From a discussion on FireDogLake:
The basic thesis is that natural and artificial disasters are now being used as triggers to make large social and economic changes that would otherwise not have been palatable to the general public. Civil liberties, defense expenditures, and union busting are some of the examples she offers post-9/11 and Katrina.
A reader received this invitation from Common Cause. Note the luncheon is full, but there is a public viewing area for Justice O'Connor's address.You are cordially invited to attend an address by Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, "Protecting Impartial Courts in a Political Culture." Justice O'Connor will be speaking at 11:45 am on May 2nd, 2008 in the atrium of the Humphrey Center at the University of Minnesota. Unfortunately, the ticketed luncheon is now full. However, Justice O'Connor's presentation can be viewed on a screen in the Cowles Auditorium adjacent to the Humphrey Center atrium. If you are interested in attending the event in the Cowles Auditorium please RSVP here.Justice O'Connor's speech comes just weeks after Wisconsin's very partisan and negative campaign for State Supreme Court. Wisconsin Public Radio said that the "Wisconsin Supreme Court races have come to resemble boxing matches in recent years. That's because special interest groups have been delivering blow after blow with negative campaign ads."Come listen to Justice O'Connor address the need to protect our impartial courts system. A coalition of groups, including Common Cause Minnesota, is working to reform the way that judges are chosen in Minnesota. These changes will focus judicial elections on actual performance on the bench, instead of special interest attack ads. It will also place a renewed emphasis on a public discussion of the quality and performance of judges, rather than on political issues, and will better inform citizens about their choices prior to judicial elections. To learn more about this issue or contact your legislator, click here [unknown link]
.I hope to see you on May 2nd at this very special event.
Sincerely,
Mike Dean
Common Cause Minnesota
A reader sends in this opportunity for activism:In 2007 the Minnesota Department of Health announced that 35 northern MN miners had developed mesothelioma, a cancer associated only with asbestos, for a total of 58 since 1997. From 1988 to 2006, 149 deaths were recorded. The DOT is using taconite from the same mines to repair MN roads. The taconite and its aggregate is intensely being marketed around the upper midwest for this purpose yet it is coming from the same mines that have produced a deadly cancer. One citizen is asking the leglislature for a moratorium on use until a full mineral analysis is performed and the Mn Department of Health complete their 3 year analysis of the mine workers and is asking others to join in the request. Read the full report here.
Don't know your legislators? Follow the links here:
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/housemembers.asp
http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/member_list.php?sort=d&ls=85#header
Don't know who represents you? Follow this link:
http://geo.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/districts/start.html
Star Tribune Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:55:34 GMT
Second attempt pays off for DFLer Tinklenberg
The ex-transportation commissioner won the party's endorsement in the Sixth District to take on Rep. Michele Bachmann, two years after losing it. Elsewhere, Reps. Keith Ellison and Tim Walz got DFL support. Two years after being passed over by party activists, former state Transportation Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg captured the DFL endorsement Saturday for bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann. Tinklenberg notched a first-ballot victory over tax attorney Bob Olson at the party's Sixth District convention at Bunker Hills Regional Park in Andover. A former Methodist minister and Blaine mayor, Tinklenberg was viewed as the more moderate choice in the conservative district. Bachmann, a Republican, won the north-metro district seat two years ago over child-welfare advocate Patty Wetterling, who had edged Tinklenberg for the DFL endorsement. DFL Party leaders contend the district is increasingly competitive.
Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Amos 5: 23-24
Despite the efforts of lesser pundits (for example, this PBS NewsHour Schields and Brooks segment about 6 minutes in) to minimize and discredit him, Bill Moyers interview with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright on April 25 proved to be riveting.
Elwyn Tinklenberg and Bob Olson appear on TPT's Almanac (April 25, 208)
Find the segment on this page, this week in the current show, later it will be in the archive.
Pioneer Press Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:19:48 -0600
'The Daily Show' to visit St. Paul for convention
A Comedy Central show known for skewering politicians plans to broadcast live from St. Paul during the Republican National Convention.
Pioneer Press Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:26:16 -0600
6th Congressional District / Candidates each claim strong DFL backing
Heading into Saturday's 6th District DFL convention, Elwyn Tinklenberg likes his chances of getting the party endorsement to run for Congress. But Bob Olson likes his as well. After months of campaigning, the two candidates will soon find out which of them will face Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in the November general election. The district, which runs from the St. Croix River through the northern suburbs and past St. Cloud, is widely considered to lean Republican. But both Democrats hope to change that, and they offer contrasting approaches to taking on the first-term incumbent. Tinklenberg is a former state transportation commissioner who jumped into the race last fall, prompted in part, he said, by the Aug. 1 collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis. He said that the nation's roads, bridges and public infrastructure need attention and that he's got the right credentials to address them. Citing endorsements from key political leaders and unions, an experienced campaign staff and successful past political campaigns, Tinklenberg said he's positioned to run a strong campaign. "I know what it takes to build the kind of coalitions you need to be effective and to be successful,'' he said. Olson, a St. Cloud banker, sees things a bit differently, pointing to his background as a tax lawyer, a bank owner and an advocate of sustainable energy. "One of the most critical things we can do for the economy and national security and the environment is to break our dependence on foreign oil,'' said Olson, who advocates a 10-year program of tax incentives and loan guarantees to shift to a cleaner national energy foundation. As for Tinklenberg, Olson said, "He knows sand and gravel better than I do.''
Star Tribune Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:09:09 GMT
'Practically free': Utah's network of natural-gas stations has drivers filling up for cheap
SALT LAKE CITY - Troy Anderson was at the gas pump and couldn't have been happier, filling up at a rate of $5 per tank. Anderson was paying 63.8 cents per gallon equivalent for compressed natural gas, making Utah a hot market for vehicles that run on the fuel. It's the country's cheapest rate for compressed gas, according to the Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition, and far less than the $3.56 national average price for a gallon of gasoline. "I'm totally celebrating," crowed Anderson, a 44-year-old social worker, who picked up a used Honda Civic GX two months ago. "This is the greatest thing. I can't believe more people aren't talking about it. This is practically free."
Star Tribune Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:58:39 GMT
Oil consumption at the tipping point in U.S.?
... "We're seeing a price high enough so that consumers are responding with practical alternatives such as more conservation, more mass transit," said J. Drake Hamilton, science policy director at St. Paul-based Fresh Energy. "I was just at an Earth Day celebration at Boston Scientific in Arden Hills, and the most popular display was about biking to work."
Please view the following by a new NEMP member. Janet is quoted in the Star Trib as she challenges El Tinklenberg. Can Bob Olson get rid of Bachmann if El is not the Dems candidate? The lesser of evils may be the question to ponder in the Sixth District. Bob Schmitz
STRIB: http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/house/18028409.html
Blogs:
John Amato of Crooks and Liars reminds us of the Arundhati Roy speech, Confronting Empire:
Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness– and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we’re being brainwashed to believe. The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they’re selling– their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability. Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.
Somehow I missed this when it aired, but the website provides links to a wealth of comparative health care information.
Frontline: Sick around the world.
Pioneer Press Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:08:06 -0600
St. Paul / 'Peace picnic' to tweak RNC-goers
Come September, Republican delegates who walk from the Xcel Energy Center to the bluff for a view of the Mississippi River might find Coleen Rowley smiling up at them. St. Paul has given the former FBI agent and former congressional candidate a prime spot during the Republican National Convention: Harriet Island. The one-time Time magazine co-person of the year has secured a permit to host hundreds of people for a "Peace Island Picnic" in the park Sept. 4, during the convention. Rowley said she hopes the event will focus attention on ending the war in Iraq, just as the Republican Party moves to anoint John McCain as its 2008 nominee. "The connections they tried to make between Saddam (Hussein) and al-Qaida " you could say (they were) distorted, but they were just concocted," Rowley said. "It is the quintessential quagmire. I just think people need to take responsibility, because it really is affecting us all." Rowley and her husband, Ross Rowley, were given the permit after being the only applicant for Harriet Island for that date. The park is widely considered a prime location for an outdoor event for any group during the convention, which is expected to bring 45,000 media members and attendees to the Twin Cities. Some estimate that an equal number of protesters will be on hand. Rowley said she is still organizing the event and expects no more than 1,000 people, according to the permit application. She said she has contacted folk singer Pete Seeger about being an honorary co-chair. Seeger expressed interest, she said, but likely would not attend because of health issues.
Pioneer Press Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:47:53 -0600
Outside groups spent $4.8 million in Wis. judicial race
MADISON -- A watchdog group says special interest groups spent a record $4.8 million in this month's Supreme Court election. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign said four groups that do not have to disclose their donors spent about $4.2 million on radio and television advertising. Other groups spent another $600,000 in election expenses reported to the state. Most of the money was spent by groups who supported challenger Michael Gableman, who narrowly defeated Justice Louis Butler in the April 1 election. The group said Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce was the biggest outside spender with a $1.76 million ad campaign. The business lobby ran ads touting Gableman's law enforcement experience and painting Butler as soft on crime.
The Hill: Rep. Bachmann's office has high turnover rate
By Jackie Kucinich Posted: 04/15/08 06:56 PM [ET] Ten of the 14 people Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) hired early last year have left the freshman'€™s office, according to public documents and sources familiar with the personnel changes. The casualty list includes two chiefs of staff, a district director, a press secretary, two legislative assistants, a staff assistant, a caseworker, an outreach and grants coordinator and a district scheduler.
So ABC finally put together a story on Condi Rice, connecting her to torture, like we haven't known about this for what, a couple of years? (http://www.condimustgo.com/ or http://www.democracyforamerica.com/) I suppose that we should be "happy" that it's better late than never, but for Pete's sake, what about the prez and the closet prez??? How can Jim Dean in good conscience holler about Condi and not look at her bosses? Somehow this is assbackwards. Keep us signing petitions to get rid of her, all the while keeping our minds off the economy, Iraq and the very most important issue that we face, Climate Change.
Take a look at these articles from yesterday to gain a better understanding of what we should be reading about.
Economists Debate Link Between War, Credit Crisis
By Jonathan WeismanWashington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, April 15, 2008; Page A03 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR2008041402639.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
On the Economy, 70% Disapprove of Bush
By Jon CohenWashington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, April 15, 2008; Page A04 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR2008041402842.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter
Biofuel: the burning question
The production of biofuel is devastating huge swathes of the world's environment. So why on earth is the Government forcing us to use more of it?
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/biofuel-the-burning-question-808959.html
By Cahal MilmoTuesday, 15 April 2008
To: NEMP Members
Re: Taxpayers League Hubris
Today (4/14/08) I was at the State Capitol acting as an unpaid lobbyist for the Green Party. As our group left the north door of the state office building, which houses the offices for our representatives, I noticed a large sign in a first floor window. It said in bold print that "Liberals Raise Taxes". The Taxpayer's League web address was across the bottom of the sign. This represented a gross violation of proper decorum and fairness, and no doubt capitol building rules and regulations. The Taxpayers League is funded by wealthy contributors and may be better described as the tax avoiders league. It does not represent the working class who pay a higher percentage of income in taxes than those in the upper income brackets. It is a prominent conservative lobbying group. What would our capitol look like if every lobbying group found a window in the state office buildings in which to post their various signs? Paid lobbyist over-run our capitol now and this sign was yet anoth
er example of the arrogance displayed by some of them. At my suggestion, we re-entered the building and went into the office area where this sign was located. We made our disgust known to the person at the reception desk, and promised to be back if that sign were not removed. A gentleman in a fancy suite emerged from a back room to see what was going on as we were departing. We will be back there in a few days and if that sign is not gone, we will take the issue to someone who can make something happen.
I was shocked and angered by this blatant arrogance, which reinforced my motivation to keep returning to the capitol to advocate for fairness in our legislative process. The self-righteousness of this group allows it to do almost anything in the name of their cause, and I believe we must challenge their hubris every step of the way. To quote Alice Walker, "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." I hope that enpowerment wiil become a by-product of NEMP. Perhaps we need a sign as suggested by Lee Salisbury, "Conservatives Borrow From Their Grandchildren."
Bob Schmitz
Star Tribune Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:51:34 GMT
Bachmann gets financial help from GOP fund
First-term Rep. Michele Bachmann is getting a financial helping hand in her re-election bid from a Republican Party fund that tries to assist candidates who are seen as vulnerable or specificially in the Democrats' cross-hairs. Bachmann is one of 10 Republicans who will get assistance from the party's Regain Our Majority Program (ROMP) 2008, which is overseen by House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. Also slated to get assistance is state Rep. Erik Paulsen, the only Republican running for the open seat being vacated by longtime Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad. Ramstad's seat is widely considered to be up for grabs because the district is less reliably Republican than it has been in the past. But Bachmann's inclusion on the ROMP assistance list shows how aggressively Democrats have already gone after her. And the help, which based on past ROMP spending patterns could reach $100,000, according to a party spokesman, follows the Democrats' decision to specifically target her. The cash from the ROMP program may be more symbolic than substantive, according to Federal Election Commission records. Through the end of last year, Bachmann already had raised nearly $1.2 million for her re-election bid, triple the amount raised by her two DFL challengers combined.
Thanks to Digby for the youTube link. Please read her entire post. Her call to action ends
The power of collective action. The power of bottom-up organizing. The power of seeing a world where everyone is in it together, where everyone has a stake in one another. The power of fighting for justice and fairness and right, and moving mountains just by walking together. We get cynical in this medium a lot, and maybe we have a right to; after all, forty years ago they shot Dr. King for leading such a movement. But the legacy lives on, and I believe in his aphorism that "the long arc of history bends toward justice." This movement, this place where we've all gravitated, is but a small kernel of that legacy. But it's growing, and regardless of the President or the Congress or whoever it will continue to move forward. And one day, we will get there.
Star Tribune Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:39:10 GMT
Disavowed Justice Department legal memo: constitutional protections did not apply
WASHINGTON - For at least 16 months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001, the Bush administration believed that the Constitution's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures on U.S. soil didn't apply to its efforts to protect against terrorism. ... "The recent disclosures underscore the Bush administration's extraordinarily sweeping conception of executive power," said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's National Security Project. "The administration's lawyers believe the president should be permitted to violate statutory law, to violate international treaties and even to violate the Fourth Amendment inside the U.S. They believe that the president should be above the law."
An Apple Pie Alliance article:
To the Point!
Lobbying by Deception and Misinformation
by Senator John Marty
March 30, 2008
Many people are familiar with the phrase "grassroots lobbying." It implies that the public feels strongly about a bill and people contact their elected officials demanding action.
Unfortunately, most of what appears to be grassroots/citizen lobbying is orchestrated by well-funded interest groups, using by highly-paid consultants and PR firms.
To stimulate this citizen passion, especially when the public might not agree with their real goal, lobbyists work to inflame public sentiment even if it means distorting the truth. This is certainly not true of all lobbyists and interests, but it is far too common among some.
This year Minnesota legislators have received countless emails urging us to oppose Senate File 833, which "threatens the affordability and accessibility of (cell phone) services for all of Minnesota's families and businesses."
To stimulate public opposition to this, the cell phone industry's ad campaign showed a picture of a frustrated woman looking over a document labeled "State Wireless Taxes and Fees" with a caption: "So why are state legislators threatening to increase the cost of our wireless?"
Shortly before SF 833 was heard in the Senate Commerce Committee I read the bill, expecting to see some questionable regulations or taxes. What I found was quite different.
