Ohio State vs Iowa

Update: Can I call them or can I call them?

Oh well, at least the chick in the second video below will make you an Ohio State fan. That is, if you're a guy. Or a lesbian. Or a bi-curious chick. Or a plastic surgeon. Or a hair removal expert.



Here's a preview at YouTube of what the Ohio State at Iowa game on Saturday night is going to look like:



And if 2006's game gets boring, you can always watch this (NSFW):

Jim Leach Is Not Going To Stop Internet Gambling

Krusty mentioned how Bill Frist got Congressman Jim Leach's internet gambling ban language shoved into some port security bill that passed the House and will certainly be signed by President Bush:

Leach's bill, requires that the banking and credit card industries stop payment to foreign illegal gambling entities cutting the U.S. supply line to off-shore gambling entities.

That should put an end to internet gambling, right?

Prohibition always works, doesn't it?

Absolutely not.

Jim Leach, besides being one of the most toothless old lifers in Congress, is going to see this paper tiger of a law ripped apart almost instantly.

Virtual casinos will easily set up some shell business that will legally accept payments from Mastercard or Visa. Or gamblers will find some other way around it all. You just watch. It will happen. You can do it already by just mailing these companies a money order or cashier's check.

Did anybody see this piece on 60 Minutes that was rebroadcast recently? Companies are perfectly willing to impose stringent controls, allow taxation, and invite regulation by the US Federal Government in order to ply their trade on the internet.

I understand the reasons why some people want internet gaming banned (children, addicts, morality, etc). You could say the same thing about alcohol, cigarettes, and pornography. It also has to do with the States, the Indians, and their "investment" in casinos. It's a special-interest nightmare but it's all about the money.

As far as I'm concerned, the Federal Government should allow it, regulate it, and tax it. Internet gambling is already happening on a global scale. You can't put this genie back in the bottle. You can't legislate morality in this instance.

Some of you are probably saying, "State 29, you were so against the Touchplay Slottery Machines. How come you're in favor of Online Casinos? Aren't you being a big hypocrite?"

Not at all.

It's not like some company with ties to Las Vegas casinos can set up shop in Aruba or the Caymans and install a Touchplay Machine in your local Kum & Go. That takes an act of the Iowa Legislature, intense lobbying by Ed Stanek, and a signature by Tom Vilsack. It can also be reversed once Iowans saw what happened in front of their faces and were disgusted by it all.

All I have to do is download a reasonably-trusted company's software in the privacy of my own home, authorize a certain amount of money to be put into my account via a credit card (or money order or cashier's check if I want to wait), be put through the hoops regarding my age, and suddenly I'm playing Pot Limit Hold 'Em with some grandma from Nova Scotia.

Who am I hurting?

Most of the people who sat at those Touchplay Slottery machines were losers who probably don't have or couldn't quality for a credit card, much less have a computer with broadband internet access, except for maybe downloading child porn. Those dirtbags are real good at figuring out how to get $300 for a car-title loan out of their 1985 Chevy Celebrity in order to buy a few rocks or balloons, but it takes a lot more knowhow and status to play games of skill online.

People who want to gamble online are stepping on the toes of a bunch of bought-and-paid-for hayseed politicians grouped under that gold dome in Des Moines or a bunch of sleazy wannabe child fuckers in DC. And those politicians want to lecture us about morality and children and addictions?

Cindy Sheehan Is Coming To Iowa City

Via a reader, Cindy Sheehan is coming to the University of Iowa:

WRAC 35th Anniversary Lecture

Cindy Sheehan
"One Person Can Make a Difference"
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
7:30 pm
Macbride Auditorium
FREE ADMISSION - TICKETS REQUIRED

Ticket holders must be seated by 7:15 pm to be guaranteed seating. Tickets are general admission; no reserved seating.

That should impress the Jew-haters and other people who understand the frustration and the anger of certain people around the world.

John McCain Is Angry At Bruce Braley

From Radio Iowa ("McCain rips Braley over Iraq war funding"):

Arizona Senator John McCain, a former Vietnam-era POW who's gearing up to run for president in 2008, today attacked Bruce Braley, the Democrat running for Iowa's first congressional district seat.

Braley has said, if elected, he would vote to cut off funding for the Iraq war effort as a means of getting the Bush Adminstration to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. "I reject the idea that we should cut off funding and by the way, I think it would also have a very, very bad effect on morale of our troops if we told them we were cutting off the funding for what they believe is a noble cause," McCain says.

Ouch!

Even though I think McCain is a dirty, crooked lunatic, I'm surprised that Whalen was able to bring out such a Big Gun who so many Democrats love to occasionally love. I guess the 1st District race is still in play.


Related: Krusty has some further thoughts.

Revenge Of The Wal-Mart Employees

From Radio Iowa:

Wal-Mart has launched a drive to give all its employees voter registration materials. Beth Runyan, manager of the new West Des Moines Wal-Mart, led about 30 of her employees in cheers just after eight this morning, then explained the retailer had decided to hand out "non-partisan" voter registration materials prepared by the League of Women Voters.

Runyan told her employees it was part of Wal-Mart's effort to be a good neighbor. "We are not going to give any directions as far as party affiliations or anything like that. That is a personal decision," she says. "The most popular question isn't so much how, but it's why. 'Why is Wal-Mart doing this?' I explain that it's just like a benefit. However they use it is their own choice."

I'm sure the employees will remember who. hates. them.

Insightfully Ironic

Updated below:


From the Political Madman:

I've pulled State 29 from the links on your right, largely due to his inability to remain "insightfully vulgar," instead just moving down to vulgar. This post was the nail in the coffin, but calling for Tom Harkin to die in a plane crash and his recent obsession with college-age porn didn't help.

I loved how he pulled his link to State 29, but then links to all the reasons why in his post. That's so funny.


Update: If you don't get the point of the post "Iowa State University Hires A Cunt As Provost" then you have failed irony class.

Elizabeth Hoffman thought, when being deposed concerning a rape case involving football players at the university she ran, that the word cunt had once been a term of endearment. That's not just a lapse, it's a complete disconnect with reality.

So newspapers like the Iowa State Daily or the Des Moines Register will fail to mention the whole cunt thing (for obvious reasons, they're considered "family" newspapers), will ignore Hoffman's punting on the Ward Churchill scandal, but they have no problem puffing up her resume and declaring her obscene salary of $275,000 a year.

How Evil Is Wal-Mart?

From the Daily Iowan:

As Wal-Mart and Target launch drug plans that would slash the price of generic drugs to $4 a month, some local pharmacies are expressing concern about their inability to compete with the "big-box store" prices.

The program began Sept. 22 in 65 Wal-Mart company stores in the Tampa, Fla., area, offering reduced prices on 291 generic drugs and prescription vitamins. The plan will go nationwide by the end of 2007 at all Wal-Marts, Sam's Clubs, and Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets.

On Sept. 21, Target announced plans to immediately match its competitor's discounts in Tampa.

Coralville pharmacist Dave Boblenz, who has been in the profession for approximately 10 years, said the discount prices could be a big blow to local drugstores.

Lowered prices "are probably just to drive business to their door," said Boblenz, who works at Nucara pharmacy in Coralville. "It's going to be hard for the small guy to compete."

...[Kim] Spading [a pharmacist at UI Student Health Service] also voiced concern about smaller pharmacies, adding that if the drugstores lower their prices to match Wal-Mart and Target's deals, it would probably "significantly" hurt their business.

This shows how deranged the anti-Wal-Mart crowd are.

Some will choose bashing Wal-Mart on any issue over applauding the company's decision (and Target's) to provide cheap generic prescription drugs to everybody, especially college kids on limited budgets.

These moonbats did this sort of thing when Wal-Mart started selling groceries and gasoline. It's nothing new, but it shows just how sick these people are.

Rubber Stamping Earthpork

Perry "Rubber Stamp" Beeman has another article on Earthpork in Friday's Des Moines Register. This is even more ridiculous and one-sided than yesterday's rewrite of the David Oman press release.

This is offensive journalism.


Update: Nicholas Johnson has excerpts from a Cedar Rapids Gazette editorial on Earthpark that is considerably more critical.

His analysis of the editorial:

It's never too late, I guess, but if only the media had provided their audiences with more of this kind of skeptical reporting and analysis during the past 10 years -- instead of playing the cheerleaders' role of uncritically repeating the project promoters' news releases, and leaving their assertions unchallenged -- they could have saved a lot of wasted motion, time and dollars for everyone.

Will we ever see any critical analysis out of the Des Moines Register, especially now that the project is closer to their backyard than the CR Gazette or Iowa City Press-Citizen? The latest two "puff pieces" by Register "reporter" Perry Beeman haven't demonstrated interest in anything except brown-nosing and rewriting press releases.

David Oman said that 1.5 million people may visit it every year. 1.5 million people in Pella is 4110 paying customers every day of the year. The town only has 10,000 residents. The Des Moines Metro area's population is almost 500,000, but they're at least 45 miles away. Waukee is nearly 70 miles away.

Worst of all is the Register's silence on the matter of how Earthpork will be financed. Scandals like CIETC will pale in comparison to the way taxpayers are going to be screwed if this turkey is green-lighted. If monopoly corporate newspapers won't bother running the numbers and writing about the matter to the public in a critical way, they're just as guilty of malfeasance as Republican con artist David Oman, Republican former Governor Robert D. "Filthy" Ray, and Republican fauxscal conservative Chuck Grassley have been in promoting this joke.

Iowa State University Hires A Cunt As Provost

From the Iowa State Daily:

Recently named executive vice president and provost Elizabeth Hoffman's previous experience at Iowa State is being considered by some to be more pertinent than her time as president at the University of Colorado.

Hoffman, 59, dealt with controversies at both positions - from debate surrounding the naming of Iowa State's Catt Hall to accusations of recruiting sex scandals and rape surrounding Colorado's football team that led to her resignation as president from Colorado in 2005.

From Wikipedia:

In 2004, University of Colorado president Elizabeth Hoffman fanned the flames of a football rape case when, during a deposition, she was asked if she thought "cunt" was a "filthy and vile" word. She replied that it was a "swear word" but had "actually heard it used as a term of endearment." A spokesperson later clarified that Hoffman meant the word had polite meanings in its original use centuries ago. In the rape case, a CU football player had allegedly called female player Katie Hnida a "fucking lovely cunt".

The cunt was also the same person who couldn't fire "professor" Ward Churchill:

The review of Churchill's scholarship and whether or not the university has grounds to fire the tenured professor was instigated after Churchill's essay about the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks came to light. In his controversial essay, Churchill compared the victims to "little Eichmanns," referring to Nazi bureaucrat Adolf Eichmann, who helped carry out the Holocaust. The professor argued that those who worked at the World Trade Centers were not innocent victims but were actively participating in an unfair American economic system that provoked the terrorist attacks.

And this is from the Des Moines Register:

Hoffman was selected after a nationwide search by an 18-member ISU committee led by Tahira Hira, executive assistant to the president and professor of consumer economics.

Of all the people who applied for this job, surely there was a better-qualified and less scandal-ridden cunt than this cunt. I guess it takes a bunch of little Eichmanns at ISU to hire a cunt.

I mean all that as a term of endearment.



Update: This post really takes the cake when it comes to being insightfully vulgar.

Earthpork Cheerleaders

The Des Moines Register has a forum soliciting comments on the Earthpork project annoucement. Here's what the uninformed cheerleaders have said:

Glad to see the project finally move ahead. Pella will be a great partner. This project, if handled well, can be a research leader in advancing technology for the production of alternative crops year-round here in Iowa.

I think Pella is a great site for Earthpark. I am excited for the opening in which I hope to attend. For Earthpark to come to Pella, it should definetly have a great economic impact for the town and the surrounding towns.

As easy as it may be to throw stones at this project, I’d encourage Iowans to learn more about Earthpark before declaring it DOA. Do we want a Six Flags over Bondurant or a dynamic living, breathing research park? I think some folks are looking at this project as just another tourist attraction. In part, that’s true but it represents much more than that.

Pella is going to attract tourists from all over the world and when they do, i will laugh at all you negative idiots! This will be the number one attraction in the stete when there is no home Iowa Football game!!!

Once again,the people who know NOTHING about the Project,have ALL the answers.If ANYONE can make it work,WE CAN IN PELLA!! I can’t wait to prove the doomers wrong.One of the reasons Pella is a great place is because we know how to do it.SEE YOU AT THE FOREST!!

Hey folks, just think about anything beautiful and positive which will bring dollars into Iowa while at the same time provide some culture, entertainment, jobs, and educational opportunities.

These people really ought to read Nicholas Johnson's summary of the Earthpork project.

Instead they get Des Moines Register "reporter" Perry Beeman rubber-stamping David Oman's press releases.

Rewriting Radio Iowa's Earthpork Story

State 29's version of Darwin Danielson's story at Radio Iowa concerning the Earthpork announcement:

Pella finally beat out Riverside today for now to become the 16th potential site of the 280, 225, 180, 155 150-million dollar "Earthpark." The Iowa Environmental Project Board of Directors met in secret in Grinnell and made the announcement to the obsequious and uncritical Des Moines Register and reporter Perry "Rubber Stamp" Beeman of their final selection for the project which was once known as the rainforest.

The executive director Chief Con Artist of the Iowa Environmental Project, David Oman, says there were a number of factors that led to the selection of Pella. He says the beauty and size of the site on the shore of Lake Red Rock, the community and its size and support, were all that Pella didn't give him any shit, unlike those hayseeds in Riverside who questioned everything, which was an important factors. Oman says the board was impressed with the support of that the Pella community didn't ask any important questions, like where all the money's coming from.

Oman says "a great project needs a great town", as he says it isn't all about the money and the site, especially when the taxpayers are footing the bill. Oman says the Environmental Project Board of Directors will now negotiate shove the final plans with in Pella's face and line up the remaining financing taxpayer money. Oman says there could be some Vision Iowa Funding, even though there isn't any, companies are being talked to about support, even though there hasn't been any, there could be some debt financing too, paid for by future generations of Iowan taxpayers. He says they'd like to break ground in 2007 and open in 2010, but you've heard this crap before from Oman about 100 times over the past decade.

Oman says one and a half million people could visit the Earthpark each year, but only if the Rainforest is operated as a free whorehouse and drug den. Oman says there's nothing like it in the United States because no other city or state could possibly be this stupid, and it will be a national environmental center. Oman says it will be a lot of attention to the nation and to Iowa, especially when it goes bankrupt after a year or two of being open.

Pella Area Development Corporation executive Director Karen Eischen says it's an exciting time to be a brown-noser. Eischen says everyone in Pella is very happy right now because they're drugged and they're excited to get the project underway. Pella is best known for its annual tulip festival -- and Eischen says that event was probably part of the reason Pella was chosen for Earthpark, even though the event only draws 150,000 people over five days.

Eischen says, "We have for a long time now attracted a cultural visitor, somebody who's looking for, just beyond a vacation, they're looking for an educational experience. Same with Earthpark. So I think it parallels very well, and everything we had to offer."

Eischen laughed when asked if the indoor rainforest would include tulips marijuana, heroin, or banana peels. She says if they have anything to say about it, they'd like to see them, although she admits the tulips are probably not native to a rain forest that smoking banana peels might be illegal. The plans for the project have been in the works almost 10 years because other towns have rejected it or been frustrated by the process and lack of funding, and Oman says it's a "Red Letter Day" to finally get the site chosen.

Zero Tolerance

Jim Nussle's campaign has a new TV ad available at YouTube.



That's a very effective ad.

Compare the above to this ad, put out by the Culver campaign. I swear, if they didn't show the color of the actor's hair in the ad, I would have thought it was Chet Culver himself, what with that spare tire hanging over:

It's Pella

From the Des Moines Register by "reporter" Perry Beeman:

Pella has won the 10-year derby to host Earthpark, a combination rainforest, aquarium and education center modeled after an international attraction in England.

The Earthpark board today picked Pella over Riverside, the other finalist...

...Earthpark projects a million visitors a year. The project would create 400 to 500 jobs during 2.5-year construction, 150 permanent jobs. Ripple effect of 2,500 more jobs around Iowa.

The early design work by Grimshaw Architects, which also designed the Eden Project in England, calls for a three-section rainforest under several foil-covered enclosures. Inside, the attraction, something of a science-literacy center, would have 1,000 species of plants, animals, birds, fish and reptiles, including macaws and screaming pihas, electric eels, sting rays and piranha, red howler monkeys, bats, boa constrictors and iguanas.

Hey there Perry "Rubber Stamp" Beeman, you're really good at retyping press releases by Con Artist David Oman. Are you a trained monkey?

Perhaps you ought to read up on Earthpork's actual financials.

Rainforest Summary

Nicholas Johnson has the best summary of the Rainforest project over at the FromDC2Iowa blog.

TV stations and certain newspapers (cough, cough, Des Moines Register, cough, cough) should pay heed to this summary, but they won't. I don't know whether they're too blind, too stupid, or too buddy-buddy with the con artists involved in order to be objective. I think the latter.

And that's the problem. At least in the Cedar Rapids Gazette and Iowa City Press-Citizen stories you can sort of feel a hint of concern about the project. Both newspapers have also published editorials in the past that have been critical, particularly the Press-Citizen (and even the Daily Iowan, the University of Iowa student-run newspaper).

The Des Moines Register, while occasionally ponying up a story about the progress, has no BS detector and the opinion columnists ignore the project. And you never see opinion columnists at the Quad City Times, Waterloo Courier, Mason City Globe Gazette, or any newspapers go off on the lack of information concerning the Rainforest. They just sit on their hands, thumbs up their You Know What.

So, worthless newspaper opinion columnists, thanks for giving us bloggers a chance to keep a critical eye towards a project that blows up the Federal deficit and may cost Iowans hundreds of millions of dollars before it fails and closes.

Steve Alford Is Recruiting Thieves

Mike Henderson and Tyler Smith

From Sports Illustrated:

Iowa basketball players Mike Henderson and Tyler Smith were arrested and charged with theft Sunday, according to Coralville police.

The incident occurred at Dillard's in the Coral Ridge Mall. There is no word on the circumstances surrounding the arrest.

From a Trial Court Search on Michael Henderson, Case: 06521 SMSM066687 (JOHNSON):

Comments: W/10 DAYS DEF SHALL WRITE LETTER OF APOLOGY TO BUSINESS AND FILE COPY W/COURT. W/90 DAYS DEF SHALL PAY FINANCIAL OBGL. W/180 DAYS DEF SHALL COMPLETE 20 HRS COMM SERVICE AND FILE PROOF THEREOF W/COURT. REMAIN FREE FROM LAW VIOLATIONS AND VERIFY LACK OF FURTHER CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS PRIOR TO EXPIRATION OF THE 1 YR PROB. PERIOD. DEF SHALL PROVIDE STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE W/PROB REQUIREMENTS PRIOR TO DISCHARGE FROM PROBATION. DEF RESPONSIBLE FOR REQUEST FOR TERMINATION OF PROBATION AND EXPUNGEMENT OF RECORD. COURT WILL NOT INITIATE PROCESS.

That was quick, as it should be.

Henderson has a promise to appear on October 11th at 8am.

I couldn't find anything on Tyler Smith.


Related: Steve Alford Is Recruiting Retards

Earthpork Announcement On Thursday?

According to KCCI-TV, the Earthpork con artists are going to announce whether residents of Riverside or Pella will be strung along for months or years before they get frustrated and tell David Oman to take a long walk off a riverboat casino's short drydock pier.

You think the media will be questioning Oman about the money? No way! Who cares about the details!!

I predict it will be Riverside, mostly because it has a casino to siphon money from, but also because the people running the town are a bunch of hayseeds.


Update: Here's another version from the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

The site for an indoor rain forest project is expected to be named Thursday, and the mayor of Riverside, which is a finalist with Pella, said that does not bode well for his town.

"If they make a decision tomorrow, I don't think that would be in Riverside's favor," Mayor Bill Poch said today.

That's because the city is still trying to determine what will be expected from it financially to land the $155 million project, known as Earthpark...

...But after years of controversy and uncertainty surrounding the project --which has been linked to Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Coralville -- Riverside Council member Mariellen Bower was dubious.

"I'll believe it when I see it," she said of a decision being made. "They don't have a great track record."

Looks like Mariellen has learned a few things in the past couple of weeks.

Pierre Pierce Is A Registered Sex Offender

Here's his page at the Iowa Sex Offender Registry.

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Former University of Iowa basketball player Pierre Pierce's profile has been added to the Iowa Sex Offender Registry Internet site.

Pierce, 23, has registered 1117 E. Court St. as his new address, Iowa City Police Sgt. Doug Hart said this morning. Police verified Pierce's address this morning, he said.

Pierce is not restricted from living within 2,000 feet of a school or a daycare because his victim in the case was over 18, Hart said.

The Internet registry still shows Pierce living in the downtown Sheraton, 210 S. Dubuque St. Pierce had been staying there, but has since relocated and new address information is being forwarded to the state, Hart said.

Related: I Got Your F***ing Laptop

Iowa Girl Finally Makes It To Playboy's Centerfold

From Radio Iowa:

Iowa is finally getting its due in the latest edition of a popular men's magazine. Iowa reportedly has the nation's highest per capita readership of "Playboy" but never had a centerfold from the Hawkeye State -- until now.

The magazine's Miss October is Emily Ranheim, who models under the name Jordan Monroe. The 20-year-old brunette is a Denison native and attends the University of Nebraska, majoring in family and consumer sciences. Ranheim tried out for Playboy's "Girls of the Big 12" issue but reportedly caught publisher Hugh Heffner's eye for the prime centerfold spot.

And guys, before you get any ideas, her boyfriend is Terrence Nunn, a wide receiver on the Huskers football team.

Here are some NOT SAFE FOR WORK pictures of "Jordan Monroe" at Playboy.com.

There's also NSFW pics at DailyNiner.com. They might be the same ones. I haven't really got time to investigate the matter fully, although I will later tonight.

The Epitome Of Hubris

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

...Cedar Rapids-based Muslim Youth Camps of America announced it was applying for a $250,000 Vision Iowa grant ("MYCA asks for government funding," Sept. 21). The MYCA board asked the Johnson County Board of Supervisors if it would write a letter in support of MYCA's application and if the board would consider increasing that support with a "token" contribution to the project, not to exceed $20,000. Not surprisingly, many of our readers -- and editorial board members -- have expressed concern about having either Iowa or Johnson County provide funds directly to any group that proclaims its religious affiliation in its title...

...Some readers have been downright astounded that the MYCA board has the chutzpah to ask for public money at all. After years of controversy over whether the U.S. Corps of Engineers should sell its rural land near North Liberty for a Muslim youth camp, after continuing concerns over the infrastructure changes needed to improve the roads leading up to the camp, the recent request of the MYCA board seems, to them, to be the epitome of hubris. If nothing else, it seems the board is inviting more controversy than necessary.

The board is well within its right to ask for the state and county funds. To balance out the government's prohibition against establishing a religion and its duty to ensure the free practice, however, the county and the state should ask MYCA to look elsewhere for financial support.

I think the Press-Citizen has it half right with this editiorial. They are upset that taxpayers funding any portion of the Muslim Youth Camp is somehow akin to government establishing a State Religion, which of course is completely ridiculous. That's not happening here.

Things like the Muslim Youth Camp and the Robert D. "Filthy" Ray Ego-Stroking Asian Gardens and even Earthpork shouldn't be getting taxpayer funding, period. If you can't raise the money privately then scale it back, or perhaps it shouldn't be built.

Why do you want us to pay for your things?

The Press-Citizen also has a pro-take-your-money op-ed by Muslim mouthpiece Bob Ballantyne, which is about as flimsy as they come.

Any politician who approves taxpayer money for this should have a big jihad and fatwa issued against their future political career.




Related: Muslims Want Taxpayer Money For "Youth Camp" In Iowa

Treating Brain Tumors or Building Some Monument For Governor Ray

Here's a real contrast.

There's an article in the Iowa State Daily this morning about how the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust has awarded $800,000 to Iowa State University researchers. One of the studies funded will help find a way to treat advanced brain tumors. Sounds like a good investment to me.

Also in the Iowa State Daily is this story on the building of a temple at the Robert D. Ray Asian Gardens in Des Moines, a building and site which is essentially a giant jerkoff monument for one of the biggest con artists to ever be elected Governor of Iowa, Robert D. "Filthy" Ray.

During the 1970s, Ray allowed tons of "boat people" from Vietnam and Laos into Iowa, all paid for with your tax dollars. It overwhelmed social services and school districts, and is one of the reason why many communities, particularly Des Moines, developed an Asian gang problem.

The Iowa State Daily story said the gardens are going to cost $1.6 million. Over a year ago, the cost was expected to be $800,000 (privately funded), then engineering problems forced costs up to $1.1 million. so the people mismanaging the project got nearly $300,000 in taxpayer dollars. I don't know how they're going to make up the half million dollar difference.

Wouldn't Iowa be better off trying to do things like treat brain tumors rather than building another ego-stroking monument to bad governmental decisions? Who's going to pay for the upkeep of this monument once it's built? The taxpayers in Des Moines and Polk County? Gamblers at Prairie Meadows? You can probably bet on that.

Shooting Deer

The Cedar Rapids Gazette closes off some content to non-subscribers, but I found this via their feed:

A Cedar County tree farmer charged with illegally shooting a deer this summer says a 1915 Iowa Supreme Court ruling upholds his right to kill deer damaging his property. Kevin Kelly, 54, proprietor of Kelly Tree Farm, was charged Sept. 10 with shooting a deer out of season and with shooting the deer with a rifle. Kelly acknowledges shooting the deer June 2 and said he immediately notified the Iowa Department of Natural Resources that he had done so. Kelly said he intends to enter a not-guilty plea Thursday in Cedar County Magistrate Court and argue later in District Court that the shooting was a justifiable defense of his property.

My god, we can't have this! You can't have people defending their own property and livelihood from Iowa DNR-mismanaged critters! We can't have the courts upholding an Iowa Supreme Court ruling from 91 years ago, no way! Somebody call the Iowa Legislature and get a new law passed banning people from defending their property and farms from Iowa DNR-mismanaged critters!

I'll be tracking this story, so if any other newspaper articles come out I'll post them.

Coffee And Cookies

The Des Moines Register's web site is forcing me to fill out some cookie-setting form this morning:

To help us keep DesMoinesRegister.com available to all users free of charge, please answer the following questions. You should not be asked these questions again during future visits using the same computer.

Please fill out the form below to proceed.

These are the only questions you need to answer to gain access to DesMoinesRegister.com.

The questions are gender, year of birth, country, and zip code. Another box is available if you want to sign up for email newsletters.

Even though I filled it out correctly, it doesn't work. It won't let me proceed to the opinion piece I want to read.

And I love the logic in the first sentence above: To help us keep DesMoinesRegister.com available to all users free of charge, please answer the following questions. What does that mean? If I don't fill it out will the Register start charging people to read the web edition? Good riddance, then.

The Polk County Slush Fund

Bert Dalmer has a big story on the Polk County Slush Fund in this morning's Des Moines Register.

Keep digging!

Hope I Die Before I Get Bored

What's left of The Who are playing the Giant Carbuncle in downtown Des Moines tonight.

Tickets are $178 or so.

For that price, you get 60-somethings Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, along with touring band members Rabbit on keyboards, Ringo's kid Zak Starkey on drums, Pete's younger brother Simon on guitar, and some guy on bass guitar who has played in the past with Gary Numan.

That's sort of like Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr touring as The Beatles. They could bring along Julian Lennon, Mike McGear, and Gene Frenkle on more cowbell. I'd drive up to Des Moines and easily pay $359 to see that.

Chet Culver Is Half-Witted

From YouTube:

Solutions To School Financing

From The South Of Iowa blog ("Public school financing"):

The system of taxing real estate to generate revenue for public schools is unfair and antiquated. We need a system that does not heap the burden of revenue creation on property owners, but on the users of the public system itself, the students and their parents. This will create a more equitable system to finance public schools.

I've got just the solution!

I found it via the FromDC2Iowa blog ("Press-Citizen Promotes Student Gambling") today:

Without even a nod in the direction of balance, under a headline designed to get high school and college students' attention (after all, what student would not be interested in "new ways to earn cash"?), the paper introduces readers to Kyle Obrecht, "who plays online poker and gambles at casinos to make rent." "Gambling has paid for me to live in the last couple of years," he's quoted as saying. I'm sure many students, trying to make it on Iowa's minimum wage, will be excited to learn from the Press-Citizen that gambling has "proven to be much more lucrative than any regular job" for him.

I say Vote For Chet Culver, he wants more casinos.

Hogberg On Divided Government

Former Iowa blogger David Hogberg, writing in the American Spectator last week:

Finally, the contention that divided government leads to fiscal restraint is unconvincing. It rests heavily on the Reagan and Clinton years, but a look at the year-to-year percentage change of the government portion of gross domestic product suggests that fiscal restraint is far more contingent on the political climate. Most of Reagan's fiscal restraint came in his first two years in office, after his smashing 1980 victory. As the years wore on, and Democrats in the House got better at fighting Reagan, spending began to increase. In the early 1990s, the emergence of the Perot voter -- who was very concerned about the federal budget deficit -- and the scramble of both Clinton and the GOP to woo those voters, led to spending restraint. However, when the deficit became a surplus in 1998, Washington politicians forgot their frugal ways. This resulted in spending increases in 1999 and 2000 that were the highest since 1990 and set the stage for the spending orgy of the Bush years.

Would Bush and a Democrat-controlled House be an improvement over recent years? Doubtful. Bush is, at best, a squish on fiscal restraint (and that's being charitable). Last week, House Democrats voted overwhelmingly, 147-45, against a modest earmark reform bill. Sure, Bush might get serious about spending once the Democrats took over, but what would his argument be -- that the Democrats were trying to undo all the fiscal restraint he imposed? Indeed, the press would portray him as a cynic, only caring about spending now that the opposition is in power. Since the White House doesn't seem to have the stomach for such a fight, a more likely scenario is Bush and the House Democrats cutting budget deals resulting in spending increases as bad, if not worse, than what we have now.

Yes, conservatives, myself included, are rightly disgusted with Congressional Republicans' profligacy. But that disgust is beginning to get through, with Congress recently approving an online database to track spending and the House passing the aforementioned earmark reform. Such efforts will surely stall should Democrats win control of the House. The answer is to keep up the pressure through the grassroots and blogosphere efforts like Porkbusters.

Read the whole Hog thing.

Both Republicans AND Democrats should have a look.

And don't miss Stephen Slivinski's followup that was published today.

No More Makeup-Wearing Robots

After discovering Ron Guzburger's Politics1 web site recently, I wanted to find out more about some of the fringe candidates running for Governor of Iowa, Congress, and so on.

At first, I thought about mentioning some of the Communist or Losertarian candidates, but they're simply no fun.

Then I found James Hill. He's fun.

James Hill is on the ballot in the 1st District in Iowa for the Congressional seat currently up for grabs with Bruce "Cut and Run" Braley and Mike "Mod" Whalen battling it out amongst the Democrats and Republicans.

James Hill is running for Congress on the Pirate Party:

I would like to thank you, good citizen for taking time to visit the pirate Campaign site. This entire lay out was designed by my Samoan Body guard A.J. Sorenson at my own expense. As the only Pirate and truly independent candidate I issue a challenge to you my friend. Can you cast aside Party politics to salvage our democracy? The democrats and Republicans would be hard pressed to remove the corruptive cash influence from the house. They have both fattened at the trough while ignoring the middle class and working poor in this country.

I take no bounty from any Person, Party, Organization or Corporation.(How can any other candidate press the value of renewable fuels when both parties receive money from Oil Companies?) The apathy and lazy attitude of voters has left our Congress crippled by Shysters.

Do not expect me to get on the band wagon of heart wrenching divisive social subjects. This is how the standard Politicians have kept us distracted while they sold their votes to the highest bidders. I have opinions on everything and many good ideas to be shared thru the campaign. My goal remains to remove the money from politics, by giving you a candidate who takes no money.

And his rather frank bio:

...I graduated from North Scott High School in 1982. My grades were below average as were my mile times. If I were in school today there would surely be some unpronounceable learning disorder tagged on me. The Pirate blames instead a restless mind and an urge to wander for my poor academic performance. One must be accountable to himself to stay honest.

Two months of college was enough. I dropped out and went to work at a horse stable. They had also employed me during High School. Working with horses was dangerous, low paying hard work. The people I worked for, Jim and Sue Bader were an example of all the best in human beings. I worked for them from 1980 until 1991. That year I started working for Safety Kleen Corporation. That year I also met my wife Mary Beth, we were married in 1992. We have two children Alaina and Rowan who we love dearly. That doesn't mean there aren't days we would not sell them to the circus...

His philosophy:

What you see is what you get. I am the only drunken Pirate seeking office in this great nation. What a sad testimonial to our political system when a degenerate like me, feels like the most honest candidate on the ballot...

You will see the false Christians and smarmy trained monkeys recede to the shit-holes they crawled from. This challenge is not to be taken lightly. Can the American voter accept a flawed person or even down right ugly one to represent them? Every day I fight the urge to drink, debauch women out of wed-lock and beat people on the street. One urge I do not have is to sell myself to the highest bidder. I see new accounts every day. These ‘men’ who sell their influence like common whores. Duke Cunningham and his bribe menu sound familiar? William Jefferson with $90.000 k in his freezer ring a bell?

I would have your wife right in front of you. I would smoke the last of your glaucoma medication. Then I will surely drink your liquor cabinet dry. However, know this my friend. I will never break an oath to uphold the public trust. My affidavit will be signed in my own blood. A Pirates crimson mark, with real binding effects into my after life. Laugh if you will then ask yourself if you could do it.

Don't miss his blog.

Guess Who's Running Against Steve King?

From the Des Moines Register today:

Republican Steve King is the incumbent Congressman in Iowa's second district. Here are the candidates for 2006.

Democrat

* Joyce Schulte: Director, Student Support Services program at Southwestern Community College in Creston and candidate for Congress in 2004. She defeated Bob Chambers of Essex in the primary to win a rematch against King.

Republican

* Steve King: Incumbent from Kiron seeking a third term in the U.S. House. Former state senator.

Independent

Two candidates were nominated by petition as independents:

* Cheryl Broderson, a nurse from Denison.
* Roy Nielsen: Nielsen is a business owner from Orange City.

Yes, we all know about how Joyce "Steve King's Bitch" Schulte is running against King again. And will lose again.

But who is this Cheryl Broderson, a nurse from Denison?

There's a big story about Cheryl Broderson in the Clarinda Herald last Friday, but it fails to mentions her other claim to fame: She was Rachel Corrie's aunt.



At Politics1.com, Broderson is described as an "Anti-Israel activist"

Heh!



Related: Starring Rachel Corrie As The Pancake

Half-Baked Offenburger

Former Register columnist Chuck Offenburger is going to cheerlead this notoriously stupid ThinkIowa scam, the overall idea of which is to encourage non-Iowans to come to Iowa to attend college or university while Iowa taxpayers help subsidize it.

Talk about half-baked.

This is typical Socialist "central party planning" at its worst.

Beat Iowa

I know it's a couple weeks late, but this is a funny photo.

Who can't resist cute young girlies with pierced navels who are Cyclone fans?

Starring Rachel Corrie As The Pancake

Published in the Iowa City Jew-Hater and written by Julia Daugherty:

It is not anti-Semitic to oppose the policies of the state of Israel any more than it is anti-American to oppose the policies of the U.S. government or anti-Catholic to oppose the church when it protects abusive priests.

In other words, the US government and Israel are the moral equivalent of sex-abusers!

There's more:

It is a disgusting slur against Jews to imply that the Israeli military’s attacks on civilians or IDF actions like using a bulldozer to run down an unarmed woman

An unarmed woman trying to protect homes that were used, along with tunnels, to smuggle illegal weapons to Paleostinians that would have been used to blow up Israeli civilians.

Speaking of pancakes, Centerville is having their annual Pancake Day this Saturday.

Deported

From the Des Moines Register:

The three Egyptian college students who were the subject of a nationwide search last month will be deported, an immigration judge said Monday.

The students — Mohamed Ibrahim El Sayed El Moghazy, 20; Ahmed Refaat Saad El Moghazi El Laket, 19; and Moustafa Wagdy Moustafa El Gafary, 18 — admitted that they violated immigration laws and last week asked a judge to allow them to return home voluntarily.

Judge James Fujimoto denied that request Monday and ordered deportation at a Homeland Security hearing in Omaha, Neb. He cited the students’ brief time in the United States, a lack of long-term and family ties to the nation and their decision to flee immediately upon entering the country.

Good.

Their lawyer was a real hoot:

Six reported to Montana State University on time.

El Laket, El Moghazy and El Gafary took a bus to San Francisco after some other students in the group disappeared after landing in New York. Then, the trio took a bus to Iowa and used fake names.

[Lawyer Amy] Peck has said her clients went sightseeing because they had been told in Egypt that if any of the 17 didn’t show up in Montana, all the students would be sent home.

That doesn't make any sense, unless you're a terrorist-in-training.

I certainly hope we've tortured them. Driving from Des Moines to Omaha is basically a form of torture.

Check out this goofy graphic on the Peck Law Firm web site:



Gee, what do you think this means?


Related: Three Of Those Missing Egyptian Students Arrested In Des Moines

Register Series On Tracey Dyess

The Des Moines Register has a series on the Tracey Dyess case (part one and part two).

While it's well-written (it's a very complex case), the whole sordid tale made me want to throw up.

The State 29 blog kept tabs on the Dyess case in the past.

I believe that Dyess's sentence is a travesty. This girl should have been allowed an insanity defense. What else can you call her mental condition after years of this kind of abuse? Tracey Dyess probably should have been institutionalized rather than thrown in prison. It's a wonder that this girl hasn't been found hanging from a bedsheet.

Although the Dixie Shanahan Duty case is different in nature, that case, along with the Dyess case, shows that women in Iowa who have been horrifically abused and who eventually cause the deaths of others get disproportionate sentences compared to a rich doctor's wife who stabs him in the heart after he announces plans for a divorce.

Sex Offender Pierre Pierce Is In Iowa City

From the Daily Iowan:

Gray clouds overwhelmed the sky and inmates peered through a barbed-wire fence as Pierre Pierce, after spending nearly a year in prison, walked down the main steps of the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility about 8:10 a.m. Sunday.

"It's good to be a free man," the 23-year-old convicted sex offender said, chuckling. The former Hawkeye guard was accompanied by his father, Maurice Pierce.

"Don't give them anything to talk about," said his father, motioning to a cluster of reporters on the front lawn.

As the Pierces left, inmates cheered from their cells at the former Hawkeye standout, who was dressed in a slick white athletic suit. "Go 'P.' " and "All right, 'P," " they hollered as Pierce pumped one fist in the direction of his former prison mates.

Maurice Pierce tossed a cardboard box into the trunk of a blue Mitsubishi, and, in under five minutes after he emerged from the prison's front doors, Pierre Pierce disappeared into the SUV.

The two were headed to a residence in Johnson County in spite of a previous request that he be banned from returning to the area, said Fred Scaletta, spokesman for the state Department of Corrections.

Scaletta said Pierre Pierce's transfer of supervision residence plan was rejected by Illinois authorities for unspecified reasons...

...Keeping offenders in off-campus residences is a top concern for the UI, but it's "kind of a moot point" for Pierce, who most likely will not return to the university, [UI director of University Relations Steve] Parrott said.

Wait a second. I don't get it.

The Iowa Board of Parole didn't want Pierce in Iowa City, but Illinois wouldn't accept him.

Pierce wanted to go back to Iowa City to finish his college degree, but Steve Parrott says that Pierce "most likely" won't return to the University of Iowa.

What's going on here? More favorable treatment?

In this instance, I'm with David Yepsen.

And I predict that we'll see Pierre Pierce in trouble with the law again in the future.

What To Do About That CIETC Money?

Ouch.

Ouch.

Ouch.

Ouch.


GED recipient and former $368,000-a-year CIETC head Ramona Cunningham with Senator Tom Harkin at the dedication of the "Tom Harkin Learning Center" at CIETC offices in October 20, 2004.

Iowa Ennui's Wish List

I like Iowa Ennui's Wish List.

In The 19th Century

Updated two times below:


In response to my post Can I See ID Please, Part 2, this is from Nate Koppel at The Political Forecast:

Sure. The Democratic Party was responsible for oppressing African-Americans and refusing the the right to vote. In the 19th Century.

In 1966, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia still had poll taxes in place when Harper was decided.

I didn't realize that governors like George Wallace and John Connolly were Republicans! That's a new one!

Alabama hadn't been run by a Republican since 1874 until fairly recently.

And while Democrat "Little Paul" Burney Johnson Jr implemented voter reforms in Mississippi during the mid 1960s, it was a big step forward compared to Democratic governors just 10 years before him.

I think it's very sad when Democrat hacks like the Political Forecast try to keep this myth going that Republicans have been and are trying to suppress the black vote in the South. It's such a big lie. Where do they get this attitude from? Are they unable to atone for sins of their party from just 40 years ago? They'd rather push the burden onto the party currently occupying most governor's mansions in the South.


Update #1 on Sunday: Koppel responds:

You can mince facts and words all day long, but the fact of the matter is the Democrats used to be conservative and the Republicans used to be liberal. Thus, when you talk about poll taxes and who they were legislated by, you’re talking about people that today would be Republicans.

Not to mention it’s entirely irrelevent. House Republicans want to prevent people that mostly vote Democrat from voting, and it’s not fooling anyone who looks an inch deeper than the surface.

What a lightweight. "Democrats used to be conservative and the Republicans used to be liberal." THAT'S his reply? Talk about bush-league.

What was conservative about slavery? What was liberal about Reconstruction? You can't frame things in such a skewed historical context. Is that what they're teaching you kids at Drake for $30,000 a year? They must be laughing all the way to the bank.

My favorite part is when Koppel cuts and runs from the debate like a coward. The least he could have done was say, "Ooops, sorry, wrong century." or maybe tried to come up with a reason why not showing an ID to cast a vote in a time when we have millions of illegals running around the country is a good idea.

If you're looking for a sober analysis of the issue, at least from somebody who leans on the pro-show-ID side, read this 10 page PDF written in 2001 by Thomas Hruz, a Resident Fellow of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.


Update #2 on Monday morning: Koppel responds to Update #1. It's lame, of course, and substance-free. In the comments, Koppel responds to a commenter with this:

If you know point one about election law, then you know the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prevents the states from passing laws that have the effect of preventing minorities from registering and voting.

How does showing a valid picture ID prevent a minority from voting?

I'll pose this again: If it's legal to show an ID when buying smokes, alcohol, entering a casino, writing a check, or using a credit card, how come it's not OK when voting?

I personally think it's because some Democrats think black people are too stupid to be responsible. They don't want to expect some black people to behave like everybody else has to, so they offer up all these excuses in order to curry political favor and use it as guilt or a race card against Whitey or Republicans. It's the old "they're savages" argument, updated to modern times and residing in a latent manner deep within certain people.

Iowa Health Systems Scandal

I know that the Iowa Health Systems thing has been around for a week now, but I can't keep track of every Iowa scandal in a timely manner. Better late than never:

The leader of Iowa's largest health-care system has seen his annual income nearly triple in eight years, to more than $1.3 million.

Sam Wallace's compensation is hundreds of thousands of dollars more than other Iowa hospital executives make and is 37 percent more than the national median income for leaders of similar-sized health care systems.

Wallace is chief executive officer of Iowa Health System, a nonprofit company that relies on taxpayer money for 55 percent of its operating revenue. The system oversees 10 hospitals in Iowa and western Illinois, plus numerous clinics. Although it pays taxes on some of its properties and services, it is exempt from millions of dollars in taxes on property, sales and income related to health care.

Iowa Health board members, who approved Wallace's raises, said the increases were necessary to keep a valuable leader.

Tonight I actually looked up to see who the board members are for Iowa Health System. Oh well, big surprise here: Terry Braindead, David "Earthpork" Oman, James Hubbell III, and many other names I don't recognize but I'm sure other bloggers do.

Gee, we can't lose somebody who's being paid $1.3 million a year! Why, we've looked all over the damn place and nobody will take the job for less than that!

Meanwhile, Iowa ranks #50 (PDF) in terms of salaries for nurses in the United States, something that Iowa Hospital Association mouthpiece Scott McIntyre calls "excellent."

Great. Another board of directors of lifelong bottom-feeders and inbred backslappers who are raping the taxpayers and driving up the cost of health care while lining somebody's pockets. Can't we put some of these fuckers in prison?

South Of Iowa Blog Roundup

Lots of great posts at The South Of Iowa blog this past week, including:

• Big Pig Gets Eaten Up
• Fuel Mileage... With A Bale Mover
• and some Hoosegow Honeys (yes, that Charlene is a hottie!)

The writer of the blog will be posting less this week as he has a corn crop to bring in.

Nice Editing Job, Caolyn

Looks like Caolyn forgot to edit part of the Des Moines Register this morning!

Beyond that, what a dippy column.

Nothing sucks more than having some Gannettoid move to your town and then, after a year, you get to read a column like this:

I, I, me, me, I, Des Moines, I, me, Iowa, I, me, me, I, metro, me, me, I, I, I, me, neighborhoods, me, I, I.

These sorts of cheerleading efforts sound like the kind of writings that someone under the influence of Zoloft, Paxil, Wellbutrin, or other mood-enhancing drugs might pen.

Thursday Morning Quarterbacking

I found this Iowa Poll in the Des Moines Register today to be quite a laugh.

Besides being nothing new when dealing with generalities rather than realities, there is no way in hell that Giuliani or McCain will secure the Republican nomination for POTUS. At least not in Iowa, a state where Republican faithful will go 25% for Pat Robertson (1988), 23% for Pat Buchanan (1996), and a combined 28% split evenly amongst Gary Bauer and Alan Keyes (2000).

Giuliani is just too liberal for Iowa's konservative krowd and McVain is a temperamental, corrupt, RINO-ish megalomaniac who has cancer problems.

This is the funniest part:

57 percent think it would be a bad idea for Vilsack to run for president. Just 26 percent say it's a good idea and the rest are unsure...

Among Democrats alone, 48 percent say seeking the presidency is a bad idea for Vilsack; 35 percent approve...

"I think Governor Vilsack is a real gentleman and a real nice person," said Davis, 68, a retiree from Centerville. "I just don't feel that he's well enough known or has enough national presence to run as a candidate. We need to be sure we have someone who will walk away with the White House" in 2008.

Aha! My old theory about Democrats is coming back: Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.

Don't forget that the last two Democrats to win the White House in the past 40 years were governors of small states with unremarkable records.

Nussle And Culver Would Keep The Failed 2000 Foot Sex Offender Law

From the Mason City Globe Gazette and by Todd Dorman:

Republican candidate for governor Jim Nussle said Friday he would reform but not repeal a state law barring certain sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools or daycares.

Nussle met Friday in downtown Des Moines with members of the Iowa County Attorneys Association. Earlier this year, the association called for repealing the 2,000-foot law, arguing that the rule actually makes it tougher for law enforcement to keep track of sex offenders...

The congressman from Manchester also wants to expand real-time satellite tracking of some offenders.

But unlike the association, Nussle does not favor getting rid of the politically popular 2,000-foot requirement.

“I don’t look at it as a repeal. I look at it as a reform, as a way to strengthen the law,” Nussle said after the closed-door meeting. “I believe the public is very concerned, rightfully so, about sexual predators in their community.”

Nussle’s Democratic rival, Chet Culver, also opposes repeal.

This doesn't surprise me in the least. It's politically popular, except amongst the people who actually have to enforce the stupid law. The politicians who passed this law won't reverse it, otherwise they'll get tagged as being soft on sex offenders.

Ed Fallon was one of the few politicians who was against this arbitrary law, which does nothing but uproot sex offenders and forces them into the country where they can all live together in the same motel. That's a good idea, right?

Thanks to Governor Vilsack, who gave blanket citizenship rights (which includes voting rights) to all felons in Iowa by executive order, a sex offender can't live within 2000 feet of a school, but can walk into one on Election Day and cast a vote. And then maybe drag a boy or girl into the bathroom and sexually assault or rape them. Isn't that great? Iowa has some of the dumbest politicians on the planet.

Encouraging Bad Behavior

From the Des Moines Register's Opinion page, written by somebody who is unnamed:

Short on cash? You'll have no trouble finding yourself a quick loan in Iowa. Maybe you'll head for a shop where they hold your car title in exchange for a few hundred dollars. Perhaps you'll visit someone who'll turn your check into cash or lend you enough to tide you over until payday.

These lenders are just about everywhere. (Iowa has 253 payday-loan locations and more than 20 car-title lenders). And the fees or interest rates can be sky-high. Annual interest rates on car-title loans can top 260 percent.

For that, Iowans can thank lawmakers who have refused to protect consumers from predatory lenders. Last year, for example, they failed to cap interest rates charged by car-title lenders.

But lawmakers can surely find the courage to do something else: Help credit unions offer a better deal.

Iowa Credit Union League has put together a payday-lending task force. It's working on a legislative proposal that would allow credit unions to provide alternative lending opportunities for short-term loans, according to Justin Hupfer, vice president of government affairs. Legislative approval would be needed for credit unions to charge a small application fee to cover costs associated with short-term loans and provide check-cashing services to non-members.

This is a bad idea. It encourages reckless behavior on the part of individuals and also credit unions. It also preys upon the poorest of the poor.

This blog has always been for the elimination of the car-title loan industry in Iowa, although it's mostly Republicans who think 260% to 360% interest rates are perfectly fine, especially after they've been given a big fat payoff by these crooked legalized loansharks who have had past ties to organized crime.

Nevertheless, both sides of the aisle have profited from this sick business. An example is Al Sharpton doing ads for LoanMax.

How The Suburbs View Des Moines

From the Des Moines Register's Letters section, written by Steven Shaw of Urbandale:

While your Sept. 17 editorial on local-government mergers made some good points, it misses the mark on several issues that are a big part of the merger problem.

Citizens who live in the suburbs see how Des Moines is run, and how the Polk County Board of Supervisors is controlled by supervisors who have no interest in the western part of Polk County, but are only interested in the south side. The Des Moines City Council continually wants more and more money from the suburbs, but is unwilling to share control. In addition, the council has demonstrated its unwillingness to clean up its own house.

Perhaps the biggest concern is services. During the winter, you don't need to know where Urbandale or West Des Moines ends and Des Moines begins - you can easily tell by the lack of snow removal in Des Moines. Often, side streets in Des Moines are done two to three days after a snowfall. In West Des Moines, Urbandale and other cities, the streets are cleaned the day of the storm, often prior to people going to work.

As a resident of Urbandale, any merger that does not address these issues with gets my "no" vote. Just look at who is fighting a hospital being built in West Des Moines: The Des Moines City Council. Where is the population growth? It's in the western suburbs, yet we can't have a hospital convenient to our population because the Des Moines City Council is fearful of losing control.

While there may be tax savings with a government merger, based on the latest news regarding certain agencies with no oversight and the acceptance of poor record-keeping as reasons for failure, I doubt if many would be willing to see more of their tax dollars go down the black hole of Des Moines.

Ouch.

He's right.

Can I See ID, Please? Part 2

I missed this Nate Koppel post at the Political Forecast yesterday concerning the requirement of showing a valid picture ID when voting passing the House.

This is typical crybaby Democrat BS. Nate Koppel must be completely ignorant of his party's past history of implementing poll taxes and literacy tests in order to stop them niggers from voting in the South.

Koppel must also be blind to recent voter fraud activity by Democrats that has led to numerous convictions.

And Koppel appears to be unaware of the fact that Georgia was going to supply free ID cards to people who supposedly couldn't afford them.

Just once I'd love to hear the reasoning behind not requiring a voter from showing a valid picture ID on Election Day.

If it's OK to check ID when buying a beer, a lottery ticket, a pack of smokes, writing a check, paying for something with a credit card, and entering a casino, then why isn't it OK when voting? Are those activities more important than voting?

Don't give me this "ethnic minorities and the elderly" crap. Just a generation ago, the Democrats were still trying to stop the black man and woman from voting. Now you excuse not following the rules as some sort of badge of honor on the part of black people. How patronizing.


Related: Can I See ID, Please?

Tom Harkin Got His Ass Kicked

GED recipient and former $368,000-a-year CIETC head Ramona Cunningham with Senator Tom Harkin at the dedication of the "Tom Harkin Learning Center" at CIETC offices in October 20, 2004.

From Radio Iowa:

Senator Tom Harkin issued a prepared statement late Thursday to comment, again, on the speech the president of Venezuela delivered this week at the United Nations.

On Thursday morning, Harkin spoke with radio reporters in Iowa by phone and was asked for his thoughts on the speech in which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez referred to President Bush as the devil. Harkin called the comments incendiary, but Harkin immediately went on to say he could "understand the frustration and the anger of certain people around the world because of George Bush's policies."

A few minutes later, Harkin accused President Bush of "fanning the flames" that have led people in other countries to be frustrated and angry with the U.S. That was on Thursday morning.

On Thursday afternoon at 4:30, Harkin's staff issued a prepared statement in which Harkin is quoted as saying the Chavez speech was "unworthy of a nation's leader." Harkin said, again, that he "understood the frustrations of many in the international community because of George W. Bush's policies" but Harkin went on to say that did not give Chavez or others "the right to come to our country and personally insult and attack the President of the United States."

Here is Harkin's prepared statement in its entirety: “Yesterday’s comments by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela were incendiary and unworthy of a nation’s leader. While I understand the frustrations of many in the international community because of George W. Bush’s policies, I do not believe that gives them the right to come to our country and personally insult and attack the President of the United States. This is especially inappropriate at a forum such as the United Nations, dedicated to civil and peaceful dialogue among nations.”

Looks like once Senator Tom Harkin pulled his head out of his ass, stuck his finger in the air, and realized what a complete asshole he was, Harkin could do nothing but cut and run from his previous comments of how he understood how a group of dictators, terrorists, Holocaust denyers, those who oppress the rights of women, and theocratic types who oppress the religious practices of infidels might be pissed off at President George W. Bush.

You know, I was wrong in my earlier comments about wondering when Tom Harkin's plane was going to crash, a la Wellstone. You know why? Mel Carnahan.

I can see it now. Tom Harkin's plane crashes. Bill Clinton sheds his phony tears at the funeral. Vilsack then appoints former oil executive and the widow Ruth to fill out his term. Then you've got another Jean Carnahan on your hands.

People Who Swear They're Not Anti-Semites Get Back Up On Their Soap Box

Via a reader, this is from the Iowa State Daily:

The United States and Europe took a block of land that had belonged to Muslim people for hundreds of years, and declared that land as Israel, and the new home of the Jewish people...

Israel has responded with disproportionate force... The disproportionate force inevitably fuels the anti-Israeli sentiment...

Israel has become the prototypical schoolyard bully...

I do not support an end to Israel, but I do support a legitimate Palestinian government and land...

Whenever anyone publicly criticizes Israel, they are usually labeled anti-Semitic. This simplistic reasoning may be largely responsible for the current chaos that exists in that region, and the lack of intelligent talk about the subject. I am not anti-Semitic.

I love the part at the bottom of the column: Nathan Chiaravalloti is a senior in political science and journalism and mass communication from Davenport.

Good luck finding a job with those majors when you graduate. You'll be sacking my groceries, kid. You'll be cutting my grass. You'll be competing for a telephone customer service job with Akbar from Madras.

I'm surprised the bottom part of the column doesn't say "Nathan Chiaralloti swears he isn't an anti-Semite. Some of his best friends aren't anti-Semites either. But despite this, he has yet to say one positive thing about Israel."

You know, just once I'd love to read a column by one of these college boys who says they're not an anti-Semite but where they condemn the violence by the Paleostinians that was paid for by Saddam Hussein and the French, where they condemn the proxy terrorist group Hezbollah and their benefactors, Iran and Syria, for wanting the complete destruction of Israel, and they condemn Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his nutty views on the Holocaust.

Until then, you're going to get labelled an anti-Semite.

So either adjust your opinion accordingly, or just come out of the closet and admit that you hate those fucking jew bastards and you think Hitler was right about the whole Final Solution thing.

Muslim Youth Camp Story Breaking

Even though I mentioned it yesterday, the news of the Muslim Youth Camp wanting $20,000 each from Johnson and Linn counties, as well as applying for a $250,000 Vision Iowa grant, is breaking on a bunch of newspaper web sites this morning. (see Press-Citizen, Daily Iowan, and the Cedar Rapids Gazette).

I think any politician that allows money to be given to the Muslims should have their career ended. To be fair, I don't think the taxpayers should be footing any part of the bill for the Baptists, Jews, Mormons, or any other religious group if they decide to build some sort of "youth camp" in the state.

One thing I noticed was that the Des Moines Register, at least according to their web site this morning, has no mention of the story.

"Rubber Stamp" Vlassis Won't Quit

From the Des Moines Register:

Critics plan to deliver a petition Monday with more than 750 signatures in an effort to force Des Moines Councilman Tom Vlassis from office over his role in the CIETC pay scandal.

If Vlassis ignores the petitioners - he said Thursday he has no plans to resign - the group will ask for a council "vote of confidence" so that each member's support for Vlassis is publicly recorded.

"If they want to condone what Vlassis did, then they ought to pay for it" out of their own pockets, said south-sider Chuck Baumhover...

Though his role in CIETC was arguably less involved that Brooks', Vlassis' name was on a credit card that CIETC's former chief executive, Ramona Cunningham, used to make thousands of dollars in unexplained purchases that included Las Vegas show tickets, merchandise from a local electronics store and reservations at a lakefront golf resort.

"I don't care how much the people of his ward love him, Vlassis is responsible to the entire community," said Baumhover, who spearheaded the petition drive.

Some residents have publicly defended Vlassis at council meetings where he and Brooks were targeted. Brian Millard, who lives in Vlassis' ward, said the veteran councilman treats the part-time seat "as a full-time job."

Just like Tom Harkin defends dictators, there's always some criminal-appeasing ass-kisser like Brian Millard out there who defends low-level shitbag councilmen and "rubber stamp" board members like Tom Vlassis. They're just as bad, if you ask me.


Related: Where Can Councilman "Rubber Stamp" Go To Get His Credit Rating Back?

Tom Harkin: "I Understand"

GED recipient and former $368,000-a-year CIETC head Ramona Cunningham with Senator Tom Harkin at the dedication of the "Tom Harkin Learning Center" at CIETC offices in October 20, 2004.

In followup to my earlier post, here's audio of Tom Harkin talking about the Hugo Chavez speech that he didn't see and merely read a few things about in a newspaper.

You remember that old Chris Rock joke. How does it go? Chris Rock is talking about OJ Simpson murdering his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman. Something to the effect of: "I'm not saying it's right, BUT I UNDERSTAND!"

I always found that joke to be quite a statement. The joke teller, the voice, knows the difference between right and wrong, but the voice also knows that OJ was a crazy and insane mf-er who had a history of violence and jealousy. At least that's how I interpreted it.

Tom Harkin doesn't even go that far. Tom Harkin doesn't say, "I'm not saying Hugo Chavez is right, but I understand!" No, Harkin says "I can understand the frustration and the anger of certain people around the world because of George Bush's policies."

One more time:

"I can understand the frustration and the anger of certain people around the world because of George Bush's policies."

Who else is angry at Bush besides Hugo Chavez? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, a man who has said that "Israel should be wiped off the map" and "they have invented a myth that Jews were massacred" when talking about the Holocaust.

Don't forget Al-Qaeda.

So it's good to know that Tom Harkin understands the frustration and anger of Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Al-Qaeda, and Saddam Hussein.

You know what? I could give a rat's ass what Tom Harkin understands.

If Tom Harkin's plane crashed tomorrow, I'd drive up to Cumming a couple of weeks after Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Tom Vilsack got done lowering flags to half staff and shedding their tears in this bastard's honor just so I could piss on his grave.

Somehow, even Charlie Rangel gets it.

Tom Harkin never got it. And he never will.

Tom Harkin Is An Asshole

Update: Drudge has linked to the Radio Iowa story cited below today, causing Radio Iowa's server to freak out and crash.



GED recipient and former $368,000-a-year CIETC head Ramona Cunningham with Senator Tom Harkin at the dedication of the "Tom Harkin Learning Center" at CIETC offices in October 20, 2004.

From Radio Iowa:

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a democrat, today defended Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's United Nations speech in which Chavez called President George Bush the devil. Harkin says, "Let me put it this way, I can understand the frustration, ah, and the anger of certain people around the world because of George Bush's policies." Harkin continued what has been frequent criticism of the president's foreign policy.

When is Tom Harkin's plane gonna crash? He needs to do a Wellstone. That's the only way Iowa will ever get him out of the Senate. What an embarrassing turd.




Update: Krusty has some thoughts.

A Reckless Pattern

Here's the latest Jim Nussle campaign TV ad against Chet Culver at YouTube.



Is it my eyes, or does Chet Culver get fatter in each picture in this ad?

Muslims Want Taxpayer Money For "Youth Camp" In Iowa

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

The organization building a Muslim youth camp on Coralville Lake is asking Linn and Johnson counties for a small amount of financial support and their endorsements to go after a larger state grant.

Bob Ballantyne, a member of the Muslim Youth Camps of America board of directors, asked the Johnson County Board of Supervisors at their informal work session this morning to sign a letter of support for a $250,000 Vision Iowa grant.

He also asked the board to consider a "token" contribution to further show the Vision Iowa board that MYCA had the county's support.

Supervisors said they would consider both requests at a later time.

Ballantyne, of Ely, made similar requests at the Linn County Board of Supervisors work session Monday, and board members signed the letter, board Chairman James Houser said.

Ballantyne did not say how much money MYCA wanted from the counties, though he said after today's meeting that even $20,000 would be "more than a gracious amount." He said the organization plans to submit an application for the state grant in December.

Supervisors from both counties said they did not know how much they might give or whether they would do so at all.

MYCA has just begun construction of a $934,000 camp on 106 acres north of North Liberty. The camp would allow for 60 campers and include a 2,400-square-foot lodge, a beach, trails, five cabins, five tent pods and a bathroom facility.

Anybody who approves taxpayer money for this should be issued a political fatwa by the voters.

There's a similar story on the Iowa City Press-Citizen's site.

John McCain Supports Tax Breaks For Broadbandits

Joe Kristan at the Tax Update Blog mentions John McCain's support of tax incentives for broadbandits.

I've never liked John McCain. He's always had a whiff of scandal attached to him, whether it was being part of the Keating Five or authoring that abortion called the McCain-Feingold Act.

That John McCain supports tax breaks for crooks like Iowa's own Clark "Spinner" McLeod, who are trying to finance their operations on the backs of local taxpayers while competing with established private companies in the area, doesn't improve his standing with me. It's these sort of crooked politicians that need to be bounced out of Congress.

Riverside Hayseeds React To Con Artist Oman's Letter Concerning Earthpork

David Oman's letter to Riverside, concerning questions about the Earthpork Rainforest Scam, has a followup story by the Press-Citizen about Riverside's reaction. The best part is at the end:

[Riverside Mayor Bill] Poch said he doesn't think the Earthpark board will make a site decision on Sept. 28, leaving the council more time to review the responses and ask more questions.

Of course the Earthpork con artists aren't going to make a decision anytime soon! They don't have the matching money lined up for fauxscal conservative Chuck Grassley's $50 million deficit-financed grant for his buddy David Oman! Why doesn't everybody just admit this?

Councilor Mariellen Bower said she has briefly read the answers. She said they were a good start.

"It will have a cushion built in," she said, referring [to] the concerns about the park failing.

Why is Riverside planning for failure?

If Earthpork is such a slam-dunk of a project, why hasn't any company or any person donated money towards it over the past 10 years?

Does Riverside really think a million people a year are going to visit the Earthpork Rainforest? That's more unique visitors than the casino will draw. And the casino might get a single person visiting every day, once a week, or once a month. How many times a year will people visit the Earthpork Rainforest?

A million people a year is more than the attendance of all home Hawkeye and Cyclone men's football team games, COMBINED!

A million people a year is about double the attendance of Adventureland, which is open three months a year and a handful of weekends in the autumn. Ever been to Adventureland on a nice day? That's a lot of people.

[Councilor Mariellen Bower] said the council and the city are supporting the project's concept but wished the board would pick a site so more concrete plans could be made.

"I'm sure it would work out if they would just pick a site," she said. "Iowa should get behind this."

What a hayseed. What a dupe. Has Mariellen Bower even bothered to follow the history of this project over the past few years? Has Mariellen Bower talked with anybody on the Coralville City Council? How stupid do you have to be to buy what David Oman is selling?

[Riverside Mayor Bill] Poch said the city will seek assistance in getting information on the project's financing.

"We need a financial expert to help mediate this for us," he said.

Are you kidding me? This little (population 961) town is in over its head. David Oman couldn't have a found a better bunch of tools than these idiots in Riverside.

To the people of Riverside: I'm trying to help you by being critical here. If Des Moines didn't want it, and Cedar Rapids didn't want it, and Coralville couldn't stand it, and Dubuque and Grinnell were not in the running, what make you so damn special?

THE CASINO! That's right! The casino! If you didn't have a casino there for David Oman to siphon money from, you wouldn't even be considered.

Now, Riverside residents, think about this: What's the downside of rejecting a troublesome project run by Republican con artists, financed by the Federal deficit and taxes, and marketed with attendance projections that don't pass the smell test? Really, there is no downside. With just the casino, Riverside and Washington County can get millions for local projects and temper development as needed. With the Earthpork Rainforest looming, you have way too many question marks with way too many dollar bills attached.

Think about it.

Can I See ID, Please?

Krusty on Jim Nussle's plan to require poll workers to check photo IDs:

What are people like Gordon [Fischer] and John Deeth afraid of? I used my credit card today and the lady asked to see my ID. If I went to the store to buy a six pack or a pack of smokes they would ask to see my ID. But if an election worker asks to see an ID its racist? I don’t get it. I think people like Gordon and John Deeth know their party can’t win if they don’t cheat.

I think Nussle's plan is long overdue, even if I doubt there's much voter fraud and illegal alien voting in Iowa. If anything, it probably happens more with absentee balloting. But I know people who have been writing checks at their local grocery store for over 30 years and they still have to show ID. Same thing if you look under 40 years old and try to enter a casino.

It's so ironic that Democrats are complaining about requiring a photo ID in order to vote, considering how Democrats in the South were the ones who implemented poll taxes and literacy tests in order to keep those niggers from voting. Requiring a photo ID is not a poll tax. I suppose using that kind of crazy logic, me driving my car and burning gas in order to get to the election site is a poll tax.

Today, it's even more bizarre. You have corrupt black Democrats in St Louis who are getting busted and convicted for election fraud. It's pretty rare to hear of an instance where Republicans are pulling this kind of crap.

I've got to admit: Jim Nussle has moved into the driver's seat on a variety of small-but-killer issues that poll well for him: IPERS, eminent domain, English-only, and now showing ID on election day. And almost none of these issues would have been significant if Ed Fallon had been the nominee for the Democrats.

ISU Student In Playboy's Girls Of The Big 12 Issue

ISU student Cady Thomas is representing the school in the October 2006 edition of Playboy in the Girls Of The Big 12 issue.



Some past Iowa State Daily stories on the shoot, from back in April, are located here and here.

Uncensored pics from the spread (all Not Safe For Work) located at DailyNiner.com.

David Oman Answers The Same Old Questions About Earthpork

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

The full text of David Oman's response to questions about Earthpark from the city of Riverside...

16) How do you keep operating costs in line if you do not get the projected traffic you hope to meet the costs of running Earthpark?

Answer: While operating costs can be managed to an extent, it is equally important to manage and di-versify the sources of support to the organization.

This question illustrates why it is important for Earthpark to be an integral part of a solid public-private partnership that drives visitation not only to our venue, but to the Casino and other future amenities that can help contribute to Earthpark’s bottom line: such as, a hotel waterpark, supporting restaurants & retail operations, etc.

Earthpark will have a greater chance of success, if our public and private partners share in our success and help us weather any short-term shortfalls in visitation. In addition, Riverside’s location is near a strong and vibrant corridor that is growing and has strong competitive advantages such as a world class university.

Blah, blah, blah. Nothing new here.

I'll be looking forward to reading Nicholas Johnson's response.

You Sue

From Ed Tibbetts' column in the QC Times:

The ongoing struggle between Iowa’s 1st District congressional candidates ventured onto the Internet, where a video Republicans circulated about Democrat Bruce Braley was taken off the popular YouTube.com video sharing Web site after a legal group lodged a complaint it infringed on a copyright.

Jonathan Collegio, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the video shows that Braley, a Waterloo lawyer, has made a “career” out of “teaching other lawyers how to sue operating personnel.”

The NRCC put the video on the site for Iowa reporters to see, he said.

The video shows Braley speaking at a conference that took place last year. At one point, he tells the audience about the various people who work in a surgical setting, their education levels and that they have “independent liability.”

Republican Mike Whalen’s Web site provided a link to it and described it as Bruce Braley explaining how to “sue doctors.”

...Collegio said it was notified by YouTube on Monday night that the Association of Trial Lawyers of America objected to the presence of the video on the Web site because of copyright concerns.

Chris Mather, a spokeswoman for the trial lawyers group, said it owns the video and markets it for sale.

“That’s why they’re copyrighted,” she said.

That's hilarious: "Take it down, or we'll sue!"

And Take Your F****** Laptop With You

From the Des Moines Register:

Former Iowa Hawkeye basketball star Pierre Pierce will be discharged from prison on Sunday, possibly returning to Iowa City, and with hopes of playing in the National Basketball Association.

Pierce, 23, will be freed from the medium-security Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility after spending 332 days in prison...

Pierce entered prison last year after pleading guilty in Dallas County District Court to reduced charges of third-degree burglary, assault with intent to commit sexual abuse, false imprisonment and fourth-degree criminal mischief...

Pierce will be discharged from a two-year prison sentence, which was reduced by good behavior and participation in prison treatment programs. He still faces four years on probation...

Pierce had told the Iowa Parole Board in July that he preferred to return in Iowa City, instead of going to his hometown of Westmont, Ill.

Pierce said his plans included obtaining his college degree, which he is only one semester from completing, and continuing his basketball career...

Because Pierce will be on probation, he will not be free to go anywhere he wants...

He will be required to register with the Iowa Sex Offender Registry after he is released from prison.

I think Illinois is good location for Pierre Pierce to live.


Related: I Got Your F***ing Laptop

Where's Your Dying Uncle, Steven Green?

Kevin Schmidt of the Real World Politco blog went to the Harkin Steak Fry on Sunday in order to get some photos of himself with a bunch of politicians:

I ran into Ako Abdul-Samad who was leaving while Obama was speaking as well. He was shoveling down an ice cream cone.

I guess Ako's Steven Green's uncle wasn't on his deathbed on Sunday, but by Monday night he was sick and on Tuesday morning he was at death's door.

The dead uncle must have made a quick recovery by Tuesday night because Ako Steven Green was able to make it to a rather lengthy Des Moines School Board meeting where he was thanked for his three years of service.

Does anybody know Photoshop? Somebody needs to take the Weekend At Bernie's DVD cover and change it to Weekend At Ako's, if you know what I mean.

Jew Haters In Iowa Get Back On Their Soapbox, Part 8

David Goodner (you know who he is) has a rather obsequious column in today's Iowa City Press-Citizen about Wilhelmine Bennett of Oxford, Iowa:

Bennett, a composer and substitute teacher, says she lives in Oxford "because Iowa City is too noisy." She belongs to the local group People for Justice in Palestine, and has been protesting Israeli government policies for 10 years.

"I was always apolitical," Bennett said. "For some reason this situation grabbed me and wouldn't let go."

Bennett says she has a strong affinity to Jews and, as a result of this love affair with the Jewish people, lived on agricultural settlements in Israel for six months during the early 1970s. "I was a Fulbright Scholar in Germany in the early 1970s but skipped the Fulbright to go to Israel," Bennett said.

Here's some other information about what Wilhelmine Bennett does as a hobby:

Wilhelmine Bennett of Oxford, Iowa regularly protests at Agudas Achim in Iowa City during Shabbat Services and even for Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. She usually appears during warm weather. Her signs consistently compare Israelis to Nazis, praise terror organisations, and make other patently offensive comments.

When you walk outside a Congregation with a Nazi swastika covering the Israeli flag and smear red paint over it to indicate blood, that's a definitive statement.

I don't get the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Why do they continue to give Goodner a voice? Is it in the name of diversity? Maybe somebody at the Iowa City Press-Citizen hates the J.E.W.S., too. That's my only guess.

Communist Aesthetics For Dowling High School

Via the JoeSaysSo blog, this was in the Des Moines Register on Wednesday:

Red flags of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics will be on display Friday when Dowling Catholic High School's marching band performs during halftime of the school's football game against Mason City.

The use of flags from the now-defunct communist empire is aesthetic, not political, said Steve Holland, Dowling band director.

The flags are part of the marching band's routine based on "The Red Poppy," a ballet by Reinhold Gliere, he said. "It is about a Chinese dancer who falls in love with a Russian sea captain, and this is all set in post-czarist Russia. So we have a lot of different props and costuming."

Holland said the Soviet flags, held by flag corps members in Chinese costumes, are to give a flavor of the time. He said he doesn't anticipate the flags to cause a commotion in the West Des Moines community.

"It never occurred to me, until I saw the first rehearsal run," Holland said. "I looked and thought, 'Oh I wonder what some of my more conservative friends are going to think of this.' "

Make sure you watch the video of the band's practice.

That's so funny. What's Steve Holland got up his sleeve next? Maybe do some Wilhelm Wagner tunes with Nazi flags for aesthetics? What a dumbass.

Des Moines Register To Anally Probe Jonathan Wilson Concerning CIETC

$260-an-hour Democrat-whitewashing attorney Jonathan "I'm Gay" Wilson

Mainstream Iowan has an excellent post and raises some good questions about whose interests attorney Jonathan "I'm Gay" Wilson is protecting in the CIETC scandal.

It's good to see that the Des Moines Register is suing to get to the bottom of all these supposed closed-closet-door meetings.

As I've said many times before, this ongoing scandal isn't anywhere near the end. Keep penetrating.

Stop Me If You Think You´ve Heard This One Before

Via a reader in Hiawatha who transcribed it, this is from the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Riverside may be a finalist for a much-debated indoor rain forest project, but a majority of its five-member City Council said it's unsure whether it wants the attraction because of poor communication between project officials and the town.

The council members said they are most uncertain, and concerned, about how much the city will be asked to contribute to the $25 million in local funds required to land the $155 million project, known as Earthpark.

``Until I see some facts there, I just don't know,'' council member Randy Sexton said when asked whether he supports the project...

Riverside council member Todd Yahnke said earlier he doesn't feel the town has been kept well-informed by Earthpark since it joined Pella as a finalist in July...

...council members Sexton, Yahnke, and Mariellen Bower told The Gazette last week that though they were not necessarily against Riverside landing Earthpark, they wanted more specific information on its financing before offering their full support.

Council member Brian McDole, who said in a July council meeting that Riverside should "not give them one red cent," declined comment for this story...

[Bill] Poch, who as mayor has veto power over the five-member council, is an enthusiastic Earthpark supporter...

Gee, where have we heard all this before?

I don't think there could be any bigger litmus test for politicians than sticking the Earthpork project in front of them and seeing how they react. If you're for a project that has no financing other than tax dollars, has already angered officials other towns, and has wildly grand projections of attendance figures, you're a retard who should never be allowed to hold elected office ever again.

Now it's time for the Official Song for the Earthpork project:

Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that youve
Heard this one before
Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that youve heard this one before

Nothings changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
...only slightly, only slightly less than I used to

Jack Whitver Visits Steven Green's House

Updated twice:


Steven Green, aka Ako 'Crooked Dunderhead' Abdul-Samad

From KCCI TV:

Whitver's campaign contacted Newschannel 8 and said that on Tuesday morning he would be taking an invitation to the Democrat candidate's home.

When Whitver arrived, Abdul-Samad's campaign manager, JoAnn Hughes, answered the door. She accused Whitver of pulling a publicity stunt, saying she had contacted Whitver and told him not to come Tuesday because Abdul-Samad had an ill family member.

"I left you a message. I e-mailed you last night, and I told you that Ako had a family member that was deathly ill. How, what kind of person are you?" Hughes asked.

Whitver was attempting to give her the invitation to debate when Abdul-Samad arrived.

"Using this as a political stunt or anything, I have more respect for you than that. And I e-mailed you and had my event coordinator call you last night and tell you my uncle has a few hours to live. And my family should not have to go through this this morning," Abdul-Samad said.

"I didn't know the total details of what was going on with his family. He just said he has a family member sick and we told him if he was not going to be there, that's OK, I'll just move on with my door knocking," Whitver said.

You can't really blame Jack Whitver for showing up and hand-delivering the message to Steven Green. After all, Green has a reputation for being rather crappy with the paperwork.

I bet former ISU wide receiver Whitver had sent about 475 debate invitations to Green's house already, all of which were ignored or shredded. When you're running a low budget campaign like Whitver is obviously doing, you don't want to waste all of your budget on postage to one person.

On the other hand, Steven Green surely doesn't want to debate anybody. The less said about CIETC and Creative Visions, the better.

As for Green's whining about having a dying uncle around his house, how long is he going to milk that one? Green is scandal-ridden but he's still running for a seat in the Iowa Legislature, so questions need to be answered. If Steven Green is going to be a big fat crybaby about Jack Whitver ringing the doorbell and hand-delivering a debate request, too bad. Get your black ass up on stage and debate the Republican interloping cracker! What's the matter, Mr Black Power, afraid of Whitey?

What is it with these touchy Muslims? They can't handle any criticism or debate. What do you think it's like in the Green household when some telemarketer calls during dinner? Steven Green probably wants to call in the S1Ws.


Update: Looks like Steven Green (aka Ako "Crooked Dunderhead" Abdul-Samad) was scheduled to be at Tuesday night's School Board meeting (see item 11B on page 27 of this Word doc of the agenda for the meeting), something about how "an opportunity will be provided at this time for the retiring president and vice-president [Ako was the vice-president of the School Board] to make closing remarks."

I wonder if he left his dying uncle to make the meeting?


Wednesday morning update: It looks like Ako abandoned his dying uncle in order to show up to the Des Moines School Board meeting last night so all the black people could wish him a fond farewell.

The Real Sporer weighs in on the issue, while the Political Forecast throws a political tantrum.

Bottom Story Of The Day

Headline from the Des Moines Register:

NFL scouts like Iowa's tight end

Oh. My. Gawd.

Iowa City Islamofascists Upset At The Pope

From the Daily Iowan:

UI Muslims on Monday criticized the apology from Pope Benedict XVI for misrepresenting their religion - arguing that the contrition does little to soothe tension that the controversial remarks sparked.

UI Muslim Student Association President Ahmed Faruk Diken said he was disappointed by the Pope's Sept. 12 speech, in which the leader of the Catholic Church referenced a Byzantine emperor who condemned Islam for spreading religion "by the sword."

"I would have preferred, at such a sensitive time in our history, if he would have made comments that would correct misunderstandings about Islam," said Diken, a UI engineering student...

...Nadia Igram, the vice president of the UI Muslim Student Association, said the pope needs to do a better job representing Islam accurately.

"For someone in a such a leadership position, he needs to understand the difference between [Middle East and Western] cultures," Igram said. "There's a lot of misunderstanding. Islam always has been and always will be a peaceful religion."

Maybe Islamofascists like Nadia Igram ought to do a better job of representing Islam accurately.

Perhaps these apologists for The Religion Of Violence ™ ought to ask Eugene Armstrong, Nick Berg, Kim Sun-il, Ali Hussein Jassem Mohammad al-Zubaidi, Ahmad Alwan Hussein al-Mahmadawi, Kenneth Bigley, Ivailo Kepov, and Johan Hattingh about what they think of the "peaceful" religion of Islam. Oh, wait, they can't. They were all beheaded by Islamofascists.

Perhaps they could ask film director Theo van Gogh. No, wait, he was assassinated by an Islamofascist for being critical of the religion.

As for Pope Benedict's apology, what a wimp. You can never satisfy these Islamic thugs, bullies, and assassins. It's never enough for them.

The Excel Scandal

$300 an hour "consultant" Jeremiah Reed

From the Des Moines Register:

The city of Des Moines has terminated $60,000 in grants to a church-affiliated nonprofit agency over concerns about the group's structure and how taxpayer money was spent.

Officials of the agency, Excel Community Outreach Center, were in line for the money to help run two programs for juvenile delinquents and people who need help with rent or house payments.

Grant money to Excel was frozen on May 22 after city staffers discovered that some of the agency's board members were paid employees, a violation of federal rules for nonprofit grant recipients...

A city report noted that some relatives of Excel employees benefited from taxpayer money designated to the agency. Auditors also noted that Jeremiah Reed, leader of the Christ Apostolic Temple church with which the agency is affiliated, had a $300-an-hour consultant contract, which the city said was excessive. Reed, who helped form Excel in 2003, is a former board member of the agency.

Excel's executive director, Jacquie Seymour, said earlier this month that the agency was not told all the rules that govern the use of grant money. City records, however, show Seymour signed a contract before Excel was given the grant that specifically notes conflict of interest provisions.

The Tax Update Blog at Roth & Company explains the tax-related side of this scandal.

Dumbest Letter Of The Year

From the Des Moines Register's Letters section, this has to be the dumbest letter of the year:

When people are willing to kill themselves to harm us, we need to ask ourselves: What are we doing that makes them that angry?

- Robert A. Rohwer, Indianola.

Let's see, hmmmmmm.....

We have a democracy, not a theocracy.

We have freedom of religion.

We have free speech.

Men are expected to treat women with respect and without violence, or they go to jail.

Girls can be educated.

It's not common practice to mutilate the clitoris of young girls or anally rape young boys. Or fuck goats.

We invent things, cure diseases, and send spaceships to other planets.

Do you need any more examples, Mr Rowher? God, what a dumbfuck.

Worker Shrinkage

Updated below:




In the old days, we used to call it full employment, something that would spur an increase in wages.

Today the elites spin it as a worker shortage, and something to scorn.

From Carol Hunter's blog at the Des Moines Register:

Richard Doak will comment on the impending worker shortage in Iowa and the failure to date by the gubernatorial candidates to make this issue a centerpiece of their discussions with voters on the campaign trail.

I think it's time that Chet Culver revived New Iowans, Vilsack's idea of importing several hundred thousand illegal Mexicans into Iowa as a source of cheap votes labor:

In 1999, Iowa's Governor Tom Vilsack proposed that his state be allowed a special federal dispensation from existing immigration laws, so it could import hundreds of thousands of foreign workers. Not messing around with pretense, Vilsack admitted that cheap labor is his goal. His concerns are for Iowa's business corporations, that desire to avoid paying the kind of wages that would have to be paid to American workers...

Several polls of the public show that most Iowans oppose a policy of encouraging immigration. Yet, as might be expected, members of the media have fallen right in line with the Governor's campaign for mass immigration. One such is columnist and editorial board member of the Des Moines Register, Shirley Ragsdale. She has cleverly attempted to make the issue one of race guilt. Could it be, she implies, that Iowans just don't want "diversity?" Calling those who oppose current immigration policy "xenophobic," she then goes on to paint Iowa residents as backward types in need of greater cultural "sophistication." One wonders if "sophistication" is a quality that workers bound for meat packing plants are likely to inspire.

Chet, are you listening? New Iowans. Bring it back and make it a centerpiece of your campaign.


Update: The Register Editorial Board has a column in Tuesday's paper:

The only likely source of many new workers is immigration, but most immigrants require education and training to meet the demand for skilled workers. That's another argument for beefing up education and training in Iowa, and reducing its cost to students.

This is just another way of reinterpreting Vilsack's failed New Iowans plan to import hundreds of thousands of illegal, criminal, and disease-ridden Mexicans to work for minimum wage in sweatshop meatpacking plants.

I swear. What is it with some Democrats? They love that slave labor. In the old days, they would import blacks from Africa, chain them, sell them, and whip them in the fields of the South. Today, they're wanting to open the borders and increase your taxes in the name of diversity (and political party domination). And if you dare to question their plans or intentions, what are you? Some kind of xenophobe?

Hook, Line, and Sucker

Kathryn Fiegen recycles all the Rainforest boilerplate in this Iowa City Press-Citizen puff piece. Especially noteworthy is this paragraph towards the end of the article:

In addition to the $25 million in local funding, the project would be supported by a $50 million Department of Energy grant secured by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, $15 million to $20 million in state funding and the rest from debt financing.

$15 million to $20 million in state funding? From where???? The tapped out Vision Iowa fund?

Oh, I'm sorry. I must have gotten confused. Kathryn Fiegen was merely parroting David Oman, former Governor Robert D. Ray, and this gang of con artists.

Some Thoughts On Chet Culver's "Iowa Can Create And Manage A Venture Capital Fund"

Updated below:


A reader who has quite a CV offers some thoughts on my recent post: Chet Culver: "Iowa can create and manage a venture capital fund":

Mr. Culver is right that Iowa lacks the required infrastructure for successful tech entrepreneurship. Successes in Iowa are anecdotal, not systemic. Culver is wrong that elected and appointed officials can better invest in good projects than professional investors; they never have, anywhere. Nations that attempt to structure this investment (old Europe practices this model) are dreary, pointless environments for the sort of entrepreneurship that would make a difference in Iowa.

I have no idea what Mr. Nussle's approach to this problem of Iowa lacking the infrastructure to foster innovative tech businesses. I suspect, however, that it is far better to do nothing than foster the pathologies of state-mandated, crony-ridden industrial policy. That is the history of markets: markets are efficient, and using taxpayer funds to direct economic growth is an invitation to loss and corruption. Who would care about the Rainforest if Oman and Ray, trading on vestigial relationships that date to the 1970's, were not twisting arms?

A few observations:

a. Mr. Culver's industrial policy gambit, as you note, mimics a series of failed government sponsored initiatives well-established in Iowa. The only thing that works in the hyper-competitive tech startup world are private investors meeting private entrepreneurs and working like dogs to achieve success. If Mr. Culver's plan is so good, he would be able to identify prior success models in other states, and he would identify a group of highly qualified individuals to direct it.

b. Failing to show prior case success models, one might ask: exactly what does Mr. Culver know about making payroll, inventing products of lasting value, and generating portfolio yields over time? He's a high school teacher by training. This is a brutally competitive, difficult game. It is a game that is ruthless and unforgiving in regard to the naive. The skills to get elected are profound, but they have nothing to do with winning in the market with new commercial ideas.

c. Public sector investing in Iowa is redolent of cronyism and borderline corruption, as public officials steer funding to connected "entrepreneurs", and criteria for investment is very different than that presented by professional investors. (cf. Rainforest) The result of this is an insider game, whereas true VC investing is about working outside institutional hegemonies to achieve breakthrough innovation.

d. I think you're quite mistaken in listing VC failures as you do. Failure is a given in VC investing. A good VC fails maybe 8 or 9 times out of 10. Historical rates of return in VC investing are still in the mid-thirties (i.e., portfolio rates still do about 30-40%) despite an 80-90 percent fatality rate. It's not about harping on failures, in this game, it's about picking winners one or two times out of ten. That said, should high school teachers who enjoy the power of the State be making the decisions in such an environment? It's like any other game where most people fail: if's its not your career, your metier, you are going to get creamed. There's no one in government in Iowa, past or present, with this track record.

Well, those are a few of my critical comments. It would be good for Iowa if it could foster the infrastructure necessary to create opportunities for Iowa's native, and heretofore restless, enterpreneurs. I don't know too many ex-Iowans who wouldn't prefer to live and prosper in Iowa. That will never happen if the road to a startup investment round travels through boardrooms choked with politically connected amateurs, making investments in a political rather than financial-economic context. Culver's instinct that somehow an AFL-CIO committee can pick the winners is horrifying.

Great letter.

I agree that doing nothing would be superior to doing what Chet Culver is proposing. I couldn't imagine Democrat Ed Fallon proposing to micromanage over $200 million in IPERS money in such a manner.

I suppose the reason I chose to highlight the failures of the Iowa Agricultural Finance Corporation was to point out that Iowa taxpayers have funded a venture capital fund in the recent past that hasn't brought forth any returns. You'd think agricultural-related startups would have a couple of big hits in Iowa, or even a slam-dunk, but that wasn't the case.

What's Iowa's track record concerning techology startups? One of the biggest that got away was Gateway Computers:

Together with Mike Hammond, a fellow salesman, [22 year old Ted] Waitt hatched a plan to start his own company, focusing initially on a niche market of Texas Instruments computer owners. Unable to secure financing from a bank, Waitt convinced his grandmother to put up a $10-thousand CD as collateral. With this financing, a vacant office on the family cattle farm, and two aliases (due to noncompete clauses in their contracts with Century Systems), they started business in 1985 as TIPC Network...

In mid-1987 Texas Instruments offered owners of their computers a new IBM-compatible PC for $3 thousand. Waitt and Hammond knew they could beat this price and rolled out a system with two disk drives and other features for only $1,995. By the end of 1987 Waitt renamed the company Gateway 2000 and moved the growing operation to the Sioux City, Iowa, Livestock Exchange Building...

...As the company grew, Waitt kept it in the low-cost area, moving across the border to South Dakota where there was no personal- or corporate-income tax.

Ouch.

And we all know about Clark "Spinner" McLeod, the Broadbandit, whose McLeod USA went bankrupt twice, who has suckered Iowans for hundreds of millions of dollars with the ICN, and who is bent on bleeding taxpayers in duped municipalities for unneeded "cheap" fiber connections.

If Culver does get elected and he's able to "invest" over $200 million from IPERS into Iowa-based high-tech startups, I predict that the situation will look more like Clark McLeod's corrupt backslapping while the Ted Waitts of Iowa move on to somewhere more hospitable for conducting business and creating jobs.


Update: Don't miss the JoeSaysSo blog's recent post "The Banana Republic of Polk County" for related examples.

No Thanks, I Had An Enema In 2004

Fish And Congressmen Stink After Three Terms

Doug Moore of Iowa City, who hosted the John Kerry tailgate on Saturday, writes to this blog:

Just wanted to say hello and thanks for the effort you put into the blog- although I'm pretty sure our parties differ, it's been a great way for me to get up to speed on the politics of Iowa in the short time we've lived here (since May 1). I also wanted to let you know that Sen. Kerry's answer to the numerous "who are you supporting (Iowa v. Iowa State)?" questions was universally "it's a great rivalry"- we were glad to have him on Olive Ct., especially in support of Dave Loebsack in his race against the entrenched Jim Leach- nearly 30 years in Congress??- it's time for a change.

If you're ever in the area, especially on a football Saturday, stop by. We've got a great long term group of tailgaters, and the human theatre in the street is well worth the trip. We'll even give you a few bucks off parking, but only if you wear a Loebsack button.

That's a good email.

Dude, look around this blog a bit more. I'm an equal opportunity political basher.

You know what? I agree with him that 30 years in Congress for Jim Leach is too long. Anything more than about two or three terms as a member of the House of Representatives is somebody overstaying their welcome. Didn't Mark Twain say something like "Fish and guests stink after three days"? Same sort of rule applies here. I wouldn't mind seeing representatives limited to one term. Seriously. And anything more than one term as a senator should be outlawed.

Pensions for anybody in Congress? Eliminate them!

That would constantly change the landscape, wouldn't it? That would make politics more fun, and probably a lot more sensible.

Chet Culver: "Iowa can create and manage a venture capital fund"

The Chet Culver web site has revised the "Iowa Means Business" section.

As far as I'm concerned, Culver's political capital has gone from worse to kamikaze:

9) Expanding Capital Availability for High-Tech Start-Ups. Iowa can be proud of our universities and business schools who have created nationally recognized programs to assist high tech start-ups among students and faculty. However, start-ups can’t start up without capital – especially in the technology and manufacturing fields.

(1) Iowa lacks large-scale venture capital investors. This means the start-up businesses we have nurtured at our universities go to out-of-state venture capital firms for the money they need to get started. Too many times an investment comes with the proviso that the company leave Iowa . We must find creative solutions to leverage state funds to encourage venture investment in Iowa-based companies.

Gee, Chet why do professional venture capitalists suggest that some startup businesses leave Iowa? Get a clue. Better yet, ask the professionals why.

This is retarded provincial populism at its worst. Are we not in a global economy?

(2) Iowa can create and manage a venture capital fund, the primary focus of which would be economic development in areas that currently are underserved by private venture capital firms. The challenges of attracting qualified professionals and avoiding politicization of decision-making are substantial, and the program should probably be kept small (e.g., investing $20-25 million annually) until it is clear that these challenges can be overcome. The Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation is a good model for this. It is a quasi-governmental agency that has been making seed stage investments in the $500,000-$1,000,000 range in early-stage Massachusetts-based technology companies for 25 years. MTDC positions itself as being larger and having greater resources than typical angel investors, but smaller than most venture capital funds, which now have fund sizes that generally make it impractical for them to invest less than $3-$5 million in a transaction.

Iowa cannot manage a venture capital fund. Why? We've tried it before.

Several years ago, the State of Iowa funded the Iowa Agricultural Finance Corp, which was supposed to be this venture capital-like fund exclusively for Iowa businesses that had ties to agricultural-related businesses. It should have been a hit, right? It has been a disaster. Take a look at this PDF and see what it "invested" in:

• Rudi's Organic Bakery. $13 million. Failed and moved to Colorado.
  
  
• Wildwood Harvest. $7.1 million. The company has never generated a profit.
  
  
• ProdiGene. $6 million. No employees in Iowa. "Struggled" and was fined by the USDA.
  
  
• Sioux-Preme Packing Company. $5 million. Profitable.
  
  
• Iowa Quality Beef. $3 million. Shut down in 2004 and 540 employees laid off.
  
  
• Ag Waste Recovery Systems. $150,000. No sales, no employees, and is considered an "idle corporation".
  

How stupid does Chet Culver think we are?

(3) I believe like many Iowans that we should work to find a fiscally responsible way to encourage those businesses that meet IPERS’ strict investment requirements to create jobs here in Iowa . IPERS currently invests 7.5% percent of its holdings in private equity across the country, some of it in venture capital (currently $300 million) – with a target of 10% in private equity. I would support continuing to work toward that target, and working to find a way to encourage a portion of the fund’s private equity investments – up to 1% - to be focussed here in Iowa, targeted at private sector venture capital opportunities in growing fields that meet IPERS’ strict investment policies, while creating jobs and increasing returns for the IPERS fund.

Chet's dropped the entire thing about how he wanted an AFL-CIO/union thug-run board of directors that's separate from the IPERS managers, but he still believes in a closed-minded, provincial, non-global approach to "investment" when it comes to gambling with the IPERS pension fund.

IPERS can invest in "early venture" (PDF) type of companies, but this is extremely speculative and usually has a return worse than slot machines. I would be surprised if IPERS has any money directed at these types of companies, especially after the last five or six years we've all gone through. This level of business is what Chet Culver is aiming at with his Grand Plan. Even the Iowa Agricultural Finance Corporation rarely stooped that low.

What does all this show? Either Chet is a puppet for certain special interests (likely), or he's some micromanaging whiz kid who, despite having a career limited to being a lobbyist for Iowa's Big Polluter, a high school teacher, enough of a Democratic legacy to get elected Secretary Of State, and a professional eater, has quite a decorated amateur career in professional money management (unlikely).

I'm not exactly a fan of Jim Nussle, but I hope his campaign tears Chet Culver a new one on this section. Chet Culver has very bad ideas. These sorts of grand schemes, even if they make their way through the Legislature, will just result in more money down a rathole, more scandal, and more problems down the road.

Leave venture capital to the private sector!

Leave money management to the professionals, not politicians and special interests!

Stop meddling with the underfunded retirement plans of state employees!

And to think that the Democrats could have had Ed Fallon.

Culver vs Vilsack on Education

Tom Vilsack's State of the State Address on January 11, 2005:

Today almost 40% of our high schools have fewer than 200 students. That percentage will grow over the next decade. 30 With fewer experienced teachers, higher workloads, and fewer course offerings combined with declining enrollments and limited resources these districts may find it impossible to tighten standards or expand learning opportunities. They simply may not have the resources to hire more science or math teachers, or partner with a community college to offer credit. These districts need our help, but they must also help themselves. Sharing superintendents and other administrative staff, whole grade sharing, or consolidating high schools or districts will free up resources to increase instruction. These efforts need our encouragement.

Today's Des Moines Register:

Chet Culver, the Democrat candidate for governor, on Thursday attacked Republican Jim Nussle's plan for education, saying fewer school administrators would force more consolidation of districts.

I have to say: I agree with Tom Vilsack.

The South Of Iowa Blog

I recently discovered the South Of Iowa blog, a well-written and interesting blog by a 5th generation farmer near Humeston that touches on a variety of issues. Like this blog, you can't figure out if he leans to the left or to the right by reading just one post, but I like what he has to say. For those of you who maintain lists of Iowa blogs, this one is certainly worthy of an addition.

Big River Ride

Quentin van Marle is a 61 year old writer and journalist from England and he's riding the length of the Mississippi River using an electric bike, the Torq from eZeebike, from Lake Itasca, MN to New Orleans, LA, over the span of about two months. He recently started and is still in Minnesota.

Here's the only news story I've been able to find on it, from the Dorset Daily Echo in England other than this blurb in the Guardian. Come on, Iowa media outlets, step up!

From the Dorset Daily Echo:

He hopes to use his latest adventure to promote green travel and to inspire commuters to get out of their cars and on their bikes.

The ride, which is sponsored by eco-friendly detergent manufacturer Ecover, will represent the longest journey made on such a machine.

van Marle will arrive in New Albin, IA, on Monday, September 18th, and will go through Marquette, Guttenberg, Balltown, Dubuque, Bellevue, Sabula, Clinton, Le Claire, Davenport, Muscatine, Oakville, Burlington, Fort Madison, and finally Keokuk by October 3rd. Here's the route and dates.

There's more information on the Big River Ride's web site, including a blog.

Doctors In 40 Counties

I won't get into the debate between Krusty and the Political Forecast over 527s, alleged push-polling, and the love of Bruce Braley by the Moveon.org moonbats, but I do take issue with the Political Forecast's griping about some statement in a Nussle campaign flyer about how Nussle wants to "work to attract and retain good doctors in all 40 counties."

From an Iowa Press transcript on June 9, 2006:

Nussle: ...I LIVE IN A TOWN THAT'S HOSPITALS AND DOCTORS ARE UNDER SIEGE BECAUSE WE NOW HAVE 40 COUNTIES IN IOWA THAT CAN'T PRODUCE DOCTORS TO DELIVER BABIES. I MEAN I LIVE IN IOWA. I LIVE THESE ISSUES AND I THINK EVERY IOWAN WHO LIVES THESE ISSUES UNDERSTANDS THEM FULL WELL.

From Kay Henderson's blog at Radio Iowa on June 17, 2006:

40 counties you cannot find doctor willing to deliver baby, I've got to ask you Iowa, have you had enough?

From the Alan Guttmacher Institute in May 2001:

Overall, 7% of U.S. women in need of publicly funded family planning services lived in counties with clinics but no private obstetrician-gynecologists; in some states, however, this percentage was much higher. In eight states (Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wyoming), 20-30% of all women in need of publicly funded family planning care lived in counties with at least one clinic but no private obstetrician-gynecologist.

As I've said recently, I'm against tuition discounts for state university students, but if we're in dire need of obstetricians or gynecologists working in rural counties then perhaps in this instance the State ought to offer grants to pay part or most of the student loans of medical students from Iowa colleges and universities who sign a commitment to work in a particular rural location for a specified timeframe. Why not?

ISU +13 Over Iowa

Updated below:



The Online Wire has ISU pegged with a win and 13 points over Iowa at Kinnick Stadium tomorrow.

I'm still wondering who John Kerry is going to support since he's going to be in Iowa City tailgating with Democrats on Saturday.


Update: A reader emails:

Actually, the line is Iowa by 13+ over ISU, not the otherway around.

After last week's game by the Hawkeyes, are you sure? Ha ha! Go Cyclones!

RIPOFF

Normally I dislike all of Ken Fuson's columns. They haven't been funny since he was installed as the "humor" columnist on Fridays in the Des Moines Register.

But I've got to admit, this one today kicks ass:

Look at you. You're bright and hard-working, but it's just not clicking. At the end of the month, there are still too many bills and too little income.

Sound familiar?

I was just like you once. Well, much better looking, but that's not the issue here. The issue is, how can I help you climb out of that financial hole? And the answer is as clear and bold as today's headlines:

START A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION

By the time you get to Step Five ("When All Else Fails...") you'll be laughing with tears coming out of your eyes.

Good work.


Somewhat related: "Big Boned" Ken Fuson: bloggers are humorless, thin-skinned and have a grandiose sense of their own importance.

Problems With The Republican Party In Iowa

The Political Madman has an excellent roundup of problems he has with the Republican Party in Iowa.

I'd say that all of these are valid, except maybe the first one mentioned.

Hey, where's Chuck Grassley? The pimp tax and the rainforest are things just off the top of my head. That list could be a lot longer.

Letter Of The Year

Updated below:

From the Des Moines Register:

I beg to differ with the Register's characterization of my 5-year-old daughter as a "loser" for attending half-day kindergarten ("A Matter of Fairness: Offer All-Day Kindergarten for All," Sept. 2 editorial).

This spring we had the option to enroll our youngest child in all-day or half-day kindergarten, with the proviso that if not enough parents wanted half-day, we would have only all-day kindergarten.

The result was two sections of all-day kindergarten, and one section of half-day kindergarten. We chose half-day for our daughter; her curriculum is the same as that for all-day children.

What is she missing? Lunch at school, two recesses, rest time, and two specials (gym, art, music, etc.).

What is she gaining? Lunch at home, playtime at home, rest time at home and special time with mom.

We obviously made a choice to have one parent stay at home, and we know we were fortunate to be able to make that choice - not everyone can. But it's a choice that has not come without some sacrifice on our part: an older house; older, smaller cars; fewer vacations.

It's a choice that we think deserves consideration - more consideration than was given in labeling a 5-year-old an educational "loser."

- Mark D. Lowe, West Des Moines

This is a really great letter.

I don't understand people who advocate things like mandatory all-day kindergarten, or even those who want three and four year old children in "school" all day long. Actually, I do understand them. They're a bunch of Socialists and Feminasties who think wombyn belong at work and their kids should be forced into some sort of taxpayer-supported daycare or school instead of sitting around their house baking cookies and listening to some Tammy Wynette song.

In the past, there was a reason why five and six year olds didn't go to school all day long: It's tiring for them. Nowadays, the planned expansion of "school" down to the three year old level is all about getting money by school districts. More Federal money. More State money. More local money. That's all it is, despite what bogus research Vilsack and others put up.

And kudos to Mr Lowe and his wife for making it work with one income. No doubt, things are tight and life isn't always easy, but when is it? Having mom around when the kids come home will pay off in so many ways that can't be calculated by an additional salary. This is the kind of person that Democrats claimed to represent in the past (e.g. "The little guy"), but long ago abandoned with their embrace of liberal feminist bullshit and forcing minorities onto the plantation called the Welfare State.


Update: I got some emails from readers who interpreted this as me being critical of all-day kindergarten. Actually, I'm just critical of mandatory all-day kindergarten, as I said above, as well as bringing three and four year olds into an all-day school system. If schools can still offer half day as an option, then why not? It'll help reduce class size, which is very important at age five.

John Kerry To Tailgate On A Dead End Street

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

Iowa 2nd District Democratic Congressional candidate Dave Loebsack and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., will tailgate for the Iowa State-Iowa football game from 7 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the home of Doug and May Moore, 77 Olive Court.

How fitting. Olive Court is a dead end street.

Somebody should go up to him with a microphone on Saturday and ask which team he is supporting. I'd pay good money to hear that response.

Grassley About To Cave On Illegal Immigration?

In Muscatine has a lengthy post on illegal immigration, Chuck Grassley's recent cave on the matter, and the amount of meth being imported from Mexico.

I wouldn't say that Chuck Grassley has been one of the most "trustworthy" members of Congress in the past. He voted for amnesty for illegals in 1986. He's a fauxscal conservative. As the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, he's been unable to simplify the tax code despite repeated promises. Except for occasionally nullifying Tom Harkin's wacky votes, I don't really see what good he does for Iowa.

$1.99 A Gallon

$1.99 a gallon gas in Osceola and Oskaloosa - at least today.

Brokeback Mountain Of Debt And IOUs

From the Daily Idiot Editorial Board:

The revelation that Iowa ended the 2006 budget year $332 million in the black is a very welcome surprise.

It would be stating the obvious to mention an influx of cash for state government is obviously valuable, but a trickier question remains. How will the money be used?

...If the state were to ignore higher education with its revenue windfall, it should at least use the money wisely elsewhere. This board would accept the vast majority of revenue to go to a rainy-day account: At least there, it could be spent in the future when it's needed. But throwing $50 million at the Senior Living Trust is not going to encourage college students in the state to stay after graduation. Then again, as long as the regent universities are continuously shafted, more and more university-bound high-school graduates are likely to seek higher education out of state. Keeping them in state will simply no longer matter - they'll have already packed their bags.

How do these Idiots make this crap up? The University of Iowa had record enrollment this fall, as did other Iowa colleges. What have you people, David Yepsen, and Dick Doak been smoking to think that Iowa students are going out of state to attend other state-subsidized universities because of cost factors? It ain't happenin'!

And does the DI Editorial Board realize that Governor Vilsack drained the rainy day fund and turned the Senior Living Trust into a political bank account? That stuff has to get paid back first.

And, ooops, that $330 million surplus is already spent. This is from Radio Iowa today:

A analyst with the legislative services agency says the 330-million dollar surplus on the books when the state fiscal year ended June 30th is already spent. The money's either been funneled into a special "rainy day" account or used to refill other state accounts from which lawmakers have borrowed over the years.

There are calls to raise the cigarette tax again, which will surely kill business along the Minnesota border.

I think more gambling might be the answer to all our financial problems. Elect Chet Culver!

$120 To See Jay Leno

Nicholas Johnson mentions in an entry that Jay Leno is coming to the Riverside Casino and ticket prices are $120 and $100.

Even though Leno make $27 million a year, I guess he needs some walkin' around money.

What The Heck Is "The Director's Council"?

GED recipient and former $368,000-a-year CIETC head Ramona Cunningham with Senator Tom Harkin at the dedication of the "Tom Harkin Learning Center" at CIETC offices in October 20, 2004.

From Des Moines Cityview Online's Civic Skinny column (no link because the column doesn't immediately have a permanent link):

Skinny ran across a document with some familiar names - Ramona Cunningham, Ako Abdul-Samad, Teree Caldwell-Johnson - that piqued our interest. Skinny is not an investigative reporter, but if we were, we'd ask: "What the heck is 'The Directors Council?'"

According to a document on a Web site of something called "Reentry National Media Campaign," The Directors Council, "a Des Moines nonprofit organization, was awarded a Department of Labor Grant for ex-offender re-entry services in the amount of $660,000" in 2005. "An additional $660,000 will be awarded for each of the next two years pending funding by Congress." The tax return for the year ended last Sept. 30 says the group received $187,204 in revenue and spent $141,318 "leading and coordinating the community coalition ex-offenders reentry project, developing a certification in nonprofit leadership and administration, and developing a comprehensive service network for youth of color in Polk County, Iowa." It also spent $36,193 on "management and general" and $7,496 on "fundraising."

The officers get no compensation, but Skinny wonders how much of the money they handle is funneled to their own organizations and how it is used. The directors are Abdul-Samad, legislative candidate and school board member who is infamous of late for his role in CIETC and how the scandal was linked to his Creative Visions organization; Cunningham, even more notorious of late as the highly paid boss of CIETC; Caldwell-Johnson, former Polk County manager who spirited documents away in the middle of the night and who now runs Homes of Oakridge and is running for the school board; Vernon Johnson, Caldwell-Johnson's husband, who runs the Pace program for Orchard Place; Ed Barnes of Willkie House; Vernon Delpesce of the YWCA; Jerald Brantley of Spectrum Resources. Another document also lists Claudia Hawkins of the YWCA, Mikel Johnson of the Boys and Girls Club, and Kim Carr-Irvin as directors.

One other thing: During the year, the group spent $2,750 on "personal phone calls and visits with federal legislators regarding social service issues and funding" - a pretty slim investment to get nearly $2 million in federal grants. ...

The great thing about researching non-profits is this thing called Guidestar.org. Most everything is out there, especially tax returns! Unfortunately, you need an account in order to take a peek, but they're free. Just sign up and search for "Directors Council" with no apostrophe and with quotation marks.

It looks like The Directors Council refers to the old Mid-City Directors Council, which attempted to get a share of Federal money back in 2000, but failed. This is from the Des Moines Register by Gene Erb on March 20, 2000:

The U.S. Labor Department awarded $223 million in Youth Opportunity grants to 36 communities last month, the department's largest investment ever in programs designed to attack unemployment among out-of-school youth.

The grants were first installments in an effort that will total $1.4 billion during five years. Most were awarded to groups in cities larger than Des Moines, including Los Angeles, Denver, Tampa, Boston, Kansas City, Cleveland, Houston and Milwaukee.

The department also awarded six "rural" grants to places like Pine Bluff, Ark., and Imperial County, Calif., and grants for Native Americans in six areas, including the Navajo Nation in Arizona and Pine Ridge in South Dakota.

Des Moines' bid for a five-year, $18.5 million grant involved more than 50 Des Moines-area agencies, businesses and organizations.

It called for a Life Enrichment and Employment Project that would have served about 350 young people in a federally designated enterprise community.

The enterprise area is bounded by Hickman Road, Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway, Interstate Highway 235 and the Des Moines River.

The program's goal was to "empower inner-city youth aged 14 to 21 to complete their education, acquire employability and life skills, and divert them from a life of crime and dependency to a life of produc-tivity."

More than a dozen community service organizations would have collaborated in the enrichment project effort. They have continued working together through a Mid-City Directors Council, even though Des Moines was not awarded a grant. In fact, the groups had decided to come together to coordinate services before the grant process.

"We came together because while each organization performs a unique service, we felt that collectively we would be more effective," said Melvin Bobo, director of the Mid-City Vision Coalition.

The only other thing in recent years was this letter, printed by the Opinion section of the Des Moines Register on July 28, 2005:

With large numbers of inmates being released from Iowa prisons, we need a revitalized emphasis on re-entry issues. Focus on citizenship, employment, substance abuse, job training and appropriate housing are key issues for those who are getting out of prison.

Being able to make it in the community takes more than determination. It takes the support of the community that the inmate is returning to. The Directors Council Coalition for Ex-Offenders Re-Entry Program combines these efforts by joining agencies within the Des Moines community in a partnership that will impact recidivism.

The majority of offenders come from families in poverty. They have significantly lower education levels and job training. They also are highly impacted by the breakdown of the family. A high number of people are from single-parent families.

This is a detriment and travesty to not only individuals but to our community, which is ill-equipped to deal with large numbers of ex-offenders returning to the community.

If we value safety, well-being, economic prosperity and the family unit, we will consider what we are doing to support and help these people successfully transition back to our communities.

-Cari Smith, intern, Spectrum Resources/TDC Re-Entry, Des Moines.

What does it all mean? Heck if I know.

Keep digging!

You Mean "Pro-Abortion"

A surprising amount of candor from the Daily Iowan Editorial Board:

The Daily Iowan Editorial Board is overwhelmingly pro-choice. Abortion is not an "easy way out" but rather, an agonizing process that can leave the subject physically and mentally scarred for life. Some women who choose to have abortions report being plagued by nightmares about their unborn children for the rest of their lives. Their chances of developing cervical cancer are also increased.

Want To Buy WHO-TV?

From the Business Wire:

Sept. 12, 2006--The New York Times Company announced today that it plans to sell its Broadcast Media Group, which includes nine network-affiliated television stations and their related properties.

"The decision to explore the sale of our broadcast stations is a result of our ongoing analysis of our business portfolio," said Janet L. Robinson, president and CEO. "These are well-managed and profitable stations that generate substantial cash flows and are located in attractive markets. We believe a divestiture would allow us to sharpen our focus on developing our newspaper and rapidly growing digital businesses, and the synergies between them, thereby increasing the value of our Company for our shareholders."

The stations that comprise the Broadcast Media Group are:

-- WHO-TV in Des Moines, Iowa (NBC);

You can also pick up WQAD out of Moline, Illinois, which serves the Quad Cities area.

Naturally, any smart company would want to sell off well-managed and profitable stations that generate substantial cash flows and are located in attractive markets, especially when your company's stock has been crashing for years:

What Sounds Worse? 3% or $666 Million?

RexusNexus, commenting on Krusty's site:

Wow. Real issues Iowans care about!!! Eminent Domain: The differences between Nussle and Culver on this position has the potential to affect what, 0.000001% of Iowans. IPERS: Despite the hype, the truth is still that Culver's plan was to take the approximately 0.7% of IPERS funds currently allocated to out-of-state start-ups and reallocate it to Iowa start-ups. Perhaps not a good idea, but still a miniscule issue.

Actually, this was Culver's plan:

(3) State pension funds need to invest in venture capital funds with a commitment to Iowa businesses. I will propose legislation allowing the allocation of between 1 and 3 per cent of state employee pension funds to alternative “venture capital” investments in IT, and other high-technology, opportunities and establish an investment board similar to those in Pennsylvania and California to oversee the investments within guidelines established by the general assembly.

IPERS currently has about $20 billion in it. I don't know where RexusNexus gets this 0.7% figure, but 0.7% of $20 billion is still $140 million.

3% of IPERS, Culver's figure, comes out to about $666 million, a figure the Nussle kampaign ought to be using, mostly because it's the Number Of The Beast!

Apologies to anybody suffering from hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.

How's That Crystal Ball Working?

From Iowa DNR Environmental Services Division, Energy and Waste Management Bureau on August 25th (PDF):

...With Labor Day around the corner, which signals the end of the summer driving season, consumers can expect a modest price increase heading into the holiday weekend.

"While stable gasoline inventories and lower prices are good news for consumers, ongoing geopolitical unrest and the peak hurricane aseson could keep the market volatile, which could send prices back up," said Tami Foster, energy data analyst for the DNR.

Around August 15th, this report indicates that gasoline was selling for about $2.91 a gallon in Iowa.

Fast forward to today in the Des Moines Register:

Regular gasoline sold for $2.03 a gallon Tuesday at some Oskaloosa stations.

"I just got a call from CBS in New York," said Tiffany Stansbeary, a cashier at the Murphy USA station. [Murphy USA is Wal-Mart's gas station - Ed.]

It's not just Oskaloosa: Des Moines has the lowest gasoline prices among U.S. metro areas, according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations and GasBuddy.com, a Web site where motorists post prices.

Tami Foster, an energy data analyst for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said prices for 10-percent-ethanol blended gas could briefly drop to $2 in some Iowa markets.

Foster expects Iowa prices to be between $2.10 to $2.30 a gallon for the rest of 2006, barring any problems.

We'll see.

Meanwhile, the Waterloo Courier has an editorial that is utterly ridiculous:

The conspiracy theory is that the oil companies are giving a pre-midterm election boost to Republicans, who have received 4.4 times more of their 2006 campaign money than Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

I blame the Jews.

J-E-W-S!

The Joooooze!!!!!!!

And Wal-Mart!

Ha ha!

More Nussle Ads On Culver's IPERS Plan

Here's the latest Nussle campaign ad on YouTube concerning Culver's plan to invest IPERS retirement money into high-tech startups.

Don't forget what Chet Culver originally wanted, a whole separate board to direct the Iowa-centric money:

(3) State pension funds need to invest in venture capital funds with a commitment to Iowa businesses. I will propose legislation allowing the allocation of between 1 and 3 per cent of state employee pension funds to alternative “venture capital” investments in IT, and other high-technology, opportunities and establish an investment board similar to those in Pennsylvania and California to oversee the investments within guidelines established by the general assembly.

Here's the ad:

Riverside Plans To Hire A Consultant

Riverside, Iowa (population 961) plans to hire a consultant to deal with them Earthpork folk from the big city. This is from the Washington Evening Journal:

With a 50 percent chance Earthpark may take root in Riverside, Mayor Bill Poch wants the city to have some help when it comes to sitting down at the table and dealing with proponents of the $155 million environmental education project.

"They will make a decision very soon, probably at the end of September," Poch told the city council at its meeting Thursday, Sept. 7, and asked that the city consider hiring a consultant to deal with the issue if Riverside becomes the Earthpark site.

"We've heard that all year," said council member Brian McDole of the announcement of a site selection.

Poch explained that he has talked with the city manager in Burlington, who had some suggestions, but who also "is willing to come and meet and talk with us." There would be no fee involved and Poch noted that Burlington, like Riverside, has a casino. The just-opened Riverside Casino and Golf Resort is a backer of the Earthpark to the tune of $12 million in funds from the casino and the Kehl Family who is its majority owner.

Considering the way Oman and his gang have treated other cities in the running, particularly Coralville, I can't imagine that Riverside could come up with a lot of scratch to hire somebody who would say much more than "David, please use the free sample of AstroGlide I left on the table."

You're Off By $499,996,000.00

This letter was actually printed in the Des Moines Register:

I both agree and strongly disagree with your Sept. 4 editorial, "Want Change? Target Leaders, Not Wal-Mart." Yes, we should target our political leaders. No, we should not absolve Wal-Mart for mistreating its workers.

Stating that we should lobby the political leaders who come to the Stop Wal-Mart rallies is nonsensical - we would be preaching to the choir. We should lobby the political leaders who do not come to the rallies - leaders like President Bush.

How can you separate Bush from Wal-Mart policies toward workers when Wal-Mart CEOs gave the 2004 Bush campaign $500 million? We've got the best politicians that money can buy, and it's hands off Wal-Mart and hands off all employers who fire workers who join a union and routinely engage in unfair labor practices.

- Maria Houser Conzemius, Iowa City

According to Fundrace.org, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott and his wife Linda G. Scott both gave George W. Bush $2000 each for his 2004 re-election campaign.

And what's with this charge of Wal-Mart "mistreating" its workers? That's a new one. I guess people love to be mistreated. That's why 25,000 people apply for 325 jobs when a new store opens.

Compare Candidates

The Iowa First Foundation's CompareCandidates.org web site has another very very good ad that pulverizes Chet Culver on three issues:

1. The Culver invest-IPERS-into-startups scheme
2. Culver wanting to get rid of English as Iowa's official language
3. And Culver's support of Vilsack's veto of the anti-Kelo eminent domain bill that was overridden in the Iowa Legislature.

If the Nussle campaign can continue to play hands this smart (I know issues #2 and #3 poll into the 80+% range on Nussle's side, and perhaps #1 as well), he'll take Terrace Hill and the Jim Ross Lightfoot Curse will be broken and passed over to Chet Ross Culverfoot.

That doesn't mean I've turned all pro-Nussle, but this and the What Was Chet Culver Thinking? ads are very strong and I believe that Culver is going to be creamed if this momentum keeps up.

Once again I say to Democrats: You could have had Ed Fallon. These ads by Nussle and his supporters wouldn't exist if Ed Fallon was the nominee.

1. Fallon wouldn't have had a crazy idea like wanting to create some separate AFL-CIO-approved board in which IPERS could burn money on risky startups.
2. Although Fallon would rather not see the English-as-the-official-language law, he never would have said he wanted to repeal it as governor. In fact, he cautioned to fellow Democrats: "Let sleeping dogs lie."
3. Fallon was completely for anti-Kelo legislation in order to protect the little guy.

Who knows? Culver may pull it out of his gut by election day. Anything's possible, but it doesn't seem to be trending that way right now.

The "What Was Chet Culver Thinking?" Ad

On Saturday I mused about how the Jim Nussle campaign should put their "What Was Chet Culver Thinking" ad on YouTube.

Guess what? Today it's on!

It's hard to believe this issue is almost a month old, but it's not going away anytime soon.

This ad is so brilliant.

A note to the Democrats: Go ahead and rate the video as poorly as you can, but ask yourself this question: Would Ed Fallon have proposed anything like this? No way. But then the goal a few months ago concerning the picking of a Democratic gubernatorial nominee was all about winning.

The Page Cannot Be Found

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Republican Jim Nussle accused Democrat Chet Culver today of abandoning his economic plan for Iowa, a charge Culver said is a distortion from his gubernatorial opponent.

Nussle said Culver's 10-point plan issued in August has "vanished into thin air."

"The plan, which Culver billed as a way to promote the state's entrepreneurs and small business owners, is no longer accessible on the Culver Web site and has disappeared from the candidate's rhetoric while on the campaign trail," Nussle said.

Yep, it's gone.

Here's the Google Cache. And if you just want the cached text, here it is.

The Culver campaign maintains that they're "revising the language" so that should be fun to investigate once a new plan appears. Do you think it will contain the following?

9) Expanding Capital Availability for High-Tech Start-Ups...

(3) State pension funds need to invest in venture capital funds with a commitment to Iowa businesses. I will propose legislation allowing the allocation of between 1 and 3 per cent of state employee pension funds to alternative “venture capital” investments in IT, and other high-technology, opportunities and establish an investment board similar to those in Pennsylvania and California to oversee the investments within guidelines established by the general assembly.

Maybe having David Yepsen endorse the plan freaked out the Culver Kampaign? Perhaps it was the blowback.

Maybe they're revising the Chet Culver economic plan in order to add more casinos?

My Men Are Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story

Photo by Lucian Read/WorldPictureNews

Nathaniel R. Helms's book, My Men Are Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story, is being published by Meredith Books and will be available on April 17, 2007. You can pre-order it today at Amazon.com.

Iowa native Kasal, a Sgt Major, was awarded the Navy Cross a few months ago and returned to work in the Marines in Des Moines earlier this summer.

From a James C. Roberts column at Human Events, published on September 10th:

On Nov. 13, 2004, during the assault on Fallujah, Marine Sgt. Brad Kasal was leading his squad in a house-to-house search when he learned that three Marines were pinned down in a nearby house.

Going to their aid, Kasal and his men entered the house, and as Kasal opened a door, he encountered an insurgent. The two exchanged fire, and Kasal killed the insurgent. Meanwhile, other enemy fighters opened up fire from the second floor, wounding Kasal and several others.

Seeing a badly wounded Marine, Kasal, though badly wounded himself, fought his way to the Marine and applied a tourniquet to his leg, thus preventing him from bleeding to death. Noticing an insurgent grenade, Kasal used his body to shield the wounded Marine.

Although he was bleeding from seven bullet wounds and 40 shrapnel wounds, Kasal refused medical help until the other wounded Marines were treated. By this time he had lost 60% of his blood and was almost unconscious.

For his courage in combat Kasal was awarded the Navy Cross.

I remember that it took the Des Moines Register 105 days to write a story about Kasal after he was wounded at Fallujah, 23 days after the Powerline Blog out of Minneapolis mentioned it.

Even a year ago, media outlets in Iowa were doing a completely rotten job of covering the war by ignoring heroic Iowa soldiers who were decorated with high honors. Instead, they chose to post the daily body count from the AP and the usual anti-war Bush haters in their opinion sections. Luckily, things have improved a bit. It's still lousy.

The Spare Tire Game

Here's a fun game to play over your lunch break today.

Match the Democrat's head to their spare tire.

The contestants are:

A. Governor Tom Vilsack
B. Dave Loebsack, 2nd Congressional district candidate
C. Senator Chris "Waitress Sandwich" Dodd
D. Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Chet Culver

And here are the spare tires:


1. His spare tire has gone from six pack abs to "Monster Truck" sized in the past eight years.


2. A slight middle-aged paunch escapes when his black suit coat is taken off.


3. The trimmest of the bunch thanks to marathon running.


4. Too many drunken episodes at La Brasserie to remember. Luckily, it was before the cameraphone was invented.

Send your guesses to state29@gmail.com. Winners will be notified in 4 to 6 years. Offer void to residents living in states admitted to the union before 1961. Must be 88 years or older with both parents living in order to enter.

What Does Dick Doak Know About Beer Bongs?

Both the Political Madman and the Common Iowan think I'm wrong concerning my reaction to Dick Doak and David Yepsen's calls for the taxpayers of Iowa to pick up the tab for allowing more out-of-state kids into our state universities.

The Madman doesn't even offer any debate on the matter: Doak is right, I'm wrong. Case closed. He ignores the fact that the University of Iowa has record numbers of students this semester and that ISU and UNI are barely off recent peaks in enrollment.

Why should Iowa taxpayers subsidize what basically amounts to a bunch of rich kids from suburban Chicago who are too dumb to get into Northwestern or the University of Illinois? On the hopes that they'll stay here after 53% of them graduate with an undergraduate degree after six years? Come on, Madman, you can do better than that.

Common Iowan's problem concerns student debt load. This is more logical. My beef is that the state universities (and many private colleges) allow too many students into degree programs that have little chance of job placement in Iowa, much less a decent wage. I can hear all the college-age whippersnappers chiding me about how higher education should be more than just a pathway to a job, but put your idealistic gobbledygook aside and listen to some older people; the 98% who aren't trust fundies or permanent slackers.

Has anybody ever done a study of what happened to, say, everybody at Iowa's public universities who got degrees in marginal areas like political science, communication studies, art history, or English? That would be interesting to know some three, five, and ten years down the line. Heck, it might even be a good idea for people seeking professional positions like doctors, lawyers, nurses, engineers, and teachers.

As for Common Iowan's concern about debt levels, this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. Obviously, kids in college are adults, but they're mostly on their own when it comes to taking out student loans (and applying for credit cards). A lot of parents haven't saved dime one over the years for their children's college education, which is sad, or the parents (many of whom are divorced) are in debt hell themselves. I don't think lowering tuiton by forcing taxpayers to subsidize it is the answer.

What's the incentive for the college or university to care? There really is none. You pay your tuition and then you're on your own. If you sit in your dorm room or apartment and play XBOX 360 or smoke weed all day instead of going to class, the school is still getting paid. If you take 7 years to complete your undergraduate degree, the school doesn't mind. If you're 18 years old and don't know what you want to do with your life, but you got good grades in high school and a decent ACT score, you're automatically in.

Colleges and universities should be stricter in their selection process. There's nothing wrong with rejecting a smart kid who is clueless about his or her future and suggesting that they spend a couple years at community college, in the workforce, or travelling the world before attempting to figure it out. That same college or university is likely to get a more focused student down the line. Isn't that what they want? Successful alumni?

Tom Harkin Recycles

Advocating government accountability, Senator Tom Harkin, D-IA, chastised Democrats for failing to support a resolution to censure President Bush during the 5th annual Fighting Bob Fest last Saturday in Baraboo.

From the Madison (WI) Capital Times:

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, won standing ovations for his criticism of the Bush administration's "fear-mongering" and squandering of global support.

Stating that Americans have a "massive case of buyer's remorse" after re-electing President Bush, Harkin urged progressives to "provide some adult supervision" by electing a new Congress in November.

"Tell your friends and your neighbors that all they ever needed to know about this election this November, they learned in driver's education," he said. "If you want to go backward, you put it in R. If you want to go forward, you put it in D."

That joke is so bad, you just know Harkin's used it before.

In fact, he used it in his speech in 2004 at the Fighting Bob then (PDF).

Lame! Can't come up with a new joke in two years?

Harkin also used it in 2000 at the Democratic Convention, the 2006 Iowa Democratic Party Convention, and some legislative conference in March 2004. And probably many other times that Google can't currently find.

Selden Spencer Is A Dirtbag

From Radio Iowa:

An Ames couple whose son died in the World Trade Center five years ago today (Monday) called for "reconciliation" with enemies of the United States rather than a "pursuit of vengeance." Tim Haviland, the son of retired pastor Doug Haviland and his wife, Betty, of Ames perished on 9/11.

Without mentioning President Bush directly, Reverend Haviland said his Christian faith "beckons" him in a different direction than that being taken by the Bush Administration. "The event has been exploited to arouse national fears and create an ongoing state of anxiety," Reverend Haviland said during a news conference at the statehouse. "The wound must be kept open and inflamed so that the war on terror can be waged with vigor and go on and on and on."

...Mrs. Haviland said she hopes that on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 vengeance and fear will be a thing of the past and, instead, reconciliation and healing "will be our patriotic duty and our national priority." The elderly Havilands spoke at a statehouse news conference organized by Seldon Spencer, the Democrat who's running against Republican Congressman Tom Latham.

Spencer spoke before the Havilands. "We have not completed the mission with regards to Osama bin Laden," Spencer said. "So, I think it's time today to remember -- five years later -- that the perpetrator of that crime has still not been brought to justice." Spencer's called for "engaging" with Muslims to build a better worldwide opinion of Americans

Anybody who thinks Bin Laden is still alive is simply full of it. There's been nothing but a couple of cassette tapes in the past 4 years. Bin Laden has been poppy food for some time.

And I don't think it matters if the Havilands lost their son on 9/11/01. Either way, they look like opportunistic and deranged partisans. They don't get my pity after this stunt.

Besides, this notion that we need to build a bridge to the Muslims is crazy. You have to be completely nuts to think something like that.

How To Get The Media To Cover Your Event: Free Food

From the Sick Of Spin blog last week:

Celebrating a grand opening August 30th, the Johnson County Republican Headquarters officially opened up its doors to a great crowd, to include Iowa's next Governor, Jim Nussle - who cut the ribbon.

Many media representatives were there, to include The Daily Iowan, The Cedar Rapids Gazette, KCJJ radio (1630AM) - who broadcast live from the event for two hours, and KCRG TV-9 - which aired some footage of the event on their 10pm news broadcast.

Did the Press-Citizen run a story on the event? Nope. This is yet another example of how the PC simply does not want to cover Republican events in Johnson County. But you can be sure if there was a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Johnson County Democratic headquarters, there would be more than enough Press-Citizen reporters in attendance!

And this if from yesterday's Iowa City Press-Citizen, headlined County Dems rally behind candidates:

Johnson County Democrats will have to work hard if the Democrats are to retain the governor's office and claim control of the state House and Senate, Gov. Tom Vilsack said Saturday at the Johnson County Democrats' annual barbecue in North Liberty.

If Democrats in Johnson County have to work hard in order to retain the governor's office, much less claim control of the state House or Senate, they're in big trouble considering that 90% of registered voters there are Democrats. Well, maybe not 90%, but it's a lot. In Iowa City you generally have three different types of candidates on the ballot: Democrat, Libertarian, and Communist.

But Sick of Spin's point is proven. The Iowa City Press-Citizen will cover a barbecue (free food), but not the opening of an office for a permanent political minority. Maybe Jim Nussle should have given out free condoms when he was in town to cut the ribbon at the Johnson County Republican Headquarters. That would have raised some pierced eyebrows in Iowa City.

The Religion Of Violence And Oppression Speaks Today

From Radio Iowa:

Later today (Monday), a group of Muslims in Cedar Rapids will meet with local city leaders in a town hall meeting to discuss the Muslim faith. A national poll recently found 40 percent of Americans feel prejudice against Muslims because of 9/11.

Hassan Igram, chairman of the Islamic Center in Cedar Rapids, says while there was a backlash against Muslims five years ago after the hijackers were identified as Muslims, he didn't see that kind of backlash in Iowa.

"People came to the Islamic Center. They called and left messages, flowers, cards of just understanding -- wanting us to know that they supported us and that they know that this is not an Islamic issue. This was a political issue," Igram says.

What a stinking pile of bullshit.

From the 9/11 Commission report (PDF) and about Mohammed Atta:

When Atta arrived in Germany, he appeared religious, but not fanatically so. This would change, especially as his tendency to assert leadership became increasingly pronounced. According to Binalshibh, as early as 1995 Atta sought to organize a Muslim student association in Hamburg. In the fall of 1997, he joined a working group at the Quds mosque in Hamburg, a group designed to bridge the gap between Muslims and Christians. Atta proved a poor bridge, however, because of his abrasive and increasingly dogmatic personality. But among those who shared his beliefs, Atta stood out as a decisionmaker. Atta's friends during this period remember him as charismatic, intelligent, and persuasive, albeit intolerant of dissent.

In his interactions with other students, Atta voiced virulently anti-Semitic and anti-American opinions, ranging from condemnations of what he described as a global Jewish movement centered in New York City that supposedly controlled the financial world and the media, to polemics against governments of the Arab world. To him, Saddam Hussein was an American stooge set up to give Washington an excuse to intervene in the Middle East. Within his circle, Atta advocated violent jihad. He reportedly asked one individual close to the group if he was "ready to fight for [his] belief" and dismissed him as too weak for jihad when the person declined. On a visit home to Egypt in 1998, Atta met one of his college friends. According to this friend, Atta had changed a great deal, had grown a beard, and had "obviously adopted fundamentalism" by that time.

Yeah, it is an Islamic issue.

Meanwhile, newspapers like the Quad City Times want us to know just how the legacy of September 11th is affecting Muslims in their area. I could give a rat's ass. If there's a day in which the followers of that pedophile, oppressor, and mass-murderer Mohammed should shut up, it's September 11th.

On September 12th, all you Islamofascists can go back to figuring out how to blow up the free world, kill all the Jews, stone women to death, traffic heroin, and bring back the good old days of the 7th century. The rest of us infidels are busy trying to make the world a better and safer place by curing diseases, inventing things, and allowing people to be free. If that involves us bombing all your asses out of existence, so be it.

Roxanne, You Don't Have To Turn On The Blue Screen Of Death

Roxanne Conlin's lawsuit against Microsoft continues following an Iowa Supreme Court reversal in January. If you registered Microsoft software in Iowa after May 18, 1994, you may possibly have received an email like this lately:

If you purchased in Iowa certain Microsoft software, or a computer on which it was installed, as described in the section below called “Who is Included,” you or your company may be affected by a class action lawsuit in Joe Comes, et al. v. Microsoft Corporation, No. CL 82311...

The Plaintiffs claim Microsoft violated Iowa’s antitrust laws by monopolizing and unreasonably restraining trade in the markets for Intel-compatible (i) personal computer operating system software, and (ii) applications software, including word processing, spreadsheet and office-suite software. The Plaintiffs claim that Microsoft harmed Class Members by illegally overcharging for its software, by denying Class Members free choice in software products and the benefits of software innovation, and by making computers increasingly susceptible to security breaches. Plaintiffs also allege that Microsoft engaged in anticompetitive conduct in new and specialized purported software markets for server operating systems. Plaintiffs are asking for money from Microsoft. Microsoft denies the claims and says it developed and sold high quality software products at fair and reasonable prices. The Court has not yet decided whether the Plaintiffs or Microsoft are right. A trial is scheduled to begin on November 13, 2006.

At best, you'll get $40 or $50 while Roxanne Conlin gets millions.

This seems so silly. It's nothing but a shakedown, as were all the state-sponsored class-action lawsuits against Microsoft and the tobacco industry. Some whores spread their legs. Others have law degrees and file lawsuits.

Franchise Fees Are An Illegal Tax

From the Waterloo Courier:

Waterloo is among seven Iowa cities being challenged over the legality of charging franchise fees to cable television subscribers.

Lawsuits were filed last week in district court against Waterloo, Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque and Sioux City by plaintiffs claiming the franchise fees are an illegal tax. The seven cities charge cable television subscribers a fee of up to 5 percent and place the money in their general fund, the petitions say...

A court ruling against the cities could be costly to local governments. The city of Waterloo, which collects a 5 percent fee from Mediacom customers, could lose more than $700,000 a year without the fee...

...The Iowa Supreme Court ruled in May that state law permits cities to charge utility franchise fees, but the amount collected must reflect the reasonable costs associated with regulating the utility service.

So if Mediacom cable TV subscribers in Waterloo prevail then their average cost for monthly service will go down about $2 a month, right?

That's a good thing, no?

A slight decrease in price is what a bunch of local con artists and puppets of Clark McLeod sold to a bare majority of residents who voted in Waterloo last year to create a municipal cable TV utility.

*

From the Chicago Tribune:

DES MOINES, Iowa — The firehouse on McKinley Street had the look of a typical Saturday morning. Chris Bolton was reading the newspaper, Bill Collins was cooking the ham and bean soup and Paul Dominguez was checking the ambulance.

Then in walked Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut and potential presidential candidate. There was no fanfare; the dark blue Dodge Caravan drove up, Dodd gently strode in, shook hands and, in the course of an hour, showed why his White House bid has promise as well as challenges.

First of all, it's McKinley Ave, not McKinley Street.

Second, do these reporters really ride around with politicians like Chris Dodd while he greases the local firefighters? That's got to be the most boring job in the world. Kay Henderson at Radio Iowa must have been along because she's got a blog entry from the weekend that mentions this event. Even Mike Glover was around to write a story.

Why do reporters even waste their time with somebody like Mr Waitress Sandwich or that lunatic Joe Biden? Surely they know that these clowns have no chance in hell of ever coming up with anything more than an asterisk amongst Iowans.

The Four Lane Express Highway To 9/11

Somebody named Joe Penry of Davenport wrote a letter to the Quad City Times complaining about how ABC's movie "The Path to 9/11" is full of things that make the Clinton Administration look bad inaccuracies and labels it "propaganda" despite not having seen it.

Don't forget that the QC Times lets people on the web comment on Letters To The Editor. This letter's comments are almost a free-for-all, although it's interesting to see how often that completely accurate and 100% correct and Oscar-winning DOCUMENTARY (that means it's all true, you right wing fascist Moonies!) Fahrenheit 9/11 is mentioned.

Boswell and Lamberti on Iowa Press

I was able to catch parts of the debate-like thing between Jeff Lamberti and Leonard Boswell on KDIN's Iowa Press before driving back home this afternoon.

No wonder Leonard Boswell doesn't want to debate Jeff Lamberti. He's terrible! Boswell looked down the entire time, rambled in a generalized way, and evaded answering questions in reply to Lamberti's comments.

Even though I don't like Lamberti because he's a complete hypocrite about pork-barrel spending, I thought his point about the earmarks bill was significant. Boswell, like Jim Nussle, voted for a million dollars for tourism development in Kentucky, as well as 18 other bs-laden projects like that. The trouble is that both Lamberti and Boswell have proposed giving taxpayer money to Pat McManus's Rock In Prevention scam. That really puts the kibosh on both candidates for me, but at least Lamberti was hammering Boswell about earmarks which, you've got to admit, is a much bigger thing.

What Else Can I Say? Everyone Is Gay

Update: A reader who knows writes: Valley High got permission to "soften" the language of their fall play.

Good.




Side Notes talks about the controversy in West Des Moines over an attempt by Valley High School school officials to "soften" some profanities in the play The Laramie Project, a decision the Des Moines Register agrees with.

Perhaps the Valley High School officials and The Register Editorial Board should look into this thing called copyright. It took me about 2 minutes to Google this, which is from the Chicago Tribune and published on October 24, 2003:

At Mendota [Illinois] High School, "The Laramie Project" was scheduled to open Oct. 31 but was yanked this week because of a copyright problem. When Amy Henley, the drama director at the school about 100 miles west of Chicago, edited out some profanity and scenes she thought were inappropriate for a high school audience, she was warned by opponents that she was in violation of copyright laws. After checking with the company that sold the school the rights to the play, she was told that permission to change the script would not be granted, and six weeks of work went down the drain.

Here's an article that indicates a school in Oregon where a principal decided to ban the play because of profanity, and then further down in the story is another school in that area that put the play on after changes.

It's not likely to happen, but Moises Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project should put out an authorized version for high schools without profanity. That would neutralize most of the problems, because then if the local queer-haters continued to object then the drama teacher could suggest plays by Oscar Wilde, Noel Coward, Tennessee Williams, Larry Kramer, Joe Orton, Harvey Fierstein, Terrence McNally, and so forth.

Dick Doak And David Yepsen Are Both Crazy

From Dick Doak's column in the Des Moines Register:

Iowa spends tax money to attract tourists. It's considered to be a good investment, because visitors are estimated to generate $5 billion a year in economic activity.

If the state gets that kind of economic impact from guests who spend just a few days here, think of the boost the state could get from visitors who will spend nine months at a stretch in Iowa and will come back for two or four years in a row.

In other words, why not invite more students to become Iowa's guests while they attend college here? They'll spend money (an estimated $13,000 per student per year), which will multiply through the economy. They'll take part-time jobs here and contribute in other ways. And some of them will decide to stick around and start businesses and families here...

...As columnist David Yepsen noted the other day, they'll need to think about discounting tuition.

For the state universities, that would mean a big adjustment in thinking. Out-of-state students generally have been expected to pay full freight for the cost of their education.

If the state is going to compete to enroll more out-of-state students in the future, tuition will to have to be lowered. Iowa taxpayers will be expected to subsidize the education of kids from other states and countries.

Will Iowa taxpayers tolerate that? Maybe, if they realize it is an investment in energizing Iowa's anemic population growth. Perhaps some economist can study the pay-off from subsidizing students to spend four years in Iowa versus the gain from subsidizing corporations to locate here. I have a hunch there's a higher dividend in educating bright young people than there is in bribing companies.

This is absolutely stark-raving insane.

Dick Doak wants Iowa taxpayers to subsidize the tuitions of rich, Illinois-residing, beer-drinking brats who are too poor to get into Northwestern or too stupid to get into the University of Illinois?

A whole bunch of colleges and universities in Iowa have released tuition numbers lately and for the most part they are all at or near record numbers.

Under the Dick Doak/David Yepsen Grand Plan, not only will Iowa taxpayers have to pay for the discounted tuition for out-of-state residents, most of whom will leave the state anyway after dropping out, graduation, or getting busted for sexual assault, but Iowa taxpayers will need to spend more on new buildings, housing, and everything else that goes along with having more students of higher education.

And it's funny how Dick frames his plan: We can either have taxpayer-financed corporate welfare, or we can have discounted state university tuition for kids who don't need it. How about getting rid of the corporate welfare and putting that money back into the universities for state residents and trying to prop up primary education teacher salaries across Iowa?

You know what else is amazing? That Dick Doak and David Yepsen have jobs as opinion columnists. How do they dream this shit up?

Yepsen Blowback On Culver's Plan To Raid The IPERS Fridge

From the Des Moines Register's Letters section:

David Yepsen's column, "Culver's Right About Retirement-Fund Investing," made the problem sound only like a political issue (Aug. 29).

Of course, it is that. But I am concerned about his proposal because I am an IPERS recipient, not because I am a Republican or a Democrat.

Until Chet Culver made this proposal, I was actually waffling between the two gubernatorial candidates. Not any more. How dare Yepsen say that our retirement benefits are "too sweet"?

As one of the 300,000 members of Iowa's largest public retirement system, I worked hard for my retirement. I'm quite certain no retired member of the Des Moines public schools is basking in the "sweetness" of his retirement. Instead, he is very grateful to have the money that he earned. I don't want to see a fine retirement system tampered with by politicians.

- Toni Walling, West Des Moines.

I know it's just anecdotal, but I personally know of one retired teacher who always votes All Democrat who told me recently that this particular issue has "ticked" her off so much that she's going to vote to Nussle out of spite. She would rather wait until somebody comes along who's better than Chet Culver than vote for him. I'm getting the impression that a lot of Democrats feel this way, especially those who were fans of Ed Fallon.

The 1% Spark

From the Des Moines Register:

The Iowa Department of Economic Development said the $4.4 billion in investment in farm-related manufacturing is creating 5,692 jobs, sparked by $40 million in state loans and grants as incentives. “It’s hope, real hope for a lot of Iowa communities,” said Michael Blouin, the state’s chief economic development leader.

It's impossible to believe that 1% of a project's overall cost, funded by the taxpayers in the form of corporate welfare gimmeaways, would make or break anything. And it's obscene that Deacon Blouin is running around taking credit for it.

But this way of fluffing the numbers helps obscure all the failures, which I'll repeat again below:

Several years ago, the State of Iowa funded the Iowa Agricultural Finance Corp, which was supposed to be this venture capital-like fund exclusively for Iowa businesses. It has been a disaster. Take a look at this PDF and see what it "invested" in:

• Rudi's Organic Bakery. $13 million. Failed and moved to Colorado.
  
  
• Wildwood Harvest. $7.1 million. The company has never generated a profit.
  
  
• ProdiGene. $6 million. No employees in Iowa. "Struggled" and was fined by the USDA.
  
  
• Sioux-Preme Packing Company. $5 million. Profitable.
  
  
• Iowa Quality Beef. $3 million. Shut down in 2004 and 540 employees laid off.
  
  
• Ag Waste Recovery Systems. $150,000. No sales, no employees, and is considered an "idle corporation".

Sunday School

From the Des Moines Register by Religion Editor Shirley Ragsdale:

This week some Democrats launched a "religion-friendly" Web site.

The goal? Let Christians know they don't have to be Republicans to follow their faith.

The site, www.faithfuldemocrats.com, is not as partisan as one would expect so close to the November election and with a presidential election about two years away.

Not as partisan as you'd expect? Here's some recent samples from a few blogs on the Faithful Democrats site:

The Religious Right passionately denies that it seeks a theocracy, o