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[UPDATED X 1] NorthDecoder is the second incarnation of a grassroots North Dakota political blog. The blog started out as BismarckDems.com. It quickly became obvious that all of North Dakota needed a solid, fact-filled, hard-hitting North Dakota blog; not just Bismarck. And the "dems" part of the old name suggested this website would only be interesting and informative for Democrats. This website has proven itself to be informative for more than just Democrats. BismarckDems.com was the offspring of a group of Bismarck liberals and progressives, most of whom were Democrats, who wanted to provide a sounding board and resource for all North Dakotans and people interested in North Dakota who were burned out on the conservative talking points and spin that's readily available in the mainstream local and national media. In October/November of 2006, BismarckDems started experiencing a daily webserver crash. Then, in June/July of 2007, the problems got worse. BismarckDems.com has been abandoned (though all the content is still up as of this writing) and NorthDecoder.com takes its place. BismarckDems still crashes about once a day, but its monitored by the webmaster far less frequently now. If you notice it's down today or any other day, please send a note to editor --- at --- northdecoder --DOT-- com.
As was true on the old website, here at NorthDecoder.com we welcome all Democrats, NPLers, liberals, progressives, centrists, progressive independents and intelligent, forward-thinking, open-minded Republicans (rare as they sometimes seem to be) who will work with us to achieve our shared goals of improving life for all North Dakotans, and not just a few corporations and their upper management. While the vast majority of our contributors and visitors are left-leaning, this web site is not affiliated with the Democratic/NPL party in North Dakota, the DNC or any other branch of a political party or organization, nor do we claim to speak for a candidate or a political party as a whole. This website is not paid for or authorized by any candidate committee or political organization.
NorthDecoder.com would not exist without the assistance and participation of like-minded individuals from all corners of North Dakota, and from other pockets of the U.S. where North Dakotan hearts can be found. We also have readers and contributors outside of the United States. All of their tips, ideas, suggestions, criticisms and full-on content is appreciated. The content you see on this website is provided by people who feel that their views are not represented by the uber-conservative "mainstream" media in the U.S. We will accept and consider content, links, news tips and other information from those on the left (and in or near the center) who wish to write, so that NorthDecoder.com can represent a fair and balanced perspective. We do satire and humor, but shy away from irony, overstatement, parody and farce. Send your proposed content to the editor (see below for address). Registered visitors may participate in our forums. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN REGULARLY POSTING CONTENT HERE... please let us know. It would be nice if this could become more of a community. The more the merrier.
We try to keep garbage content off of this website, but there is no way to stop some folks from dumping stuff in the forums and comments. If you see something here that you feel is inappropriate, please let us know where and what it is and we'll take a look at it to see if it needs to be removed. This website is administered by me, Chad "Clarence" "Chet" "Moonbat" "Noodlehead" "Nude Land" "Whatever-the-insult-d'jour-from-right-wing-nutjobs" Nodland. I was born and raised in Bismarck, North Dakota, and have lived here much of my life. I have a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of North Dakota, and a juris doctoral degree from the University of North Dakota School of Law. I spent a summer semester at the Universitet i Oslo (Norway) while in law school and spent some time at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, studying philosophy and foreign policy while living and working in Washington, D.C., in the late 1980's. I am an attorney by profession, a husband, father, musician, computer enthusiast, political activist, reader, writer and a blogger at heart. I live in Bismarck with my wife and two sons and want to continue living in Bismarck. I have a personal interest in trying to make Bismarck and North Dakota and America a better place. I hope to let other people use this website to that end. Trying to keep this website fresh is a hobby (not a profession) for me. Whether I wrote it or not, I, personally, take ultimate responsibility for the principal content (i.e. not necessarily the comments) on here. I try to leave the stuff people post in the comment section alone, generally. Three exceptions are (1) off-subject postings; (2) links to things a reasonable parent wouldn't want their four-year-old to stumble upon (like beheadings) and (3) allegations/assertions about misconduct by people, unless you are willing to provide evidence to me that your allegations are true and I find your evidence to be credible. So if you see those kinds of things in the comment area, let me know and I'll try to clean it out. Expect me to erase or edit any comments that fall under either of these two categories. Unfortunatly, I am not online 24/7, so I cannot promise I'll be able to pull inappropriate comments immediately. Please forgive me if something along those lines stays online very long after you've told me about it. If you do not tell me about it, I might not see it. Please tell me when you see offensive comments. If you do not and I do not pull it, it is as much -- or more -- your fault than mine. If you think something here is offensive, I'm the guy to talk to. Send e-mail to editor *-- at --* NorthDecoder (DOT) com. Thanks. Chad [UPDATE #1 - 2008 Sept 1: Comments have to be somehow related to the post under which you write them. If they are not, 99 times out of 100 I will delete your comment. You don't like this rule? Go blog somewhere else.Sometimes offensive/inappropriate/bad stuff gets posted in the comments (or elsewhere) here and I don't see it until after lots and lots of eyes have already seen it. If you find something offensive, defamatory, inappropriate, etc., here, please let me know or I'll probably leave it up because I miss lots of stuff here.]
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