July 2009 Archives

Last night KCRG did a live broadcast from a Johnson County Wildlife Area. It's probably best if you just watch it yourself:

I agree that the Iowa Department of Resources or the local sheriff's office should be more vigilant in keeping public spaces accessible and appropriate for Iowans of all ages. I also wonder why KCRG spun this story as they did? (A live broadcast?)

There was a follow-up report, I believe on the 10 o'clock newscast, where the cameraman fixated on a pair of pink underpants hanging in a tree. Reporter Justin Foss walked around in the woods pointing to spent condoms and bottles of lubrication.

I think if we are all honest with each other, we can each name rural areas near our own communities, littered with trash (and sometimes even underpants or bras), where young people go to partake in sexual activities. Does that make this right or socially acceptable? No. It absolutely does not.

To date, however, I've yet to see live reporting from the local "inspiration point," detailing the antics of the nude or nearly nude young adults there. A la shades of Lollipop Park (most Linn County folks will recognize the reference), this report is more about the fact that homosexual people have been known to engage in sexual encounters in this location than it is about adult activities in public spaces.

From my personal experience out in rural or wooded areas as a geocacher, I've only encountered hetrosexual couples communing with nature in such a fashion. Whether gay or straight, however, this is not appropriate behavior. So, shame on them.

But shame on KCRG as well for unnecessary sensationalizing of a legitimate news story.

Yep, the Onion has done it again.

"It's not the government's place to step in and tell my kids about food and how it's okay in moderation or whatever," said Woodbridge PTA member Steven Bray, a father of two students. "My son's going to learn how to eat the same way I did--by watching monkeys do it at the zoo."

And...

"I'm never ever going to eat, because eating is wrong, and I'm worth more than a chicken sandwich with asparagus and rice pilaf," Woodbridge seventh-grader Tracey Holmes said. "I heard Jennifer Hines eats all the time, like 50 times a day. I heard she eats all her ice cream upside-down, though, so she doesn't get fat. That's how it works."

You know you want to read "Study: Abstinence-Only Lunch Programs Ineffective At Combating Teen Obesity."

One of my Canadian friends (Lisa) found this video from a Minnesota wedding. It made me smile, and I knew I had to share it with all of you.

Congratulations to Jill and Kevin. We should all take a little more time to celebrate life.

There are lots of things I like about Sarah Palin, not least among them the fact that by her very presence we have proof that the basic tenants of American feminism have made in-roads even in religious circles.

There are also lots of things I don't like about Sarah Palin, not least among them the perception she pushes of rural America. The multi-faceted truth, which I'll readily admit doesn't fit well into a 10-second sound bite, is much more complex and much more important.

I'll also admit something else: I wanted Sarah Palin to do well. We live in a world where there are far too few strong political female role models for young women on the left side of the political spectrum, and even fewer on the right. I wanted Palin to be the national equivalent of Iowa's own Joy Corning or Mary Lundby -- intelligent, well-spoken, and self-assured. Unfortunately, it didn't take long to figure out that Palin has nothing on the strong Republican women that have graced Iowa.

And, although further proof that Palin is politically (and perhaps ethically) lacking isn't needed, Andrew Sullivan has put together a list of "odd lies" attributed to Palin. It is true that Palin has been and continues to be a subject of unique interest for Sullivan, and it could very well be that this list would not exist were it not for that interest. (Yes, Mr. Sullivan, that's a nice way of saying that you have fixated on Palin at a time when many politicians are worthy of such scrutiny. I will, however, refrain from speculating as to why.)

As odd as it seems, Palin remains an important figure in Iowa politics by virtue of our first-in-the-nation status. Even if her influence never makes it outside of the Hawkeye State, it will create ripples here that could change the landscape our upcoming gubernatorial and statehouse races.

Republicans have been quick to point out during the Sonia Sotomayor hearings that a compelling personal story should not always translate into political success. They say that everything a person says or does -- and not just where a person comes from or has struggled through -- should be held in account while deciding if an individual is worthy of holding more power. I agree, and also believe the practice should not be limited to proposed Supreme Court Justices.

(Hat tip to Linda Thieman of Blog for Iowa)

I can't imagine anyone not knowing who the "birthers" are. But, for the record, these are the people who choose to believe in the face of evidence to the contrary that Pres. Barack Obama is not a natural-born U.S. citizen.

Although I've had a brief post floating around in my head for a couple days on the subject, John Deeth has brilliantly saved me the trouble and the time of writing it out. Not to mention that my meager offerings would have paled in comparison to Deeth's spot-on analysis of what all this brouhaha is really about.

...The 1920's version of the Ku Klux Klan, starting to fade but still powerful, were equal opportunity bigots, hating Catholics nearly as much as blacks. The most popular attack showed a picture of Smith opening the Holland Tunnel linking New York and New Jersey, and "explaining" that it was Smith's "secret tunnel to the Vatican," so he could get his orders from the Pope who would rule America from Rome.

Debunking this story didn't do any good, just like producing Obama's birth certificate didn't help. So that's NOT a secret tunnel to the Vatican? Don't matter. Smith's still a Catholic and therefore un-American. "Take our country back," cry the Birthers.

And that's all this is really about. The Birthers, like their anti-immigrant allies, and like their precursors the 1920s Klan and the 1850s Know-Nothings, are defining Obama as un-American. Doesn't matter if we can see the birth certificates and the announcements in the Honolulu papers. Doesn't matter that his middle name is Hussein and not the briefly rumored Mohammed. Proving where and when he was born don't matter here because the conspiracy has its own truthiness in that it emphasizes Obama's other-ness...

However, I do take unique pleasure in the newfound knowledge that if I tote my birth certificate around in a zip-lock baggie adorned with a tiny American flag and yell loud enough about my birth and my family's military service, that I can somehow compel an entire political assembly to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Centers for Disease Control released new statistics last week that once again indicated the state of Mississippi is failing its youth by not providing comprehensive sex education. But, don't just take my word for it.

The findings are a sign that the state's abstinence-only approach to sex education is not working, said Dr. Mary Currier, Mississippi epidemiologist.

"Certainly that is a good thing, to have abstinence education, but it also is a good thing to provide information for those who choose not to remain abstinent, which, as you can see, is a good portion of them," she said. "It's my job to tell the truth, and the truth is we need to provide all that information to our kids because what we are doing now is not working."

In the CDC report, Mississippi has the highest birth rate in the nation for mothers ages 10-14, 15-17 and 20-24. The state ranks a close second to Arkansas in the rate for mothers ages 18-19.

In addition, Mississippi had the eighth-highest HIV/AIDS rate in the nation among young people ages 20-24 with 33.9 cases per 100,000 people. The southern states of Louisiana, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina joined Mississippi at the top of the list.

At the bottom of the list are states like Iowa, New Hampshire and Vermont -- states that take a comprehensive approach to sex education.

Reporter Chris Joyner interviewed Mississippi Rep. Rita Martison, a Madison Republican who has opposed moving the state toward a more comprehensive sex education program. Martinson said fault does not lie with the abstinence program, but with the state's lousy parents.

As for the healthier statistics from Iowa and Vermont? Martison brushes off comprehensive sex education and instead credits "strong family values."

Here's a great opportunity for those who live in or near Des Moines to hear directly from the current director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.

The Iowa Initiative, in partnership with Des Moines University Global Health and the Iowa Department of Public Health, will welcome Director Melody Barnes to Des Moines this Wednesday, July 22. She will be discussing the national health care reform debate, as well as the Obama administration's efforts to reduce unintended pregnancies.

The event, one of The Iowa Initiative's "On the Issues" programs, also features former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad as president of Des Moines University. Two afternoon sessions will include Mary Mincer Hansen, faculty member at the university, and Julie McMahon, director of the IDPH Division of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease.

The program, which will run from 10 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., is designed for nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, physician assistancts, family planning clinic administrators, educators, advocates, and anyone interested in women's health care and family planning policy. There is no registration fee for the event, and a registration form is available.

After attempting for six decades to change the Southern Baptist Convention from within, Pres. Jimmy Carter recently wrote that he severed ties with the organization due to its belief that women "are somehow inferior to men." It was a decision he referred to as "painful and difficult" in a recent article for the UK Guardian.

I don't at all disagree with Carter when he writes that "this discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women's equal rights across the world for centuries." I agree with him without hesitation, and applaud him for writing about the reality of many organized religions so intimately.

The part that caused me hesitation... the part that has kept me from writing about his article for more than a week... is the fact that he chose to stop working from within to achieve equality. If Carter is right in his belief that eventually a line has to be drawn in the sand, that one has remove him or herself from a group when he/she encounters irreconcilable differences, then I have to wonder if I'm merely spinning my own wheels while avoiding the ultimate conflict I've known to be on the horizon.

In Carter's own words about the process which led him to walk away, I find understanding.

The question becomes where one should stand on the quest to implement change? Do you stand within, balking the system already in place and possibly compromising your own values, or do you stand without where you can be charged with casting stones from afar? Exactly when do your principles become too marginalized by being surrounded by those who believe differently?

Carter, in introducing why he and a group of international leaders are calling upon the world's religions to move toward gender equality, explains that "the impact of these religious beliefs touch(es) every aspect of our lives."

"They help explain why in many countries boys are educated before girls; why girls are told when and whom they must marry; and why many face enormous and unacceptable risks in pregnancy and childbirth because their basic health needs are not met," he wrote.

He also explains that he and the other leaders brought together by former South African president Nelson Mandela can speak so freely because they are no longer faced with potential political ramifications. Consider that for a moment. This group of leaders, arguably some the most powerful people on the planet, now consider themselves to be able to freely speak out against injustice because they no longer are tied to politics?

Every day in our nation and across the world, groups of individuals, confident that they can create change, sign up for one political party or another. Their intentions are noble. Their beliefs are pure. They fight unrelentingly for their target issues -- anything from massive social injustices to better roadways.

And, each day, those who stay within the system to fight are called upon to violate other principles they hold dear for the sole benefit of playing the game.

But, if Jimmy Carter and his group are right, then I and all the others who are fighting need to re-evaluate where we are standing. If Carter is right, then we need to understand that both organized religion and politics are too often barriers to the values and principles we already hold within our own hearts.  

I had the unique opportunity this weekend to witness some friends' marriage renewal ceremony. I left the small eastern Iowa church with the feeling that such a ceremony, performed in front of friends and family, could only serve to strengthen a marriage.

For the record, prior to yesterday, I thought vow re-commitment ceremonies were more or less useless. I guess I grasped the whole romantic aspect of having one, but completely misunderstood the practical. That is, once a person had stood in front of others and vowed to do something, there is a great want to fulfill the promise.

First-time weddings are filled with mumblings about love, when too often those standing before family and friends are filled with something much less than love. Strong affection is present to be sure. So is infatuation and caring. But I don't think real love is fully understood so easily.

In contrast a renewal ceremony is filled with reality -- of selfishness, of financial difficulty, of differences of opinion, of health concerns -- and ends with a vow that despite all of these known obstacles the two people still believe they are best, and the community is best, when they are together.

In realizing all of this, my mind was brought back -- as it often is -- to politics. In so many ways, the way people enter into and react with politics is similar to the dance of love. Many of us enter on a whim, often related to one particular issue or person. We become infatuated and have unrealistic expectations that are shattered, rebuilt and then shattered again.

Most of us understand that we have a choice. We can walk out. We can find a different partner. We can simply refuse to discuss politics anymore, even as we realize that it will continue to impact us regardless of our own ignorance. Those of us who decide to stay the course despite the heartache do so because we believe that we are better, politics is better and, yes, even the community is better when we work together.

There has to be much more to this story...

Dr. George Pfaltzgraff, 64 of Iowa Falls, who remains an active member of the staff at Ellsworth Municipal Hospital, stands accused of sterilizing a woman despite her objections.

The Iowa Board of Medicine reports that a tubal ligation, performed on the woman last year, was done after the woman told the doctor that she did not want the operation. Pfaltzgraph has been charged with failing to conform to the minimal standard of acceptable and prevailing practice of medicine in Iowa, according to the Associated Press.

Although the exact details aren't available in the minutes of the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board, a Dr. George Pfaltzgraff was given an administrative warning in 2002.

"There is in every woman's heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity." -- Washington Irving, 1783-1859

An Iowa sisterhood formed out of shared grief, has no interest in increasing its numbers. In fact, the five founding Iowa women are hard at work to decrease their prospective membership pool.

Tiffan Yamen, Kate Safris, Janet Petersen, Jan Caruthers and Kerry Biondi-Morlan discovered one another in 2003 after each had experienced the death of an infant daughter. Although the circumstances surrounding their daughter's deaths are different, the immediate understanding they had for one another's grief sparked a friendship. And, from that friendship, sparked a mission.

The women, all from Des Moines, founded Healthy Birth Day, an organization devoted to preventing stillbirth and infant death through research, education and advocacy. Their latest project, Count the Kicks, launched officially in June.

Petersen, a state representative who lost her daughter Grace in July 2003 to a true knot in the umbilical cord, first met Yeman, who had lost her daughter Madeline, also to a knotted cord, just seven weeks earlier. Through mutual friends the two women were introduced to Caruthers and Biondi-Morland, whose daughters Jayden and Grace, respectively, were also stillborn, and Safris, who lost daughter Emma to congenital heart defects shortly after her birth.

"At that point we just looked at one another and said 'enough.' We knew we had to start doing something about this," Petersen said. "There are a lot of things for bereavement available, but what we wanted to do is make sure that no one had to go through the same things we had gone through."

The Count the Kicks awareness campaign is the group's first effort to reach out directly to pregnant women with a plan of action that can alert families to possible complications. Radio public service announcements featuring celebrities were followed by whimsical posters and brochures intended for doctor's offices and clinics. All materials produced by the group outline the importance of counting fetal movements daily during late pregnancy.

"Counting fetal movements isn't something we came up with it," Biondi-Morland explained. "The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have a brochure on it, and they are the ones who set the parameters. We just noticed patients weren't actively seeking out that information and physicians weren't actively promoting it. It is something that's been known for a long time, we just want to promote it and place it at the front of pregnant mother's minds."

The women are promoting counting fetal kicks as a pro-active task women and their families can do, something that can help create an early bond with the baby.

"This is a positive message, not a scary message," Petersen said. "I did have someone who worried that this message might scare women, but I don't see that. Women are encouraged to a do a monthly breast self-exam. That message is not intended to scare them, but intended to save their life. The same is true of this count the kicks message."

It's a message that Iowa First Lady Mari Culver is proud to help promote. She and University of Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz recorded public service announcements that have ran statewide, encouraging pregnant women to keep track of fetal movements.

"Chet and I have been so fortunate," Culver said. "We have had two healthy pregnancies that resulted in two healthy babies. We want all Iowans to experience that. So, the when the women approached me about doing this, I could see that there was a real need to get this preventative message out. I was glad to do it."

And, the Count the Kicks program already has someone who can speak directly to the benefits of counting kicks. Jennifer McCune, of South Sioux City, was 37 weeks into pregnancy with her son, Danny, when she noticed that he wasn't moving as much has he had been. Three hours later, Danny was born via emergency c-section, the umbilical cord wrapped four times around his neck. She credits a magazine advertisement by First Candle for the knowledge to seek medical help and her son's life, and has agreed to help Count the Kicks promote their message.

The initiative is first being piloted in Iowa and the Pittsburgh area, funded in part by a grant from the Heinz Family Philanthropies. Once the organization has developed a workable plan, the Iowa women hope to expand the awareness campaign nationally.

Safris admits that in the beginning, the task of launching this campaign seemed quite daunting. She also says that being a part of it, even the parts that were outside of her immediate comfort zone, has renewed her faith in what average citizens can accomplish when they set out to make a difference.

"I remember my husband and I sitting in the car just a few weeks after Emma had died, and I was just so angry," she said. "My husband looked at me and told me that I could not go through life like that, being that angry. At that moment I realized that I couldn't be that way, and that wasn't who I was. The fact that I had a loss was not going to define me in a negative way. I had to make something good of it.

"At the time of that revelation, I had not yet met these women, so I didn't know yet what that 'good' was going to be. Eight years ago [when we lost Emma], I had no idea that I would be here and doing this. I wouldn't change the fact that I had her and she was a part of my life. She has made me a better person and that has had an impact on other people."

The women are quick to point out that although stillbirth and infant death aren't openly discussed, its likely that most people have in some way been impacted by them. Across the nation, about one out of every 150 pregnancies ends in stillbirth.

"We want to remember and honor our daughters -- we are all inspired by them to be advocates," Petersen said. "We want to raise awareness of and advocate for better understanding of why pregnancies end like this, and what can be done to prevent it. We want Iowa to be the safest place in the world for babies."

(This article, written by myself, was originally published July 2, 2009 on The Iowa Independent.)

The Iowa Commission on the Status of women, believing that not enough people are aware of the extent of Women's contributions to society, established the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1975. Each year the ICSW and the Governor welcome four women into the Hall of Fame, paying tribute to them and setting them forth as role models for others.

Those who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year are Linda K. Kerber of Iowa City, Mary E. Kramer of Clive, Adeline Lavonne McCormick-Ohnemus of Milo and Lyn Stinson of Burlington. The achievements of these four women will be celebrated on Aug. 29 at the State Historical Building.

In addition, Sister Mary McCauley of Postville will be given the Christine Wilson Medal for Equality and Justice. McCauley has been highly influential and effective in providing for needy individuals in Postville in the wake of a May 2008 immigration raid on a local meatpacker. At the time, the raid was the largest single-site operation in the nation's history.

The TruTV Crime Library, via its "Weirdest Wills" feature, highlights the will of Iowa attorney T.M. Zink, who died in 1930 and left $35,000 in a 75-year trust for the construction of a "womanless library."

"Zink ... had such a strong disdain for women that he wished to use his savings to establish a library that would allow no works by female authors or artists, and would prohibit female patrons. In his will, Zink stipulated that his $35,000 be placed in a trust for 75 years, and the accumulated sum be used to build the Zink Womanless Library, where every entrance would bear a sign with the words 'No Women Allowed.' Zink's daughter, who was left $5 in the same will, challenged it successfully, and the female-free learning zone was never built."

Hat tip to Prof. Gerry Beyer.

Shawn Kruse, a 32-year-old Cedar Rapids man believed to be a domestic abuse perpetrator, is currently residing in the Iowa Medical and Classification Center, run by the Iowa Department of Corrections, and he is costing Linn County residents $3,000 each day.

Kruse allegedly hit his wife with a weapon, intimated her with a crowbar and saw, and then ran from police. It was during that high-speed chase that Kruse was involved in a single-car accident on Highway 30, which led to lower body paralysis.

Journalist Adam Belz reports on his blog that once Kruse left University Hospitals in Iowa City, his injuries remained too great for placement in the Linn County Jail.

"We are not able to give him the 24-hour care he requires," Sheriff Brian Gardner said, who oversees the Linn County Jail. "We actually worked out a deal with Oakdale. We're paying them a large sum of money to handle his medical care." ...

"Most health insurance companies have a clause written into their policies that says if you are incarcerated, we cancel your coverage," said Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner.

Belt explains that the sheriff's office has budgeted $247,000 to pay for all doctor visits and medications needed by inmates for the entire year. At $21,000 a week for Kruse alone, those budgeted monies will likely need a boost.

Did you see the poll commissioned by The Iowa Republican concerning same-sex marriage? Todd Dorman, columnist for The Gazette, asked TIR proprietor Craig Robinson about it and then gave spot-on summary:

"... instead of cutting to the chase and polling to find out how Iowans feel about the real issue -and, yes, it is about gay marriages -- TIR decided instead to poll test a Republican campaign talking point..."

"New research says a healthy dose of estrogen may be the key not only to our fiscal recovery, but also to economic strength worldwide," says Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, writing for the Washington Post and authors of "Womenomics."

The sexy new discussion in policy circles around the world, thanks to the recession, is whether a significant shift of power from men to women is underway -- or whether it should be. Accounting giant Ernst & Young pulled out charts and graphs at a recent power lunch in Washington with female lawmakers to argue a provocative bottom line: Companies with more women in senior management roles make more money. The latest issue of Foreign Policy magazine sweepingly predicts the "death of macho." Economists at Davos this year speculated that the presence of more women on Wall Street might have averted the downturn. Adding to this debate is the fact that the laid-off victims of this recession are overwhelmingly men.

All those right-brain skills disparaged as soft in the roaring '90s are suddenly 21st-century-hot, while cocky is experiencing a slow fizzle.

The numbers make a compelling case. The studies Ernst & Young rounded up show that women can make the difference between economic success and failure in the developing world, between good and bad decision-making in the industrialized world, and between profit and loss in the corporate world. Their conclusion: American companies would do well with more senior women.

While it will come as no surprise to Essential Estrogen readers that the management styles of men and women greatly differ, this is still an excellent article and you'll want to read the whole thing.

I've been humbled and honored several times over the past two years to be invited to speak to groups of women who want to learn more about blogging or, more generally, how to express their viewpoints via the Internet. Generally I'm one of the youngest women in the room, and most questions are steeped with how-to questions such as "How can I set up a facebook page?" or "How can I register a domain name?" or sometimes "What's the best blogging software, and how much will it cost me?"

When I returned from vacation and found an e-mail message in my inbox requesting some real-life insights on being a female political blogger, I had no reason to believe the questions were going to be much different. When I began reading, however, it didn't take me long to figure out that the information requested by this group of mostly younger women was filled with very different concerns.

Inasmuch as older women want to know the ins and outs of technology, this younger group was much more interested in the overt nastiness that can come with being a female blogger of any ilk. With their permission, I'm sharing the questions that were posed to me via e-mail and my answers.

I've debated for more than a week on whether or not to post this. After all, it's one thing and I wasn't convinced if it was fair or appropriate to use this one thing as a measure against an entire state. But I had some time yesterday to do a bit of research on the state of education in Texas and came to the conclusion that this one thing is pretty indicative of the overall mess -- even when recent improvements are considered.

The sign above is prominently placed on the front of a rural bus stop (shown on the right) for the Pottsboro Independent School District, located in Pottsboro, Texas.

I'm not exactly sure who built the bus stop or what type of screening process was done on the signage. For instance, I have no idea if the sign was approved by the local school board, or simply something ordered and mounted by their local transportation director.

What I do know, based on a publication by the state comptroller, is that Texas pupils are getting the very short end of the stick. 

Texas is #49 in verbal SAT scores in the nation and #46 in average math SAT scores.

Texas is #36 in the nation in high school graduation rates.

Texas is #33 in the nation in teacher salaries.

Texas was the only state in the nation to cut average per pupil expenditures in FY2005, resulting in a ranking of #40 nationally, down from #25.

Texas is #6 in the nation in student growth -- the largest percentage of growth coming from low income and minority children.

Texas is #50 for the percent of state residents with a high school diploma.

What's more shocking than these statistics is the fact that most are notable improvements when compared with where the state education system was five to 10 years ago. But Texas, which has the second largest school population of all the states, doesn't just have issues with education.

According to information distributed by state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, the state is first in percentage of uninsured children, clean-water permit violations, number of executions, and amount of toxic and cancerous manufacturing emissions.

The state is second in sales tax dependence, overall birth rate, hazardous chemical spills and highway fatalities. Only two states can boast a higher percentage of malnourished residents -- and only three can claim more children living in poverty. 

And the list, with its accompanying list of sources, goes on and on and on. Despite everything I already knew from reading all the rankings and so-forth released by various agencies, I was stunned to find out exactly how flip-flopped Texas was, scoring on high on things not wanted and low on things desired.

One more thing worth noting is that although Texas has a long history of electing Democratic (read: Dixiecrat) governors, it has been primarily managed by Republicans since 1979.

David Chung, author of Hawkeye GOP, has announced that he is resigning his elected position on the Iowa Republican State Central Committee so that he can freely volunteer for the gubernatorial campaign of Christian Fong. This move was done, he said, both because of promises he made to be neutral in primaries and perceived conflicts of interest.

In reading his letter, however, I was reminded of another case of conflict of interest that has yet to be addressed by Iowa Republicans.

In the fall of 2008, Iowa Right to Life published their pre-election newsletter. In that newsletter, the organization attacked a Republican candidate for U.S. House, labeling her "a great pretender" on anti-abortion issues. While this might have garnered limited blow-back in and of itself, the situation escalated because Kim Lehman, a then somewhat newly elected member to the Republican National Committee (who by virtue of that elected position also serves on the GOP SCC), was also executive director of Iowa Right to Life.

Eastern Iowa Republicans who had been knocking doors and otherwise campaigning on behalf of this congressional candidate took offense to the newsletter posting, and presented a letter to the RPI that called for Lehman's removal as RNC chairwoman. Chung and two other SCC members also penned a letter that called for Lehman to resign. Numerous conservative bloggers also joined the fray.

Lehman, who was interviewed by O. Kay Henderson of Radio Iowa, said that she did not personally write the newsletter article in question, although she did approve it and the entire newsletter prior to publication.

Long story made a bit shorter, the Republican SCC met in December and (narrowly) voted to censure Lehman. Chung, who was still serving on the SCC at that time, originally posted that Lehman "expressed regrets over her action and stated that she was stepping down from her position as president of IRLC." Chung then later corrected his original statement, indicating that Lehman expressed regrets over what happened, but not her actions. He also clarified that Lehman had already been seeking new employment, and hoped to reveal a new director for Iowa Right to Life in the spring.

If anyone is counting, spring has come and gone. Yet, this past Monday Lehman -- who said that people should be able to distinguish her as a person from the IRLC organization -- appeared on Jan Micelson's radio program as Iowa Right to Life. Her name is also the only one listed under contact information on IRLC's Web site.

Despite the Republican SCC providing Lehman a vote of no confidence and calling for her resignation from Iowa Right to Life, she continues to serve both as a Republican elected official and as executive director of an organization that publicly attacked a federal GOP candidate.

It makes one wonder why Chung felt the need to resign his position. It seems to me that if the RNC and the RPI are willing to put up with an elected official that is affliated with the bashing of a Republican candidate, they'd be uniquely thrilled to have one intent on supporting one.  

Our summer vacation, which included a reunion of my massive family, took us through several states that are often considered to be more Republican leaning. Based on our previous trips to those areas, however, it seems the political viewpoint (expressed via bumper stickers and yard signs) are swaying to the left.

While these observations are not scientific by any means, and I'm in no way ready to predict Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri have gone blue, we did see much more evidence of Democratic activity in those states than we have ever seen during our trips there during the past decade. Most notably, such activity was no longer limited to population centers, and was also evident in the more rural sections of the states.

I was particularly impressed when I saw a woman driving a vehicle outside of Sherman, Texas that was plastered with not only Obama campaign stickers but with women-centric political statements. And, yes, I did give her a honk and a wave to show my support.

There was also another thing we noticed on this trip that we've not previously seen during our treks south -- an overt hositlity to ethanol and other biofuels. This was especially evident in Texas and Oklahoma where several service stations had large banners proclaiming that they only served "100% gas" or "real gasoline."

A law passed in Oklahoma last year requires retailers to label pumps in relation to ethanol content -- even those low blends that are not considered to be alternative fuels by the federal government. This seems to have been done due to confusion on why a station on one corner might be offering fuel at several cents less per gallon than a station on the opposite corner. Those price differences also seem to be the reasoning behind the banners at stations that do not offer ethanol.

In relation to ethanol in the south, there seems to be a lot of misinformation about how vehicles perform and which vehicles can run on low ethanol blends. As an example, view this Tulsa television news report then view this Oklahoma City news report.

Several people I spoke with said they would not run ethanol because it delivers decreased performance -- an assertion that is not based on fact. Still others thought that "pure gasoline" was better for engines, obviously ignoring ethanol's ability to perform as an effective solvent, cleaning fuel systems left dirty by other fuels.

Another draw back is that because people who drive in the south aren't subject to as much corrosive road material, such as winter salt, they can often drive the same vehicle for extended periods of time. Those individuals do have legitmate concerns about ethanol's corrosive properties to metals, plastics and cork that may be present in their older engines.

And, there are also economic factors at work. That is, both Oklahoma and Texas are oil states. In fact, the Oklahoma State Capitol is the only one in the nation with an oil well on its grounds. 

If you want more insights to how Oklahoma drivers feel about ethanol, a good article published in the Urban Tulsa Weekly in July 2008.

It seems I didn't make it all the way to the bottom of my to-do list before leaving on vacation. Most notably, I forgot to renew domain names, including this one! (Sorry, Renee!!)

Everything should be working again now. My apologies for the confusion.