Class war over uranium mining in Colorado pits rich ski town residents against the little people who want a better standard of living - NYT
" 'People from Telluride don’t have any business around here,' said Ms. Mathews, 31, who works as a school janitor and ardently supports the idea of bringing back uranium jobs. 'Not everyone wants to drive to Telluride to clean hotel rooms.' ”
Hamtramck pleads for permission from Lansing to go bankrupt - NYT
"The state is concerned that if they say yes to one, if that door is opened, they’ll have 30 more cities right behind us..." said the city manager.
Squeezing blood from a rocks - MLive
"Recently, [Jackson County, MI District Court Enforcement Officer] Pittman took a man with unpaid court debts before District Judge Michael Klaeren. The man told the judge he had long been without a job. He purchased what he needed with food stamps, he told the judge. Pittman told Klaeren the man had been cooperative, and Klaeren seemed to be understanding. Payment plans can be arranged, Mazur said. “We do what we can to get paid.” “We are trying to get compliance,” Bradley said." A few extra beans from some guy who's so broke he lives off food stamps. But it's not about the money?
California company to resume mining for rare earth minerals to help break the Chinese monopoly - PopSci
Some object though for environmental reasons. One response to that reaction I found amusing: "I love seeing people comment that mining is bad for the environment, and then get into their Prius (to go to the farmers market) that uses many kilos of rare earths, a ton of steel and aluminum, and plastics, that all have to be extracted from the earth. I am not claiming to be super smart or anything but IGNORANCE like that is what will end up being fatal to our economy."
