Boyd Monson Letter to the Editor: 2010 Mayor's Race Begins?

I don't often write about local political issues anymore after coming to the realization that it's not politics that's going to save our community but a change in the hearts of each person.

For some reason, something I haven't done in quite some time, I went to the Sun Post web site and came across a letter to the editor that prompted me to write. It was a letter so wrong I was compelled to comment.

Let me start by quoting the letter from Boyd Morson as published in this weeks Brooklyn Park Sun Post:

It was both amazing and unfortunate many of our great residents failed, refused or didn't know to show up for the supposed-to-be rally held at Zanewood for the racially motivated assaults on two minorities in our city.

Three individuals crossed city boundaries with the intent to commit heinous acts that painfully resembles years past. Kudos to Brooklyn Park's fineness for their quick response and apprehending the perpetrators. This is not the reasoning many of you shared for moving to Brooklyn Park. In fact, your reason was for our diversity.

During the rally, I looked around and was quite shocked it wasn't overflowing with the many caring and compassionate residents that I know truly embrace and value our diversity and have chosen to live, work, play, worship, learn and do business here.

Kudos to the organizers. However, I was disappointed our mayor had to read a prepared statement and was unable to instinctively convey the devastating impact of these racial attacks. How out-of-touch and disconnected that appeared to me. It was equally disturbing to witness the underlining "poli-tricks" associated with this rally when the host mentioned how great our elected officials were and that we need to keep them in office then announced the upcoming Mayor's Prayer Breakfast and encouraged residents to purchase tickets while others passed out fliers. This during a time when the community rallied together in support of the hateful attacks on some of our own. How shameful and disrespectful, Mr. Mayor.

When I read Monson's letter, when I read his web site, when I see his actions relating to the murder at Blondie's, I cannot help but see similarities with "community organizer" camera hogs like Al Sharpton.

I attended the event he is discussing in this letter and wonder if he's confusing it with something else. My impression, and that of others, sure doesn't compare.

One has to wonder what his real objective is with his attack on the mayor. Our mayor was there, he read a statement of genuine disgust at what took place and care for the victims. The idea that one can tell something isn't genuine because it was a "prepared statement" is ridiculous. In such a charged environment the thought that someone would speak off the cuff without a prepared statement is asking for trouble. Challenging the mayor's heartfelt sympathy due to a prepared statement is an obvious, desperate attempt to find something to criticize.

He then goes on to criticize someone mentioning the then-upcoming Brooklyn Park Mayor's Prayer Breakfast. Given that Monson was neither involved in the planning and, to my knowledge, didn't attend the event (held yesterday), one has to wonder if he is in reality opposed to the idea of a community event that prays for our leaders, raises money and food for CEAP, and is a call for unity in our community. He talks the game of "unity" but criticizes an event with almost 400 people of all backgrounds who are actually doing that. Worse, he describes the simple announcement of the event as "poli-tricks", and "shameful and disrespectful".

No, Mr. Monson, politicizing the Zanewood event for your own political ambitions is shameful and disrespectful.

The question that comes to mind is this; is Monson beginning a run for Mayor with this attack letter? He lost - big - in his attempt to win a seat on the City Council in 2008. Given the Mayor is up for re-election next year this kind of ridiculous letter, looking to create issues where there are none, looks extremely political to me.

Most people see right through self-promoters like this. I watched this fellow at the Zanewood rally as he strutted around in his expensive suit, standing in the middle of the room for much of the time while everyone else was seated, looking to be seen. I've never been impressed with people who have a need to be the center of attention because, while their words are about "unity" and "community" it always ends up that it's about them. That sure seems to be the case here.

Brooklyn Park Mayor's Prayer Breakfast: Video Promo

Click here for a short video promo for the 2009 Brooklyn Park Mayor's Prayer Breakfast.

It is not our "differences" that make us strong, but our common thread

It is not our differences that make us strong as a people, it is what we have in common. We cannot unite behind differences, we can, however, unite behind the common thread we have - as Americans.

I dare you to watch the entire five minute video.

WES SKOGLUND: You're wrong

As I was reading today's Star Tribune Letters to the Editor I could not help but laugh at the one written by extreme liberal, former State Senator and Representative Wes Skoglund.

Wes has never seen a bit of rhetoric he didn't like. From health care to fireworks, the sky is always falling with ol' Wes. As we debated the current fireworks laws that threw off some of the shackles we had in Minnesota regarding fireworks use, Wes gave it his best to try and preserve the old, tired laws no one obeyed anyway. You know the arguments, emergency rooms will explode with hundreds of thousands of people who don't know how to handle a sparkler. Of course, it never materialized. But Wes had to try. After all, the state giving back some of their power, even in this small area, could not be tolerated by this extreme liberal.

Well, today's letter is no different. Today Wes rails against Tim Pawlenty's "scheme" (he was missing the word "risky") to "import other state's heath insurer's". You know the argument, right? Minnesota does such a better job in regulating companies and no other state could possibly have better insurance companies than we have.

Now guess which state he automatically goes to. You know it, right? It's the one Minnesota liberals always use.

Yep, Mississippi.

He calls insurance companies that don't cover "basic benefits" like "chemotherapy, mastectomies or maternity care" "less scrupulous".

Tell that to the single 23 year old MALE who doesn't plan to get pregnant.

In Skoglund's world, insurance companies that don't offer every bell and whistle are unscrupulous. In Obama's world, those are called "cadillac plans" and are going to be highly taxed.

Let me suggest to Skoglund that not every plan needs to offer every bell and whistle. Perhaps he's never purchased auto insurance with multiple deductible options, multiple options on things like glass coverage (or no glass coverage, those unscrupulous insurance companies!), or multiple options like towing, etc. I guess car insurance companies that don't offer every option are unscrupulous.

In Wes' world, if you are allowed choice (uh-oh, Mr. Pro-Choice is against choice?) in selecting options, or coverages you think you'll need, or coverages you can afford, means the insurance company is unscrupulous and offering those plans is a "scheme".

Of course, that's ridiculous. Choice in insurance coverage is GOOD, not bad. It's not a scheme but the American Way. If my 23 year old son wants to purchase health insurance that doesn't cover having babies, why shouldn't he be able to lower his cost and not buy it, much like he has the choice to not cover glass coverage on his car is he so chooses?

Because Wes Skoglund thinks it's a scheme.

Maybe Wes Skoglund should get his nose out of the business of other people and stop trying to make their decisions for them. The state doesn't need this "power", let me buy my own insurance and decide what I need to cover and what I don't.

For those who want Government Health Care, DMV-style

StarTribune.com: Shameless Comment Censorship

I have watched this morning as someone has been posting a simple comment on StarTribune.com. In response to Nobel Peace Prize letters this user made this comment:

Title: Obama Elected Imperial Grand Poobah by the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes

Body: Nominated by Fred Flintstone, seconded by Barney Rubble ...

It was deleted.

The user reposted it and it was deleted again.

Over the morning it was posted, deleted, reposted and deleted TWENTY THREE times before I stopped watching.

Other comments on StarTribune.com, especially by liberals attacking conservatives, Michelle Bachmann (just mentioning her name brings hundreds and hundreds of foaming-at-the-mouth, hate-filled, drooling Kool-aid drinking comments by liberals), George W. Bush (everything's his fault, of course, from Global Warming to Cub running out of Double Mint gum), or Tim Pawlenty (he personally took a wrench to the I-35E bridge to make it collapse, or at least you'd think that reading the comments posted here by some of these nutbars).

Yet this simple, pithy quip was deleted over and over again by liberal StarTribune.com censors.

The newspaper that has been declining in readership over the years, the newspaper that has one view of the world - extreme liberal - and proclaims to be for "freedom of speech" silently and insidiously censors user comments that do not violate terms and conditions, does not attack people, but simply doesn't go along with their worship of the New Messiah.

It's no wonder this newspaper is bankrupt, financially and morally.

It's sad to watch.

"Story of Stuff": Local Update

Earlier this week I emailed the superintendent of schools for the Osseo 279 School District, Susan Hintz. From everything I've heard she is a good, honest, hard-working, caring, able administrator.

Within a day she replied that she'd have their School Communications Coordinator look into whether or not the district was using Story of Stuff or not.

Yesterday afternoon I received this response:

Dear Mr. Jordan:

I’m responding on behalf of Supt. Susan Hintz to your question below. Thank you for your inquiry.

This video is not included in any grade-level curriculum for social studies or science, and neither of the curriculum specialists for those subject areas was aware of any teacher using it. That doesn’t mean that it’s not being used in any of our schools; it only means that we are not aware of any use, and we know it is not part of the required curriculum.

Sincerely,

Barbara Olson
School/Community Relations Coordinator

This is good news.

However, I am also aware that individual teachers may still use things like this without the knowledge of the district. If you are a parent of a student in the Osseo school district and know, or find out, if this is being used in a classroom please let me know.

VoicePulse Phone Service: Two Thumbs Up

I recently switched telephone service from Vonage to a company I'd never heard of, VoicPulse. After putting up with the virtually non-English speaking customer service of Vonage, slow customer service, and sometimes difficult set up (given our situation in our home with a server, wired and wireless routers, and more), it was time to look elsewhere.

In short, the customer service from VoicePulse is awesome. They've been there with every question, and I had a lot. Their pricing is incredible and their quality is spectacular. Because we barely use the home phone we're able to use their lowest priced service, $14.99 a month. Comcast is $39.99 for their lowest service that has any real features, Vonage recently raised theirs to $17.99.

Set up is a snap - plug in the router, plug in the phone line to it and you're up and running. It was that easy.

We're still in the process of porting over the phone number, something that does seem to take a little longer between Vonage and VoicePulse but that's okay, we've just got it forwarding from one to the other and all's good.

Coupon Offer

VoicePulse offers a $15 credit for you and for me in their Refer a Friend program. If you check them out and are interested let me know and I'll send you the coupon code.

"Story of Stuff": Is this propaganda in our schools?

This is unbelievable. If the "Story of Stuff" is in our schools, either the Osseo or Anoka-Hennepin schools, it needs to be removed - immediately.

If you can stand watching it, here is the full video.

Instead of watching the unedited version, below is the video with facts inserted where appropriate. You get to watch the video along with the real facts.

Let me say this first; if you are a parent of school age children you need to find out today if this crap is in your school. If it is, it's time to organize parents and get it removed. If they refuse to remove it, it's time to remove the school board members because they're not interested in education but in forcing extreme, inaccurate leftwing propaganda down the throats of your children. This is serious.


Story of Stuff, The Critique Part 1 of 4


Story of Stuff, The Critique Part 2 of 4


Story of Stuff, The Critique Part 3 of 4


Story of Stuff, The Critique Part 4 of 4

Dissent is Still Patriotic, not "Racist"

There's not much I agree with when it comes to Barack Obama (well, except on the fact that Kayne West is a "jackass", but that's an easy one). He got elected complaining about Bush over-spending - and was right - and then came into office blowing away deficit spending records from all of history. He's taken over private businesses, he's fired CEO's of private companies, he's running his administration with "czars" who are self-admitted radicals, he's associated himself with the criminal organization ACORN, and he's a guy who's never seen a TV camera he didn't like.

Every one of those are legitimate reasons to disagree with a President.

But according to Jimmy Carter and an every-increasing chorus of liberal Democrats, my disagreements with Obama aren't because I think he's a tax-increasing, deficit-spending socialist liberal, it's because I must be a "racist". So despite the fact Barack Obama stands for an ideology I believe is against everything our country was founded on, I can't disagree for that reason. The only reason one can possibly disagree with this guy is because of his skin color.

Could there possibly be any more of an intellectually dishonest, lazy, false, disgusting, unAmerican, unpatriotic line of "reasoning"?

For the last eight years dissent was said to be "patriotic". Liberals had this on bumper stickers all over, holding together their rusted out old cars.


That all changed, though, once liberals took over the White House and Congress. Now those who don't agree with them and their policies are said to be holding back "progress", we have "no ideas" (and yet this liberal-led congress has refused to allow Republicans to present amendments or bills), or now, we're "racist".

For what? Disagreeing based on ideology, on principle, on issues of substance, on issues that millions of American's hold real, valid views on.

Shame on any liberal who says this. My dissent IS patroitic because it is my right as an American to hold my leaders accountable. And it's especially patroitic to hold my leaders accountable when their proposals are not constitutional or in the best interests of my children and yours.

And for the record, my dissent, my disagreement, my agreement with Joe Wilson that Barack Obama IS lying when it comes to his healthcare ideas, is NOT racist. I would disagree if he were my own family member proposing these ideas because they are wrong.

ACORN and our local leaders

Does your State Representative and State Senator work with ACORN? Have they cooperated with them in the past few election cycles?

It's time to start asking that question.

ACORN is showing themselves to be a shameless criminal organization, in my opinion, and the videos are proving it.

See the videos at BigGovernment.com.

Last year State Rep. Mike Nelson wrote a letter to the editor cooperating with ACORN. How else is he cooperating with this group? It's time to ask the question? Is he willing to disassociate himself from ACORN or will he continue working with them?

What about Melissa Hortman? Deb Hortman? Linda Scheid?

I hope to see some answers as we get closer to next year's election cycle.

Brooklyn Park Mayor's Prayer Breakfast

Plan now to attend this years Brooklyn Park Mayor's Prayer Breakfast. The theme this year is Building a Community of Hope, featuring CEAP as the featured organization.

The event is Thursday, October 29th, 7 am at the Northland Inn. Former Minnesota Gopher basketball star Walter Bond will be speaking.

For more information download this information PDF file.

Or see the Facebook page by searching for Brooklyn Park Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast.

Reston, VA cop decides citizen doesn't have free speech rights.

This may be one of the most disturbing videos I've ever seen.



I don't buy the FEMA camp non-sense but the rest of this is very, very disturbing. Officer Wesley Cheeks should be fired.

Hysterical NIMBY's Win the Day

The loss of common sense continued it's march last night as our city council, one that has completely lost all sense of wisdom, voted to approve the "northern route" at Fleet Farm.

As you'll recall, two weeks ago our city council voted 4-3 against the only route that makes any sense, a road behind the store through a 20 acre open field. After listening to a few locals, who had clearly been whipped into a frenzy with non-sensical rhetoric, four members of our board of wisdom decided that they preferred having customers and Fleet Farm workers endangered rather than going with the obvious solution.

Fleet Farm, desperate to prevent injuries and the lawsuits that inevitably follow, came up with an additional million dollars to design and fund a route that cuts off a few bays of their car wash, and puts a road directly between their store and gas station. While appreciating their willingness to make something happen, and understanding their desperation to prevent injuries, this "answer" is going to create more traffic and confusion.

What I was amazed at were the locals who at the last meeting were worried about the wild life and the earth dying because of the construction of the road, were supporting this. Whether the road was built here or a few hundred yards to the south and east, wouldn't the affect be the same? Wouldn't the earth blow up with this road just as much as the other location?

I digress...

In the end, this new "solution" is just silly. There's a perfectly good, huge, open field behind the store. It's had a road running through it on planning maps for years. It's never been a secret that a road was going to go through there. There is NO wildlife in this field, no endangered species, and nothing preventing this road from going there except a few people making things up and throwing things against the wall in hopes they could get four people with votes to go their way.

Unfortunately, it worked. Our city council has lost all common sense. They'd decided to make Fleet Farm spend a million dollars, to rip up a bunch of their existing property and to tear down a large part of their existing car wash building all so these few NIMBY's would stop whining.

A city council member has a responsibility to think in terms of the good of all the people of Brooklyn Park. This vote abandoned that responsibility.

When this road is up and operating they will watch as traffic backs up and moving in and out of Fleet Farm is no better, and they will look back with regret that they didn't do what was right and obvious.

This is Fabulous!

Fleet Farm Road: Dogs and cats, living together, mass hysteria

Oh my goodness.

I've been listening to the hysterical scaremongering going on tonight over the proposed little road that would go behind Mills Fleet Farm in Brooklyn Park.

We've heard that building this road is going to:

- Decrease local property values 23% (further than has already occurred in recent years)
- Massive exhaust to the point neighbors wouldn't be able to enjoy their decks
- The loss of "wild life" - "we've spotted deer..." (Deer in a busy commercial area is good?)
- The noise will force people to abandon their homes
- We won't buy another house in Brooklyn Park
- It will cause our credit to suffer and damage us forever.
- This will damage us, it will "wipe us out".
- The quality of life will be destroyed.
- The water run off will flood our basements.
- The homes will be uninhabitable.
- Building roads can cause the loss of ozone and cause the destruction of the Earth

All that from building a half mile bypass road behind Fleet Farm.

With the building of the new Highway 81/Highway 169 "Devils triangle" bridges, southbound traffic has been using the Fleet Farm parking lot to get through instead of going through all the long highway lights and construction. The city, along with MNDOT and Fleet Farm, have proposed building a road where a road has been slated to go for years. I've seen maps with a road going here for at least ten years. It's not a suddenly proposed road.

I'm hearing one guy saying "we moved here without there being a road there". Well, so? What's the point? Conditions change and it's a big, open field.

I've got no problem with putting up some bushes or trees for screening, but this road is needed. Desperately. My guess is that every one of these people has used the Fleet Farm - private property - to cut through. Their alternative is driving out to W. Broadway, going to Brooklyn Blvd, and turning back up Jolly Lane. There's no way they've been doing that.

In essence, this is the biggest "NIMBY" effort we've seen in years. The road needs to be built, property values aren't going to go down because of any road (it's not going IN your yards), and the Earth really will not burn to a crisp because of a simple road.

Property values have gone down already. Homes are not selling. But people, this isn't because some road may be built, it's because of the stupid laws Democrats created making loans too easy.

The solution these people seem to want is to building the road down the middle aisle inside the store.

One of the most bizarre ideas was Councilmember Jeanette Meyer suggesting that all the eastern exits from Fleet Farm being closed, forcing all customers to enter and exit onto 85th Ave. She tried to defend her proposal by saying Menards "only has access to Hwy 81". Huh? Menards has one entrance on 81, and TWO on 79th Ave. She doesn't even know her own district.

The Fleet Farm representative, a person who knows his business, said that Meyer's proposal would "close the store". She didn't seem concerned and didn't believe him. Apparently now she's also a traffic engineer and marketing professional.

The fact is, the property behind Fleet Farm is zoned Business. This means there would be a road there anyway at some point. The city council has turned down several "down zoning" attempts for homes and churches.

A townhome development was proposed in 2005 with the exact same road alignment. No one objected then. Why? Because it's likely a couple of people decided this time to stir up neighbors with a lot of exaggerated non-sense like I've listed.

The fact is, Fleet Farm is willing to pay $125,000 for the safety of their employees and customers. I, for one, applaud them for it. So should you.

In the end, the council voted it down 4-3 (Crema, Lunde, Gates, Trepanier). With this vote they have decided that Fleet Farm employees and customers are not valued, their safety is not important, and that the false arguments used to scare people were valid. Leadership requires doing the right thing in the face of illogical opposition. Sadly four of our council members failed in their leadership roles tonight. If someone (more) should be hurt in the FF parking lot these people will be held partially responsible.

Deep Tater: I had forgotten about him....

Likely a flashback that causes some current, mostly past politicians sweat. :)

I had forgotten about this character we created years ago to represent numerous "inside" sources we had. Rarely did these people fail us as they offered up virtually always accurate information that some politicians and insiders did not want the public to know.

For the fun of it we've resurrected our old CafePress store featuring Deep Tater t-shirts.

If you'd like a piece of Brooklyn Park history, visit here.

Sprint Price on new Palm Pre: Major Disappointment

Sprint, the third place cell phone company, along with Palm, the company bleeding money like a fire hose, announced the release of the new phone I've been waiting months for. The date, June 6th (the date of my daughters graduation party) is the date but the price - please - is $299.

I know, they make the sales pitch that it's $199 "after a $100 rebate", but we all know that means it's $299 and then sometime in the future, 3-4 months later, you'll get some card worth $100.

This is a major screw up by Sprint given that there are iPhones and the Blackberry Storm available for $199 (and the Storm's available for $159 on Bestbuy.com).

This is a major disappointment for those of us who have been watching with "baited breath" for months while Sprint played with us with rumors and videos about the new phone. For two companies who are so desperate for a success, charging $300 for this unproven new phone (and new unproven OS), just days before the release of a new iPhone 3.0 software release, along with a plethora of new phones coming out in the next 30-60 days, this is just poor marketing, planning and thought. It's a complete disappointment.

My son has Sprint and loves them. Being a long time AT&T customer, but one who has to change because their coverage where my daughter will be going to college is awful, I have been looking at both Spring and Verizon. This announcement has me re-thinking my initial conclusion to wait for the Palm Pre and have to start re-looking at the Storm. $299, Sprint, is just too high a price for this customer.

Shame on our State Senate and Senator

This is your DFL-led Minnesota State Senate in action. Damn the minority, ram through the tax increase bill, completely ignore opposition taking away their RIGHT to speak. Worse, gagging their voice and the voice of the TAX PAYERS who elected them.

This is shameful. Our State Senator Linda Scheid sat by silently and allowed this to happen.

Is this America or is this the Soviet Union? It sure seems as though the DFL, the tolerant liberals who preach "diversity of ideas" sure don't practice it.

Need responsible summer worker?

Have I got the person for you!

My daughter graduated from high school this past Friday night, with honors. This responsible, friendly, cheerful, hard-working, honest, teachable, willing, flexible young lady is available for the summer, Monday through Friday.

She's experienced (currently works weekends at a local Old Country Buffet, since November 2008), is extremely computer literate (has had a networked computer in her room for as long as I can remember), responsible (no excuses, will show up, work hard, take care of business), a leader (Senior class Vice President, leader on church youth board), caring (multiple working mission trips to Belize, Mexico, Jamaica) and smart (3.85 GPA from a private high school, was offered a large scholarship to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in NY).

This fabulous young lady is looking for good, honest, decent paying summer work before college.

If you'd like the opportunity to discuss this with her please contact me at john@johnjordan.com at your earliest convenience.

While I'm her dad and saying nice things about her, I can tell you that there isn't one person out there who'd disagree with everything I've said about this incredible young woman. If you need summer help you won't go wrong by hiring her.