October 24, 2008
“The fundamental difference is this: the Bank is primarily a development institution; the IMF is a cooperative institution that seeks to maintain an orderly system of payments and receipts between nations.”
For more info : http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/exrp/differ/differ.htm
Related article [WSJ]: Iceland to Get $2 Billion IMF Loan
October 22, 2008
You’ve probably seen the commercials for this recently as well…
The Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment | www.yesformn.org
Obviously we all want clean water, water resources, parks and forests etc for future years to come but what exactly are they proposing and who is behind this? According to the website mentioned above “Vote Yes Minnesota is a grass roots, citizen-run committee.” I thought the DNR was behind this, and maybe they are (you decide). But basically what they are proposing is to increase “the sales tax rate by three-eighths of one percent and dedicating the receipts for natural resource and cultural heritage purposes…” Here is what you’ll see on the ballot:
Clean Water, Wildlife, Cultural Heritage, and Natural Areas
Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to dedicate funding to protect our drinking water sources; to protect, enhance, and restore our wetlands, prairies, forests, and fish, game, and wildlife habitat; to preserve our arts and cultural heritage; to support our parks and trails; and to protect, enhance, and restore our lakes, rivers, steams, and groundwater by increasing the sales and use tax rate beginning July 1, 2009, by three-eighths of one percent on taxable sales until the year 2034?
October 20, 2008
This year it seems like Minnesota’s 3rd District is the most highly contested disctrict in MN. However after taking a closer look at the 3rd District contest between Ashwin Madia (D), Erik Paulson (R) and David Dillon (I) I found out I don’t even live in the 3rd District, I’m all 5th (1, 2, 3, 4, fif).
So who is running to represent the 5th District? First term incumbant congressman Keith Ellison (D) stands to compete against Barb Davis White (R) and Bill McGaughey (I). Is it me or has nobody been advertising for the 5th district seat? I’ll be surprised if there is any change in representation here.
Besides the 3rd district I think Minnesota’s 6th district race should be interesting to watch. Will first term incumbant Michelle Bachman (R) be re-elected after her recent comments about Barrack Obama? Or will the former minister, mayor (Blaine) and Commissioner of Transportation (1999-2002) Elwyn Ticklenberg (D) grab the seat? Wait a second, what happened to Patty Wetterling (D)?
And of course there is the MN senatorial race between Norm Coleman (R), Al Frankin (D) and Dean Barkley (I). There has been a lot of coverage (and ads) for this campaign so anybody who has been watching television around here for the past six months probably has formed a pretty formidable opinion of whats going on here. But it should be interesting to see how this one turns out too.
The Star Tribune has collected some pretty good stuff on these canidates if you would like to read some more about this: http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/house/
Or for a quick summary of the canidates check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections_in_Minnesota,_2008
October 3, 2008
“This is an unfair joke. Gollum is an old man corrupted by his quest for power and John… uh…”
