Y'know why we need to pay people to teach our kids? Cause some people shouldn't be allowed to do it.

Wow...

Let me step into someone else's shoes for a moment...

Ok, so blasting the Register is a game other people usually play and I try to ignore, but this one is just too good:

Take a look at this article, titled "Postal workers want powdery substance tested."

The first paragraph:

"A powdery substance found at the Valley Junction post office in West Des Moines will be tested to alleviate fears of a handful of employees who think the dust is floating asbestos, a cancer-causing substance, said a U.S. Postal Service safety official."

That paragraph is a terrible lead. If you're going to be that dramatically one-sided, you might as well just say:

"Whiny bitches in Valley Junction think they're being exposed to asbestos, but they're not. They're just whiny, and bitches."

Then, as the story goes along, it turns out that...

a) The back room flooring is flaking apart and is made of asbestos.
b) The floors are safe if kept sealed, which stopped happening months ago.
c) The post office won't say why it stopped.

But unless you read the whole story, you'd never know that the first paragraph's "handful of employees" who need their "fears alleviated" are probably right.

KL

A mid-week quiz, some procrastination, and an anniversary :

Hat tip to Thoughts from the Oasis Amidst the Corn, who also debuts at #10 in the rankings on your right.


You taste like baked alaska. Your sweetness is
only matched by your smooth and creamy texture.
You are sure to set fire to anyone's taste
buds.


How do you taste?
brought to you by Quizilla

As an aside, ranking 13 blogs is starting to strain my urge to procrastinate...after a day at work, I look at that list and think "I'll re-shuffle it some other time."

Finally, just to add a third point to a strangely politics free post, I think I may be going soft. I made reservations today for Laura and I for our two-year anniversary. We're going here, and staying in The Dollroom.

Comments about how tasty/romantic I am just may raise your blog ranking.

KL

State 29 responds, then I do too

State 29 took the time to respond to this post, which also drew an unsigned, anonymous response with the same concerns. I found that intriguing. I couldn't reply directly to State's post (they don't allow comments), so I sent them this e-mail:

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my concerns. Seeing as you don't allow comments on your blog, I hope you'll understand that I'm sending you this e-mail and then posting the content in my blog.

Admittedly, in my post, I didn't explain why your views are wrong, and I don't need to, cause that's not my point. If it was purely a matter of truth vs fiction or your opinion vs mine I wouldn't care, because differences of opinion are part of what makes the blogosphere interesting. I think the paragraph you must've missed is this one:

"State 29's rabid hyperpartisanship, on the other hand, is just focused on disallowing those of us in the blogosphere from having informed discussion without being called a Jew-hater, race pimp, or in this case, all in one post, socialist assholes, economic morons and a bitter, angry, and unhinged Bush-hater who plays the class envy card because he's too much of a loser to get a job that pays more than $30,000 a year."

Admittedly, hyperpartisanship may have been the wrong word. But the point I made in the rest of that paragraph is what I think you missed. I don't care who you disagree with, but when you bash them personally instead of refuting their ideas, it's just an angry weak argument.

Take, for example, your post about Sharpton from today.

"Via Instapundit and via Ed Cone (nice job citing here) we discover that Al Sharpton, the race-baiter (slam 1), Jew-hater (slam 2), liar (slam 3), hoaxer (slam 4), and former candidate for the Democratic nomination for President (fact, with an implied slam) has been doing TV commercials for LoanMax.

LoanMax, run by the perfectly-named Rod Aycox (slam 5) (who also runs LoanSmart), owns the entire car-title loan industry in Iowa. This is the same car-title loan industry that charges up to 360% APR, something that Republicans Willard Jenkins of Waterloo and Christopher Rants of Hell find perfectly OK. (another fact with a slam buried in it)"

I hate car title loans and will continue to work against them. That's not the point. The point is that when you can't finish two paragraphs without 5 outright slams and two more implied ones, it's not informed political debate anymore. It's just a whole bunch of ranty crap.

Anyway, there's my concern. Thanks again for responding to it, the link is always good for hits.

KL

I'm finally using titles, and State 29 has jumped the shark.

There's a fine line between being snarky and just being a straight-out asshole, and State 29 is across it. Let's take a look at some recent quotes:

Kwanzaa is a "holiday" for black criminals, Marxists, racists, and liars.

Surely we'll see the results of the 2005 poll in the next week or so, but we have a question or two for the far-lefties who claim to "support the troops" but then endlessly complain about how !!!!BUSH LIED!!!! about the war.

We still think the ultimate point of this exercise, besides selling books and making political hay, is to find a reason for far-lefty Democrats to go forward with impeachment charges (or at least the appearance of an impeachable charge) against President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Rumsfeld, and every other slightly Republican sympathizer on the planet.

Meanwhile, some people are too obsessed with impeaching Bush over something - anything. Their rabid hyperpartisanship extends all the way to disallowing our country to defend itself from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

State 29's rabid hyperpartisanship, on the other hand, is just focused on disallowing those of us in the blogosphere from having informed discussion without being called a Jew-hater, race pimp, or in this case, all in one post, socialist assholes, economic morons and a bitter, angry, and unhinged Bush-hater who plays the class envy card because he's too much of a loser to get a job that pays more than $30,000 a year.

State 29 still hasn't responded to my last effort to get their attention, and probably won't. But I'm starting to be embarassed by the fact that their tripe appears next to a Fallon digital yard sign.

KL

It feels like about every third post lately is an apology for how I haven't posted in a while, and this one is no exception. This week I've been neglecting my blogger duties because I'm spending the holidays in frozen hell. Monday I visited my high school, saw some teachers, handed out some business cards (really, this is the first time I've ever returned home with some actual direction in my life), did some laundry and had a friend cancel on me for dinner. Tuesday I didn't leave the house until 10 at night, to go have a ... make that several ... drinks with an ex, and today I spent the whole day in my room playing March Madness. The more things change, the more Minocqua stays EXACTLY THE SAME.

But that's not why you're here. At least, I don't think that's why you're here. Come to think of it, why are you here?

Tonight, as I take part in my first internet in five days, I feel somewhat compelled to throw my thoughts out there on a few things that floated around the blogosphere during my absence:

First, the fun stuff. I went into this one thinking I could only hope to be half as sexy/funny as the red hot and hilarious Kris from Side Notes and Detours:

As it turns out, I'm hot too:



I'm not quite as funny:



Next, State 29 loves to bash people who go to college and generate debt for careers which won't generate much money. This week Chris from Political Forecast stepped into the line of fire on that one. Then State 29 backed off and congratulated Chris on having a goal in mind.

State 29 and Drew Miller have also gone toe to toe this week on supply-side economics as they apply to student basketball tickets at Iowa. I love economics at times, and this is an excellent real-world application of theories, but as I've said before, when it comes to people whining about sports policies at the U of I, I don't give a flying fuck.

Here's my point, though. State 29 has taken after two liberals this week, Chris and Drew, and I'm wondering if I'm next. So I'm going to give him ammunition, through his debate with Chris.

I started at Drake in 2001 as an open-journalism major. I figured I'd work in either radio or newspaper (with a starting salary under $20k, either way). By State's standards, I'd fall under the heading of "stupid," as I was spending more annually on college than I would make annually afterwards.

In college, I changed majors twice, from open to newspaper to radio, all within my first year and a half. My senior year I looked into changing my major, both to philosophy and economics, because I felt like my career in journalism was already over. I decided not to do that, and just get done and see what happened. I graduated in 2005 with a degree in Radio/TV production and an area of concentration in philosophy...probably the textbook definition of a useless degree.

After graduation, I decided to start volunteering in politics while I was looking for work. Four weeks later I was on salary and I've been in politics ever since.

State, if you read this, and I hope you will, lay off these people. Not everyone needs money to be happy, not everyone who gets a worthless degree ends up with a worthless career, and furthermore, someone as snarky as you probably isn't qualified to evaluate happiness.

Lastly, this one isn't directly Iowa related, but in this poll, Virginia governor Mark Warner and my candidate for president, Brian Schweitzer, rank far higher in approval rating than Vilsack. It may have something to do with this picture.

KL

There's an interesting debate getting started on the ethics of ghostwriting, and I wanted to weigh in on it. As it turns out, the ethical question centers around Ryan Doll's Ames City Council campaign and Drew Miller.

It all started with this post on Drew's blog, where Drew provided a list of letters he had ghost-written for others to the Ames Trib and ISU Daily. He initially posted them with the name of the "sender" attached.

First and foremost, I'm not sure why anyone would ever do that (the posting, not the ghostwriting). I know Drew a little bit, and he doesn't seem like someone who needs the public pat on the back, but this SCREAMS "I wrote this stuff and didn't get credit, give me credit."

In the comments section, one of the "senders" of these letters called Drew out for posting his letter and publicly exposing the fact that it was ghostwritten, which feels like the right thing to do. Debate ensued in the comments, and I was going to let it pass, until...

This post at Drew's blog, which links to this article in the Ames Trib. If you're not going to go read the article, just read this quote from Drew:

"If there are words on the campaign that are not coming out of Ryan's mouth, usually I had something to do with it."

This is a related issue, ghostwriting for a candidate. I'd assume most people know that candidates don't write everything they say, don't proofread every brochure, and don't make every media decision. But when you step out from behind your candidate and say something that starts with "I'm the brains behind...", that's an ego problem and a body blow to your candidate. I won't say I've never ghostwritten a letter or given a candidate something to read, but I can honestly say I'll never come out in the press or this blog and tell you what material was taken from me. It's called being a team player.

KL

A quick meta blog, because it's been way too long since I updated the blogroll on your right. There's getting to be too many to go one by one, so I'll walk you through the changes:

John Deeth's content improves steadily day by day. If the blogosphere has a rising star right now, he's it on the left, and MM is on the right.

This is probably going to sound biased, but if you want to hear things from the Blouin or Culver point of view, check out Drew Miller and Chris Woods, respectively. Within the next few days they'll probably tell you to come to me for the Fallon side of things, but my ad makes that somewhat obvious.

Iowa Political Watch is a new find, thanks to MM for pointing it out. They have a very intriguing style which almost seems out of place in the blog world...the depth of their content is unusual. Normally, when I read a blog it's because I've got a few minutes to spare at work, IPW isn't something I can read that way.

I'd been reading Iowa Geek on and off and on level for a while. Good stuff, a fair mix of personal and politics.

Side Notes and Detours is often entertaining. I apolgize for incorrectly comparing it to Random Mentality, which is now defunct.

I don't know what to call this blog anymore, so I guess I'll stick with Bob Again. She's got great insight on issues at times, but this is the third prolonged absence/strange return and rebuild in a few months. I don't know what's going on and won't speculate.

Remember Iowa Ramblings? New addition DemIowa is kind of on that pace. Tremendous content, inconsitent delivery.

That's all for tonight...after this week, I'm going back to my couch, turning off my cell phone, and closing out the world for a while.

KL

Tuesday is supposed to be quiz day, but my Tuesday was busy. So around here, it's Wednesday.

Thanks to Side Notes and Detours and Iowa Ennui for reminding me.

You Are Not Scary

Everyone loves you. Isn't that sweet?

How Scary Are You?

Yeah, I'd say that's pretty fair.

KL

State 29 did a great job on this review of this editorial from the QC Times, almost certainly the best I've ever read on the subject of campaign finance disclosure. Read both of those.

Here's a case in point of the problem. Over the last week, we've been trying to find out specifics on the campaign contributions of Bill Knapp. Here's the website for the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board. Once you get into the actual reports, here's the challenge.

Good luck finding Bill Knapp in part one of this three month Vilsack report from 2002, which is non-sortable, non alphabetical, and 601 pages long.

Part 2 is 395 pages long.

59 more pages from Culver's Sec. of State Campaign. These have an extra element of difficulty: they're handwritten.

38 handwritten pages for State Auditor David Vaudt.

Wondering who was behind Gronstal as he pondered a run for gov? Here's 54 pages to sift through. From 3 months in 2004.

Want to know who bought their way into the mind of State Senator Jack Kibbie? 34 handwritten pages for you.

My State Rep, Jo Oldson, was one of the many who sold out and endorsed the pro-life, pro-big business campaign for governor. Curious about who's bankrolling her? I was. And I bet I'm the first one to scroll through this unreadable crap.

This is a tremendous problem. A member of my campaign spoke to a reporter this week, who had spent almost a full day looking into the donation activities of one person. In one year. In Illinois, that would be a 5 minute task. In Illinois, and many other places, the public has an actual chance to figure this shit out.

Ed told me once that at a Democratic caucus meeting, another State rep asked the room what MidAmerican Energy wanted him to do, because he couldn't afford to lose their support. In an ideal world, we could pass a clean elections law and keep slimy corporate donors from getting into the minds of our politicians at all. But at the very least, the state absolutely must give us a system where, if we're trying to make ourselves vomit, we can go see who's buying off our politicians.

KL

Sorry I've been a bad blogger lately and haven't been posting much. But this amused me today. Don't ask how or why I found it.

Here's the campaign finance report for "FRIENDS, ENEMIES, WELLWISHERS, & MISFITS TO ELECT ART ARVIZU GOVERNOR OF AZ TEMPORARILY."

That may be my favorite campaign committee name of all time.

KL

So here's a dilemma.

Random, Drew and IE, among others, have picked up on this "weekly quiz" thing. This week's quiz is kinda interesting, so I decided to play along:

You Are Pumpkin Pie

You're the perfect combo of uniqueness and quality Those who like you are looking for something (someone!) special

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Normally, I'd just post that for you, and call it good. Tonight, however, that's not going to be quite good enough.

You see, as I logged in tonight, I noticed something. This is post #100.

This blog didn't exactly get off to a promising start. Check out post #1. I posted in my blog to say I had nothing to post in my blog. And complain about the clutter on my desk.

It's had some funny moments, most of which occured before I started in politics. I particularly like this one, the part about Santa Claus, even if the writing style is terrible.

I like this one, about Wisconsin, too.

Anyway, if you want to indulge my narcissism, go back, look at some old posts, pick out a favorite, and mention it in the comments.

Then imagine some streamers and balloons and stuff. After all, it's my 100th post.

KL

Ok, there's two things I want to weigh in on right now, before they pass me by any farther.

First and foremost, the comments on this Iowa Ennui post have taken on a life of their own, but I'd like to encourage my fellow bloggers not to get too caught up in it. Odds are it's crap. Midwest Mesopotamia appears to have taken the time to research it and comes down with a similar prognosis.

Besides that, the whole thing just sounds like a wrestling storyline. Although....now that you mention it...

WWE's "Millenium Man:" CHRIS Jericho.
TNA's "Big Acquisition:" CHRIStian Cage.
If this "New Gub Candidate" turns out to be CHRIS from Midwest Mesopotamia, I'm playing the conspiracy card.

Now, on to a serious point. State 29 went off on Iowa State sanctioned gambling in bars, gas stations etc yesterday. And he's absolutely right. Midwest Mesopotamia hit the nail on the head with it today. Make no mistake, if you wanna piss your money away, I'm all for it. In a sanctioned, safe place. Gas stations and bars don't fit that model.

If a politican or candidate wanted to make hay right now, they'd hammer this issue.

KL

Update: I wanted to hammer a little harder on why gambling all over the place is bad.

Flash back to May 25, 2004, which coincedentally was also my 21st birthday. In this case, however, it's notable because it was my only blog post during the disaster that was my week in Montana. Actually, that post is really depressing, so don't read it, I'll just give you the quote I want you to see:

If you live in Missoula and you don't have a gambling problem, welcome to the minority. There's a casino on every streetcorner here, and if you don't want to walk that far, there's one in the middle of every block too. It's goddamn scary. Chris Hale told me today that if you have a liquor license in Montana, you get a license to have a casino too.

As terrible as that was, what Iowa's doing could turn out worse. At least in Montana, where the gambling licenses come with liquor licenses, the state has attached two things it needs to heavily regulate: liquor and poor people who value gambling over food. But then you get interesting situations. I washed my clothes at a laundromat with a liquor license and slot machines.

Anyway, back to my point. In Montana, at least it was regulated somewhat. Here in Iowa, "slottery machines" have virtually no regulation at all. Certainly, a 40-year-old single mother of 3 kids who gambles away her paycheck and then has to beg for food is one problem. And that one happens a lot. Just as frequently, a husband will gamble away a paycheck, get angry, go home, face an argument, and become a domestic abuser. Those two problems can happen at any casino, though. Now, we've got a new one. A 13 year old can walk in, win $50 on a slottery machine, and become an addict for life, too.

I grew up in Wisconsin, where you have to be 21 to gamble, but lived half an hour away from the U.P. of Michigan, where you only have to be 18. So every time a friend turned 18, we took them up to Watersmeet, Michigan...yes, that Watersmeet, from the ESPN commercial. Go Nimrods.

My first trip to Watersmeet, I won about $5. At one point I was up $75, and slowly blew it. On the way out the door, a friend dropped his last dollar into a machine, saying it was "the last dollar he'd ever gamble."

He won $700.

He went back twice that week, and about that often for the rest of the summer. I haven't seen him since I left for college almost 5 years ago, but even counting that $700 win, he was down thousands of dollars (on an 18-year-old budget). I'd bet by now, on a college student's budget, he's down tens of thousands of dollars. One time, after losing his money particularly quickly, he was determined to make his money back, by drinking all the free soda he could handle. That night, we went to a pizza place and, being broke, he tried to get free food by betting the manager he could eat a large pizza by himself. Then, a few days later, he was back at the casino.

Most people can handle gambling. Some people enjoy it. But you can't deny the fact that sometimes it destroys lives. And while I'd never want to prevent people from pissing away their money how they see fit, I don't think the state should ever be sponsoring it.

KL

This State 29 post created an interesting conversation. Here's an ALL NEW ONE ACT PLAY! to commemorate it.

KL reads the story to LAURA.
KL: The story is whacked. But y'know what's more whacked?
LAURA: What?
KL: This dude's hands. Look at them!
LAURA: I can't believe we have Maharishis in Iowa.
KL: You know what Maharishis are?
LAURA rolls her eyes.
LAURA: I've been a liberal longer than you.
KL: No way.
LAURA: Ok, who here co-founded a "Free Tibet" club in high school?
KL: Wow...did that come with a free pocket protector? What did you do?
LAURA: We...umm...raised awareness and stuff.
KL: So you spent high school trying to free Tibet, and I spent high school playing video games. And we both accomplished the same thing.

That's all for now.

KL

So here's a random moment where political and personal collide:

If I learned one thing at the JJ Dinner, it's this. If you're not wearing a suit, there are large groups of people that will completely fail to take you seriously. So I bought my first suit today. That's quite the experience. Here's a quick guide to preparing for it:

Step 1: Find someone to go with you.

If you can't get your girlfriend, take your mom. If you can't get your mom, just take someone. You're about to be measured, weighed, touched uncomfortably and trotted around like a pet at a dog show. You'll want a familiar face.

Step 2: Be comfortable with who you are.

One of the reasons this was a bit uncomfortable is because I'm carrying around about 30 lbs more than I'd like. So when I started to hit "I've never worn pants this big before" territory, that was a little uneasy.

Step 3: Try real hard not to be stupid.

Here's a great example of something I don't recommend. On about suit #4, my accomplice finally liked a pair of pants. So I sat down to put on some shoes, etc. The following exchange occured (not that it matters, but it's important to the story, my salesperson was an attractive female.):

SALESPERSON: So what do you do for a living?
KL: I work in politics.
SALESPERSON: I see. Around your office, are you familiar with the expression XYZ?
KL looks down.
KL turns and zips.

That's another reason Step 2 is kinda important.

Step 4: Know your credit score, empty your bank accounts.

My final bill was $420. That includes the suit, a shirt, two ties, a belt and some socks. And I got off LIGHT. The first suit I tried on was $600 by itself.

So there you have it. If we held JJ again today, I'd be so ready.

KL

First, some quick reminders.

Clicking on the ads above helps support Fallon for Governor. If you're looking to help out in a bigger way, you can sign up here.

The IRV poll for governor is still up and running, if you haven't voted yet, click here to do so, and tell your friends.

Now, our feature presentation.

The Vision Iowa Board announced its intent to begin negotiations with 5 groups in Iowa today. (full story) Of course, the board, with no taxpayer/voter accountability, really has no reason not to give this money away. The projects reaping the pork this time:

Clear Lake (pop 8161) Arts Center: $330,000
Conrad (pop 1020) Public Library: $200,000
Orange City (pop 5582) Community Betterment Project: $127,000
Rock Valley (pop 2702) Campground: $534,000
Sioux Center (pop 6002) Public Library: $1.3 million

I'm fine with the Clear Lake one. But the other four occupy a combined $2.5 million dollars, or about $154 per resident of these four towns. Granted, I prefer this to using it to line the pockets of Wells Fargo et al, but still...our education system struggles, 329,000 Iowans have no health insurance, and we're investing in this?

KL

A few months ago, Drew Miller had an instant runoff voting poll to see who would win the nomination if it was held that way, which actually makes sense. And I'm not just saying that because Fallon won.

Here's how instant runoff voting works:

You rank the candidates, then set it in motion. If one candidate gets over 50% of the votes, we have a winner. If not, the bottom candidate is eliminated, and their votes go to the second choice of those voters. The process continues until someone gets 50% of the votes. So if you really don't like one candidate, you can effectively ensure they won't get your vote.

Anyway, here's the link to the new poll.

I'm hoping other blogs (Drew Miller, Chris Woods, John Deeth, IE, this means you, and others) will also pick it up, so we can get the largest, fairest sample possible.

Go vote!

I found this Tood Dorman piece through Iowa Ennui this morning, and figured it merited a response, so I posted one, both here and there:

The "no one gets 35%" problem isn't really as likely as you'd think.

First and foremost, anyone who wants to appear on the ballot has to have 4000 signatures on their nominating petition by February. Culver and Blouin can almost certainly manage that. Fallon's already got that.

On the "maybe" side, we've got Patty Judge, who said she's looking to get enough signatures at the precinct caucuses in January. If that works, more power to her, but past performance would tell us that only about 6-8,000 people are going to attend the 2,000 caucuses combined. The concept of 4,000 of them being Judge supporters is iffy at best, and if they're not, she's got about 2 weeks to scramble and get signatures.

Gregg Connell is also a maybe. He comes off with a little more political credibility than I originally gave him credit for, but he's still the mayor of a 5,000 person town in the middle of nowhere. 4,000 signatures is a tough goal for a guy who's been in the race almost 2 months and doesn't even have a website.

There's no way "Standing on the streetcorner" Sal or Mark Yackle even get 1000 signatures. Maybe Yackle can go back home and open Yackle's Bait and Tackle, or Yackle's Paint and Spackle.

If it's only 3 candidates, it would take an absolute perfect storm for no one to get 35%.

If it's 4 or 5, the possibility is there but still exceptionally unlikely. Connell and Judge take up 5-10% each (roughly 20-30,000 votes total), leaving Fallon, Blouin and Culver to fight for the remaining 170-180,000, needing to pull down 70,000 to win. And it'll be close, but not that close.

Anyway, thanks to Todd Dorman and IE for distracting me from ranting about the Jefferson Jackson Dinner.

KL

Ok, so before you start on anything I'm going to say, go enjoy this, from Bob Again.

Some thoughts on rankings, first and foremost. We say goodbye to two blogs this week. Deep Thoughts with Mr. Boothe is closing down. Iowa Ramblings has a great name and nearly a month of inactivity. Visit them both as you would visit a favorite bar one last time before it closes.

On a positive note, this week we welcome John Deeth. I honestly haven't read enough of his stuff to make any kind of informed comment yet.

On a side note, I'm starting to release how much I'm missing in the world of sports. This week a Brewer (Carlos Lee) won a Silver Slugger Award and the NBA season started, and I didn't even know til the next night! Normally, this is the kind of thing I'd be up all night over. I used to write for Baseball Think Factory and spend probably 5-10 hours a week in their forums, but before tonight, I hadn't been there since June. It's a good thing I don't have to worry about Snowbaseball.com anymore.

Now, on Saturday, my Badgers play for the lead in the Big Ten, but instead of watching it, I'll be attending the Iowa Democratic Party's Jefferson Jackson Dinner.

(rant begins)

I recognize that every local party everywhere has an event like this, but I loathe the Jefferson Jackson Dinner, and here's why:

It's unapologetically elitist. Make no mistake, if you're a Democrat, we want your attention. But we also want your money. If you've got $100, you can sit down at a table. If you've got $25, you can stand in the back and listen to speakers. The speakers include a guy who used to be a Senator, a respectable Senator, a Governor who's stopped doing his job so he can run for President, A Lt. Governor who appears to have no political future, a Congressman who's stopped doing his job entirely, too many Congressional candidates to name (but no one who's running to replace Steve King), not one, or two, or three, but six gubernatorial candidates (sorry, Gregg Connell doesn't have a website. Actually, if you Google Gregg Connell, I come up 4th.), and probably some Secretary of Ag candidates. If this sounds like a party to you, you just may want to seek some help.

But if you can't spare $100, you can't eat there. And if you can't spare $25, you can't even get in the door. I thought we were the non-big money party. What a goddamn joke.

KL

Attn. Gregg Connell:

You have a Google Problem.

If you haven't been watching it, the most interesting debate taking place at my blog actually has little or nothing to do with anything I said. It's going on here, in the comments section of a post I wrote almost 2 months ago.

Go check it out.

KL

Testing out some slogans today. Vote in the comments for your favorite:

1) The Curiously Strong KL Snow.
2) The Best KL Snow Under One Roof.
3) Which Twin has the KL Snow?
4) All The KL Snow That's Fit To Print.
5) Takes a KL Snow but it Keeps on Tickin'.

Really, I like all of them except #3, which I don't get. But 4 is my favorite. Now vote for yours. It's like a real election without special interest money.

Source: http://www.thesurrealist.co.uk/slogan.cgi

Quick thought today, as it's taking me an awful lot of effort not to vomit on my keyboard:

If you, like me, believe centrist groups like the DLC and Heartland PAC (of Silver Spring, Maryland) are the problem, and I do, then you'll also enjoy this piece at Schweitzer for President, and I did.

Nevermind my favorite Jim Hightower quote, which says "There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos." My problem with Vilsack and his centrist friends isn't their views, really. People portray Schweitzer as a centrist and if he runs for president, I'll support him.

My problem with the DLC and Heartland PAC is its direct ties to big money from people who have zero interest in the good of the people Vilsack would claim to represent. This is where Kevin nails it:

Just why would (and this is just a sampling) British Petroleum, Boeing, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Coca-Cola, Dell, Eli Lilly, Federal Express, Glaxo Wellcome, Intel, Motorola, U.S. Tobacco, Union Carbide, and Xerox, AOL, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Citigroup, Dow, GE, IBM, Oracle, UBS PacifiCare, PaineWebber, Pfizer, Pharmacia and Upjohn, and TRW, Aetna, AT&T, American Airlines, AIG, BellSouth, Chevron, DuPont, Enron, IBM, Merck and Company, Microsoft, Philip Morris, Texaco, and Verizon Communications be financial donors to the DLC if it is not for the purpose of influence? Can you spell s-p-e-c-i-a-l p-r-i-v-i-l-e-g-e? No, then try h-y-p-o-c-r-i-s-y.

For another helping of hypocrisy, why does the DLC slam members of its own party for so-called 'catering to special interests,' when the DLC does exactly what it accuses others of doing?

Let's take a look at that list a little closer:
BP, Texaco Chevron: So let me get this straight: Vilsack is supposedly doing all he can to investigate potential gas price gouging, but at the same time his groups are taking donations from three different oil companies? That's laughable.
Fed Ex: UPS and the USPS are both unionized. Fed Ex is not. That's an interesting bedfellow for a group of "Democrats."
Bristol Meyers Squibb, Glaxo Welcome, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Pfizer, Pharmacia and Upjohn, et al: I guess this makes their intentions on health care pretty clear. They intend to do nothing.

A South Carolina history professor named Clyde Wilson once said: "Politicians today are not leaders, nor are they representatives of the people. They are brokers who distribute the taxpayers money among special interests. That is all they are. And either party would much rather see their opponents win, with whom they can cut a deal, than a maverick in their own party with whom they could not cut a deal."

Vilsack, the DLC and Heartland PAC are the embodiment of this.

KL

So I'm back from Wisconsin. Please control your excitement.

The blogroll on the left has been long overdue for an update, so here you go:

I've been meaning to add Midwest Mesopotamia for a little while now, their stuff is repeatedly good. And i'm not just saying that cause he's been on my side recently. He debuts at 2. Consistent, good stuff.

Three and four are tough, as both Drew and IE are consistently good, when they're consistent. IE's recent posting breaks have been shorter than Drew's, so she gets the nod.

Random moves down the list a bit because her Iowa political insight has been lacking lately. Don't get me wrong, your blog is your blog and the fact that I'm not interested in it doesn't make it bad, but I am ranking political blogs here.

Bob Again is on some kind of strange "I'm going to repeatedly reformat my blog and then use a background that makes it unreadable" kick.

Iowa Ramblings has been inactive for over two weeks.

Ok, so I guess no actual insight today. Just some blogging about blogs. I know everyone loves that.

This could be a long post. You may want to read it in shifts.

Shift 1: On Value

First and foremost, thanks to Drew Miller for finding me this fun new toy:

My blog is worth $3,387.24.
How much is your blog worth?

As a rule, with exactly one exception (QB rating) I don't ever put weight in numbers I don't know how to calculate. Nonetheless, I found this interesting. Here's the dollar value of other blogs listed here:

State 29: $35,566.02
Random Mentality: $0
Drew Miller: $11,290.80
Iowa Ennui: $5645.40
Bob Again: $0
Political Forecase: $22,017.06
Schweitzer for President: $12,984.42
Mr. Boothe: $7339.02
Iowa Ramblings: $0

Ryan: $0
Emeric: $0
Tim: $1129.08
Shawn: $0

I don't get it. Granted, I like being worth something, but nonetheless, I don't understand why I'm worth that. Or how I could possibly be worth more than Random.

Shift 2: On Value(s)

It finally got cold enough this week that I had to bust out my coat for the first time since spring. It produced some interesting discoveries.

First, I found my favorite pair of black sunglasses. That means I now have my favorite blues and blacks. The greens and reds are still missing.

Second, I found a pin. This pin was gained in a previous life, when I thought my career in politics had lived out its short life and drawn to a conclusion, and I was paying for my lavish life as a student by working as a part-time Wal Mart cashier. i'm probably also the only person in Democratic Party history to work for the party and Wal Mart at the same time. In hindsight, I'm not sure why I did that, or if the good/evil of one job outweighs the other.

Anyway, I was given the pin because of some momentus goal the store had achieved, I didn't know what it was then, and I still don't now. But the pin says "We did it."

Apparently I tucked the pin in my pocket and hadn't touched it since. In fact, it's still in the tiny plastic bag they distribute pins in. At the time, I was indifferent to Wal Mart. I didn't like it, and I certainly didn't like being employed there, but I did it with minimal sabotage for 9 months, and I shopped there pretty frequently.

But, of course, I returned to politics, months after I had quit my cashiering job. Then I found the pin. Now I almost see it as accusatory. It's like the pin says:

"Yes, noble co-conspirator. I share responsibility for the death of the American marketplace, the ruin of a large portion of the workforce and the decrease in average quality of goods sold in America. But I wasn't alone. You helped me. WE DID IT.

How does one pay pennance for that? How does one make up for an indiscretion that severe?

Shift 3: On the Value of Work vs Play:

I've been away from Des Moines since Friday afternoon, and won't be back til late tuesday. It's both the longest I've been away and the first time I've taken a weekday off since June. I've discovered something important.

I can't do this again.

Granted, working 40-60 hour weeks from now til June without a break would be a marathon, to put it mildly, then hopefully after the primary I'll get busier. But right now I feel like the guy who sits down in the middle of the marathon, saying he just needs a breather.

I was running along ok before Friday, then I left to come home. And it's not that I haven't relaxed at home. I've fit in some disc golf, some time with friends, and a lot of family. I've seen people I've missed for a long time, people I promised to come see multiple times and failed to visit, and people I really wish would come back into my life on an everyday basis.

But now that's over, and i'm nowhere near ready to go back to work. I'm going home tomorrow and into the office on Wednesday, and I feel both a) tremendously out of the loop and b) not all that interested in getting back into it.

Make no mistake, I love my job, the concept of what I'm trying to do still fascinates me, and once I get running again, I'll be ok.

KL

This one might scare you: I'm about to advocate for a Republican.

My State Rep. and my State Senator have now both announced their endorsement of Mike Blouin. I've been sick to my stomach all night. I think the two are related.

After reading Oldson's endorsement, I wrote the two of them this e-mail:

Sen. McCoy, Rep. Oldson,

My name is (name deleted, for the three of you who don't know it). I've been a citizen of your district and a straight-ticket voting Democrat since 2000. I'm also a former IDP canvasser. I'm writing today to let you know my straight ticket streak is about to end, because in light of your endorsement of Blouin, I fully intend to support anyone who runs against you.

Mike Blouin is a pro-life, big business political hack. What could you possibly be thinking? If someone on the outside looked at Blouin, they wouldn't even know he was a Democrat.

Way to abandon the party values.

Ed Fallon and I discussed this e-mail briefly after I sent it, and he asked me, "So if it comes down to Blouin or Nussle, who would you support?"

I didn't even flinch on it. "Nussle."

He was surprised. Most of my fellow staff members were surprised too. But here's why I'd do it.

SCENARIO 1: Nussle beats Blouin. Nussle is the chairman of a committee that recently celebrated a drop from $400+ billion of defecit to $300+ billion. He's been a key proponent of tax cuts for the wealthy, and would cut business taxes in an effort to grow small business. Education, health care and the environment will be ignored. In short, he'll be dreadful.

Then, a campaign run by me or someone like me will have a candidate who either is Ed or is greatly similar. After six years of choosing the "most electable" Democrat (Mr. Gore, Mr. Kerry, then Mr. Blouin), then getting our asses kicked, the Democratic Party finally wakes up and supports a candidate who actually shares its values.

Downsides: Four years of Republican leadership, including an ignored education, health care and environmental protection system.

Upside: Only four years, followed by a Democratic rejuvenation which strengthens the Democrats and makes them viable again.

Scenario 2: Blouin beats Nussle. Blouin, as mentioned above, is pro-life, and has been the key craftsman of the INCESTUAL Fund. He runs the state broke giving money away to big business and calling it "economic development." In the 50th ranked state for small business, the small business climate actually gets worse. Education, health care and the environment are all things Blouin talks about for priorities, but after he gives half the state's budget to Wells Fargo, Wells Dairy and Maytag, there won't be money left to pay for it.

Then, someone like me (but not me, cause if Blouin gets elected I'm fleeing the state) will recruit another grassroots Democrat to call Blouin out in the primary. He'll recognize that to beat Blouin, he needs to make the public aware of every mistake Blouin has ever made. His campaign will be tremendously negative, but he'll bash Blouin from pillar to post. The primary will come, and Blouin will win because Democrats will think his challenger is too prone to anger. However, the damage will be done to Blouin, and knowing all his flaws, the state will elect a Republican. Any Republican, really. Steve King could get it. And for the next 20 years, every time a Democrat runs for Governor, people will say "Oh, we tried that. Remember Mike Blouin?" And then we get another Republican dynasty like Ray/Branstad all over again.

So really, it's 4 bad years vs 24. If Ed loses to Blouin, I'll vote for 4.

KL

Quick thoughts on a slow day at work.

Drew Miller is back up and running, and did so with a flurry of posts.

One of them is specifically about Ed Fallon, and while perusing through the responses, I found Stefanie from Bob Again. The insight into Iowa politics in her comment combined with the humor concerning the name of her blog warranted a middle of the pack debut in the blog list on your right.

KL

Just 'cause, at times, I'm really this much of a dork...

Fighter 77% Combativeness, 16% Sneakiness, 50% Intellect, 27% Spirituality

Good at hitting things and with a definite violent streak; you are a Fighter! Fighters are the basic martial combatants in D&D. Their abilities and skills vary wildly between individuals, but they all share one thing in common� a definite preference for violence. You're either really defensive, have an unhealthy fascination with sharp objects� or you just like hurting people. Either way, you should probably try and keep your cool. Being able to hack someone into pieces maybe a useful skill in most RPGs, but in real life it will just get you into trouble.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 88% on Combativeness You scored higher than 6% on Sneakiness You scored higher than 20% on Intellect You scored higher than 30% on Spirituality

Link: The RPG Class Test written by MFlowers on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

KL

I'll keep this one brief.

There's been a lot of talk lately about the pink locker rooms at Kinnick Stadium (U of Iowa), and whether they're sexist, or an appropriate continuation of tradition, and whether Hayden Fry was a redneck or some super-genius, and whether blogs should or shouldn't allow anonymous comments, and whether Iowa should/shouldn't be held responsible for policing its neanderthals. I've been asked for my thoughts a few times now. I'll put them here so no one else has to ask.

I don't give a flying fuck.

If your life is so tedious that something this small occupies more than 5 minutes of your time, find something better to do.

KL

OK, we're back to the OINK rating.

I'm openly looking for new Iowa-focused political blogs this week after new friendRandom Mentality decided to take some time off as well. Iowa Ennui has returned, thankfully, but I'm starting to wonder if being linked here isn't a kiss of death.

With that said, however, I'm acknowledging two more blogs today that fit my criteria:

I know Chris Woods, the primary poster at Political Forecast, a little bit, we've had classes together. I don't agree with his opinions on a fair number of things, and his blog is a little national for my taste, but Chris is a good guy, and after our conversation last night, I'm interested in seeing how he covers the governor's race.

Iowa Ramblings appears to be the new "anonymous poster who bashes everything" blog, but right now, State 29 appears to enjoy their work and anyone who uses pictures like this of insane Congressman Steve King is good enough for me.

The two debut at the bottom of the rankings, just above the inactive, with Political Forecast getting the edge cause I know who writes it.

KL

Non-OINK:

Whoever told me "Love is having someone to share your dreams with," probably didn't have this in mind:

AN ALL NEW ONE ACT PLAY BY KL SNOW!

KL and LAURA just woke up, and are getting dressed.
LAURA: You definitely talked in your sleep last night.
KL: When?
LAURA: I don't know.
KL: Was it before or after I got up to check my e-mail?
LAURA thinks for a second.
LAURA: After.
KL: OK. Cause before I got up, I had a dream I was watching Larry King, and he was doing a phone debate with a Republican and a Democrat, and the Republican wouldn't shut up, and was talking over people and going on and on, and finally Larry King hung up on him. I can see talking in my sleep on that one, cause I was shouting at the TV.
LAURA stares blankly.
KL: But after I came back, I dreamt I bought snails for the fishtank, so that must've been it.
LAURA: Wow, those are some boring dreams.

This is the part where being a political madman comes in. After the Larry King dream, I woke up all tense, like something was wrong. I had to get up, check the apartment, check my e-mail, and pee before I could go back to sleep.

Side note: this post over at Big Cheese Press is absolutely hilarious. Would I think it was funny if I was a Republican? Maybe not as funny, but yes. Still funny.

KL

Update: I just remembered one more dream. It was Christmas break from college, but for some reason, one of my fellow staff members was in college with me. He knew I was going home for Christmas, and wanted me to give him a ride on the way. Not knowing where I was going, I agreed. He printed off maps and stuff for me, and I was almost home when I realized I still had him in the car. So I asked him where exactly I was taking him again, and he reminded me: "Bolivia." If that's not a metaphor for my job lately...

Today in 1941:

Ted Williams enters the last day of the season with a batting average of exactly .400, and a meaningless doubleheader left of the schedule. His manager offers him the day off to preserve the feat, but Williams declines. He goes 6-for-8 in the doubleheader and finishes the season batting .406.

Today, more than ever, I wonder how he could do it.

In terms of political schedules, my recent work has been average...or less. I've worked 47, 50 and 50 hours the last two weeks. Last weekend I had Saturday off for the first time in a month. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I love my job, I love the chance to make a difference and I love having teammates who believe in and count on me, day after day. But it's exhausting.

I'm still trying to find the mix of fun time/rest time/work time to recuperate effectively. Take last week for example:

Sunday - 5 hours
Monday - 11 hours
Tuesday - 8 hours
Wednesday - 11 hours
Thursday - 8 hours
Friday - 7 hours

Coming off a 51 hour week, I really didn't feel like doing much of anything on Saturday. And I didn't. I laid around my apartment all day Saturday. Sunday, I laid around someone else's apartment and watched football. You'd think, given that much rest, I'd have been fired up and ready to go Monday morning.

I almost fell asleep at my desk Monday morning. I snored endlessly through the night last night (or so I'm told). I couldn't answer the bell this morning. I managed to get in 6 hours during the day today, and will put in another 2 tonight. But I'm absolutely exhausted.

Someone out there must have gone through this before. How'd you get through it?

KL

Iowa Ennui is back!

Welcome back to politics, fellow blogger. You've earned back your place at #2 on the list of blogs.

Also, I certainly have read enough about Random Mentality, I'm not sure what took me so long to check it out. She debuts at number 3.

KL

Today's post, and all from this point forward, barring further notice, are rated OINK:

What makes a terrible congressman?

I'm a registered Dem, but I'd like to think this is a bi-partisan issue. What makes a Congressman so bad that you'd consider crossing party lines just to get them out of office?

I've spoken before about Leonard Boswell, my slimy US Rep, who I helped get re-elected in 2004. Make no mistake, he's slimy, his views are wildly different from mine, he's a Democrat in name only, etc. That's not my particular problem with him. At least not this time.

Leonard Boswell is old. As I mentioned in my previous post about him, when staff members and I met him months ago, we were surprised he was still with it...we've heard rumors to the contrary. I realize Congressmen have staff to properly consult their corporate donors and whatnot, but nonetheless, I'd like to believe my Congressman is lucid enough to make his own decisions.

Things took a turn for the worse this week for Boswell, however. On Tuesday, Boswell had surgery to remove an abdominal mass. That by itself isn't a big deal. In fact, I'm less than a third of Boswell's age and I've had two surgeries to remove abdominal masses. The big deal is Boswell's scheduled hospital time, which spokesman Eric Witte said "will probably be a few weeks."

That's a problem for me. You see, the House is in session right now. Here's some of the things they voted on this week:

Head Start — Approved, 231-184, a bill that would reauthorize Head Start, an early-childhood program, and allow faith-based charities operating local programs to hire staff based on their religious preference.

Hurricane relief — Approved, 384-24, authorization of more than $2 billion over three years for programs in manufacturing research and development, and help for small businesses affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Both bills have interesting subplots, but the first one scares me a bit. Head Start is a critical program for low-income families, and no parent should have to make the decision between holding their children back from education and exposing their children to religious education.

Boswell missed both votes, and others. He'll presumably miss several more as he recovers from surgery. But this is the line that really sickens me.

Boswell said nothing in his health will prevent him from running again and he fully intends to do so. "I have every expectation of continuing to represent Iowa for years to come," he said.

Yes, Representative Boswell, your health is preventing you from doing your job, and seeing as you're already 71, your health will presumably continue to prevent you from doing your job. In fact, you're missing work right now. But it's good to know that your inability to do your job won't prevent you from running for re-election so you can be incompetent, inconscient or just absent for another two years.

As always, click the ads at the top to support Fallon for Governor. Also, if you'd like to co-sign a letter asking Rep. Boswell to retire, add your name to the comments.

Finally, here's a cool quiz:

You are a Social Liberal (75% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (25% permissive) You are best described as a: Strong Democrat Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating

KL

This blog is rated OINK:

Last week Iowa Ennui fell out of the realm of politics and into a realm where we just post synonyms for extortion and talk about what we made from our gardens. I was sad.

This week, Drew Miller has fallen off the face of the Earth. I'd say the pressure is on me now to hold up my end of the political spectrum.

Something came way out of nowhere today. When I started watching the Governor's race, Gregg Connell would get a mention every now and then as someone who "might" consider running. I can't link him, he doesn't even have a website. Then people stopped talking about him, and he disappeared. Today, months later, he announced his candidacy. If you'd been putting odds on the next person to announce, they'd be something like:

Blouin 3:2
Culver 5:1
Connell...who?

Gregg Connell is the mayor of Shenandoah, which isn't close to anywhere you've ever been or would even consider going under most circumstances. It's a town of just more than 5000 people in a highly Republican county in the middle of nowhere. His move makes no sense for 3 reasons:

1) He's the mayor of a small town in the middle of nowhere.
2) He announced on a Friday. Any news of his decision will be swept under the rug before the weekend's over.
3) He announced on a day when one of the frontrunning candidates, Ed Fallon, IS IN HIS TINY TOWN.

I don't get it.

This has been KL Snow

What is that?

This post is rated E for Everyone.

As some/most of you know, my Yahoo mail has a problem. Y'know those virus links you get from people over IM sometimes cause people are dumb and don't use Trillian? Yeah, I clicked on one. Wasn't thinking. So some asshole got my Yahoo username/password, and had control over my account for a week or so. I busted back in, changed the password, but one remnant of that era remains. My e-mail is still in traditional Chinese. As such, I also still have traditional Chinese ads.

That's where the picture up above comes in. It's a Domino's Pizza ad from China. Apparently Domino's in China is also an excellent source of fried chicken and tater tot lookin things. But more intriguing to me is this: What the hell is on that pizza?

I've magnified it several times now, and I see shrimp. That's not that weird...I guess. The red things and the green things are open to interpretation. Any guesses?

KL

Ok, first, the political stuff. Ryan has been nice enough to supply me a new acronym. The following paragraph is labeled OINK, or Only Iowans Need to Know.

Iowa Ennui decided today to stop posting for a while. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I've been considering moving them down the list of blogs on the right for a while. I've never really said this on the blog, but that list reflects the order in which I read them, most days. Bear in mind, no one else is even close to State 29, I check with them at least 4-5 times a day. Furthermore, Iowaennui's content has been fading. Their level of coverage is good but their choice of issues makes me yawn a bit lately. Certainly, Katrina was going to dominate the news, and is for a long time, but mainstream media covers that to no end. The blogosphere really serves as my means for catching other stuff. Stuff I'd miss cause it's buried on page 10 of the Cedar Rapids Gazette (subscription only), but should know, and should care about. State 29 and Drew Miller do a much better job of that.

OINK Concludes.

If you're ever trying to make a decision on the question "Am I strange?", the answer may very well lie at an anime convention. If you're too scared or poor to go inside, stand outside. The effect is similar.

A long time online friend of mine who I had never met in person IM'ed me tonight to let me know she was in DSM and we should meet. She was at Hotel Fort Des Moines for Anime Iowa. I had been to Hotel Fort Des Moines for parties before, most recently for the Election Day Party for the IDP in November, which wasn't much of a party at all, really. See this post if you've forgotten.

This one was a little different. I wore my black pirate shirt, and asked how I'd know her. She told me "I'm wearing red boots." So I arrived in front of the Hotel Fort Des Moines, and sure enough, there's a girl with red boots standing there, looking a little older than I expected, but I went up, said hi, and tried to solicit a hug. This girl definitely didn't know me and probably thinks I'm a creep now.

The girl I was waiting for came out a few minutes later. It went similarly to every meeting I've ever had with people I've met online. We had a 5-minute, exceptionally awkward conversation, I excused myself and went to the car and cursed at myself for being so boring. Then I went home. But in those five minutes, I saw:

-- Four different colors of neon hair.
-- Two pocket protectors.
-- Three girls wearing tags with "minor" written on them. None of them looked old enough that I would've had to ask. And if you get drunk enough at an Anime con to "accidentally" fuck a 13 year old, perhaps you deserve the consequences.

Aside from the pocket protectors, everyone I saw was dressed in a manner that normal society would deem as "weird." Some of them were friendly, one guy coming out for a cigarette did stare at me talking to two girls for a long time before saying "hey," and two girls did say they'd vote for me. Even though I'm not running for anything. (Anymore.) Neither of them were 18, though.

Most days my concern isn't really the question "am I strange?" But today it was. And after standing outside Anime Iowa for 5 minutes, the answer is a resounding no.

KL

Just a quick thought today, I need to get back to work:

I was paging through old news stories this morning about the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) and the Iowa Values Fund (IVF), and I was bored. I decided the department and the program needed an acronym that fits what they're really doing.

My first thought was simple. I added "agriculture" to the formula and produced the Iowa Department of Economic and Agricultural Development, or IDEAD. Some people would say that sums up the problem nicely.

But then I remembered this quote from Mike Blouin, former head of the IDED, and also former head of the Greater Des Moines Partnership:

“Look beyond agrarian stereotypes of Iowa, acknowledge stereotypes with humor, and vigorously refute them.”

So I don't think agriculture really fits into his field at all.

I was ready for this challenge, though, and five post it notes later, I came up with this one:

Iowa's
Notion to
Create
Economic
Status
Through
Unnecessary
Actions and
Laws

How many businesses would needlessly extort taxpayer money if they had to do so by applying for an INCESTUAL grant?

My only problem with this new name: it's a bit of a misnomer. Through the Values Fund, Iowa isn't really screwing its sister. It's screwing itself.

KL

Some thoughts while I wait for my laundry:

There's two new links on the right hand side in the "political, non-crackpot" section. They're related in one way.

I learned about Brian Schweitzer, the Governor of Montana, through this post at Jason Boothe's blog that links to this article.

In terms of actual platform, Schweitzer is a little closer to the center than I am. But if you're looking for electable (cause we never seem to learn from that mistake) Schweitzer may be your guy. And we do agree on my biggest issue, campaign finance reform. Do you realize, at a price of less than $3 million per year, Iowa could completely negate the impact of special interests? That's about 1/40th of what we give to insurance companies annually in tax breaks.

Schweitzer wins without big money too. He goes out, he talks to people, he listens, he knows his constituents, and he might just be the most likeable man to run for President in my lifetime, if he runs. Go to the Schweitzer for President blog and sign the petition to get him to run. Do it now.

KL

Several thoughts today, in no particular order:

I put a Google Adbar at the top, and I feel a bit like a whore for doing so, but it is for a good cause. All revenue generated will be donated to Fallon for Governor. So if you want to help support the cause but are too cheap to do so yourself, click the ads and donate a few cents to Fallon for Governor. We'll get more out of those few cents than Culver or Blouin would have, I can promise you that.

Other blogs I should note this week:

Wikipedia doesn't really count as a blog, but they do have a page on Ed now, which I...umm...might have had something to do with.
State 29 mentioned it too.
Ed spoke at the Associated Press Managing Editors Conference in Ames this morning, and to say Drew Miller was all over it would be an absolute understatement. BTW - if anyone would like to see the full text of today's speech, I've got it. I disagree with Drew's prognosis on what we had to say, but seeing as I wasn't there to see it, I can't argue with the delivery.
One more link to Drew, this week he got so bored he name-dropped me.

This week was my first real foray into the realm of employer, as we interviewed candidates for our organizer positions. I'd been on the other side of that table many, many times, but interviewing candidates is tougher than I'd expected, and deciding on a final candidate is much tougher. I can't give too many specifics, because we haven't informed our winners/non-winners yet, but our last interview was yesterday morning at 10, we started to debate which candidates (and how many) to hire shortly thereafter, and two days later, the debate is still raging on. I guess I always figured this process was a little more cut and dry.

Anyway, weekends are good. I'm going to miss them when I don't have them anymore.

This has been KL Snow

FYI - If you haven't Google Alerted yourself, go do it now. Sometimes you'll find interesting stuff, sometimes you'll find crazy stuff, but at least you'll know if someone puts your name online.

Today's case in point: My Google Alert sent me to this page at Opensecrets.org. I think we can safely file this one under "Get a life." Someone took the time, and apparently a lot of it, to figure out, expense by expense, who the Democratic Party paid, and for what, during the last election cycle. Strangely enough, I show up on the list twice. The first one is my first paycheck, with my middle initial. After that, we dropped the middle initial, really, the "J" was just getting between me and my fans.

Anyway, I clicked on the other entry under me and found this. Here's the item-by-item analysis of my short period with the IDP. As you can see, I was a glutton for election day expenses.

But honestly, beyond checking to see what my co-workers made, I couldn't find any useful use for this site. and i'm a political geek. Does OpenSecrets.org really think anyone cares about the $5 the Dems spent at Loaf N Jug #28 on July 22 for "travel?"

I don't.

This has been KL Snow

Strange moment from this week: I met someone I used to work for.

Leonard Boswell (pictured) is my US Rep. I bet I asked 5000 people if they planned on voting for him last fall. He won (again) relatively easily, and I saw him for the first time on Election Night, giving his victory speech to a generally bummed room of Democrats. I've thought about it since, and only someone with an extreme ego would see a room full of people that dejected and decide to cheer them up by reminding them that he was their one success.

He used that speech to announce his intentions to run again in two years. Yeah, he's that kind of politician. He didn't tell us what he'll do or how he'll do it, he thanked us for re-electing him and announced his plan to get re-elected again.

Anyway, on election night, he entered the room for about 3 minutes, gave his speech, left, and was not seen again.

Flash forward to Friday: State Rep. and Gubernatorial Candidate Ed Fallon took his staff to lunch at Tumea & Sons, mainly so he could kick our asses at some bocce ball. On our way back to the court, we come across, of course, Boswell. The following conversation ensues:

Ed: Rep. Boswell, welcome to Congressional District 66.
Boswell: State Rep. Fallon, welcome to Congressional District 3. How goes the war?
(he was referring to the campaign for governor, I hope.)
Ed: We're trying not to call it a war. We're sticking to "the struggle against politics."
Boswell doesn't laugh.
Ed introduces his staff.
After working for Boswell for months, quitting, and now working my fourth "other job," I finally get to shake hands with my former boss.

I left thinking Boswell was somehow slimier than I had earlier envisioned. Ed and the other staff, who had met Boswell before, were just happy that he hadn't lost his mind to age. Apparently there's some concern on that subject.

There's a new link on the right hand side: It goes to another former boss, but Shawn was a good boss. He's working in DC now. The blog does a pretty good job of chronicling his adventures.

That's all for today. This has been KL Snow.

My favorite links from the week that was:

Drew Miller watched his roommate get robbed yesterday.
Headline of the week: Vilsack wants to destroy summer forever! Mwa ha ha!
He also wants us to be more like the Chinese.
Brian Schweitzer hasn't announced his candidacy for President yet, but I (and the people who run this blog) keep working on it.
If you can't beat em, just make fun of who you have access to and they don't.

Ok, so after popular request, I've hung up PLEASE STOP WRITING for a while. I may come back to it on occasion, but not today. Today I've got a bigger fish to fry.

Before you read my letter, read this editorial from the Sioux City Center for Worship of Mike Blouin, aka the Journal.

Here's my reply. I doubt they'll publish it, but nonetheless...

In response to “Continue the Momentum” which appeared in the July 19 Journal, I would remind Iowans that the current trend in economic development may turn out to be little more than a blip on the radar screen, and is costing Iowans more than $50 million annually, money which is badly needed elsewhere.

In the last week in the Journal, I’ve seen three writers complain about the cost of school renovations and the lack of funding to complete them. Over 500,000 Iowans have either inadequate health insurance or none at all. But instead of earmarking some of our state’s income to fix these problems, your paper has chosen to endorse large payouts to companies that are already experiencing huge profits. Trickle-down economics didn’t work for Reagan, and it’s far too early to call the concept successful now.

All Iowa is doing currently, and in the years to come, is taxing its existing businesses to lure and subsidize their competitors. Furthermore, Iowa will never see the full benefit of having these new companies here, because the first time the state tries to get them to pay normal income, sales or property taxes, they’ll start building new facilities, either in South Dakota or Central America. To continue to keep these businesses here, we’ll have to keep bidding lower and giving away more. Why play a game we can’t win?

In the meantime, the alternative is being ignored. How many jobs would it save or create if all Iowans could afford to go to the hospital as needed? How many jobs would be saved or created if our schools had enough money to stay open, finish their construction projects and give our children the quality of education we wish they could have?

On the back of the Iowa quarter, it says “Foundation in Education.” Maybe before we give more money away, we should take a look at the “Iowa Values Fund,” and decide if this trend really reflects our values at all.


This has been KL Snow.

Welcome to Wednesday's edition of PLEASE STOP WRITING.

As always, we start with today's crap from The Eye Patch.

June 25th came and went and I'll bet no more than a dozen Iowans and probably less than two dozen people in all of America, for that matter, know the significance of that date.

According to Proclamation 5672 — filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:13 p.m., June 25, 1987 — it's National Catfish Day, as proclaimed by former president Ronald Reagan.

The proclamation states, in part: In recognition of the value of farm–raised catfish, the Congress, by House Joint Resolution 178, has designated June 25, 1987, as National Catfish Day, and authorized and requested the president to issue a proclamation in its observance.

"Now, therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, president of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 25, 1987, as National Catfish Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities."

Unfortunately, as with too many things political, this proclamation is incomplete and somewhat misleading. You will note that this proclamation was made in recognition of the value of farm–raised catfish. There are a great many different species in the catfish family, some no bigger than your little finger, others of such huge size you couldn't fit them in your bathtub. Of all these, the only one that is farm–raised is the channel catfish, and it should have been stated so in the proclamation.

The channel catfish should also have been designated the official state fish of Iowa years ago.

GEORGE L. MARZECK Sr.

West Burlington

Mr. Marzeck Sr., I'm mildly unhappy that you wrote and wasted my time with this. I'm even unhappier that you reproduced. I'm sure Reagan and his staff spent hours, maybe even days discussing which catfish to praise and which to ignore. Perhaps he even had the Presidential bathtub filled with catfish to check their size.

And of course, you're right, our legislators should take time away from piddly topics from education, health care and the environment, and get to work on naming Iowa's OFFICIAL FUCKING FISH.

Let's stick with the Eye Patch for letter 2:

Kudos to Phillip W. Hillman on his opinion of the recent pay raise of our city manager. I couldn't agree more that this seems to be unnecessary and overindulgent. The City Council cited its decision for giving him this pay raise — it doesn't want to lose him. Like there's no one else qualified to be in this position? Wake up citizens of Burlington. You've been led around by your noses too long. Open your eyes and your mouths. It's time.

KATHY R. CALDWELL

Burlington

Y'know, she's absolutely right. Anyone who wants to make more than $6600 a year is just greedy. So as Ms. Caldwell says, "open your eyes and your mouths." And look at the fact that your mayor would still be below the poverty line if you doubled his salary. Then say something about political greed.

Here's a quick one for #3:

Worldwide there are some 6,700 languages and 39,000 dialects spoken, yet English is used as the language of international diplomacy, business and air-traffic control. This use of a common language promotes understanding, efficiency and safety.

It is simply impractical to provide government services and documents in the 162 languages spoken in the United States. We should conduct official business in a common language and private business in our language of choice.
-Tim Ehrich,
Corydon.

6700 languages? Really? And to find 39,000 dialects, you'd have to count three different kinds of Minnesotan. I don't need the people at the local police station to speak Ojibwe, but can one person in the office speak simple Spanish? Is that really that much to ask?

This has been KL Snow.

Tuesday's edition of PLEASE STOP WRITING is brought to you by the letter C, for CRAZY, the letter I, for IRRELEVANT, and the letter S, for STUPID.

First, the crazy one, which of course comes from The Hawk Eye:

Remember Sunday's post, when Charles Young of Phoenix, Arizona, was informed of his great potential? Well, I sense a great potential in him too. A great potential to write utter crap. Favorite lines are in bold, as always.

Kudos to George L. Marzeck Sr. for his excellent letter, "Seeking Answers", July 2. He certainly speaks for me, and far more eloquently than I.

I would add a comment. Congress is made up of gutless cowards who march goose steps behind George W. Bush. They will never have the courage to impeach Bush. But half of them will be running for re–election next year. What we must do is get out the vote to remove the cowards from office and replace them with people who have the courage to stand up to Bush and his administration of street thugs. I have great admiration for Howard Dean because he stands up to George W. Bush. The Republicans hate Dean ... why? Because he tells the truth and the Republicans hate the truth. The truth uncovers all their lies.

Kudos, too, to Dick Distelhorst for his fine letter, "Please Explain", June 28. There is nothing I could add to his letter. He said it all!.

Dennis Caulfield's letter July 3, "Burning Question" left me quite perturbed over his apparent belief that 'might makes right', therefore it is quite permissible to assault anyone who disagrees with him. The difference between burning the flag and setting someone on fire is that burning the flag is a form of free speech, while setting someone on fire is an act of bodily assault and is a crime.

I wonder if Mr. Caulfield would feel the same way if someone would take a baseball bat to his head to see if they could pound some logic into his head. The flag is nothing but a piece of cloth. What it symbolizes is something that is in the heart of every American and cannot be burned away. The flag is not a holy icon.

I might remind Mr. Caulfield that according to the rules that govern the disposal of the flag, one of the methods that are approved is to 'burn the flag'. So if the amendment to ban flag burning went into effect, if one should dispose of a flag by burning it, then that person would be breaking the law that bans burning the flag. Sounds like Catch–22 to me. I would advise Mr. Caulfield to be wary of anyone speaking softly and carrying a big baseball bat.

CHARLES W. YOUNG

Phoenix, Ariz.

Wow. Flatly, wow. First of all, Charles, you win the award for "repeat offender sending letters the greatest distance," a remarkable 1647 miles.

Now, let's address your actual content. You wrote a letter, and mailed it almost 2000 miles, just so you could praise three letter writers, and add some insanity to their viewpoints?

Oh no, wait, you did something else too. You threatened to attack a letter writer with a baseball bat. This is the kind of crap the Hawk Eye publishes every day.

But we're not done with The Hawk Eye. Actually, let's call it the Eye Patch, cause reading it just makes me want to cover my eyes.

Here's the irrelevant. You may remember Mr. Caulfield from the letter above.

Steamboat Days. Budweiser and/or Miller Lite. We do seem to have a dilemma of monumental perpetuity.

I don't know how many parties you've been to, but usually the old school rule of thumb is with keg beer it doesn't make any difference if after a few beers whether Clorox or Sani–Flush is stamped on the keg. As long as it is free, cold and wet, the party is on.

And also, don't hand me that worn–out myth about judging the whopper of a hangover by the brand of beer you drank, along with that undercooked brat. You simply had a six–pack too many. Steamboat Days is not a beer–tasting contest. It's a party. Even though the beer is not free, two out of three ain't bad.

DENNIS CAULFIELD

Burlington

Mr. Young, you may not need your baseball bat after all. Just some Clorox to put in Mr. Caulfield's keg. Apparently he had a few before writing this as well, just check out his grammar. "but usually the old school rule of thumb is with keg beer it doesn't make any difference if after a few beers whether Clorox or Sani–Flush is stamped on the keg" might be the most grammatically incorrect sentence ever to appear in a newspaper.

Finally, the stupid one, from a first time offender, the Sioux City Journal.

I am concerned about the upcoming vote regarding renewing the school tax.

I recall that when this tax was initially proposed, about seven years ago, there was a statement made by the school board that there would be no more than 10 years needed to bring our school buildings up to snuff.

Now, what happened to that? I understand some changes needed to be made, i.e. closing Hoover instead of making renovations, and some other changes. My question is, what is going on regarding selling the site Hoover sits on, the site East Middle used to sit on, and the site West Middle used to sit on? And why are we putting an addition on West Middle? It doesn't take rocket science to determine how big a school needs to be.

I think we need to know how much those new schools cost, what is going on with marketing the old real estate and, fineally, how much longer are we going to have this penny tax?

Wouldn't it be great to vote OURSELVES an extra $6 to $8 million a year?

Brian H. Smith
Sioux City

Ok, first of all, Mr. Smith, if you really want to know what your school costs, you can find out in about 30 seconds by using Google. If you're too lazy to do that, go here. Furthermore, you say yourself, the project was supposed to take 10 years. SEVEN years later, you're whining. You probably spend more on porn than you'd save by getting back that penny tax. And if you were going to spend it on education, I'd vote you $6 to $8 million too.

I haven't seen a Mr. Smith this dumb since Brad Pitt.

This has been KL Snow.