tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61963402011-12-13T21:55:27.731-06:00The fourth iteration of a personal/political/post-political blog.KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.comBlogger4911100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-83478887481506460272009-08-03T14:02:00.000-05:002009-08-03T14:03:21.863-05:00

Dear Ice Cream Truck,As you can likely tell by my waistline, I'm a huge fan of your product, in more ways than one. You and I have always had a special bond - that shrill musical number you play could wake me from the deepest slumber and immediately send me scrambling for cash.With that said, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to connect with you. You were designed to attract children playing

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-4639986702962439212009-04-26T12:14:00.002-05:002009-04-26T12:16:15.936-05:00

This is probably the simplest drinking game you'll ever play, but before you start, this disclaimer: If you play it for the full two days of the draft, you might die, and I'm not responsible for it if you do.The rules:Every time a player's height and weight or 40 yard dash time is mentioned, drink.

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-79196053365073902672009-04-20T15:42:00.002-05:002009-04-20T16:04:54.947-05:00

I have a dachshund. Like a light switch, he is either on: infinitely active, playful and destructive (mostly destructive), or off: asleep on the couch. All of his 13-month lifespan has been spent in one of these two states. Simply put, Gorman doesn't half-ass anything. He's either all in or all out.And when he's all in, fetch is where it's at. If you're hanging around and he wants to play fetch,

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-27358462565658513222009-04-04T09:57:00.002-05:002009-04-04T10:03:23.646-05:00

Here's today's joke. I'm on the road this weekend, and my fiancee is working on wedding plans. We're pretty close to done, so it's just minor stuff remaining. This morning, for example, Laura and her mom are off looking at linens.Here's the problem, though: Their linen place has a boring name. Special Memories or something similar, I've already forgotten it. I feel like I can help. As a service

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-43846240868501370482009-04-04T09:53:00.002-05:002009-04-04T09:57:38.784-05:00

Ok, let's try this.I'm not really doing politics anymore. I do write a lot about baseball over at Brew Crew Ball, but, as one might guess, it's pretty much exclusively baseball.The original name of this blog was Stuff I Don't Put On Snowbaseball.com. The concept was pretty simple: I put my baseball-related thoughts on my baseball site, and everything else here. It's always amazing to me when life

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-74624565545100012242007-10-17T20:19:00.000-05:002007-10-17T20:32:11.193-05:00

Every time I open Firefox, it brings me to this blog. Sometimes, I think maybe I'll come back to it and start writing again. Lately, though, it makes me a little sad, like the story you'd been following for years ended and I didn't tell you how. I've learned never to say never, but it seems relatively likely that this will be my last post in this space.Anyway, here's how the story ends. I moved

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-37164729703322192912007-07-11T15:52:00.000-05:002007-07-11T16:06:12.393-05:00

Naadam (Mongolia)World Population Day (UN)From Wikipedia:Naadam (Mongolian: Наадам, games) is the national festival of Mongolia held from July 11th to 13th. The festival is also called "eriyn gurvan naadam" (эрийн гурван наадам) meaning "men's three variety of games" or "three manly games." The games are Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery, and are the only ones that are held throughout

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-54115812028800247962007-07-10T12:28:00.000-05:002007-07-10T12:45:32.379-05:00

In yesterday's reads, I made a joke about Barack Obama, which led to this response from longtime reader and fellow Dem activist RF:I forgot you are very skeptical of Obama. Nothing wrong with that. But what are you looking for? For the perfect resume or "right" on every single pet D issue? Didn't we already go that route? Are we enjoying the fruits of Gore and Kerry administrations?Like it or not

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-22453071231979821432007-07-10T11:14:00.000-05:002007-07-10T11:16:22.767-05:00

I voted at 11 am and was voter #40 at my polling place.Not mind-boggling turnout, but for early in the day, that's not bad.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-12852392124252365482007-07-10T10:29:00.000-05:002007-07-10T10:48:52.858-05:00

Independence Day (Bahamas)It's also time to get out to the polls to vote on Project Destiny. Joe Kristan at the Tax Update blog has a pretty fair summary of the proposal:The proposal would boost the local sales tax rate from 6% to 7%, with 1/3 of the proceeds earmarked for property taxes, and the rest to be spent by our local elected officials with their usual thrift.Honestly, I'm done making my

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-6046259306925693722007-07-09T14:33:00.000-05:002007-07-09T14:39:08.745-05:00

It's been a while since I cleaned up the sidebar, so here's some META notes for you:ADDS:Essential EstrogenIowa IndependentTO LAPSED:The Chelsea Lepley Fan Club (It's not really lapsed, but it is invite only now.)Iowa GuyIowa ProgressJoe Says SoKrusty KonservativeBACK FROM LAPSED:Side Notes and DetoursAs always, if you've got a blog you'd like added to the sidebar, let me know.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-48230695055509167772007-07-09T11:01:00.000-05:002007-07-09T11:19:11.352-05:00

Independence Day (Argentina)The Bab's Martyrdom (Baha'i)Also, hat tip to the Freakonomics blog for pointing out (snicker) that today is the start of Nude Recreation Week. Feel free to celebrate accordingly.There's nothing terribly exciting in any of the presidential reads this morning, so I'll just make you a nice alphabetical list and you can read whatever strikes you:DesMoinesDem (via Bleeding

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-13613054338060319132007-07-06T18:33:00.000-05:002007-07-06T18:44:20.143-05:00

Next week was supposed to be a really big week for me. And it is, but not in the way I anticipated.I've been quiet for months. I've been busy, bored and lazy for large chunks of that time, but that's not the whole story. I've also been keeping a secret for much of this time, and working on the right way to reveal it.As recently as two weeks ago, I was preparing to announce that I'm running for

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-22016418436896301422007-05-14T06:36:00.000-05:002007-05-14T06:40:03.525-05:00

This is going to be quick, but I wanted to make sure you know I haven't forgotten about you.My new job isn't going as well as I'd hoped. I work approximately 7:30-3:30 everyday and spend the last 6-7 hours tapping on my desk waiting for 3:30 so I can go home. It's not something I'm enjoying a lot or that I'm really eager to talk about. It ends on June 29, though, so I've got that to look forward

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-56684120580971758452007-05-04T11:51:00.000-05:002007-05-04T11:55:16.658-05:00

I don't think META is really the right tag for this one, but I haven't really figured out the correct tag for a blog that's really just about me.Anyway, here's the scoop. I got a job and I start a new 8-5 existence Monday morning. I'm not entirely sure how that's going to affect my posting here. It doesn't really make sense for me to recap the day's news everyday if I'm not going to do it until

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-35139232260443331572007-05-02T09:14:00.000-05:002007-05-02T09:16:41.319-05:00

Education Day (Indonesia)Alacitas (Peru)I couldn't find anything really relevant to write about today.I do, however, want to encourage you, gentle reader, to consider buying me a Wii to help with my weight loss efforts.In the meantime, I'm going outside. Have a good one.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-68380626211176171872007-05-01T13:01:00.000-05:002007-05-01T13:16:25.181-05:00

Since I started writing a political blog, I've ended up on all kinds of mailing lists for candidates, be they Democrat or Republican, at the local, state, and national level. I used to read them all, now I only read them on occasion.The reason I burned out on them is because some people have a tendency to abuse their press release ability. For example, check out these press releases I've received

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-73359252014053646042007-05-01T10:32:00.000-05:002007-05-01T10:47:17.850-05:00

May DayInternational Labor DayConstitution Day (Marshall Islands)No clever joke today, let's just move on.Overrated news of the day: Longtime conservative legislator Dawn Pettengill has changed her party registration to Republican to better match her views.The Register has coverage of the press conference the Republicans held.Desmoinesdem at Bleeding Heartland points out that she informed the

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-15178399212559862792007-04-30T12:43:00.000-05:002007-04-30T15:00:18.590-05:00

UPDATED TO ADD JOE BIDENOk, I'm back as promised, and looking back on old posts this morning, I discovered there's a relatively wide gap between some things I said about presidential candidates during my last active period and how I feel about them now. So it seemed to make sense for me to re-do my hotlist, with a better knowledge of several candidates and a better reflection of my current

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-55156066682427904762007-04-30T09:42:00.000-05:002007-04-30T09:44:01.604-05:00

Liberation Day (Vietnam)Yesterday was Greenery Day in Japan, and I celebrated it by going outside. Today is Liberation Day in Vietnam, and since it's supposed to get hot this afternoon, I'm going to liberate myself by going outside this morning.I'll be back with an updated presidential hotlist this afternoon.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-8394014886422977422007-04-26T11:04:00.000-05:002007-04-26T11:22:49.087-05:00

Take your kids to work day (US)Union Day (Tanzania)Today I feel a rare symmetry. I have no kids, but as my job search continues, I also still have no work. So it all works out.Not a lot of news today, but big news:The Civil Rights Bill, perhaps partially thanks to the efforts of many of you, passed relatively overwhelmingly last night. The Register, Bleeding Heartland and John Deeth all have

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-29893451870190416712007-04-25T08:50:00.000-05:002007-04-25T09:02:20.719-05:00

Secretaries DayFlag Day (Swaziland)Perhaps today you can say thank you to your secretary by getting them a flag from Swaziland. It is a pretty cool one:I wanted to take a moment today to draw your attention to the legislative session, which may wrap up as soon as Friday, but seems to have enough to do to stretch into next week. There are a couple pieces of legislation hanging out there that

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-24684990031849877772007-04-24T12:12:00.000-05:002007-04-24T12:23:56.259-05:00

Children's Day (Iceland)Apparently in Iceland, every day is not Children's Day.I'm going to have to make this quick, I'm working on wrestling stuff today:Presidentials:John Edwards is the favorite candidate of Thoughts from the Oasis Amidst the Corn, and I think anyone who's voting for a candidate because they're not white or male should read why.Bill Richardson's TV ads are online. They're both

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-63335027202672326462007-04-23T10:20:00.000-05:002007-04-23T10:22:53.596-05:00

Seeing as I mentioned this morning that I don't know much about Dodd, I think it's only fair that I also point out that I just received the chance to learn a bit more.This USA Today piece caught my eye while I was putting gas in my car this morning, so I picked it up. If you don't know much about Chris Dodd, or perhaps even if you do, it's worth reading.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-38660300941548109482007-04-23T08:46:00.000-05:002007-04-23T09:15:10.077-05:00

Independence Day (Israel)Ok, it's been a while, but I think it's finally time to bring the blog back. I've missed an awful lot, but I'm not going to go through it all in one sitting, so here are the reads I found notable from the past week or so:According to Bleeding Heartland and others, Bill Richardson will be going up on TV today with an ad that's "Very out of the box and funny." I still don't

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-72439350559443432352007-04-17T14:06:00.000-05:002007-04-17T14:08:11.924-05:00

But I'm almost ready to come back.Don't get me wrong, a break has been nice, but I've been hearing every so often that there are people out there who miss me.I just need to find a new job, then I'll be good to go.Maybe Monday? We'll see.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-64129198469601228412007-02-16T14:12:00.000-06:002007-02-16T14:19:51.276-06:00

In August two stories were running simultaneously with a mild connection:1) Jim Leach was being accused of racism for handing out fake Native American headdresses at parades.2) The University of Illinois was considering retiring its own mascot and long-time wearer of Native American headdresses, Chief Illiniwek.I suggested a compromise: Retire Jim Leach instead and allow him to replace the

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-26590202126108557012007-02-15T08:52:00.000-06:002007-02-15T13:09:33.712-06:00

Fiesta de Menendez (St. Augustine, FL)I have no idea what that's about, and the web doesn't appear to know either, so we'll move on.UPDATE: From Commenter NotATurtle:Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine in the mid-1500s. He was born on February 15.So there you go.I'll start off with the day-late read: I had never heard of Queah's blog before yesterday, when a Google Alert popped up to

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-80722456621571652822007-02-14T09:56:00.000-06:002007-02-14T09:58:52.976-06:00

Evil. Pure evil. Or, if you prefer to use its long name, you can call it Valentine's Day.Only one read today, and if you're a longtime reader of the blog you've seen it before, but it bears repeating.Here's what I consider one of the greatest rants I've ever written. It happens to be about today. Give it a read.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-46061131423647080092007-02-13T09:29:00.000-06:002007-02-12T14:49:29.502-06:00

George Fox DayHobart Regatta (Tasmania)From Wikipedia:George Fox (July 1624 – January 13, 1691) was an English Dissenter and a major early figure — often considered the founder — of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers.While my mind's on the subject, greetings to the (literally) six new readers who stopped by last night immediately after my news story on WOI, if any of

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-46728482161853884052007-02-12T14:15:00.000-06:002007-01-26T10:09:06.125-06:00

So I woke up this morning thinking I was going to be working by myself all day. As a result, I didn't shave and I passed up the normal nice polo shirt in favor of an old Packers shirt. Shouldn't be a problem, right?Wrong. About noon I got an email from a reporter at Channel 5. She wanted to know if I'd be willing to be interviewed for a story they're doing on bloggers and the 2008 election."Don't

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-86895937072618330112007-01-26T09:59:00.000-06:002007-01-26T10:09:06.337-06:00

Yeah, I know, I've been gone for a while. I could make excuses about being busy or the volume of time it takes to be a consistent blogger, but neither of those are really the problem. I'm bored. Posting will resume when I return from my mental vacation.In the meantime, here are the two things I'm doing this weekend. First, tonight:On January 26th, live from Don's Pub in Donahue, IA, Scott County

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-2661138429829652602007-01-18T08:25:00.000-06:002007-01-18T08:46:14.283-06:00

Foundation Day (Lima, Peru)St. Prisca (Texco, Mexico)Interestingly enough, today's lone read deals with the foundation of the caucuses.John Deeth has a great post up this morning, possibly the best one I've ever seen him write, on the potential impact of non-anonymous voting in a Democratic presidential race where a woman and a black man are top contenders. Absolutely worth a read, and possibly

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-52659503744165274282007-01-17T08:51:00.000-06:002007-01-17T08:58:40.922-06:00

Skanderbeg Day (Albania)From Wikipedia:George Kastrioti (born Gjergj Kastrioti, May 6 (disputed), 1405 - January 17, 1468), better known as Skanderbeg (Turkish:İskender Bey), is one of the most prominent historical figures in the history of Albania and the Albanian people. He is also known as the Dragon of Albania and is the national hero of the Albanians. He is remembered for his struggle

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-33175588417964837892007-01-15T09:27:00.000-06:002007-01-15T10:04:34.300-06:00

Dr. Martin Luther King Day (US)Thai Pongal (Hinduism)From Wikipedia:Pongal (Tamil: பொங்கல்) is a Hindu festival to give thanks for the harvest. Pongal in Tamil means 'boiling over'. Traditionally celebrated at harvest time, it is a celebration of the prosperity associated with the event. Pongal is celebrated by all people in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu as well as Tamils worldwide,

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-7552638253132063812007-01-12T09:18:00.000-06:002007-01-12T09:43:48.640-06:00

Zanzibar Rev. Day (Tanzania)Memory Day (Turkmenistan)Sadly, it's not a real memorable news day.Stivers Ford in Waukee hit the jackpot today, though: They bought some air time late at night on a channel that Mediacom customers can't get and early in the morning on a station no one watches, and the Register wrote a story on it. Maybe I'll buy half an hour of airtime at 3 in the morning to talk

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-68491608466850078962007-01-11T16:45:00.000-06:002007-01-11T17:05:52.621-06:00

I got home from work a bit early today, so I was watching Jeopardy. There was a category on the American Revolution. One woman nailed the first three questions, all the while looking somewhat peeved that neither of the other contestants knew the answer. Time ran out on the round before she could sweep the category.Watching this reminded me of a conversation I had in Wisconsin over the holidays. I

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-21334202314945554282007-01-11T09:14:00.000-06:002007-01-11T09:30:46.357-06:00

Hostos Day (Puerto Rico)Aldo Leopold's birthday. Leopold would have been 120 today.Three reads this morning, then I need to get to work:Allow me to be one of many who will stand to applaud movement towards universal health care in Iowa. It's about time. And if you're one of those, like speaker Pat Murphy, who's opposed to the plan because gas stations on the border won't sell as many cigarettes,

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-47851890457427504192007-01-10T08:34:00.000-06:002007-01-10T08:37:13.760-06:00

National Unity Day (Nepal)League of Nations DayIt amazes me that the first failed attempt to create the United Nations, and entity that many would argue is also failed, gets its own holiday. But nonetheless, happy League of Nations Day.No reads today. I looked through the Register and the blogs and didn't find anything exciting to write about. Plus, I really should get to the gym.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-36539751608521088682007-01-09T09:06:00.000-06:002007-01-09T09:33:20.635-06:00

Commonwealth Day (N. Mariana Islands)After this post, I'm adding the Northern Mariana Islands to the list of places I'd like to send State 29 on a permanent basis. Admittedly, I did laugh at the last part. I think it's worth noting, though, that I'm hardly a representative of the progressive movement as a whole. I know some people and I'd like to think I'm a decent analyst, but in the grand

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-39438003253874495722007-01-08T10:53:00.000-06:002007-01-08T11:02:56.151-06:00

Two reads on Loebsack have popped up since I wrote my first post this morning:First, Blog for Iowa has a post up with a picture of the Johnson County DFA members who accompanied Loebsack on his trip to Washington.On the substantive side, though, Popular Progressive notes that Loebsack's opinions on the war seem to have taken a pretty drastic shift since he was elected two months and a day ago. To

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-70960822997111779222007-01-08T10:07:00.000-06:002007-01-08T10:14:58.951-06:00

So I'm not usually one to play the tourist, and I'm not a fan of winter at all, but when I got to Minocqua for Christmas, it had recently rained and snowed, which made for some great picture opportunities:It also gave me the opportunity to take some pictures of Buddy, the family dachshund:Those images and 45 more are available on my Flickr page. Feel free to check them out.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-68404418807906411052007-01-08T09:07:00.000-06:002007-01-08T09:27:03.039-06:00

Women's Day (Greece)It appears over the weekend both Chris Rants (via Krusty) and Ted Sporer decided they couldn't actually wait until the open of the legislative session to begin spewing partisan attacks. Rants has one of the greatest acts of hypocrisy I've ever seen in his post on "Ten things the Democrats don't want you to know."Democrat Pam Jochum, the new chair of the State Government

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-78384621266797912772007-01-05T13:19:00.000-06:002007-01-05T18:29:00.338-06:00

UPDATED BELOWAs I mentioned earlier, when I find new Iowa blogs, I usually watch them for a while to see if they present me with anything worth linking before I add them to the sidebar.Leftist Logic made the cut today with this post on Vilsack's presidential aspirations and one of the things they'd like to see him do with his remaining time in office. Excellent work. Keep it coming.UPDATE: I'm

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-7536906338622472972007-01-05T12:59:00.000-06:002007-01-05T13:16:24.203-06:00

So I've had a minor change in plans today. I was scheduled to work this morning, go to the gym this afternoon and go to the Quad Cities for a wrestling show tonight. Fifteen minutes before I was to arrive at work, I received a call asking if I could reschedule. So no work today.Instead, I decided to take my car in for an oil change, since I was due and I was scheduled to drive about 600 miles

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-54207187610610331182007-01-05T08:57:00.000-06:002007-01-05T09:01:38.284-06:00

Twelfth Night (Christianity)La Befana (Italy)From Wikipedia:Twelfth Night is a holiday in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany, concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas, and is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-82167675816713780762007-01-04T08:49:00.000-06:002007-01-04T09:03:03.929-06:00

Independence Day (Burma)St. Andrew of Corsini, the patron saint of mediators.Earlier this week, when the caucus concert idea was announced, I sat down with an idea. I'd write a post suggesting we go forward with the idea, but only if candidates themselves were willing to do the concert and call it "Caucus Idol." Over a period of several hours, I adapted songs for each of seven candidates to sing,

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-43733991632497877252007-01-03T17:10:00.000-06:002007-01-03T17:33:52.826-06:00

The Birthday of St. Genevieve, patron saint of secretaries and the fevered. Perhaps today is the day we should have sworn in the new SoS and SoA.I'm late with the reads for today, and for that I apologize.When it comes to making the Iowa Caucuses into a bad concert, Greg Edwards is apparently immune to our disgust. Even after the beating he took yesterday, he was still going to make a TV

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-53442669340345655152007-01-02T19:18:00.000-06:002007-01-02T19:24:05.152-06:00

I usually pride myself in having the most frequently updated blogroll in the Iowa blogosphere, but it had been a month or two since I had checked the list of blogs on the right for activity, so I have a few changes to make:I've pulled Bill Dix, Dave Nagle, Denise O'Brien and New Iowan, as all four have ceased posting.I've added Iowa Daze, New Iowan's new blog.I've moved Side Notes and Iowa Ennui

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-9141178300647125372007-01-02T11:42:00.000-06:002007-01-02T12:01:53.185-06:00

Apparently while I was gone on vacation, some of Iowa's other notable lefty bloggers stopped reading this space. On the 19th I said this about John Edwards:He's also already more or less locked up the support of people like Ed Fallon, who could potentially bring another large block of voters from the left edge of the undecided pool.Then, nine days later, Chris Woods, Common Iowan and Iowa

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-28412155228546464462007-01-02T10:17:00.000-06:002007-01-02T10:43:46.785-06:00

Forefathers' Day (Haiti)Berchtoldstag (Switzerland)Berchtoldstag translates roughly to "St. Berchtold's Day," although what St. Berchtold did to earn canonization or a holiday is apparently beyond my reach. Feel free to leave me a note in the comments if you know.It's a new year and I've decided to try a new labeling system for posts. My daily reads (which I still plan on writing every weekday)

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-44113210090964154782006-12-19T19:43:00.000-06:002006-12-19T20:09:55.178-06:00

If you missed it, here's some coverage of the most recent withdrawal from the presidential race, Evan Bayh:Dave PriceIowa ProgressJohn DeethKay HendersonPolitical FalloutState 29The surprise of Bayh's withdrawal was enough to pull me away from vacation to write for a minute. If you haven't already done it, let me put some pieces together for you:Mark Warner spent a fair amount of money

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-10432210038879353042006-12-16T23:27:00.000-06:002006-12-16T23:33:03.492-06:00

Greetings from Wisconsin, where the cheese is good and the internet is dialup.As such, I probably won't be posting a whole lot (unless I get really bored) between now and my return to Des Moines on the 30th.To tie up a loose end before I go, though:Ted, I'll take on the task of debating you on platforms as long as you acknowledge one thing: I'm not a leader of my party or a firm believer in

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-79384843860189883332006-12-13T11:17:00.000-06:002006-12-13T11:29:27.508-06:00

For those of you who don't know, presumably because you aren't half the nerd I am, Martin Nodell, the creator of the Green Lantern, passed away this morning. He was 91.I wouldn't consider myself a huge follower, but I've been a comic book fan for several years now, since well before I was even interested in politics. The Green Lantern is one of my favorite heroes. Right up there with The Spectre

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-84911309149779509522006-12-13T09:12:00.000-06:002006-12-13T10:15:43.221-06:00

Nothing too exciting in the holidays today, so let's get straight to the reads.The Register has a better story today on the rebirth of Project Destiny. Yesterday, I said it was absurd to call the plan "property tax relief" when it was being paid for by raising another tax. Today we get the numbers:Des Moines' property tax rate would drop by about $1.85 per $1,000 of taxable value, according to an

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-18196385318335257152006-12-12T15:06:00.000-06:002006-12-12T15:16:53.124-06:00

Three interesting news stories on the Radio Iowa website this afternoon:I guess this one isn't really news, but it's worth reading: U of I students will be forced to work more and take bigger loans to cover tuition increases. In a related but somehow unreported story, upon graduation those same students will likely leave the state for better paying jobs in bigger cities to help pay off their

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-41677376585693554572006-12-12T10:52:00.000-06:002006-12-12T10:58:06.170-06:00

From the Register:A plan that was yanked from November’s ballot asking voters to approve a 1-cent sales tax in Polk, Dallas and Warren counties will return in a special election July 10, advocates of the plan announced today.The plan, known as Project Destiny, is backed by the Greater Des Moines Partnership and touted as a way to inject almost $75 million each year into 47 city and three county

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-44182012183559969162006-12-12T09:34:00.000-06:002006-12-12T09:55:50.510-06:00

Virgin of Guadalupe (Latin America)Jamhuri Day (Kenya)Constitution Day (Russia)Neutrality Day (Turkmenistan)Here in the blogosphere, of course, it's never Neutrality Day. Some things I refuse to remain neutral on today:That happy-go-lucky group that everyone loves, the Iowa Board of Regents, has made another decision sure to thrill audiences statewide: a 5.2% tuition increase (7.2% if you have

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-61221498833321195112006-12-11T11:31:00.000-06:002006-12-11T12:02:12.156-06:00

National Day (Burkina Faso)Escalade (Geneva)From Europeforvisitors.com:Every year in early December, the Swiss city-canton of Geneva interrupts its pre-Christmas festivities for a different kind of celebration: l'Escalade, a festival that celebrates the city's victory over the Duke of Savoy's invading troops in 1602.Some other things to read and ponder today:Reaction to my "hot" list has been

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-65594272535662666902006-12-08T10:18:00.000-06:002006-12-08T10:21:31.967-06:00

It's rather ironic that this Pearls Before Swine came out the morning after my hotlist:That one's going on the wall.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-69776899943621252572006-12-07T21:38:00.000-06:002006-12-07T22:06:55.899-06:00

So now that Chris, Common Iowan and Drew Miller have done it, I'll add my significantly less optimistic hot list. Mine are ranked in order, and I'll try to add a bit of insight on why but I'll keep it brief. I'm also not including candidates who have withdrawn, because I don't see the point.HOT:No one. In my mind, I have to be excited about having you as president to rank you as hot. There are

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-27249852769180451972006-12-07T09:07:00.000-06:002006-12-07T10:05:45.758-06:00

President's Day (Ivory Coast)Dia del Diablo (Guatemala)Sorry, it's been a few days, I'm working a lot more than I'd planned lately, and you, noble reader, are the one who suffers. It's just the way things work.A ton of belated reads for you today, though:This story from yesterday's Register is worth a read purely for this quote:"They were playing around with fireworks like a lot of the rest of us

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-48812948388625072572006-12-02T09:43:00.000-06:002006-12-02T09:47:32.216-06:00

Come see me in action!3XW Holiday HavocSaturday Dec 02, 2006, 7:30 PMWaukee Middle School905 Warrior LaneWaukee, IA 50263Doors open 7:15 pm, Bell time 7:30 pmThe show will include four first-round matchups in the tournament to crown a new 3XW Heavyweight Champion:Gage Octane vs. Nate Bash"Delicious" Devin Carter vs. Tyler CookBrian Ash vs. Ben SailerTony Scarpone vs. "The Rebel" Jeremy WyattAlso

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-40243002193864842812006-11-28T20:17:00.000-06:002006-11-28T20:27:06.165-06:00

Chris Woods has a post up where, among other things, he takes a shot at my earlier comments on Vilsack's "visit" to Iowa tomorrow:One other thing: I felt obligated to respond to this post by Kyle where he laments the title of the email Christie Vilsack sent out from the campaign entitled “We’re coming to your state this week” because its emblematic of the traveling Gov. Vilsack has been doing and

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-50572604986146335202006-11-28T17:39:00.000-06:002006-11-28T17:56:44.163-06:00

Independence Day (Mauritania, Albania, Panama and East Timor)Tuesday, November 28 is also almost over. Sorry for the delay.There are, however, three things I wanted to respond to today:I consider Elesha Gayman a friend and I'm proud to have helped elect her to the legislature. I'm glad she's getting press coverage, but if I read one more story like this one, I'm going to scream.I donated to

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-18570660780584754012006-11-27T13:03:00.000-06:002006-11-27T13:05:28.066-06:00

Kay Henderson has an interesting rumor: That Tom Vilsack's efforts to help the Regents find a new president for the U of I could lead to Tom Vilsack as president of the U of I. Check it out.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-47851794806047596952006-11-27T12:50:00.000-06:002006-11-27T12:59:49.680-06:00

Dan Ehl of the Centerville Daily Iowegian wrote a piece over the weekend which is largely about State 29's decline from "insightfully vulgar" to over-the-top, porn-obsessed, hateful and vulgar. You may remember Ehl from this story in September.Ehl makes an interesting case for labelling State as a conservative, which is something that's been done before, but the case has never been made quite as

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-70367785393054755472006-11-27T09:34:00.000-06:002006-11-27T09:54:59.890-06:00

Onion Market (Bern, Switzerland)From Wikipedia:Zibelemärit - The Zibelemärit (onion market) is an annual fair held on the fourth Monday in November.So, if you didn't finish your holiday shopping with the crazy people on Friday, I guess today you could buy some onions in Bern. If, of course, you live in Bern. You probably don't.I haven't been sleeping much lately, which has more or less eliminated

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-70063719551816566732006-11-22T08:57:00.000-06:002006-11-22T09:02:00.171-06:00

I'll be gone until Saturday or Sunday, but until then, feel free to ring-rang a dong for a holiday!

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-47610308626589137242006-11-21T11:19:00.000-06:002006-11-21T11:20:34.812-06:00

Killing some time at the office waiting for a meeting:#1 and #2 are both from today.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-37619400655637123992006-11-21T10:21:00.000-06:002006-11-21T10:38:07.515-06:00

I absent-mindedly took the calendar off my wall at work so I could put it on my wall at home, so today I have no idea what the date is, much less the holidays. Sorry. I do have some reads for you, though.Via the often excellent Freakonomics blog, I found this NY Times story on wineries in Iowa. Some salient points:“I will make as much selling grape plants off of two acres this year as I did many

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-6484488868379638662006-11-20T10:15:00.000-06:002006-11-20T10:41:39.056-06:00

Rights of the Child Day (UN)Revolution Day (Mexico)It's ironic that on Rights of the Child Day the conversation has come back to education and the Board of Regents.If you haven't heard, the U of I isn't getting a new president anytime soon. The Board of Regents decided on Friday to scrap the current set of applicants (over 150) and start over. There's enough great coverage of this to go around,

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-44209696163207163392006-11-16T09:12:00.000-06:002006-11-16T09:14:06.304-06:00

The move went well, but things are still in a state of General Disarray, so I may still be gone for a day or two.Here's a picture of General Disarray, by the way.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-29730872028888832432006-11-14T17:23:00.001-06:002006-11-14T17:23:47.365-06:00

I get the keys to my new place in 20 minutes, and I'm not sure when the internet will be hooked up, so if you don't hear from me for a few days, fear not, it's nothing personal.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-30413299535690689122006-11-14T10:09:00.000-06:002006-11-14T10:59:12.260-06:00

King Hussein Day (Jordan)Children's Day (India)I was going to skip the reads and just go straight into the debate today, but then I saw one thing in this morning's Register that demanded my attention:PANIC! PANIC! MYSPACE IS COMING FOR YOUR CHILDREN!By the way, here's my Myspace.Anyway, on to a more worthwhile discussion. I mentioned yesterday that Joe had offered a platform for his (hypothetical

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-21508392192370090262006-11-13T10:50:00.000-06:002006-11-13T11:21:39.780-06:00

Republic Day (Brazil)Remembrance Day (Bermuda)The photo above (via Wikipedia) is of the Remembrance Day parade in Hamilton, Bermuda, taken in 1990. I didn't post on Saturday for Veterans Day, but I do think it's important for all of us to take a moment from time to time to honor those who have left behind their lives to defend their country. I think it's also important to remember that there are

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1163174666339947982006-11-10T10:01:00.000-06:002006-11-12T08:22:05.010-06:00

State 29 produced an almost obscenity-free post yesterday in response to my claim that Dave Loebsack's win was among the biggest upsets of my lifetime and the biggest turnaround I've ever seen. State made a fair point: Vilsack's 1998 win was also a pretty major upset.I'd have to say that Tom Vilsack's defeat of former Iowa Supreme Court justice Mark McCormick in the 1998 Democratic goobernatorial

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1163111562976096062006-11-09T15:51:00.000-06:002006-11-12T08:22:04.567-06:00

Like most of my readers (probably), I voted for Culver, O'Brien and Mauro, and got two of the three desired results.I think there are some lessons to be learned from the Secretary of State race, but I think they're different from the one David Yepsen claimed today:So, for example, when a little-known candidate is chosen at the last minute to run for secretary of state based on her religious views

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1163089432875911032006-11-09T09:41:00.000-06:002006-11-12T08:22:04.006-06:00

I intended to write yesterday, but the day after Election Day turned out to be a little busier than I expected. Actually, that may be a good thing, it's given me a day to think about my reaction to Tuesday's events. Some quick thoughts:Congressional races: No surprises in the first, fourth and fifth. Well, actually, one surprise. I was expecting Roy Nielsen to do better in the fifth, maybe even

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1162312544966683152006-10-31T10:17:00.000-06:002006-11-12T08:22:03.416-06:00

Good morning.I downloaded the New Mozilla Firefox yesterday, meaning every time I click on a link, it opens in a new tab. I had forgotten why I hate that.Then, this morning, I was gathering links to write my morning roundup post, clicked the X to close one of them, and accidentally closed them all. So no morning roundup post today.And to be honest, in all likelihood, that's probably all I would

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1162223068720564682006-10-30T09:32:00.000-06:002006-11-12T08:22:02.926-06:00

King's Birthday (Cambodia)October Holiday (Ireland)These are some awfully uncreative holidays.I know I haven't written since Thursday, and I'm sorry for that. A handful of things, not the least of them being 3XW, have been holding my attention the last few days. Also, I wrote this letter, which was published in the Register.Something else I missed: CSI Des Moines is up and in full swing. Was it

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161874032419324202006-10-26T09:23:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:22:02.350-06:00

Flag Day (Austria)Two small reads and a big one for you today:The State GOP is playing fast and loose with the facts again. Today, as documented in this Register story, they've sent out a mailer accusing Eric Palmer of being late on his property taxes six times. As it turns out, he was only late twice, and four other offenses the GOP has attributed to him actually occured before he owned the

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161802082385615862006-10-25T13:46:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:22:02.033-06:00

A busier than usual office has forced me to miss a couple days of Tapper this week, and my scores today reflect my rust:3557563075 (#3 overall)4357546650I'll try to do better tomorrow.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161792322061623042006-10-25T10:53:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:22:01.499-06:00

Independence Day (Kazakhstan)Thanksgiving Day (Grenada)Restoration Day (Taiwan)Whether you're thankful, independent or in need or restoration this morning, I've got reads for you.First and foremost, you won't find me blogging a lot about it, because I'm involved in it, I wanted to point out this story from the Register about Ed Fallon's third open records request to IDED in 2006. Hopefully this

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161723361469407072006-10-24T15:48:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:22:01.082-06:00

Yesterday, Valley Junction gave out the Porkies, but I failed to notice that Todd Dorman announced the nominees for an equally important award, the Apathies:With just two weeks left before Election Day, it's time to announce the nominees for the Apathies --- a coveted trophy intended to reward the best in political advertising and message craft.The Apathies will be presented at a gala event on

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161714929340135992006-10-24T13:24:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:22:00.655-06:00

A few weeks ago, I think I surprised some people a bit by advocating for small donors to hold on to their money and not waste it on campaigns where it will be a drop in the bucket. Moments like this are exactly why. The Democratic Governor's Association pledged to donate another $150,000 to Chet Culver today. This is their third donation to Culver, raising their total to $1.15 million.There's no

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161703929082047032006-10-24T10:21:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:22:00.310-06:00

Independence Day (Zambia)Quiet day on the international holidays front, I guess. Perhaps it's time to Ring Rang-a-Dong for a Holiday.While it's a quiet day for international holidays, it's a tremendously busy day for Tom Alex of the Register, who has these three stories today:The Des Moines Airport still isn't safe.Apes can pull fire alarms too.If you're going to complain about the delivery time

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161635319113834152006-10-23T15:24:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:21:59.991-06:00

Just because we all know I love polls:The Muscatine Journal wants to know which gubernatorial candidate you're voting for. Results so far:Nussle 44%Culver 42%Don't care 9%Someone else 6%Those numbers add up to 101%, but I doubt it's due to vote fraud. To the best of my knowledge, the Muscatine Journal is not using Diebold machines to count their votes.Anyway, go vote.KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161632750077083152006-10-23T14:31:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:21:59.422-06:00

From the Register:West Des Moines officials and community members unveiled the glitz and glamour of an Oscar-style award show for their presentation to the Iowa "Great Places" advisory committee this morning.Valley Junction is one of 12 finalists for the state's program. The program helps cities use state resources to accomplish renovation and economic redevelopment proposals.Members of the

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161620776538215032006-10-23T10:56:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:21:58.896-06:00

Chulalongkorn Day (Thailand)Memorial Day (Hungary)Peace Treaty Day (Cambodia)National Canning DaySo if you needed an excuse to make it a 3-day weekend, there's four of them.Three reads this morning:A Bonobo at the Great Ape Trust pulled the fire alarm, and the Register was there. That's why they're the newspaper Iowa depends on. My favorite quote from the story:"This is the first known case of an

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161370968063206892006-10-20T13:47:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:21:58.507-06:00

The Bab's Birth (Baha'i)Kenyatta Day (Kenya)Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh)Lailat al-Qadr (Islam)It's a big day for holidays, but a slow day for posting. Just a few things today:Two candidates are already on the ballot to run for the city council seat formerly held by Archie Brooks. As many as nine nore could appear. If only all elections were this popular. It's possible that past city council elections

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161288070654865552006-10-19T14:52:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:21:57.943-06:00

From the Register:Growing companies in Iowa have pledged to create and retain more than 30,000 jobs since 2003, a significant milestone, Michael Blouin, the state economic development leader, today told the Iowa Economic Development Board.Still, Blouin acknowledged that critics of the state’s $50 million annual Grow Iowa Values program question whether the jobs are being created. Companies

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161287473666365792006-10-19T14:48:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:21:57.315-06:00

I'm back from lunch, and that means it's time for today's Root Beer Tapper update.49375568254770064150The 64150 score is my highest ever (by over 7000 points), and answered an important question. You get an extra life at 20,000 points, then again every 60,000 points. I now know those additional extra lives start at 80,000, not 60,000.The scoreboard, if you're scoring at home:KL

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161273464629455412006-10-19T10:51:00.001-05:002006-11-12T08:21:56.951-06:00

A blog reader, fellow Tapper, and Mike Mauro staffer sent me this email this morning:Hopefully you can add this to your blog as we are participating in Sen. Feingold's Progressive Patriots contest. The highest number of votes on his poll will receive $5,000 from his PAC. http://www.progressivepatriotsfund.com/pickapatriot/vote-2.html We could use all of the votes we can get. As you know, Sen.

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161271781511148582006-10-19T10:27:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:21:56.211-06:00

Due to a scheduling conflict, I was unable to attend yesterday's blogger meeting with Elizabeth Edwards. Lynn Heuss attended on my behalf and authored this post.I was invited to be a representative at two different forums with Elizabeth Edwards yesterday. Being asked to stand in for someone means that the person doing the asking shows a certain level of trust in the capacity of the person

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161271228662304872006-10-19T09:59:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:21:55.849-06:00

Samora Machel Day (Mozambique)Constitution Day (Niue)Three things today:Tom Alex from the Register must just be camping out at Wal Marts waiting for people to steal something lately. Click here to read today's installment about a man who tried to hide a TV under his groceries.While I'm on the subject of police, you may notice I've pulled down the link for David Goodner's Press-Citizen blog,

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161199854352463262006-10-18T14:06:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:21:55.262-06:00

Sometimes, life just works out.I don't like either candidate for governor, as many of you probably know. It's part of the reason I don't write about the race very often. I also worry about balance. Every time I write about Culver, I feel like someone could break out their whiniest voice and say "But Nussle (insert negative)" and they'd be right. The same is true in reverse. But today, it just so

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161183808177990412006-10-18T09:55:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:21:54.784-06:00

Wouldn't it make sense to have security all the time?This story in today's Register should scare us all a bit:The Des Moines Airport burglar was back this week, but this time he or she didn't get in.Police said Comair, a Delta connection carrier, reported an attempted break-in on Tuesday. Someone tried to pry open a door to a manager's office, located behind Comair's main counter. It appears that

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161183272870302452006-10-18T09:41:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:21:54.311-06:00

Independence Day (Azerbaijan)Day of the Liberals (Paraguay)Persons Day (Canada)From swo.gov.sk.ca, which I think is a Canadian governmental site:On October 18, 1929, the British Privy Council decided that women were "persons" under Canadian law, and therefore eligible for appointment to the Senate. This decision was rendered after a lengthy legal and political struggle, known as the "Persons

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196340.post-1161103999187805422006-10-17T11:39:00.000-05:002006-11-12T08:21:53.311-06:00

His name is Selden Spencer. He's the Democrat running for Congress against Tom Latham in Iowa's fourth district. His first name is NOT Sheldon, and it's NOT Seldon.But we're 21 days away from election day, and some notable Iowa politicians who are on his side still can't spell it.I got an email from Tom Harkin this morning, subject line "Help Seldon Spencer take back Iowa's Fourth District." On

KL Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04796327854500626621noreply@blogger.com0