Mayor of Minneapolis takes picture with thug

This is a state that's elected Jesse Ventura and Al Franken to high office.

You can't be 100% normal and choose to stay and face Minnesota winters every year.

Originally posted by sh76
This is a state that's elected Jesse Ventura and Al Franken to high office.

You can't be 100% normal and choose to stay and face Minnesota winters every year.

if i were to venture a guess, i would say you didn't watch the youtube.

Originally posted by Zahlanzi
if i were to venture a guess, i would say you didn't watch the youtube.

Then it's a good thing you didn't venture a guess; or at least a good thing that you didn't bet anything on your guess.

Originally posted by sh76
This is a state that's elected Jesse Ventura and Al Franken to high office.

You can't be 100% normal and choose to stay and face Minnesota winters every year.

😀😀😀😀 LOL

Realistically Minnesota isn't any worse than the Dakotas, Most of Wisconsin, and most of America at that latitude.

Originally posted by normbenign
😀😀😀😀 LOL

Realistically Minnesota isn't any worse than the Dakotas, Most of Wisconsin, and most of America at that latitude.

That should be Minnesota's tourism slogan:

"Minnesota: We're really not any colder than North Dakota. Honest."

Originally posted by sh76
That should be Minnesota's tourism slogan:

"Minnesota: We're really not any colder than North Dakota. Honest."

Seriously politics there has elected some strangely different people, that some might label far right wing and far left, Franken and Ventura you mentioned. Philosophically, I think Minnesota tends to lean heavy to libertarianism.

On tourism, the cold weather States do promote their snow and cold, people pay to enjoy snowmobiling, icefishing, hunting, and where there are hills skiing.

Originally posted by normbenign
Seriously politics there has elected some strangely different people, that some might label far right wing and far left, Franken and Ventura you mentioned. Philosophically, I think Minnesota tends to lean heavy to libertarianism.

On tourism, the cold weather States do promote their snow and cold, people pay to enjoy snowmobiling, icefishing, hunting, and where there are hills skiing.

I actually love Minnesota. I went there once on vacation in late May/early June. It's breathtakingly beautiful. If, as I do, one enjoys forests and fresh water-based views and activities, you can't beat northern Minnesota. The "north coast" drive from Duluth to Grand Portage (and on to Thunder Bay if you're interested in crossing the border, eh?) is as nice a stretch as I've seen in my lifetime.

It's just really easy to take potshots at Minnesota and sometimes I can't resist. I mean, we've all seen Fargo, haven't we?

Edit: I'm even wearing the "Lake Superior" hoodie I got in Duluth in my profile pic. 😉 (although the pic itself was in Maine)

Originally posted by sh76
I actually love Minnesota. I went there once on vacation in late May/early June. It's breathtakingly beautiful. If, as I do, one enjoys forests and fresh water-based views and activities, you can't beat northern Minnesota. The "north coast" drive from Duluth to Grand Portage (and on to Thunder Bay if you're interested in crossing the border, eh?) is as nice a s ...[text shortened]... ke Superior" hoodie I got in Duluth in my profile pic. 😉 (although the pic itself was in Maine)

I would recommend you try the north shore of Michigan's upper. Much the same as the Minnesota stretch you described on the shore of Lake Superior. It's just cold and snowy at that latitude, in the winter. May, June is a good time, usually very comfortable, as long as you aren't spending a lot of time outdoors. The bug hatches are ferocious. A local friend has property in Sudbury, Ontario other side of Thunder Bay, and its gorgeous in summer, but same climate in winter, a bit too cold for a Boston lad originally from Georgia.

Originally posted by sh76
I actually love Minnesota. I went there once on vacation in late May/early June. It's breathtakingly beautiful. If, as I do, one enjoys forests and fresh water-based views and activities, you can't beat northern Minnesota. The "north coast" drive from Duluth to Grand Portage (and on to Thunder Bay if you're interested in crossing the border, eh?) is as nice a s ...[text shortened]... ke Superior" hoodie I got in Duluth in my profile pic. 😉 (although the pic itself was in Maine)

I was born on the "Iron Range" in Northern Mn.. we have a nice cabin up there on a Lake.... third generation Finn-lander, gramps didn't have a HS education, but started a plumbing business, Grandma did the books.. he did very well at it. And that is why it bothers me to see people just seemingly give up on our great country.. had 4 girls, and that turned into 4 boy firends who worked for him, to get through college,, I love the American dream.

Originally posted by Hugh Glass
... I love the American dream.

http://www.socialistalternative.org/why-we-need-a-labor-party/end-american-dream/

During the 1990s, the idea of the American dream, that the next generation will do better than the present one, has now all but disappeared for most workers and youth.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-superpower-in-decline-is-the-american-dream-over-a-726447.html

The fall of America doesn't have to be a complete collapse -- it is, after all, a country that has managed to reinvent itself many times before. But today it's no longer certain -- or even likely -- that everything will turn out fine in the end. ... The political system, plagued by lobbyism and stark hatred, is incapable of reaching consistent or even quick decisions.

The country is reacting strangely irrationally to the loss of its importance -- it is a reaction characterized primarily by rage. Significant portions of America simply want to return to a supposedly idyllic past. They devote almost no effort to reflection, and they condemn cleverness and intellect as elitist and un-American, as if people who hunt bears could seriously be expected to lead a world power. Demagogues stir up hatred and rage on television stations like Fox News. These parts of America, majorities in many states, ignorant of globalization and the international labor market, can do nothing but shout. They hate everything that is new and foreign to them.

Originally posted by finnegan
http://www.socialistalternative.org/why-we-need-a-labor-party/end-american-dream/

During the 1990s, the idea of the American dream, that the next generation will do better than the present one, has now all but disappeared for most workers and youth.

That's not the American Dream, surely? The original American Dream is much more personal, and more egoistic. It's always been the idea that with enough grit, enough hard work, enough steely-eyed will, even the lowliest paper boy could end up owning the newspaper and becoming a gazillionaire.
It's obvious bolleaux from the numbers alone - there are hundreds of paper boys but only one owner, so even if only two of these paper boys have the necessary psychopathy to reach the top, only one can stay there and the other gets punted back into the gutter, hard - but its essential egocentricity and lack of care for the less fortunate has always been the heart of the American Dream.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-superpower-in-decline-is-the-american-dream-over-a-726447.html
[quote]The country is reacting strangely irrationally to the loss of its importance -- it is a reaction characterized primarily by rage.

[/quote]
I see little strange about this irrationality and rage. It fits completely with the national character the USA has demonstrated over the last century, and to some extent, before. Compare this reaction to that of the English Empire when it found itself in the same situation - it went into denial and stuffy humour, which, again, fits with its own character.
(And to some extent, the way in which my own country descended even further into petite-bourgeoiserie after we lost most of our international importance tells the same story.)

Originally posted by finnegan
http://www.socialistalternative.org/why-we-need-a-labor-party/end-american-dream/

During the 1990s, the idea of the American dream, that the next generation will do better than the present one, has now all but disappeared for most workers and youth.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-superpower-in-decline-is-the-american-dream-over ...[text shortened]... market, can do nothing but shout. They hate everything that is new and foreign to them.[/quote]

Well yes, Theodore Roosevelt famously refused to shoot bears.

Originally posted by finnegan
http://www.socialistalternative.org/why-we-need-a-labor-party/end-american-dream/

During the 1990s, the idea of the American dream, that the next generation will do better than the present one, has now all but disappeared for most workers and youth.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-superpower-in-decline-is-the-american-dream-over ...[text shortened]... market, can do nothing but shout. They hate everything that is new and foreign to them.[/quote]

I think the author of that article needs to chill out.

Sure, much the western world has caught up to the US (and in countries in some ways, passed it) - and that's a good thing. But we're still doing okay. We're in the midst of a strong economic recovery right now and strong new social programs are being debated and considered. US foreign policy is a bit confused and certainly a bit flawed, but all in all, I'd say things are still pretty good.

It's amusing that the same people who love to wax poetic about the fall of the American superpower would probably quibble with the idea of the existence of any superpower being a good thing.

Anyway, "superpower" connotes foreign policy and the "American dream" is an economic one. Declining influence of US foreign policy has little or nothing to do with its economic strength.

Originally posted by sh76
I think the author of that article needs to chill out.

Sure, much the western world has caught up to the US (and in countries in some ways, passed it) - and that's a good thing. But we're still doing okay. We're in the midst of a strong economic recovery right now and strong new social programs are being debated and considered. US foreign policy is a bit con ...[text shortened]... Declining influence of US foreign policy has little or nothing to do with its economic strength.

Economic power is a requirement if you want to operate more aircraft carriers than anyone else. Even more so if you want soft power. I tend to agree with what you are saying in your first full paragraph though, it's not like the US has suddenly turned into a banana republic.