Now Go Home And Get Your Shinebox

Jerry Kelley, future ex-Mayor of Indianola

From the (holding my nose and linking):

“Yes to Destiny” met a deafening “no” at the polls Tuesday as voters in Polk, Dallas and Warren counties overwhelmingly rejected the proposed 1 percent sales tax...

...Overall, just 15 percent of voters in Polk, Warren and Dallas counties approved the measure...

...Indianola Mayor Jerry Kelley, who promoted the tax proposal at numerous public meetings, said Yes to Destiny was partially successful because organizers managed to sign up 43 governments for the plan on how the $750 million over 10 years would have been spent. He called the cooperation “a good thing” that should continue for the area’s overall economic health.

Now there's a guy who needs to have his ass shown the door in the next election. Time to kick this bum out. How do such douchebags get elected in the first place?

Like it's that hard to get 43 different little fifedoms to agree to a ridiculously stupid revenue-raising scam that practically no voter wanted. If anything, Project Destiny proved just how tone deaf and gullible the area's politicians are. You douchebags sitting in elected offices can't tell a good idea from a really horrible one. Didn't you look at a single frickin poll?

Oh, but guess what, the voters are the ones who were too stupid to know what was good for them:

Art Slusark, spokesman for Des Moines publishing company Meredith Corp., which donated $25,000 to help sell the proposal to voters, said the complex method used to split and spend the money might have been difficult to understand.

No, dumbass, voters understood your scam perfectly well. Companies like Meredith and Principal and Wells Fargo were all going to get hefty property tax breaks while the "little people" paid more in taxes. And for what? So some unaccountable 15-member board will decide later on how to "rubber stamp" the next generation of Ramona Cunninghams, John Mauros, and Bill Knapps?

No. Hell no.

Here's a little more:

“I think public opinion is in our favor — getting more money for recreation, culture, the arts,” Slusark said. “We just need to find the right mechanism. We need a simplified message that moves Des Moines forward.”

How about your own goddamn wallet?

Why does it have to be everybody, especially the working poor and lower middle class, who has to pay for this shit?

Don't get me wrong. I understand the whole point of the "public good" when we're talking about funding public amenities. But you people fucked up after 1999 when the local option sales tax for the Des Moines Public Schools barely passed. You people who wanted taxes raised then, ostensibly for "the schools", lied to the voters in the aftermath.

If we can't trust you on how increased tax revenue is going to be spent on schools, how in the hell do you ever expect us to trust you spending money on such things as horse trails, much less property tax reduction?

An example:

Several voters interviewed Tuesday in the Beaverdale neighborhood and in northern Des Moines said they voted against Yes to Destiny because they doubted the money would be spent wisely. Ron Rice, who works for the Iowa Association of School Boards, said he ultimately voted in favor of the tax because he wants to improve Des Moines’ quality of life, not because of the promise of property tax relief.

“If you looked at the campaign literature, you might think this was only about property taxes,” Rice said. “You can shuffle the stuff around from one pocket to another, and it really doesn’t matter.”

Ron Rice is the kind of douchebag who would vote for any tax increase.

Finally:

“I think we had a couple of negative issues, and that probably didn’t help things any,” Polk County Supervisor Angela Connolly said. “But I still think, fundamentally, people don’t want to pay any more tax.”

No shit, Sherlock.

The Destiny Scam proponents just don't get it, do they?

They're like the Goodfellas character Billy Batts, just out of the joint and drunk, telling the voters to go home and get their fuckin' shinebox. Little do they realize how much things have changed.

The Beatdown

Last December, I predicted that the Project Destiny tax increase would fail by a margin of 80% No to 20% Yes.

Early reporting at Polk County Election web site shows that the tax increase was beatdown to a pulp.

With 99% of all precincts reporting: 6731 Yes (14.88%) and 38,505 No (85.12%).

From individual cities wholly or partially in Polk County:

Altoona: 95.24% NO
Des Moines: 83.72% NO (99% precincts reporting)
Unincorporated areas: 95.78% NO
Alleman: 87.27% NO
Altoona: 95.48% NO
Ankeny: 90.85% NO
Bondurant: 92.58% NO
Carlisle: 100% NO
Clive: 82.63% NO
Elkhart: 94.07% NO
Granger: 100% NO
Grimes: 93.82% NO
Johnston: 85.61% NO
Mitchellville: 91.52% NO
Pleasant Hill: 91.22% NO
Runnells: 92.94% NO
Urbandale: 89.25% NO
West Des Moines: 85.24% NO
Windsor Heights: 85.83% NO

Ouch, that's gotta hurt!

Can't wait to read the spin tomorrow!

Principal Arrogance

Updated below (11:00am and 12:30pm and 2:00pm):



From the (holding my nose and linking) Des Moines Register:

Meredith Corp. posted table tents in the cafeteria urging its 1,150 part- and full-time employees in the Des Moines area to "Say yes on July 10," said Jenny McCoy, a spokeswoman for the company. Mercy Medical Center sent messages to its 6,000 employees through electronic and paper employee bulletins about today's election. A spokeswoman said Wells Fargo also sent out a "get out and vote" message urging employees to get educated about today's election.

Combined, the three companies have donated $155,000 to the Yes to Destiny campaign.

Principal Financial Group, one of the metro area's largest employers and property owners, also touted the sales tax plan and, in a company-wide e-mail sent Monday, encouraged employees to vote. The company has donated $100,000 to the campaign.

Principal's e-mail explained why the company supports the plan - to retain and draw employees - and provided employees with a link to the Yes to Destiny Web site. The opposition was not mentioned.

"It's an endorsement of Project Destiny from the Principal's standpoint," said Senior Vice President Mary O'Keefe. "We really don't try to be so presumptuous of people as to tell them how to vote."

What a liar.

One year ago, when Project Destiny was put on hold, a Des Moines Register news story said:

A plan that would have asked voters in November to approve a 1-cent sales tax in Polk, Dallas and Warren counties has been put on hold for a year.

Advocates of the plan generally agreed that the political climate was not right for the proposal to gain the majority vote needed to pass. They cited the cesspool of mistrust in elected officials created by the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium salary scandal.

Controversy over how Polk County school officials have spent sales tax money also has hurt the chances that the proposal would pass, they said.

And a year ago, this blog replied to that with: "Like sentiment is going to change in the next year?"

And don't forget the tone deaf Register Editorial Board's take last summer:

There were other strikes against the sales-tax proposal besides the poster child for government ineptitude. It did not help when local governments were unfairly thrashed during the Legislature's battle with the governor over eminent domain...

The basic concept is a good one...

The decision to push the sales-tax referendum until next summer was a recognition of an altered electoral climate.

And this blog's reply:


"OK, whatever you say, Register Editorial Board."

And, finally, my predictions Jack Germond from last summer:

Can you imagine how nasty the climate will be then? Archie Brooks and Tom "Rubber Stamp" Vlassis will probably still be on the Des Moines City Council because they'll have to die before they'll resign. More CIETC scandal stuff will keep trickling out. People will continue to talk about this, especially us bloggers. Project Density is so fucked.

Brooks resigned in early August. Tom "Rubber Stamp" Vlassis is still around. CIETC stuff is still trickling out. People kept talking, largely in part to the Comments sections of Des Moines Register stories about Project Destiny, which have been entertaining and amusing.

That's a pretty good batting average, eh?

Back in December, this blog predicted that Destiny would lose: 80% No and 20% Yes. I stand by those numbers.


11am update:

From the comments section of the tax vote story in today's Des Moines Register (holding my nose and linking):

"All I've ever heard from the opposition is no, No, NO, HELL NO, and F NO. What about offering a solution instead? What should be done to sustain the economic vitality of the region? I'd love to hear your lack of ideas. "

What a loser.

The unemployment rate in the Des Moines metro area is 3%. That's three point zero percent. In Dallas County it's about 2.5%. And it's about 2.8% in Warren County. What sort of economic problems could possibly be going on with unemployment rates so low?

The problem here is that greedy corporations, flush with profits and arrogance, think they can buy off the local politicians, newspaper, and taxpayers on the cheap by implementing a scam that gives them a property tax break.

Local politicians in Des Moines (mostly Democrats), notorious for corruption, nepotism, and greed, need more tax money in order expand even further. They can't jack up property tax rates at double digit percentage levels forever, you know.

Just remember this: Tax abatements and TIF financing to every company with their hand out didn't solve their problems. Gambling didn't solve their problems. A local option sales tax for schools didn't solve their problems. State grants haven't solved their problems. And Federal funding of nearly everything else didn't solve their problems.

You know, 25 years ago the Iowa sales tax rate was still 3%. Public schools were funded with community property taxes. How in the world did we manage back then? 25 years ago, Des Moines still had a zoo, numerous parks with trails, the Civic Center, Vet's Auditorium, a botanical center, and many other attractions. Principal Financial Group was always a big deal downtown, as were all the other insurance companies, banks, and publishing firms that support the Destiny scam. They were somehow able to manage growth and hiring employees without falling apart.

This insatiable lust for tax money by government and corporate fools has got to stop.


12:30pm update:

I got an email from Ed Fallon the other day:

Regarding tomorrow’s vote on the proposed local option sales tax for Polk, Dallas and Warren counties . . . we’ve been asked to share our opinion on the matter. (For those outside the Des Moines metro, this may be relevant in your community some day, so please bear with us.) After lots of study and dialogue, we’re recommending a “no” vote, but not without significant excitement about the plan itself.

Here's how delusional Ed Fallon has become, the email continues:

Yes, we need to do a lot more for culture, the arts and trails. Investing in these amenities will help make Iowa and the Des Moines metro even more dynamic and sustainable places to live and work.

However, the trails discussion has been almost exclusively about recreation. The focus should be on trails as part of our biking transportation infrastructure. Like other places that take biking seriously (the Netherlands and Portland, Oregon), there’s absolutely no reason the Des Moines metro couldn’t see 25% of its commuters getting to and from work by bike most of the year

Oh.

No.

Please.

Ed.

Shut UP!!!

It gets worse:

So, what should happen? First and foremost, Destiny proponents should join with those of us who have been working for years to support a slate of legislative reforms that would provide more than enough money to pay for Destiny-type projects, not just in central Iowa but across the state. Build a statewide coalition to:

• Allow local governments to enact an income surtax to pay for Destiny-type improvements

Stop right there.

Oh, Ed. What are you smoking? Is it crack? Jesus Christ, you've lost your mind.

Look around at any city with a local income tax and you will see shitholes of corruption and crime. Or property values so expensive that only the super rich can afford to live there.

You want Tom "Rubber Stamp" Vlassis in charge of more money? You want somebody like Archie Brooks in charge of the revenue from a local income tax? John Mauro?

Somebody drug test Ed Fallon, please.

Fallon does have some other suggestions, like reducing TIFs and tax abatements, which are good ideas. BUT.... the "income surtax" was first on Fallon's list of suggestions!

2:00 pm Update:

Scroll down to the comment at 1:55pm by "altoonacat" in this story:

Well, that small, unscientific sample is 80% no, 20% yes. Hopefully it is somehow representative. Hopeful, especially given the Register's history of sugar coating Deadstiny.

Did you notice the one "yes" person said they hoped property taxes "would not go up"? Loved that!

Me, too.

And no, I'm not "altoonacat"!

80% NO, 20% yes. Where have you heard that before?

Faked

From the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

In a federal case being tried here, a man prosecuted in the nation’s first trial against an alleged terror cell after 9/11 wants dismissal of the the federal documents fraud charge against him in Iowa.

Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi of Morocco, who’s thought to be 41, claims that it has taken too long to prosecute him in Iowa, that he already has been tried on similar charges elsewhere and that a key prosecution witness is a known liar.

Elmardoudi is set for trial July 16 in federal court in Cedar Rapids. He is accused of conspiring with others to create fake visas, alien registration cards and other documents, and to obtain fraudulent Social Security numbers and cards for foreign nationals living in the United States. Using Social Security cards allowed him and others to essentially create new identities.

It’s a complicated case intertwined with federal charges filed in Michigan and Minnesota. The Iowa indictment claims Elmardoudi created false documents for money, but in a Michigan case, he and three others were accused of providing support to terrorists.

The Iowa scheme allegedly started shortly before Moroccan national Youssef Hmimssa, a computer expert and admitted scam artist, moved to Cedar Rapids in July 2001 — a few months before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Between June and September 2001, at least 20 people were brought to Dubuque, Waterloo, Iowa City and other Iowa cities to get Social Security cards backed up by counterfeit documents, according to court records.

Elmardoudi is accused of getting at least two Social Security numbers for himself under different aliases.

Elmardoudi’s known aliases include Abdullah; Hussein Mohsen Safieddine; Egyptian national George Labibe; and French national Jean-Pierre Tardelli.

Using the Social Security cards, Elmardoudi and others opened bank accounts, got jobs, found housing, applied for credit cards and obtained state identification cards or driver’s licenses in Iowa and elsewhere.

What happened to the employees of the Social Security Administration who accepted and processed the fake documents and issued Social Security cards?

Anybody want to answer that question?

Wellmark Arrogance

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

Wellmark Foundation has withdrawn its $15 million gift offer that would go along with naming rights to the University of Iowa College of Public Health, according to the company's top official.

"Neither Wellmark BlueCross and BlueShield nor Wellmark Foundation envisioned that their positive response to the gift solicitation by the college would spawn the negative reaction that has been reported in news media," John Forsyth wrote to James Merchant, dean of the College of Public Health on Friday.

"Unless and until there is unwavering support from both the college and university administrative leadership for a major gift as originally solicited by the college's capitol campaign committee leadership, our gift offer will remain withdrawn," wrote Forsyth, Wellmark BlueCross and BlueShield CEO and chairman of the foundation's board of directors.

How arrogant can you get?

Just as I suspected, all the Wellmark Foundation was trying to do was buy the corporate naming rights of the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa.

And this notion that "the Wellmark Foundation is separate from Wellmark BlueCross and BlueShield" is complete baloney. From the Wellmark Foundation's web site:

The Wellmark Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation created by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa...

...In 1991, the IASD Health Services Corp. (now Wellmark, Inc.) Board of Directors appropriated $5 million for the establishment of a 501(c)(3) private foundation under 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. The endowment has subsequently grown through additional corpus investments and portfolio earnings.

Wellmark did a good job at buying a lot of bad publicity with this stunt.

Steve King Is Running Against Everybody

Last week, via Radio Iowa:

Congressman Steve King says he's not ruling out a bid to unseat Democratic Senator Tom Harkin in 2008. "I have not made a decision on whether or not to challenge Tom Harkin in '08 or not," King says. "If and when that becomes clear to me, I will make an announcement right away."

...King is also mulling the idea of running for governor in 2010.

Gee, Steve King should be on a political suicide deathwatch.

After the 2010 census, Iowa is expected to lose a House seat and the Democrats controlling state government will get a shot at gerrymandering redistricting it.

Nothing could be dumber than an Iowa Republican giving up a safe Congressional seat in order to become a climber. Witness the Republican political graveyard of Tom Tauke, Fred Grandy, Jim Ross Lightfoot, Greg Ganske, and Jim Nussle. Bad bets, all.

How would King challenge Harkin? Harkin voted against amnesty. Harkin voted to continue funding the war in Iraq. Those are two of King's biggest chest-thumping issues and Harkin nuked them already.

Harkin is going to vote for Republican Jim Nussle to be the next head of the White House's Office Of Budget Mismanagement, so he's not a total jaded partisan.

What's left? Harkin's love of earmarks? Harkin's complaints about Shrek? Harkin's ties to CIETC?

Yawn. Nobody cares about that stuff.

If Steve King had any balls, he'd challenge Grassley in 2010.

Chuck Grassley is worthless and weak. He's one of my top poster boys for term limits. The guy has had 2o years to fix the Alternative Minimum Tax from creeping into the lives of the middle class, but he's done nothing. That, plus his ongoing support of the Rainforest Scam makes me wonder what Republicans in Iowa are smoking when they keep voting for this fauxscal conservative.

If Harkin is going to get any serious competition, it will be from the Democratic side. People hate incumbents, as is obvious from Democrat and war-monger Dave Loebsack's victory in 2006 over the anti-war, lefty Republican Jim Leach.

Nicholas Johnson would be a good choice as a Democratic challenger, but he's not interested.

War Protest Arrests Are Up 72% From February

From a couple days ago in the Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Peace activist David Goodner, 26, of Iowa City, was arrested for criminal trespass at about 2 p.m. outside the federal courthouse.

Police say Goodner tried to enter the building through a side door, rather than through the one public door.

Goodner and others were attempting to enter the courthouse to get to the second-floor office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. During the time that Goodner attempted to get in through another door, the U.S. Marshals Service was only allowing one person at a time to enter the building.

Goodner and about 21 others planned to risk arrest by staying after hours in the federal courthouse or the downtown Cedar Rapids office of Sen. Tom Harkin, D- Iowa, as part of an effort to get the senators to publicly agree to stop funding the war in Iraq.

Goodner and 10 others were sentenced on criminal trespass charges in Linn County Court Friday morning. They were fined $65 plus a surcharge.

Goodner is this blog's favorite terrorist-appeasing Jew-hater.

That said, I have to be consistent and applaud Mr Goodner for attempting to actively protest Senator Tom Harkin's decision to keep funding the Iraq War.

Why?

Because despite polls showing large numbers of people against reading the daily speculative AP body count the war, nobody is really showing that they care to stop it. Nobody's making any sort of sacrifice.

Tens of thousands of people would rather turn up at a variety of worldwide concerts about phony global warming put on by that fat hypocrite Al Gore than risk getting arrested in opposition to the Iraq War.

What have you got there in Cedar Rapids? 19 people getting arrested in July? Back in February, 11 were arrested.

I can't wait to hear this kind of media spin on the matter: war protest arrests are up 72% in Cedar Rapids over February!

Like 19 people getting arrested is a big deal. I'm sure a State Trooper could pull over any low-riding minivan on I-35 heading north or I-80 heading west and nab just as many illegal Mexicans in a single stop.


Update. There are more people protesting expanded hog lots in Cass County ("A Fight Between Rats And Snakes" by The South Of Iowa) than the Iraq War. That says it all, doesn't it?

Nicholas Johnson Explains It All

Nicholas Johnson on the purpose of the old Fairness Doctrine:

There is no requirement that any given programming be put on the air -- or taken off. There are no requirements as to format. There is not a requirement of "equal time." There is no requirement that each program be balanced; the Fairness Doctrine only addresses the overall programming of the licensee. (To respond to a charge of those opposing the reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine, there are two reasons why Rush Limbaugh would not only not be taken off the air but would not be affected in any way by application of the Fairness Doctrine: (1) he is not a licensee, he is a program supplier, and (2) there is no Fairness Doctrine requirement that his program be balanced.) There is no requirement that a particular contrasting view be aired. The Fairness Doctrine does not trigger a right in any given individual to respond. (The station can use its own personnel if it wishes, or anyone it chooses.)

Essentially the only limitation the Fairness Doctrine did impose was that a licensee could not use the public's airwaves as an unrelieved instrument of propaganda for a single viewpoint while censoring all other views.

Do click over to Johnson's blog to read his complete entry, as well as links to his thoughts in 1968 and the Supreme Court case in 1969.

Two days ago, in the National Review:

Victory was fast and shockingly easy. The battle over the Fairness Doctrine ended last week when the House of Representatives voted 309-115 against allowing the Federal Communications Commission to re-impose the regulation on broadcasters. The vote almost certainly means that the long-dead rule will not be revived anytime soon. That’s good news. But the celebrations should be tempered: the real battle over media regulation is still to come, and won’t involve the words “Fairness Doctrine.”

...Kucinich’s call attracted much media attention, and more than a little criticism, but little was actually done to advance the idea legislatively. It probably would still be on the back burner were it not for — of all things — illegal immigration. During the acrimonious debate over immigration reform, “AM armies” roused by conservative talk-show hosts proved to be a powerful — and to many legislators, unwelcome — force.

Angered by this, a number of amnesty opponents — from both sides of the aisle lashed out against talk radio. Liberal leaders seized the moment to call for the Fairness Doctrine’s return.

It was a political mistake of the first order. Conservative radio-talk-show hosts from Rush Limbaugh to the smallest local personality hit back hard against the idea. It seemed near impossible to turn on your car radio without hearing about the issue. But it wasn’t just incensed conservative talkers who quashed the idea. No one seemed to like it. Even the normally liberal-leaning blogosphere produced few defenders of a Fairness Doctrine revival. It was just too obviously an attempt to stifle speech.

I always liked what Nat Hentoff said about the Fairness Doctrine. This is from a column of his in 1999 when Bill Bradley was running for President:

In 1949, the Federal Communications Commission created the "Fairness Doctrine."

Broadcasters had to provide equal time to each side of a public issue. Twenty years later, a unanimous Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of that doctrine (Red Lion Broadcasting Co. vs. FCC).

Newspapers and other forms of printed speech could not be forced to give equal space because they are not licensed by the government. But, the Court ruled, since broadcast frequencies are limited, the public interest required government intervention to ensure that other voices could be heard.

Later, Justice William O. Douglas, who had not participated in the earlier decision, vigorously dissented from it: "TV and radio stand in the same protected position under the First Amendment as newspapers and magazines. The prospect of putting government in a position of control... is to me an appalling one, even to the extent of the Fairness Doctrine."

...In the early years of the Fairness Doctrine, I was working for a radio station in Boston. Soon after listener complaints of unfairness to the FCC resulted in mounting legal costs to answer stern FCC inquiries, the boss ordered us to cease all controversial broadcasting. This also happened at other stations.

Nonetheless, Congress, in 1987, passed a law codifying the Fairness Doctrine. But it was vetoed by President Ronald Reagan, who said it violated the First Amendment, and that the proliferation of cable channels and radio stations nullified the argument that radio and TV outlets were scarce.

In the same year, the FCC itself unanimously abolished the Fairness Doctrine as an unconstitutional limitation of free speech. There are still members of Congress eager to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. Apparently, President Bradley would agree.

While the debate about forced fairness on the air was going on, and as more stations fearfully left the free marketplace of ideas, I spoke to Richard Salant, then president of CBS News.

Salant, along with Fred Friendly, who had also once been president of CBS News, was a dauntless protector of the First Amendment rights of broadcasters.

"Suppose," Salant told me, "the English governor had told Tom Paine that he could go ahead and publish all he liked -- but only if at the back of the pamphlets, he also printed the Royal Governor's views. That command, far from being an implementation of free speech, would have been just the opposite."

On Sept. 21, Republican National Committee chairman Jim Nicholson asked Bill Bradley the following question: "If the NAACP ran an ad promoting racial equality, would Bradley's bureaucrats impose 'a 100 percent tax' on the NAACP to pay for equal time ads by the Ku Klux Klan?"

It would be instructive to find out how deeply each presidential candidate has thought about the dangers to the First Amendment from those who, with the best of intentions, undermine it.

Along the same lines, it's good to see that bi-partisan abortion called McCain-Feingold finally kicked in the knees as of late.

If Congress was going to do anything concerning radio stations, the least they could do is repeal the lack of media ownership regulations within the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Having a few media titans controlling radio programming in most larger towns and cities has made the FM band practically unlistenable thanks to a narrow focus on programming, large amounts of commercials, and ridiculous compression rates in the audio.

Hermann Göring, $500

Our favorite tax update blogger at David Lee Roth And Company, Joe Kristan, has been outed as the top funder ($500) of the opposition to the Project Destiny tax increase vote that's scheduled for next Tuesday in the Des Moines Metro area, at least according to data compiled by the Des Moines Register (holding my nose and linking).

When the tax increase vote fails next Tuesday, surely everybody in Central Iowa can blame Mr Kristan for the lack of horse trails, year-round bike paths, and other things that would have prevented young folk from fleeing the state of Iowa for such youth magnets as Pittsburgh.

Why, Mr Kristan is like the second coming of Hermann Göring! I'm sure Mr Kristan will celebrate Project Destiny's defeat by taking his Browning out to the range, writing "culture" on some clay pigeons, and letting loose with his precision aim.

That's fine for him, but what about all the corporations without sweetheart tax abatement deals in the Des Moines Metro Area? What the hell are they supposed to do? How are they going to recruit and keep the next generation of cubicle workers in a perpetual state of low salaries and 2% yearly raises without higher sales taxes?

As for you Des Moines-area land owners, if your property tax assessment skyrockets next year like it did in 2007 then you can just blame Mr Kristan. Don't even bother blaming the usual gang of progressives. They're too busy shredding documents and hiring their nephews to hear your bellyachin'.



Meanwhile, back in non-sarcasm-land, here's the list of major contributors to the Project Destiny debacle:

Principal Financial Group, $100,000
Mercy Medical Center-Des Moines, $30,000
Iowa Health System, $25,000
MidAmerican Energy Holding Co., $25,000
Meredith Corp., $25,000
Pioneer, $25,000
American Republic Insurance, $25,000
John Deere Credit, $25,000
Allied Insurance, $25,000
Mid America Foundation, $25,000.

Luckily, I have no business dealings with any of these companies. If I did, they would be dropped. Same thing with those involved with the Greater Des Moines Partnership. These evil companies (and yes, I really do mean that) should pay for their involvement in this scam through lost business and damaged reputations. Trying to push through a 17% tax increase in the middle of summer when maybe 3% of voters are awake? That's downright rude.

If I were to ever move back to the Des Moines area, I wouldn't consider any of these businesses as potential employers. No way.

Enron Field, Part Deux

A reader pointed me to this editorial in the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

Yes, it sounds odd.

Yes, it's going to raise eyebrows.

Yes, it's ill-timed after the longstanding friction between University Hospitals and its biggest customer.

But is the possibility of naming the University of Iowa's College of Public Health after the Wellmark Foundation really out of line with UI's current naming practices?

Yes...

...Even after recognizing that the university already allows corporations and organizations to name physical spaces on campus, even after acknowledging that other universities grant such naming honors to their benefactors, the name change being discussed is a bad idea for a host of reasons:

...The college would be the first of the university's 11 colleges to be named after an organization rather than an individual -- and, in truth, only two UI colleges are named after anything but their educational field. As the blogger State29 points out, if donor names must be applied to these colleges, the advantage with personal names like Tippie and Carver is their lack of direct advertising benefit -- the average Iowan student doesn't know enough of the life story of the donors to view the name as anything but a name (state29.blogspot.com). With a corporation -- or a separate foundation that shares a corporation's name -- a recognizable name gets broadcasted on every press release, letter and email put out by the college. The donating organization bears a small risk that some future bad press about the college may affect it negatively as well, but the college risks much more by aligning its fate with that of an outside entity -- one of the reasons why Houston's Enron Field, named in 1999 after the now defunct and discredited energy company, is now called Minute Maid Park.

That's funny. The blog got namechecked.

The selling of naming rights by government or quasi-government entities has always bugged me. Most arenas and sports stadiums in cities are usually built with a combination of private money and taxpayer funds, as well as subsidized through hotel-motel taxes (or, in the case of Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, the taxpayers are on the hook for financial mismanagement). I just don't think companies should get naming rights unless they build the entire thing themselves.

Beyond that, naming rights turn these giant barns into bland McStadiums. Witness the US Cellular Center, US Cellular Arena, US Cellular Field, and US Cellular Coliseum. Without clicking over to the Wikipedia links, can anybody identify all the towns in which these buildings reside? I'm sure very few can, as opposed to something like Soldier Field.

If the Wellmark Foundation was looking to build and fully-fund the College Of Public Health at the University of Iowa, then that's maybe a different matter. But they didn't want to do that. They just wanted the naming rights..... for Wellmark the insurance company, even though supposedly both entities are separate. It's sneaky and evil on Wellmark's part (The foundation or the insurance company? I'll leave ya guessing on that one....). It's just an attempt to push the envelope to see how much they can get away with.

"Petty Little Sophomoric Children Filled With Partisan Bitterness" AKA The VFW As According To The Mason City Globe-Gazette

I missed this.

John Skipper in the Mason City Glob-Gazette:

Mason City VFW members are refusing to march in the Clear Lake Fourth of July parade today because they are not allowed to fire their rifles.

The Secret Service, in Clear Lake to provide protection for former president Bill Clinton and his wife, presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, will not allow firearms in the parade, said Jim Kantaris, quartermaster of VFW Post 733 in Mason City.

“There’s too much political stuff. They’re making us change 50 years of tradition because of two people,” said Kantaris. “And one of them is a draft dodger who turned the White House into a whorehouse.”

Then there's the Glob-Gazette's editorial in followup:

It’s a little like the boy who says he’s going to take his ball and go home because everyone else won’t play by his rules.

The Mason City VFW Post 733 decided not to march in the Clear Lake July 4 parade Wednesday because they could not fire their rifles. The reason for that? The Secret Service said no shooting allowed, even firing blanks, because of the presence of former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president.

The decision not to participate was announced Tuesday by VFW Post Quartermaster Jim Kantaris. We suspect that the presence of the Clintons had as much to do with Kantaris’ announcement as did the Secret Service’s security precautions.

Perhaps Kantaris’ statement that the members of his group were being required to vary from their tradition because of “a draft dodger who turned the White House into a whorehouse” fuels our suspicions. We can’t help but wonder if the decision would have been the same had former President Bush and Barbara Bush been the ones walking in the parade in support of Republican candidates. The Secret Service rules would probably have been exactly the same for them.

Stop right there.

First of all, neither former President George H. W. Bush (41) nor former First Lady Barbara Bush would be running for political office.

Secondly, since 41 was a World War II vet, and considering his usual nature, I'm sure he would have skipped the parade if he had found out that the local VFW would have been unable follow their usual tradition of firing blanks in their rifles during the parade.

Then the high priests of the Glob-Gazette continue:

We can’t help but be a little disappointed in the decision, however, and the sophomoric reasoning behind it.

The decision not only stopped members of the VFW from celebrating the country’s birthday through the parade, it took away the ability of the parade spectators to honor them for their service.

Look to the group’s name. VFW stands for Veterans of Foreign Wars, and it’s open to people who have not just served in the military, but who have faced actual combat. These men and women should know better than anyone what Independence Day means and be able to put political differences and petty disagreements over rules aside to honor our country.

You know what? If the former Rapist-In-Chief and his megalomaniac Socialist "wife" had an ounce of decency, they wouldn't be tromping all over everybody's parade in order to push her poll numbers up a couple of points.

And it's typical of the idiots running monopoly corporate newspapers these days to put forth this "bend over and take it without any lube" sort-of attitude that you Iowans ought to just accept. Because, dammit, Iowa has a couple of celebrities in town! Better roll out the red carpet and vacuum it! We got royalty comin'!

And if you dare to express your opinion publicly about the matter, like VFW Post Quartermaster Jim Kantaris, then you're just a petty little sophomoric child filled with partisan bitterness. That's essentially what the Glob-Gazette kingpins are saying here.

What's more American than expressing your First Amendment right to free speech, Glob-Gazette?

Apparently, according to the monopoly corporate newspaper industry in Iowa, if you're a kooky old lady writing home made signs against Bush and the Iraq War, freedom of speech is a perfectly American thing to do.

However, if you're a member of the Veteran Of Foreign Wars and want to march in your hometown July 4th parade as you have for the past 50 years, but are stymied by a couple of interloping political grifters, then you're a petty little sophomoric child filled with partisan bitterness.

A Date With Destiny

From the desk of Ed Fallon:

Dear Friends,

Yes, that’s right. Ed will replace Jan Mickelson as the host of WHO Radio’s morning talk show . . . well, at least for one show this week. We invite you to tune in Friday, July 6th from 9:00 – 11:30 a.m. on 1040 AM to hear Ed moderate a debate between opposing sides of the “Yes to Destiny” sales tax proposed for Polk, Dallas and Warren counties. Regardless of where in Iowa you live, we invite you to call in and join the discussion. The debate itself will run from 9:00 to 11:00.

I'd love to hear that show in MP3 format later, although it appears as if Mickelson isn't archiving any of the programs while he's on vacation. Bummer.

It's Bob Barker!

From the International Herald Tribune:

As thousands of people cheered along the Fourth of July parade route here, it was the tall man with the familiar white hair who made the crowd go truly gaga.

"Bob Barker! It's Bob Barker!" two women shrieked upon seeing the former president, Bill Clinton, in the distance, as he and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York marched hand-in-hand.

Doh!

Then there's this:

Mr. Clinton is happily obliging with his new role, friends and advisers to the couple said, though they added that it was a far cry from his days in power. At a rally Monday in Des Moines, Mr. Clinton introduced his wife and then sat on a stool as she spoke for 25 minutes, applauding at some points and listening impassively at others while cradling his chin in his palm.

"Downright bored," Newsweek observed in a column afterward.

And this:

Deploying the Clintons side by side, an approach that will continue in New Hampshire next week and in strategic spots through the year, creates potentially unflattering contrasts with his campaigning skills, which her advisers regard as peerless. Mr. Clinton became visibly emotional in Davenport on Tuesday, for instance, as he recalled a New York City fireman who professed devotion to Mrs. Clinton for her work after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "I have a hard time telling this," Mr. Clinton said with feeling.

Mrs. Clinton has her own powerful stories, about her mother's struggles and the love for America in some countries, but she rarely sounds as if she has a lump in her throat.

The former president gets questions from reporters about whether he is stealing attention from his wife. Such an exchange took place briefly after Wednesday's parade, with Mr. Clinton saying he was less concerned about "overshadowing" her than about "blocking" her.

See how lazy the media is.

No questions about Clinton's pardons of all those cocaine dealers and lawyer Scooter Libby's client from 1985 to 2000, the crooked financier and Iran-trader Marc Rich. No questions about Huge and Tony Rodham selling pardons for Clinton. Just nothing. It's all about whether he's overshadowing her.



Related: Bob Barker Used To Drink Manhattans At Babe's

The Liberal Republican

From the Wall Street Urinal:

He is a pro-choice, thrice-married New Yorker. So why is Rudy Giuliani the leading presidential candidate in a Republican Party long dominated by pro-life, family-values voters in the South and West?

Iowa state legislator Mary Lundby, who calls herself a liberal Republican, offers one possibility. "Many Republicans have questioned whether our entire party focus should be on social issues," says Ms. Lundby, who has signed onto Mr. Giuliani's Iowa presidential campaign as a co-chairwoman. This year, she is increasingly hearing from Republicans whose greater interest is the economy or national defense, she says.

"Is it a groundswell? No," she concedes. "But we didn't get where we are in a day, either."

Don't look for the party to make a sudden leap to the middle, or to turn its back on its religious and social conservatives. But Mr. Giuliani's lead in the polls -- and in the latest round of fund raising, according to new reports Tuesday -- may hint at the declining clout of those voters and their issues within the Republican party, and perhaps a shift back toward a more libertarian emphasis.

Giuliani is leading in the polls? Where???

Liberal Republicans are such rare creatures, but the media likes to make you think that they're all over the place because of Giuliani and Bloomberg getting elected in New York City or The Terminator taking the governor job in California. They never factor in how awful or corrupt the Democratic alternative is.

And what constitutes the liberal in a Liberal Republican? The recipe is surprisingly simple:

1. Take one Republican.
2. Add being in favor of abortion.
3. Shake and serve to the media.


Related: I've Seen The Future, And It Isn't A Bald-Headed Drag Queen From New York

The Late Late Late Late Show

From O. Kay Henderson's Radio Iowa blog:

Former President Bill Clinton spent a little less than 10 minutes speaking this evening (his wife spoke about four times that long). The two Clintons appeared on the same stage in Iowa tonight [Monday, July 2nd]...

...It was on this stage that Mr. and Mrs/President and Senator Clinton appeared about an hour after they had been billed to appear.

Do any Republicans pull this chronic lateness crap? I've asked before, but never received any emails.

It seems like Democrats in Iowa are guilty of this often.

If you can't honor a simple time commitment to the party faithful, why should people trust you to keep any legislative promises after you're elected?

The Crazy Old Lady

A couple months ago, I quit linking to the Des Moines Register because of their continued politicizing of dead soldiers. It seemed like the only time the Gannettoids bothered to report anything about the Iraq War, it was via the AP and always in the form of a body count.

Despite many Iowa National Guard members coming back home to their state in the past few months, very little has been written about their experiences in the Register. The only time the Register cares to write anything about the men and women of the Iowa National Guard is when there's a funeral.

So this morning I am pointed by a reader to the Register's web site and figured that this story by Ken Fuson was worth linking to, mostly because it's the silliest, most unctuous pile of crap that could possibly be printed on the 4th of July:

Early, Ia. - If the weather cooperates, 78-year-old Mary Ringgenberg will celebrate Independence Day this afternoon by holding her homemade sign at the corner of East Second Street and U.S. Highway 71.

You know, I don't have any problem with a crazy old lady standing out along the highway protesting whatever it is she wants to protest.

But this story reminds me of the kind of crap the media kicked up dust about back in 2000 when Al Gore and the media exploited Winifred Skinner, the old lady who supposedly picked up empty pop cans to pay for her prescriptions. That story was all bullshit, of course. Later it was discovered that old Winifred was sort of a crazy partisan Democrat with a well-to-do son who tried to help kooky old mom out but she would often refuse.

As for Mary Ringgenberg, she is typical of the ultra-minority of people who truly oppose the Iraq War.

If people really didn't like the Iraq war, wouldn't we have more protests than some elderly lady standing alongside the road for a few minutes a day holding up home-made signs?

In September 2005, 106 people turned up at an anti-war rally at the University of Iowa.

Back in April, the number of protesters in Des Moines were down 40% from the year before, and that was already a small number.

In January, in DC, organizers expected 200,000 anti-war protesters. Instead they got just a few thousand.

This idea that so many people are against the war is such BS. Polling companies call people in their comfortable homes at dinner time and ask them their opinions about such things. Yeah, I'm Against The War! F'n Aye I'm Against The War!!! Never is the question asked, "So if you're against the war, then what are you doing about it?"

I bet that the intellectual level of most Americans isn't any further than "I bought a CFL instead of an incandescent" or "I leased a Toyota Prius" or even "I downloaded Michael Moore's latest movie from BitTorrent."

Or even "I voted for Dave Loebsack instead of Jim Leach." Heh.

Until I see more than 106 smelly commies gathering at the University of Iowa or a couple hundred jew-haters in Des Moines getting together to protest things, I don't think people are real serious about their opposition to the Iraq War. Now if there were 20,000 people gathering every weekend, windows of government offices being broken out, tear gas shot into crowds, and all hell breaking loose, then maybe I might think otherwise.

As for the Fuson story, it's really kind of sad that the Des Moines Register has to exploit somebody like old Mary Ringgenberg in order to keep their opposition to the war going. They cannot, in any way, admit that anything is going on in Iraq other than the occasional soldier dying. To say anything but the AP/Howard Dean Party Line would be to admit that the Bush Administration, Congress, and the US Military were doing the right thing. They could never do that, so instead we get this crap.

By the way, I found an entry in this blog from 2004 that is reminiscent of the attitude of Ken Fuson and the Gannettoids in the Mary Ringgenberg story today. It's as if you people shouldn't forget that protesters, not the military, have fought for and defended our freedoms!




Related: Perhaps you have not heard of blogs. The name derives from a combination of "blather" and "logorrhea."

Miss Hoosegow 2007

Iowahawk has Miss Hoosegow 2007 happening, so please vote.

And don't miss today's post: Well, That Didn't Work Out So Great. A sample:

After that, I guess I was pretty much ready to get it over with. I called up the office and had them cancel the rest of my patient appointments for the day and drove the Benz to London, which incidentally cost me another £40 for gas and tolls. When I got to Picadilly and parked in front of the nightclub and called Achmed on my cell to let 'er rip. Nothing. I sat there waiting 3 minutes waiting for the cell phone detonator to go off, nothing. I saw a cop walking toward the Benz, so I hopped out and started booking it and almost got run over by a double decker. I got on the Tube, thinking I was safe, but then all the stupid racist kufrs started giving me the stinkeye because apparently they're freaked by panting Arabs smelling of gasoline. I got out in Ealing and went to the mosque where the other guys were supposed to be, and they're all standing around like a bunch of sheepish idiots. So I'm like, "WTF? What happened with the detonation?"

Get this: Achmed, whose only job it was to call in a simple fucking detonation code, switched his cell carrier to get the new iPhone and forgot to transfer his goddamn detonation contact list. So I'm like, "how about Bilal? Did he explode? Please tell me exploded." The dopey expressions around the room told me otherwise. Faaaack. Now there's NO dead infidels, NO horny virgins, and I'm out one leased Mercedes with a £12,000 balloon payment.

So I go, "here's the deal guys. I just put my ass on the martrydom line, and it was Allah's will that it didn't happen. So why don't we just call it good, and try again in another two years." Crissakes, you would have thought I just took a dump in their falafel. They started talking about "Ummah Pride," and "giving it all for ol' Central Jordan U.."

Enron Field

From the Iowa City Press-Citizen:

The University of Iowa College of Public Health may become the Wellmark Foundation College of Public Health.

In a meeting Thursday, public health faculty were told UI officials were considering renaming the college the Wellmark Foundation College of Public Health based on a possible philanthropic gift, and the faculty were asked for input.

"It was overwhelmingly approved in a duly called faculty meeting," Fredric Wolinsky, professor and John W. Colloton Chair in the Department of Health Management and Policy, said Monday.

Dangle enough dollars in front of anybody's face and look what happens.

This kills me:

Angela Feig, spokesperson for Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa, said the Wellmark Foundation board of directors, which is separate from Wellmark Inc., hasn't discussed or taken any action regarding a UI gift.

It's separate, you see?

But it has the same name as....

NO NO NO NO NO, it's SEPARATE!!!!!

Very good then. I will start calling this blog the Wellmark Penis-Enlarging State 29 Blog and let's see how far that one drives down the road before being shot apart by lawyers.

Watch how the newspaper makes excuses on behalf of everybody involved:

UI has renamed other colleges after large gifts. The College of Business was renamed in 1999 after Henry Tippie, a UI alum, who had contributed more than $30 million to UI.

The College of Medicine was renamed in 2002 for Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver, who contributed about $90 million to the college. The name change came days after a $63 million donation to the medical college from the Roy J. and Lucille A. Charitable Trust of Muscatine.

I don't have a problem with this. Individual philanthropy is perfectly fine.

Corporate naming rights philanthropy veers way too close to a running advertisement.

I can't even begin to tell you how Henry Tippie made his money, much less Roy and Lucille Carver. I know Carver had some business in the Quad Cities area....

I had to look it all up.

Carver made pumps in Muscatine.

Henry Tippie makes his money from something called the Rollins company. What the hell do they do? Oh, they're a transportation company who also happens to own Orkin, the pest control company.

See the difference? I had to go research what those people did to earn their money.

The biggest problem with naming things after people, especially if they're still alive, is the potential embarrassment factor if Daddy Warbucks turns out to be a crook or marries Paris Hilton. Carver has been dead since 1981 and Tippie is up there in years, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Wellmark, on the other hand, could have a nasty scandal in future years thanks to greedy corporate bastards - likely with your tax dollars involved. It's just too much of a risk to take. There is precedence, you know.

Any Timid Iowa Reporters Want To Ask Hitlery About Bill's Pardons?

The news is all atwitter tonight about Bush's commuting of Scooter Libby's insane sentence for whatever the hell it was he was convicted of.

I don't have too much sympathy for Libby, in general, mostly because he was Marc Rich's lawyer for 15 years while Rich absconded to Switzerland. You remember Marc Rich, right? In 1984 Rich was convicted (by Rudy Giuliani!!!) of wire fraud, mail fraud, racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, criminal forfeiture, income tax evasion, and trading with Iran in violation of trade embargo. Rich fled to Switzerland to avoid going to prison. At the end of Bill Clinton's second term, Rich's wife gave $400,000 to the Clinton Library and a deal was cooked up to get her old man a pardon.

And in case you forgot all of the other Bill Clinton pardons, have a look.

Nevertheless, the Beast Herself, Hitlery Rodham Clinton, had to weigh her big fat calves in on the matter:

"Today's decision is yet another example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law. This case arose from the Administration's politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies. Four years into the Iraq war, Americans are still living with the consequences of this White House's efforts to quell dissent. This commutation sends the clear signal that in this Administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice."

What a hypocrite.

Does Hitlery think the world forgot that her two fat-assed brothers, Huge and Tony, were out asking criminals for money in exchange for pardons?

Huge Rodham earned over $400,000 for brokering the pardon of crooked Glenn Braswell and the commutation of Carlos Vignali.

And don't forget that Tony Rodham's $100,000 fee for a pardon that he never paid back after being requested that he do so.

My bet is that the lazy-assed and suckup Iowa media is going to be so fucking gaga over Hitlery and Bill showing up for a few days that they will completely forget to ask any questions relating to Bill's pardons or Huge & Tony's fees for brokering those pardons and commutations. What do you want to bet?

No tough questions from the media. I can predict it. I can practically GUARANTEE it! And I don't know who should be pelted more with rotten eggs, old rolling stones, used condoms, and tom cruise missles: the Clintons themselves or the fucking assholes running newspapers and TV stations.

Hitlery Is Running Out Of Props In Iowa

Adam Nagourney-Rodham-Clinton, writing in the New York Slimes:

Over the next three days, the political world will be watching as Bill Clinton makes his first campaign swing with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, starting this evening at the State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. The questions are interesting: How long will Mr. Clinton talk in introducing Mrs. Clinton? Will he outshine her, as happened at the funeral of Coretta Scott King? Will Mr. Clinton talk about President Bush, or the other Democratic presidential candidates, or stick to talking about his wife? And will the Clintons agree to an extended Mr.-and-Mrs. press conference? (That one is easy: Fat chance).

Their joint presence in Iowa, though, also hints at an intriguing and broader political story playing out in the state. Mrs. Clinton is embarking on a major effort to shore up a definite weakness in her candidacy – the widespread sense, shared by her own advisers, that she is trailing in Iowa, the state that starts the nominating process. So it is no coincidence that Iowa is where the campaign has chosen to deploy Mr. Clinton in a big way for the first time on her behalf.

Bill Clinton's never really spent much time in Iowa. Back in 1992, he got 2.8% of caucus support, good enough for fourth place.

Fourth place?

Yes. Tom Harkin finished first in 1992 with 76.4%, "uncommitted" was second with 11.9%, the late Paul Tsongas got 4.1%, and then there was Bill.

Iowans eventually liked Bill Clinton. He's got charisma, you know. He's good at banging those young intern girls with cigars while at work. He's good at keeping all those sexual harassment accusers at bay. It wasn't sex, it was just a blowjob. I don't know why we're getting all worked up about a blowjob with suborning perjury was the main reason Bill Clinton got disbarred and fined. That's not important, move along now. At least Scooter Libby is in prison while Sandy Burglar, who destroyed classified documents and shoved them down his pants, got off with a tiny fine and a banning from the archives until Democrats are in power again so he can do it again.

Oh wait, what happened? Must have been mesmerized by all that charisma.

But I think a lot of Democrats just don't trust Hitlery. Especially the moonbats. How could they ever forgive her for voting to continue to fund the war in Iraq? They know Bill won't be in charge. She will be. You could trust Bill Clinton to sign 95% of Newt Gingrich and the 1995 Republican Congress' Contract With America into law, but you just can't trust her.

Even two months ago, Tom Vilsack announced that Hitlery Clinton is not winning Iowa.

Even Gordon Fischer, who's always on Democrat Happy Pills, doesn't think she has a chance at winning the Iowa Caucus.

Look at Hitlery's organization: She's got a Dukakis vet running Iowa and Barbara Mikulski and Tom Vilsack co-chairing the national campaign. That doesn't exactly inspire confidence, now does it?

Nor does the rapid rise of Bill Richardson's campaign, which recently passed Obama in the polls amongst likely caucus voters and almost within margin of error distance of Hitlery.

"It's the vagina, stupid!" will only get you so far.

“Accidents rarely, rarely, if ever, happen on the water due to alcohol consumption. It’s just a fact.”

Kevin McCarthy, Iowa House Majority Leader

In April 2007, when Iowa Statehouse Democrat and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy was sinking a tougher drunk boating law, he said:

“It may not be politically correct or politically popular to say so but there’s a day-and-night difference between driving on the road and on the water,” McCarthy said.

“Accidents rarely, rarely, if ever, happen on the water due to alcohol consumption. It’s just a fact.”

From KETV:

An Iowan died in a boating accident over the weekend.

Cody Schubert, 21, of Holstein fell overboard a boat about 11 p.m. Saturday on East Lake Okoboji, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Officials said that the boat's operator, Brandon Osborne, 22, of North Mankato, Minn., was charged with boating while intoxicated.

Rarely!

If ever!!!

Daily Idiots

From Daily Iowan Editorial Board from today:

A few years ago, Iowa leaders hinted at an E85 revolution of sorts, implying that automobile fuel composed of 85 percent ethanol would soon supplant 10 percent blends. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association gave the green light by chucking $300,000 at retailers willing to install pumps that dispense E85, which at the time could be consumed by just one in seven Iowa cars.

A couple hot summers and an Iraq quagmire later, the supposed E85 craze - while chugging along - has proven far from overwhelming. The installation incentives led to an initial boom in pump construction, particularly in northern Iowa and around Des Moines; sales of E85 have jumped 20-fold in the half-decade following the blend's introduction. Yet, at least that much growth is to be expected from a product with a minuscule baseline and heavy backing from government, and still, only corn planters and other ethanol interests go out of their way to buy the alcohol-laced fuel.

And they do truly go out of their way. In a state with 3,000 gas stations, the Iowa Corngrowers' Association - which is, understandably, an enthusiastic cheerleader for ethanol - lists just 63 E85 stations on its online "pump-finder." Even if we pretend that all 65 pumps are at established stations - and some are not, occupying co-ops, agribusinesses, and other farmer-friendly, rural venues - a driver pulling into an Iowa gas station currently would have just a 2.2 percent chance of hitting E85 pay-dirt. Farmers and others in 58 of Iowa's 99 counties must cross county lines to refuel their corn cruisers.

That is, if their pickups can handle the stuff: The corngrowers' association reports that just one in 10 Iowa automobiles can now be classified as "flex-fuel," or capable of running on anything from regular gasoline to an 85 percent ethanol blend. Iowa's insistence on propping-up E85 does keep prices roughly 25 cents per gallon lower than E10. Still, because drivers can attain just 75 percent of the gas mileage with E85 compared with E10, and because the ubiquitous "ethanolization" has translated to greater demand for ethanol generally and driven prices skyward (with E85 buyers, of course, bearing the brunt), the 85 percent variety doesn't appear to be gaining a long-term foothold.

The problem could be mitigated by manufacturing: Combustion engines built to burn only ethanol blends, as opposed to gas/alcohol hybrids, would help close the 25 percent gas-mileage gap, the U.S. Department of Energy has concluded. Yet Ford, GM, and Toyota, with some justification, seem unwilling to throw every monkey wrench in the tool chest at E85, only to have their technology trumped by the newest, cleanest fuel sure to arise 10 years down the road.

The implications of E85's reluctant acceptance, as with ethanol fuel generally, are that the corn craze represents just a small, albeit important, step toward foreign-oil independence and away from the feared global warming made more imminent by constantly rising greenhouse-gas levels. The 34 percent net-energy gain realized from ethanol - which dwarfs that drawn from straight gasoline - certainly deserves recognition, but its motivations are economic as well as ecological: If Midwest soil were conducive to producing cellulose products or sugar beets, Iowa farmers would be instead growing those crops, which require just a fraction of the production energy for ethanol conversion as does corn.

That said, E85 does carry the potential to dethrone E10 as the best currently available petroleum alternative. But if "best currently available" is perceived as, or mutates into, a haphazard long-term solution, the United States may run out of oil by 2050. Of course, with climate change progressing at its current rate, that may be the least of our worries.

Gee, where do you begin with a bullshit-riddled editorial such as this?

These geniuses, who have been on the planet for about 20 or 21 years, just figured out that it's hot in the summertime. What a revelation! I guess in all the years I existed before these kids arrived on the scene with their Al Gore DVDs, summer was cold! I guess maybe we had a cool summer or two in the 1970s when all the media was freaking out about the new ice age that was coming, but I don't remember it.

Iraq is a quagmire, eh? Here's a summer assignment for all of you on the Daily Idiot Editorial Bored: please cite at least three stories published in the past couple of weeks that talk about improved conditions in the parts of Iraq where the troop surge has been implemented. Do not cite any Associated Press, Reuters, or UPI stories, mostly because they refuse to publish anything like that. They're too busy publishing fake stories about beheaded bodies (LA Times/AP, Reuters) and spreading lies around the world. Are you lazy ass journalist wannabes too frickin stupid to question THE GREAT AUTHORITY THAT IS THE ASSociated PRESS?

As far as the corn/ethanol editorial, you can just read the cheerleading all the way through:

For example, do these Daily Idiots not know that if all corn grown in United States was converted into ethanol that our oil dependence would reduce by only 12%?

Do these Daily Idiots not know that the manufacturing of ethanol actually produces more carbon monoxide, volatile organics, particulates, and oxides of sulfur and nitrogen than an energy-equivalent amount of gasoline?

Did these Daily Idiots ignore studies at Cornell and Berkeley that say production of ethanol uses more energy that consumers get out of it?

And there's nothing in this editorial about bio-diesel, particularly soy bio-diesel, much less producing ethanol from growing miscanthus.

You've got to love the Daily Idiots' solution: force automobile manufacturers to make their cars E-85 compatible.

Hello, you Idiots, there's a reason why many car manufacturers are ignoring E-85 ethanol. It's because companies like Honda are investing in proven clean diesel technology that can propel a regular Accord sedan down the highway for 62 miles for every gallon burned. Isn't that smarter than converting an existing Accord (34 mpg highway on 100% gas) so that it can get 23 mpg on the highway using E-85 corn hooch?