oh well, i tried:

Unless (deposit of $500) payment is provided, we have suspended further processing of this order for wireless service with Cingular Wireless.

when has congress gone against the wishes of 80% of its constituence?

even hitler had his followers.

i hate when companies act like they got you by your balls.

actually, i kinda get a cheap thrill out of making sure they understand, in no uncertain terms, that they don't.

get ready for another terror alert:

Public approval for Bush slipped from 52 percent in a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll over the weekend to 45 percent in that same poll released Thursday. A CBS News poll released earlier in the week found Bush's approval slipping six points to 43 percent.

i have a great idea for a new comedy central series: when the GOP eat their own. the fascination i get by watching the GOP fight amongst themselves, is without comparison.

The WP runs an analysis on the political implications of the Schiavo fight. Congressional Republicans turned it into a national issue, only to find that polls say "82 percent of Americans—including a whopping 68 percent of people who identify themselves as evangelical Christians" think they should have stayed out of it. Now some GOP lawmakers are complaining (anonymously) about their leaders.

that's all i'm posting from TP today. i think i've done too much already.

i hope this will be the last time the word "shiavo", (or is it schiavo?) will appear in this blog.

seems that the husband and his parents-in-law, which together make up both sides of the legal battles that have transcended not only every court possible, but even the once hallowed-halls of congress, only turned 'mortal enemies' since .... get this, the settlement. this was all caused because of a family squabble over money.

sick isn't it. another day not to be proud being and American.

ya know, if ya add up all the times one had reason to not be proud of America, wanna bet that the red-times double the blue-times?

there are so many things wrong with this picture, i dont know where to begin:

The Los Angeles Times leads with a criminal investigation into a global arms trafficking ring, which has allegedly found evidence that the government of Pakistan illegally purchased nuclear weapons components from American companies. The timing of the revelation is awkward because, as the Washington Post and the New York Times report in their lead stories, President Bush announced yesterday that he had decided to allow Pakistan to buy American-made F-16 fighter planes, reversing a 15-year-old ban on the sale of such weaponry to the unstable nation.

[criminals-R-us, or in some circles, "the bush administration". bush bends over backwards rewarding this terrorist, because, as some of us have known for a long time, the criminals, the crooks, the terrorists.... they're all one and the same]

The criminal investigation began early last year, when a former Israeli army major was arrested at the Denver airport and charged with illegally exporting high-speed bomb triggers. The LAT's story includes new details suggesting that a separate shipment of sophisticated oscilloscopes, purchased by the Israeli from an Oregon company, were sent to a Pakistani arms merchant who has close ties both to his country's military and to Islamic militants. U.S. officials tell the paper that they suspect the materials ended up in the hands of the Pakistani government, which they allege has "begun a push to acquire advanced nuclear components in the black market as it tries to upgrade its 30-year-old nuclear program." But anonymous investigators grouse that their probe has been "stymied" by State Department officials, who consider Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf "too important to embarrass."

Similarly, the NYT sees lifting the ban on fighter jet sales to Pakistan "as reward for cooperation" in the war in Afghanistan and the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

[i.e., bush rewards failure. he gave the man responsible for providing slam-dunk evidence of iraq's weapons of mass destruction, the highest medal in the country. he promotes condi to secretary of state for her dismal failure at keeping us safe prior to 9/11. this is how the bushite people work. they eat each others shit, and feed on each other's enemies. it's a sick sick sick world they live in, and certainly have no place in American politics.]

Bush's father barred such sales in 1990, citing evidence that Pakistan was attempting to build a nuclear bomb. Pakistan will probably buy two dozen planes to start, but the WP says there will be "no limits on how many it could eventually purchase." That's good news for the financially-struggling Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth, Texas [GET THAT, A TEXAS COMPANY, THE GOOLD OL' BOYS OF TEXAS HAVE STRIKED AGAIN] that makes the planes, the WP says.

from Slate's Today's Papers

and continuing on, the next paragraph sums it up rather nicely:

Predictably, Pakistan's regional rival India denounced the move as a "great disappointment." In a personal phone call, Bush told the India's prime minister that, as consolation, America is willing sell India even better planes, missile defense systems, and the like. The WP says some analysts doubt this strategy, saying it means the United States "would effectively supply both sides in a new arms race in one of the world's most dangerous hot spots." But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tells the WP that it's all part of a plan to "break out of the notion that … anything that happens that is good for Pakistan is bad for India, and vice versa."

condi let it slip: IT'S ALL PART OF THE PLAN.

but do you think any of our American(sic)presscorps will pick up on that? HELLLL no. the lapdog press, made possible by a bush brat, will one day regret it sold its soul.

people often ask me if i think i'm different.

after a look of puzzlement, i say of course, why would you think otherwise?
who else do you know that can say to you:

"i bet i can make you say "well, all fuckn right man, that was fuckn great"

how many other people are there like me out there?

how much more of the name shiavo can you stomach?

The military will support efforts by Afghan and American agencies, rather than lead them. It will move antidrug agents by helicopters and cargo planes and assist in planning missions and uncovering targets in a stepped-up war on the trade and the heavily armed forces that protect it.

Under previous guidelines, the American military in Afghanistan was held back from such missions. The 17,000 American troops were authorized to seize or destroy drugs and drug equipment only if they came across them in the course of traditional military activities to capture or kill insurgents and terrorists.

To support the new effort, the Defense Department is requesting $257 million, more than four times the amount last year, in emergency financing for military assistance to the counternarcotics campaign, in addition to the $15.4 million in the Pentagon's budget for fiscal 2005, which began last Oct. 1.
...

In Congressional testimony last May, for example, Mark L. Schneider, senior vice president of the International Crisis Group, a humanitarian organization operating in Afghanistan, called on the American-led coalition to "state clearly that one of its missions is counternarcotics and helping Afghan government agencies to destroy the Afghan drug-trafficking problem."

He urged the military to change its rules of engagement to make intervention easier, and also urged increased American financing for Afghan governors who pay local forces to eradicate the poppy crop.

Planners at the Pentagon and at the Central Command, which directs coalition military efforts in Afghanistan, acknowledge that the new tasks will force American commanders to accept some risk in the counterinsurgency effort as they divert personnel and equipment from combating terrorists and guerrillas.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/25/politics/25military.html?

i only have one question, well, tons of questions, but one that will get asked right now:

what took them so long?
what took them so long to do anything at all?

the anti-war crowd has been screaming this for years, and now that the pro-war crowd sees the problem, we're supposed to believe that since the pro-war crowd is getting what they want, something done in this case, then we're to be happy?

i'm jus joyous that this paints exactly the picture i want of the republicons who are in charge.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

what a great idea!! it's about time legislators start getting creative in ways to save money. the numbers are a bit hard to swallow however. anyway, from the des moines register

The proposal - believed to be the first of its kind in Iowa - would allow U.S. Motorsport Entertainment Corp., the developer of the track, to pocket up to $12.5 million that its customers pay in sales taxes on tickets and concession stand sales at the Newton track. Once that total amount is collected, the sales tax revenues from the track would begin flowing into the state treasury, under the terms of the legislation.

funny. tom delay is the subject of tonite's nightline.
and confirms that he was nothing more than a GOPher boy when he started out in politics.

i would say, he still is nothing more than an errand boy.

i think what's happening is that the issue is getting that underdog treatment. either that, or this could really be the wakeup call i and a score of other Americans who love their country have been praying for.

Young adults have been the strongest supporters of the proposal for months. Support among those 18-29 dipped from seven in 10 to just under half, according to the poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. A quarter of young adults now say they're not sure how they feel about such personal accounts.

The poll found that just over four in 10, 44 percent, of all those polled, support creation of the accounts, down from 54 percent in December, while 40 percent are opposed.

The amount of support for the plan differs widely depending on how the question is worded.

When poll questions mention that people will have a reduced guaranteed benefit with the accounts, the support dips into the 30s with a majority opposing the plan. When the question emphasizes only the positive aspects of accounts, some GOP polls have found a majority supporting accounts.

Polls find a healthy majority agree that Social Security faces long-range problems.

--from yahoo

CbS:

shiavo. this thing has gotten completely out of control.

they lost. and yet are incapable of admitting it.
sad really. just pathetic that some people just can not accept mortalityj for some reason. this isn't about "pro" life. hell, who's anti-life? oh wait, governors of states with death penalties are in many cases anti-life.

there is hardly anybody more nauseating than robert novak. this columnist is a shill all the way. prostituting himself to the highest bidder. so long as they're wearing their nixon pins, he'll bend over backwards convincing you that the sky is green.

nice site:

can of fun

cnn is reporting that katherine harris "first met" karl rove just recently.

who the hell do they think they're kidding?

i like imus. i think i come close to being about as straight-forward as he is. so it is with great pain that i have to report on this. however, given my past history with him, i can only assume one thing. it's not spitzer. it's cheney. imus, like a good human being, hates cheney. and has been oh so overt about it. he does not hide his feelings like so many other mediawhores. imus is not a mediawhore. he's a member of an incredibly exclusive club.

is the 'other side' as unaware of us as we are of them?

What deserves the most attention in the latest Social Security trustees report isn't the revised projection estimating that the system won't be able to pay full benefits after 2041 (instead of 2042, as estimated a year ago). What everyone ought to focus on isn't Social Security at all.

It's Medicare.

the des moines register

the hypocrisy of this administration is suffocating. david yepsen, who has won more poopyhead of the year awards than any other iowan, offers this:

The meeting was with former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, now the secretary of Health and Human Services, which has recently dropped a little bomb on the states: Starting July 1, the federal government will no longer allow states to use accounting gimmicks to wheedle more money out of Uncle Sam for the Medicaid program, which provides health care for the poor.

That's a $65 million loss to Iowa

you know what's strange about the shiavo reporting?
nobody is reporting what the judges are saying all along the way up the chain.
oh wait, that would give weight to public opinion. and we can't have anything going out that makes the bushites look bad.

joke of the day... ya ready? comes to us from ... guess.

ayup. fLOR-eee-dahh

TALLAHASSEE — Republicans on the House Choice and Innovation Committee voted along party lines Tuesday to pass a bill that aims to stamp out “leftist totalitarianism” by “dictator professors” in the classrooms of Florida’s universities.

The Academic Freedom Bill of Rights, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, passed 8-to-2 despite strenuous objections from the only two Democrats on the committee.

The bill has two more committees to pass before it can be considered by the full House.

While promoting the bill Tuesday, Baxley said a university education should be more than “one biased view by the professor, who as a dictator controls the classroom,” as part of “a misuse of their platform to indoctrinate the next generation with their own views.”

dear God, have these people all taken leave of their senses? what was that he said we were? oh yeah, "LEFTIST TOTALITARIANISM"..... MWAHAHAHAHA

hey big media: this shiavo thing is going to backfire, and all your faces will be wearing egg. for as long as i can possibly make it.

neGLECT???? the reich-wing media is crucifying the husband.

God, what is it going to take, to make people realize, we have a republican congress.

dammit, howard, where the hell are you on this?? you're a doctor for God's sake.

i think on friday, i'm going to monitor a news station. maybe i'll do all three in spurts. for an hour or so ... then log it all. face, camera, and actions.

wanna bet my copy will differ from those published online?

there is still sanity left in the judicial system. God help us if that gets damaged by the sickness i like to call bushelpsy. ya know, that's when people are paralyzed from the bush experience in some way as to reflect poorly of human normal behavior. from palm beach, i give you:

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A retired Marine who has waged a five-year fight with his homeowners association over a flag pole won a battle Wednesday when an appeals court ruled his home can't be sold for lawyer fees.

Foreclosure on George Andres' home in Jupiter had been scheduled for October 2003, but a trial judge delayed the action to give Andres time to appeal to the 4th District Court of Appeal.

In Wednesday's 3-0 decision, the appeals court agreed with Andres, and his wife, Anna, that the Florida Constitution protects homes from forced sales except in very limited circumstances.

And attorney fees are not on the list, Judge Fred Hazouri wrote.

wow, these are some pretty surprising numbers, even for me.

(CBS/AP) Congressional leaders have insisted their only motivation in getting involved in the Terri Schiavo case was saving a life. But Americans aren’t buying that argument, a CBS News poll finds.

An overwhelming 82 percent of the public believes the Congress and President should stay out of the matter.

Just 13 percent of those polled think Congress intervened in the case out of concern for Schiavo, while 74 percent think it was all about politics. Of those polled, 66 percent said the tube should not be inserted compared to 27 percent who want it restored. The issue has generated strong feelings, with 78 percent of those polled -- wheter for either side of the issue -- saying they have strong feelings.

FUCKN BLOGGER GIVIN ME SHIT.
i wonder how many people are sick and tired of blogger's shitty performance.
probably millions.

March 23 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has warned former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle that it may sue him for his role in the alleged looting of Hollinger International Inc., the Chicago-based media company once controlled by Conrad Black.

Perle, 63, a Hollinger director, said in a telephone interview that he received and responded to a so-called Wells notice, a formal warning that the agency's enforcement staff has determined that evidence of wrongdoing is sufficient to bring a civil lawsuit.

The SEC staff, which has reviewed Perle's response, plans to urge the regulatory body's commissioners to authorize a suit against him, according to people familiar with the matter.

Hollinger International officials, shareholders and the SEC allege that Black and former Hollinger President David Radler wrongfully diverted proceeds from the sale of some of the chain's newspapers for their personal use. Perle was a member of Hollinger International's three-member executive committee, with Black and Radler, from 1996 to 2003.

so the italians can't look at the car, carrying an italian secret agent & the freed hostage, that was gunned down with over 700 rounds, AT A CHECKPOINT, because of "security concerns".... isn't that typical of the bushites, citing national security whenever they get caught.

ROME — The U.S. military command in Iraq has blocked two Italian policemen from examining the car in which an Italian intelligence agent was shot to death in Baghdad, a newspaper said Wednesday.
Corriere della Sera said that the policemen were about to leave when the Italian Embassy in Baghdad received an order from the U.S. command on Monday to abort the mission for security concerns.

http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-740304.php

this whole shiavo thing has just gotten totally out of control. and it will backfire. BIGTIME. rove has his work cut out for him trying to sweep this all under the rug.

notice how bush came out today and was 180 degrees from what he was like this weekend on the subject.

from the nytimes:

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 23 (AP) - Two people were killed and several more wounded early Wednesday morning when a bomb exploded at a shopping center in Jounieh, an anti-Syrian Christian town 10 miles north of Beirut, the police and local television stations said.

"anti-syrian"? aren't the "pro-syrians" supposed to be the terrorists?

from the post:

In an interview aboard Air Force Two, Cheney said the nomination of John R. Bolton to serve as ambassador to the United Nations in particular shows President Bush's commitment to ending corruption and changing the culture at the world body.

one only needs to hear what they say to know the opposite is probably true. "ending corruption"?? this coming from the most corrupt person ever to hold office as president of the United States?

do not make me laugh. it's tooo early.

another zinger from today's des moines register. and of course, it's in the letters to the editor section:

Some elected officials have proposed that laws should be changed to define marriage as between "one man and one woman." Apparently they have now expanded that definition to include "one man, one woman, her parents, the courts and Congress."
-Nancy Lavender-Bobenhouse,
Clive.

and while i'm on the subject of pointing out how iowans think, here's one for the bushite clusterfucks.

If Terri Schiavo were affected with a severe case of Alzheimer's disease or some other completely debilitating mental problem and was absolutely unable to provide for her own health needs, would we place her in a room and just leave her to die from starvation and dehydration?
-Wendell Koch,
Waterloo.

*psssssst*
but she ISN'T wendell, so your point is pointless. then again, being pointless seems to be the goal of most bushite people.

how can 70% of Americans be wrong???

WASHINGTON (AP) - About seven in 10 Americans say Congress inappropriately intervened in the case of a brain-damaged woman whose relatives disagree over whether she should be allowed to die, according to a new poll.

About six in 10 said they agreed with the decision by a Florida judge to remove the feeding tube from 41-year-old Terri Schiavo, according to two polls out Monday.

(snip)

About two-thirds in an ABC News poll said the political leaders who are trying to keep Schiavo alive are more concerned with using her case for political advantage than with her or the principles involved in keeping her alive. Some Republicans have suggested keeping Schiavo alive would be politically popular with their conservative base.

Almost that many in a CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll, nearly six in 10, said they think the feeding tube should be removed and felt they would want to remove it for a child or spouse in the same condition.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBBCZROM6E.html

ya know, when people talk out their asses, i can excuse the dumbing of those around them. however, when journalists and news anchors talk out their asses, the public in general will be dumbed down. and what better gift can MSM give the bushites than a dumbed down electorate.

ever get the feeling when you read letters to the editor, that some of them could be pages right out of the rush limbaugh book?

just you try and evaluate 3 different journal blogs at the same time.

especially one which has a title: The Art Of Not Smoking.

today wasn't the model day.

their talking points for the next new big blockbuster, comin to a town near you!

Saving Schiavo

half of these idiots up there on the hill can't even pronouce her name right.
is that not pathetic or what.

shiavo will be a name you will remember for the rest of your life.
the media has succeeded in creating a crisis where none existed. again.

While FOX News reporters fall over each other trying to prove their concern for the life of Terri Schiavo, nobody is reporting about the cases in Texas where life support is being removed by hospitals over the objections of family members. The law allowing that to happen was signed in 1999 by then-governor George W. Bush.

(from newhounds)

i just heard some commercial on cnn, that almost yelled: "democrats have no solution for social security. democrats have none. democrats are this. democtrats are that. call your congress representatives and tell them that social security is too important for partisan games"

i about fell over in my chair at the sheer hypocrisy of that statement.

another slice of American pie on IRC:

[12:39] "If you don't want a decision to be made politically, why in the world do you ask 535 politicians to make it? - that quote?

today's grab bag comes from the letters to the editor of the des moines register.

I'd rather have Dan

Like most of us, Dan Rather has a few faults. But he is skilled in asking the tough questions to evil prevaricators like Presidents Nixon, Bush senior and Bush junior. What other people in electronic news have the guts to probe the pabulum and patent lies the White House puts out today?

-David Gradwohl,
Ames.

there's a convo going on one of the channels i'm monitoring, and it pretty much tells why the bush idea of reforming social security ... is the wrong approach.

why do you think the bushites are pushing so damned hard at getting our tax dollars into the pockets of wall street executives?

[10:52] As of this morning RCN is trading on The National Nasdaq Market. Shares of our common stock are now being traded under the ticker symbol RCNI.
[10:52] hrm
[10:53] $20.10
[10:53] not so bad
[10:53] well, that's with no debt, and total loss to the previous stock :)
[10:53] until they go Ch. 11 again and null that stock :)
[10:56] I never sold all my rcnc, I gotta figure out how to take the loss on that
[10:58] up the rearend, mostly
[10:58] rcn is whole again?
[10:58] I dont understand, the old stock became worthless, how did they issue new stock? who got money from this one?
[10:58] kinda
[10:58] they had a new offering?
[10:59] old stock is worthless
[10:59] the financial institutions that agreed to pennies on the dollar when they filed for chap11
[11:01] so the financial institutions that were owed money, get this new stock instead?
[11:01] something like that
[11:01] doesnt say how many shares were issued, I'm curious
[11:03] 1.2 billion of obligations was converted into this stock
[11:04] 1.8 billion of the old stock was 'eliminated'
[11:26] shares, or dollars?
[11:26] must be shares
[11:32] this is sort of unfair.
[11:33] stock holders are at the bottom of the food chain
[11:33] their debt was just dissolved, the bigger financial institutions, get the re-issued stock.

if i could be a cross between andy rooney and don imus, i would be happy.

imagine a people who have no "want", "worry", "when" "goodbye" nor "hello" words in their language.

all i can say is .... welcome to the planet earth my mokan brothers and sisters.

still wont grab whatever i have in clip.... oh well, fuck it.

PINELLAS PARK - Angered by the latest political developments in Washington, Michael Schiavo said Saturday that it isn't just the Florida governor who should visit his wife to learn about the case.

Jeb Bush's brother, President Bush, should visit Terri Schiavo, too, he said.

"Come down, President Bush," Schiavo said in a telephone interview. "Come talk to me. Meet my wife. Talk to my wife and see if you get an answer. Ask her to lift her arm to shake your hand. She won't do it."

She won't, Schiavo said, because she can't.

He made a similar offer to the governor last week, saying lawmakers interferring in his wife's life know nothing about the case. So far, Gov. Bush hasn't responded to the offer.

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/20/Tampabay/Schiavo___Come_down__.shtml

in other words, WE DARE YOU MR. PRESIDENT. WE DARE YOU TO FACE THE WOMAN YOU'RE SO CONCERNED ABOUT.

does this really work?

http://www.blogger.com/blog-this.g?source=toolbar&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&u=

ever notice how this administration goes to extraordinary lengths to justify what they do?

in fact, if i didn't know better, i would say the things they've used as excuses would have been enough to sign commital papers for.

from day one, this administration had made it's footprint known.
and what sets this adminisration apart from all others is that the footprint isn't even george w. bush's. he's probably so damned dumb that he doesn't really know what's really going on. he's got that circle of fire around him that protects him from dangerous creatures. smothered by that unsatiable hunger for mother's milk. maybe bab's was incapable of producing. who knows. his brother isn't anything like him. maybe he's really an alien.

from prillar on DU commenting on the cheney pigfest.

Rove's standard technique

Divide voters into groups, then appeal to each group's narrow self-interest. -- To elderly: Don't worry, nothing will happen to your checks. -- To young: Hey, SS won't survive for you anyway, so you've got nothing to lose by changing. -- To blacks: SS isn't a good deal for you because you don't live very long.

i'm so sick of this "waiting for blogger.com" sitting there on my status bar.

they've gotten too big for their britches.

hahahaha..... could NOT help laughing out loud on this one.

from josh marshall:

"Tom DeLay, the Human Ethics Charge Magnet"

i don't like it when my computer .... ?

god the things i could put on the end of THAT sentence!

in iowa, they just completed an audit of the counties' compliance with the open records law. and the journalists involved, are publishing a series, and it looks to be a good one. but here are some of the things i wanted to remember, and pass along:

Here's a smattering of the government records available to the public. A growing
number of records are available online at government agency Web sites.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:

* Tax returns, called Form
990, for private, non-profit corporations, which include salaries of top
directors and officers.

* Periodic financial reports, named Call
Reports, filed by local banks with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

STATE GOVERNMENT:

* Minutes of meetings of
various state boards, commissions and advisory groups within state government,
even those not covered by the open-meetings law.

* Packets of background
information prepared for use by members of state boards and commissions at
meetings.

* Compensation paid annually to any employee of a state
government agency, or one of the state universities.

* Campaign-finance
reports, including lists of donations and expenses, filed with the Iowa Ethics
and Campaign Disclosure Board by individual candidates for political offices.

* Vital records kept by the Iowa Department of Public Health, including
birth certificates, death certificates and marriage licenses issued in Iowa
(some restrictions apply on who has access to these documents).

* Annual
Progress Reports submitted to the Iowa Department of Education by each school
district.

* Economic development incentives paid to local businesses by
the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

* Periodic reports that
owners of Iowa's casinos are required to file with the Iowa Racing and Gaming
Commission.

* Statistical data kept by Iowa Workforce Development on
employment and unemployment in each county in the state.

* Retail sales
tax data kept by the Iowa Department of Revenue and Finance for each city and
county and for various retail business sectors in these cities and counties.

SCHOOL DISTRICTS:

* Minutes of meetings of the
local school board and other administrative and advisory groups within the
district, even those not covered by the open-meetings law.

* Budgets and
lists of expenditures for the district or for individual schools within the
district.

* The salary for and information about the vacation and sick
leave usage (although not the reason for the sick leave) by any employee in the
district.

* The contracts with the superintendent or other
administrators or with the district's teachers.

* Aggregate test scores
for the district's students on state achievement tests.

* Aggregate
numbers of suspended students, of students in gifted classes, etc.

*
Construction plans, contracts and payments for buildings or projects in the
district.

LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT:

* Incident
reports prepared by police officers or sheriff's deputies responding to reports
of crimes, accidents or other public-safety incidents.

* Records of
arrests made by local police or sheriff's deputies.

* Police "blotter"
or trip log listing complaints to which officers or deputies responded.

* List of concealed-weapons permits the county sheriff has issued,
allowing people to carry concealed handguns.

* Logs of prisoners
incarcerated in the city or county jail.

CITY AND COUNTY
GOVERNMENT:

* Minutes of meetings of the city council and
various city boards, commissions and advisory groups, even those not covered by
the open-meetings law.

* Packets of background information prepared for
use by members of the city council or other city boards and commissions at
meetings.

* Copies of ordinances and resolutions passed by government
bodies.

* Copies of letters or e-mail correspondence of government
officials.

* Budgets for the city overall or for individual city
departments.

* Bids and contract information.

* Expense reports
for government employees.

* Bills paid by the city council or other city
board (including credit card and telephone bills)

* Information about
the compensation and vacation and sick leave usage (although not the reason for
the sick leave) of any city employee.

* Any claim filed against a
government agency.

* Information kept by the county assessor's office
about houses and commercial buildings, including owners' names, assessed value,
estimated taxes and details about the house or building

* Details about
real estate transactions, including buyer and seller.

* Some lists of
license holders (for example, animal licenses, weapons permits).

* Birth
certificates, death certificates and marriage licenses (although some
restrictions apply to these vital records).

* Individual voter
registration records kept by the county auditor's office.

COURTHOUSES:

* Most records of criminal cases
and lawsuits kept in the county clerk of court's office, unless specifically
sealed by a judge.

* Records of traffic cases handled by the local
magistrate.

* Applications for and an inventory of items seized with a
search warrant after the warrants are executed, unless a judge seals the
records.

* Convictions, judgments (including whether a person has paid
off a judgment)

* Some exceptions to openness include official juvenile
records; domestic abuse cases until after time for appeal has expired; divorce
records until the final decree is entered; records pertaining to involuntary
hospitalization cases.

* The Iowa Freedom of Information Council may be contacted with questions regarding open-meetings and public-records laws. The council can be reached at (515) 271-2295.

* The State Citizens'Aide/Ombudsman Office in Des Moines can also provide guidance at (515) 281-5164.

* The Iowa League of Cities, (515) 244-7287 or www.iowaleague.org, and the Iowa State Association of Counties, (515) 244-7181 or www.iowacounties.org, may also be able to help.

ever wonder why 'your money' seems to take on different meanings?

it's "YOUR MONEY" whenever a bushite artist talks about tax cuts.
but it's NOT your money whenever they want a war.

why do you think they're called bushite artists?