Off the tracks

I got off track the last couple of days.


Let's hope tomorrow is better.

Sunday (not so) funnies, 2/27/11

"We are strong supporters of the Second Amendment"

But not always.

“We are members of the NRA. We are strong supporters of the Second Amendment (the right to keep and bear arms). We are members of Pheasants Forever and Wild Turkey Federation, but our belief is guns and alcohol don’t mix,” said Mike King, part owner of Elm’s.

Because no crime has ever been committed inside a bar.

If you are out with your buddies and sip a Pepsi proprietors like this guy would rather you not protect yourself or your friends. (Besides being able to defend the business.)

It's an owner's right to restrict their business however way they want and it's a customer's prerogative whether they wish to enter that business, armed or otherwise.

He'll be glad to take care of it

Ft Madison Police Chief, Bruce Niggemeyer had a Q&A with local citizens. In response to a business owner in Ft Madison who had a question about responding to a person toting a gun in their establishments:

"It depends on how comfortable you or the business owner feels walking up to them and asking [if they have a permit]. If you don't, call us and we'll be glad to take care of it," Niggemeyer responded.

A citizen remarked that magic no-carry signs have no effect on someone intent on committing harm to another. Niggemeyer agreed, adding:

If someone is bent on doing something like that, I don't think a sign or someone else with a gun is going to stop them.

If guns are so ineffective in stopping violent criminals, then why do law enforcement officers carry them?

Saturday (out of) steam, 2/26/11

More snow.

The CB&Q 5141 at Quincy, IL.

Friday out of steam, 2/25/11

Database issues, no sleep and trying to get caught up. I'm out of steam:


Click on the picture for more.

Remarks: CB&Q's Golden 4-8-4 To celebrate the centennial of the opening of its Chicago to Aurora, Illinois line, the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy very temporarily painted its king of fan trips, Northern 5632, gold. The scene here is a positioning move in Aurora on May 24, 1964. An O5B built by the CB&Q at West Burlington.

The students learn some lessons

The University of Iowa thought some training for students was in order. These students learned how to confront an armed assailant on campus.

By throwing stuff.

LeeAnn Yeckley entered a training room at the University of Iowa Department of Public Safety wielding a red rubber gun.

Instantly, the 22 other “potential victims” pelted the UI graduate student with yellow Styrofoam balls.

In this situation, called “the swarm,” the balls represented different objects that can be thrown at an attacker before several brave people in the room attempt to bring the person to the ground and get control of the weapon.

Nevermind that one of the best defenses against an armed attacker is to be armed themselves. They have a policy against guns on campus.

If this policy prevents guns from coming onto campus, then why "train" students? Doesn't the policy work?

Around the state update, 2/24/11

Up at the statehouse: amendments galore.

Law Enforcement officials are complaining in Des Moines.

North Liberty votes to ban guns and "dangerous weapons."

Buyer's remorse at the statehouse

Or, How we voted for the gun bill last year and now regret it.

There is some good fodder in this article. Like:

"We were seduced," said [Sen. Jack] Hatch, one of four senators who voted against the bill. "We were so interested in getting endorsements from this group that we thought it was going to be a political coup, and it turned out to be a coup d'etat."

Never mind that most of the Democrats lost because of outdated ideas and as a backlash against bad legislation that was passed. (Stacy Appel comes to mind)

Crying in the bed wrapped in soiled sheets while your lover is getting dressed is not a pretty sight. And I think many Democrats thought (like the above example) they would gain the trust of the electorate if they would just make love to the NRA.

Good thing we saw through that facade.

Senator Fraise of Ft. Madison obliged us with a "Wild Wild West" quote confusing reality with fiction. He's got a few bills in the works:

Fraise's bill also would require Iowans to qualify on a firing range under the supervision of a certified instructor. This would apply to both new applicants and those renewing permits. Internet firearm training courses wouldn't satisfy the requirement. Anyone who appeals a denial of a weapons permit would have to pay the appeal costs, Fraise's bill says.

Maybe he has a point. The earlier post of a Wisconsin teacher's poster comes to mind.

If there was some way of certifying teachers, lawyers, hair dressers, gun owners...

The world would be a safe and happy place.

At the base of these hackneyed piss-pot senators is that they regret having a bill passed that let the citizens have a little more freedom, a bit more porridge from our keepers.

Those of use who had been humiliated by a pompous county sheriff on a power trip as they denied permit after permit because "no one needs to carry", all the while packing heat themselves, know what it's like to have to ask permission to exercise a basic human right of self defense.

Fraise's attempt to make a citizen pay again to fight for a denial appeal smacks of contempt for citizens' rights. We sent people to the statehouse to not be "reasonable" with you. We sent them to the statehouse to not compromise.

Don't ask us to be "reasonable" either. We got tired of that in the last election and booted most of you out.

We can boot the rest of you out next time.

What's going on in Wisconsin?

Did you know that the Wisconsin Constitution requires a balanced budget? Did you know that the alternative to public sector unions giving concessions is firing more than 5000 of them? Did you know that it was the refusal of the unions even to discuss potential concessions that lead to the current impasse?

I didn't hear any of this on our so-called "news."

Confederate Yankee reveals more at: Wisconsin Observations

Thanks be to ASM826 at Random Acts of Patriotism.

Last thought: If you are a teacher and you print up a sign, check your grammar.


"Our" my cup of tea. Makes me wonder if they have a Masters degree like the whiny teacher in an earlier post.

Western states standing up to Feds on wolf population

Bawb explains: WHO'S AFRAID OF THE FEDERAL WOLF? NOT WY, ID, or MT

North Liberty to vote on a ban tonight

North Liberty to vote on gun ban

Two more senators join Grassley questioning ATF

Lugar, Lieberman looking into ‘Project Gunwalker’ charges

Stolen guns in Davenport

Normally I would treat this as very serious (and it is). Forty-six guns were stolen from a home in Davenport, IA with several recovered in the hands of convicted felons. But since this is an opinion piece and not a news story, although hard to tell the difference sometimes, I would like to add my thoughts.

Bobby E. Thompson Jr., 21, was under investigation in connection with the shooting of another Davenport man when police said they found the stolen 9 mm handgun.

It wasn’t until police traced the gun they found at Thompson’s, [police Capt] Struckman said, that they realized they had a much larger stolen-guns case on their hands. The victim was out of town and didn’t know he’d been burgled, so he hadn’t reported it.

Here's where the sloppy-arsed reporting comes in:

It is worthwhile to note the gun collector did nothing wrong. He was properly licensed, and his arsenal was secured behind a locked door.

One, you don't have to have a license (yet) to have a gun collection in Iowa. I would assume she meant he had a C&R license to purchase them directly from a distributor.

And using the word "arsenal" instead of "collection?" Nice.

Apparently she can't remember her own written words:

As police and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, ATF, agents continue to search for the weapons and the people who stole them, they hope to piece together how so many firearms made it, unnoticed, out of the house.

The owner was out of town. She just wrote that in the previous paragraph but must have missed it.

Too bad the guy didn't use supernatural powers to notice that he was broken into while he was elsewhere. I'll try that next time I'm out of the house for a few days.

Because the guy also had ammunition (what good is one without the other), Barb gives us some sad news:

The obvious sour note is the thieves are armed with loaded weapons. Secondly, if they had to buy the ammunition, police might have had a lead by connecting a specific ammo buyer to a specific stolen gun.

Maybe in Illinois where you have to have a FOID in order to purchase ammunition, but in Iowa you only need proof of age. How would they link "specific ammo buyer to a specific stolen gun" unless the firearm was one of only one made in all of God's creation and you can only buy the ammo from one store with 28 forms of ID?

I hope one of my readers can help me out there.

And then Barb tries her hand at comedy. Referring to the fact that the thieves left behind the more collectible firearms:

In other words, they didn’t fit in the waistband of a pair of boxer shorts.

More than likely they weren't fully automatic AK47s that could spray 500 rounds per minute. Thugs and drug lords prefer those.

I know a collector who has Winchester lever action rifles. Those not preferred by thugs and drug lords.

And they don't fit easily in the boxers. Or briefs, either.

Smug teacher from Wisconsin

KurtP has a video of a pompous self-entitled teacher from Wisconsin whining about how much her life as a teacher stinks.

Please go there, because I don't want to put her mug on here and soil up the place.

Sunday (not so) funnies, 2/20/11

Story of my life...

We are looking for a new Two Rivers Lodge and during a parcel search on an acreage we are interested in, this popped up:


I think I was standing at that exact point when the GIS photo was taken.

Gun ban update, 2/18/11

Johnson County voted unanimously for a ban.

"We felt we had to do something because the Legislature made such a broad sweep with the open carry permit legislation, it was ill thought out. The Legislature just dumped it on local governments, and this is the best solution we can find to keep our people safe."

Taking power away from a government agency is "ill thought out?" Okay, then.

Updated map is on the right.

Gun ban update, 2/17/11

A new batch of gun bans in the works. And with the anticipated vote at Johnson County tonight, I guess that I will have another update tomorrow. Updated map is to the right.

Iowa City ban passed (joining Waterloo, Spencer, Council Bluffs, Cherokee, Charles City, and Blencoe.) Because it's "common sense."

Jasper County is considering their ban. Because: "If Wal-Mart can post a sign banning guns, why don’t we do it here?"

Clark County passed a ban. "To preserve safety and comfort..."

Sheriff friendly offers tips for those with permits

After some initial lamentations regarding the new permit process:

Lee County Sheriff Jim Sholl reported that there are now 654 residents with gun permits. Prior to Jan. 1 and the revised law, only 84 Lee County residents held per- mits. Sholl says he believes the revised law is the sole reason for the increase in permit applications.

“You’ll never convince me that there were 500 some people denied permits by any sheriff here,”Sholl said. “It’s just so easy to get one, and there has been so much publicity on it that it piqued their interest.”

Could it be that many county residents gave up from trying? Why waste the time and money if the sheriff will deny your application?

And because mere citizens aren't capable of handling a weapon, the remark:

“One of my deputies said it best, and I stole the line from him — if you go get a driver’s license you have to show you know how to drive, but now you can get a gun permit and not show you know how to shoot,” Sholl said.

Read more advice at: Law enforcement officials offer suggestions for weapon carry

Gun ban update, 2/16/11

Supervisor Langston reveals Linn County is looking for a ban.

Iowa City ban likely, it's design:

The ban would keep guns from places like the city council chambers, the city’s recreation facility, and other city buildings.

And a vote Thursday for a ban in Johnson County.

Carroll ban passed.

The county gun ban map now looks like this:

Hi Dollar spring sportsman's auction, 2011

Hi Dollar Sportsman's Auction, Sat. & Sun. Feb. 26-27, 2011 at 10:00 AM

Iowa DNR auction for 2011

To be held Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 9:00 AM CDT at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

Annual Iowa DNR Gun and Bow Auction, 2011

Last year's auction got off to a rocky start, let's hope they do a better job this time through.

Some years you can get a bargain and other years it can be very slim pickings.

County fight regarding gun range over

Or is it?

A two-year battle over the operation of a 10-station shooting range near Boone may have reached a conclusion Thursday night when the Boone County Board of Adjustment permanently approved its conditional use permit.

"Permanently approved its conditional use permit" is a oxymoron, isn't it?

A man in Boone, Ia set up a part of his property as a gun range and neighbors didn't like it. The fight has been going on for two and a half years and will probably end up back in court. Especially when one of the peeved neighbors makes a statement:

Friday afternoon, [Tom] Gleason told the Boone News-Republican, “On the advice of my counsel I am not supposed to say anything.”

However, Gleason, who is the medical director of the radiology department at Boone County Hospital and a former U.S. Navy commander, added, “There will be a reckoning.” He did not say what that might be.

Is that a threat, Commander?

"If gun ranges are outlawed, only outlaws will have gun ranges," sounds kind of trite. But counties could use their regulatory power to reduce or eliminate a gun range. If there are no places to practice, then it leaves one with very few options.

There could come a time when you can only shoot on "approved" ranges with strict rules of operation. Maybe to the point of not being able to shoot on your own property in the country, miles from any population centers.

But here in Iowa, a neighbor about a quarter mile away, could shut down your personal range. Because it's too noisy. Or it smells bad. Or, whatever... This Gleason is trying real hard to do just that.

Maybe Mr Davis invited the former Commander Gleason over to pull a few clays. Maybe Gleason declined the offer. I'm not that familiar with the feud. But if that was my neighbor, I'd ask if I could use it or have a good-neighbor membership discount.

It seems that there should be a reconciliation instead of a reckoning going on there.

Big shooter in a small package

When someone thinks of the term, "bring enough gun," most of us would think that it applies to a gun fight or the battlefield. Some of us would think that term would apply to the gun one carries for defense. But what kind of gun would one use for home defense? Most often (and at the Two Rivers Lodge) a 12 gauge is quite handy.

Our good friend, True Blue Sam, hands us a story of one woman who has taken the idea of "bring enough gun" to heart.

Most folks find it surprising that that True Blue Sam's 110 pound mother shoots a big bore revolver until they give it a try, then, of course, they want one, too. It is a joy to shoot! How does a grandmother who never shot a pistol before make the leap to a .45 that could hang on Marshall Dillon's hip?

He's talking about his mother, Bea, who uses a Ruger Blackhawk .45 Convertible for her home defense.


Although her carry gun would be her Walther PK380, Sam says Bea is "passionate" about her .45. She enjoys that Ruger so much, she wants to share one with another gunner "soulmate."

Sam announced the Gun Blogger Rendezvous VI and something extra.

She has had the time of her life at the Rendezvous, and she wants to give even more to the event to help Project Valour-IT, so she decided to purchase a Convertible Blackhawk to be raffled off at GBR VI next September. Lori Petoske, and Ken Jorgensen of Ruger have made arrangements with Bea to provide a certificate for a new Ruger Blackhawk .45 Convertible to one lucky person at the Rendezvous this year

All smiles after her range time to qualify for her Iowa Carry Permit. She sent 100 rounds downrange that day.

The .45 Blackhawk was the biggest gun in the class, and Mom had instant street cred when she strapped it on. There were some .38's, some .40's, and one fellow brought a .22.

That's Bea with a "Big Iron" on her hip.



I hope you didn't get lost with all of the links and if you made it this far, thank you. I thought that I would honor Bea as she is an inspiration to those of us who are not large in size. Breaking the mold of the stereotypical diminutive woman, she even has my wife thinking of "bringing more gun".

Her generosity is also to be commended for her donation at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous VI for the Ruger Blackhawk.

I asked my wife if she wanted to go to Reno with me next fall. (If I sell some inventory, cash in a couple of things, we might be able to go, maybe???)

Statehouse gun bill update, 2/14/11

Gun advocates push agenda at Capitol

Illinois carry bill in the works

State Representative Pat Verschoore, (IL) D-Milan is working on the bill in Illinois

"This law is tight enough, that we've had the FOID card for years where you have to have a FOID card to even get a gun and that's even a hard situation to do," said Verschoore.

He said sheriff's departments would be in charge of issuing permits based on a strict set of rules, including an age limit of 21 and older, with no criminal record and a training course to show proficiency with a gun.

I wouldn't get my hopes up for my neighbors to the east, but it's a step in the right direction.

Sunday (not so) funnies, 2/13/11

Gun running in Iowa doesn't pay

A Cedar Rapids woman was sentenced to 4 years in Federal prison for conducting straw purchases and for lying on Form 4473 when buying the weapons.

The gun ban sticker Marion should use

From ASM826 at Random Acts of Patriotism



I went through Marion on Friday and with my unofficial cursory poll along the main drag I noticed only one sticker. Ouch.

All that effort by the Marion police chief and only one sticker. (Insert sad face here) And the Pizza Ranch changed their minds and only want to prohibit open carry.

I say it was unofficial because I did not stop at each business and walk up to the door looking for the magic gun prevention stickers. I didn't stop at the open air mall or at the Made Rite. I didn't need to visit Uncle Stan's Military Surplus. (I don't even want to know what they did with their stickers).

But only one lousy sticker?

Joyce Foundation discovers lowly Iowa blog

It seems that making a joke regarding the Joyce Foundation funding a psych professor at ISU (New student group being formed at ISU: Students for Concealed Carry on Campus) caught the Joyce Foundation's attention.

By searching for "Joyce Foundation" they found my reference to the Joyce Foundation.

Here's the Joyce Foundation:


Apparently the Joyce Foundation first came by a few days earlier looking for "Iowa police guns" as a search term instead of "Joyce Foundation".

I really don't mind the Joyce Foundation stopping by, but no one left a comment to tell me how evil I am or that I'm doing a terrible service to America. Maybe it's because the Joyce Foundation knows that I'm just a lowly blog with very few visitors, certainly much less than what anyone at the Joyce Foundation would expect.

I must admit that the Joyce Foundation trolling the internets searching for "Joyce Foundation" seems a little bit like busy work. Maybe an intern had some free time on their hands and were interested in a small and infrequently visited blog from Iowa and what gets published.

I know that I would be very interested in what some insignificant blog had to say about Between Two Rivers or if someone from the Joyce Foundation stopped by for a visit or two.

Who am I kidding? I don't give a rip.

Newton Chamber discusses the new gun carry law

During a breakfast of fruit salad, muffins and pastries Jasper County Sheriff Mike Balmer and Newton Police Chief Jeff Hoebelheinrich:

educated the chamber on the rights they have as business owners and the sheriff’s responsibilities pertaining to Iowa Senate File 2379, which allows any Iowa citizen to openly carry a weapon pending a criminal and mental health background check.

After a business owner stated he recognizes the right to carry a gun but was banning guns from his store, Sheriff Balmer replied:

“As a business owner you always have the right to refuse service,” said Balmer. “But responsible people may have been entering your business with a concealed firearm for years, and you’d never have known.”

Other than another reference to the "wild west" (sigh) it seems like this sheriff and police chief informed the business owners of their rights as owners without advocating them to ban guns with a magic sign at their door.

New student group being formed at ISU: Students for Concealed Carry on Campus

Last semester, a new student organization, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, was started by Anthony Taylor, junior in software engineering, as a way to change the ISU policy on weapons. ISU policy reads, "Weapons are not permitted on the campus except for purposes of law enforcement and as specifically authorized for purposes of instruction, research or service."

Using a "clever" headline of Students up in arms over gun laws but not everyone is laughing:

"I think that if people started carrying concealed weapons on campus, the atmosphere of campus will change to one where people are fearful and suspicious of other people," said Stephanie Madon, associate professor of psychology.

College campuses have been promoting the idea that any and all males are potential rapists (please disregard members of Iowa athletics for a while) and just now she doesn't want people to be fearful or suspicious of each other?

Mz Madon write papers, such as: Self-fulfilling prophecy effects of mothers' beliefs on children's alcohol use: accumulation, dissipation, and stability over time.

Which is okay, I'm not dissing her for writing such a title, but it seems that her papers are mostly about alcohol and teens.

Hardly an expert on guns.

But I'm sure she could crank out a research paper with a little Joyce Foundation funding.

Biden to jump the Grand Canyon

Iowahawk reports: Biden Vows to Jump Canyon by Amtrak

Marion business owners' views on guns

A strong response from one business owner, a city council member is "fine" with all the fuss and another business owner changes her mind.

Watch the video here: More Marion businesses are reacting after the police chief encouraged them to ban weapons.

Is 'no retreat' gun law needed?

Jennifer Jacobs asks that question at the Des Moines Register.

I suppose if someone is coming after me or mine, I'm supposed to bend over and take it, Jennifer?

Oh, and talking about crazy:

"It's just absolutely crazy," said Brian Malte, a spokesman for the Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence. "It's a license to just start shooting in public. You're basically giving permission to shoot almost anyone and shoot in the public arena and possibly kill or injure an innocent bystander."

This panty-waist would rather a victim be assaulted, raped or murdered with no opportunity to protect themselves.

His advice would be to run away:



Remember, according to the Brady bunch, handling a firearm magically transforms a person into a cold-blooded killer.

Run away.

(Update) Jim jumped on this before me and added his analysis.

Sen Grassley is persistently asking Justice Dept for answers

David Codrea: BREAKING NEWS: Grassley to Holder: Terry family deserves answers

David has copies of the letters to AG Holder demanding answers regarding the ATF's acquiescence (at the very least) of straw purchasing and guns to Mexico.

Gun ban proposals - not only in Iowa

David Codrea has the scoop:

It is, of course, the Brady Campaign wish list (the one for this year), one that's being sold to us by oath-breaking politicians, media cheerleaders, anti-defense special interests and their useful idiot followers as “common sense” and “a good first step.”

Read more at:
Congressional ‘gun control’ report telegraphs anti-gunners’ ‘wish list’

Gun Ban Wednesday, 2/9/11

Webster County still thinking about a ban.

Pleasant Hill - Tabled.

Spencer unanimously passes a ban. (while quoting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, no less)

Jesup passed a second reading of their ordinance to ban.

(Update)From mfross in the comments: Clinton is holding off (and Bettendorf)

Condescending police chief thinks people are too stupid to own guns

Just because you have a gun doesn't mean you know how to use it. Or one can imply that from the words of Marion Police Chief Daugherty.

“They have a right to their opinion, but my way of thinking is a little different. The more guns you have out in the streets, the more chances of an accident happening. It’s just common sense. They’re getting handled by more people, so the percentage of accidents have to go up. They just can’t go down.”

“All these people are getting these weapons and they may not know how to load them,” he said.

The clairvoyant chief believes that a sticker at your place of business will magically prevent someone from bringing a firearm in. Businesses could expect to never have an armed robbery.

The arrogant top cop at Marion is out asking businesses to place magic stickers at their entrances; spending department money (confiscated through forfeiture laws) on a letter campaign and creation of these magic stickers:


Sean McClanahan has more and a copy of the letter.

KFXA FOX 28 :: Top Stories - Gun Ban Stickers Popping Up on Marion Businesses

The Iowa Conservative Union is accusing the chief of "...taking a political position on Iowa’s gun permit policy—and using public money to do it."

Conklin [of Iowa Conservative Union] said his group will urge 2nd amendment supporters to avoid any Marion business posting the “gun ban” notices sent out by the chief. At least one business owner said the idea of making some customers unhappy might give her pause and keep her from using the stickers.

More guns = more stress and discomfort

Editor's Inbox: More guns being carried around will add stress, danger

Imagine you are in the grocery store and you look over to see a young man with a gun in his back pocket. There is no denying the fact that you automatically feel threatened and unsafe.

The new gun law will cause us more stress and discomfort than a feeling of safety and security.

One can't have stress and discomfort in their lives. Heaven forbid anyone from having stress and discomfort. I know I wouldn't want to give anyone stress... or discomfort.

Because "feelings' are all about "me."

Leftist voices in Iowa taking the Legislature to task

In an obscure Iowa newspaper. Which begs the question of how and why do I find these people?

Clara Oleson asks: Where is the honor in Iowa legislature? in a Op Ed.

All week we witnessed the arrogance of a business controlled Iowa House of Representatives and Executive Branch

Ignoring the arrogance of Sen Gronstal, are we?

This week you had to look at CNN and the streets of Cairo, not the back rooms of Des Moines, to find honorable folk of fervor and belief.

Comparing and contrasting the citizen filled streets of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez this week with the screaming white males lined up at last year’s Health Care Forum around Iowa is also enlightening.

The noble protester in a country that will probably end up installing another tin-pot dictator to replace the current corrupt dictator, versus screaming angry white males and their implied racism.

Not only are we angry, but we are a bunch of cry-babies:

To create this juxtaposition is to expose the juvenile character of the rage of tea party Americans. Juvenile because of their petulance, of their insisting on their toys, i.e. guns, of their individualism gone amuck, of their lack of collective responsibility. My American brothers were enraged, but uninformed; enraged with selfishness.

She reinforces that with:

Throwing a tantrum in the nursery versus going “into the street” to demand democracy.

That's what we are, a bunch of cry-babies who demand their money back from the government; demand that the state and federal government leave us alone; little children who demand their toys (guns) in order to protect ourselves.

But Mizz. Oleson who is much more educated than the angry white males of the state, because we are uninformed little tykes and need her highly educated guidance.

How could we ever get along without her or her kind?

Who is Clara Oleson (the letter didn't tell us)?

Is she the woman who wrote a book on how to study for a drug test? (Listed as a program consultant in the Division of Continuing Education and adjunct assistant professor, College of Public Health, University of Iowa) A search of uiowa.edu produced no results, so I guess she retired?

Looks like she blogged for Obama as an Iowa activist where she asked the all-important question of, "God, what was his marriage proposal to Michelle like?"

A little idol worshiping going on there? Sounds a little juvenile to me.

But then she is also:

My name is Clara Oleson. I'm a national board member of the Alliance for Democracy, which is to the left of Lyndon LaRouche...

Obama isn't her only elected official she seems to admire. Dave Loebsack makes her proud, too.

Seems like she lost an election to the state legislature in 2006 to Kent Kaufmann. 62% to 38% - ouch.

A woman whose fascination with all things leftist, would probably never understand the ideas of smaller, less intrusive government. A search of her written work suggests an obsession with the labor unions and the collective mentality. Individualism may not even be in her vocabulary.

But since she was on the University of Iowa faculty and is an Iowa activist, it's obvious she is smarter than myself.

I'll console myself after my daily tantrum, Clara.

I-Jobs? I-Joke

Or I-rony, perhaps.

What could be a better function of government than to confiscate tax money from some individuals, and give invest that money with political cronies in worthy projects.

Our last governor seemed to think that putting up a bunch of signs throughout the state to advertise his using state money to "stimulate" the economy was a great idea. Especially when state funds were used to put up signs with his name on it. Free campaign signs and it costs the state to take them down. (The Democrats in the statehouse are currently arguing that taking these signs down would cost the state money we can't afford. Who would have thought they were fiscal conservative?)

I found one such sign last week in Belle Plaine. Take a look and see if you can see what I see.



I appreciate the slogan "Building a 21st Century infrastructure and creating jobs without raising taxes" hogwash.

Do you see what I see? Or rather not see?

The empty lot behind a sign with the word Facade.
This aptly describes the whole I-Jobs fiasco. The sign is more important than the project. But on the other hand the sign is true.

Thanks, Chester for spending $1.5 million dollars of our tax money without raising taxes. Putting our state in a hole that will take years to dig out of.

Thanks for the laugh, too. But I don't think I got my money's worth out of it.

Sunday (out of) steam, 2/6/11

Late night database upgrade has left me with little sleep.

Mrs. Viola Sievers, one of the wipers at the roundhouse giving a giant "H" class locomotive a bath of live steam. Clinton, Iowa, April 1943. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Jack Delano. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Found at The Freeholder

Another example of the war-time necessity of asking women to do a "man's job". Although a job on the railroad could have been considered as a draft deferment, my dad left his switchman's position at the time and entered the war.

After the draft board caught up with him.

Sunday (not so) funnies, 2/6/11

Hoplophobe of the week, Trish Nelson

Gun rights, gun rights, gun rights, ad nauseum. What about the rights of ordinary citizens to not be endangered in public by gun-toters who promise that using the gun is the last thing they want to do? (At least that's what the trainings they are all voluntarily attending are supposed to be teaching). But if it is the case that they are being trained not to use the gun, why do they want one? What are they so afraid of here in Iowa? And why are their fears more important than everyone else's?

More at Blog for Iowa: Iowa: Home Of Pork, Poker, Prisons & Pistols? if you can stomach the liberal tripe.

Traffic cameras in Iowa, update 2/4/11

Seems like Iowa City is exploring the idea of installing cameras.

For safety, of course. No?:

“From what I understand, not too many people get excited by raising taxes, so this is a method of raising revenue that I think needs to be explored,” he [Iowa City Police Chief Sam Hargadine] said.

I guess we know who is getting excited.

At the statehouse, the senate has introduced a new bill (SF129) to ban the use of cameras to enforce highway laws.

Some public comments by the politicos in charge at New proposal would ban traffic cameras in Iowa

Something different: Coin theft double irony

Man from Coin, IA sentenced for stealing Iowa woman's coins

COIN, Iowa (AP) - A man from the small city of Coin in southwestern Iowa has been sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for charges stemming from the theft of a rare and valuable coin collection.

If you're going to invest in platinum coins, avoid Coin, IA:

Too big for their britches

Rep. Rick Olson, D-Des Moines is not short on analogies these days:

“The NRA got a big bite out of the apple last year. It seems like they want to eat the core now, too.”

“It would appear that some special interest groups are too big for their britches.”

Mr Chuckles should do stand up comedy.

House Study Bill 17 examines launching a constitutional amendment process to specifically prohibit gun taxation.

Johnson Co. sheriff needs some relief

52 permits to carry make sheriff uneasy

Gun Ban Tuesday, 2/1/11

Bellevue bans guns in city buildings, parks

Muscatine broached the subject:

At the Jan. 20 Muscatine City Council meeting, City Administrator Gregg Mandsager raised the subject of banning firearms on city property, asking City Council members if they wanted to broach the subject.

The Council’s response? Silence, other than council member Phil Fitzgerald, who suggested the item be filed in the recycle bin.

I missed Tama and Butler counties from an earlier link along with Jesup, Elk Run Heights, Dunkerton, Tripoli and Lamont.

(Update) Sean McClanahan passed on a couple more this evening:
Shelby County passed a ban on the 25th.

Buena Vista County rejected a ban 5-0. (will post link as soon as I can find it)

The hypocrisy of the Register's editorial board

The editorial board of the Des Moines Register protests against efforts to strengthen our state's preemption laws. In the balance is whether citizens can carry guns on city and county property without interference by local governments. They "awarded" a thistle to our statehouse legislators for their efforts.

Funny how they were all in favor of state control and against local governments regulating smoking in public. And it must be a strain on them to figure out which hypocritical side of an argument they take on any given day.

In their trite Roses & Thistles: Transparency in U.S. Senate; gun-toting in Iowa's capitol? maybe my other readers can come to the conclusion I have:

A thistle to Iowa state legislators who want to prevent cities and counties from enacting any local gun-control laws. This is a slap at the notion of local control under the Home Rule amendment in the Iowa Constitution. It is also hypocritical. Imagine, if you will, legislators sitting in the comfort of the state Capitol, with guards and metal detectors at the entrances screening for weapons. Meanwhile, they propose a law to prevent such protections at City Hall. Perhaps these legislators would change the rules and let people carry guns into the House and Senate chambers. Too bad Iowans repealed the section on dueling in the Iowa Constitution back in 1992. Emphasis mine.

Isn't that a veiled threat against the legislature?

Didn't their lord and savior make his case last week to pledge an era of peace a civility in our public discourse?

Then why the asinine statement that can be interpreted as wishing ill on our elected officials? But then it was probably meant as a joke.

The real joke is the Des Moines Register being thought of as a legitimate paper of record for the state.