Let's have a meeting

Unfortunately it has been a few days since my last post primarily due to a busy week of meetings then a 5k run (more later on this event) for charity this weekend so I want to begin with some notes from two events I attended:

1.) "CONtacts Meeting" -- a monthly gathering of Minnesota conservatives and libertarians (yes, we do exist in the Land of 10,000 Taxes!!) to build the informal/ad hoc coalition necessary for fighting the Big Government advocates in our beautiful state. This coalition model is based on the "Wednesday Meeting" chaired by Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, http://www.atr.org. One key observation I would make is that it is rather difficult to have freedom loving conservatives/libertarians gather in such a "collective" fashion to share information and to develop some "strategery" ;) If you share the objectives of such a gathering please let me know so I can help get you connected to similar gathering in your state or help you start your own meeting.

2.) "Minnesota China Partnership" -- as an active member of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce I attended this gathering in St. Paul, Minnesota this past week to hear about this project, http://www.minnesota-china.com, regarding trade opportunities with China. From all the speakers I heard the one fact that really stood out for me is that "China's economy is the size of California's economy OR the size of Illinois/New York economies combined." Now with a 1.3 billion population and a nearly 10% annual GDP growth rate I more than realize that China represents huge market potential but all those Americans with fears about the USA's trade deficit with China and Chinese militarism need to pause to consider this economic fact -- California's (China's) economic size is indeed an impressive market but the other 49 states in the USA represent a very impressive collection of economic interests.

It truly is an exciting world out there filled with economic opportunities however I do fear that American schools' curriculum is too America-centric with little regard to international tools such as foreign language training and geography. This observation reminds me of a stand up comedian I saw while I was living in London (during the US-led invasion of Iraq) who stated, "you know why Americans go to war? So they can figure out where countries are located!!!" For information on education reform please visit - http://www.mackinac.org/

Renew your passport,

Todd