Sex and The City: a fairy tale

At one point in the Sex and the City movie, Carrie reads a Cinderella story book to Lily, the young daughter of Harry and Charlotte. At the end, Carrie points out that Cinderella is not real life, it's just a fairy tale.

Likewise, I hope that parents are pointing out to their daughters that Sex and The City is not real life, it's just a fairy tale. The movie, like the rest of our increasingly porno-fied culture, portrays a female fantasy of glamour, beauty, wealth, big city, bright lights, and fabulous, carefree sex without even a hint of birth control or sexually-transmitted consequences.

The reality of free-for-all sex, reported by the Centers for Disease Control in March, is that twenty-six percent of females between the ages of 13 and 19 in the United States has at least one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Some of the more disheartening findings of the study prove that these ain't your mother's STDs:

• The most common STI was cancer- and genital wart-associated HPV (18.3%), followed by chlamydia (3.9%), trichomoniasis (2.5%), and HSV-2 (1.9%). Among the teenage girls who had an STI, 15 percent had more than one.
• By race, African American teenage girls had the highest prevalence, with an overall STI prevalence of 48 percent compared to 20 percent among both whites and Mexican Americans. (Other Hispanics and race/ethnic populations were captured in the survey, but there were insufficient numbers in any one group to permit valid prevalence estimates for any group except Mexican Americans.)
• Overall, approximately half of all the teens in the study reported ever having had sex. Among these girls, the STI prevalence was 40 percent.
• Even among girls reporting only one lifetime partner, one in five (20.4%) had at least one STI. Girls with three or more partners had a prevalence of over 50 percent. The predominant STI was HPV.

This isn't just a "women's health" issue, is a societal emergency. And that's no fairy tale.

Fly the flag

Tomorrow, June 14, is Flag Day. If you don't fly your flag every day, be sure to display it tomorrow. Tomorrow would also be a great time to look over your flag and replace it if it is getting faded or worn out (flags can be recycled at your local VFW or American Legion post, and some Boy Scout troops or council offices). Go to USFlag.org for tips on proper handling and showing respect for our nation's colors — and by extension, our nation.

My dad told me that he always got choked up whenever he saw the flag of the United States. Growing up as the son of immigrants and serving in the Army under this flag during World War II taught him to love our country, even while the rest of his family and 110,000 other persons of Japanese ancestry were interned by the federal government by executive order. After the war, he didn't ask much from the government, he just finished college, went to work, raised a family, and flew the flag.

This story from USFlag.org pretty well sums up how the World War II generation feels about the flag:

My Grandfather was a glider infantryman in WWII, an advisor in Korea, and lost one of his sons, my uncle Gary Edwards, in Vietnam. I worked in his auto repair station during high school and he flew his flag in front daily. One day while I was sweeping the oil dry out of the bays it began to sprinkle rain. He told me to go get the flag and I said "gimme a second." He said, "It is raining, go get the flag NOW." Well I popped off my mouth about how he should cool it, it isn't going to melt or some such typical teenage comment.

My grandfather is the toughest man I've ever met. He explained once that he thought basic training was some sort of country club during WWII, because he was used to hard work anyway, and at home he didn't have indoor toilets or hot running water! And when I said whatever it was that I said to him, he turned deep crimson and I thought, "God save me, he's going to kill me for talking back." Instead tears welled up in his eyes and he squeaked out "You don't understand what this family has paid for the right to fly that flag." Then he turned his back on me and went out and got the flag. I just stood there feeling like the smallest person to ever live. Those words cut me so deep. I wish the entire country could have heard them.

Calling all party animals

The Republican National Convention, September 1-4 at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, needs a megawatt of volunteer power (about 10,000 persons) to provide what I would call visitor services: welcoming delegates at airports and hotels, assisting with transportation, supporting convention operations at the "X," providing guest services and other hosting activities at CivicFest at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Volunteers will receive required training and get an insider's view of the convention. Shifts are four to six hours long.

What will the ideal volunteers look like? Based on my past experience, they:

• Are political junkies, anyone who has done campaign grunt work like walking parades, planting lawn signs, dropping campaign literature, smilin' and dailin' at a get-out-the-vote phone bank, door knocking


• Enjoy volunteering at large events like festivals or hospitality connected to major sporting events (Super Bowl, Final Four, World Series, PGA Championship), Taste of Minnesota, large concerts like the Basilica Block Party, or any sort of national convention


• Enjoy meeting new people from all over the country and sharing their hometown enthusiasm


• Enjoy working hard, and are flexible enough to deal with the chaos and last-minute changes that are almost inevitable at events like this, even when they miss lunch, the cookies and bottled water run out at the volunteer center, and they've been standing all day


• Enjoy wearing lanyards with ID badges, and bright colored t-shirts that say STAFF or VOLUNTEER, and saying "roger" or "ten-four" into walkie talkies

To join the party, go to http://www.msp2008.com/volunteer.

Republican party, heal thyself

In spite of a good game face, the GOP faces some rough sledding on the way to November 2008. Some are already looking beyond this year's elections to some long-term rehab for the Republican party. An interesting article on this subject recently appeared on Politico, "Six ways the GOP can save itself," by Jim Vandehei and Mike Allen. While it focuses on the national GOP, it contains some critical lessons for the Minnesota GOP as well.

1. Draft a contract with Minnesota. The standing platform of the MN GOP states principles, but has no accountability. The Taxpayers League of Minnesota's "no new taxes" pledge drew a line in the sand between fiscal liberals and conservatives, and gave the governor and legislators some backbone and a fiscal conscience for the tough choices during the legislative session. Today, Minnesota voters and activists need a broader statement of principles, modeled on Newt Gingrich's Contract With America, to identify the leaders of a conservative revival in Minnesota. If you won't sign the contract, OK, then we won't be signing any checks to your campaign. After the elections, the contract would be a compass constantly pointing legislators and the governor to true-north conservatism.

2. Fix the house. The Republican Party of Minnesota's voter and volunteer data bases are broken and so outdated that some candidates opt to create their own from scratch. As the Politico article says, "Influential Republicans feel the party must fortify intellectual think tanks, establish new activist groups and get a clue about using the Internet to rally its forces. The GOP also needs to fund programs to train young Republican candidates and activists." Some of this work has begun, but much work remains.

3. Find some fresh faces. Governor Tim Pawlenty was quoted in the Politico article, "We have to do a better job of recruiting women candidates, candidates of color and diversity." I think that we should judge people by content of their character, not by the color of their chromosomes, but the party actually has done a pretty good job finding and electing top-quality female candidates: Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Lieutenant Governor Carol Molnau, Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, State Auditor Pat Anderson, Education Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke, and many incumbent state senators and representatives like Sen. Michelle Fischbach, Sen. Gen Olson, Sen. Julianne Ortman, Rep. Laura Brod, Rep. Sarah Anderson, Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, and candidates like Barb Davis White and former Plymouth mayor Judy Johnson, and would-be gubernatorial endorsee Sue Jeffers. Identity politics aside, a more ethnically diverse slate of candidates would help to attract the attention of voters in traditionally strong-DFL constituencies.

Lieberman-Warner is the wrong answer

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies." --Groucho Marx

Groucho perfectly describes the Lieberman-Warner Climate Bill, the so-called "cap-and-trade" bill being debated in the U.S. Senate. Global warming is a myth misdiagnosed (or misrepresented) as a global crisis, and Lieberman-Warner is the wrong remedy.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is graphically keeping track of the hundreds of proposed mandates and regulations in the bill. Here is a current version (linked to a detailed description, where you can download the chart for a closer look):


This would be funny if it was just a parody out of Duck Soup, the 1933 Marx Brothers movie set in the fictional Freedonia, "the Land of the Spree, and the Home of the Knave." But if this bill passes, no one will be laughing.

For further analysis of the bill, visit the Basin Electric Power Cooperative "Better Solution" web site.

Grogan on the issues

Republicans in state House District 43B are pinning their hopes on endorsed candidate Brian Grogan to win the district, not just because the incumbent Rep. John Benson (DFL-Minnetonka) has only a 25% rating on the Taxpayers League of Minnesota legislative scorecard, but also because every seat is crucial to help sustain Gov. Tim Pawlenty's vetoes of the worst DFL legislation, and help get a Republican agenda through the legislative process, to shape the quality of life in this state for generations to come!

I asked Brian to comment on some of his legislative prorities. Here is what he wrote:

I firmly believe that Minnesota's raising health care costs are more related to our current regulations than to insurance company pricing practices. We need to bring down the anti-competitive walls and remove the HMO regulatory exemptions established by the Minnesota legislature.

Educational funding and the inadequacies of it, especially within my district, are related more to current law than the need to raise taxes. Currently, the Minnesota legislature restricts how much of the property taxes we pay can be retained within our school districts. And, the Minnesota legislature feels the Minneapolis and St. Paul districts deserve a higher per pupil fee than the suburban schools. I support legislation that would readdress the current, disproportionate school district per student funding laws.

In regard to our environment on a state legislative level, it is important we are excellent stewards of our resources but let us make sure we are making legislative decisions based on concrete scientific evidence. For example the idea that wind or solar energy will ever be able to meet a significant amount of our energy needs is false and is misleading the public debate. It can be a good alternative resource especially for homes but it is not a viable source for manufacturing plants and other type of businesses which are the largest user of energy within the state. The idea that nuclear energy isn’t a viable option is erroneous-it is being used effectively in many European nations. The key to nuclear energy is addressing the nuclear waste issue and we can address it through effective tax incentives and laws. In addition, coal can be burned very efficiently, is cost effective and our nation has enormous supplies of it. And, we can address the pollution concerns through current technology while further eliminating our reliance on foreign oil.

Lastly, the idea that global warming is scientifically proven to be related to our carbon dioxide emissions has not been scientifically established. It is plausible but not proven. Our planet is definitely going through a climate change but its cause and long term certainty has not been scientifically explained nor certified. Our state has the ability to address our energy needs in an economically viable way but not by over regulating businesses or by forcing costly alternatives on consumers and businesses.

I will propose viable solutions and bring a new vision for health care, education, job creation and energy policy. A vision to reshape government, achieve greater economic security for our citizens and enhance our schools and businesses. My vision believes and understands that our local businesses and citizens are best at solving and offering solutions to the Government and it is the legislature’s responsibility to be responsive to those needs.

Introducing Brian Grogan

Brian Grogan is the endorsed Republican candidate to challenge John Benson (DFL-Minnetonka) for the state House seat in District 43B. I have already documented on North Star Liberty what little I know about Brian: basically, he seems like he will make a great candidate. So I asked Brian to introduce his campaign positions, and here is what he wrote:

As the Republican endorsed candidate for House District 43B, I am excited to bring a new vision to address the challenges that Minnesota faces. We need to bring change to how we address job growth and our economy, raising health care cost, inadequate funding levels for our schools and being good stewards of our environment.

Most importantly, it is my firm belief that these challenges can be achieved without raising corporate or personal income taxes. We are, after all, already the 12th highest taxed state in the nation. In addition, we are rank 49th in the nation for our state’s business tax policy. Our citizens are taxed enough as a state. The key to solving our budget challenges is not more taxes but a better prioritization of what we need to do as a government for our citizens.

My priorities will be to create jobs by developing tax neutral policy incentives for business investment in infrastructure and equipment. Secondly, I want to create jobs by proposing legislation that reduces regulations and offers tax incentives which induce businesses to locate to Minnesota.

The leadership response in St. Paul for meeting our state’s challenges is, too often, to increase taxes and regulation in order to force compliance and support supervision. We can do better than this. The belief that higher taxes, more regulation and bigger government are better approaches to addressing the challenges within our society is misguided. I believe a Tibetan Monk said it quite well when he commented that "the only way to implement our vision for society is to bring it down to the situation of a single household" or as I would add, single neighborhood or single business. Our citizens and small businesses know what they need and what they need is a responsive government not a big brother.

Watch this blog for more from Brian during the campaign. Next we'll hear what he has to say on health care, education funding, and the environment.

Legislators: "It could have been worse"

On Tuesday evening, the Taxpayers League of Minnesota hosted an informal end-of-session meet-and-greet in one of the tony paneled club rooms at the Metropolitan in Golden Valley. (It was as close as I'll ever get to a smoke-filled room, thanks to the Minnesota Clean Air Act.)

The most common thing that people were saying about the legislative session now adjourned sine die was, "It could have been worse." The best thing that people could say about the session was, "It's over." The take-away message from conservative legislators was, "Send us some help!"

Among the notable conservatives working the crowd were former gubernatorial endorsement candidate Sue Jeffers, Hennepin County Commissioner candidate Jeff Johnson, Pioneer Press columnist Craig Westover, fellow True North founders Derek Brigham and Brian Mason, Wright County Republican's Drew Emmer, and of course the lovely Margaret Martin, co-host of the David Strom Show, heard Saturdays from 9:00-11:00 am on AM 1280 The Patriot.

The food and drink at 5:00 pm fooled everyone into staying for a wide-ranging recap of the session from some very hard-working, fiscally-conservative legislators at 6:00 pm. After consuming, as Minnesota Free Market Institute president David Strom put it, "Mike Wigley's wine" and the delish D'Amico hors d'oeuvres, the aloha-shirted chairman of the Taxpayers League Wigley opened the program by introducing League president and former state Rep. Phil Krinkie. Krinkie presented a special award to Rep. Marty Seifert (R-Marshall): the Worst Friend of the Gorillas Award, for opposing state funding of the gorilla exhibit at the Como Park Zoo.

Seifert thanked the Taxpayers League for their work, and explained that sustaining Gov. Tim Pawlenty's (R-MN) vetoes is only possible because the DFL is five votes short of a veto-proof majority in the House. He said end-of-session negotiations with the majority party leaders, notably Sen. Larry Pogemiller (DFL-Minneapolis), were particularly brutal this year.

Several legislators provided a recap of the session in their areas of expertise.

Sen. Geoff Michel (R-Edina) and Sen. David Hann (R-Eden Prairie) represented Minnesota's conservative state senators. Michel reported that 80% of the state budget reserve ("rainy day" fund) was used to balance the biennial budget, in spite of the expected November budget forecast of a $2-$3 billion deficit. Although state law requires a balanced budget, conservatives would prefer cuts in spending to depleting the reserve.

Krinkie presented Rep. Mark Buesgens (R-Jordan) with the Best Amendment Award for his amendment that would have renamed the "per diem" payment to legislators as "Walking Around Money." Longtime education reform stalwart and teacher Buesgens described the "one-time" $51 per-student grant to schools that passed this session, which will enable the DFL to claim a Republican funding "cut" if not appropriated next session. Buesgens also made the point that true reform (in the form of vouchers) is the only way to improve how education is delivered in Minnesota, rather than simply throwing more money at the current system.

Assistant Minority Whip and lead Republican on the Health and Human Services Finance Committee Rep. Matt Dean (R-Dellwood), praised the defeat of Education Minnesota's socialized medicine for teachers plan, although thousands more Minnesotans now qualify for state welfare health plans due to a raising of the maximum qualifying income. He also recommended Pat Shortridge's recent article on National Review Online, "Yes we can," on rebuilding the conservative movement in this country.

Rep. Mary Liz Holberg (R-Lakeville) received the Most Likely To Be Run Over By A Light Rail Train Award, because she is always standing in the way of light rail spending (and gas tax increases)!

Rep. Paul Khols (R-Victoria) sounded like the Son of Dr. No (former Rep. Krinkie) when he said that "no" can be a good word when voting against tax increases. He explained that the DFL was promoting twenty-five tax increases this session alone that would have cost taxpayers $10 billion in new taxes. The $6+ billion tax increase in the transportation bill was bad enough!

Rep. Tom Hackbarth (R-Cedar) explained how political horse-trading perverted the proposed constitutional amendment to dedicate a one-eighth percent of the existing state sales taxes to preserving hunting and fishing into a three-eighths percent sales tax increase to promote radical environmentalism, the arts, and parks, in addition to the original outdoors programs. He warned that special interest groups will be promoting the constitutional amendment, and that its passage would open the door to millions of dollars of grants to those groups (as the Minnesota State Lottery already does to environmental groups).

Strom concluded the program with a fundraising pitch, reminding the group that legislators and the Taxpayers League cannot do it alone. The big tip jar at the door was filled to the top with tens and twenties, a good sign, and contribution envelopes were also distributed with the League's popular lawn signs and "wanted" poster, and a session scrapbook of editorials and Krinkie op-eds. The evening's co-sponsor, AM 1280 The Patriot, also had a table with information and bumper stickers.

Conservatives need to remind the electorate that higher quality of life does not mean ever-larger government, in fact, the opposite is true. As Margaret Thatcher was quoted during the event, "First you win the argument, then you win the vote." If conservatives fail to win the argument and get like-minded candidates elected to the Minnesota House this fall, the 2008 tax-and-spend session will only be another step in our long march to the "cold Detroit" of even higher taxes and an accelerated taxpayer and business exodus from the Land of 10,000 Taxes.

Global warming: at least 31,000 short of consensus

The Star Tribune reported that on Monday, "the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine appeared before the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and announced that it has the signatures of more than 31,000 scientists...who agree that the human impact on global warming is overblown:"

We urge the United States government to reject the global warming agreement that was written in Kyoto ... and any other similar proposals. The proposed limits on greenhouse gases would harm the environment, hinder the advance of science and technology, and damage the health and welfare of mankind.

There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.

Among the notable Minnesotans who signed the petition: WCCO-TV meteorologist Mike Fairbourne. Fairbourne had some courage to publicly declare skepticism about global warming, since his colleagues, anchorman Don Shelby and fellow meteorologist Paul Douglas, are noted believers in man-made global warming/climate change.

The Global Warming Petition Project is much more than just another Internet petition drive. It's a serious rebuttal to the junk science of global warming. The web site includes a summary of peer-reviewed research on the science of so-called global warming.

It's time to take a step back from flawed computer models, the gospel of global warming and its prophet Al Gore and his Hollywood disciples, and the very real economic damage being caused in the name of this myth.

First, get endorsed

Spotted on the north side of Highway 12, west of I-494: