Midwest Flood Diary #1

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Monday March 15, 2010 · 8:50 PM PDT

2010/03/15 · 20:50

It's flood time in Fargo. And Moorhead, Breckenridge, Wahpeton, Cedar Falls, and Delano. The snowmass that descended on the midwest is melting, and as usual it's on it's schedule, not ours. The waters have already risen above major flood stage on several rivers and a few record crests have already been recorded. So it's time to kick off our always excellent Kos disaster coverage and inform and help out as we Kossacks best can.

SlyDi

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Saturday December 05, 2009 · 8:19 PM PST

2009/12/05 · 20:19

I started this diary about 15 years ago. I'd read an essay, "Swimming in AIDS" that'd been penned a couple decades ago in the middle of the AIDS epidemic. It was a moving commentary on those days before we had drugs that were effective against AIDS. Back then in the gay community so many gay brothers were sick and dying of AIDS that you were caught up in the tragedy, literally swimming in AIDS, even if you were HIV negative.

So back in the Clinton administration I started this diary on my ancient laptop. I told of my experience in the trans community, of all the hallmark symptoms of PTSD I'd seen in trans people back when I was an activist and counselor. Then I forgot about it- the nineties were a time between wars when we at least didn't have veterans wounded by PTSD discharged onto our streets and into our consciousness, so it seemed like a poor time to write about PTSD. Sadly, PTSD is back, but for the trans community PTSD never went away.

SlyDi

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Sunday February 22, 2009 · 5:27 PM PST

2009/02/22 · 17:27

I'm a Camp Obama dropout- did the numbers and figured out I couldn't afford to drive all over Iowa as an intern, so I did my best as a volunteer instead. During the summer of 2007 I met dozens of inspiring and determined Obama interns and staffers in Iowa. You guys and gals kept me fired up and brought me back after I spent the fall working to refill my bank account. You worked long and hard to make Obama our president, and he couldn't have done it without you.

SlyDi

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Thursday November 20, 2008 · 7:37 AM PST

2008/11/20 · 07:37

It's 9 am in Grant County, and I just visited the historic (national register) Courthouse on the Floyd B. Olson Memorial Highway in Elbow Lake. The recount is up and running as caffiene fortified Minnesota nice folks are opening up the ballot boxes. The county election official and judges are at their seats at the old wooden table in the Commisioners Room. More importantly, the democratic site supervisor, attorney, and observers are ready to go.

SlyDi

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Thursday November 13, 2008 · 8:38 PM PST

2008/11/13 · 20:38

As the big three unionized automakers sales wane, they've got less than half the market and falling. Even once mighty GM has barely 20% of the market and is being passed by Toyota, Ford is trailing behind, and Chrysler or whatever they're calling themselves this week is headed for a single digit market share if not already there. You drive a japanese car, as do all your friends except the lovingly weird ones that drive german cars. American cars are for poor folks who can't get financed on a Corolla or Civic, so who cares if GM, Ford, or Chrysler goes under- serves 'em right for building those monster SUVs and refusing to listen to Ralph Nader.

SlyDi

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Wednesday October 01, 2008 · 6:51 PM PDT

2008/10/01 · 18:51

A couple months back my neighbor paid $5500 for a 12 year old SUV with over 200,000 miles on the odometer. A quick perusal of the used car value websites will tell you that a 200,000 mile 1997 Chevy Blazer has a street price of around $1500. Now my neighbor doesn't have $1500- she hasn't worked in this millenia and she and her husband try to survive on $1400 a month in disability benefits. Essentially she was buying credit more than buying an SUV. Another neighbor had given her a Pontiac sedan of similar vintage that had just been the receipient of $800 in repairs and got 30 miles per gallon on the highway... But like the rest of us she just "had to have" an SUV. So the paid for 30 MPG sedan was given to the used car dealer as a down payment, and she drove home with a gas hog SUV and a loan demanding 18 payments of $250 a month. $250 a month on top of the student loans coming due from when she twice started vocational college and dropped out before completing the first year, cell phones with unlimited calling plans, etc....

SlyDi

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Monday September 22, 2008 · 8:02 PM PDT

2008/09/22 · 20:02

For the last few years I've been talking up the Interstate 29 corridor in political circles. You know, the interstate highway that runs from Kansas City northward along the Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska. South Dakota, Minnesota, and North Dakota borders all the way to glorious Canada. If there ever was a region ripe to turn from red to blue, this is it. We've already picked up congressional seats in the corridor- both the seats in Kansas, one of two seats in Missouri, and the at large seats in both Dakotas. We've also picked up a few governorships including that of reputedly red Kansas, and we've pretty much split the senate seats with the republicons. But that's just the beginning of what's possible as we turn the Red River valley blue and the Missouri too.

SlyDi

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Thursday September 18, 2008 · 8:29 PM PDT

2008/09/18 · 20:29

I use two motorcycles with sidecars to campaign for Obama and other democratic candidates. They both sport big Obama campaign signs. The little one is painted in a red, white, and blue patriotic theme and the big one is painted in a rainbow theme.

I rode the big sidecar rig out to my Starbuck, Minnesota abode tuesday. We don't have a garage out here, but we've never had a problem before- my pickup sat out here most of last winter and nobody messed with it. Yesterday a gas company crew was working near where I usually park the sidecar rig, so I moved it to the back of our parking lot so they'd have more room to work. This morning I came out and found all the Obama signs painted over.

SlyDi

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Wednesday September 17, 2008 · 8:11 PM PDT

2008/09/17 · 20:11

First of, forget most of your preconceptions of North Dakota. It's not just a big old open air old folks home anymore- more kids from my county in western Minnesota are attending North Dakota colleges than Minnesota ones. Fargo, the state's biggest city, is growing by leaps and bounds- the housing boom is still growing strong there. In the northwestern corner of the North Dakota there are literal oil exploration fueled boomtowns. Thanks to that oil boom and the newfound profitability of farming, North Dakota's Republican and Democratic Non Partisan League parties are arguing over how best to spend budget surpluses. Meanwhile, thousands of farmers and related industry folks from around the world attended last week's "Big Iron" farm show. They had quarter million dollar combines that can mow a swath as wide as a city lot and GPS navigation systems that even steered them and signs advertising them in russian as well as english.

Despite global warming it's still cold though... But today it was in the 70s and sunny, so hop on the bike as we take a cruise through North Dakota politics.

SlyDi

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Tuesday September 09, 2008 · 7:24 PM PDT

2008/09/09 · 19:24

"Everybody Counts, Everybody Matters" is my congressmember, Keith Ellison's, campaign slogan. He means it, and using the abilities of every volunteer was how that then newby state legislator won the Democratic Farmer Labor Party endorsement, primary, and general election.

We Minnesota democrats started on this path to full participation a couple decades back. Sure, we did the athletic walk all over town canvassing. But we also did phone banks, had visually impaired folks produce braille and large print campaign materials, developmentally disabled democrats canvassing their disabled/senior housing project, and a quadraplegic in his power wheelchair holding down the fort back at the campaign office.

But sadly, in too many campaign offices this year the unspoken slogan has been "If you can't canvass, you don't count". In the spirit of constructive criticism and making positive contributions I'll start the discussion below the fold, detailing the demographics of people with disabilities and describing best practices for campaigns. I invite your contributions to this discussion, so please join in- we need everyone's involvement and contributions.

SlyDi

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday September 06, 2008 · 9:44 PM PDT

2008/09/06 · 21:44

Door to door canvassing has been a staple of the Obama campaign. In fact, in states like North Dakota it seems to be the whole campaign. Looking at the campaign's events page for North Dakota, almost every event is a door to door canvass. Last sunday's Fargo Forum listed a bunch of community festivals, but it doesn't look like the campaign will be making any of them. Issue oriented community events are a good political strategy too, but I don't see much of them scheduled. It appears that the campaign is betting everything on canvassing- but does canvassing work?

SlyDi

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday June 15, 2008 · 7:59 PM PDT

2008/06/15 · 19:59

As the workweek begins tomorrow, every Interstate Highway and railroad across Iowa is closed by flooding. Wisconsin isn't faring much better, with I-94 across the state flooded out along with one of the three remaining cross state railroads. Truckers are having to take long, roundabout routes burning up $5 a gallon diesel fuel to make hopelessly late deliveries. The busiest railroad in America, Union Pacific's transcontinental main line across Iowa, Is shut down by high water, with trains backed up as far as Nevada. UP is even "embargoing" destinations affected by the flooding- essentially telling shippers not to send freight that way because it'll merely clog up their system. Despite the wider and deeper rivers, things aren't moving much on the water either- barge tows are tied up on 200 miles of the busiest stretch of the upper Mississippi from Muscatine to St.Louis as fast moving flood waters make safe navigation impossible.

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Midwest Flood Diary #1

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Obama campaign staffers, interns, etc.- How ya doin'?

Live Blogging the MN Recount! (Updated)

Why Save the Auto Industry?

Credit is Addictive... and America's Ready for Rehab!

Obama Exits the I-29 Corridor

Obama Campaign Vehicle Vandalized

Obama Campaign: On the Ground in North Dakota

Everybody Counts, Everybody Matters: Involving People of All Abilities in Campaigns

Obama Canvassing: Doorknocking Our Way To Defeat?

How A Midwest Flood Can Drag Down A Nation