South Dakota War College

Just because it's fairly funny, and I mentioned it in the prior posting, here's the Sattgast commercial from the 2002 Auditor's Race. Click on the image, or Click Here to watch it. If you have a pretty cool commercial - And that's cool - get it to me, and I'll consider posting it as I move towards more video in my blog. For those of you can see this file - it should fire up. If you can't, well, bear with me. I'm working on my flash coding. It worked in firefox. (Now if someone could only help me with flash code so it would not play automatically). UPDATE - Yes, not being able to choose to play it is annoying. I've gone to a click it thing.

At approximately 10:37 this evening, I screwed up a silkscreen I was doing for a t-shirt my daughter wanted me to make. She wanted something similar to one that a character in Napoloen Dynamite wore, but with a Brookings Bobcat theme. So I worked on the art over the course of the last week, coated the screen, let it dry and stored it in a cabinet for exposing the screen tonight, after I got all my eBay shipments prepared. (Yes, I do eBay too.) Apparently I either underexposed it, or washed it out too much. Screwing up the screen was just the latest in a string of disappointments today. It was a minor annoyance, and had nothing to do with politics like the others I came across today. When I got home tonight, I noticed that on the 2006 Candidate WIKI , that someone had posted the rumor that Larry Russell was going to run for Congress. It was disappointing because I had to clarify that as far as I know, the rumor is very likely unfounded. I've known Larry for several years - almost...

Okay, that was a joke. But does someone know what's going on with Clean Cut Kid? Are they changing service providers? Are they going dark like Jer Bear at DWATG? On many topics, CCK (Chad & Seth) and I completely disagree, but this is downright mysterious. So, consider this a "get well soon card" for CCK.

On the DUSEL Lab: “There’s a huge potential for it not to happen. But I’m going to do everything I can to make it happen” · Sen. Frank Kloucek (10/6/05 Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan) “The nearly $20 million proposal, broken down to a per-capita cost, would be the equivalent of "one large pizza" for every resident in the state. What a steal," · Sen. Tom Dempster (10/10/05 Sioux Falls Argus Leader) On the State Fair “(I) still support the fair, but too much money is being spent” · Rep. Ryan Olson (10/11/05 KCCR News)

Okay! the 2006 South Dakota Political Candidate Wiki is officially up to date and running at: http://sdcandidates2006.wikispaces.org/ Anyone can update it with information and tidbits they come across in their travels on the people who are going to be running for office in 2006. Please keep it to the format as established (unconfirmed reports in italics) and note your source if it is a public document. This is all done with the understanding that nothing is official until after the filing deadlines or party conventions - but it's a good place to start discussions and speculation.

I thought I had a pretty good talk with the Hughes County Republican Group today on weblogs. I was nervous, because I haven’t done any public speaking in months, so this was good for me. Heck, I haven’t “called an auction sale” in about a year now, so I need public speaking to keep in practice. Even more promising, I think everyone took home my handouts. That’s a pretty good gauge if you stink. You stink, the handouts stay. You make it passably interesting, and they’ll at least take your handouts to the office or home before they throw them away. So, I think I at least got a “C” on this effort. What I provided was an extensive list of the South Dakota blogs for their review with a brief little write up on each. And I provided a page on terminology, and a couple of articles on South Dakota blogging. I originally had a handout ready that was 30 pages plus, but I edited myself down to about 10 or so. I got through my disjointed discussion (yeah, ok, I could have been more organized), and ...

From USD Press Office: Graduates to Receive Alumni Achievement Awards During Dakota Days at The U VERMILLION, S.D. -- Six extraordinary alumni of The University of South Dakota will be presented with Alumni Achievement Awards at Dakota Days 2005. They will be recognized at the All-Alumni Dinner on Friday, Oct. 7 in Vermillion. Alumni are honored in the following categories: Outstanding service in a profession or career Outstanding service to The University Outstanding contributions to his or her community The 2005 Alumni Achievement Award recipients are: U.S. Rep. Kevin P. Brady ’90 B.S.F.A., The Woodlands, Texas; Richard A. Cutler ’63 B.A., ’65 J.D., ’97 H.L.D., Sioux Falls, S.D.; Grace Steinberg Day ’48 B.A., ’49 LL.B., St. Joseph, Mo.; Hollis R. Hurlbert ’69 B.S.B.A., posthumously, Aberdeen, S.D.; Paul Schiller ’70 B.A., Sioux Falls, S.D., and William Stier, Jr. ’72 Ed.D., Brockport, N.Y. U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady is serving his fifth term in congress, representing the Eight...

I knew I mentioned this once before. Back on September 12th, I opined that the SDDP's gushing praise and support for the MAINstream Moderate group was for a purpose: It seems to me that we're watching the early stages of a campaign strategy for 2006 unfold. It wouldn't be the first group to use a strategy of divide and conquer. Fast forward one month to the SDDP's latest edition of the Blue Note , as tooted out by Gil Koetzle: It's not just Democrats who are sounding the alarm. If you need an indicator of the level of distaste for the current government in South Dakota, take a look at the Mainstream Coalition. Formed by Republican state legislators who fear the coming backlash against a Republican dominated government that has not served its citizens well, the Mainstream Coalition aims to embrace democratic ideals not found in the current Republican majority. I said it before, and I'll say it again. I believe that this is a strategic move on the part of the SD...

Between September 29th and October 4th, either someone was sloppy with a soccer ball, or they have an extreme way of voicing a political opinion. This was the scene at South Dakota Right to Life on South Central Avenue in Pierre. The Director, Brock Greenfield, arrived back at his office after working in and out of town (including serving on the South Dakota Task Force to Study Abortion). And what he found was a glassy mess. I'm told there was not just a little glass, but a lot of it all over the sidewalk in front of the building. Luckily, they have a double pane of glass in this window, but it still is a big expensive broken window. I can only hope that this was a random incident involving a kid and an errant ball. Because in our society, differences of opinion should be argued and debated. Not taken out on property. If anyone cares to make a donation towards the replacement of the window, you can send a check to: SDRTL P.O. Box 1032 Pierre, SD 57501 You can also contact the Pie...

The SDDP has an e-mail report out yesterday - the "E-news from the Blues" that seems to say that the Dems might have some statewide office action this month. Quoting from the e-mail: This month’s two podcasts will feature George McGovern and a mystery Democrat announcing his candidacy for state-wide office. An email that goes out to media contacts and others details guests to be featured on each show. The party also hopes to keep people returning to the podcast by providing daily news updates and blogs on the website. Oooooo. A mystery Democrat announces his candidacy for statewide office. I'm intrigued. This one might just be a stumper. I did hear rumors from a month or so ago that there might be a former Democratic legislator from rural Minnahaha County who was going to jump into the PUC Race. As the only place a Dem could typically expect to hold at least one of the seats, I'm sure the Dems eye the PUC as a place they can make gains. Don't get worked up about t...