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Tuesday, September 20
Iowa Hog Confinements Built at Record Pace
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 20 Sep 2005 04:54 AM CDT
 Iowa Hog Confinements Built at Record Pace
by Perry Beeman, Des Moines Register.com
The number of large sites continues to grow, despite their neighbors' concerns
Iowa
this year set a record for new large-scale livestock confinements, as
neighbors and critics continue to complain about pollution risks and
fight the industry trend toward larger operations.
...The
risks are documented. Studies . . . have associated hog confinements
with neighbors' complaints of nausea, respiratory problems, headaches,
depression and diarrhea. The University of Iowa estimated hog
confinements emit more than 100 chemicals and compounds, including
hydrogen sulfide and ammonia.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
Also, according to the DMReg, the list of dangers from hog confinements includes:
HYDROGEN SULFIDE:
At even low levels, hydrogen sulfide can cause eye irritation,
dizziness, coughing and headaches. At higher levels, most often found
inside or in confined spaces, it can kill, as it did in Des Moines when
two sewer workers were overcome by the fumes in July, 2002.
AMMONIA: It can cause respiratory problems, and death at high levels.
METHANE:
The greenhouse gas contributes to global climate change. It can be
burned for power, if collected, and can smother at high levels.
ENDOTOXINS: The cell walls of these bacteria can lead to
respiratory problems.
TETRACHLOROETHYLENE:
These are associated with cancers, kidney and liver trouble, eye and
lung irritation, headaches and neurological problems at high
concentrations.
Sunday, September 18
Going Organic Can Shield Children From Pesticides
by
Linda Thieman
on Sun 18 Sep 2005 11:00 AM CDT
 Going Organic Can Shield Children From Pesticides
by Marla Cone, LATimes.com
Switching
to organic foods provides children "dramatic and immediate" protection
from pesticides that are widely used on a variety of crops, according
to a study by a team of federally-funded scientists.
Concentrations
of two organophosphate pesticides - malathion and chlorpyrifos -
declined substantially in the bodies of elementary school-age children
during a five-day period when organic foods were substituted for
conventional foods.
The two chemicals are the most commonly used insecticides in U.S.
agriculture. More than 2 million pounds were applied to California
crops in 2003.
(Click here to access the original article.)
Malathion and Iowa
Use of malathion by farmers in Iowa and Minnesota has recently been linked to an
increased risk of one type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Malathion is one of the most widely used organophosphate insecticides in the
United States and throughout the world.
In Iowa, malathion is frequently used to spray against mosquitoes.
Shown to be mutagenic, a possible carcinogen, implicated in vision loss,
reproductive and learning problems, immune system disruption and other negative
health effects in human and animal studies, damaging to non-target organisms,
and containing highly toxic impurities, malathion has a legacy of serious
problems.
Did you know that malathion is also used to kill head
lice? Yeah, put that on your kids' heads and see what
happens. According to this report on the KWWL website
out of Waterloo, malathion has been used so frequently against
head lice that the lice are building up a resistance to it and it is
now only 17% effective. Combing through you child's wet hair with
a fine-tooth comb is much more effective.
Wednesday, September 14
Democracy For Iowa Conference 2005
by
Caroline Vernon
on Wed 14 Sep 2005 04:00 AM CDT
 Democracy For Iowa Conference 2005
Notes by Aaron Wings, with additions and Workshop notes by Robin Roseman
Report on DFIA Conference
September 10, 2005
Iowa City
OVERVIEW:
The
morning sessions were very informational. What was most impressive was
the variety of issues that were discussed and the political cooperative
efforts.
The
afternoon sessions were work sessions. Several important actions
were planned. We began to give structure to a statewide DFA
organization - DFIA. We also decided to have a coordinated focus
for the next several months on state health care issues, in particular,
a State Health Care Lobby Day. We urge all interested people to
join DFIA by signing up here.
MORNING SESSION:
We began
with a welcome by Dennis Roseman, Iowa City DFA Organizer who in turn
introduced members of the meeting that represented some progressive
non-DFA groups and activities:
Pat
Vunderink talked about DAWN, a Democratic Activists Women’s
Network. This might be termed an Iowa Emily’s List with a major
goal to support progressive women candidates.
Trish Nelson talked about IBLTV, Iowans for Better Local TV, a media reform group: http://www.ibltv.org.
They have an on-line petition which all are invited to sign asking the
FCC to hear Iowa complaints about the quality of local television.
There will also be an important FCC-Free Press Public Hearing,
on October 5th, in Iowa City at the University of Iowa (exact
location to be determined).
Ellen
Ballas spoke of Rapid Response Network. This organization is well known
to all readers of Blog for Iowa. Please join them in their
efforts to fight disinformation: http://www.rapidresponsenetwork.org
Mike
Carberry informed us of an Iowa City group, Citizens for Public Power.
This group has put the issue of creating a municipal Iowa City electric
power company on the November ballot. They are currently building
support for passage. http://www.icpublicpower.org
Dick
Stater, Chair Linn County Democrats, talked about a Fundraiser on
October 22nd, in Mount Vernon, with the possibility of a nationally
prominent Democratic office holder as a speaker. For more information
go to http://www.linndems.org
Alta
Price discussed Quad Cities Progressive Action for the Common Good, a
new progressive coalition consisting of various issue forums. Due to
the high level of activity, PACG is currently engaged in a fundraising
campaign in an effort to hire an organizer to maintain the necessary
support of the various issue forums.
http://www.digiforce.net/PACG%20Site/index.php
Mike
Carberry also spoke of FAIR, a local group working for social and
economic justice. FAIR will co-sponsor an Iowa City Council Candidate
Forum with Johnson County DFA and The 49 - to be held on September 15th.
The
above list exemplifies the variety of activities that Iowa DFA members
are engaged in as well as establishing connections and
cooperation with other progressive groups.
Jim Dean, DFA Chair, then gave a lively keynote talk about the future plans and goals for DFA.
He spoke
of other DFA State meetings (23 of these to date). They focused on some
small races as well as larger ones. Currently DFA is supporting 40
candidates nationwide and plans to endorse an additional 10 more
candidates for a total of 50. DFA is also engaged in providing some
Candidate and Activist training with 21st Century Democrats. In
addition, they plan to provide a 2-day training workshop in the Quad
Cities next Spring.
Jim
listed and spoke briefly on several current and future political issues
and mentioned two particular goals for the near future: a DFA Meet-up
in every congressional district and expansion of Generation DFA for
college students.
In the
next segment there were four reports by Iowa DFA Meetup
groups: Alta Price for Democracy for the Quad Cities, Tony Hansen
for Des Moines DFA, Sue Astley for Cedar Rapids DFA, and Robin Roseman
for Johnson County DFA.
Chris Warshaw, DFA Field/Political Director, described four areas of focus for DFA:
1. Meet-up programs in all states, 100 college groups, a total of 5000 at meet-ups
2. Development of communication tools such as DFA-Link.
DFA Link will replace and improve upon the functionality that we had with Meetup.com.
3.
Having special training sessions to build political skills such
as communication with elected officials and writing letters to editors,
etc. For example, there is a plan for a two-day training next
Spring in the Quad Cities.
4.
Candidate development: One goal is to build from within by
encouraging members to run for office. Also, DFA sponsored 103
candidates last year - approximately 1/3 won. DFA is currently
sponsoring 40 candidates, but won’t endorse any more until after the
November elections with the exception of one congressional seat.
This early sponsorship will be decided by voting online here.
(Note: The vote started on Tuesday, 9/13)
Next on
the program was a Candidate Forum. It was a real showcase of what we in
DFA are doing. Candidates (and one pre-candidate) from many levels of
government participated; David Loebsack (2nd District), Bill Gluba and
Bruce Braley (1st District), Tammy Place (pre-candidate, Iowa House 79)
and Garry Klein (Iowa City Council). Scroll down for contact information.
Next we had two presentations dealing with Iowa issues and Iowa groups:
Mike
Owen, assistant Director of the Iowa Policy Project, gave a fact filled
presentation on Iowa economic issues. To review this wellspring of
useful information, stats and facts (highly recommended), visit thier
website at: http://www.iowapolicyproject.org
Sarah
Swisher, gave a spirited talk about three organizations of which she is
an officer: The Iowa Democratic Party, SEIU, and Johnson
County Democrats. Sarah discussed various ways that DFA could interface
with each of these organizations for a mutual benefit.
AFTERNOON SESSION:
Identifying Goals
What to
focus on in the next 6 months? At first a large list of goals and
issues were suggested by participants but were ultimately reduced down
to reflect two levels: Meetup level and State level.
On the Local Level:
Endorse and support local candidates. (Run for office)
Participate in 2006 Democratic caucuses.
Build coalitions with other progressive groups.
Outreach-expand membership.
On the State Level:
Increase the number of contributors for Blog for Iowa.
Support Democratic Candidates; Opportunity to take back the Iowa House, Senate, and Governorship in 2006.
Health Care for Iowa.
Most importantly it was decided to form a state-wide group known as Democracy for Iowa (DFIA). This
would be done with the help of a steering committee and implemented (in
part) as a new statewide DFA-link group called DFIA.
Introducing
the DFIA Steering Committee: Dennis Roseman, Robin Roseman, Alta Price,
Gary Gramon, Sue Astley, Tony Hansen, Cliff Day, Sally Troxell,
Trish Nelson and Ellen Ballas
One goal of DFIA is to expand the number of Meet-up groups and to facilitate communication between members across Iowa.
In particular we would like to have at least one Meetup group per congressional district. (see map)
http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Redist/congress-color.pdf
It was
suggested that folks from established groups should help new
groups get going. Tony volunteered for central Iowa, Alta and Dennis
for eastern Iowa, and we need someone for western Iowa.
As a particular focus for statewide action it was decided to have a Health Care Lobby Day.
Tony
volunteered to coordinate with SEIU/Iowans for Health Care to
participate in a joint Health Care Lobby Day in Des Moines on Februrary
7th, 2006. DFA will help with a phone list and support. We
also plan to make home visits to legislators in the districts to
discuss Health Care for all Iowans.
At the
end of the day, a few of us went out for ice cream with Ed Fallon,
candidate for governor, who wasn't able to make the meeting because of
a previous engagement, but showed up at the Iowa Room just as we were
leaving. A great time was had by all!
Braley for Congress
http://www.brucebraley.com
P O Box 390
Waterloo, IA 50704
319-464-4450
Tammy Place
PO Box 501
Durant, IA 52747
563-785-4837
Friends of Bill Gluba
http://www.glubaforcongress.com
PO Box 2205
Davenport, IA 52808
563-459-6558
David Loebsack
http://www.loebsackforcongress.org
PO Box 81
Mt Vernon IA 52314
319-721-5324
Garry Klein
http://www.kleinforcouncil.org
628 2nd Ave
Iowa City, IA 52245
Sunday, September 4
Honoring Those Who Go Before Us - Jim Hughes
by
Caroline Vernon
on Sun 04 Sep 2005 09:01 PM CDT
 Honoring Those Who Go Before Us: Jim Hughes - December 6, 1935
by Caroline Vernon Jim said, “I made a commitment to myself and the world that if I was ever able to get out of that chair, I would dedicate the rest of my life to helping those who are less fortunate than I had been in my life.” On December 6, 1935, Jim Hughes was born the youngest son of a union carpenter in Montgomery County, Illinois.
Upon graduating from high school in 1953, most of Jim’s former classmates were drafted into the service. Jim himself received orders to report 6 different times before finally receiving notification that he had been wrongly classified, 3 months prior to his 25th birthday. Instead of having a classification of 1A, he should have been classified as 3A, which meant he would only have been called up in the case of a homeland emergency. In the meantime it was difficult to get hired on with a 1A classification because employers knew it wouldn’t be long before workers were required to report for duty.
During the late 50's, early 60's, the economy was shaky and jobs were hard to come by. In the construction and building trades, as an example, you were lucky to accrue 600 hours a year. Jim worked on various union jobs, the first of which was as a laborers local, then he moved over to the Operating Engineers and worked on permit. He later worked for the Boiler Makers Union and the UAW.
By 1965, many of Jim’s friends had returned home from the service and were taking advantage of going to school through the GI bill while he was still bouncing from job to job. By then, Jim had gotten married and had children so it was at that time that he decided to go to St. Louis to work with the Teamsters. Jim stayed with the Teamsters for quite some time before being forced to take an early retirement due to health problems.
The family later moved to the Quad Cities in 1980 and Jim started RDS Walcott, a truck transportation brokerage business. Jim and his wife Doris, successfully ran this business for many years until selling it in 2000. Jim and Doris had married on March 15, 1963, They have 10 children between them.
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