Truth Surfer

There's an interview with Steve Sarvi , candidate in Minnesota's Second Congressional District, posted up at mnblue . If you haven't read anything on Steve Sarvi, take a look at the interview...Basically it points to a 'boots on the ground' person verses the Kline 'dog and pony' show. Finally a candidate with a solid history of service to the community and county that will be able to cut through Kline's smoke and mirrors image. One of the key differences highlighted by mnblue besides health care, vet support and education, is about Kline's recent announcement he will no longer work for earmarks for Minnesotans: On transportation, Sarvi asserts that Kline has not done the job needed. Republicans have neglected our infrastructure at the state and national level and Kline has gone along with it. Kline's vow to fore go any earmark's in 2008particularly baffles Steve. "We've got a bridge in Hastings over the Mississippi that's in dan...

Stephen T. Sarvi, a candidate in the second congressional district running against John Kline recently got published in the Star Tribune: Not all federal earmarks are bad : "Part of congressional leadership is getting money to the places that need it in the state you represent." Steve Sarvi couldn't be more right. What value does Congressman John Kline have when he won't meet with his constituents and announces that he won't vote for any bill with earmarks? Sounds to me like Mr. Kline doesn't want to be a congressman. "Every year, we Minnesotans send our tax dollars to Washington, putting more into the federal pot than we get back. Our state is blessed with talented and hard-working people who generally don't begrudge sending money where it is most needed for the common good.However, U.S. Rep. John Kline, who the Star Tribune reported on Dec. 10 has decided to no longer seek "earmarks" on behalf of our state, would have us believe that bring...

So let me get this straight...Congressman John Kline won't advocate for his district on congressional budget spending..hmmm...why is he still in office? From the DFL: John Kline’s Double Standard: Abandon the Home Front, but Still Back Iraq Republican Congressman Abandons Earmarks for District While Costs of War He Still Supports Continue to Mount St. Paul, MN (December 10, 2007) The Star Tribune reported today that Second District Republican Representative John Kline has abandoned the practice of earmarking, leaving his constituents to fend for their own in obtaining needed federal funding for worthy local projects, including for roads, bridges and transit. In response, the Minnesota DFL Party noted that Kline’s new-found fiscal conservatism cannot hide the double standard of his continued blank-check support for President Bush’s failed war in Iraq. “John Kline’s double standard is breathtaking,” said Minnesota DFL Associate Chair Donna Cassutt. “It’s not just that his supposed fi...

Albert Lea’s citizens know it’ll take at least 100 years to set this right again…but who’s counting? ‘In the name of oil and pipeline safety’…amen. It’s it just me or has America become even more stupid ? Since we’ve moved on to the unreal…let’s get to the truth about yetis .

It wouldn't be the holiday season without a special election now would it? Well, at least in Minnesota with a Governor who enjoys having special elections during the Holiday season... Today State Senator Thomas Neuville (senate district 25) was named the Third District judge by Governor Tim Pawlenty. What's interesting is that the judge retired back in September on the 14th to be specific. So the question is why did it take Pawlenty so long to appoint a new judge??? Well if history dictates anything, Tis the season to hold special elections. Here’s the story Why would it be important to hold a special election for Governor Pawlenty during the holidays? Two words for ya: St. Olaf & Carleton Colleges (ok more than two words - LOL) The two schools reside in Northfield and both schools will be on holiday break. So who’s going to run? Well former State House Representative Ray Cox (republican) has thrown his hat into the race “unofficially” of course. One just needs to take a lo...

If as President Bush says “The Iraqis are slowly taking their country back”, then I would offer up…if by taking their country back he means pre Hussain, Taliban-like control where women were abused and had no voice, well then… Mission Accomplished While the Bush administration is now touting success in Iraq , last month alone over 50 women were killed. The deteriorating plight of Iraqi women has been ignored as pressure has been applied to the media to not cover the issue often referring to it as ‘a cultural or internal issue’. But the reality is abduction, rape and murder are the punishments for any woman under the guise of the new Iraqi 'democracy'. That despite his atrocities and failings, Saddam Hussein ran an essentially secular government that gave women more educational, professional and social freedoms than does the current regime. In other words, women are victims in the new Iraqi 'democracy'. There is growing pressure and violence toward women to adhere to s...

Steve Sarvi- Congressional Candidate in Minnesota's second district will be interviewed today! From insidemnpolitcs@mac.com .: Your Chance To Talk To Steve Sarvi - Candidate To Replace Rep. John Kline When I first interviewed Steve Sarvi he was in Iraq helping people in rural Iraq rebuild their roads, buildings and other infrastructure that has been destroyed in the fighting there. It was his last assignment in a 19-year military career that had included successfully mentoring people in war-damaged Kosovo on how to set up their own local governments. At that time Sarvi indicated he was ready for his next assignment: coming home, taking on Rep. John Kline in a run for Congress, and then helping us fix our own war-damaged government. Today Steve will be a guest (and I'll be the fill-in host) on Air America Minnesota's Mark Heaney show. We're going to talk about what Steve has heard in his 13-stop listening tour through Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District. By th...

Friday, Tim Walz and John Kline appeared on Almanac together to discuss a House bill that would fund the final construction costs of the new 35W Bridge in Minneapolis. Walz voted for the bill, Kline voted with BUSH against the bill. Throughout the exchanged Kline referred to the "pet projects" imbedded into this bill, like money, which is LONG overdue to improve HWY 14 here in Minnesota. He stated that the Democrats were being irresponsible with the budget... this is laughable since the President, which Kline supports 110% without question, has put our country in the most debt EVER!!! Watch as Tim Walz sticks up for Minnesota and goes after Kline! Almanac Want to find out what pet projects are important to BUSH? Click on this link and then click on "Bush's money hypocrisy?" from MSNBC's Countdown: Countdown What does Kline think about us dishing out money to BUSH's pork projects???? Mr. Kline you need to represent US, the people that live in your distric...

Say What? Congressman John Kline (R-MN CD2) continues to fiddle while Rome burns…only it’s bridges in Minnesota and John Kline is voting against funding the rebuild. Tell you what, let’s all turn our backs on Kline so he can really twist the knife he’s placed in our backs. Obviously he has no soul to go with his missing heart and brain. I’d go on but I’m too depressed by his inability to stand with Minnesotans on every single damm issue that might help them... Say It Again! There will be free speech…I won’t be silent….I am an American with a voice….ah hell ..mnblue says it best …go over and read it, then start organizing. Stop Saying It! Hey isn’t it time we stop kicking your future leaders while handing them our overdue credit card federal debt. Really, beside being rude and mindless….we’re sounding a lot like our parents…

Hey all. I have launched a new weblog: amndemocrat.blogspot.com It's titled "a Minnesotan Democrat (DFLer)". Consider it a mix of stories, personal thoughts and feelings from an insider on politics. I'll be sharing stories, personal thoughts and feelings in regards to politics and hopefully in the process I hope to create an interesting forum for everyone. I've enjoyed contributing to truthsurfer and will continue to do so! Thanks for indulging me! Check out my first post: "The Spark" Take part in a related poll.

During an MSNBC debate this past Tuesday, Clinton demonstrated her "doubletalk" and not being upfront when asked a question: from MSNBC.com - Clinton may have given her opponents an opening to bear down on their “doubletalk” attack. In a convoluted answer to the same question, Clinton first said she thought New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to let illegal immigrants have driver’s licenses “makes a lot of sense.” Then she said she did not endorse Spitzer’s plan even though she repeated that he had the right idea. Then she accused Russert of asking a “gotcha” question. Edwards leaped, noting that Clinton appeared to have given two different answers in less than two minutes. “I think this is a real issue for the country,” he said. “I mean, America is looking for a president who will say the same thing, who will be consistent, who will be straight with them.” Thank you John Edwards, I totally agree! I'm growing tired of the political games Hillary Clinton has been playing. W...

Guest who I'm gonna be spending time with when the RNC Convention comes Minneapolis?,,I'll let Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak explain.... “When we were bidding on the convention… the head of the Republican Party called me [Mayor R.T. Rybak] and said ‘Ya know, it’s coming close and you guys are great contenders here, but I need you honestly to say that you’ll work as hard for the Republican Convention as the Democratic Convention.’ And I said ‘Well, to be perfectly honest, I think I’m going to have to work a little harder on the Republican Convention.’ And he said ‘Why?’ And I said ‘Well, because I want to make sure the protest areas are comfortable for my wife and kids.’ ” The UpTake has the video

According to Eric Black over at Minnesota Monitor , "Ciresi campaign confirmed as much to me this week -- that Ciresi did nothing to publicly express this opposition until he became a Senate candidate this year." But apparently after much back and forth, Ciresi finally remembered and provided the names of a couple of close friends that he had private conversations with regarding his opposition to the war prior to being a candidate this year.....Hmm...well I say...if he can just find the protests he attended, petitions he signed, letters he wrote, and anti-war organizations he funded, then his private stance will become much more meaningful (and believeable!). I was one of those that received a call from a calling house in New Jersey last week asking who I supported for U.S. Senate, after saying Franken, I was then push polled by the caller saying 'Would you still support Al Franken if you knew he supported the war in Iraq unlike Senate candidate Mike Ciresi who was agains...

Taxpayer League President Phil Krinkie isn't fit to take out the trash. He is not a conservative..just another radical loud mouth that talks trash without any factual information or realistic solutions to issues...He advocates the selling of the American way of life and it's government in exchange for a few more tax dollars in his pocket. Want proof? Minnesota 2020 has Phil trashing special education and public schooling. On a personal note, I have a beautiful and uniquely talented child in a public school special ed program. She loves learning and her teachers and school. She is a joy to be with and brings happiness to everyone around her...when I read what Krinkie had to say regarding Special Ed, I realized that he was a mean spirited thug who believes that all public funding is a waste...that same mentality that doesn't want to adequately fund public transportation so bridges start to fall down.... I would offer up that if Krinkie doesn't want to exist in a societ...

Dear Senator Obama, Sometimes the politics of hope has to roll up its sleeves and go after the “establishment”. I have been supporting John Edwards, and as of late I have been looking more into your campaign. I want to vote for the candidate that has the most courage to get things done, to stand up and speak truth to power and bring power to truth. It’s time that politics of hope takes the fight to the politics of the Washington insider. It’s time that you become the aggressor and go after the endorsement. It’s time to prove everyone wrong about the front-runner being “the chosen one”. For politics of hope and change to have a chance, you must fight harder and stronger starting NOW. It would be a tragic shame if you loose due to not putting all of your heart and soul into this campaign. It would be sad to see that when all it would have taken was courage to stand up and fight for hope and change and all of those that support it, not to have happened. NOW is the time for TRUE leaders to...

So after 6 years of war.... US clampdown on private security in Iraq... How reassuring that must be to the countless of relatives who have lost family and love ones to private American thugs.

“The future will not belong to those who sit on the sidelines. The future will not belong to the cynics. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” (Frequently used quote) - Paul Wellstone

Last week, the House Commerce & Labor Committee examined the overdue, over-budget Wakota Bridge project. Below is the detailed summary of the findings from that hearing, based upon the documents and testimony presented. The committee's objective is to determine what went wrong with an eye toward preventing further delays and cost overruns. Seems pretty clear to me that MnDOT has ceased to function in the best interest of Minnesotan commuters and tax payers. They don't even coorporate with our duly elected officials in turning over requested paperwork and reports? MnDOT's Commissioner Carol Molnau must go or does the blame stop at her boss- Governor Tim Pawlenty? SPECIAL REPORT Twice the Time, Twice the Money: What Went Wrong with the Wakota Bridge? Issue. Why is the Wakota Bridge reconstruction project taking twice as long and costing twice as much as originally anticipated? Overview. Begun by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) on February 10, 2003, ...

News release from the campaign...looks like our reclusive republican congressional puppetman John Kline might have some competition...In the immortal words of Kline's puppet master "Bring it on" Pledging to Fight for a Change of Course at Home and Abroad, Sarvi Files with FEC to Challenge Representative John Kline Watertown, MN (October 4, 2007) Iraq war veteran and former Watertown mayor Steve Sarvi filed his campaign committee today with the Federal Election Commission, paving the way for a challenge to three-term Republican United States Representative John Kline. Sarvi said that Minnesotans are ready for a change in course both at home and abroad. “As a veteran of the Iraq war, I’ve seen first-hand that we need to change strategy in Iraq and change strategy here at home,” said Sarvi, a married father of three school-age children. “Minnesotans want a representative in Washington who listens to their concerns, knows how to bring people together to solve the many chall...

Thinking outside the wallet!

Ugh...Will a hot shower and stiff drink make this image go away?! Rep. Michele Bachmann on the Dave Lee show on WCCO radio Wednesday morning: “The President and I enjoy a great relationship. When he was at the site of the collapsed bridge, he reached over because he wanted to give me a kiss when we were down at the site and I had pulled back and he said ‘What?’, you know, “You don’t want an embrace?’, and I said, ‘You know, the people of Minnesota love you, Mr. President, but I think one kiss was enough.’”

When a community experiences tragedy like the bridge collapsing over the Mississippi River in Minnesota in August, they can pull together or go down in flames. Apparently Minnesota's Governor Pawlenty is a card carrying member of the latter group. While Minnesotans and their elected representative want transportation resolutions to ensure adequate funding and repairs, Tim Pawlenty continues to be an obstructionist. In many ways it that kind of behavior that lead to a bridge collapsing and the resulting injuries and death. Pawlenty's failure to compromise, to raise taxes or at least set a reasonable budget that meets the needs of local government, and to find resolutions has brought us to the brink abandoning local governments and bridges falling down. Instead of calling a special session and building bridges to the future, Pawlenty once more stand in the way of progress. Toady's Star Tribune quotes Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak by saying he [R.T] is going to have to w...

There's a new red hot attraction drawing travelers from all over into Minnesota. All the 'in' people want to be seen and have their pictures taken there. The multitude of travelers gather round with their camera phones clicking while they pose in front of (and inside) the men's restroom at the Minneapolis St. Paul airport!?! Yes, travelers in an attempt to forget about the daily threat of terrorism at the MSP airport now brave other like-travelers and potential terrorist to view the notorious men's restroom (better know as the Craig's Room) with the hopes of glimpsing...what? I'm guess here but perhaps they want to be at ground zero of where the wide stance and foot tapping all started. Still such a trip down restroom memory lane is not without risk. Who knows what sting operation is in place by local police in an effort to net more adults 'hooking up'? While crime is festering all over, rest assured the MSP bathroom is....well...sort of safe...that ...

The desperate need for healthcare reform hit home last year when my husband was diagnosed with cancer...I've seen and experience things in the last year that no human should be subject to...but here's the real tragedy...we're the lucky ones...we have health insurance, a supportive family and a committed HR department where he worked...those souls that don't have these things....die... You can sing along to the video...but for me, I'll just cry...for the shame of a 'great society' and those that it's lets die.

While Kelly at the DFLers answers the question of ‘Why Do Minnesotans Want to Dump Norm Coleman?’, she left out a couple of reasons: Reason 2007: ‘Because Puppets are for Children and he didn't do the job!' Reason 2008: ‘Because he doesn’t represent Minnesota values’

Hard to teach accountability to our kids when we shy away from our own.... And to answer John's question, yes I'm outraged...but not surprised: from www.mn2020.org : The Minnesota Department of Education announced that it will release its annual school progress report to the public at 9:45 p.m. tonight, on the eve of one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. The report is a key measure of how Minnesota schools are faring, reporting which ones are and aren’t making “adequate yearly progress.” Minnesota 2020 Education Fellow John Fitzgerald said he was shocked that the state would release such an important report so late in the evening before a holiday weekend.“It is clear that the tactic is to release bad news on a day that Minnesotans are traveling and unlikely to read newspapers and watch TV,” Fitzgerald said. “This report is enormously important to the state of Minnesota – and parents should be outraged that the state is trying to hide these results.”

General Petreus (be-tray-us) is now saying that the US troop surge is work by a reduction in sectarian killings and a drop in roadside bombings…I guess the general is confusing Iraq with some other war… Roadside bomb attacks in Iraq reach an all-time high: "Roadside bomb attacks on American troops in Iraq reached an all-time high last month [July 2007], accounting for more than one third of all combat deaths." Patterns of Sectarian Violence in Baghdad : doesn’t paint a pretty picture "The distribution of unidentified bodies found dumped in Baghdad between June 18 and July 18, 2007.' General Petraeus is expected to recommend keeping the high US troop numbers. His interim report, published last month, acknowledged attacks were continuing and the "slow progress" of establishing Iraqi security forces. My question is....why? Failure is to continue and not learn from our mistakes. Iraq War = Failure.

Even in Iowa some get that equal protection and due-process is for everyone!

I'm not holding my breath waiting for the General David Petraeus’s much-anticipated September report regarding Iraq. Do we really need to wait two more weeks to know what his report will say? Especially if the White House is going to write it! Recently, the media revealed — and the White House confirmed — that Gen. David Petraeus’s much-anticipated September report on Iraq will “actually be written by the White House.” But this week, Petraeus assured lawmakers that he won’t let the White House interfere with his analysis...

You Are 100% Feminist You are a total feminist. This doesn't mean you're a man hater (in fact, you may be a man). You just think that men and women should be treated equally. It's a simple idea but somehow complicated for the world to put into action. Are You a Feminist?

Sometimes doing good cost nothing in the way of time and money....One of my virtual WOW friends decided to start up an Allakhazam folding@home team, and I thought it was so good an idea that I am posting it here for everyone who wants to download the program. What is folding@home? It is a distributed computing program sponsored by Stanford University designed to help the scientific community understand the development of many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, BSE (mad cow disease), cancer, Huntington's Disease, Cystic Fibrosis and many others. It runs in the background on your computer using your excess CPU power to join with millions of other computers to compute at speeds which otherwise could not be reached individually. It costs you nothing to run and may help to save lives, including perhaps your own or those of your loved ones. If you want to help, simply download http://folding.stanford.edu/download.html and fill in team ID 85020 after you install it. Also, you ...

I have a dream… or spotty did …or Amy and Walz or somebody… "Tim, you went to Camp Wellstone. You even had my friend Rick Kahn speak at your election party. And Amy, you were one of the people over at DFL headquarters after my plane went down asking to be the replacement candidate, right?" Amy and Tim reply, "Yes." "And both of you have invoked my memory in your campaigns, haven't you?" Again the reply is "Yes." Tim says, "But, Paul, we have to try to keep everybody happy now. I have an election in just another year." "That's true. But you'll never please everyone, and you need to remember the tide of public opinion that brought you into office. The people you pleased with those votes won't support you anyway." They represent us…don’t they? Are am I just dreaming...

From the Franken camp on Bu$h visit yesterday: This week, President Bush is coming to Minnesota. But there won't be any cheering, because he won't be appearing in public. He won't be speaking to middle-class families who can't afford to send their kids to college. He won't be meeting with sugar beet farmers whose livelihoods are threatened by CAFTA. And you can bet he's steering clear of any Minnesotans who want him to finally face up to the mistakes he's made in Iraq No, George W. Bush is here to raise money for Senator Norm Coleman at a private party in Eden Prairie - and you're probably not invited. It costs at least $1,000 to attend, and if you want to be a "host," it'll run you nearly $15,000. In 2005, Bush came to town for Mark Kennedy and raised almost a million bucks in one night. CLICK HERE TO WATCH AL'S VIDEO ON BUSH'S VISIT

Listen, shh, do you hear that? It’s the sound of your civil rights being eroded …. Walz was certainly right that there is a need for surveillance of potential terrorists, that the United States continues to face serious threats, and that it should not be necessary to have to obtain a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to intercept communications between two foreign parties simply because they pass through the United States. But that wasn't the real issue. The Democratic majority's original proposal fixed that problem without expanding warrantless wiretapping to Americans and without giving carte blanche to the Bush administration to vacuum up and sift through millions of our e-mails, telephone calls and other communications. Sen. Russell Feingold had it right: "The bill the president signed yesterday gives free rein to the government to wiretap all the communications of anyone who happens to be outside the United States, for whatever reason, without c...

XcelEnergy has posted up on their home page: " Reducing our impact on the enviroment" . But is that really so or have they just moved the impact to other locations? Excel had been ordered by the Minnesota state legislature in 1994 to find an alternative site away from Prairie Island, home to the Prairie Island Mdewakanton Community, for storing its radioactive garbage. In response, Xcel forged an alliance with other utilities to create a ‘private’ dump on one of the poorest and most isolated reservations in the country – Skull Valley. A protracted and pitched battle around the Skull Valley dump ensued, and last September, grassroots reservation-based groups and their national allies celebrated a precedent-setting victory when two agencies within the Department of Interior rejected plans for the private dump on tribal land. Now Skull Valley reservation is going solar. Honor the Earth , a national Native environmental advocacy group and foundation that focuses on energy issues...

Another reason to elect a Democratic Prez: so that the pretender can be brought to justice. I can't tell you how many times growing up my mom told me that not writing legible will come back to bite me...I guess the times have changed: DoJ released new documents today to the House Judiciary Committee. The hand written notes indicate the White House and President were fully aware of the Gonzalez decision, and approved the retaliation against the US Attorneys. 7 of 76 Goodling's hand written notes indicate that "WH [White House] cleared". It would be hard to make a believable case that the "White House clearing" something does not include the President who supposedly is "the decider"...I'm just saying...

This letter to the editor in Friday's Mpls. StarTribune: Soliciting Republicans Convention shortage? As a gay man whose marriage is responsible for the deterioration of the American family, I am confused and worried by the recent spate of arrests of Republicans -- elected officials, their press secretaries and their family members -- being arrested on prostitution-related charges. Will the Twin Cities will be able to attract enough prostitutes for the convention next year? CHARLIE ROUNDS, ST. LOUIS PARK Okay...I'm ROFLOL...too funny...too true..enjoy the weekend

Evil Bobby says that Tim Walz’s OpEd in the Post Bulletin yesterday reminded him of Monty Python’s Dead Parrot Sketch …While I get the analogy, at least John Cleese is funny unlike Walz’s voting to allow government measures expanding domestic spying powers in what the Washington Post calls “ as reckless as it was unnecessary .” Keeping in mind that any effort to rewrite this legislation will be vetoed by Bush, Walz bringing it up as a second step is like spitting in the wind... with the constitution down wind.

Fox news is trying to effect political changes by re-writing history through the editing of Wikipedia. Seems Fox News isn't comfortable just reporting the news, they want to make the news; this time by interfering in Minnesota politics. The tech blog O’Reilly discovered: someone at a Fox News IP modified the entry for Al Franken to delete a quote from Franken that the 2003 lawsuit against the Minnesotan by the news outlet was "literally laughed out of court" and that the judge's ruling that the suit was "wholly without merit" was "a good characterization of Fox News itself." This is just the sort of media interference and rewrites we've seen the in past from Fox News. While this one is trying to paint themselves white, don’t forget the GOP used them to falsely paint a war veteran and hero as a weak flip/flopper while their AWOL Bu$h wasn’t reported on at all. What does Fox News stands to gain by eliminating and cleansing comments made by U.S....

The aspect of a long prison sentence makes many criminals ‘see the light’. Supposedly (or so they say) it opens them to an amazing transformation. Today I read in HometownSource.com , pretty much the same kind of amazing but unbelieveable transformation - only this time it was our own Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty who twice vetoed comprehensive transportation bills because of gas taxes, now ‘sees the light’ or as he put it: “We have a divided government…Someone had to extend the olive branch and try to bring the sides together so we can make some progress,” So instead of accepting any culpability with himself, his starvation policy or his appointee, MnDOT commissioner Carol Molnau, Governor Pawlenty would have us believe he now has found leadership. Too bad he couldn’t have found his leadership before the bridge fell down, and people died.

Hahaha...he said nope to the dope....A Minnesota Hero and smart too! August 7, 2007 Bridge Hero Gets Offer : Paid Tuition By ELLEN BARRY Among the dozens of wrenching accounts to come out of the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, the actions of 20-year-old Jeremy Hernandez were a bright spot: Trapped in a tipping school bus with 50 children, he kicked open the back door and began helping them one by one to safety.Within a day, news outlets across the country were repeating the story of the school bus, along with a sad footnote — that Mr. Hernandez had recently been forced to drop out of an automotive repair program because he could not afford the $15,000 tuition. That has changed. On Saturday, Mr. Hernandez learned that Dunwoody College of Technology had offered him a full scholarship toward a degree in applied science. He has also received offers of help from dozens of strangers across the country, said Molly Schwartz, communications director for Pillsbury United Co...

China Threatens 'Nuclear Option' of Dollar Sales Two officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning - for the first time - that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress. Shifts in Chinese policy are often announced through key think tanks and academies. Described as China's "nuclear option" in the state media, such action could trigger a dollar crash at a time when the US currency is already breaking down through historic support levels. It would also cause a spike in US bond yields, hammering the US housing market and perhaps tipping the economy into recession. China currently holds an estimated $900 billion in American bonds, and a total of $1.3 trillion worldwide. The warning is apparently a response to a bill backed by the Senate's Finance Committee that would impose tariffs to penalize China for currency manipulation. All this bu...

Be It Went to the YearlyKos Convention? Yeah, me neither but The UpTake has some great video and reporting ...check it out. Overstating 30 years of the same ole... While we fell short of winning in 28B with the great DFL candidate Linda Pfeilsticker, saying it 'signals growing Republican momentum', is overstating it... Centrisity has the math on it: "Only Republican logic would take a 13 - 20% DROP in Republican candidate support and imply it signals GROWING momentum. Comical, actually." Is it time to leave yet? I don't know if this will ever happen, but I've dreamed and plotted to retire to the coast of Spain. My husband who like most engineers doesn't take to change easily, hasn't quite been convinced of the benefits. Now this , Beaches have indeed been closed , and more than 20,000 people have received medical treatment for jellyfish stings they received in Spanish waters. The Spanish government has collected 8 tons of jellyfish so far, and recruite...

Quote of Note: A country that can't keep its bridges from collapsing is not going to be running the world very much longer .- Rick Perlstein Passing Basic Social Studies If Norm Coleman isn’t sloppy then he’s either stupid or arrogantly thinks he's above the law. Which leave me wondering, after being elected to office shouldn’t Norm know what our constitution says? He can’t be that stupid can he?…or has Norm decided to ‘rewrite’ the laws to suit him just like Bu$h? Look- It's Twins ! The ‘Time’s’ whitehouse blog shows a great picture of Karl Rove and Josh Bolton helping to advise the President on his recent visit to Minnesota's collapsed I-35W bridge. And now we’re a little closer to knowing why it was more important to fund a Twins ballpark over a falling down bridge! Now this is special ….it’s election day in 28B.... Joe at MCR is saying that although the seat has been held since the dawn of time by the republicans that ‘the DFL has made significant inroads in ru...

If Iraq was a patient, we would be calling in family members and sending for the rabbi. It's just that bad. Chris Hedges, former Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times , has a must read on Iraq ...Iraq is about to become a lot worse . "The occupation of Iraq, along with the Afghanistan occupation, has only furthered the spread of failed states and increased authoritarianism, savage violence, instability and anarchy. It has swelled the ranks of our real enemies -- the Islamic terrorists -- and opened up voids of lawlessness where they can operate and plot against us. It has scuttled the art of diplomacy. It has left us an outlaw state intent on creating more outlaw states. It has empowered Iran, as well as Russia and China, which sit on the sidelines gleefully watching our self-immolation. This is what George W. Bush and all those "reluctant hawks" who supported him have bequeathed us. What is terrifying is not that the architects and numerous apologists of t...

Ouch! Congressman John Kline (MN-2) is still (sigh) voting for the Bu$h administration over the Minnesotans that elected him to office. This time he sides with the Bush administrations over consideration for the I35W Bridge funding ...does he have no shame? "Not only did Congressman John Kline vote to adjourn right before the bill was considered, but he then voted against a resolution to suspend the rules so the emergency aid could be considered."

Minnesotans greet the prez on Saturday... We're no longer going to be 'Minnesota Nice'! Not with lives in the balance.

One of the countries that I spend several years growing up in was Japan. To this day one of my fondest memories is cherry blossom (sakura) time at Kyoto's Hirano Shrine. Japan is one of the most beautiful places on earth. But like most countries, Japan has a past checked by military actions including war with the United States. Today Japan marks the 62nd anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima with a solemn ceremony. For me, having lived there and personally knowing survivors of that period, it's anything but a happy reminder of the imperialist mentality that comes from war. During a ceremony of thousands of elderly survivors , as well as children and dignitaries at the Peace Memorial Park where the bomb was dropped, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologized to the survivors for comments made by former Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma, who said "the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki could not be helped because they brought an end to the second World War". ...