730: 'This is the wrong way of making decisions' (Video)
Plain Talk
Gov. Kelly Armstrong called a special session to address what he and public health officials say is a crisis related to unregulated says of kratom in its natural and synthetic forms. Sen. Tim Mathern, a Fargo Democrat, says the session is unneccessary, but if we're going to have it, he'd rather it be focused on data centers. "Should we deal with kratom? Yes. Are there people who are hurt by it? Yes. There are many other substances that people are hurt by," he said. "Hundreds more persons per year die of alcohol. Hundreds more die per year of tobacco use and all kinds of other issues. So, let's...
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730: 'This is the wrong way of making decisions'
Plain Talk
Gov. Kelly Armstrong called a special session to address what he and public health officials say is a crisis related to unregulated says of kratom in its natural and synthetic forms. Sen. Tim Mathern, a Fargo Democrat, says the session is unneccessary, but if we're going to have it, he'd rather it be focused on data centers. "Should we deal with kratom? Yes. Are there people who are hurt by it? Yes. There are many other substances that people are hurt by," he said. "Hundreds more persons per year die of alcohol. Hundreds more die per year of tobacco use and all kinds of other issues. So, let's...
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729: 'We do disagree with the position that natural kratom leaf products should also be banned' (Video)
Plain Talk
There's been a lot of talk in North Dakota in recent weeks about kratom after Gov. Kelly Armstrong issued executive orders banning the substance and called lawmakers into a special session in Bismarck with an eye toward making that ban permanent. But what does the kratom industry think about it? "We agree with the governor in part and we disagree in another part," Mac Haddow said on this episode of Plain Talk. "It's a lot like being married, right? We have to get it right at the end." Haddow is a former state lawmaker, and a Reagan-era chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Health and Human...
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729: 'We do disagree with the position that natural kratom leaf products should also be banned'
Plain Talk
There's been a lot of talk in North Dakota in recent weeks about kratom after Gov. Kelly Armstrong issued executive orders banning the substance and called lawmakers into a special session in Bismarck with an eye toward making that ban permanent. But what does the kratom industry think about it? "We agree with the governor in part and we disagree in another part," Mac Haddow said on this episode of Plain Talk. "It's a lot like being married, right? We have to get it right at the end." Haddow is a former state lawmaker, and a Reagan-era chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Health and Human...
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728: 'Any moron can sound like Hemingway with ChatGPT' (Video)
Plain Talk
On this episode of Plain Talk, recorded on location inside Brewhalla at the TedXFargo event, we talked about a deeply uncomfortable topic. Suicide, namely. Our guest was Haley DeGreve, founder of the an advocacy group focused on mental health issues which also provides training for the public on how to recognize mental health episodes and health. We think about CPR training, and first aid training, but what about someone who is having a manic episode, or contemplating suicide? "Where our organization has leaned into that gray area is there are people like you and I who care, but we don't know...
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728: 'Any moron can sound like Hemingway with ChatGPT'
Plain Talk
On this episode of Plain Talk, recorded on location inside Brewhalla at the TedXFargo event, we talked about a deeply uncomfortable topic. Suicide, namely. Our guest was Haley DeGreve, founder of the an advocacy group focused on mental health issues which also provides training for the public on how to recognize mental health episodes and health. We think about CPR training, and first aid training, but what about someone who is having a manic episode, or contemplating suicide? "Where our organization has leaned into that gray area is there are people like you and I who care, but we don't know...
info_outline
727: 'I'm comfortable overreacting' (Video)
Plain Talk
"We know of at least 23 deaths in North Dakota where it's listed as a primary cause," Gov. Kelly Armstrong said on this episode of Plain Talk, referring to the substance kratom. Armstrong made headlines this week when he announced a temporary executive order banning kratom, and that he was calling lawmakers to Bismarck for a special session to pass more permanent policy. Some claimed that kratom is a ruse intended to cover other issues, such as the red-hot data center debate, or the but Armstrong made it clear that the session is very much about kratom. "We've basically only started testing...
info_outline
727: 'I'm comfortable overreacting'
Plain Talk
"We know of at least 23 deaths in North Dakota where it's listed as a primary cause," Gov. Kelly Armstrong said on this episode of Plain Talk, referring to the substance kratom. Armstrong made headlines this week when he announced a temporary executive order banning kratom, and that he was calling lawmakers to Bismarck for a special session to pass more permanent policy. Some claimed that kratom is a ruse intended to cover other issues, such as the red-hot data center debate, or the but Armstrong made it clear that the session is very much about kratom. "We've basically only started testing...
info_outline
726: 'We are defending people who don't deserve to be defended' (Video)
Plain Talk
On this Plain Talk, recorded live from TedXFargo, me and co-host Chad Oban talked about the rationalizations and excuses we make for ourselves in politics. Which also just happened to be the subject of my talk at the event. The decisions we're making politically — who we vote for, who we give money to, who we oppose — are what's driving what's happening to our country. But when things go poorly, we like to blame others. The lobbyists. The billionaires. The media. I'll not defend those things, but we also have to look in the mirror. We have to point the finger at ourselves. We are defending...
info_outline
726: 'We are defending people who don't deserve to be defended'
Plain Talk
On this Plain Talk, recorded live from TedXFargo, me and co-host Chad Oban talked about the rationalizations and excuses we make for ourselves in politics. Which also just happened to be the subject of my talk at the event. The decisions we're making politically — who we vote for, who we give money to, who we oppose — are what's driving what's happening to our country. But when things go poorly, we like to blame others. The lobbyists. The billionaires. The media. I'll not defend those things, but we also have to look in the mirror. We have to point the finger at ourselves. We are defending...
info_outlineGov. Kelly Armstrong called a special session to address what he and public health officials say is a crisis related to unregulated says of kratom in its natural and synthetic forms. Sen. Tim Mathern, a Fargo Democrat, says the session is unneccessary, but if we're going to have it, he'd rather it be focused on data centers.
"Should we deal with kratom? Yes. Are there people who are hurt by it? Yes. There are many other substances that people are hurt by," he said. "Hundreds more persons per year die of alcohol. Hundreds more die per year of tobacco use and all kinds of other issues. So, let's address this fine, but we should be dealing with other issues also."
"Most citizens of North Dakota want attention on data centers, not on kratum," he continued. "Most citizens don't even know what it's about."
Mathern is trying to get two bills into consideration during the session. One would impose a one-year moratorium on data center construction, while the other would ban data center companies from seeking nondisclosure agreements with public officials.
But the latter would only apply to data center companies.
The legislation "basically sets forth the concerns we have about data centers," Mathern said. "It clearly defines what a data center is, what a developer is, what a non-disclosure agreement is. It actually prohibits from any government official whether they're staff or elected any political subdivision or the state from signing or participating in a non-disclosure agreement."
Mathern also addressed the financial controversy around a stalled military museum project on the state capitol grounds which could cost taxpayes tens of millions of dollars.
"This is the wrong way of making decisions," Mathern said, noting that lawmakers "made a deal" to build the museum that would have it receive public funding that would match private fundraising. But construction on the project began without the private fundraising in place, and now it's out of money.
"I'm thinking this is more of a management issue, and this session should not be used to bail out management decisions or we're going down a path that is destructive to legislative decision making," Mathern said.
Also on this session, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss North Dakota's problems with charitable gaming which, these days, is beginning to look less and less charitable all the time, and more and more like a deeply lucrative casino industry.
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