In the land of "Minnesota Nice"  the sad state of the Republican party has landed them 4,000 volunteers short of their goal of 10,000.

By comparison

The Denver Host Committee, which says it has gotten 21,000 volunteers for the Democratic convention, Aug. 25-28, shut off the application process three months ago.

There was an interesting article (link found at "theRawStory") about how he FBI will be taking steps to keep tabs on various protest groups during the run-up to the Republican convention in Minneapolis.

http://articles.citypages.com/...

This quadrennial event, often affectionately known as the "million white man march," is expected to draw loud and colorful protests on a scale not seen since the 1968 Democratic debacle in Chicago. Whatever war paint is left over from the last Economic Summit in Seattle will be in plain view in Minneapolis along with drums, hacky-sacks, and the throngs of young and not-so-young protesters bent on expressing their displeasure with the political party that has given us two protracted wars, a failed economy, diminished personal freedoms, and a promise of more of the same.

Are you coming to protest the GOP convention in Saint Paul, MN in August?  Do you know people who are?  I'm a local reporter/podcaster/occasional Kossack who wants to provide Fair and Balanced coverage of the convention itself and the events surrounding it.  There will be much local doings, I'm sure, and I'd also like to be on top of the people coming in.

By some source's estimate, the number of protesters could be around 50,000.  Is that you?  Let me know.

I won't be live blogging the convention, but I will be taking pictures, providing reports for KFAI-FM, Fresh Air Radio, and doing Shockwave Radio Theater podcasts.

Seth Michaels on our blog staff just wrote about the latest incidence of McCain not getting it. Wanted to share with you here.

It seems Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) doesn’t understand a lot of things—health care, the economy, the housing market—but his latest statement is nothing short of baffling.

The bridge in Minneapolis didn't collapse because there wasn't enough money. The bridge in Minneapolis collapsed because so much money was spent on wasteful, unnecessary pork-barrel projects.

I just saw a clip of Sen. Clinton bashing caucuses again...my first instinct was SYFPH, and then to write this diary about why I love caucuses (particularly early in our party nomination phase).

I've frankly had it up to here (imagine me with my hand at my neck) with all this talk about why caucuses aren't as good as primaries.  Bullocks!  Caucuses allow people to vote their conscience and then if they find that their candidate does not have enough votes - then they get to go to their second pick.

That to me is "in-person run-off voting" and I love it because as the US becomes more and more progressive, we will offer a chance to change the Democratic party and politics in general.

But there's more we can do - instant run-off voting.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's time again for another MN Kossack meetup, hosted by Rosebuddear in NE Minneapolis. There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and we would like to get the chance to meet each other. We hope that this will be a regular thing, with meetups every few months at someone's home.

I posted a diary on the last meetup, and you can see some photos here.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's time again for another MN Kossack meetup, hosted by Rosebuddear in NE Minneapolis. There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and we would like to get the chance to meet each other. We hope that this will be a regular thing, with meetups every few months at someone's home.

I posted a diary on the last meetup, and you can see some photos here.

                       Hello Minnesotans!
Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's time again for another MN Kossack meetup, hosted by Rosebuddear in NE Minneapolis. There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and we would like to get the chance to meet each other. We hope that this will be a regular thing, with meetups every few months at someone's home.

Jetskreemr posted a diary on the last meetup, and you can see some photos here.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's time again for another MN Kossack meetup, hosted by Rosebuddear in NE Minneapolis. There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and we would like to get the chance to meet each other. We hope that this will be a regular thing, with meetups every few months at someone's home.

I posted a diary on the last meetup, and you can see some photos here.

Hi there, MN Kossacks! It's time again for another MN Kossack meetup, hosted by Rosebuddear in NE Minneapolis. There are quite a number of MN Kossacks around here, and we would like to get the chance to meet each other. We hope that this will be a regular thing, with meetups every few months at someone's home.

I posted a diary on the last meetup, and you can see some photos here.

I caught some important news late Friday afternoon (And I've got a cold right now and nothin' better to do!). The City of St. Paul would take all applications for demonstrations and space in parks on March 3rd. Naturally the City put out the news very late on Friday to keep it off the news radar. There are only a few days to offer some kinds of finalized plans for the permitted use of public space during the Republican National Convention.
http://www.stpaul.gov/...

Since the process apparently involves a drawing/lottery, it may be a good idea for many groups of people (bands?) to enter into the lottery system and win space/time in a park.

Norm-speak^TM was on full display today as the Minneapolis Star Tribune published a letter from Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) on torture.  Norm still claims to oppose torture, claims he opposes its use by the military and the CIA and then tries to confuse voters over what the real issue is.  No amount of splitting hairs, no attempt to redirect the conversation will cover up Norm's pro-torture positions.  When Norm tries to claim he is not a reliable pro-torture vote in the Senate, he is lying.

I saw folks were arriving early and signing up for the 6:30 caucus times in Minneapolis on the TV news, so on went the coat and boots, and off I walked for 2.5 blocks to my polling place where I expected to wait just a few minutes.

Today I took the coward’s route out and did not defend a young Muslim woman.  I am ashamed.

I am a fairly average looking Caucasian woman who uses public transportation in Minneapolis/Saint Paul every day. While I mostly fly under the radar (ipod on, hood up, bag on lap) I have gotten used to dealing with uninitiated social contact.  Through practice I have learned to successfully deflect people hitting on me, making rude remarks about my appearance, calling out my ‘attitude’, or crowding into my personal space.  Humor balanced with defensive body posture usually works pretty well, but there are times when walking down the isle of the bus feels like a judgmental gauntlet of Dickinsonian proportions.  

(the story is under the cut, thanks for reading)

Today, Barack Obama electrified a crowd of 20,000 people at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  There were also over 2,000+ on the waiting list for tickets. The line stretched  forever. Over a mile by some accounts.

Here's a wee bit of media from the Barack Obama rally at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis today.  The stadium holds about 20,000, and was "sold out" (with tickets reserve-able online for free) within 24 hours of the event's announcement a few days ago.

I took the bus there around noon.  Normally this bus would be fairly empty at noon on a Saturday, but this one was full, with some people standing.  Almost the whole bus emptied out at the nearest stop to the Target Center.  At the time it was about an hour before the doors opened, and already the line stretched 3/4 of the way around the stadium, then several blocks over a bridge.  For the next hour and a half, a constant mass of people streamed past us on their way to get to the end of the line.

Announcing MayorTV!
In today's presidential campaign, America is all heartland -- tractor pulls, county fairs, town halls and truck stops. Candidates scramble for photo ops in plaid, stump in wheat fields and scarf down corn dogs. Our country, it seems, is all country.

Yet we are an urban nation. More than 80% of Americans live in cities. Urbanites drive 90% of our economy. In pandering to rural voters, presidential candidates ignore the bread and butter issues that most Americans deal with every day -- housing, transportation, infrastructure, crime, education.

One of the more perplexing cases in the U.S. Attorney purging was that in Minnesota.  Former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger had originally appeared on one of the early firing lists, but was removed.  He resigned apparently of his own accord.

Rachel Paulose, a 34 year old with virtually no management experience was slated to be appointed using the USAPATRIOT Act revisions, but was instead submitted through the normal channels.