my first feedback on ebay

Delivered as promised. Excellent Seller.Thanks for prompt shipment. A+++++++++++

now i see why ebay can be soooo addictive.

another reuters employee killed by terrorst

listen to this report in the nytimes about the reuters cameraman being killed by American forces:

Reuters colleagues who arrived shortly after the attack said that the wounded cameraman, Haider Kadhem, said, "I heard shooting, looked up and saw an American sniper on the roof of the shopping center."

...

The United States military statement said: "Task Force Baghdad units responded to a terrorist attack on an Iraqi Police convoy around 11:20 a.m. Aug. 28 in central Baghdad, which killed and wounded several Iraqi police. One civilian was killed and another was wounded by small-arms fire during the attack.

--source

doesn't the just about prove that WE are the terrorists?

the breakdown of the iraqi constitution

can be found here. i guess only the WSJ (subscription required) had the complete text translated.

Letter Of The Day

I am a veteran who strongly supports our military and their families. It must be nearly impossible to call something a mistake when they are giving so much to its cause. However, how can we deny that attacking and occupying Iraq has been a horrible mistake?

I want to thank the Register for printing the Aug. 20 commentary addressing President Bush's lies. Our current president's lies have been obvious since the day he was elected. How could any observant person not see that he intended to take us into this war from the beginning? Weapons of mass destruction and the unrelated Sept. 11 attack became the false justifications he needed.

Every U.S. service person and Iraqi who has been injured or killed as a result of this unnecessary, illegal and futile war must be laid at Bush's feet. However, I find the inaction of our U.S. Congress, as well as that of the media, to be as outrageous as the lies themselves.

When can we expect to see this issue seriously and forcefully addressed by either?

-Keith Bridson, Clive.

--source

Letter Of The WeeQ

our winner this week has nothing to do with politics. it's winning attributes include the ability to make the reader feel good. try it:

Today I dropped my daughter off at college.

Her mom, younger brother Jacob and I drove her up to Ames in our pickup, piled high with all of the things she felt were necessary for freshman year. Emily was convinced that the contents of the pickup screamed "Going to college," and that thought was confirmed when, stopped in traffic, she saw another motorist look at us and mouth those very words.

We had one last run together this morning. I chose our route around town rather than the one that takes us out into the countryside. Our route took us past the softball fields where I reminded her of that night game 11 years ago when, standing in left field and daydreaming, a bird swooped down at her, coming from the general direction of home plate, and she instinctively put up her glove in an attempt to catch it.

We ran past the high school track, swung in and made a final lap on the oval where she has made so many, the morning walkers unaware of the emotions playing out in our hearts.

A couple of blocks down the street her middle school teacher and coach, Mr. Shy, was up on his roof tearing off old shingles. "Hi, coach" Emily yelled. "Hey, when's the big day?" he hollered back. "I go up today." "Well, good luck!"

We never did talk much on our runs, and this morning we spoke even less, our thoughts on other things.

In my job as a forester I mark the passing of the years by watching the trees that I have planted and cared for grow up. It, too, is a labor of love, but I never have to say goodbye to the trees. They are always in the same place I planted them, and, with the exception of a few bugs and the normal onslaught from deer, I don't worry about their safety.

You have your children, if you are fortunate, for 18 years. In that incredibly short time span, you do the best you can to be a good parent, instill in them the values you hope are never compromised, and send them on their way. You get one chance at it; one chance to make it to their band concerts and track meets, to teach them to include everyone and to convince them that despite all your lessons, they should question everything.

When it was time for us to leave, Emily walked us down to the truck. We hugged, Jacob gave her the note that he had written and I slipped her $20, just like my dad used to do to me.

Tomorrow I will spend the day in the woods, working alone. It won't be the most productive day I have ever had, as I will be stopping frequently to rest on a fallen log or along a creek as I ponder this life. I know that Emily will make wonderful friends, enjoy beautiful experiences and discover many things about herself and this world as she receives her education. But right now I really miss her.

-Bob Petrzelka, Mount Pleasant.

--source

Letters Of The Day

there's a slew of letter winners today. enjoy!

U.S. Rep. Steve King would build a 2,000-mile, $680 million, 10-foot high chain-link and razor-wire fence at the Mexican border (Aug. 23 Register). But it would be much less costly to build that fence around Congressman King, Rep. U.S. Tom Tancredo and televangelist Pat Robertson. Vive la fence!

-Paul Jensen, Ogden.

--source

and

In U.S. Rep. Steve King's latest fantasy ("King: Fence Off Mexican Border," Aug. 23), installing a $680 million chain-link fence will magically resolve many of our economic and immigration issues.

Show me that young father from small town Iowa struggling to support his family but denied work at the regional packing plant because of a Mexican immigrant. Show me those Iowa women who can't get work at the local manufacturing company because the line positions are all taken by newly arrived Guatemalans. Show me the high school and college grads scrambling in vain to work for companies contracted to landscape our suburban lawns and business parks, or work in the kitchens of our restaurants, only to have those positions given to El Salvadorans.

These Iowans simply don't exist.

King thinks he can hide behind his razor wire in the name of economic and national security, but I find the blatant racism shown by King, his fellow elected officials and his Iowa constituents to be appalling.

-Brian Joens, Manning.

and

Most Americans realize there is a problem with immigration policy in the United States. Fortunately, Rep. Steve King has a solution. With a loud voice he has proclaimed a solution from the Zhou Dynasty and the 9th century B.C.: "Let's build a wall." The people of Iowa and the United States need congressmen with more up-to-date ideas than the failed policy of forgotten Chinese dynasties.

-John Cahill, Marshalltown.

and

Congressman Steve King has proposed fencing off the Mexican border with the United States. Maybe for starters we could fence off Iowa's 5th District so King could live happily ever after in sheltered bliss.

-Dave Swenson, Ames.

--source

i think i know why bush is so adamant for 'staying the course'

cuz as long as we 'stay the course' all his buddies stand to reap billions on this war in iraq.

makes me proud to be an iowan

lots of comments regarding pat robertson's murderous tirade on national television in the des moines register's letters today.

weeeEEEEeeee!

I'm a Christian. I believe in a higher power, and Pat Robertson does not speak for me. We ask moderate Muslims to stand up and denounce inflammatory rhetoric against the Unites States by radical (Muslim) religious leaders. So it's time we walk the walk and stand up and denounce our own religious leaders when they suggest violent acts to solve world problems.

-Matt Culp, Des Moines.

Why is it acceptable for Pat Robertson to advocate for murder on national TV? Can we all do that? Or would we be arrested?

-Fran Fuller, Des Moines.

You say it is bizarre for a Christian minister to endorse assassination. However, it is no more bizarre than Christian ministers and American Christians in general supporting the war in Iraq. What's the difference?

-Mark Lindahl, Des Moines.

Pat Robertson's plea for assassination gives credence to what I have believed for a long time: Very often the religious right is not right, and the moral majority is not necessarily moral.

-Priscilla Brown, Cedar Falls.

As a Christian minister, I am appalled that the Rev. Pat Robertson suggested the assassination of the president of Venezuela. Not only is this an act that has been outlawed by decree of President Ford, it is totally opposite of the calling of Christians to love their neighbor.

This suggestion to act illegally made over the public airwaves by a supporter of President Bush needs to be thoroughly investigated by the FCC. It is every bit as obscene as the halftime shenanigans of Janet Jackson.

-The Rev. Jim Nelson, Des Moines.

The right Reverend Pat Robertson denounces a woman's right to choose as murder. He denounces stem-cell research using embryonic cells as murder. But he advocates the assassination of a world leader. How ironic.

-Jane E. Brown, Granger.

When I was growing up, I attended a fundamentalist, evangelical Christian church. I was taught that it is a sin to kill anyone for any reason.

The problem with many Christians today is that they pick and choose from the Bible what they want to believe. I guess they think killing is OK now. To justify killing someone because he is from a different country, has radical views, has a different religion or is a suspected terrorist doesn't make it right. Sin is sin.

-Jeffrey Smith, Clive.

from the GOOD NEWS DEPARTMENT:

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll reflects further erosion in President George W. Bush's job approval rating, continuing the slow but steady decline evident throughout the year so far. The poll -- conducted Aug. 22-25 -- puts Bush's job approval rating at 40% and his disapproval rating at 56%. Both are the most negative ratings of the Bush administration. Bush's previous low point in approval was 44% (July 25-28, 2005) and his previous high point in disapproval was 53% (June 24-26, 2005).

--GALLUP

*giggle*

Letter Of The Day

A fact is an event we can observe. A scientific theory or law is a testable explanation of facts. By testable we mean we can predict from it and see if our predictions are right.

Theory is not fact. Its truth requires only that the predictions be confirmed so that we can say things work "as if" they are governed by the theory.

We can say that a tsunami is an immediate act of God or we can use geological theory that acts "as if" the tsunami is a wave resulting from underwater movement of tectonic plates. It moves across the ocean, and we can predict its striking land by obtaining sensor measurements from appropriate devices located around the world.

The theory of evolution is that the species are shaped by environment. The mechanism is the environmental selection of individuals who will have offspring. The corollary is that the individual is shaped by environment.

Intelligent design is a labor saver. If drug-resistant diseases are a product of intelligent design rather than of environmental impact, then we have no need for much drug research nor for exercising care in completing prescribed drug dosages. If individual characteristics are products of intelligent design rather than of environmental impact, then we have no need to discipline or otherwise regulate the environments of children.
-Gordon M. Harrington,
Waterloo.

--source

the whole page of opinion letters today deals with intelligent design and evolution theory. a good read if you want to hear both sides.

gas prices and politics

seems that the intersection has finally come within sight.

WASHINGTON — As consumers feel pain at the pump, record high gas prices are registering as a political problem with congressional Republicans.

--yahoo

2 oil men in the whitehouse + oil companies having record profits = high prices at the pump

Letter Of The WeeQ

Methamphetamine poses a much greater danger to Iowa and the rest of the Midwest than terrorism ever will, yet White House officials have focused more attention on marijuana than on meth ("GOP Lawmakers Criticize Bush's Meth Proposal," Aug. 19). Focusing on marijuana instead of meth is like swatting only the flies in your house when wasps are buzzing around. The Bush administration doesn't seem to have a clue as to what the real dangers are to the citizens of this country.
-David Leonard,
Adel.

--source

what IS it with these stupid people

they claim that 'freedom is not free' and that it costs us blood to be free.

WHEN did animals donate their blood?

Letter Of The Day

There have been several articles in the paper recently about how to bring about giving our children a better education. I can clearly see that for several years now, something is lacking in the way subjects are taught.

I only had an eighth-grade education until later on in years when I decided to further my education. But even with my eighth-grade schooling, I knew the difference between: loose and lose, their and they’re, stripped and striped, flower and flour, clothes and cloths and other commonly used words.

These misspelled words are in the Globe Gazette, on billboards and even in published books.

I have never heard of a stripped cat, Globe Gazette, but I do own a beautiful striped cat.

--Dianne Ott, Mason City

--source

do you like IM?

then you'll luv this lil' gem from google:

http://www.google.com/talk/

caught this tidbid on Slate's Today's Papers

from one of the places i go every morning:

According to a Page One Post piece, a group of scientists from the U.S. government and abroad have confirmed that traces of weapons-grade uranium found in Iran's nuclear equipment parts were indeed a result of contamination by Pakistan, which sold Iran the second-hand equipment. "The biggest smoking gun that everyone was waving is now eliminated with these conclusions," said a "senior official." As the WP notes, last year now-Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton accused the Iranians of lying about the contamination.

boy, doesn't this just make you cringe?

the draft of the iraqi constitution

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq-Constitution-Text.html

from the Really Great News Department(TM)

George W. Bush's overall job approval ratings have dropped from a month ago even as Americans who approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president are turning more optimistic about their personal financial situations according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. Among all Americans, 36% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 58% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 33% approve and 62% disapprove.

Among Americans registered to vote, 38% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 56% disapprove, and 36% approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and 60% disapprove.

--source

the 36% must be those haves and have-mores, or maybe we have that many macho shitheads, the deluded, the selfish, the cluess, the stupid fundamentalist bigots.

and as someone else online pondered: these are the same 30-somethings who were rabidly after clinton. these twits succeeded in convincing MSM that THEY were the majority... you know, the ones when MSM tries the

"some people are saying..."
"an anonymous source said..."
"people have reported ..."
"everyone knows that ..."

there's that core bushite crowd.

my problems with IE are legendary

and to show how well i take the issues when they come up (and they come up often), take a look at how someone else was able to condense the frustration into less than 1k.

http://monster-island.org/tinashumor/humor/ielinux.html

oh oh

remember afghanistan? i mean, the afghanistan of the 1980's.... well, may i present iraq.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. concessions to Islamists on the role of religion in Iraqi law marked a turn in talks on a constitution, negotiators said on Saturday as they raced to meet a 48-hour deadline under intense U.S. pressure to clinch a deal

i wonder how much the * administration is going to rob the honor of the real writers of their constitution. we'll know monday when scotty gets to break the news.

'sides, didn't anybody teach that punk george that forcing democracy down people's throats, just doesn't work?

they're finally beginning to talk

and that could be very dangerous, since we know that the klan they fight are ferocious, vindictive, and otherwise, predictable.

(CNN) -- A former top aide to Colin Powell says his involvement in the former secretary of state's presentation to the United Nations on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was "the lowest point" in his life.

"I wish I had not been involved in it," says Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, a longtime Powell adviser who served as his chief of staff from 2002 through 2005. "I look back on it, and I still say it was the lowest point in my life."

--source

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

word!

this is a test post, done in … get this, word.

yeup, you can find this lil’ nifty tool over here.

so i'm not alone

seems the problems i'm experiencing with rendering html in IE, are problems experienced by others as well. and one had the decency to document it.

http://www.stopdesign.com/log/2004/01/26/ie_factor.html

an ebay virgin no longer

http://cm.ebay.com/cm/ck/1065-29296-2357-0?uid=200097696&site=0&ver=LCA080805&item=6795116553&lk=URL

and from the good news department:

Wednesday August 17, 2005--President Bush's Approval Rating has tumbled five points over the past week to the lowest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports.

Just 43% of American adults now approve of the way George W. Bush is performing his role as President. Fifty-five percent (55%) disapprove.

The President's Approval Rating has fallen to 47% among those who are married. Just 38% of unmarried respondents give the President their approval. Forty-six percent (46%) of Investors Approve along with 41% of non-Investors.

--rasmussen

high gas prices and school buses

this school year will be the test on whether or not our economy is on the right track, or the wrong track, in which case, like trains, you can expect a wreck.

just listened to john roberts on cbs

reporting the top story being the gaza pullout.

why does the MSM refuse to disclose that IT'S PALESTINIAN LAND to begin with?

Letter Of The Day

The Register missed an important point in the Aug. 1 article about police cars doing away with light bars. I am sure we have all spotted a police car when we are driving, checked our speed and occasionally slowed down. I have. If we cannot spot the car because it has no light bar, that preventive aspect of policing is gone. I would rather the cars have light bars and slow down thousands of speeders a day instead of ticketing 10 or 20.

-Bruce Fleming, Des Moines.

--source

they're going to crawford texas to support cindy sheehan. and from their website:

“We disdain both political Parties. We believe that both the cowardly Democrats and the rapacious Republicans have become so systemically corrupt, that, as Senator Warren Rudman said when he resigned from the Senate, ‘This place has become so corrupt it cannot function anymore.’ It is no longer capable of representing the people, but only the special interests, the wealthy, and the corporations, especially the multi-national corporations.

“We intend for our new film and this website to be a strong intelligent voice that brings consciousness, new ideas and real power back to the people.”

you GO!!!

watch for billy jack to hit the news soon

they're going to crawford texas to support cindy sheehan. and from their website:

“We disdain both political Parties. We believe that both the cowardly Democrats and the rapacious Republicans have become so systemically corrupt, that, as Senator Warren Rudman said when he resigned from the Senate, ‘This place has become so corrupt it cannot function anymore.’ It is no longer capable of representing the people, but only the special interests, the wealthy, and the corporations, especially the multi-national corporations.

“We intend for our new film and this website to be a strong intelligent voice that brings consciousness, new ideas and real power back to the people.”

you GO!!!

watch for billy jack to hit the news soon

they're going to crawford texas to support cindy sheehan. and from their website:

“We disdain both political Parties. We believe that both the cowardly Democrats and the rapacious Republicans have become so systemically corrupt, that, as Senator Warren Rudman said when he resigned from the Senate, ‘This place has become so corrupt it cannot function anymore.’ It is no longer capable of representing the people, but only the special interests, the wealthy, and the corporations, especially the multi-national corporations.

“We intend for our new film and this website to be a strong intelligent voice that brings consciousness, new ideas and real power back to the people.”

you GO!!!

a sad, ssd story of a soldier

http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/1870805.shtml

Letter Of The Day

Bush's gift to America. Price of oil on Jan. 20, 2001: $22 a barrel. Price of oil on Aug: 8, 2005: $64 a barrel. Increase: 190 percent.

-Keith Nichols, Perry.

and

In his Aug. 8 column, George Will suggests that Ford, GM and Chrysler increase their profitability by "trimming some of the benefits the United Auto Workers won when the Big Three were the world's largest automobile companies."

Well, George, how about this solution: that the United States join the rest of the industrialized world and implement a national health-care system for all its citizens. This would allow Ford, GM and Chrysler to cut $1,500 off the cost of every vehicle!

They would then be more competitive in the marketplace, and they wouldn't have to cut benefits for the men and women, past and present, who do the kind of work in the automobile factories that George Will and his friends couldn't handle for one day.

-Gary Sanders, Iowa City.

--source

the epitomy of incompetence

that's donald rumsfeld, summed up in about 4 words. why?

The ensuing scramble to produce more plates was marred by a series of missteps in which the Pentagon gave one contract to a former Army researcher who had never mass-produced anything. He was allowed to struggle with production for a year before he gave up. An outdated delivery plan slowed the arrival of plates that were made. In all, the war was 10 months old before every soldier in Iraq had plates in late January 2004.

--source

a sure sign that the bushites have run their course

The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, according to U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad.

The United States no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges, U.S. officials say.

--source

Letter of the WeeQ

I enjoyed reading "Iowa's Concrete Lifeline - Life Along Interstate 80" in the Aug. 7 Register.

I spent the summer of 1964, following my junior year of college, working on the road-building crew that paved the sections between Grinnell and Malcom (miles 182 to 191) and Kinzi Manufacturing and Williamsburg (miles 216 to 220). I drove a water truck that piped water to the traveling on-site concrete mixers and was paid $2 per hour.

Along with overtime pay, I earned enough in 12 weeks to pay 100 percent of my expenses for my senior year at Iowa State University. My, how times have changed!

-Robert C. Wemer, Montezuma.

--source

Letter Of The Day

This year average Americans will work 185 days to pay their tax burden. President George Bush has taken 70 billion of those dollars to give to corporations as incentives, while they're moving American jobs to foreign countries.

We stand by fecklessly and do nothing. Who voted for this guy?

-Larry Wohlgemuth, Ankeny.

--source

finally, an editorial that makes a very strong case for national heath care.

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050814/OPINION03/508140314/1035/OPINION

in the words of those who were there on 9/11

A rich vein of city records from Sept. 11, including more than 12,000 pages of oral histories rendered in the voices of 503 firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians, were made public on Aug. 12. The New York Times has published all of them.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/20050812_WTC_GRAPHIC/met_WTC_histories_full_01.html

Letter Of The Day

Do commanders in chief go on vacation during war? Have the terrorists gotten the memo, and are they also on holiday?

Fourteen Marines are killed in one incident on the same day President Bush departs for Crawford to start his vacation. I am sure there will be plenty of photo ops of him clearing brush and his mind.

I bet there are a few boots on the ground in the Middle East that would like a vacation, even if it's in West Texas.

-R. D. Smith, West Des Moines.

--source

think this would sway opinion on the bush war?

from Knight-Ridder:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi investigators have uncovered widespread fraud and waste in more than $1 billion worth of weapons deals arranged by middlemen who reneged or took huge kickbacks on contracts to arm Iraq's fledgling military, according to a confidential report and interviews with U.S. and Iraqi officials.

...

The contracts under scrutiny total $1.27 billion, nearly equal to the estimated $1.3 billion allocated for the Defense Ministry's budget this year. The money came solely from Iraqi coffers, not from the training budget of the U.S. military or from NATO and foreign donations to Iraq's military.

"There's no rebuilding, no weapons, nothing," said retired Iraqi Lt. Gen. Abdul Aziz al-Yaseri, who worked in the Defense Ministry at the height of the alleged corruption. "There are no real contracts, even. They just signed papers and took the money."

--source

think that's bad? that's nothin compared to what bush has done to America.

Letter Of The Day

You really have to give it to the House for finally passing an energy bill. It left no oil company behind, what with the generous federal subsidies it's going to give to the oil and gas industries. (Why are large corporations exempt from the ownership-society concept?)

Considering the time it took for the "great minds" to come up with this bill, you'd think they could have arrived at a national energy-conservation program that would have involved real conservation.

Instead, the one big idea it came up with is to extend daylight savings time.
-Rita Luther,
West Des Moines.

--source

just when you thought there couldn't be any more foolery

from an administration based and operated totally on tom foolery, i give you the winner of the "thank god for 9/11" contest:

The Pentagon would hold a massive march and country music concert to mark the fourth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in an announcement tucked into an Iraq war briefing today.

"This year the Department of Defence will initiate an America Supports Your Freedom Walk," Rumsfeld said, adding that the march would remind people of "the sacrifices of this generation and of each previous generation".

--source

rummy is calling out to all Americans to celebrate 9/11. since 9/11 was the start of their dictatorship, no doubt they _would want to celebrate.

and talk about fuckin up

this one takes the cake. and certainly provides even more ammunition to the premise that the 9/11 commission was a whitewash for the bushites.

from today's papers on slate:

Relying on Representative Curt Weldon, R-Pa., and a "former defense intelligence official," the NYT says above the fold on Page One that a secret Pentagon program actually pegged four of the 9/11 hijackers—including Mohamed Atta—as al-Qaida men back in 2000. The secret program, which used data-mining, was called "Able Danger." Again, according to Weldon and the other source, program officials wanted to pass along the tips to the FBI but were overruled by Pentagon lawyers concerned that the military would be overstepping its authority. "We knew these were bad guys, and we wanted to do something about them," the former unnamed DoD official said. That source also charged that the 9/11 commission was told about the scoop but never followed up.

the piece on slate goes on with more details on weldon.

if you need any proof that bush is the worse president ever

take a look at this

Letter(s) Of The Day

today, there are several that deserve the distinction of Letter Of The Day. all from the same source.

GOPAC, a Washington, D.C.,-based Republican action committee, has announced plans to financially support Republican candidates for school boards in Iowa ("Political Group Targets School Boards," Aug. 1).

For what reason would a national organization in Washington, D.C., involve itself in our local school board elections other than to put in place candidates who will promote its political agenda?

With President Bush leading the charge to force his and the far-Christian right's beliefs onto the electorate (limiting stem-cell research, advocating intelligent-design curriculum, providing nonaccountable funding of faith-based organizations and vouchers for private schools) this is not the time to keep from voters the political affiliation of each school board candidate.

The deck is already being stacked by GOPAC. Hopefully the Register and organizations like the League of Women Voters and Women for a Stronger America will do their part to educate the electorate.

-Nancy Theodore, West Des Moines.

and

When does deference to a public official become blind submission? The Register crosses that point in its Aug. 2 editorial, "Bolton's Almost Beside the Point," which is dismissive of President Bush's recess appointment of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations.

Let the ruler do whatever he wants, the editorial basically says, that's what he is paid to do - rule. Whatever happened to accountability or the checks and balances system in our democracy?

Further, the editorial is just too dismissive of the role of the U.N. ambassador - a position that has been held by several of our nation's finest public servants over the past 60 years. Check the lineup - Ralph Bunche, Henry Cabot Lodge, Adlai Stevenson, et al.

John Bolton is a disastrous appointment and subservience to presidential power can't change that.

-Herb Strentz, Urbandale.

and

Many modern-day, church-attending Christians seem to have forgotten the fundamental message of Jesus. How can individuals who are trying to imitate Christ support pre-emptive military actions, more deadly weapons systems, the death penalty and more punitive sentencing, tax breaks that expand the separation between the rich and the poor, unrestricted gun access and ownership and minimal foreign aid to needy nations?

How can such actions and attitudes be reconciled with the central messages in the Beatitudes or in the basic edict from Christ that we should love our neighbor as ourselves? Is real Christianity simply too difficult to practice for most people?

Bill McKibben recently observed in a Harpers magazine article that "America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior." Perhaps it is high time for Christians to strive to more closely emulate their leader's teachings.

-Dean R. Prestemon, Ames.

KUDOS TO ALL THE WRITERS!

and open letter to LEXMARK:

WHY DO YOU HATE YOUR CUSTOMERS SO MUCH?

Letter of the WeeQ

this wins hands down for the Letter of the WeeQ(tm):

I commend Iowa Sens. Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin for trying to limit farm payments to $250,000. The existing limit of $350,000, with loopholes that allow landowners with good lawyers to collect millions, is patently absurd. Taxpayers' money is being used to bankroll the biggest corporations so they can continue to force small farmers off the land.

Our senators are not even trying to go far enough, however.

The Department of Human Services will tell you that a single, disabled mother of five children, with no means of support, can collect about $1,800 per month, or less than $22,000 per year. The biggest 10 percent of agricultural producers got 86 percent of the $28 billion in welfare (called subsidies) last year.

It is time we limited ag subsidies to $25,000, or perhaps $20,000, per year. Why should a "proud, independent, self-sufficient farmer" get a bigger welfare check than a poor, disabled woman with five children?

Big farmers will tell you, of course, that they take "big risks," so they are entitled to big welfare checks. The fact is, if you have a multimillion-dollar business, and you still need government assistance, you need to get into another line of work.

-Garry Klicker,
( small farmer who collects conversation subsidies), Bloomfield.

--source

Letter Of The Day

Regarding your photo of neighbors enjoying a picnic lunch in a new unoccupied confinement building:

Buildings do not stink, but fermenting feces and urine do stink beyond your average reader's comprehension. I would be glad to host a picnic 1,000 feet downwind from that building a year from now, but you have to honestly publish our guests' remarks.

-Ron Kielkopf, Fremont.

--source