So, periodically I head over to Corrente or Talk Left just to see what's up. It never ceases to amaze me how differently they see the world, but it's left me wondering about my own perspective in deciding who's a concern troll and who's genuinely worried ....

A while back I posted a diary about my son and his illness. I thought I'd briefly follow up in case folks were checking up on us.

On August 30th, I watched my wonderful wife give birth to a beautiful little boy via cesarean section. Watching the whole procedure was mind blowing, and seeing his little head and hearing his first cries brought tears to my eyes.  Seeing the fortitude and strength of my wife over the next 3 days in the hospital was awe inspiring, her dedication to taking care of him once we got home caused me to begin to write a diary expressing my gratitude for mothers everywhere - the pain, the joy, the perserverence and the dedication is takes to bring a new life into the world and to shepherd that little one through growing up.

I'm really not as much of a conspiracy freak as this is going to sound, I promise. Here goes.

I'm going to have a son in September, and I'd like to insulate him as much as possible from prying eyes, both private and public. Not having had a child before, I'm not sure if the hospital automatically registers newborns for a SSN, or if it's something I have to do, or ....

I'd like registering for the system to be up to my son, I just don't know how to do it.

As a follow-on to the recent libertarian Democrats conversations, some news from Utah, the reddest of the red!

When Condi said that we'd made tactical mistakes, but that the strategy of getting rid of Saddam was the right one, and would be judged as so, I believe that many observers missed an obvious point.

What with the recent NSA revelations, and the efforts of the White House and some Republicans to portray these actions as legal, and indeed Constitutional, I've had an idea. Read on if you'd like to send a message to your Congresscritter

I can't help but think that what happened last night was a truly watershed
event in American politics. I'm very pessimistic about where we're headed,
so beware - the following screed borders on a defeatist rant. That's just
where I am with what happened - I think it's over. For a very long time.

I'll start out with why I'm so pessimistic, and then go into my thoughts on what
"moral leadership" means, and why people think Kerry didn't show it.

Convincing photographic proof that the explosives were at Al Qaqaa when the 101st got there, and that they were still under seal and lock.

Pretty good scoop for a local station!

here

This should put the lie to all the speculation that the explosives were either moved by Saddam or looted before we got there.

It's even better that this story was broken by a swing state local TV station ;)

I'm not sure if this has already made it to the diaries, but one of Bush's MBA profs at Harvard was covered in the Crimson about how he remembers W.

So, after everything Dean accomplished in the primary cycle, and everything he's done since, it looks like he's not going to get many props at the convention. Being new to the "party", this makes me both pissed and sad. I wonder if there's much hope in the party for people that really want change.

Read the article here

I subscribe to the newsletter of a MN house member, just to keep tabs on what's going on in his head. That, and a friend of mine is running against him. He's a real interesting case - he's party line, up and down, going so far as to vote for increasing the amount of arsenic permitted in suburban drinking water, pushing school standards that permit "alternatives to evolution", and making even further study of LRT in Minnesota illegal.

For your voyeuristic campaign contribution fix, go here.  It's the same folks that brought you the political money map, and it's quite illuminating. Find out which neighbors are giving $2k to Bush, and ask them why!

Here in Minnesota, the Dean supporters were very vigorously courted by both Edwards and Kerry leading up to the MN caucuses. As a consequence, I got to meet both men. I like Edwards more, but circumstances being what they are, that's beside the point.

Looking a little ways down the road, when I have a little more time to work locally (ahem), I have a friend running for a state house seat here in Minnesota. Does it make sense to try to raise money online, via blogads or otherwise? If so, where? Has anybody done this before, and have any advice?

Since last spring, John Kerry spent a lot of time trying on different campaign strategies, different campaign managers, and different campaign personas. He seems to have found a combination that he likes, and it works for him. Oddly enough, it's Howard Dean's strategy, and looks a lot like Howard Dean's persona.

I'm for Dean, but I just watched Edwards on the stump on CSPAN (NH Dem. meeting), and I've got to say hot damn this guy is good - he's just a natural. Where's the oppo on him? He's an easy second for me.

I've heard many people say that Dean is a fiscal conservative, and at least some of them do so in the hopes that this will help him appeal to Independant and "sane" Republicans. Different verbiage may be more effective.