N.D. ATTORNEY GENERAL WILL NOT OPINE ON BLUNT SEVERANCE

Question of law not finding of fact is job of the ND Attorney General.

The AG will not supply an opinion to the ND State Auditor's Office on the question of Sandy Blunt's severance pay when he left the employ of WSI.

BRUCE WALKER: TRULY FAIR TAXES

Redistribution of wealth presumes knowledge that no one in a market can ever posses. Just as the action of observing events at the subatomic level itself induces a result, so the act of acquiring information from a market itself changes the dynamics of the market. Yearning for such impossible fairness is simply greed, lust, and envy dressing up in more respectable clothes.

LOOKING BACK FROM THE LEFT COAST

DEER SEASON, CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?, FAT CHANCE, OVERPROMISES, SEN. CONRAD told WDAY, IMAGINE THAT!, THE MYERS BROTHERS OF MINOT, THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

FATE OF COAL PLANTS IN LIMBO

The fate of scores of new coal-burning power plants is now in limbo over whether to regulate heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

The uncertainty resulted when an Environmental Protection Agency appeals panel on Thursday rejected a federal permit for a Utah plant, leaving the issue for the Obama administration to resolve.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING DOES NOT STIMULATE

Government spending has an abysmal track record of stimulating the economy. However, these repeated failures have not stopped lawmak-ers from proposing and enacting a seemingly end-less string of "stimulus" bills. Rather than redistributing money, lawmakers should focus on improving long-term productivity.

SANCTIMONIOUS STONE THROWERS

God bless Sarah Palin, and shame on elitists from both sides of the aisle who have denigrated, demonized and dissed her. I don't care how many "smartest people in the room" types offer pseudo-sophisticated analyses to prove she was a drag on the GOP presidential ticket. They are all manifestly and embarrassingly wrong -- and woefully out of touch -- which is par for the course for elitists.

PALIN, THE GOVERNORS, AND THE NEW POWER IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

The theme of this meeting of the Republican Governors Association is that, after the GOP’s loss of the White House, the House, and the Senate, power in the party has now settled firmly among the nation’s 23 Republican governors. If you’re a Republican member of Congress, how much can you really get done? If you’re the Republican president, how many days do you have left? But if you’re a Republican governor — well, you're where the action is.

HANK PAULSON, NAKED EMPEROR

Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson finally confirmed what lonely bailout opponents tried to tell the American public all along: The man doesn't know what the hell he's doing.

TELLING IT LIKE IT IS AT A TIPPING POINT

Milestones: European leaders gathered in Washington for the G-20 summit are pushing for an end to American-style capitalism. But on Thursday, President Bush made it clear that ain't gonna happen on his watch.

STABLE MONEY IS THE KEY TO RECOVERY

Ironically, it was French President Charles de Gaulle who best made the case in the 1960s. Worried that the U.S. would be tempted to abuse its role as key currency issuer by exporting domestic inflation, he called for the return to a classical international gold standard. "Gold," he observed, "has no nationality."

GLOBAL WARNING: HEADING TOWARDS A NEW ICE AGE?

It has plagued scientists and politicians for decades, but scientists now say global warming is not the problem.

We are actually heading for the next Ice Age, they claim.

HOW OBAMA WILL ENSURE 2012 VICTORY

No one likes the bearer of bad news, but, in this case, to render good news would be to offer bad prognostication. Frankly, I don't see anything short of divine or devilish intervention (and the latter favors the president-elect) that will prevent Obama from being a two-term president.

RESEARCHERS PUSH BUTANOL AS BIOFUEL ANSWER

Ethanol might reign as the king of biofuels, but several companies are betting that a close cousin may overcome some of its shortcomings.

BAKKEN ESTIMATE SWELLING

The government estimates about 200 million barrels of oil can be recovered in the Williston Basin, which includes parts of the Dakotas and Montana, using current technology.

WIN ONE FOR THE MESSIAH!

Unless Obama really is the Messiah, human nature won’t change much just because we elected someone who we want to think might be divine. So give Obama, the man, not the god, a chance to earn, rather than merely assert, his respect. Quit the smug moralizing that we have somehow proved to the world and ourselves that we are now finally worthy and deserving of adulation — as if wisdom and morality were always only an easy punch of the ballot away.

BLUE MINNESOTA

Minnesota has never been a red state. A state that elected Humphrey, Mondale, Wellstone, Ventura, and -- almost -- Franken couldn't be. But it has been trending rightward in recent elections. This year, conservatives held out hope the one state to vote against Ronald Reagan would be an outlier again, as one of the battleground states that could go Republican.

MCCAIN SAYS PALIN DIDN'T HURT

In his first interview since conceding the presidential election, John McCain said Tuesday that Sarah Palin did not damage his presidential bid and he dismissed anonymous criticism aimed at her following their crushing defeat.

CHEAT.GOV

Fraud: Many millions in dubious campaign donations to Barack Obama are going unaudited. Meanwhile, Minnesota's Senate race is ripe for the stealing. When elections lack integrity, the people no longer rule.

MISCHIEF IN MINNESOTA?

You'd think Democrats would be content with last week's electoral rout. But judging from the odd doings in Minnesota, some in their party wouldn't mind adding to their jackpot by stealing a Senate seat for left-wing joker Al Franken.

JUDGE DENIES BLUNT MOTIONS

A judge denied three motions in a case against former workers' compensation director Sandy Blunt, including a motion to dismiss the charges, a motion to dismiss additional information and a motion to move the trial out of Burleigh County.