Is the fad over yet?

It was the kind of truck that would make America proud. A doubled sized Chevrolet ripped through the intersection, tearing a sharp right through a fleeting yellow light that left the rest of us lowly motorists in a cloud of dust. It was such a glorious display of true patriotism with an American flag bug shield, giant rear window mural of the stoic bald eagle, and pissed off bumper stickers. I had to bite my lip and solute just to hold back the tears threatening to gush out at such a monumental symbol of American strength, fortitude, liberty and justice for all to all to be in aw.
Actually, it was a rather obnoxious encounter as a driver pulled into oncoming traffic. That wasn’t the main annoyance however. It was the over stimulating and foreign made accessories, made to show some form nationalism and attitude that says “I own the road,” that was the nuisance. One has to wonder the goal of the expression. Is it really meant to strike those sentiments in people passing by? It rather appears to be the manifestations of Hubris.

Story update

Cambridge is a small town with one of the worst traffic snarls in the state for its size. The local government has looked into it and the local papers have looked into extensively. Each one of the solutions presents a new problem. My story would look into local property and business owners’ perspective that would be affected by any changes to the highway. This is where MN highway 95 runs through downtown Cambridge and runs under the highway 65 bypass causing a bottleneck, making a nasty situation.

Super Tuesday

While many may cast a ballot in the general election hoping for the winds of politics to blow in their favor, participating in a local caucus is a more solid way to engage a party by discussing issues, passing resolutions, choosing delegates, and selecting a candidate. Typically, the number of people who caucus is relatively low; however, this year a record number of people filed into long lines at public schools and public halls to engage their parties. And Super Tuesday was no different for the DFL caucus in the voting precinct of west Cambridge.
Voters were eagerly standing in line to attend the meeting in the forum of the Cambridge Primary School. As party members signed in, a line stretch out and down the hall. A man in black Obama ’08 t-shirt stood in the front exclaiming that he had been bought and sold by the Democrats; he was joking, but he was more than eager to support his candidate.
The meeting began as people filled the room and clogged the door way to vote for their presidential preference. Out of a little over 100, less than half stayed for the rest of the meeting. Most of the turnout was people over fifty, and I could recognize some former teachers in the crowd.
The precinct chair and assistant chair were elected, and the 18 delegates (which was over half of the meeting) were chosen to represent the precinct in the May 3 congressional caucus held in Duluth.
A resolution was passed unanimously supporting the platform for the deprivatization of health care, and the resolution to support a single payer system was met with just six apposed.
Jim Godfrey, who is challenging incumbent Rob Eastlund (R) for state representative of district 17A, made a visit to the meeting. He campaigned as some one who represented the people, and not like current office holders who protect the “power elites”, as he hinted at Governor Pawlenty.
Towards the end of the meeting, the results of the presidential vote were tallied revealing Barack Obama to be the winner having 10 votes over Hillary Clinton. Attending a caucus can give the citizen a more hands on experience in the democratic processes by shaping their party from the ground up.

A communtiy of slackers

It’s interesting to note that within a larger community exist many smaller ones. The website http://www.coveringcommunities.org/PDFs/SevenknowledgekeysNEW.pdf says to effectively cover a community a journalist must know their community. The website lays out seven ways to do this.
One such community-one I like to call the community of slackers- was a group of friends who would inhabit the smoking section in a local diner through the late night hours every weekend. Long nights of conversations so long it out last a wait staff’s shift. But it wasn’t just the intimate group of friends that made the smoked filled room a community, it was the diverse group of people who would drift in and out table to table engaging each other.
It was a group of people that would frequent this place that would bring with unique perspectives. The information passed between off duty cops, drunks, city officials, church groups and even habitual drug users, could provide a unique perspective on the underside of a larger community.

Introduction.

My name is Matt Dewey. I am a student at the Cambridge Campus of ARCC. I'm finnishing up my AA, give or take a semester. I currently write for the inkspot, and I am interested in writing (or at least learning how to write). I am married with two kids that keep me busy.