Obama to bring back military commissions? Gitmo records to be destroyed? Target Women. Watada case dropped by Justice Department. Unsafe cosmetics. Better wind turbines.

Minnesota edition: News on the flooding from the Red River Valley, Franken-Coleman recount updates, Coleman donor investigation news, immigrants (and a Minnesota-born citizen) held illegally, RNC8 informant convicted, exploring the state’s alternative energy options.

Humans have never wanted to go backwards. Less comfort, security, pleasure, utility, convenience and strength are not options most people will consistently choose in their lives, even if it is for the betterment of their own bodies or the environment as a whole. We’re wired to eat fat and lay around. This is why selling people on consuming less, conserving more, paying more and getting less has always been a failing political position, even if it’s the smartest long-term approach and the least costly one. The answer to environmental problems, then, isn’t to get people to drive less. It’s to improve our technology with more efficient cars or alternative, lower polluting cars. Or heating systems. Or packaging. Or water use.