Truth Surfer

Would you be willing to go to jail as a whistleblower? What about going to jail when you uncover fraud by Diebolt? Peter Soby at the Huffington Post has the sordid details of Diebolt breaking the law and now trying to punish the whistleblower.

Dan Weinand wants you to 'Steal This Sign'... and I think you should, then link it to: www.dflcaucuses.org

Conservative columnist George Will this morning on ABC’s This Week: STEPHANOPOULOS: What does civil war look like? WILL: This. This is a civil war. Later, George Will even questioned whether Iraq can truly be said to have a government: Now, does Iraq have a government? Let me just postulate the question. A government exists when it has a reasonable monopoly on the legitimate use of violence. As long as the militias are out there, the existence of an Iraqi government is questionable. Think of Los Angeles. If Los Angeles said the Bloods and the Crips are going to be tolerated, they’re going to be armed and police their areas and enforce the law in certain areas, what sense would Los Angeles have of government? More at ThinkProgress

I was up south this week and hear someone mention they were going to announce their candidancy as a DFLer for the MN House... which is great...but...here's the disturbing thing, they said they weren't prepared yet to speak to the issues because "I don't know what those will be. I need to sit down with my manager and decide". I guess I'm naive but I want someone representing me who doesn't take a poll to determine which side of an issue they are going to fall out on . Or, even if ,they are going to address certain issues! I'll even go so far as to say, not speaking up has hurt our party. The only ones getting lower ratings than Bu$h is Congress as a whole! Which brings me to ask, if someone has been saying they're running for a congressional seat for months because they think the issues haven't been addressed, then wouldn't you think they'd address them? Where ?

Myth : "I honestly don't know what Coleen's position is on any policy issue ....” Fact : www.coleenrowley.com under ISSUES... Ethical Decision-Making Doing the right thing, not necessarily the easy thing. "...I will not compromise my ethical principles for the sake of short-term political goals, partisan loyalties or special interests. Applying this rigorous, principled approach will serve the best interests of Minnesotans and the United States." Read more » U.S. Occupation of Iraq Exiting Iraq: Now and How. "Facts have slowly come out revealing that the invasion of Iraq was based on a Bush administration deception from day one. And just as truth was the first casualty of this war, it is a continuing casualty." Read more » Energy Independence American innovation and invention must lead. "As long as we depend on Middle Eastern oil, we will be involved in Middle Eastern conflicts and invite the wrath of terrorists everywhere. As long as we are held ...

There's nothing particularly freeing about the Iraqi occupation. Just ask those trying to stay alive. 150 dead , 128 Sunni Mosques attacked, 3 clerics dead, 7 US Soldiers dead, Revenge squads stalk the streets “The cheapest thing in Iraq is a human life’

Dear G*D (or South Dakotan!): According to the Iranian Aftab News Agency , it is estimated that every hour, nine fetuses are legally and illegally aborted in Iran. Yes you read that right, 9 fetuses every hour, or 360 in a week! Sure there's some reasons ...but that's not your concern. Time to do your due diligence and mobilize your fundamentalist base by convincing them that an attack on Iran could save some 18 Million fetuses from being aborted each year. And just think of the bonuses...no more tales of green salt or yellow cake . Health concerns? SD liberates middle eastern women from middle eastern men, tear apart their families, then liberates their fetuses...million upon million of fetuses saved... Yes, Yes , Yes! South Dakota, this cause has your name written all over it. Yours Truly, The Truth Surfer PS: Should I now go to you instead of my doctor for health care?

Tell me again Mr. President, how we're winning in Iraq.... All morning we’ve been hearing/watching both Shia and Sunni religious figures speak out against the explosions and emphasise that this is what is wanted by the enemies of Iraq- this is what they would like to achieve- divide and conquer. Extreme Shia are blaming extreme Sunnis and Iraq seems to be falling apart at the seams under foreign occupiers and local fanatics. No one went to work today as the streets were mostly closed. The situation isn’t good at all. I don’t think I remember things being this tense- everyone is just watching and waiting quietly. There’s so much talk of civil war and yet, with the people I know- Sunnis and Shia alike- I can hardly believe it is a possibility. Educated, sophisticated Iraqis are horrified with the idea of turning against each other, and even not-so-educated Iraqis seem very aware that this is a small part of a bigger, more ominous plan… Several mosques have been taken over by the Mahd...

Wondering why you can't make ends meet even though Bu$hCo says the economy is going gangbusters? Take a look at this chart from the federal reserve: The Federal Reserve Board reported today that the average income of American families, after adjusting for inflation, declined 2.3% in 2004 compared with 2001. (yes we're going backwards over the years!) The White House reported in August 2004 , "Real after-tax incomes are up 11 percent since December 2000." Once again Bu$h's economic statistics have no basis in reality. Unfortunately, the American public can't feed their family, get to work and provide necessities on what Bu$h says vs. Reality!

MJ NEWS: She has limited campaign funding and won't pose for the cover of Time. But Rowley might have what it takes to win a congressional election. If she wins, she says, it must be because voters see and hear Coleen Rowley , not because of some editor’s decision to put her on the cover. It really comes down to this: If you want someone different in Congress, send someone different! Send someone who can capture the imagination of the voting public with their passion, intelligence, truthfulness, and honesty. Coleen Rowley, Agent for Change

People who construe liberty [primarily in terms of political freedoms] are highly privileged: They don't realize the real constraints on most people's freedom – Poverty and Drudgery . –H.E., The Enlightenment Project

Justices to Weigh Late-Term Abortion Ban Oh goody, a bunch of over priveleged males who aren't doctors deciding women's health care issues!

DFL Party Chair Brian Melendez will be a guest of Kerri Miller on MPR's (91.1 FM) `Midmorning' Tuesday from 10 to 11 a.m. He'll be joined by Ron Carey to discuss the upcoming precinct caucuses, fundraising and the local political ads issues.

Jobs cut at energy lab restored before Bush visit If it worked once...maybe?

Don’t worry Be happy Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff refused to explain why the Bu$hadministration has turned over control of operations at six of the nation’s largest ports to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates, a country with dubious ties to international terrorism: The UAE was one of three countries in the world to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. The UAE has been a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and Lybia. According to the FBI, money was transferred to the 9/11 hijackers through the UAE banking system. After 9/11, the Treasury Department reported that the UAE was not cooperating in efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden’s bank accounts. The discussions are classified. I can’t get into the specifics here…As far as my agency is concerned, port security really rests principally with the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection. In other words, don’t worry about it, the Coa...

Partly False, Partly True and Totally Misleading to Minnesotans! Have you seen the new ‘Let’s sell the war in Iraq’ TV commercial called MidWest Heroes being aired in Minnesota by special interest group PFA (Progress For America)? The Pro-Iraq war ad endorses the war by skillfully blending a few facts with a lot of fiction and emotional touches by having U.S. veterans mislead us into believing the war is (will be) successful. Unfortunately, it's not. Reality Check on WCCO has a brief video the labels the TV ad as misleading at best. PFA is a national tax-exempt organizations closely tied to Bush Administration and Washington DC GOP political insiders. They were established in 2001 to support Bush's 'agenda for America'. So in essences we have Bu$h supporters supporting Bu$h's failed Iraqi War effort and using donated money to try and 'sell' the war to the rest of us. Interestingly Minnesota is only state where the ad is currently running. They assume a one...

Look at it this way... You won't have to travel as far to protest and expensives will be much lower... Minneapolis is one of 31 cities the Republican National Committee (RNC) has asked to bid for its 2008 convention.

DNC Chair Howard Dean says he's not happy that Iraqi war veteran Paul Hackett is dropping out of the race for U-S Senate in Ohio. Dean told a student audience in Miami that " some skulduggery in Washington " improperly led to Hackett's decision to end his bid. Skullduggery, evil doings . trickery

The Ten Ways : Chocking, Shooting, Raining blows down upon you, Telekinesis, With his bare hands, The Grip of Death, Headbutt, Stabbing, Karate, Impalement PS. Cheney will be visiting De Pere Area in Wisconsin for a GOP Fundraiser on March 13, 2006. My advice: Stay Away or at the very least ditch the camouflages and wear hot pink with blaze orange.

The DNC has issued an annual report to the grassroots. (to those paying attention that would be...us!). Cynical speculation is that it was done to quiet some of the naysayers and second guessers regarding the DNC's $ bottom line, but I believe it's a meaningful way for Dean to show DNC accountability to the activists. A way to show the grassroots supporters and volunteers what the DNC is doing and planning to do. With that said, Howard Dean is a breath of fresh air within the beltway. He gets 'it'. 'It' being the need to connect the DNC to the base. The report has an impressive array of accomplishments, priorities and goals. It shows that Dean (DNC) is giving every Democratic candidate the opportunity to connect with a meaningful national agenda . Anyone still withholding support with Dean at the helm of the DNC is either a fool or an elephant....(just my opinion mind you). The Plan: Show Up Everywhere Strengthen State Parties and the Grassroots Focus O...

Coleen Rowley (MN-CD2 Candidate)is scheduled to appear on FOX's morning show "FOX & Friends First" this Wed., 2/15, at 6:15 AM (CST). She will comment on the Moussaoui investigation, her 9-11 experience, as well as the larger war on terror.

You can ask but you shouldn’t force… not like this … Iraq war veteran Paul Hackett, a Bush administration critic who had been recruited by top Democrats to run for U.S. Senate, said Tuesday he was dropping his campaign and declared his political career over."I said it. I meant it. I stand by it," Hackett said Tuesday. " At the end of the day, my word is my bond and I will take it to my grave." Hackett said he was pressured by party leaders to drop out of the Senate primary and run for the House instead. National Democratic leaders, especially Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of the Senate campaign committee, had told Hackett's top fundraisers to stop sending money. If you continue to try and control from the TOP down…you're deconstructing the Democratic Party . Your base will leave. Stop it! Chris Bower at MyDD has a good read on this: The anger is also coming from being taken for granted. The activist working class does not work in the world of politics. Th...

Congressman John Kline( MN- CD2-R) won't be receiving a valentine from the NAACP any time soon. A recently released scorecard by the NAACP on the 109th Congress gave John Kline the lowest rating from among the elected officials in Minnesota: A failing 22% on African-American issues. The mid-term report card graded members of Congress on several pieces of legislation that deal with issues important to the African-American community including judicial nominations, discrimination legislation and education and environmental issues. John Kline earned his failing grade by among other things: Voting against preventing discrimination when allotting federal funds (HR3862) while allowing federal surveillance of library records (HR 2862) and supporting CAFTA. What an embarrassment to the voters in CD2. Time to replace Kline with someone who will represent everyone fairly. The full NAACP scorecard is here .

Company requires RFID injection Two employees have been injected with RFID chips this week as part of a new requirement to access their company's datacenter. Cincinnati based surveillance company CityWatcher.com created the policy with the hopes of increasing security in the datacenter where video surveillance tapes are stored. In the past, employees accessed the room with an RFID tag which hung from their keychains, however under the new regulations an implantable, glass encapsulated RFID tag from VeriChip must be injected into the bicep to gain access, a release from spychips.com said on Thursday. Although the company does not require the microchips be implanted to maintain employment, anyone without one will not be able to access the datacenter, according to a Register article. I wonder if they pay to have it removed when you quit? What about scarring? Kinda of scary like considering I work in private security. Will I have to make this decision shortly? Must I become part 'c...

No it's not the latte I had at 3PM, or the reoccurring nightmare where red spiders jump out of my computer screen whenever I accidently blog into a GOP site... In a piece titled "Forget Iran, Americans Should be Hysterical About This; Nuking the Economy ," Paul Craig Roberts (Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration) reveals that the newly revised data show that "Job growth over the last five years is the weakest on record. The US economy came up more than 7 million jobs short of keeping up with population growth." His conclusion? "If you are worried about terrorists, you don't know what worry is." Specific grim facts about the state of jobs in the US during the 21st century (so far): Communications equipment lost 43% of its workforce Semiconductors and electronic components lost 37% of its workforce The workforce in computers and electronic products declined 30% Electrical equipment and appliances lost 25% of its employees...

Myth :"Rowley has not really proven to be a very formidable candidate" citing her "anemic fundraising." Fact :At the end of the last reporting period Coleen Rowley had $170,000.00. "To have $100,000 at this time puts somebody in a position to start a campaign and be taken seriously," said Michael Malbin, director of the non-partisan Campaign Finance Institute in Washington. Democrats challenging Republican House incumbents in 41 congressional districts each raised at least $100,000 in 2005, according to new Federal Election Commission figures. And the Democratic fund-raising arm for congressional races had $16 million in the bank at the start of the year, compared with just $8.5 million at the beginning of 2004, FEC records show. PS: Myth 1 redux (another picture of her smiling) Coleen Rowley , Agent for Change

Shown the photograph, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the White House had "found no record of Abramoff's presence but confirmed that it is Abramoff in the picture," Kinda makes you wonder…just what kind of record keeping they have at the oh so very secure whitehouse with so many 'unrecorded' visits. Wonder how many 'unrecorded' visits to the White House Jack Abramoff made?

The new National Rifle Association Poster Pin Up ...and what a whacky wabbit he is! Do you think the stress is getting to him? Besides not being a straight shooter, I'm sensing a pattern here !

Norm Coleman (R), doofus senator from Minnesota, just managed to get his butt kicked by disgraced former FEMA Director Michael Brown. -- Josh Marshall Geez, Josh must know Norm Coleman (MN-R)really well to call him by his Minnesota nickname...

"Scooter" Libby, Cheney's former chief of staff, is singing and shifting the blame to his superiors. "We also note that it is our understanding that Mr. Libby testified that he was authorized to disclose information about the NIE to the press by his superiors," Cheney Cheney Cheney..can't say I'm surprised. Shut the door and turn out the lights when you leave. Through the facade of Cheney's pig-squint and peevish snarl, we can see the long-dead Nixonian visage, his grave-green, worm-filled jowls muttering once more the lunatic mantra he brought to the Oval Office: "If the president does it, it can't be illegal." This is what we've come to, this is American leadership today: ugly, stupid men mouthing the witless drivel of failed, dead, discredited, would-be petty tyrants. CHRIS FLOYD, Empire Burlesque It's never a good sign when the Vice President of the United States of America openly fights in congress to allow the use of tortu...

As the name implies, Free Comic Book Day is a single day (May 6) when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world are giving away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores. Comic books are an original American art form, created in the early days of the twentieth century. They are fun to read, featuring a wide range of diverse storylines that capture the imagination of the readers, and have survived: the dominance of radio, the ubiquity of television, the spread of color and sound motion pictures, the rise of videogames, and the Internet. That's worth celebrating in our book, and as this site continues to grow and evolve, you'll see even more information about this wonderful medium. To learn more about comic books and their history, go here.

Hallaballo... They're not real...it's satire silly rabbits (or sheep being lead off the cliff?!) OMG I agree with Rice! Strange days indeed! IRAN, SYRIA DELIBERATELY INFLAME MUSLIM ANGER OVER CARTOONS Stan: Hey, do you know where I can find the clitoris? Cartman: What is that like finding Jesus or something?

Has a heart of Gold and a Heart of Gold Movie

Myth: ... a candidate that refuses to smile for pictures. Fact: A picture is worth a 1000 words...

Mother Jones, a must read The Weirdness of Bushworld By Tom Engelhardt Reflecting on an action-packed week almost too absurd for words

High security 23 al-Qaeda suspects escape from Yemen prison 20 million people, 60 million guns, ongoing wars, active terrorists, extensive poverty, pervasive corruption, a high illiteracy rate, ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, and a widespread belief that the United States is the reason life here for so many is so miserable And why it happened

Freedom of Speech ?! What you’re not being told .

If You Want Something Different From Congress, Send Somebody Different To Congress Coleen Rowley Agent of Change

Must be hard to be a reformer. Bolton and the empty room . Something just ain't right with that boy!

It won't be long before they're be passing out lobbyist checks on the house floor...sigh...again. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, chosen House majority leader .

Get out of the way or get on board...There's a netroots revolution happening... my DD It's time to get serious about power. Digby is ranting...it's coming...Steve is blogging...thunder is rumbling, lightening is striking... You are either an insurgent or not. If you want to change the Democratic Party, you have to be serious about. No more talk about the Greens, no stomping off. We have to be serious about getting rid of the dead wood at every level and pushing our arguments relentlessly. more

Breaking News! Feb 01 AP story Sharon Marko (MN D): "We need to be focused on the important issues ." But when asked in the same interview she declined to discuss her views on issues ." Coleen Rowley’s response on Marko’s statements: "She's right that the issues are extremely important in these upcoming elections," "The focus has to remain on getting rid of John Kline." So Sharon having lived and held elected office in CD2 for years isn't prepared now to speak to the issues?! Or doesn't want to?! Or?! Coleen Rowley's views on the issues are posted on her website here . Coleen knows what they are and doesn't shy away from speaking about them! She speaks with a loud clear voice...maybe Marko should listen.

We lie when we don't allow the truth - "2,245 Dead. How many more?"

It's one thing when John Kline (MN R) distorts a mistake hoping to deflect from his own lack of leadership but it's just wrong when Democrats pile on for political 'atta girlfriend points '. Senator Marko (MN D) will declare her candidancy today to challenge former FBI agent Coleen Rowley for the Democratic endorsement, according to Marko's friend Rep. Betty McCollum...McCollum criticizing a fellow Democrat said the stunt by a young campaign volunteer "was very unprofessional' and "personally offended' her. Sharon Marko supported ex-mayor and Bush supporter Randy Kelly . Was Betty 'personally offended' by that? I can't seem to find any statements from Betty on this...you know, supporting political friends at the expense of democratic values. McCollum, Marko, Kline... Strange friends in deed...CD2 deserves better than what the 'good old boy/girl' network is trying to dish up to them.