Does every state treat its citizens like this?

Apparently Governor Chester doesn't care for the opinions of his employers (us).

No one from the public attended a state budget hearing Wednesday - possibly because no one knew about it.

The only notice for the public hearing was tacked up inside the Iowa Capitol. A nonpartisan Capitol staffer was the only person to drop in, after spotting a notice on a bulletin board while the hearing was in progress.

Critics expressed frustration that so little was done to advertise the mandatory hearing in the midst of what's arguably the worst budget crisis in Iowa history.

Sen. Steve Kettering, R-Lake View, said Gov. Chet Culver and his staff chose to do "the minimum" to comply with Iowa laws on hearing notices.

So Chester technically complied with the law, so we can't fault him, right?

More at Budget hearing is quietly posted at Capitol
Gov Chester is on the left.

History, repeat thyself

There has to be a theme going on here...

At JPFO they describe Argentina's economic downfall which sounds like a path similar to US. Don't Cry For Me, America

Via David Codrea, who wrote, "Those who do not learn from the past..."

Yep, there's more and more of these kinds of articles each day.

Sen. Tom "half-a-loaf" Harkin predicts the future

"In order to overcome the monolithic Republican opposition to reform and to get the 60 votes required to pass the bill, we have had to make painful compromises, but mark my words, decades from now people will not remember the twists and turns of debate on health reform in 2009. What they will remember is that President Obama achieved his number one domestic priority and that Congress passed a big historic bill."

And gets all the blame.

The rest of Harkin's nonsensical partisan diatribe at Harkin still champions health care bill

Woman with broom defends home

Two men broke into an east Des Moines home and demanded money before being scared off by a broom-wielding woman Wednesday evening, police said.

The men kicked in a door in the 1600 block of Capitol Avenue at about 7 p.m. and ordered four children, ages 10 and under, to get on the floor while they demanded money from an adult female in the house, police said.

The woman then decides to defend the home with her broom and chased the crooks down the street.

In the understatement of the year:

“That’s not the smartest thing in the world to do, but sometimes your instincts take over,” [Des Moines Police Capt. David] Huberty said of the unarmed woman chasing the suspects.

There are so many paths to go down with this story, especially if they refer to any of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Read more (and groan at the headline) at Broom-wielding woman sweeps away armed crooks

Police blotter roundup 12/30/09

Johnston - You probably would never have heard of 37-year-old Mary Sarna... if she hadn't been caught for allegedly speeding and arrested for allegedly driving drunk. Sarna, of Chicago, IL, was attending a class at the Iowa Law Enforcment Academy. Polk County Sheriff's Deputy Jana Rooker said another deputy stopped Sarna for speeding at 1:45 am on September 11, 2009. "Hopefully (Sarna) is going to learn from that mistake, but yeah, it's disappointing because I think as law enforcement officers we know we're held to a little higher expectation." said Rooker. INVESTIGATOR ARRESTED: Woman allegedly drove drunk with another cop

And...

A preliminary hearing is set for a Polk County sheriff's deputy charged with domestic assault and harassment. Deputy John Negrete will appear before a judge January 5th.

According to an Altoona Police report, Deputy Negrete displayed a gun during a domestic argument Christmas night. Six officers from the Altoona Police Department and the Polk County Sheriff's Office responded and later arrested the deputy. DEPUTY DOMESTIC: A Polk County sheriff's deputy will appear before a judge January 5th to face domestic assault charges

Maybe this is why our attorney general wants to tighten up domestic abuse laws.

Coordinated Illumination and history

Know your history, or be doomed to repeat it. Pay particular attention to the part about being taxed into poverty and becoming slaves to your god-king. I recommend choosing the Liberty and Freedom, even though it comes with a cost. We must be willing to actually fight for that freedom. Get off the sofa and fight.

In a post describing his non-political phylisophy, Sofa rolls off a paragragh similar to yesterday's post here.

I'm wondering if there's a theme going on among bloggers.

Read more at Observations. Reason. Philosophy. and check out his motivation poster.

History repeating itself

La Gabelle was the most hated tax in France - indeed, it was so hated that it was one of the reasons that King Louis was not just shuffled aside into a Constitutional Monarchy role, but had some Quality Time with Madame Guillotine. You could call the tax a mistake.

So what was it about la Gabelle that made it so despised? After all, it was just a tax (in this case, a tax on salt). You don't like the tax, don't buy so much salt. Ah, there's the rub.

You had to buy the salt. By law, everyone ten years old or older had to buy salt, at a price set by the Crown. More infuriating, different parts of the realm paid different tax - favored regions got a break. Naturally, this led to a thriving smuggling trade, with increasingly draconian penalties as time went on. In the end, the cash was too important to the financially-strapped Ancien Regime to allow for reform, and the whole system collapsed.

Borepatch posts a history lesson regarding forcing a people to buy something by government decree. La Gabelle

Sound familiar?

Iowa expected to lose two congressional seats

According to this article, Arizona Set to Add Congressional Seat, According to Preliminary Census Numbers, it looks like Iowa could lose two congressional seats.

On the brighter side, that means we will be ignored by three congressmen instead of five.

Christmas at Bastogne

It was 65 years ago this month, in a place called Bastogne, in Belgium. The bombed-out town was surrounded by brutal Waffen SS forces of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Lauer was an artillery gunner with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division during that siege.

Bud Lauer, a Waterloo, IA resident recalls his experiences during the Battle of the Bulge.

"I told somebody the other day that was talking about this December weather, ‘Now you get 10 blankets and an old tarpaulin. We'll go out in the backyard, scrape a little snow away' and we'll sleep the night.'

Whenever I trudge through the winter weather here in Iowa, I try to imagine guys like Mr. Lauer and my father who fought through and survived that battle. I concluded long ago that I'm not worthy to carry their boots.

One room of Lauer's home is decorated with memorabilia of his service and experience at Bastogne. His "band of brothers" grows fewer in number with the passage of time. Reunions have shrunk from 200-300 old GIs to fewer than 10.

But Lauer remembers his comrades. Even now, on outings or even shopping at a mall where there is a pianist or musicians present, Lauer will request and old favorite tune: "Lili Marleen."

" I always ask for that song. Because I always thought that was a good song."

Go read more of Bud Lauer's memories at Waterloo G.I. recalls Christmas at Bastogne

To stand by and do nothing is unacceptable

Theologians J. P. Moreland and Norman Geisler say that "to permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong. To allow a rape when one could have hindered it is an evil. To watch an act of cruelty to children without trying to intervene is morally inexcusable. In brief, not resisting evil is an evil of omission, and an evil of omission can be just as evil as an evil of commission. Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally." Self-defense?

I came across that quote earlier today while searching for something else and I thought it apt regarding my friend and his actions to save a bank robbery. John Rumley kicks ass

I don't know if the bank's policy was/is to stand back and give whatever a robber demands, but he didn't care. And I posted it in honor of him, but also as a reminder to me, that actions, not talk, bring results.

John is quiet man who had never spoken like he would "save the bank" during a robbery or any such rot. On that day he could have sat back and waited for the robbery to take place and then call police. Instead, he shunned pacifism and resisted evil.

If the circumstances were different, it may been a tragic day for his family. But his example would remain and would not have been in vain. The vision of this quiet unassuming man, defending himself, his employees and his bank, makes this story all the more remarkable.

Many of us know of people who have stated emphatically that they would resist evil on some fateful day in the future. I don't know what I will do when or if that time comes, but I will say that I predict it will be a very interesting day.