Essential Estrogen

I remember holding his hand, rough and strong, as we left Sunday services that morning. I always held his hand because I always wanted to be close enough to hear everything he had to say... not to mention everything that was said to him.

The early afternoon was sweet with rain and ripening honeysuckle vines when we passed through the heavy double-doors. I stopped to let my lungs enjoy the early summer banquet and he stopped too. We both took long, deep breaths and then exchanged big grins like a secret.

We only had a moment before other members of the congregation began to spill out onto the front sidewalk and into the gardens. Most of the women hurried off down the road or hopped into vehicles. Sunday lunch wouldn't cook itself. Some of the adolescent boys walked a few steps behind their fathers, but most pushed and poked at each other before running around the south side of the building.

This morning the men, most of them elders and deacons, were in a huff. The pastor had given his intent to leave our congregation which left us in need of a pastor. Their eyes shifted as they spoke, no one willing to say exactly what he felt in his heart about the situation... at least not until the unofficial spokesmen said their piece. Mr. Hinkle, the town postmaster pulled on his mustache as he began to speak. He was followed by a banker, a police officer and the man who owned the feed store.

I wasn't really listening to what they had to say. Every so often one of the men would steal a glance at me. It was uncomfortable and unnerving. I gripped his hand a little tighter and inched closer to his leg.

Someone suggested the elders should take turns giving the sermons until a new pastor could be found and soon I was forgotten as the men jockeyed for position in the 'holier than thou' parade. Names were being placed onto a list which one of men copied onto the back of his church program. After a few minutes it seemed as if the men had hit a wall and I thought they might need some help.

"I bet the Widow Woman Barlow would give a fine sermon," I said.

I swear, you could have sneezed and knocked the lot of them over like dominoes. They just stood and stared. A bird flew over us and screamed but no one turned to watch it fly away or to see what had it upset. From the way they were staring at me, I began to wonder if I'd done something to screw up the natural order of the universe and cause all the birds to scream and fly away.

"Young lady," a grey-haired man with a full beard began, "this is a conversation and decision for the men in this church. I'd strongly suggest you learn to keep your place."

I'm pretty sure the man had more to say. At least his mouth opened as if there were more words on their way up. They didn't make it and I was pulled over in front of my father as his voice rolled like thunder around us.

"Now see here!" my father began. "I understand most of you don't allow your sons, much less your daughters to partake in our discussions. Having met some of your sons I do understand your decision. You would do well to remember that this is my daughter and she adds importance to everything she does."

There was more, but I don't remember it exactly. I know from the looks on the mens faces and the redness of their cheeks that my father gave them something which rubbed them the wrong way. The scary part was that, although my father was defending me and my right to be in the group at his side, I couldn't tell anything from his expression.

Once he had his say, Dad spun me around and up onto his side. He was walking fast and kept his head down. I just knew I was going to GET IT when we got home. My stomach began to hurt and I wanted to cry.

When we got to the pickup, Dad took me around and stood me on the open tailgate so we could look at each other eye-to-eye.

"If there is one thing I want you to always remember it is that you never let anyone tell you to sit down and shut up," he told me. "Don't ever bite your tongue because you think somebody else thinks you should."

This blogswarm is in support of the rights of women to participate fully in all aspects of our society without fear of harassment, intimidation, sexual harassment, online stalking, slander, predation or violence of any type.

My contribution to the effort is to share the true story of my father and how he let me know in no uncertain terms that I am important and my voice is important. In addition to blogging in the blogswarm today, I encourage everyone to speak with someone and let that someone know just how important he/she is. You could very well say something that person will carry throughout his/her life.

By the way, Widow Woman Barlow did give a fine sermon that summer.

The last of VoteVets.org's trilogy of ads has been released today.

This ad features retired Gen. Wes Clark and Army artillery officer Mike Breen and highlights the Bush administration's failed foreign policy.

"The helicopters, the equipment and the troops are stuck fighting George Bush's war in Iraq," said Gen. Clark in a prepared statement. "As I said before the invasion, military action against Iraq would distract us from fighting those who attacked us on 9/11: Al Qaeda. George Bush and Dick Cheney constantly trumpet their capture of Saddam Hussein, but where is Osama bin Laden?

"The President did not listen when I went before House Armed Services Committee in 2002, discouraging an invasion of Iraq. The President did not listen to General Batiste and General Eaton, as they called for a new strategy in Iraq. And the President is still not listening."

As referenced by Clark above, Maj. Gen. John Batiste and Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton were featured in the first and second VoteVets.org 'Generals' ads, respectively.

Here is the Eaton ad:

And here is the Batiste ad:

It's difficult to know the exact number of personal contacts that translate into vested interest and, eventually, into caucus goers. At least one Presidential campaign, however, is betting more is always better.

Presidential hopeful and U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd will address a group at Drake University in Des Moines tomorrow on ending the War in Iraq. Throughout the state, however, individuals at satellite stations will use technology to interact with him in real time.

"What we are doing tomorrow is special, but that doesn't mean it will be unique," said Matthew Browner-Hamlin, recently hired as the campaign's official blogger and key member of the online communications staff. "We plan on putting together this type of interactive event as often as possible as the campaign moves forward."

The campaign has set up five community satellite locations. Conference calls will connect participants located in Sioux City, Charles City, Decatur and Burlington with the Drake event. Participants in Iowa City will be connected via a live internet feed. The internet connection, made possible through the beta Internet application UStream, has roughly a one second delay.

"It is such an unfiltered way of allowing a candidate to communicate with - not just at - potential voters and caucus goers," said Browner-Hamlin.

With so many eyes and ears directed toward a single event and the potential of instant digital recording, there is little doubt of the possible risk involved and, historically speaking, that's a change for candidates in Iowa. The Hawkeye state has been the place politicians have come to shake hands, meet people in small groups and "test run" policy positions and even a few jokes.

"This really isn't about Iowa," said Browner-Hamlin when asked about the historical shift. "This is about the campaign having an open door policy and a true belief that the more people who have an opportunity to meet our candidate and hear our candidate, the more people will want to see and hear more from our candidate. This is Sen. Chris Dodd putting himself out there for public inspection."

State Director Marc Beltrame agrees.

"Chris Dodd's campaign is about bringing people together to get this country back on the right track," Beltrame said in a phone interview Thursday evening. "Just like the family kitchen table, the internet has become a place where folks can come together to share their concerns and ideas."

The event begins at noon. For those who cannot make it to either Drake or to one of the satellite stations, the live stream will be broadcast here as well (although there will be no opportunity for our viewers to interact with the Senator).

At noon today, Sen. Chris Dodd will be participating in a question and answer session about Iraq at Drake University. You do not, however, need to travel to Des Moines to hear and see it live.

Interested people will be gathering in five satellite locations - Iowa City, Burlington, Charles City, Sioux City and Decatur - to join in the conversation via either conference call or live internet feed.

While the feed below does not provide any interactivity, it will allow our readers to watch live. (Please note that this feed is not expected to become active until noon. We posted ahead of time so that readers could plan ahead.)

While you're waiting, the campaign has made available Sen. Dodd's speech from the Dubuque Hall of Fame dinner last night. This video includes question and answer from the parking lot. More information is available on the campaign site.

It is alive!

Those who were around Iowa in 2004 may remember the First in the Nation web site put together by the Iowa Department of Economic Development: IowaCaucus.org

Yup, someone took the old girl into the back room, fluffed up her dress, applied some new war paint and sent her back out to the greeting line.

This morning Gov. Chet Culver's office announced the launch of the site, now dubbed "Iowa Caucus 2008: First in the Nation." It will once again serve as a statewide, non-partisan resource for news media, campaign staff and the public on the caucus, Iowa quality of life and something called "Iowa's new economy."

Iowa ranks 'first in the nation' in the production of ethanol, E-85 and biodiesel fuels, and is third in wind energy production. The state was also ranked first by Forbes Magazine in overall quality of life.

"The Iowa Caucuses give us an opportunity to showcase the state's strengths on a world stage," Culver said in a released statement. "Most Americans know that the state is 'first in the nation' in the presidential campaign, but may not be aware of Iowa's leadership role in renewable energy or our top ranking in quality of life. It's time for Americans to learn what 21st century Iowa has to offer."

The change to the informational site has taken place within the past two weeks. Google's cached version from May 18, while missing graphics, shows the 2004 text.

Content has been updated to reflect present-day information, but the types of content offered haven't changed much. Caucus facts, major employers, candidate information, links to caucus experts and state fact sheets remain a part of the offerings.

Two state district court clerk's offices will soon be paperless.

Beginning later this year, everyone using the court system in Story and Plymouth counties will be required to file court documents electronically. Once filed, the documents will be found online and viewed by anyone with access to the Internet.

The two offices were chosen by the Iowa Judicial Branch as pilot sites to test an electronic document management system. The system will enable electronic filing of, and online access to, entire court documents and files.

"This is something which has been discussed in the Iowa Judiciary for about 10 years," said Rebecca Colton, assistant to Chief Justice Marsha Ternus. "We were ready to roll it out about seven years ago, but then budget cuts hit. Just last year we were able to regroup and begin rolling this out again."

According to Colton, this change will help keep expenses down while making the courts more efficient.

"We aren't going to try and go back in time to create an archive of documents," she added. "Everything going forward, however, will be electronic."

Three counties -- Clinton, Plymouth and Story -- applied to be pilot sites. A committee of judges, lawyers and court personnel evaluated the applicants based on county population, support of courthouse staff, potential effect of additional workloads on customer service and employee stress, and the ability of local lawyers and court personnel to adapt to changing practices and procedures.

"Moving the Iowa court system to electronic filing and digitized records is the most ambitious challenge the judicial branch has ever undertaken," said State Court Administrator David Boyd. "This is an exciting, albeit daunting, project. [The system] will not only change the way we do our business, it will change the way most tasks are performed by everyone involved in processing cases, including attorneys and judges."

Specifics on the rules for electronic filing (PDF file) are available on the judiciary site. They were compiled by the Iowa Supreme Court in January when public comment was requested.

Court officials anticipate that the system will be installed at the two pilot sites by early 2008. Once the testing phase is completed, the system will be installed in the appellate courts then gradually expanded to include all district courts, a process that will take about five years if everything goes as planned. Court officials estimate that the total cost for a statewide system would be about $19 million. Ongoing operating costs will be partially offset by fees paid by people filing documents with the courts.

What follows is a press release from my very good friends at Iowans for Voting Integrity. It's important so perk your eyeballs and read attentively!

CITIZENS' GROUP PRAISES IOWA PAPER TRAIL VOTING BILL
Next Step is National Legislation To Protect the 2008 Elections

A citizens' advocacy group praised legislation signed by Governor Culver on Friday. Senate File 369 clears the way for an end to paperless electronic voting in Iowa by November 2008, and would eventually make voter-marked paper ballots the universal standard in Iowa elections. Iowa is the 30th state to enact a law require a voter-verified paper record of each vote cast. Earlier this month, the governors of Florida and Maryland signed legislation to require voter-marked paper ballots throughout their states. Other states have implemented paper trails without passing legislation.

Thirteen states, including Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Texas, are likely to use paperless electronic voting extensively in the 2008 Presidential election unless federal or state legislation intervenes. Almost 30% the nation's voters cast their ballots on paperless electronic voting machines in the 2004 Presidential election.

“Iowa's new law is good news for Iowa, but in national elections, we don't just depend on our state's voting systems,” said Iowans for Voting Integrity co-chair Sean Flaherty.

Paperless electronic voting has come under intense criticism by computer scientists and voter advocacy groups in recent years. Last year a task force of computer scientists that included Microsoft's former chief of security and experts from institutions such as Stanford, MIT, the University of Iowa, and government laboratories, concluded that all electronic voting systems “have security and reliability vulnerabilities that pose a real danger to the integrity of local, state, and national elections.”

The task force called strongly for voter-verified paper records and routine hand audits to verify electronic vote tallies.

Federal paper trail legislation is moving forward. HR 811, a bill to require a paper trail and routine hand-count audits in federal elections by 2008, now has 216 cosponsors in the House of Representatives and is expected to get a vote in the next couple of weeks. Iowa Representatives Leonard Boswell, Bruce Braley, and Dave Loebsack are cosponsors.

“If Iowans want a verifiable Presidential election in 2008, they should call their Congressman, even if he is already a cosponsor, and tell him to pass HR 811, “ Flaherty said. “Do we really want to have another Presidential election that can't be independently verified?”

----------

1 - Source: http://www.verifiedvoting,org. Site notes the states that have passed laws, or required paper trails, and notes the addition of Maryland and Florida to roster of paper-trail states.

2 - Source: “Building Confidence in U.S. Elections.” The Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform, pp. 25-26. http://www.american.edu/ia/cfer/report/full_report.pdf

3 - Source: “The Machinery of Democracy: Protecting Elections in an Electronic World.” The Brennan Center Task Force on Voting System Security, page 3. http://brennancenter.org/presscenter/releases_2006/pressrelease_2006_0627.html

A new website to highlight the need for sustainable communities and working with government to bring about progressive change.

Former state lawmaker Ed Fallon and longtime activist Lynn Heuss sent a letter to supporters this morning about the public launch of the site -- www.IMforIowa.com -- as part of an initiative he began during his gubernatorial campaign in 2006.

"One of the key strategies of our 'Independence Movement' is to advocate for sustainable living," Heuss said in the announcement. "What we mean by that is: we believe in supporting communities and neighborhoods that support themselves -- that have a vibrant downtown or shops within walking distance from housing with locally-owned businesses that provide goods and services to residents. Not only does this have a significant and beneficial impact on the local level by supporting the people who own the businesses who then support the community, it is where we all have the opportunity to address national and global problems like reducing our use of fossil fuels if we aren't driving as far to shop."

Fallon, a former representative from Des Moines, and Heuss request that site visitors provide contact information for businesses such as grocery stores, restaurants, barbershops, hardware stores, pharmacies and more in their community. The businesses, however, must be locally owned and "big box" stores are excluded.

The goals of the initiative, however, are loftier than just creating a list of locally owned businesses. The group plans to actively advocate for progressive legislative changes and progressive legislators -- especially in the realm of Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections (VOICE), local control over factory farms and universal health care.

In an earlier letter to supporters, Heuss, also of Des Moines, explained how she came to believe working from within government system was the best way to bring about change.

"My greatest cause of frustration," she wrote, "was the seeming lack of compassion and concern by those in politics for the well-being of the poor. I had, up until my conversation with Ed, simply believed that one could work more effectively for justice through religion. Naively, I didn't anticipate the level of politics involved in our religious institutions. That, then, is what led me to jump back into governmental politics with both feet, including working on Ed's gubernatorial campaign, as his clerk for the 2006 session, and now I'M for Iowa. If it takes getting involved in the system to change it -- I decided I wanted to be part of the solution, not part of the problem."

As stated on the organization's website, I'M for Iowa is developing a network of Iowans working for:

• Independence from special-interest campaign contributions
• Independence from poverty, injustice and discrimination
• Independence from fossil fuels
• Independence from government subsidies for big business, from risky ventures that waste our tax dollars while failing to deliver on promises of economic prosperity, and from national chains that exert a stranglehold on our communities
• Independence from government officials who operate without the public's interests in mind, often behind the closed doors, and with a lack of integrity and accountability

To tackle that agenda, I'M for Iowa plans to recruit and assist progressive candidates, provide grassroot support for legislative initiatives to enact VOICE, provide leadership to encourage changes in personal habits and public policies related to global warming, broaden the base of the movement through public speaking and media events, and to network with Iowans concerned about these issues.

A press release by Republican Sen. Sam Brownback's presidential campaign invokes a YouTube video as a primary source in launching an attack against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and his stance on abortion. It's the same YouTube video used by Arizona Sen. John McCain's rival campaign earlier in the week for the same purpose.

Abortion and stem cell research have been two key issues for evangelical Christians, a voting bloc which ran overwhelmingly for Pres. George W. Bush during the 2004 election. With those votes now up for grabs, the 2008 Republican candidates are stressing each small difference of opinion on those and the other so-called faith-based issues.

The video showing Romney's remarks on abortion was posted Wednesday by a user named mittvsfact, who opened a user account just Tuesday. In addition to the video highlighted by the McCain and Brownback campaigns, the user has uploaded one showing Romney making remarks on stem cell research and calling for excess embryos to be used for research. One hundred people have viewed the stem cell video while nearly 7,000 have viewed the one highlighted by the rival campaigns.

On Wednesday, the McCain campaign issued a press release with this banner at the top: "Mitt vs. Fact: Say. Do. Anything." Listed as press contact is Matt David, who was hired by McCain's campaign in December. David used to be in charge of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's highly efficient "war room" and rapid-response team.

The Brownback press release issued Thursday morning was a gentler version of McCain's. Although there was no obvious correlation between Brownback and the video or YouTube profile, a direct question from this journalist elicited the following email: "The Brownback campaign was not involved in any way with the YouTube video referenced in our release."

The timing of the press release is obviously intended to interfere with news and upcoming events the Romney team has planned. The video was released on the same day that Romney's campaign released a list of social-conservative supporters, and just two days before Romney's scheduled remarks today before the National Right to Life Convention in Kansas City.

"I would assume that those social conservatives who are supporting Romney did not know at the time he had misled them about his conversation story," Martin Gillespie, political director of Brownback for President, stated in the press release. "I would encourage those who have supported Romney to publicly ask him to clarify when exactly he became pro-life, or if he did at all."

Although it's fairly easy to connect the dots between the YouTube video and McCain's campaign, it hardly marks the first time such information has come to light. A search of available videos on the topic of "+Romney +abortion" reveals 39 entries, the vast majority of which protray the former governor's evolving stance on the issue. It also does not mark the first time McCain's campaign has gone on the offensive.

What it does show is a change in strategy or attitude (take your pick) for the Brownback campaign -- one that will likely come to a head later today at the National Right to Life Conference. Previously, Brownback, of Kansas, was pressing Romney on his nuanced definition of murder. It is unclear if his campaign merely saw an opportunity based on McCain's actions or if this signals an overall aggressive strategy for Brownback.

A few people have begun to file in for Iowa Citizen Action Network's Eastern Iowa Summit "Our Common Values." This is the culmination of several workshops held throughout the state.

As more people fill the room, grab a pastry and a cup of coffee, it looks like there's going to be a good crowd.

For those who need a some background about this conference, click over to the pre-post about this event.

Looking around the room, some of the usual suspects are here. Amy Logsdon, Charlie Wishman and Phillip Cryan are in the room representing ICAN. Sen. Joe Bolkcom is at the far table. James Lee from Progressive Action for the Common Good. There are several other citizens who were here for the Iowans progressive networking meeting last Saturday.

Logsdon, political director for ICAN, is welcoming those in attendance and setting up the round robin where we all introduce ourselves.

The group has split into pairs and is working one-on-one to ask each other questions: "Where are you from? How did that shape you?" From there they are evolving into the statements politicians (from both sides of the aisle) use that we would rather not hear again. The listing, now being shouted from the group which has come back together, includes: "Empty promises. 'I don't have an axe to grind.' Belief in evolution." There are many more being named, too fast to catch them all.

Why do we not like such statements? Answers: they are B.S., divisive, unrealistic, simplistic, double-talk, etc.

Cryan has taken over the meeting to go through those key areas -- in relation to what we just completed -- identified throughout all the statewide workshops. From the initial workshop your author attended a few weeks ago, the handout has been upgraded from three key elements to four (no particular order and they are all tied together):

1. Individualism: make it or break it, you are on your own, it's all about our choices
2. Privatize all community services and institutions, put corporate interests first
3. Race, class and gender superiority, denial of structural oppression while reinforcing it in policy, practice and culture
4. Limit government's role, cut spending and taxes, public solutions don't work

"These beliefs and values put together tell a whole story about how the world is, what's wrong, and what's right and how it should be. These themes are currently dominant not because they are what everyone believes, but they are actively promoted and dominate the public conversation in the media and politics."

While these are the identified elements, says Cryan, they are not fixed. It has not always been that way and, he says, we don't think it will always be that way.

Over 350 people have taken part in the strategic sessions held around the state, Cryan said. This is the culmination of that work and there will be more work to do within individual groups once this stage is complete.

"This is not issues based," Cryan said. "This is about the overall values and how each of us, working on our individual issues, can be tied together through those common threads."

In contrast to the above statements, the groups -- including the summit held for western and central Iowa last month -- have identified the following as key values:

• Every person has inherent worth.
• We are all in this together.
• We don't work for the economy. The economy works for us.
• Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

What would be different in your life if these were the dominate themes? Answers: health, children's higher education education, more representative government, no senseless wars and fair elections.

From these themes the group needs to form statements.

The group is taking a short break -- 10-15 minutes.

Break over!

Logsdon is back in front of the group to talk about how dominant themes work within the news. We are going to look at the raids at the Marshalltown. Many people around the room are talking about the raids, what they heard, what was on the news and on the internet.

It was justified by those who supported that act as people there were "criminals" and guilty of identity theft. The focus was on criminalizing the workers seems to be overall belief the group gathered today -- i.e., they are a burden, use/abuse our health care, stealing our jobs, use/abuse our schools.

Not everyone, however, thought it was a good thing. Things said by that side were not to penalize the worker, but to penalize the employer; federal officials didn't communicate with local officials and law enforcement; and families being torn apart.

Did we use our themes? What could we have said to better incorporate those themes?

For instance, the idea of "penalizing the employer and not the employee," was framed as "we should not be going after the individuals, but going after the individual corporation." Is that enough?

Penalizing our employers here is only a piece, explains Logsdon. Dealing only with that doesn't fix the overall problems our nation has with immigration and it doesn't fully bring our themes into the public conversation.

The larger group has broken up into smaller groups of three to discuss how we could take the themes outlined above and work those messages into the specific circumstances of the Marshalltown raids.

The discussion around the room is lively and many use hand motions to display their emotions on the issues at the front of their thoughts.

"It isn't enough," said one middle-aged man while discussing the outcry of the Marshalltown schools during the crisis.

"When the other side talks," says a Johnson County woman, "there is no doubting their intent. We don't need nuance, but we do need a clear message which points to directly to our core values."

Coming back together, the participants begin to discuss the work done by each of the smaller groups. It appears the groups ended up having many of the same thought processes.

The groups believe we need to broaden the conversation and limit the "us vs. them" theme. Discussions were on the overall community of Marshalltown and of the broader community.

From the beginning of the workshops, explains Cryan, different types of tasks have been completed toward a common goal.

"We have developed the worldview themes," he said. "Now we have looked at an individual issue and took a look at the message our side puts out there."

He noted that many time our side seems to be working from the top of the iceberg without having the big foundation of the iceberg under it. Once again the group is moving into three groups, each with a different issue: global warming, health care and farm policy. Participants are being asked to join the group about which he or she knows the least.

The farm policy and health care groups are leaving the main room. Global warming, being led by James Lee of PACG, is staying in this room.

Some of the current dominant themes -- themes that disagree with the progressive point of view -- being discussed by the global warming group are:

• Climate change is a part of the natural cycle.
• The best way to contribute to changing the problem is by making responsible choices as a consumer.
• Limiting activities that contribute to global warming limits the economic growth and opportunity, here and in other countries.
• Corporations will be driven to develop solutions by market demand and by their own interest in responsible practices.
• The ingenuity of markets will solve the problem.
• Global cooperation is unrealistic because countries naturally compete with each other and protect their own interests.
• It's not our fault.

The items for health care are:

• A for-profit health care system insures the greatest quality of care.
• Health care is a consumer good and your relationship to the health care system is as an individual consumer
• Consumers are best served in a competitive market where they can choose what is best for them.
• Health is primarily a personal responsibility
• Health care is for treating illnesses
• Government's role in health care should be limited to supporting only the 'truly needy'
• The health care system does not discriminate and cannot make up for ignorance, irresponsibility and poor choices by some groups of people.

And those for farm policy are:

• Bigger is better. Consolidation of land and farming creates economies of scale, leading to cheaper food and greater choice for consumers.
• Food is a consumer good and your only relationship to the food system is as an individual consumer.
• Government's role should be to protect the interests of agriculture corporations and large-scale commodity-crop farmers as well as providing minimal protections of food safety.
• Government's role in agriculture should not include addressing or considering environmental and social costs.
• Sentimental desires to protect family farms get in the way of natural progress and growth of our economy

Participants are breaking for lunch. We are expected to continue with how the progressive values outlined earlier can fit into each of these categories in about 30 minutes.

We're back from lunch and ready to review the progress made by the three smaller groups.

Global warming

• People over profits
• Value our children's future as much as we value our current lifestyle
• Everyone is affected by global warming
• The most responsible parties are often doing the least to affect global warming
• We all have a shared sacrifice for the common good.
• The economy is not working for us, we are destroying the environment
• Corporations should be accountable to the people who suffer from global warming
• Government should take the lead in organizing our society to fight global warming
• Government should support science and not ideology

Health care

• A basic human right
• All have equal rights to quality health care
• We have the resources we need to provide for all
• We don't have to earn the right to healthcare

Farm policy

• Food safety is a concern and responsibility of all
• We need to reestablish family farms
• Food contributes directly to health

The group belief it that it is difficult to move beyond the current frames which exist for issues for many reasons. Reasons include those frames being what we know; what's accepted; and we want to respond instead of coming up with our own frames based on our own values.

"It is challenging," Logsdon said. "When you try to craft a response on the fly without having done the hard work first, you are going to miss opportunities. But, if this was easy to do, we would have done it already."

Challenging is something on which the entire group has come to an agreement.

"We've been talking about all these things in our group," one female participant offered. "I think many of us feel there is something lacking something and a lot of people here have pointed to emotion. And I know we are building to that and I know this is a process, but I want to skip ahead. I want to leave here today with a message and pound the streets with it."

Cryan, pointing to an outline hung on the wall, said he understood.

"I believe almost everyone in this room is feeling the same way," he said. "We want to get on with it. We want to change the world. By by the exercise earlier on the Marshalltown raids, we know that when we rush into something without the values behind it, we don't make our message heard or heard effectively."

For the next 30 minutes, the three groups will form once again and consider a direct message in reference to their single issue -- farm policy, global warming and health care.

The groups were asked to prepare a brief statement as a candidate. In all of the statements, the groups highlighted "people first" as compared to what is viewed by the participants as a "corporate first" system.

"In our real lives and in our particular groups, we develop these same types of messages," Cryan said. "We need to do all the work in between in order to get to the point where we can develop messages at our rallies, in our newsletters, for our emails while using our themes."

Although this particular event is nearly at an end, Logsdon says this is hardly the end of the work which needs to be done. ICAN staff will be working with groups throughout the state to help incorporate frames and messages, building on the progressive themes the workshops have outlined throughout the process thus far.

Anyone who knows of a group which would benefit from this type of training should contact ICAN. In addition, there will be meetings in the fall to help emphasize these themes throughout the upcoming caucus period.

"We are committed to this process," said Logsdon. "The work will continue well after the caucus because changing a world view is a long-term process."

It's so exciting that former Iowa Rep. Jim Nussle has been tapped to take over as White House Budget Director! Now I can re-run my favorite ad from the Iowa gubernatorial race:

No doubt Nussle isn't walking out of Iowa so much as he is running from the torches and pitch forks of his fellow GOPers after he dubbed their Ames Straw Poll as "an American Idol style circus ...that is meaningless."

I do remember the good folks over the Iowa forum at Democratic Underground had a contest of sorts to guess the date when Nussle would high-tail it back to the beltway. I wonder if anyone thought he'd stick around this long?

And, if you want the real skinny on this development, better head over to Iowa Independent. Given Nussle's track record with our tax dollars, we can't stop alternating between fits of hysterical laughter and uncontrollable sobs long enough to post something serious.

If you are a geek, love a geek or simply aspire to be a geek, the true life incident you're about to read will be all too familiar.

Two nights ago I was called over to a friend's house to work on an upcoming project. We'd finished what had to be done when she looked at me and said, "Uhm. While you're here, you think you can show me how to _____ on the computer?" Of course, I agree. (What self-respecting geek wanna-be rejects the opportunity to work in a foreign land, so to speak?)

I sat in the driver's seat and worked her computer through the problem complete with "click here" and "ignore that" and "don't worry about it." Although we were using a dial-up connection and the slowest was absolutely killing me, on a stack of my children's best underpants I swear that I did not say a word. I took a swig of my brown fizzy and waited patiently.

"I know you hate my dial-up," the friend said. She could not have been more on target. I am spoiled rotten by both broadband and having a long ago geek-certified husband who can tweak computers with the best of them.

The irony is that, here in Iowa at least, I'm the exception and my friend is the rule.

Several months ago I was sent an email and asked to test my internet connection speed. I did and was pleased to learn that my connection speed was well above average. I saved the results to show to my husband for a joint gloating session and then forgot about it.

Today, I received an email from the Communications Workers of America letting me as Jane Blogger know the results of all the speed tests had been compiled and statistical information has been made available. Compared to my respectable -- although no where near earth-shattering -- results, the rest of Iowa might as well be using hamsters and wheels to surf the net.

The report shows Iowans connect to the internet at the fourth slowest rate in the nation. Only Wyoming, West Virginia and Alaska clock slower connection speeds. To put it in perspective, if a person in Rhode Island (the fastest state) and a person in Iowa both go to download the same piece of information, it will take the Iowan nearly four times longer.

Before Iowans begin to cry or form healing circles around their modems, there is a silver lining. The average download rate for Iowa is 1.2 megabits per second. The average across the U.S. is only 1.3 mbps.

Our nation, which many of us will argue is the best place on earth, has the lowest connection rate in the industrialized world. That's right. We're number one only if you count from the bottom up!

Our Canadian friends clock in at 3.1 mbps with Germans nearby at 3.3 mbps. Iceland ranks next at 4.1 mbps. Sweden leaps far ahead at 8.4 mbps. The big winner in this race, however, is Japan which has average download speeds of 51.2 mbps.