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Bleeding Heartland
It's what plants crave.
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Media 
Wed Jan 02, 2013 at 10:55:12 AM CST
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Iowa has a lot of strengths as a place to live, but good public transportation isn't one of them. In most of our cities and towns, adults need to drive to get to work, school, or shops for necessities.
That's going to be a lot more difficult for approximately 5,000 Iowa residents who were brought to this country as undocumented immigrants during childhood.
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Mon Dec 17, 2012 at 16:55:00 PM CST
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The horrific mass killing at Sandy Hook elementary in Newtown, Connecticut has dominated news coverage since Friday, and almost everyone I know has been talking about the tragedy. But only a few Iowa politicians have publicly discussed the events or possible ways to prevent similar crimes.
Remarks by Senator Tom Harkin, Representative Dave Loebsack, State Senator Rob Hogg, and Governor Terry Branstad are after the jump. I'm disappointed but not surprised that the governor is not open to any new restrictions on assault weapons or large ammunition clips. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who like Branstad has an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association, today called for moving "beyond rhetoric" on gun control. His comments are also below.
I've sought comment from other members of Iowa's Congressional delegation and will update this post if I hear back from any of them. UPDATE: Added Representative Bruce Braley's comments below.
SECOND UPDATE: Added Senator Chuck Grassley's comments during a December 17 radio interview.
LATER UPDATE: Added comments from Iowa Department of Education Director Jason Glass.
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Sat Sep 29, 2012 at 18:48:47 PM CDT
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This evening, the Des Moines Register releases partial results from its latest Iowa poll conducted by Selzer & Co. I'll update this post with the details shortly. UPDATE: Barack Obama leads Mitt Romney by 49 percent to 45 percent. More information is after the jump. UPDATE: Added more details from Sunday's paper.
Speaking of the Des Moines Register, an unbelievable lapse in media ethics was the focus of this week's Civic Skinny column for Cityview, written by former Register editor Michael Gartner (from the pre-Gannett era). Long story short: the newspaper published an op-ed piece about the allegedly unfair treatment of a first-time juvenile offender, without disclosing that the 17-year-old in question is the son of Des Moines Register editorial writer Andie Dominick.
All topics are welcome in this open thread.
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Wed Sep 19, 2012 at 10:32:42 AM CDT
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The more I read about Beef Products Inc.'s defamation lawsuit against ABC News over its "pink slime" reporting, the more I'm convinced the maker of lean finely textured beef should not have taken this public relations battle to court.
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Sun Sep 09, 2012 at 10:15:00 AM CDT
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Hunter Oatman-Stanford's fantastic article for Collectors Weekly on "The Top 10 Most Dangerous Ads" inspired this post. Click through to see some amazing advertisements from the last century: A 1923 paint book for boys and girls, encouraging kids to have "fun with the whole 'Lead Family' of products," 1950s ads encouraging mothers to give 7-Up to young children, 1969 ads promoting sugar as a diet aid ("Sugar just might be the willpower you need to curb your appetite"), and even a 1947 ad proclaiming, "DDT is good for me-e-e!" Oatman-Stanford gives the background on the health impacts of the advertised products.
All topics are welcome in this open thread, particularly memories about idiotic things that were once widely accepted in our culture. No partisan warfare here, please: if you want to talk politics, try to focus on wrongheaded consensus ideas like Iowa's film tax credit program or the deregulation of the banking sector in the 1980s.
P.S. - I'm not nostalgic for most of the dangerous playground equipment of my childhood, like see-saws and metal monkey bars sets over solid concrete, but I have to agree with the Retro Junk blog, those merry-go-rounds were fun.
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Sun Aug 12, 2012 at 09:01:51 AM CDT
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What's on your mind this weekend, Bleeding Heartland readers? I've enjoyed almost everything about the 2012 Summer Olympics, except for NBC's atrocious coverage. They don't even show most of the finalists in the diving or gymnastics events. Their evening broadcasts ignore almost all the events lacking Americans as medal contenders. They don't broadcast the marquee track and field events live. Worst of all, they show extended previews of lousy-looking new sitcoms during their prime-time Olympics recaps.
Other news that caught my eye this weekend: U.S. Representative Mazie Hirono won yesterday's U.S. Senate primary in Hawaii. She faces former Republican Governor Linda Lingle this November for the seat left open by retiring Democratic Senator Daniel Akaka. Veteran Iowa campaign professional Julie Stauch managed Hirono's first U.S. House race in 2006, helping her win a crowded Democratic primary.
According to this Associated Press story, Iowa's county auditors are not happy that Secretary of State Matt Schultz is paying for a Division of Criminal Investigation agent to spend two years investigating alleged voter fraud. That solution in search of a problem will not only cost $140,000 per year, but also leaves a full-time position unfilled in the DCI's major crimes unit in Council Bluffs. Priorities, priorities.
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Tue Jul 31, 2012 at 11:25:00 AM CDT
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The Iowa Supreme Court ruled this month on three cases balancing the public's right to know with an entity's right to keep certain information confidential. In two of the majority rulings, justices found other considerations outweighed the grounds for disclosure, but three justices dissented from each of those decisions.
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Tue Jul 24, 2012 at 15:10:00 PM CDT
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Donald Kaul announced in Sunday's syndicated newspaper column that his professional writing days may be over.
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Sun Jul 01, 2012 at 11:49:00 AM CDT
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What's on your mind this weekend, Bleeding Heartland readers? Many laws approved during the 2012 legislative session go into effect today. After the jump I've posted links about some of the new laws and the end of the road for the Malcolm Price Laboratory School in Cedar Falls. I also included excerpts from a good article by Steve Gravelle, who examined the impact of Iowa's public smoking ban four years after it became statewide law.
This is an open thread.
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Tue Apr 24, 2012 at 09:39:49 AM CDT
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The Iowa legislature has passed a bill to create a public information board with the power to enforce open-records laws on local government entities.
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Fri Apr 13, 2012 at 18:13:22 PM CDT
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The Des Moines Register is losing another group of longtime fixtures in the newsroom. Publisher Laura Hollingsworth announced on Friday the 13th that ten writers and editors are among 13 employees who accepted the Gannett Corporation's early retirement package.
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Thu Mar 15, 2012 at 07:53:01 AM CDT
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Following up on this post: Des Moines Register Editor Rick Green has announced that the newspaper will publish all of this week's Doonesbury comic strips in the Sunday Register Opinion section. The paper will also run commentary for and against the Texas ultrasound law, the target of Garry Trudeau's ridicule.
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Tue Mar 13, 2012 at 08:31:57 AM CDT
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The Des Moines Register is one of many newspapers across the country that declined to run this week's "Doonesbury" comic strips, which mock Republican legislative efforts to shame and intimidate women seeking abortions.
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Tue Jan 10, 2012 at 06:35:00 AM CST
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Republican State Senator Merlin Bartz set the bar high for irony on the opening day of the 2012 legislative session. Bartz sought publicity for a bill he has introduced to remove "frivolous, obsolete, and redundant mandates" from the Iowa Code.
On the one hand, that's a worthwhile effort for the ranking member of the Iowa Senate Local Government Committee. On the other hand, a guy who's using a 19th-century law to force neighbors to pay for half of his new fence might not be the best standard-bearer for this cause.
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Thu Dec 01, 2011 at 07:46:16 AM CST
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When an elected official wants a certain phrase or point of view to be transmitted in a news story, a spokesperson often has to do the heavy lifting. Governor Terry Branstad's communications director Tim Albrecht showed this week how pros get the job done while explaining an apparent contradiction in the governor's stance on the federal health insurance reform law.
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Sat Nov 19, 2011 at 22:43:50 PM CST
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The CEO of The American Independent News Network announced plans this week to cease publication of most of the network's state-based sites. That appears to include the Iowa Independent blog, a fixture on the Iowa political blogosphere since early 2007.
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Thu Nov 17, 2011 at 15:07:52 PM CST
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Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain and Representative Ron Paul have pushed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney into third place in a new Iowa Republican poll for Iowa State University, the Cedar Rapids Gazette and KCRG TV. However, less than two months before the Iowa caucuses, the majority of likely participants are still not committed to any candidate.
UPDATE: Now Rasmussen has a new Iowa poll showing former House Speaker Newt Gingrich way ahead among likely caucus-goers, followed by Romney and Cain. Details are below.
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Mon Sep 05, 2011 at 17:04:43 PM CDT
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Hope the Bleeding Heartland community has been enjoying the long holiday weekend. The weather couldn't be more perfect across Iowa. This is an open thread, but I've posted a few links that to get the conversation going after the jump.
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