cancel their subscriptions. Like the rest of North Dakota's newspapers, the GPE will make plenty of money by shilling for the Chamber of Communism, Big Pollution and Big Oil. They don't need your ad revenue or your subscription payments to stay above water.

If I've ever written anything that sounded like it might amount to an endorsement of the GPE, please consider this a withdrawal of that allusion.

I'm tired of the horrible, biased, fact-challenged Keystone XL reporting by the Associated Press (AP) and all the other fake-neutral media. Their reporting just gets worse and worse.  The AP used to have well-deserved credibility with readers, but has slowly stooped lower and lower so that now it is little more than a National Enquirer writer-esqe embarrassment for American journalism.  Here's a snippet from their most recent pathetic reporting on the Keystone XL pipeline:

WASHINGTON — It's a decision President Barack Obama put off during the 2012 campaign, but now that he's won a second term, his next move on a proposed oil pipeline between the U.S. and Canada may signal how he will deal with climate and energy issues in the four years ahead.

Obama is facing increasing pressure to determine the fate of the $7 billion Keystone XL project, with environmental activists and oil producers each holding out hope that the president, freed from the political constraints of re-election, will side with them on this and countless other related issues down the road.

Keystone XL is especially important in North Dakota because it will bring 100,000 barrels per day of Bakken oil to U.S. refineries, said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. While the pipeline does not run through North Dakota, feeder pipelines from within the state would connect to it.

Associated Press

Once again, I feel obligated to take a few of the bigger lies in this AP story and pick them apart. First, let's talk about this suggestion President Obama "put off" the decision on the Keystone XL pipeline.  The truth is the application to construct the pipeline was incomplete.  Imagine you work at the counter at North Dakota's Game & Fish office and someone comes in to get a hunting license. They fill out the application but refuse (or decline) to provide their last name, their mailing address and their date of birth. You're the bureaucrat working behind the counter. You look at the application and see it is incomplete. Do you give the applicant a hunting license?  Of course not. You turn it back and tell the applicant it's incomplete and tell them to finish filling it out. That's just how it works. Everybody who has reviewed the situation who has half a brain understands the application was incomplete. It had to be rejected.  (More here on that.)

Second, let's talk about that 100,000 barrels per day of Bakken oil that is scheduled to be sent to U.S. refineries. This is a pure fiction. We've written about this before, with the help of Prairie Blogger Jim Fuglie. Here's what he and I wrote:

The Keystone XL Was Not Ever Going To "carry about 100,000 barrels of North Dakota crude" Per Day: It wasn't. You know what the commitment was from TransCanada?  They said they would carry some Bakken Crude. Not 100,000 barrels.  And not North Dakota Bakken crude. TransCanada said they'd carry 65,000 barrels from North Dakota, Montana and, possibly, Saskatchewan.  Jim Fuglie wrote about this before, after he and I got all the Governor's records on this issue:

There is an agreement between Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, negotiated in 2010, and announced jointly by Gov. Schweitzer and TransCanada officials on September 13, 2010, at a press conference in Billings, Montana, to “construct onramps and offramps for the receipt and delivery of oil from Montana producers at points on the Keystone pipeline that had been announced by TransCanada.”

That, of course, was the Montana Governor’s take on the agreement, or at least his public proclamation. Read: This is a big deal for Montana.

Except that it wasn’t.

TransCanada worded it a little differently. In a 2011 press release, TransCanada said “In the fall of 2010, TransCanada went to the market with a proposal to move Bakken crude oil production by constructing a receipt facility at Baker, Montana. The open season was successful allowing TransCanada to sign firm contracts for 65,000 bpd of crude oil from the Bakken to key U.S, refining markets. The open season for this project closed on November 19, 2010. The Bakken Marketlink project will provide receipt facilities to transport up to 100,000 bpd of crude oil from the Williston Basin producing region inNorth Dakota and Montana . . .”

If TransCanada says that’s the deal, then that’s the deal. They will let 100,000 barrels of crude oil, from somewhere in the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana (and possibly Saskatchewan), into the pipeline. Not, as Governor Schweitzer says, 100,000 barrels of Montana crude. Not, as Governor Dalrymple says, 100,000 barrels of North Dakota crude. Nice try guys.

And note to Governor Dalrymple: TransCanada says there are contracts for only 65,000 barrels, not 100,000, and that those contracts are not all from North Dakota. Those numbers, Governor, come from documents provided to me and to a fellow blogger, who requested them, by your office.

The Prairie Blog (Jim Fuglie) as crossposted on NorthDecoder.com

Sorry, Tribune editors. No matter how many times you repeat a lie, or how hard you wish it to be true, the lie does not somehow magically become true.

 NorthDecoder.com (April 15, 2012) and click here for more on this.

The facts have not changed since April 15th. There is still no commitment for 100,000 barrels of North Dakota bakken crude oil per day to go onto the Keystone XL. It continues to be pure fiction, and continues to be a fraud perpetrated on North Dakotans by corrupt government officials like Jack Dalrymple and incompetent and/or complicit corrupt "journalists" like those at the Bismarck Tribune and the Associated Press.

Third, here's another excerpt from today's AP story:

“It's just a no-brainer,” Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., told The Associated Press. “Canada is going to export this oil. It's either going to come to the U.S. or it's going to go to Russia or China. Even Democrats that aren't really excited about oil and gas development generally can figure that out.”

Associated Press

Hate to point the finger at Senator Landrieu, a Democrat from Louisiana, but she's not telling the truth. She either doesn't know what she's talking about, or she's lying. Doesn't matter which it is, though. She's entitled to her opinion, of course, but she's not entitled to her own facts. The truth is that most of the Keystone XL oil from Canada will go to China. Don't take my word for it. Read "The Tar Sands Road to China" paper and explain why it's wrong. You can't. Your Fox News-driven fantasy world just isn't going to help you on this one. The bought-and-paid-for talking points from shills like John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer ain't gonna change the facts. Facts is facts.

We've gone through all this before. North Dakota oil wouldn't be transported on the KXL. If it would, it wouldn't be much. The KXL, if built, wouldn't lower American gas prices; it would raise them. The KXL wouldn't provide enough jobs to justify the harm it will cause. It will cause harm.

Again, I'm still ready for an intelligent conversation about the Keystone XL.  I'm just tired of uninformed hacks like Hoeven, Cramer and the Associated Press spewing oil company talking points.

We deserve better.

I forgot to write about this yesterday. Saw this story online and just couldn't believe it. Rejected it, at first, as being just too crazy to believe. But then it hit me: this is what we will soon come to expect from North Dakota's lone member of the United States House of Representatives, Kevin Cramer:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — North Dakota Republican Kevin Cramer not only supports the production of domestic coal, oil and natural gas; the incoming freshman House member believes it’s a moral responsibility.

“In my view, it would be immoral to leave it there,” Cramer told the Lignite Energy Council at an October event in Bismarck.

“God put it there for us,” he said.

The former chairman of the state Republican Party, who almost entered the ministry, says North Dakota has been successful in energy production because most of the resources were developed on private and state land, where the government couldn’t over-regulate producers.

Environment & Energy Daily (emphasis added)

Get that? Using up all our natural resources as quickly as possible is a moral imperative. If we don't burn up all the Earth's coal and oil, God will be disappointed. Cramer knows, because he talks to God.

I've decided to put together a little list of other things "God put here for us."  Things for which there is a "moral responsibility" for white men to rush to exploit or otherwise use up as soon as possible. Maybe you guys would be willing to help me by submitting additional items to the list:

• Wind
• Solar power
• Oxygen
• Trees
• Dirt
• Minorities
• Poor people
• Hair
• (continued in comments)

I hope everybody understands why Kevin Cramer sees it as being a "moral responsibility" to use up all of our natural resources as soon as possible. See, we are in the "End Times" and won't be needing these physical things much longer.  

Look for all of North Dakota Congressman Todd Akin's Kevin Cramer's policies and public statements to reflect these basic views.