More detail on the Target data breach than local media seem inclined to report.

The headline is a guess. If any reader saw the level of detail, here, in local coverage, please email or submit a comment.

That link, a Seattle paper's online edition carrying a New York Times item describes things as a really lax security setup, intrusion via a server to POS terminals, and notice of a problem absent until Secret Service personnel informed Target, saying the equivalent of, "You guys might have a bit of a problem ...".

At a guess, there may be some Twin Cities IT job openings soon. Replacements. Or exchanges at Target.

How to spin pro football in a new, unique way? Seattle PI online, "Legal marijuana states to face off in Bong Bowl".

Here. This sample:

But, it’s all fun and games until someone bogarts a joint at the Bud Bowl … Silver Haze Bowl … Weed Bowl … Bong Bowl … Stoner Bowl … Hell, the world’s just getting started!

“Pass The Doritos Bowl”

The only two states in the union (and two of only three places on the planet) where marijuana is not only legal but have a budding legal system for growing and selling will face each other in the Super Bowl.

I don't know about that "two of only three places on the planet" claim. You cannot believe everything you read on the Internet.

But it is a fact. This Super Bowl features teams from Seattle, Washington, and Denver, Colorado. Somebody tell Coach Zimmer and the Wilfs. They might lobby ...

Make it a new ALEC cause? One for the home team. Give ALEC's local darling Kiffmeyer food for thought? Doritos?

Interesting items. No suggestion of what to conclude, or whether there is any crystal ball forecast in them.

Here, here and here. A good story is in how it is structured when being told. It does not have to be truthfully good as much as told well. Homer may have made those stories up, the detail, even with the Trojan War as fact, with Troy believed to have been found by archeologists.

There will be the 2014 off year elections, before 2016 and the next presidential contest. Marco Rubio? Rand? Chris Christie surviving to a nomination? A new face, a governor somewhere?

One thing certain on the GOP side. No Palin on anyone's second spot. Even with those three being younger than McCain was, with greater survival prospects. With staying where he is at, McCain has shown an eight year survival likely, but back then, and Palin - whew!

RAMSEY - The thought of a data center at the former city hall site, Nowthen Blvd. by Alpine, near the grade school, other side of the street.

While the put-in-a-data-center possibility is being explored with a community group composed primarily of neighbors of the site, two things seem determinative, market-wise. The operating costs would be debt service and taxes, relatively fixed costs for any data center operator who might think to site there; and a key variable or pair of variables that, absent a long term lock in situation, would be of critical importance. Cost of power, and that's Connexus distributing to homeowner rate payers, and to commercial enterprise, at what they set their rates to be and how they opt to contract; and cost of access to the data pipeline, the fiberoptic service to the site.

At a guess, before any serious consideration of the option of siting a data center, a server farm, there the City would need to be secure in the belief Connexus policy and operations are favorable.

So far, I have seen nothing either way indicating any such assurance. It would be folly to move forward with any such retooling plan unless there is a sound exit strategy in case either the fiber service or the power service is subject to uncertainty. A hope would be that the citizen panel would be seeking such assurances, on behalf of all of us who are both city taxpayers and Connexus customers. I think it incumbent on Connexus and the city to have an understanding, and it has to be one made subject to full and complete public scrutiny. Transparancy is good, sunshine being the best disinfectant standing as a 1914 observation that continues true to today.

BOTTOM LINE: Is there an understanding, and what are its terms? What role has Connexus played so far in promoting the concept? What assurance is there that the rug will not be pulled out from under anyone's feet?

Absent knowing that, how in the world can a citizens' panel be expected to function cogently and to be anything other than window dressing to things behind closed doors? An empty white elephant already exists there, per sunk city capital costs. Would there be any wisdom to sinking more, for a larger bigger white elephant? Seems not.

______________UPDATE______________
ADDED NOTE: This is not a "don't do it" post, but a "be careful" one. City of Ramsey criteria should be first, to assure neighborhood worry is given due concern, an aim already being met via use of the citizens' panel.

Second, be alert, and like good Boy Scouts, be prepared. Know the costs and other options foregone if a data center idea is to be, and not via simple back-of-the-envelope guesswork, but ideally by more sound numbers backed up by sound promises, on paper with default avenues of redress spelled out and backed up by a pocket deep enough to be able, if needed, to collect a judgment and not some shell LLC or such - and in general to plan as carefully as feasible, as needed to be assured of not holding an empty bag after spending yet more city cash chasing unfulfilled promises.

The sobering experience of paving Puma Street and putting in a traffic light to accommodate an unkept promise and in the course of doing that, (and having that very Christian school stay cozy as-is in Andover after Ramsey blew a ton of MSA money on believing them), is recent history. That lax belief in a promise caused an MSA fund expenditure that now sees the city having to consider franchise fees for assuring the well-being of the taxpayers' road grid - yes, dumb folly and done by that last decisively voted out council - but voters most likely were hoping for a learning curve, new folks vs last ones, being an improvement.

So check out the deal, have an exit strategy, and minimize the amount of up-front spent cash chasing yet another dream/promise. Learn from history or be doomed to repeat it. And with the power provider key to success/failure of any data center dreams/schemes, pin Connexus down where they have zero wiggle room, or risk later wishing you had.

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While not Connexus nor Ramsey specific, this item offers some insight into how some, in control of a public utility, may think, (or how at least one regulator viewed it).

Patriarchical feet of clay?

image from here - what stuff indeed

This link. The allegations, or the equivalent, are elsewhere on the web, but this Arthur Frederick Ide post gives multiple links, and appears to hang together in presenting a not too favorable picture of Christian therapist Bachmann's gravitas. That image stinks of pretentiousness. And then some.

___________UPDATE___________
A clarification, the photo image is the subject of concluding sentences, not the image that the Ide item paints of Marcus Bachmann and his "clinic." As to the latter image, that of Mr. Bachmann; see, also, New York Times, here and here.

_________FURTHER UPDATE__________
Ide clearly has a mindset opposed to religion, and reading his various posts shows it. Seeing his information on Marcus Bachmann and some of his conclusions one can see a bias. The New York Times items are less open to objection.

Ide, to his credit, in his publishing of comments does post one objection to his post, that of Greg Des Elms, which refutes questions of "accreditation" and "attended" in terms of distance learning. It should be read. In posting this link to Ide's item, there was no intent to embrace all of the screed, nor to embrace other things Ide published.

Read it, think it over, and decide whether Marcus Bachmann's clinic may be doing more good than harm.

Throughout all of Michele Bachmann's public life, and the operation of the clinic that earns the family cash flow, the question would always be unanswered - is this operation doing more good than harm, or vice versa.

I do not have that answer. Marcus Bachmann's noted the claim that taking Medicaid clients was a small part of the clinic clientele, and would people prefer he deny access based on a poverty measure. It appears to always have been a business, a for profit enterprise, and the Bachmann family has not failed to repay any loan, meaning that it has been a well managed business by that measure. The family has prospered.

With Michele Bachmann retiring from Congress, the family business will likely have less scrutiny, and some may think that scrutiny, so far, has been insufficient. Ide has laid out links in his post, read it with a grain of salt, but in the end, politics and attention will move on as the Bachmann family move from public figure status to private ctizen status. I will leave things there, other than to again note I find that photo pretentious. I expect that feeling was not entirely absent in Sally Jo Sorensen's publishing it before I did. Read her item. And please, I cite both, but am in no way suggesting any overlap or tie between what Sorensen's posted, and what Ide has.

Finally, it is a helpful thing to see Ide can state his views as he does. It is what the First Amendment is about. If only popular or politically correct views are okay, per that amendment, then it would be a sham. After all, it is the unpopular speech that needs protection; that which is popular and politically correct in its time easily fends for itself.

An intention I hope to abide by is to cease writing anything about Michele Bachmann and family, once they shed their public figure status with her leaving Congress (and then presumably not continuing a public figure action set after leaving Congress - if she continues making herself a public figure earning commentary, things might differ).

In closing I note that I have not commented about the reported ethics investigation of Michele Bachmann, as it is separate from my grounds to criticize her conduct, and in hope it can be resolved or resolve itself without any viewpoint about it here.

Republicans in politics profess love for the winnowing of the market, for the market's hand in small business entrepreneurship. I wonder why they are so bad at it.

Reminiscent of Tony and Bridget Sutton, Baja Sol, the Nienow spouses now are reported to have run their ship aground.

Hat tip to Bluestem Prairie, linking here, from this post (with its trenchant State Senate website quote). Talk about fated love. Love of that which one is not good at. On the other hand, Bill Cooper and Harold Hamilton are successful Republicans operating their respective business ventures. I hold the utmost respect for Hamilton's Micro Control business acumen; his having been in business successfully, in Fridley, for years.

UPDATE: Nienow in the recent past professed deep understanding in financing business enterprise; e.g., here, here and here, regarding a billion dollar venture, one dwarfing his less-than-a-million debt difficulty. He was a vocal racino-at-Cantebury advocate. At the time Sutton opposed gambling expansion in Minnesota. There was a story, but I do not recall detail ...

____________FURTHER UPDATE_____________

photo from here (Nienow standing)

Voting record for Nienow; here and here (with ratings). He was a voter ID (voter disenfranchisement) supporter.

___________FURTHER UPDATE_____________
There is not Schadenfreude in somebody's business failing. But one question lingers. Was it a sound business investment for SBA money, especially to the tune of half a million, or was politics a factor in the Nienow spouses getting that half a million lent to them? Perhaps such a speculative and subjective question may be answered in litigation.

Of interest to Ramsey readers; the Bluestem Prairie post on the Nienow loan default/lawsuit by federal authorities also noted:

Nienow and the National Camp Association, Inc, a Minnesota corporation, was also sued in state court by the National Camp Association, Inc, a New York Corporation (Minnesota Case No. 30-CV-11-1022, filed December 6, 2011). [...]

In the state case, the National Camp Association Inc, a New York Corporation, claimed that Nienow had purchased the assets of the New York organization but had not made full payment. Online records indicate that the court granted a summary judgement on June 6, 2013, on the original principle of $30,000.00. On December 24, 2013, the court a gave a judgement to the plaintiff on the original priniciple of $7,755.04.

That is unclear and a search of court records: judgments, did not list anything under Sean Nienow's name.

Here is the main part of the online docket, civil filings, for that case:

click thumbnail to read

Note that Kristi Weikel represented the plaintiff, Weikel being a Ramsey lawyer officed in Jim Deal's Town Center office building. The image shows judgment entry; so it is unclear why a search of the Minnesota Court's case search site:judgments yielded nothing.

Pawlenty landed into bed with the banks; presumably under lucrative terms for Timmy. Bless his soul. If any reader knows of any very friendly bank legislation passed during Pawlenty's legislative leadership time, or signed into law during his time as governor, please leave a comment or send an email giving detail.

Where will Nienow land, and would he have been sued on an SBA loan default were it to have happened during Bushco years; with the U.S. Attorney then Ms. Paulose, who among other things reportedly got crosswise with Norm and almost all the lawyers having to report to her, to the point the Bush-Gonzales Justice Department pulled the plug on her and reassigned her to DC duty? With a Monica Gooding good Christian litmus test as a key arrow in the Paulose quiver, Nienow might have had common ground with the then U.S. Attorney, and fared better. It is speculative. What is fact, now the Nienows and their unsteady business effort have run into the shoals.

___________FURTHER UPDATE__________
Nienow is mentioned in online LTE items, here; which includes other letters proving all politics is local. And that one item/letter stating:

After attending the past two budget workshops it has become apparent that the “robbing Peter to pay Paul” intergovernmental money transfers have come back to haunt you. This is evidenced by the $1.7 million Park Board loan payback dilemma, the lack of road maintenance funds due to the draining of MSA and TIF accounts on overspent projects and the increase in debt service by $241,000.

And it's all on the street where we live.

(As an aside for those interested in word usage, "politics" is it a singular or plural noun? If meaning a bundle of processes and procedures, that seems to have a plural reach but "bundle" is singular; where if "politics" refers to a process among people in civil society, process also is singular. So is the phrase all politics are local, or all politics is local. I used the latter, above).

___________FURTHER UPDATE____________
Nienow mentioned here, as a voucher proponent, back when his party controlled the Minnesota Senate but Dayton contrlled the veto pen. Days of yore, hope being we never see that party controlling either house, for a long long time while they navel gaze and/or do their circular firing squad thing, among factions.

POLYMET - As land steward, much like a landlord, make them pay up front a damage deposit commensurate with the risk of leaving the premises in severe or even mild disrepair.

Or simply, "Just Say No."

Mining Truth - Know the truth. Make your choice. This link.

Marc Fink, a senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity in Duluth, has a helpful Jan 15, 2014, op-ed published in the Duluth News Tribune. This extended excerpt:

Not only would it cost up to $200 million to close the open-pit mine, mechanical water treatment could be needed for at least 200 years at the mine site and 500 years at the processing plant. Post-closure monitoring and maintenance is estimated at

$3.5 million to $6 million each year. Together, the cleanup, maintenance and monitoring costs over 500 years could approach a staggering $3 billion.

And yet, after years of study, there are still no details concerning financial assurance in the environmental analysis. The public and taxpayers instead are asked to trust that PolyMet and the agencies eventually will figure out how to ensure that the water treatment plants will be in place and adequately funded for perhaps hundreds of years.

That’s a lot to ask of Minnesotans who value clean water and a healthy environment and who wish to leave the same for their children and grandchildren.

Five hundred years ago, Leonardo da Vinci was painting the Mona Lisa, Martin Luther was posting his 95 Theses and Christopher Columbus was landing in the Caribbean. It’s hard to imagine that 500 years from now funding will still be in place from PolyMet to operate water-treatment plants. That’s centuries after its profits from the mine are long gone.

What’s more, even after the 500 years, water pollution from the mine could continue. PolyMet’s “Water Modeling Data Package” graphs indicate that water quality would remain poor, meaning that water treatment could be perpetual. This runs counter to Minnesota law, which calls for mining sites to be maintenance-free after closure.

And not all polluted water may be treated. Substantial amounts of polluted seepage could enter our groundwater untreated. In addition, more than 900 acres of high-quality wetlands could be permanently destroyed with thousands of additional acres of wetlands indirectly affected. And more than 4,000 acres of wildlife habitat could be degraded, including more than two square miles of critical habitat for the endangered Canada lynx and important habitat for Minnesota’s declining moose population.

Additionally, the proposed mine site is located on the Superior National Forest, where an open-pit mine is not allowed. But instead of rejecting the proposed mine, the U.S. Forest Service is proposing a land exchange with PolyMet to eliminate this surface protection.

No matter how long the agencies analyze this proposal, there’s no avoiding the significant irreversible environmental damage it’ll cause. It would be a 600- to 700-foot-deep, open-pit mine designed to remove more than 530 million tons of ore and waste rock in a water-rich environment dominated by high-quality wetlands.

Moreover, PolyMet is just the first of several copper-mine proposals for Northeastern Minnesota, with widespread exploration occurring in both the Lake Superior and Boundary Waters watersheds. Much of the Lake Superior watershed already exceeds standards for mercury and other pollutants. And the Environmental Protection Agency has identified heavy-metals mining as the nation’s top toxic-producing industry. It has polluted watersheds across the West.

So, tell them no. Short of that, the Duluth newspaper item suggests, reasonably:

Before the first sulfide copper mine is approved in the state, the agencies should take a step back and prepare a region-wide risk assessment to assess the extent of existing pollution and determine what a new sulfide mine district would mean for this region’s world-renowned waters.

Financial impact likelihoods on the region's tourism industry should likewise not be dismissed as inconsequential, or as inevitable, without due study of the magnitudes and distributions of adverse tourism impact. Simply saying "Suck it up" to those having livelihoods at risk in tourism is callous, at best; and impermissible, in fact, as to how we, state and nation, should sensibly operate. Land stewardship is not a joke. It is a responsibility.