From an email by Paul Kluding, Corporate Communications Manager of Kum & Go, concerning a recent State 29 post ("E. Jack Ulate"):
It’s unfortunate that you don’t let your readers post rebuttals or comments to your rants, because I disagree with your assessment on whether or not another convenience store would receive the same type of attention as Kum & Go has surrounding Jackass 2.
You may recall several years ago that Ashton Kutcher often sported a John Deere hat while hitting the Hollywood social scene. That piece of exposure – not unlike Johnny Knoxville and the Kum & Go t-shirt – resulted in a dramatic increase in merchandise sales for the company. In fact, some say that spawned the trucker-hat phenomenon amongst the younger set, and there certainly isn’t anything unique to the name John Deere.
Hollywood exposure is Hollywood exposure, regardless of company name.
Regarding Kum & Go, here’s a little history to put things in better perspective for you:
The year was 1959. The country was in the midst of a massive transformation. Middle-class families were becoming suburban families. And with suburbs came an increase demand for cars. The Federal Highway Act of 1956 created the Interstate Highway System. People were on the move, and the entrepreneurial spirit was in the air, especially related to travel, transportation and fuel.
Two such visionaries – W.A. Krause and T.S. Gentle – set out to create a refueling destination with a sense of "convenience."
In an age where catchy company names and unique marketing phrases were not only a representation of the times – but also the difference between success and failure – the two gentlemen used the first letters of their last names to create a unique moniker to showcase the ease and convenience they instilled in a shopping experience. Thus Kum & Go was born.
That's a nice story.
It's one thing to misspell a name like Quik Trip or Kwik Shop. It's another thing to have the first part of your company's name look like a misspelling of the word CUM.
These days, many Iowa companies are changing their names to inoffensive, bland, and unsalty terms like Optiva and Veridian. I'm just wondering how long Kum & Go are going to, ahem, hold on before making a change.
As far as Jackass 2 is concerned, here's one of the funniest stunts in that film ("How to Milk a Horse"):
The scene opens with Knoxville, Steve-O and Pontius with a farmer at a ranch. They tell the audience how to "milk the horse," or obtain semen from it. They do so by mounting a stallion on a female horse, but redirecting the stallion's penis into a synthetic horse vagina, causing the horse to ejaculate into a jar at the end of the synthetic horse vagina. After collecting the semen in a jar, Chris Pontius asks if it is safe to drink and then offers to do so.
The actual ingestion of the semen was censored to preserve the film's R rating, as leaving the scene uncensored would have given the film an NC-17 rating due to pornographic content. The ingestion is actually shown on the Unrated version.
While Pontius himself doesn't vomit (though he comes close) Steve-O vomits just from witnessing the stunt. Knoxville also gags, stating that "I never puke ever, and I nearly puked". In the credits, Rick Kosick gets sick and continues with Knoxville throwing what's left of the semen at him. This also happened to Rick before during the TV show in the "Spermolympics" stunt, where Knoxville throws semen (actually water and lotion) at Kosick.
Pontius shakes his head after the stunt and says, "I'm completely ashamed of myself."
2008 Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards stopped in Des Moines this evening for a "town hall" meeting with a crowd one security guard insisted was over 2500...
The Edwards campaign had an interesting music mix to fire up the crowd as it waited for the candidate, including songs from rapper Kanye West
I wonder what Kanye West song the campaign played.
The second verse is for my dogs working 9 to 5 That still hustle cause a nigga can't shine off $6.55 And everybody selling make-up, Jacobs And bootleg tapes just to get they cake up We put shit on layaway then come back We claim other people kids on our income tax We take that money cop work than push packs to get paid And we don't care what people say Momma say she wanna move south Scratchin lottery tickets Eyes on a new house Around the same time Doe ran up in dudes house Couldnt get a job So since he couldnt get work he figured hed take work The drug game bolemic its hard to get weight So niggas money is homo its hard to get straight So we gon keep baking to the day we get cake. And we dont care what people say My Niggas
(She gives me money) Now I ain't sayin' she a gold digger (When I'm in Need) But she ain't messin' wit no broke niggaz (She gives me money) Now I ain't sayin' she a gold digger (When I'm in need) but she ain't messin' wit no broke niggaz get down girl gone head get down (I gotta leave) get down girl gone head get down (I gotta leave) get down girl gone head get down (I gotta leave) get down girl gone head
From the place where the fathers gone, The mothers is hardly home And the... Gonna lock us up in a...home How the Mexicans say we just tryin to party homes They wanna pack us all in a box like styrofoam Who gave Saddam anthrax? George Bush got the answers Back in the hood it's a different type of chemical, Am and Hammer baking soda Raised they own quota Writin when our soldiers ran for the stove cuz-- Cuz dreams of being 'Hova went from bein a brokeman ta bein a dopeman Ta bein a president look theres hope man This that inspiration for tha mos and tha folks man, Shorty come and see if mama straight overdosin. And this is the soundtrack, This tha type of music you make when you round that-- Crack music nigga, That real black music nigga.
I'ma get on this TV, momma I'ma, I'ma break shit down I'ma make sure these light skinned niggaz Never ever never come back in style Told 'em I finished school, and I started my own business They say, 'Oh you graduated?' No, I decided I was finished Chasin' y'all dreams and what you've got planned Now I spit it so hot you got tanned Back to school and I hate it there, I hate it there Everything I want I gotta wait a year, I wait a year This nigga graduated at the top of my class.. I went to Cheesecake, he was a motherfucking waiter there
N-now, th-th-throw ya motherfuckin hands GET EM HIGH All the girls pass the weed to ya motherfuckin man GET EM HIGH Now I ain't never tell you to put down ya hands KEEP EM HIGH And if ya losin yo high than smoke again KEEP EM HIGH
Iowa’s Big Four provided Bob Knight 45 wins along his long and successful journey toward becoming the winningest men’s basketball coach in NCAA Division I history.
A win by Texas Tech against Nevada-Las Vegas in today’s 8 p.m. game results in the 880th of Knight’s career, one more than the record he shares with former North Carolina legend Dean Smith.
Knight, whose coaching career started in 1965 at Army, has 35 wins against Iowa, nine against Iowa State and one against Drake.
Yes, ol' Bobby Knight sure kicked the ass of most Iowa teams over the years.
My favorite Bobby Knight moment was from 1985 during the Purdue game. The infamous "chair tossing" incident:
And you can't beat then-Indiana player Steve Alford's quote about Knight:
Former President Gerald Ford was remembered in North Iowa Wednesday as a strong but gentle man who put love of country over personal political gains.
Ford visited Mason City on Aug. 11, 1986, 10 years after his presidency, to campaign for Fred Grandy, the television actor who was seeking his first term in Congress.
Grandy was most famous at that time for his portrayal of “Gopher” on the hit TV program “Love Boat.”
Ford reminded Grandy and the audience that “a sense of humor does not preclude a sense of responsibility.”
In the audience that day was Tom Latham of Alexander, a young Republican who represents North Iowa in Congress today.
“I had the chance to visit with President Ford that day. He was very warm and cordial. One thing I remember is that he asked me about my work and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say,” said Latham.
“I consider him to be a courageous man. When he pardoned President Nixon in 1974, he gave up any hope of winning the presidency in 1976.
“He put the country and the well-being of the citizens above his personal goals,” Latham said.
Tom Latham is full of shit. What is that guy smoking?
Last I looked, Ford actively ran for re-election in 1976 and lost to that Jew-hating, dictator-loving Peanutbrain from Georgia, Jimmy Carter, THE worst president ever and somebody who I wish would just hurry up and join Ford in the grave.
Who was Ford's main opponent in 1976? Ronald Reagan:
Reagan and the conservative wing of the Republican Party faulted Ford for failing to do more to assist South Vietnam (which finally collapsed in April 1975 with the fall of Saigon) and for his signing of the Helsinki Accords, which they took as implicit acceptance of Soviet domination over Eastern Europe. Conservatives were also infuriated by Ford's negotiations with Panama to hand over the Panama Canal.
Reagan began to openly criticize Ford starting in the summer of 1975, and formally launched his campaign in the autumn. Although Ford narrowly won the New Hampshire primary, Reagan won primaries across the nation, resulting in the closest primary season in American history. Reagan, who was unable to gain a majority of superdelegate votes or overcome fears that he was too inexperienced and too conservative, withdrew from the race at the end of the Republican Convention in Kansas City, but was permitted to address the delegates—virtually overshadowing Ford's own speech
Back to the column in the Glob Gazette. It's so dorky. Even the headline ("Gerald R. Ford inspired North Iowans and utilized their talents") is lame. And the facts are incomplete:
Not long after Ford became president in 1974, he began looking for a way to rally Americans to help fight inflation.
His administration developed what came to be called the “WIN” program — an acronym for “Whip Inflation Now.”
Online sales of Kum & Go T-shirts, ball caps and mugs got a big boost after a company shirt showed up briefly on actor Johnny Knoxville in the movie “Jackass Number Two.”
The West Des Moines-based chain of convenience stores had been selling a couple logoed items per day on its website (kumandgo.com) until the movie came out in September.
Since then, the average has jumped to 10 a day, said spokesman Paul Kluding.
With the release of a video of the movie this week, Kum & Go is selling a copy of the new Jackass video and a Kum & Go T-shirt on the web site for $30.
Actor Knoxville wears a black Kum & Go T-shirt in a movie scene where he tests Embassy security machines that shoot high-speed projectiles at suspected offenders.
I doubt there would be any interest if Johnny Knoxville was wearing a t-shirt that said "Casey's General Store" or "Kwik Shop" on it.
But when you start talking about a mainstream business that has an alternative spelling for baby batter, man juice, spunk, jizz, gentleman's relish, baby gravy, and cock snot, then you've got an obvious winner.
My issue is with the examples that reporters use in their stories. How is it that reporters are always able to find the biggest losers to exploit?
I remember a couple of years ago when the Quad City Times used a woman by the name of Miranda Charbonneau as an example in series of stories exploiting minimum wage workers. Charbonneau was a complete piece of shit as a human being, but the news series didn't mention any history about her. Likewise in the recent Dorman-penned story, the reader gets no more detail about the person other than what is offered (she has computer skills, lost her job, took out two car-title loans, and moans about why the US doesn't have socialized medicine).
Back to the criticism of the recent Dorman story, Common Iowan uses a quote from To Kill A Mockingbird to make me look bad:
You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.
What's wrong with expecting people to keep a job, save for emergencies, not resorting to borrowing money via loanshark car-title loans, or complaining about not getting their health care for "free" even though these bums never do bother to pay their bills? Should I not be able to criticize somebody who can't manage their money or their life worth a crap?
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.
Mainstream Iowan comments this morning on a Des Moines Register article concerning Democrat Tom Miller's attempt to block public access to Vilsack-appointed flunky Jonathan "I'm Gay" Wilson's attempts to overbill the whitewashing of the CIETC scandal.
What do you call this? Raping the taxpayer in the ass without a condom? And then trying to cover it up?
Like a lot of Iowans, Deb Walker has heard Democrats promise over and over again to swiftly raise the state’s minimum wage when they take over the Statehouse next month.
The Des Moines woman said she supports the idea of raising the state’s wage floor from $5.15 per hour to $7.25, although it’s been many years since Walker worked for wages in that range.
She has a two-year college degree and a long list of computer skills. But Walker recently lost her customer service job and is wrestling with the difficulties of a growing but cruelly unpredictable economy.
She took out two car title loans to pay for car repairs. The interest rate eclipsed 250 percent, she said.
And like more than 260,000 Iowans, Walker doesn’t have health insurance.
“I’ve got some medical issues, but basically you’re just out there,” said Walker, who recalled a trip to Canada several years ago where she encountered that country’s national health care system.
“Why don’t we have that here? Why do we have people who don’t have health insurance?” Walker said. “That’s just not right. We’re one of the richest countries in this world. Why can’t somebody do something?”
I don't know where to begin with this.
What's this "cruelly unpredictable economy" BS that Dorman interjects into the story? The unemployment rate in Iowa is something like 3.4% and, last I saw, anybody who could turn on a computer was guaranteed a relatively decent paying job.
It's funny how reporters always seem to find the dumbest of the dumb. Anybody who's taking out two car title loans to pay for car repairs doesn't have their shit together. These people never have a job. No savings. No credit. No home equity to tap. No retirement fund to take a loan from. Nothing to sell. No assets whatsoever. And how much could a couple of car repairs cost? On a beater, that's going to be $1000 at the most.
Finally, if Canada's health insurance system is so great, why doesn't Deb move there? Just change countries. Adios, eh.
"Almost every state is addressing this. I can't think of one that doesn't have some sort of urban management system," said Willie Suchy, who specializes in deer control for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "It's important because without some sort of control, deer populations will grow, and they'll grow quickly."
...Based on Suchy's estimates, the number of deer in Polk County would be almost four times larger without the controlled hunts, which Suchy said are likely to continue indefinitely to maintain a safe population level.
"At some level, deer are just fine. At a higher level, deer are kind of a problem. And at an even higher level, deer are intolerable," he said.
Suchy said deer begin to affect vegetation when they reach a concentration of about 15 to 20 per square mile. In urban areas, where more emphasis is placed on deer-human interaction than ecological effects, Suchy said a concentration of up to 35 deer per square mile is a comfortable goal for population control.
This is why Willie Suchy and everybody else at the Iowa DNR needs to be fired.
These government idiots want the urban deer population at levels 133% above what the DNR considers a problem with household gardens. Talk about mismanagement!
Iowa's deer population needs to be brought down least 90%, to pre-1980 levels. Back in 1980, Iowa had around 55,000 deer. Today, it has somewhere between 500,000 and 600,000 of the over-sized rats wandering around the state.
John Carlson's Dec. 3 column lambasting the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for Kevin Kelly's deer problem was very one-sided ("Deer Shootings Lead To Day in Court"). The DNR is doing a tremendous job at keeping the population in check. I saw less doe in the field this year.
It seems as if Kelly didn't give many other options a chance and began to simply blast away. He complained about the depredation license and didn't try it. If he has enough money for lawyers and legal fees on his mission to discredit the DNR, then he has enough to buy some deer fencing.
Does Kelly let hunters onto his property? If not, then he's like many other areas in Iowa that become deer havens. He can give me a call any time. I can help him with his problem and get some choice meat for the freezer. Sounds like he shoots first and asks questions later.
- Kent Chapman, Indianola.
Nice sucker punch, ass wipe.
Iowa DNR head Jeff Vonk is from Indianola. What do you want to bet that Kent Chapman knows Jeff Vonk?
According to a poll from The Research 2000 Iowa poll released by KCCI, 22 percent of Iowa Democrats say they would vote for Senator John Edwards and Senator Barrack Obama if the 2008 Democratic caucus were held today.
Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack came in third with 12 percent of the vote, while New York Senator Hillary Clinton came in fourth with 10 percent of the vote.
Meanwhile, on the Republican end of the spectrum, if the 2008 Republican Caucus were held today, Sen. John McCain would come in at number one, with 27 percent of Iowa Republicans polled saying they would pick him. Next came former New York mayor Rudy Guiliani with 26 percent of the vote, while conservative Republican Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came in third with 9 percent of the votes.
I can't imagine that either party is happy with any of these names.
On the Democratic side, Edwards couldn't win his "home" state in 2004, Black Hussein Obama is all hype, Vilsack is a joke, and everybody loves to hate Hitlery.
On the Republican side, I can't imagine any konservatives would be interested in Insane McVain or Mayor Rudy, much less the robotic-looking Man From St Ives wearing the special underwear.
Inevitably, the Republicans in Iowa usually get to choose from a preacher or two. You know, Pat Robertson, Gary Bauer, or Alan Keyes. I think 2008's Republican ticket should also include Sex Preacher Joe Beam:
For 15 years, Joe Beam preached the word of God. Now in God's house, he preaches about good, hot Christian sex.
"I get questions about oral sex, pornography, foreplay, everything you can imagine. People ask and I blatantly answer them. Some Christian people are amazed that my answers are what they are because its not what they've been taught all their lives,"
...Minister Beam covers many taboo issues in his seminars that many Christians have become accustomed to being ashamed of.
For example, said Beam at one seminar, the Bible actually says nothing about the use of vibrators and in fact, he encouraged the audience to play games with each other, with or without mechanical aids. "There's nothing in the bible that says anything about masturbation," he said.
A 49-year-old man was found dead after a fall from the parking garage at Harrah's Casino in Council Bluffs.
The man's body was found about 3 am. Sunday.
A police report lists the preliminary cause of death as severe head trauma.
The report indicates the man may have jumped from the top of the parking garage. The investigation is continuing.
Iowa should have a state constitutional amendment forcing casinos to put safety nets around any building higher than 10 feet. That will solve problems like this one.
Kwanzaa is rooted in the Swahili word "kwanza," meaning "first fruits." Many blacks have celebrated the holiday since its founding in 1966 by Maulana Karenga.
In 1966 Ron Karenga created Kwanzaa while in California, as the leader of the black nationalist United Slaves Organization (also known as the "US Organization"), in order to give African Americans an alternative holiday to Christmas. He later stated, "...it was chosen to give a Black alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society."
...An additional "a" was added to "Kwanza" so that the word would have seven letters. At the time there were seven children in Karenga's United Slaves Organization, each wanted to represent one of the letters in Kwanzaa. Also, the name was meant to have a letter for each of what Karenga called the "Seven Principles of Blackness". Kwanzaa is also sometimes spelled "kwaanza"...
...In 1967, a year after Karenga proposed this new holiday, he publicly espoused the view that "Jesus was psychotic" and that Christianity was a white religion that blacks should shun.
It's amazing how much schools push Kwanzaa. If you have kids, you know what I'm talking about. For a "holiday" that nobody celebrates, it sure has a grip on lefty institutions, although it's probably because of the all the "diversity" bullshit. And never mind the racist origins.
I'm sure if the pedophiles came out with a "holiday" as an alternative to Christmas, you'd probably see it included in all the alternative propaganda and media by lefties. Except that you can't mention Christmas anymore.
"This unfortunately reminds me of when Hitler began rounding up the Jews for no reason and locking them up," Democratic Party activist Carla Vela said. "Now they're coming for the Latinos, who will they come for next?"
Maybe Santa Claus! That name sounds sort of Mexican, doesn't it? At least the "Santa" part does.
Via Greg Alan's blog, this is from the subscription portion of the Cedar Rapids Gazette:
Presidential candidate Tom Vilsack’s suggestion that ‘‘no one in their right mind’’ would fund an indoor rain forest in Iowa came as a surprise to the project’s supporters who previously counted on his support.
Among them is Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican who secured a $50 million grant for the $180 million project if matching funds are raised.
‘‘My, oh my, it sure makes a difference in your opinion of this project if you’re running for president instead of governor of Iowa,’’ Grassley said in an e-mail to The Gazette on Wednesday.
The $13 per person "high tea" service and $12 bagel breaks will be gone from the January directors meeting of the government's legal aid program for the poor. And the meeting will be held at the headquarters conference room rather than the upscale hotel used in the past.
After criticism from Congress and the program's internal watchdog and several articles by The Associated Press, the Legal Services Corp. has decided to temper the expensive tastes of its top officials while poor clients are turned away for lack of money.
Internal memos, provided to the AP voluntarily by a Legal Services official, made clear there would be no more $70 lunches and $14 "Death By Chocolate" desserts at board meetings...
...After the outcry over its spending, the program decided to impose the same expense limits that apply to federal workers. Three members of Congress expressed outrage at the extravagance: Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo.
"It looks like the Legal Services Corporation learned its lesson," Grassley said in a statement. "I hope $14 cookies and limo rides around town are a thing of the past."
There are still tears in my eyes. I've been laughing so much at this.
I wish I could put a laugh track on this blog. It would be going for about 4 or 5 minutes after that highlighted quote above by Grassley.
So much for Chuck Grassley's recent reach-around with Vilsack.
You know what? Everybody has been talking about how Steve King ought to challenge Tom Harkin in 2008. Forget that. I think Steve King ought to wait until 2010 and then kick Chuck Grassley's filthy, phony, pork-ridden, deficit-creating RINO ass out of the Senate forever.
Tom Harkin may love illegals and dictators, but at least you know where he stands. But when it comes to Chuck Grassley, you never know when you might need to change his diaper.
And now, folks, here's some YouTube action from just a couple months ago:
Update 12/22/06: From a longtime reader, here's the complete text of the story by reporter James Lynch that was published in the December 21st edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette:
Presidential candidate Tom Vilsack's suggestion that "no one in their right mind" would fund an indoor rain forest in Iowa came as a surprise to the project's supporters who previously counted on his support.
Among them is Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican who secured a $50 million grant for the $180 million project if matching funds are raised.
"My, oh my, it sure makes a difference in your opinion of this project if you're running for president instead of governor of Iowa," Grassley said in an e-mail to The Gazette on Wednesday.
In the past, Grassley said, Vilsack has championed the project.
Tuesday night, however, the two-term Iowa governor, who is seeking the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, used the Department of Energy grant as an example of bad budgeting.
"With all due respect to those who support the rain forest, it's nuts that it got $50 million" from the federal government, Vilsack told more than 100 people at a Vilsack for President gathering at the Waterloo Public Library.
The money was made available only because Grassley chairs the Senate Finance Committee, Vilsack said.
"So he got $50 million for a project that no one in their right mind would fund," Vilsack said.
Although Vilsack's supporters applauded, Earthpark supporters were surprised and somewhat puzzled because of the governor's past support for the project, now slated to be built in Pella.
Early this year, Vilsack told The Gazette the state is ready and willing to participate in its development if Earthpark developers can show "significant" private investment.
In fact, the federal grant is contingent upon securing matching private funds, Earthpark Executive Director David Oman said. If Earthpark can't raise $50 million by December 2007, the $50 million federal grant reverts to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Earthpark, Oman said, is much more than a rain forest, and Vilsack's comments "suggest that, in this instance, he is looking at it in a one-dimensional way."
"This project is well-known, but, at times, not well-understood," he said about the plans for a 4-acre indoor rain forest, 600,000-gallon aquarium, exterior prairie and wetland exhibits and environmental galleries.
And, ironically, Oman said, the project is all about one of Vilsack's priorities: championing renewable and alternative energy technology.
The building "will deploy and demonstrate alternative and renewable energy technology, and timing couldn't be better than in an era of $70 a barrel oil," Oman said.
Vilsack for President spokesman Jeff Link told The Gazette there's no questioning Vilsack's commitment to clean energy technology.
"Green technology is a priority of the governor's, and he has done a lot on the issue without spending $50 million on a rain forest," Link said.
Pella and neighboring communities have shown support for the project, as have labor unions that see it as a "job-creation engine," according to Oman.
He also cited support from Democrats U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin and U.S. 3rd District Rep. Leonard Boswell, who has been "extraordinarily supportive."
Referring to Vilsack's prior support, Grassley referred to the governor's comments championing the project in a Los Angeles Times story.
"Gov. Tom Vilsack applauds the project for sending `a strong and bold message that we're doing something different - and better - than the rest of the country,'-" according to the March 1999 Times story.
Vilsack's remarks Tuesday probably reflected the debate about Earthpark and the use of federal funds that occurred before the November election, Link said.
Vilsack's successor, Democratic Gov.-elect Chet Culver, was highly critical of the project as an example of the wasteful federal spending. The so-called earmarks, where members of Congress earmark federal funding for projects in their home district, became an issue in Culver's race against U.S. House Budget Chairman Rep. Jim Nussle, a Manchester Republican.
"If anything, the debate that occurred in the fall about this issue has done as much as anything to further his thinking on it," Link said.
Funny how there's nothing in the Waterloo Courier (the town where Vilsack spoke), much less the Des Moines Register.
And look at Chuck Grassley. He has to point to a newspaper article over 7 years ago to show Vilsack's support of the project. That was long before David Oman failed to raise a single dime of private money beyond Ted Townsend's $10 million initial pledge.
Also, if Oman doesn't get his matching funds by December 2007 (and forget figuring out how to pay for the entire project...), who's going to pay backthe $2.9 million Oman's already spent? Does some reporter want to ask David Oman or Chuck Grassley that question? Or is everybody too scared? Waaaa waaaa waaaaa, let's worry more about $12 bagels and private plane-pool flights for Regents to Iowa City that cost a few hundred bucks per. Let's not go after fauxscal conservative and porker Chuck Grassley and that con artist David Oman. Oh, no. Won't do that. Not in Mossback Iowa.
Iowa's gas-station operators are not burning a path to take advantage of new state incentives to help install pumps that offer motorists fuel blended with 85 percent ethanol -- a product they say is a slow seller due to a low number of flex-fuel vehicles.
Iowa Economic Development Board members were told today that 24 grants totaling about $650,000 have been awarded so far under a $13 million program that provides state matching funds for deploying pumps to dispense E-85 or bio-diesel fuels. The incentive program was designed to help the state eventually meet a statewide renewable fuel standard.
Dawn Carlson of the Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores of Iowa said there is reluctance to make a commitment of capital and space for the specialized pumps right now because of low and miscalculated demand factors.
"This legislation that was enacted this year was based on some false facts. There are not 100,000 flex-fuel vehicles in the state of Iowa, there are only 55,000 flex-fuel vehicles. So we've got a lot of growing to do yet before that demand for E-85 increases," she said.
"We've got people that have put in E-85 already who have taken it out because people aren't buying it," Carlson added.
I don't know if I buy the Sporer's partisan swipe against all Democrats, though.
Sure, we all know that Vilsack dreamed of importing 310,000 illegal, wage-killing, slave laborers into Iowa on behalf of the Democrats' non-union campaign contributors. And we know how Tom Harkin has a permanent hard-on when it comes to granting illegals amnesty, Social Security, and god knows what else of yours.
Still, there are other Democrats with some brain matter left in their heads, such as Dave Loebsack:
Loebsack says the best way to do so is clamp down on the employers who hire illegal immigrants. People follow job opportunities, the thinking goes, so removing the jobs alleviates a large part of the problem. Loebsack wants to create stiffer penalties for employers who knowingly hire people who are in the country illegally, including criminal penalties.
As Governor, Culver will focus on the root of the problem by holding companies accountable for hiring illegal immigrants when they could be hiring Americans at higher wages. Culver would enforce tough civil and criminal penalties for companies hiring illegal immigrants. Those companies would also be denied state tax breaks and state assistance.
“Throughout this campaign, I have been crystal clear: illegal is illegal,” said Culver. “I believe we need to start by by holding companies that hire illegal immigrants accountable with tough penalties – something Congressman Nussle has not just failed to do, but voted against repeatedly. In the Culver-Judge administration, we will enforce our immigration and employment rules to the fullest extent of the law – including deportation as required, and ensuring that illegal immigrants are not receiving taxpayer-funded services to which they are not entitled.”
If Culver and the Democrats in the Iowa Legislature can put in place reasonable penalties against companies like Swift who knowingly employ illegals, that would be a good start, wouldn't it?
The University of Iowa paid nearly $2,900 for two members of the Iowa Board of Regents and the board's executive director to fly from Des Moines to Iowa City and back four times for meetings involving the U of I's failed presidential search, records show.
The flights were provided in March, April and May by a company owned by the husband of one of the regents, Teresa Wahlert of Waukee...
...Steinke rode with Wahlert on all four flights. Regents President Michael Gartner of Des Moines flew with Wahlert twice.
If you do the math it's not that bad of a deal.
If each Regent drove by themselves to Iowa City, they would have been reimbursed 44.5 cents per mile by the IRS in 2006. From Des Moines to Iowa City, it's about a 230 mile round trip or just over $100 a person. Without plane-pooling, all these automobile trips would have individually totaled over $1000, not including any other deductions or reimbursements they might be entitled to for staff, drivers, or man-servant.
And you do have to take into account that a Regent isn't going to be some Joe Blow working the killing floor at Swift in Marshalltown. They're all bigwig execs to one degree or another. And if Wahlert's hubby has a plane to rent, big deal. As long as he's not charging $20,000, who cares?
What in the hell is this? Does the U.S. Department of Homeland Security not know the difference between poor people working to support their families and terrorists who bomb our people and destroy property?
Please leave our people alone. They are working hard so we as a nation can eat good and inexpensive food. These immigrants are doing jobs nobody else wants.
The line of applicants hoping to fill jobs vacated by undocumented workers taken away by immigration agents at the Swift & Co. meat-processing plant earlier this week was out the door Thursday.
Dubuque native Brent Appel's children helped him don a black judicial robe Tuesday as Iowa's 106th Supreme Court justice and then paused for a group hug.
Appel's five children -- including his 3-week-old son in the arms of wife and state Sen.-elect Staci Appel, D-Ackworth -- joined dozens of colleagues, associates and friends to watch the 56-year-old Des Moines attorney be sworn in by Gov. Tom Vilsack.
Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa wrote Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff today to say he is “appalled” by the process used to detain and deport workers in raids earlier this month at six Swift & Co. packing plants, including one in Marshalltown...
...It has been “almost impossible” for lawyers and members of the clergy to gain access to workers who were detained, and workers were taken to other states without being granted access to lawyers, Harkin said.
In the comments section is the following:
I don't believe this article is saying Tom Harkin is for illegal immigration. It stated that he is for immigration reform. What he is talking about here is the maltreatment of human beings.
Maltreatment? Are you kidding me? Next thing you know, they'll be talking about torture.
So when America needed more hi-tech workers, Harkin was against it. But he's for letting millions of unskilled illegals come to America to work as slave laborers for the food processing giants.
I don't understand how partisan Democrats can continue to vote for Tom Harkin. You'd think a pro-Union fella would be against illegal immigrants who kill wages, allow slave labor conditions to prevail, and wreck industries. It honestly boggles my mind.
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Dec. 18 announced that Iowa consumers have four new locations to fuel up with homegrown E85 – Harlan, West Point, Dunlap and Grinnell. Iowa now has 55 stations offering E85.
All four stations received funding through the Iowa Values Fund Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program, which is managed by the IRFA, to install the E85 equipment.
A total of $325,000 per year was allocated to help expand the availability of both E85 and biodiesel.
Entities wishing to install E85 or biodiesel retailing sites or biodiesel blending terminals can now apply for grants through a new $13 million Iowa Department of Economic Development infrastructure program.
That's $13 million down a rathole.
There are 980 people living in West Point, and just over 1100 in Dunlap. How many E85-compatible cars do you think are in those areas? Maybe a handful? And how many of those people are going to be long-term customers of the heavily-subsidized hooch? Probably not many.
I can't imagine that there would be many customers in Harlan (pop. 5200). Maybe a few in Grinnell (pop. 9100). Certainly not enough to justify the millions of dollars wasted on E85 pumps.
According to the prices reported in this E85 forum, it's not even worth putting a tankful in your car thanks to the 25% to 30% decrease in mileage performance.
A Scott County, Iowa District Court dismissed on November 27 a speed camera citation mailed to a Colorado man because the city of Davenport was unable to prove its devices were accurate. On Friday, Davenport faced another court challenge to its photo ticketing which has so far generated $234,000 in profit.
The November ruling was heard as a civil matter which lowered the burden of proof for Davenport. city only had to provide "satisfactory and convincing evidence" that William Wayne Greenfield had driven his 1993 Ford van 49 MPH in a 35 zone on May 18. A Davenport Police "community service officer" -- not a sworn policeman -- testified that he issued the citation in question without reviewing the ticket generated by private vendor Nestor.
Officer Christopher Anderson testified regarding the alleged violation in the photograph and how the device worked. When asked how the number "49" appears on the citation, Anderson replied:
"That's more of a technical question in what I would be able to answer, I believe. -- It is integrated into -- the camera and the laser system are integrated, and that's where the information comes from. How exactly it gets there I don't know how."
Under further questioning, Anderson admitted he relied on Nestor to tell him the 49 MPH speed displayed on the ticket was accurate. The court concluded that absent any evidence that the speed camera produced an accurate reading, he could not find Greenfield guilty and ordered Davenport to pay the court costs.
Also, in the Des Moines Register, is a story about how a Scott County judge is going to rule on Davenport's red-light cameras early next year. I'd be surprised if that was overturned.
Governor Vilsack, the first Democrat to announce he's running for president, has found an unlikely ally of sorts -- Republican Senator Chuck Grassley. Grassley says he did not watch Vilsack's appearance Monday night on a national cable TV show as he forgot about it, but Grassley says Iowa's outgoing chief executive certainly has a good shot at becoming the nation's leader.
Grassley says "He's not known very well now. He could become known. I remember Jimmy Carter wasn't very well known when he ran for president but he lived in Iowa for two years, got 20-percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses and it catapulted him into being president." Grassley says Vilsack has gotten some bad press since he recently declared his intentions to seek the White House, press Grassley says Vilsack doesn't deserve.
Grassley says "I keep reading in Iowa newspapers about how this is a problem for him or that's a problem for him. I would simply say to those newspapers, 'Why don't you lay off the guy? Give him a chance to campaign for six months and then make a judgment about whether or not he's got a chance to be president.'"
Grassley clarifies his political position and says he does -not- want Vilsack to win in 2008. Grassley says "I want somebody that's more conservative to be president but I still think that we as Iowans ought to be proud that we've got one of our own that's running for president and one that is a candidate for president who has some presence as he appears, which means that, maybe over a period of time, people will learn to love him."
What the hell is Chuck Grassley talking about here? None of this makes any sense. Is it time to change his diaper?
Here's a letter in the Quad City Times with a lot of comments that is worth looking at. It's about how WKBF in the Quad Cities switched from a Far Leftoid talk show format (Air America) to Christian/Christian Talk.
Commercial lefty talk radio always seems to fail, but lefty newspapers still seem to make money despite the diminishing returns. Although with newspapers like the Des Moines Register, they have a virtual monopoly on the Central Iowa market.
It's fun to think about such things, even if it probably doesn't make economic sense. A "moderate" daily newspaper for Central Iowa would certainly be a money-burner, although it would kick Gannett in the nuts over time and piss off the constantly-angry far leftoids, which would be fun to see.
Recently, during a washingtonpost.com chat, a reader in Orange, Calif., asked: “What about Vilsack? He’s an experienced governor/executive, wins as an underdog at the ballot box, after being ignored by the press. He’s Midwestern, he’s a centrist, and he isn’t Hillary Clinton. Are you not mentioning him in the MSM (mainstream media) because he hasn’t got the money of Hillary Clinton?”
As it happened, just the previous week I had interviewed Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack for the ninth or tenth time in the last few years and was planning to write about him soon...
For example, Vilsack. Here are a few things to know. He is retiring voluntarily this month after eight years as governor of Iowa. As governor, Vilsack has pressed a progressive agenda, emphasizing education, health care, energy conservation and economic development. Like Clinton, he was a leader in the bipartisan National Governors Association.
As the current chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, the caucus of Clinton moderates, he has worked with some success to bridge the gap with organized labor, whose leaders often saw the DLC as their bitter rival in intraparty debates. With union support at home, Vilsack helped heal that division.
Progressive agenda = stacking State boards with assholes like Michael Gartner or non-Iowans like Ruth Harkin.
Emphasizing education = teacher pay fell to 40th under Vilsack; can't get a University of Iowa president picked
Health care = Zee State Politburo and his buddies at Wellmark denied all requests for new hospitals not in downtown Des Moines
Energy conservation: Ethanol, ethanol, ethanol.
Economic development = taxpayer-financed corporate welfare
Mercy Medical Center has rejected a suggestion that it voluntarily let state officials judge its plan to build a West Des Moines hospital...
...Mercy Vice President Joseph LeValley said Monday that his company will stick with its intention to build without permission from the Iowa Health Facilities Council. The council is set up to judge whether large medical projects are economical or would needlessly inflate health care costs. But Mercy intends to use an exemption that has allowed other hospital companies to sidestep the council when replacing facilities within a county...
Mercy has asked the Health Facilities Council to confirm its interpretation of the rules. The state's largest health insurer, Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield, has filed a formal objection. Wellmark says that under state law, all new hospitals should require approval from the council.
There's much more to this story, and it's rather complicated. (Mercy closes, builds a new hospital in WDM. Lutheran closes, builds a new hospital in WDM. Broadlawns closes, moves to the old Lutheran building after renovations.)
Surely the Politburo still doesn't want to allow any hospital from building a new facility where the patients are moving and living. What about the poor and the indigent and the drug addicted and the illegals without health insurance?!?!?!?!? Zee central planning committee must keep health scare in downtown Death Moans at all costs.
Some Iowa church leaders are upset with how an immigration raid was handled earlier this week...
...Church leaders said they are angry with the way federal immigration officials handled the raid and denied detainees legal counsel and access by clergy...
Hundreds filled Grace United Methodist Church on Sunday night for a vigil. The faith-based community came together for a common cause, to support families of those detained in the illegal immigration sweep.
"People who were feeling the kind of anguish and pain, the issues of family and separation, could not -- at least early on -- receive appropriate legal counsel," said Bishop Gregory Palmer of United Methodist Church.
"The decision to keep our governor, our governor-elect and the city mayor in the dark speaks of a federal arrogance which is dangerously trickling down," said the Rev. Jean McCarthy of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa...
..."If you understand the fact that we are all brothers and sisters, then we all should work for a just and equitable immigration policy," said Rev. Walter May of the Lutheran Church of America.
Where are the "Separation Of Church And State" types when you need them?
In 2004, Kimberly's husband, Jeff, a member of the Marine Reserves, and her sons, Ryan and Justen, active-duty Marines, all were in Iraq at the same time.
Jeff, a Des Moines firefighter, made it home from that deployment without injury. Ryan, now 23, was caught in a hellish firefight in Ramadi in April of that year and wasn't so lucky.
"Ryan was shot in the leg," she said...
...Justen, now 21, was injured by an improvised explosive device attack in that first deployment...
Then came word Justen has been ordered on a third seven-month deployment to Iraq and is scheduled to leave with his unit early next year.
This woman, who describes herself as a "pissed-off mom," vows to make sure it doesn't happen.
She's just one woman trying to influence a sprawling military bureaucracy to do what she believes is the right thing for her family. The way Kimberly sees it, she has no choice.
"This is something I have to do," she said, sitting on the edge of a couch in the family's comfortable new home south of Norwalk. "I'm not anti-military, and I'm proud of my husband and sons and their service. I'm not political. I'm not going to stand in front of the White House with a sign, screaming at the president. I just know that sending Justen back over there is morally wrong."
She also knows that her sons enlisted together of their own free will, without coercion, in July 2003. Yes, it was over her objections - the truth is, she begged them not to go - but they wouldn't listen. They'd played football and wrestled in school. They had jobs. And the way they saw it, they had a duty.
"They both said, 'Mom, this is something we have to do.' They knew they'd be sent to Iraq, but they were ready to go.
I still believe that people want to read something other than "soldier dies" and "mom is pissed off at war" stories. This shit's gotten so old. And you know you're being manipulated by the media when they print this sort of crap without talking to the husband or the sons. It's just pure propaganda that tries to constantly sway public opinion.
Reaction in the comments section is overwhelmingly negative.
You know, I remember in March and April of 2005 when the Register, especially Rekha Basu and Dick Doak, wrote negative stories about Wal-Mart having 845 employees (out of 17,000) in Iowa who still qualified for Medicaid. Even though I'm sure that most of the employees who still qualify under the government's rules are mostly 70-and-80-something door greeters working a few hours a week, the reporters didn't bother with researching who was getting the benefits.
Contrast that with the pro-illegal advocacy agenda of the Des Moines Register. You don't see Jennifer Janeczko Jacobs doing a story about how the illegals cost Iowa and Federal taxpayers dearly. There's no stories about the tax returns that aren't filed. No stories about all the money coming from Title 19. No stories about how these illegals don't pay their medical bills. No stories about how they don't have car insurance. No stories about how their non-English speaking children flood our schools and take up value education time and money from the legal children who can speak English. No stories about the gang activity. No stories about all the meth and pot imported from Mexico. No stories on the lives of citizens who have had their identity stolen from Mexicans. No stories about the strain on the criminal justice system.
No way. You're not going to hear those stories in the Des Moines Register in their quest for another Pulitzer Prize.
What representation of Catholicism is a Single Mom who has 5 children? Why doesn't the priest tell her that she should not continue to have children without a father.. absolutely disgraceful.. How about the Register reporting on the amount of Medicaid and Food Stamps she received based on her three illegal alien Anchor Babies...Stealing from American Taxpayers...while praying the Rosary...the Church is gravely misguided here. God help us.
Illegal immigration is a problem because liberals cry 'foul' everytime a conservative wants to solve the problem. I do agree that many Republicans cave to the PC pressure by liberals (this article is an excellent example), but remember...democrats won't even try to solve the problem. Why? No problems=no votes for democrats. DEMOCRATS LOVE UNRESOLVED PROBLEMS.
"Undocumented workers contribute more in taxes to our social services than they consume." Ahh, trying to blow a little smoke? Want to talk about the tens of billions of overall cost to this country? Want to talk about the recent bogus Texas state study where even after trying to skew the numbers their bottom line showed a net deficit? Want to talk about the thousands of Americans killed by illegals every year? That's a cost I'd like to see reduced. Want to talk about the number of illegals in prison for committing crimes other than simply being here without papers?
Oh, man. What a doozy the Register picked as their poster child for the evilness of the federal government finally getting off their collective dead asses and upholding our laws. This should get every law-abiding citizen of this country off our dead asses and do something. This is a woman who snuck across the border 14 years ago and still doesn't know English? Continues to have anchor babies with no father in sight? This is their poster child? And her behavior is going to get her a green card. Isn't that nice. The longer she flouts our laws, the more chance she has of staying here. That is counter-intuitive to me. I am so disgusted at the Register right now for trying to feed us their b.s. right on the front few pages.
The Register waves the bloody shirt as well as any leftist fishwrap in the nation. Sensibe Iowans have to endure this tripe disguised as "journalism."
I would also make this observation. Yes, Ms. Mendoza was detained. We all get that. But, again, in spite of the wailing at the Register et al, she apparently got some level of due process, even though she is not a citizen of this country, state or city. The article even named the attorney. Through the efforts of that attorney, who discussed the matter with ICE management; Ms. Mendoza was returned to her family. This doesn't sound like she was exactly in the hands of the gestapo as many would have us believe.
I am not surprised to see that the DMR has yet again printed another "heart wrenching" story about the illegal aliens.I can't help but notice that this woman has been in this country, the USA for over 13 years and still cannot speak English nor could she understand the language.There has been no mention of the childrens father in this piece so I wonder how many fathers do these children have?How many of them are being taken care of by Title 19?How much money have the legal citizens of the USA spent to take care of this woman and her children during her nearly 14 yr stay in this country? This woman is just one of thousands who are in this country illegally and obviously have no intention whatsoever of becoming a "legal" citizen,if she had started the legal paperwork 14 yrs ago she may have become a permanent citizen by now,but this way the DMR has yet another story to reach out to the liberal goody two shoes and make their hearts break. But this reader is not crying nor feeling sorry for them. This reader says "Its about time something is done !!! Kudos to ICE and everyone associated with ICE !"
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.
The CIETC scandal and the legal battle over who will repay $1.5 million misspent by the agency is costing taxpayers an average of $1,200 per day in legal fees...
Newly disclosed reports from the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium show that since March, the Des Moines job-training agency has been billed for almost $300,000 worth of legal fees. The vast majority of those costs are tied directly to the CIETC payroll scandal and the resulting overhaul of the agency.
I could quote more, especially Jonathan "I'm Gay" Wilson's $210 an hour meter that's currently running at the behest of Tom Vilsack, but we already know how FUBAR the whole CIETC thing is and will continue to be.
And from the Register's comments section:
How can they do this? This money should be coming out of the pockets of the CITEC board members, not the taxpayers. I'd like to thank our government for ripping us off again. Good luck getting your sales tax raise.
As I've said before, the unemployment rate in Iowa is something like 3.6%. Why is CIETC even needed? Other than to pork our the Federal deficit, employ a bunch of inbred Democrat losers, and now enrich the pockets of lawyers.
Oh yeah, and fuck taxpayers in the ass. Maybe that's why Vilsack appointed a homo lawyer for the job.
ESPNU is showing the Iowa/Drake men's basketball game tonight. Drake is up 14 just after the start of the second half.
Wouldn't that be something else if Dr Tom's team won against the Hawkeyes, a team Drake has never beat? Especially since Steve Alford was hired (at around a million dollars a year) to replace Dr Tom (who was pulling down about $250,000 a year back then) and his substantial winning record at Iowa, a record Alford has failed to match.
And I still remember Bob Bowlsby, the asshole former Athletic Director at Iowa, trashing Dr Tom after hiring Alford.
So what did Dr Tom do? He took a couple years off, accepted the Drake job, and turned around the program. The Bulldogs even beat Iowa State a couple weeks ago.
Dr Tom announced recently that he'll be retiring soon. It would be great payback for the Bulldogs to beat the Hawkeyes.
Update: Don't miss the Hawk Central forum for this game!
"He was real, and he was Iowa," said Kathie Swift, a retired fair official. "If he said something, people didn't have to wonder whether it was a good project. They believed him."
Perhaps that's because so many had performed in front of him. Of all his accomplishments, Riley's most lasting legacy will likely remain the statewide talent search he began 47 years ago.
Several generations of Iowa dancers, singers and musicians competed for a chance to reach the State Fair stage. For years, Riley hosted competitions in school gymnasiums in every Iowa county, racking up 15,000 miles a year on his car.
Some of those performers, like Simon Estes and Carrie McDowell, went on to professional careers, but Riley saved his most encouraging words for those who tried year after year without winning anything.
Many kept in touch as they grew older and had children of their own. They sent photos and invited him to weddings.
Ten years ago, when Riley celebrated his 50th year at the fair, former performers traveled to Des Moines to toast him. They described his influence on their lives.
From Dennis Naughton, who won first prize in 1966 with a ventriloquist act: "He's one of the four or five most important people in my life. In my mind I can close my eyes and see him with a microphone in his hand. There are so many people who learned not to say no to themselves because of him.
Never a contestant, I was one of the thousands of Des Moines kids who watched eagerly when the Talent Search competition was on KRNT in the 60’s. Those performers were my Iowa Generation’s American Idol as we cheered and commented on who we like and who deserved to go on. And when my neighbor down the street, Jeff Jeffries (playing Lady of Spain on the accordian, no less), won, the whole East Side was delirious with pride. I continue to watch the finals on TV every year. I doubt that there is any state in the country who was blessed with a Bill Riley the way that we were. We were lucky to have him with us for so long. Thank you, Riley family, for sharing him with all of us.
I remember mostly the baton twirlers. Inevitably, the gal who twirled a flaming baton highest in the air would win. That was the best.
U.S. Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana has decided not to run for president in 2008.
Bayh, a Democrat, had been spending considerable time and money exploring his chances in Iowa. He said he determined that his chances of winning weren't good enough to continue with his campaign.
"At the end of the day, I concluded that due to circumstances beyond our control the odds were longer than I felt I could responsibly pursue," Bayh said in a statement Saturday morning. "This path -- and these long odds -- would have required me to be essentially absent from the Senate for the next year instead of working to help the people of my state and the nation."
Out of all the prospective Democrats, I thought Bayh looked the best on paper: He's been a governor, so he's got executive experience. He got elected to the Senate in a Red State. He's a legacy, so he's connected. Bayh's been known to be more of a fiscal conservative. And he voted to reauthorize the Patriot Act. Stuff like that. And even though Indiana is a northern state, I think he'd have a lot better chance in the South than, say, John Edwards, who couldn't win his own state in 2004. Bayh would certainly do better in the South than Hitlery, where they hate her Yankee ass.
It's also good to hear him jab the other prospects by admitting that running for POTUS takes up time from the day job. That hasn't stopped Hitlery, Hussein Obama, the Waitress Sandwich, Mr Hairplug, or the V from playing hookey.
...Al Green will be the headliner for the "One Iowa Gala" to be held at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City on Thursday, January 11th. He'll share the stage with a few other Iowa musicians. Actor Tom Arnold, an Iowa native who attended the University of Iowa, will emcee the event.
Wait a second, I screwed that up.
That picture above is Al Green, the professional wrestler. Not Al Green, the singer.
Rep.-elect Bruce Braley, D-Ia., said he has called for greater enforcement of immigration laws, but the Bush administration needs to make sure the law is enforced not just against individuals but also against employers. "Until employers realize that they will be held accountable for hiring undocumented workers, we will continue to have a problem with illegal immigration in the United States," Braley said.
Companies, especially large ones like Swift, should fear employing illegals because of the threat of massive fines.
You know how I've been talking about the Register's outrageous pro-illegal bias concerning the ICE raids at the Swift plant in Marshalltown? I'd really like to find a story about legal Americans, especially non-Hispanics, who work at this plant, and discover what their opinion is about all the illegals working there.
The actions of the federal agency triggered complaints from church leaders, advocates for immigrants and community leaders that the U.S. government is violating human rights by moving many of the workers out of the Midwest before they could talk with lawyers, pastors or their families.
The Register has recently started allowing comments on stories published on their web site. Here's a sampling of today's:
Woke up this morning to read about the latest world and national events. But golly gee what do have: More "let's beat a dead horse" stories about immigration produced by the law breakers best friend your Des Moines Reg. How many pages of this rag are constantly wasted with the weepy-woe-is me articles about how the big bad govt. is trouncing your right to commit illegal acts. Stop the indoctrination already. Come on let's face it- THEY BROKE THE LAW.
Liberal Americans and papers like the DSM Reg are nothing but enablers for this kind of activity. I love how the Registers crack team constantly does its best to sugar coat the problem. As if its a "civil right" to come here illegally. Thats a new one to me.
Funny how all these people are supporting the criminal invaders.
The only thing that is shocking about all of this is that it is news. Because of the federal government's unwillingness to act on the illegal immigrant problem over the last 20 years, they do these sporadic things and the Register gets up in arms about it. Most of us are saying "it's about time" and "do it more often".
If I stole someone identity with malice,and got caught I would expect the full force of the law.The feds are doing the right thing they only have a couple million more to go.
"If you don't understand the rules, then you end up in Mexico," said Michael Said, an immigration lawyer. {Well Mr. Said, that's where they belong to begin with! So what's the problem? I see none!}
Ms. Sanchez. Your comment on these actions are "flagrant violations of civil rights." Civil Rights?? What civil rights???????????? These illegals that were arrested have NO civil rights. They entered our country illegally. Period! They have no rights, they are not U.S. citizens. If they were U.S. citizens, then they would have rights. Comprende??
There really hasn't been much in the way of comments agreeing with the Register's coverage or being on the illegals' side. Does that mean anything? I think it means that the Register's circulation will continue to decline as their pro-illegal bias turns more people off.
