Just another Manic Monday eight days before we send the Man Crush to the White House.

Here’s some stuff worth reading from the South Dakota Internets, fellow babies.  Consider this a National Lampoon Christmas Vaction edition:

Former Sen. Larry Pressler Endorses Barack Obama! (Badlands Blue)  I couldn’t have been more surprised if I woke up with my head nailed to the carpet.

Argus Leader endorses the end of South Dakota economy  (Badlands Blue)  I couldn’t have been more surprised if I woke up with my head nailed to the carpet.

Oh, this is just getting better every day. IM10 files their pre-general report. (SD War College)  I couldn’t have been less surprised if I hadn’t woke up with my head nailed to the carpet.

Palin: Crony Politics and Corporate Welfare for TransCanada  (Madville Times)  I couldn’t have been less surprised if I hadn’t woke up with the my head nailed to the carpet.

Just like you need more cowbell, you need more Must Reads.

Gift For The Joe The Plumber In Your Family  (Bob Schwartz Online)  Never suffer from plumber butt again!

IM10 campaign still sputtering over their opposition  (SD War College)  The Clean and Sober folks just can catch a break.

Obama and the Rushmore boys, together again? Why not  (Mt. Blogmore) A simple theory: Barack and Hilde come to Mt. Rushmore and the Man Crush takes SD.  I love it!

Early Voting Is a Corruption of Democracy (SD Politics)  No, Blanchard, the corruption of democracy started when we allowed non-property holders to vote... then women... then blacks... the Native Americans... then 18 year olds...  Earth to Ken.  It's 2008, not 1808.

Reading the SD Internets so you can have a life since 2005!

Stuff worth reading (or making fun of) today:

Sioux City Journal: Send Dykstra to Washington (SD War College) I say Send the Sioux City Journal to South Sioux City.  That'll teach them about making dumb endorsements.

Belly dancing Saturday (Dakota Discography)  If I lived in Rapid City, I would be SO there!

Yet another danger of smoking  (How I Learned To Love The Bomb)  Yes, besides it ultimately killing you.

VYFL gets a smack down from SD's OB-GYNs. (Dakota Women) And those OB-GYN's have speculums and they know how to use them!  Don't mess with them!

Stuff worth your time today from the South Dakota Blogosphere:

“Mr. Chairman, I just told KELO to sit on their satellite dish” (Mt. Blogmore) Yup, Sen. Johnson is sort of busy right now.

About my breasts…  (Blogging While Feminist)  Just love the headline.

Leslee “Anything Goes” Unruh  (Dakota Women)  The DW Leslee Fan Club in full bloom.

**Don’t buy your Mayo in Winner, SD  (Dakota Today)  Not because it’s gone bad but because it costs so much.

Living in RVs?  (Newsmonger)  AKA, living in a van down by the river.

Reading the Internets so you don’t have to since 2005.

Now, in a new, abridged style!

Herseth indistinguishable from Pelosi? (SD War College)

And then there were those 9,211 votes on cloture…  (Mt. Blogmore)

Worst TV Spinoffs (Bob Schwartz Online)

First Snow on Lake Herman! (Madville Times)

Hey Monkeyballers! It’s National Talk Like a Palin Day today! (SouthDakotaMac)

I'm going to try to use a little video every day to talk to you directly about the best of the SDBlogOSphere and other things.I hope you enjoy my video.  I even got cleaned up for it!

I'm thinking that SD Watch has defeated the evildoer porno popups. Unfortunately, SD Watch will have to occupy the porno popups for the next one hundred years and install a favorable puppet popup government to ensure peace in our time.

Seriously, if you spot a porno popup, let me know in the comments or send me an email at epplaw(at)gmail(dot)com.

Thanks for your help. In the meantime, SD Watch will reduce the threat level to yellow.

The countdown to the Fourth of July continues. Don't blow you digits off shooting fireworks!

Here are your Must Reads.

SOUTH DAKOTA MUST READS:

3 posts in a row?
02/07/08 07:07 from South Dakota War College
I see for the third day running, the mountain man of the northern plains is aiming at me with an almost marshmallow-like focus . If he starts asking for a lock of my hair for his pillow, or calling himself “buffalo bill,”....

• Welcome once again to the show that never ends! (With apologies to Emerson, Lake and Palmer.)

Good names and bad names
02/07/08 02:00 from Matt Zimmer's Highway 61 Revisited
A couple weeks ago me and some friends were debating the best and worst band names in the history of music. For at least an hour we went back and forth on names that ranged from clever to boring, creative to pretentious...

• Matt also disapproves of the aforementioned band and name, Emerson, Lake and Palmer (and sometimes Powell). Says it sounds like a law firm. Um, what's wrong with that?

Mayor Munson’s July 4 Picnic and Parade
02/07/08 08:45 from siouxfalls.org - Official Web Site for the City of Sioux Falls, S.D.
Join Mayor Munson for Sioux Falls’ annual July 4 Picnic and Parade....

• Sounds like fun but the $500K per entry fee to reduce the city's indebtedness and pay for Lewis and Clark strikes me as a bit steep.

OUT OF STATE MUST READS:

Rush on $400M Deal: "I'm Having More Fun Than a Human Being Should Be Allowed to Have"
02/07/08 09:21 from mediabistro.com: TVNewser
The lead on Drudge Report right now is Rush Limbaugh 's new mega deal that keeps him on the radio until 2016. Rush is also the subject of the New York Times Magazine cover story set for this Sunday's paper....

• That ought to buy a lot of Oxycontin--or days in rehab.

AstraZeneca Wins Key Patent Victory
02/07/08 06:05 from WSJ.com: Law
AstraZeneca won an important court decision that will likely delay U.S. generic competition to the company's top-selling schizophrenia drug Seroquel until 2011....

• Like AstraZeneca doesn't have enough money as it is.
  

Technorati Tags: Rush Limbaugh, Sibby, PP, Pat Powers, Steve Sibson, AstraZeneca, patents, Sioux Falls, Dave Munson, 4th of July, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Matt Zimmer,

Hey, it’s a short week kids, then it’s our bestest national holiday, the 4th of July on Friday!

Here are your Must Reads.

SOUTH DAKOTA MUST READS:

Does being A POW Qualify You For Being President?
01/07/08 00:00 from A South Dakota Moderate
Former 4 star general Wesley Clark doesn’t think that being shot down and being a POW qualifies as national security or leadership experience and now the wingnuts as well as the political….

• Bob pulls out a sharp knife on this one. Ouch. And he’s renamed his blog Politics and Hypocrisy with a nice, clean look.

Baptised by neon
30/06/08 14:59 from black marks on wood pulp
Take an old paint store. Fill it with movies. Lots of movies. Thousands of movies. No, no. Not in any order. Just put them anywhere. Organize them by genre, but that’s it. Vaguely update the sign. Sure, keep those neon paint cans….

• The video store in question has the best neon sign in Sioux Falls.

“Lutheran” Pirates? Aaaaarg!
30/06/08 15:12 from Watt’s What
The birth of a new Lutheran media… Pirate Christian Radio is a new Internet Radio Station… born of the death and resurrection of Issues, Etc. Pirate Christian Radio is an online radio station that is free from the scurvy plagues….

• Are these coffee drinking or non-coffee drinking Lutheran pirates?

OUT OF STATE MUST READS:

Somebody Should Do Something About All the Problems
01/07/08 13:00 from The Onion
Why isn’t anyone doing anything about all the problems? We’re living in a time with super computers and underwater sea stations and million-dollar laboratories. And still, everyday when I watch the TV news shows I see all sorts of problems!….

• Amen!

How would you like a role on Mad Men?
01/07/08 08:02 from TV Squad
Filed under: Casting , Reality-Free , Mad Men Since today marks the release of the first season DVD set for Mad Men , I thought I’d pass this little bit of news on to fans of the show: they’re holding a contest and the winner gets a walk-on....

• If you win, you better buy a reliable gas mask or respirator to get you through all the cigarette smoke.
  

Technorati Tags: Mad Men, The Onion, Lutherans, pirates, neon, neon signs, Sioux Falls, John McCain, POWs

I can't tell you how I came to this information but suffice it to say I did.

It appears the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee had a reputable national polling company do a pre-SD primary poll to see how much they "want" and not necessary "need" to spend in South Dakota to challenge Sen. Tim Johnson.

The results?

Johnson is favored by 69% to "Other" 31%.

"Other" would be state Rep. Joel Dykstra, I'm presuming.

That's 2 to 1 folks.

I think you can pretty much pencil in Tim for yet another victory this fall. Republicans have minimized his chances for statewide elected office for over twenty years now.

Some Republicans whine. Tim just wins.

Technorati Tags: polling, Tim Johnson, RSCC, Joel Dykstra

Life slows down a little bit now after a wild six weeks or so.

Here's a post-Democratic Convention, post-Kansas Bar, post-Federal Criminal Trial, post-road trips Must Read.

SOUTH DAKOTA MUST READS:

Highway nights
29/06/08 22:31 from Russ 4 Life?
So much is going on in South Dakota. My goodness! First off, great news! Roads are in good shape ! Now, the bad news. The roads totally suck ! Yes, I found both stories today, and they are both new....

• Russ, you took the words right out of my MacBook!

Rummage Sale for MS Society
29/06/08 07:32 from Cycling Cathy
My daughter Ashley are looking forward to riding in the MS Bike Ride; Pedal the Plains which takes place Aug. 2nd & 3rd. This is a two-day ride and goes from Sioux Falls to Vermillion and back this year....

• Cathy, thank you very much for your generosity. With a close family member who has MS, I appreciate this very much.

Tour de France - does anyone care?
29/06/08 12:26 from Cycle South Dakota
I'm not excited this year about watching the TDF. I have not been excited to watch it since Lance left. I know, this makes me un-cool but I don't care. It was him who got me excited about cycling....

• Um, no.

OUT OF STATE MUST READS:

VH1 to Promote New Love Series Via SuperPoke! App
30/06/08 10:01 from Mediaweek News - All
VH1 will tap into SuperPoke!, the ubiquitous social networking application which allows users to send silly virtual communiqués to their friends, in order to promote its upcoming series I Love Money....

• Heehhheeehheee. He said "poke." Heeehhhheeee. (Imagine Beavis and Butthead's snicker when saying this.)

Lieberman: '09 attack possible
30/06/08 05:18 from Top Stories
"Our enemies will test the new president early," Joe Lieberman tells a Face the Nation audience....

• Could someone please tell Joe to JUST SHUT UP!?
  

Technorati Tags: Joe LIeberman, VH1, SuperPoke, I Love Money, Tour de France, cycling, Lance Armstrong, MS, Pedal the Plains, highways, South Dakota

Hey Al, nothing like getting out ahead of the power curve and being a trend setter!

I received the following email earlier today:

Dear Todd,

A few hours from now I will step on stage in Detroit, Michigan to announce my support for Senator Barack Obama. From now through Election Day, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure he is elected President of the United States...

Thank you for joining me,

Al Gore

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Al Gore, 2008 election, lockbox

Hope all you dads survived Father’s Day without injury. No grilling mishaps I hope.

Here are your Must Reads:

SOUTH DAKOTA MUST READS

Unbelievable Stat Of The Day
16/06/08 12:12 from A South Dakota Moderate
According to a University of Hertfordshire study , the average 14 to 24 year old has over 800 illegally obtained songs on their iPod. Teenagers and students have an average of more than 800 illegally copied songs each on their digital music…

• It’s not stealing its “borrowing.” I keed, I keed! I’ve had clients get sued for illegally downloading music. Bad idea.

And the winner is …
16/06/08 07:25 from Off the top of my head
I watch the Tonys broadcast on network television for several reasons. But, seriously, the main reason is because the acceptance speeches are so much better than they are on other awards shows, such as the Oscars and the Emmys…

• Nice that KELOLAND had at least one viewer last night for the telecast.

NON-SOUTH DAKOTA MUST READS:

McCain’s Playbook: Hate, Fear and Caveman Politics
17/06/08 01:00 from AlterNet
Haunted by the ghosts of Vietnam, the media-manufactured ‘maverick’ has remade himself into a prototypical, dumbed-down Republican Party stooge…

• It’s good to see Cavemen employed after their failed ABC sitcom.

Second President Bush floats prospect of a third
16/06/08 11:30 from CNN Political Ticker
Jeb Bush has long been considered a likely presidential candidate. (CNN) – For only the second time in nearly three decades, there won’t be a Bush on the presidential ballot this November. But that absence may not be a permanent one…

• Be afraid, America. Be very, very afraid.
  

Technorati Tags: John McCain, Cavemen, Jeb Bush, Tonys, KELOLAND, iPods, music downloading

Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there! Hope you didn't get yet another tie.

Here are your Must Reads.

SOUTH DAKOTA MUST READS:

2nd ANNUAL PHILIP INVITATIONAL MATCHED BRONC RIDE
14/06/08 13:45 from Philip, SD
This coming weekend, Philip will host the 2nd Annual Matched Bronc Ride. Some of the top saddle bronc riders in the nation will be pitting their skill against fifty of the toughest saddle broncs around....

• Ride 'em cowboys! Yee-haw!

Watch What You Say From the Pulpit!
13/06/08 23:02 from elevating a generation
Anybody else out there ever get in trouble over a story that you shared about a spouse (male or female) that you didn't get permission to share (but you shared it anyway)?

• Pastor? Heck, try being a blogger. I'm always in the Donna dog house.

OUT OF STATE MUST READS:

Obama talks tough on 'AWOL' fathers
15/06/08 13:08 from Top Stories
Candidate says fathers must have “courage” to raise their children. See also: Obama's Father's Day speech...

• I think Barack kind of knows what he's talking about.

Lakers digging in for one last stand
15/06/08 10:42 from SI.com
Despite facing a 3-1 deficit after blowing Game 4, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are putting on a brave face before tonight's must-win game, says Marty Burns...

• Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, hey hey, good bye (Lakers)!
  

Technorati Tags: Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Barack Obama, Father's Day, fathers, pastors, bloggers, dog house, bronc riding, Phillip, South Dakota

Barack Obama is honest about not being a hunter and fisherman.

From his website:

Barack Obama did not grow up hunting and fishing, but he recognizes the great conservation legacy of America’s hunters and anglers and has great respect for the passion that hunters and anglers have for their sport. Were it not for America’s hunters and anglers, including the great icons like Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold, our nation would not have the tradition of sound game management, a system of ethical, science-based game laws and an extensive public lands estate on which to pursue the sport. Obama recognizes that we must forge a broad coalition if we are to address the great conservation challenges we face. America’s hunters and anglers are a key constituency that must take an active role and have a powerful voice in this coalition.

I have a modest proposal. Barack should come to South Dakota for the pheasant opener. South Dakota's best and favorite outdoorsman, Tony Dean, could take him on an honest to goodness pheasant hunt with some of his buddies. And let me make my pitch now, Tony: Pick me, pick me!

Besides being a great photo shoot, Barack could learn first hand about one of the most hallowed of midwestern and rural rights--the hunt with friends. From Tony, besides getting good hunting advice and good company, he'd also get a first hand education about conservation issues, CRP, global warming, and wildlife management.

More importantly, he'd have fun.

I want to see Barack in camo this fall in South Dakota. It would do his image good and further help him understand what makes "regular" people tick. Plus, if "Barry the Bomber" can hit three pointers on the hardwoods, he can nail rooster pheasants in South Dakota's cornfields.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, hunting, outdoors, Tony Dean, 2008 election, South Dakota