True North

Andy A. Aplikowski (a.k.a. AAA) runs the blog Residual Forces, is a Republican BPOU Chair, and County Vice Chair in the 6th Congressional District. He was the founder of Bachmann v Wetterling that covered the 6th District race in 2006, and a contributor to the blog Kennedy v Machine which covered the US Senate race in 2006. (archived version here, the revamped version is known as Truth v Machine)

Derek lives in Plymouth with wife, 3 kids and an aging Akita named Ginger that keep him jumping through hoops 24/7. He has lived in the midwest all his life with large stretches in Illinois and North Dakota. From 1991 to 2003, Derek resided in south Minneapolis. He is the GOP BPOU chair of the A side of SD45 in the near NW burbs outside Minneapolis.

He has been active in the blog and new media world both writing at his own site and designing the graphics for too many center-right blogs to count. Derek started with Freedom Dogs, in 2002, then launched SD45 Republicans, with Lassie to help out in the neighborhood and now the behemoth—True North.

To make a dollar holler, Derek runs a small business as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator and has been doing it as well as a few corporate and newspaper jobs since 1985. He works on a Mac, of course. Need some graphics created to help your business? Give him a call.

Kevin Ecker began blogging back in 2002 at EckerNet.Com,as a way to extend the range of his voice. While his writings are fairly eclectic, he has lately focused on the immigration issue and national security issues.

Occasionally frustrated with the state of the Republican Party, Kevin decided to eventually branch out and become officially politically active by volunteering with his local Republican Party BPOU, Senate District 37. He is now an elected officer, Secretary, of that BPOU and has volunteered a great deal of time providing technical assistance and running several other websites including SD37 GOP and Shelley Madore Watch.

Here at True North, while occasionally putting his sharp tongue to editorials, helps support the site behind the scenes as party of the True North Junta and the True North Tech Team.

In real life, Kevin lives in his work-in-progress (house) in Apple Valley with his dog Sadie and his firearms collection.

Lassie, aka Nancy LaRoche, is a delegate and committee member with her northwest suburb Senate & Congressional District. A former radio announcer (and Democrat), she now pushes pixels around as a marketing communications manager and web designer. She began her blogging career with FreedomDogs in the fall of 2006. Prior to that, she was active with ProtestWarrior and FreeRepublic. Seeing first-hand how rabid (and vapid) some leftists can be at protests, Nancy aims to expose their behavior while supporting our troops and their mission. She hopes to help other conservatives in Minnesota put the “act” in activist. A current "right to keep & bear arms" student, she resides in suburbia with her husband, a bird and a rescued mutt.

“Liberals at their core have no sense of true north. They can't determine right from wrong, good from evil, and in this case even help from hurt. Worse yet - they don't care.”
-Kevin McCullough

Matt Abe's blogging career began at Scholar's Notebook, aiming to replace the process-oriented Profiile of Learning state graduation standards with a knowledge-based version. He was able to see his wishes realized up close when he was selected to serve on the Minnesota citizens' academic standards committee, led by then-commissioner of education Cheri Pierson Yecke. He frequently cross-posts at the Carnival of Education "edublog" roundup, and his post on integrated math is among the top search results on this topic on Google.

Having become active in his local Republican organization, he started a political blog, North Star Liberty, which specializes in reporting on local political events, from BPOU meetings to the election-night event at Minnesota Public Radio headquarters. His projects based on the open-source content management system Joomla! led him to a tech role on True North. One of these projects is Minnesota Education Reform News, which has existed in various incarnations and URLs since 1999.

Mitch Berg's vocation is as a "human experience designer" - but it's his avocational life that brought him here.

He started his main blog, Shot In The Dark, an outlet to his inner pundit, which had been hidden away since he first left talk radio in 1987. With the success of his and so many other Minnesota center-right blogs, Mitch joined with the guys from Captain's Quarters, Fraters Libertas, Minnesota Democrats Exposed Powerline and SCSU Scholars to form the "Northern Alliance Radio Network", the nation's first all-blogger talk show, heard on AM1280 The Patriot and at Townhall.com.

Mitch lives in a very old house in Saint Paul with his two teenage kids, a dog, two cats and five guitars.

Cindy Whitehair (aka the Lady Logician) is a self-described "soccer mom" complete with the mini-van. She shares the Logical Household with her husband, son and two dogs Lucky the worlds best border collie and Captain Jack (Sparrow).

A native of the Chicago area (motto - vote early and often) she escaped to "God's Country" 13 years ago. She still carries a couple of Chicago habits (a love of the Cubs and the Bears) but in almost all other aspects has become "Minnesotan" including the accent!

She began blogging in 2005 when she was invited to join "The Savage Republican". After blogging there for a year, she struck out on her own and has been typing away ever since. Besides blogging, she is active in the Minnesota GOP as a volunteer and BPOU Chair and as a 4H adult leader.

Brad was born and raised in Saint Paul. He graduated with an Accounting degree from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 1992.

It was upon graduation from college when Brad started to foster his conservative ideals. Hearing Rush Limbaugh for the first time helped him realize what was really in his heart.

Since 2001, Brad has been very active politically. In 2004 he was named leader of the Minnesota chapter of Protest Warrior, a counter-protest organization whose sole purpose is to point out the absurdity of the political left by parodying their empty slogans. He also volunteered in the 2004 re-election campaign of President Bush as well as the 2006 Senate run of Mark Kennedy. From 2006-08, Brad was Chair of Coon Rapids precinct 5-3 in House District 49B.

Brad and wife Jennifer now reside in Ramsey.

He is the founder of The Brad Carlson blog.

Ed Morrissey began blogging at Captain’s Quarters in 2003. During the past five years, his work has been published in the Washington Post, New York Post, New York Times, Weekly Standard, and other national publications. In 2007, Ed made the leap to full-time employment in New Media when he became political director for Blog Talk Radio. You can see all of his past work in the archives at Captain’s Quarters. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Ed has lived in Minnesota for more than ten years after leaving his native California. He and his wife have a son and daughter-in-law finishing their college education and a beautiful five-year-old granddaughter. He has a weekly radio show on Minnesota’s AM 1280 The Patriot every Saturday afternoon.

Home: Owatonna, Minnesota, recently moved from Chaska, Minnesota
Occupation:  Citizen soldier, with 15 years in the National Guard, 3 years deployed overseas out of the last 4
Education:  Just a high school diploma from Minnetonka, but hope to start college this winter with my newly aquired    GI Bill benefits
Family:  a wonderful wife and two great kids
Hobbies:  fishing, gardening, blogging, and trying to stay optimistic during the Vikings season
Politics:  fiscal-conservative, national defense-neo-conservative, social-mainly conservative, but not always, not a member of any political party
Main Blog:  Foreign and Domestic

David Strom is the President of the Minnesota Free Market Institute. From 2004 to 2007 he was the President of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota. He is a graduate of Carleton College, and holds a Masters Degree in Political Science from Duke University. He has taught political philosophy at Duke University, North Carolina State University, Carleton College, and the University of St. Thomas.

David's work at the Taxpayers League began in 1997 when the organization was formed as a 501(c)4 non-profit, and he became President in January of 2004. The Taxpayers League is one of the largest and most successful state-based advocacy organizations in the country, with a budget approaching $1 million a year collected entirely through donations.

David is the host of The David Strom Show broadcast live on 1280 AM The Patriot Saturdays from 9 am - 11 am in the Minneapolis St Paul metro. The broadcasts are saved for podcast here. David is also a regular guest on Almanac and a regular columnist for Townhall.com - you can read all his articles there.

Janet Boynes grew up in an abusive home. She struggled with her early adult years trying to find the right path but got lost in drugs, alcohol and the lesbian lifestyle. After meeting a woman in a grocery store who invited her to to come to church, Janet soon gave up her old ways to find a new life in the Lord. Since her conversion, Janet is sharing her story and message of hope and healing for groups around the country and in the media. Her upcoming book, Called Out, is due for release in January 2009. She resides in the Twin Cities.

Janet is also actively working on the defeat of the "Hate Crimes" bill now in legislation.

I highly recommend Janet Boynes and her powerful message that people can change and leave homosexuality. Her life is a powerful testimony to this fact. Janet is articulate, enthusiastic, caring, open, and engaging. She's comfortable with herself and simply wants to share with others the hope and transformation she's found.

- Tom Prichard President, Minnesota Family Council

Jeff also blogs at Truth v. the Machine, and Peace Like A River.

Blogging is his way of keeping up with what's going on in the world. If we stick our heads in the sands, we may sleep peacefully like an ostrich, but we'll get run over by events we don't see coming.

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Endorsements: "Some guy I don’t recognize and have never heard of." - Brian "St. Paul" Ward

Army Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Joe Repya was born in 1946 in Gary, Indiana, the oldest son of a disabled combat wounded veteran of the European Campaign of World War II. He served 30 years in the US Army (12 years Active and 18 years in the National Guard & Reserves): as a Combat Infantry Rifle Platoon Leader in Viet Nam in 1970-71 with the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment (Band of Brothers "Currahees"), and an Aero Rifle Platoon Leader with A Troop, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment. In Desert Storm 1990-91, he served as a Combat Helicopter Pilot and Staff Officer with the 4th Brigade (Aviation), 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One).

After the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, he was one of 12,000 US Army retirees who volunteered for Retiree Recall to Active US Army duty for Operation Iraqi Freedom. LTC Repya was selected as one of only 350 retirees who were returned to active duty, when he served as branch and liaison officers for the 101st Airborne Division.

LTC Repya has been awarded 23 US Army and Foreign military awards and decorations, including: the Army's Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal with V devise for Valor (with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters), the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Air Medal (with Numeral 2).

LTC Repya is an active member of numerous veterans' organizations, including: the Minnesota Chapter of Veterans for Freedom, the American Legion, the VFW, the DAV and the Minnesota Military Appreciation Fund. He and his wife Debra founded the Minnesota Support Our Troop Coalition in early 2003 and distributed 30,000 "Support Our Troops" lawn signs. In September 2003, LTC Repya traveled to Iraq as a freelance journalist and fed 360 T–bone steaks to members of the 101st Airborne Division near Mosul, Iraq.

LTC Repya has been a military analyst for the FOX News Network in New York, FOX 9 KMSP-TV Minneapolis, and KSTP (ABC) Talk Radio, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

After suspending upstart MOBblog Roosh Five, Johnny Roosh joined True North co-founder Mitch Berg at Shot In The Dark in July of 2008 where he writes on politics, business, capitalism, the markets, and the economy. A provocateur, he loves to flush out the opposition with satire and humor.

John has been a Big Brother with BBBS of the Twin Cities, a four-time mentor with the U of M Carlson School of Management and currently serves on the board of D.A.R.E. Minnesota.

A native of the Twin Cities, John has a successful financial planning practice in Edina, Minnesota. He loves to travel, enjoys biking, reading, writing and music and lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota with his wife and business partner and their three children.

I was born in Minneapolis in a hospital on the East side of Loring Park. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the President, but would not be for much longer.

I was raised in Plymouth, MN. next to a cornfield that was part of the Hennepin County Workhouse back when they made those gentlemen actually work. I graduated from Wayzata High School. Somehow. It was the 70s. We had priorities other than education back then. Like changing the World, man.

I was a perfect example of the species of liberal idiot that the Woodstock Generation turned out en masse. I voted for Jimmy Carter. Twice. Then two things happened to me. the first was the advent of The Real World, complete with something I was completely unfamiliar with: reality. The second was Ronald Reagan. I went into 1980 convinced that a police state was imminent. By 1984 I was pulling the lever for Dutch. In 1998 I wasn't quite convinced and voted for some Green party puke (or was it Losertarian?). It only took two years of Bill Clinton to complete my conversion from hippie to Conservative.

I have for decades had a deep, abiding faith in God and accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior. God has saved my life and healed me in many ways that I don't want to address in this bio. Ask me sometime. The reason I mention this is to point out that I identify as a Christian Conservative, and this informs most of my world view.

I am the operator of SCSU Scholars. Readers interested in my biography may read here, and those interested in my professional life as a monetary economist and department chairman at St. Cloud State University may visit my professional page. All opinions expressed at True North are my personal opinion and do not reflect, nor are they endorsed, by the university or my department.

I am also co-host (with Michael Brodkorb) of the Final Word of the Northern Alliance Radio Network.

Kurt (a.k.a. Noodles) began blogging in the summer of 2004 at the now defunct People's Republic of Minnesota during the run-up to the Presidential election. As has happened with many bloggers Kurt's work and family life needed to take priority and he folded up his site for good. Kurt was later asked to team up with the folks at Freedom Dogs where he is now a contributor to that group blog.

Kurt lives with his wife Susy in Hopkins, Minnesota together with their dog and two cats. Since recently becoming empty nesters Kurt and Susy plan on enjoying their boat and pursuing their passion for shooting sports.

LearnedFoot likes beer and golf, in that order.

Leo is an educator from St. Cloud who has taken an active interest in politics since being a Republican precinct captain in the Chicago area at the ripe old age of 16.

After a short foray into lunacy as a liberal-leaner early in his college career, Leo soon began to realize the contrivances and hypocrisies inherent in liberal philosophy. The rest, shall we say, is histoire.

Leo is a Republican delegate, and has put in many volunteer hours toward getting conservatives elected. That being said, he is no hack, and does not hesitate in ruffling the feathers of those in his own party who stray from the conservative agenda.

Leo is married and is a proud dad/stepdad (and soon-to-be-grandfather) of five boys, ranging in ages from 15-26; one of whom served proudly for nearly two years with the Red Bulls in Iraq. His hobbies are songwriting, barbershop singing, and RVing.

Leo blogs at Psycmeistr's Ice Palace, Murtha Must Go!, Blogs for Victory, Grizzly Groundswell, and Minnesotans for Fred!

Mark Heuring is the very model of a modern suburban father type
He's paid his taxes every year and suffered through the school board hype
He's married to a lovely gal named Jill and has two children who
Are bright and sweet and full of fun and cause him endless whoop-de-doo
He earns his dough from writing words for businesses and catalogs
He's lost his share of golf balls in hazards, traps and other slogs
He coaches baseball, basketball and sometimes helps out with the Scouts
And sometimes writes on politics, discussing lies and all the louts
A cheesehead? Yes, but fully understanding Minnesota wits
And Catholic to his very core despite no time with Jesuits
There's more to say, but if more facts are what you want
You can always see his work by visiting Mr. Dilettante.

I grew up around Milwaukee and graduated from Madtown so, yes, I am a Cheesehead, born and bred. I am here (under protest) only because my Wisconsin farm burned down in 2004.

I earned my coveted UW sheepskin in 1979 then left for California to work on classified military contracts in Silcon Valley as an electrical engineer. After four years of bolting from the dinner table everytime an flight of F-18s flew over the house, I joined the Air Force where the bastards made me fly fighters. I got out after having to serve in Gulf War I with a bunch of bullet-catchers from the 101st Airborne Division. I started my own computer consulting company shortly thereafter when it became clear I was going to need some way to pay for my farming addiction. I am now a writer, having penned my first novel, Foreign and Domestic, a war-thriller about the coming US-UN war. I have five grown boys and a grandson and live in Plymouth with my wife, Andrea.

If you'd like to read more caustic ascerbic venom, you can find me at FND Blog. Chief also allows me to spew as a guest pit-bull at Freedom Dogs.

Barry Hickethier contributes at both True North and Freedom Dogs under the name Molossus. He also contributes to Minneapolis St. Paul Crime Watch as Nordeaster and formally authored his own blog "WaterCoolerWisdom' under the same name. Barry is a resident of Northeast Minneapolis and is the Republican BPOU Chair of SD59 as well as a member of the Minneapolis Republican City Committee. He also serves his neighborhood as Secretary of the Waite Park Community Council -- yes, a conservative as an officer of a Minneapolis Neighborhood Association.

Nicole Russell is a freelance writer who lives with her husband and son in St. Paul, MN. She runs the site, 2008 GOP Convention Report.com.

Name: Pat Shortridge

Occupation: President, Policy advocacy organization.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of my organization, its board, executive committee, donors, volunteers, activists, dog walkers, etc, etc.

About Me: I've spent over 20 years working in politics and government, including 11 with Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and 5 with Mark Kennedy. In the mix was a 6-month debacle working for Enron - yes, left-wing nutters, I'm deep, deep in the conspiracy so put the tinfoil back in your hats or I'll have your thoughts read.

Interests: Family; Sports, especially golf; reading; travel; The Cocktail Hour; Pummeling liberalism with a sack of doorknobs.

Pheisty (Joey Monson) is the proprietor of a common-sense, sassy Wisconsin blog: Pheistyblog.com.

Phil Krinkie is the President of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota.

Prior to joining the Taxpayers League in February 2007, Phil served 16 years in the Minnesota State Legislature and held positions as the chairman of the State Government Finance, Capital Investment and Taxes committees.

In addition to Phil's political work, he is a small business owner. For 25 years he has operated The Snelling Company, a heating and air conditioning business in the Twin Cities.

Policy Guy is the blogging name of John LaPlante, a public policy consultant and freelance writer/editor.

He has written on a variety of public issues, but most frequently on K-12 education and health care. He is a contributing columnist for the Saint Paul Legal Ledger and regularly appears in other media outlets.

Well, what's there to say, really? I'm pretty much Joe Average when pitted against the other fine contributors here. But I guess what I lack in notoriety I make up for in spunk and my drive to squash socialism into oblivion.

I am a Navy veteran and served proudly through both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. I was stationed aboard the USS Enterprise in 2001 and was part of the "tip of the spear" and America's first response to terrorism. These days my work is a bit more mundane as I labor as an electrical engineering technician out in Amery, Wisconsin, but I still fight for what I believe is right in my free time.

I never really considered myself to be political until one day I realized that I didn't like liberals, so in turn I realized that I was a Conservative and didn't even know it! But like a superhero awakening to his new found powers, I flexed my fledgling Conservative muscle and leapt into the fray with both feet and have been at it ever since. I started my own blog, "Pro Patria," back in late February of 07 and have used it as a successful launching point for a number of raids against the extremist moonbat forces and have had a lot of fun doing it.

I have encountered a lot of fine folks and a lot of absolute lunatics since I decided to take up arms (and by arms I mean fingers) in the political arena. I have even gone so far as to meet a local Liberal for coffee after a series of brutal attacks led us to question what it was we were doing and why (read about the encounter). I hope to continue this trend now that I have the honor of being a part of this community here at True North.

Oh yeah, and I may be reading a newspaper in my picture there, but don't worry, it's just the Osceola Rail Times... And yes, I am a rail junkie :)

Scott Johnson is a Minneapolis attorney. For more than fifteen years Johnson has written with his former law partner John H. Hinderaker on public policy issues including income inequality, income taxes, campaign finance reform, affirmative action, welfare reform, and race in the criminal justice system. Both Hinderaker and Johnson are fellows of the Claremont Institute. Their articles have appeared in National Review, the Weekly Standard, the New York Times, and newspapers from Florida to California. The Claremont Institute has archived many of their articles here.

Johnson lives with his family in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Minnesota Law School. He can be reached by phone at (612) 414-6464.

Thirty plus years in the hospitality industry taught me a lot about people in general and state and local taxes and politics in particular. Sheer frustration drove me into politics after years of dealing with the city of Minneapolis' Democrat political agenda and government schools.

I ran for governor in 2006 and lost. Some believe I should have started my political career a little lower on the food chain but I believed Minnesota needed me badly right then. In fact I believe the citizens of MN still need me as no one would have looked out for the taxpayers better than me. In spite of being trounced I hold my head high for being able to stand up and challenge the status quo. The best part of the experience was the people I met and friendships I have formed across the great state of Minnesota.

My greatest accomplishments in life have been raising my three fantastic children and running a successful business in the city of Minneapolis for over 30 years. City officials in Minneapolis don't make it easy. Now retired from the hospitality industry I plan to continue my battles as I fight for life, liberty and property.

Mild mannered electrical engineer by day; notorious exposer of left wing prevarication by night (when he's

not on the road somewhere); Tom Swift, also known as “Swiftee” is a not-so-recent transplant from Chicago’s South Side by way of Oakland CA.

Concerned by the failure of St. Paul public schools to provide anything approaching a quality, academically centered education for thousands of kids, Tom ran a hugely unsuccessful campaign in 2002 for the Saint Paul Public School Board.

Tom lives with his wife and three college aged sons in W. St. Paul, where he is not convinced that the two blocks to the St. Paul city limits is a large enough DMZ between himself and Dave Thune.

By day the Big Stink is as a sales representative for a stamp & engraving company. He is, therefore, a puppet of Big Stamps. He owns a Big Car with a BCF, a Big Carbon Footprint. He has Big Dogs and feeds them raw meat.

His wife is the Big Kahuna in his household and his teenaged daughter is a Big Heartbreaker. His son is in the Navy and works on Big Helicopters with Big Guns. His son is a product of the Big Military-Industrial Complex, walks softly and carries a Big Stick.

The Big Stink prefers using a psuedonym because of the Big Idiots who are his neighbors who see the blogosphere as a Big Threat to their BGD's, Big Government Delusions.

The Night Writer is John Stewart (no, not that one), who typically blogs on "fun, faith, family and foolishness." That foolishness occasionally includes politics, especially of the Minnesota variety.

I'm a husband, father of 3 daughters, Catholic, a lawyer by training but now in finance, a conservative Republican and a seeker of the truth. I post at Dreckless with Vin Webber and Corey Miltimore.

In the dream where you show up to school naked, why do you never go swimming?

I'm too busy panicing about the final I have today and the fact that I have neither attended any classes nor read the material.

Wog, AKA Paul Kuettel, grew up in a family of active democrats. I wised up during my time at the College of St Thomas due in part to excellent philosophy and theology teaching.

Eventually, the family become pretty conservative so I'd like to think I brought them along.

Ran two very close races for the Minnesota House but when redistricting took my town of Falcon Heights out of the Roseville 54A and into the St Paul 66B, my aspirations died. I once had an insane idea to take on Ellen Anderson or Alice Hausmann, but the feeling passed.

Worked for a spell in The Speaker's Corner a few years back. Am now on the dole and waiting for a liver transplant.

I hope I can contribute some substantive material to Look True North. I am quite excited to being on board.

Note: Wog died shortly after he joined True North.

His final entry:

Hi All!

I apologize for not coming up with any posts. They will come back, hopefully.

Health is dreadful and I have zero energy. A trip up the stairs leaves me gassed and needing to sit down.

MRI found a growing mass on the liver, so I got a CT which doesn't tell if it is cancerous. So off to the U of M I go next week for another MRI, bloodwork, and perhaps a biopsy. The way I feel really makes whether it is the big C a moot point.

Suffice it to say that nowadays I am very inactive, sleep a lot and my mind is consumed with worry that this is close to the end.

I'm not ready, but I guess I never will be.

Cheers!

Here are a few of the memorials from fellow bloggers. Andy. Elder. Marty. King. Mitch. Ben. Flash. PiPress. Leo. Memorial write up by Mitch.