It should come as no surprise that Iowa’s conservative bloggers didn’t take kindly to their portrayal as disseminators of lies and character assassination by Republican Party of Iowa Treasurer Gopal Krishna in an interview Tuesday with the Iowa Independent.

After weeks of taking shots from the blogosphere, Krishna decided enough was enough, saying not only do they spew hatred and spread lies, but Iowa’s anonymous bloggers also discourage good people from getting involved in politics.

The response from anonymous blogger Krusty Konservative was more laid back than one might expect, but every bit as unforgiving.

Gopal, I have not lied about your past; I have simply made sure people knew about it. Sorry you if you cannot accept the truth. You might be glad to know that I held back at times, because I wanted to keep the debate about your candidacy for chairman about the facts.

Another anonymous blogger at In Flyover Country took a more direct approach, saying the bloggers are more loyal to the state party than someone who would criticize it publicly.

Yes, we’re the ones going out and blasting the entire central committee.  We’re the ones name-calling in public of those people who would NEVER vote for us, and we’re bitter about it.  We’re the ones who got kicked off the SCC in 2000.  How could we be so blind.  You’re right, almighty Gopal.  We’re the big, bad BLOGGER PEOPLE!!!  Ooooooh….we’re so scary.

“In Flyover Country” also told it’s readers that Krishna announcing he was not a candidate is proof that…

… there is a God, er…holy cow, Buddha, or

Yikes.

Not surprisingly, those bloggers who put their names next to their words took a more measured approach to the news that Krishna was not a candidate for chair.

At his blog HawkeyeGOP, Republican State Central Committee member David Chung called the race for RPI chair silly season, saying he’ll be glad when it’s all over with.

And the call for Krishna’s ouster as party treasurer is hitting a fever pitch in each of the blogs’ comment sections, with most hoping he will get thrown off the State Central Committee altogether.

All this should make for an interesting meeting on Saturday. Unfortunately, the vote for chair and other leadership positions is not open to the public or the media. The party plans to unveil its new leader shortly after the meeting concludes at 12:30 p.m. in the RPI Headquarters, 621 E 9th St., Des Moines.

News Channel 5 Investigates has an expose´ on TN Comptroller candidate Justin Wilson.

But that man, Justin Wilson, now says he’s not talking about what he knows about a major scandal involving state contracts — and your money. That scandal was investigated, in part, by the comptroller’s office that Wilson now wants to head.

And our chief investigative reporter Phil Williams discovered that Republican leaders aren’t asking either.

In meeting with my state representatives in Nov. 2008 the question was asked about Wilson’s connection to the income tax push and our concern’s were expressed with anyone having a connection to Sundquist.

Unfortunately, it looks like political donations could be at the heart of this appointment.

Our NewsChannel 5 investigation has also uncovered questions about Wilson’s and Sundquist’s activities during this past year’s legislative elections that put Republicans in control.

During that time, Wilson operated a political action committee, known as Majority Tennessee. He got almost all of his PAC money — $50,000 of about $60,000 — from Sundquist and his leftover campaign account. Then, Sundquist and Wilson funded many of the same candidates.

In some cases, the former governor gave the maximum $2,000 allowed by law, while Wilson used Sundquist’s money to give them another $5,000 or $10,000 each dollars each.

There’s more to this story…..read the rest.

Cross posted at Bear Creek Ledger

Tennessee GOP, Justin Wilson, TN Comptroller, Ron Ramsey, Don Sundquist, contracts scandal, Republican donation Bookmarking

The progressive ‘dollarisation’ of Zimbabwe has extended to rural areas, where dwellers now sell their fresh produce in U.S. dollars.

Almost everyone in the country is now buying and selling in foreign currency, rendering the Zimbabwe dollar almost worthless on the domestic market.

Even bank queues that characterized the daily lives of people last year are disappearing, as more people turn to using either the South African rand or U.S. dollars.

The MDC MP for Mbare Piniel Denga told us villagers in Murehwa were selling maize cobs, tomatoes and their livestock in U.S. dollars. The MP was in the area on Sunday were he bought a small dish of five mangoes for US$1. He said three tomatoes cost US$1, and five fresh maize cobs also cost US$1.

‘During the festive season I was in Chivhu where people were buying beer and other drinks in foreign currency. I must admit that the use of our local currency is fast dwindling and you hardly see anyone using it anymore. For instance if you use a kombi from Glen View to the city it now costs US$1 as well, so everything has been dollarised,’ Denga said.

The Mbare legislator said Zimbabweans had been forced to abandon the local currency for the simple reason that the maximum money you are allowed to withdraw can only buy one small onion.

‘Go to any bank now and you hardly see anyone inside. You see few people here and there but otherwise the days of the Zimbabwe dollar are nearing their end. This is not a secret, even the government knows that people have empowered themselves and abandoned their useless dollar. We are headed for interesting times,’ the MP quipped.

It costs US$20,000 to buy a foreign currency licence, which legally allows businesses to trade in forex. But with the virtually total collapse of the economy most small business can barely generate enough income to pay their staff at the end of each month. The Reserve Bank’s policies, courtesy of Gideon Gono, have created a nightmare for most of these small companies and for the majority of the population who have little access to forex.

With everything now being imported companies have to pay for their inputs in forex, but if they can’t afford a forex licence they legally can’t sell in foreign currency. So Gono’s forex police do the rounds of the shops, impounding ‘illegal’ foreign currency from these shops. In other words state sponsored theft.

The dollarisation has extended to school tuition with private schools setting fees in US dollars, putting education out of reach of most.

Chisipite High School in Harare is charging US$1,200 per term, and was asking pupils to bring fuel coupons worth US$300 with them on their first day of the term as a deposit.

Roxer Academy primary in Harare is charging US$800 a term, while in Bulawayo the Masiyephambili Primary School is requiring a fee of US$650.

This almost guarantees that when schools open next week they will be virtually empty. Families will be unable to send their kids to school and teachers will have no money for transport.