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Saturday, November 29
Postville, Iowa: A Humanitarian Crisis
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 29 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CST
Postville, Iowa: A Humanitarian Crisis
 Well, I guess I've ignored this story long enough. It apparently is getting very little coverage in Iowa, although recently the New York Times looked in.
Blog for Iowa first covered the problems over at Agriprocessors supposedly-kosher slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa, in 2006 when they were exposed for clear violation of laws on how they treat animals, not to mention violations of the laws of Kashrut, which are the Jewish dietary laws that must be followed in order for the meat from these animals to be considered kosher. It matters to us all because the laws of Kashrut specifically prevent any and all forms of animal cruelty.
View our original story here.
Blog for Iowa Joins PETA in Demanding Patty Judge Return Slaughterhouse Donation
More recently, Agriprocessors has been in the news for gross immigration violations which have largely created a class of illegal immigrants in Iowa who have nowhere to turn.
See the following updates below.
Postville, Iowa: A Humanitarian Crisis?
by JeremiahRosemont, Daily Kos
Postville and Agriprocessors Finally Gain National Media Attention
by JeremiahRosemont , Daily Kos
Timeline: The Rubashkin family, owners of Agriprocessors in Postville
by FightinBack, Daily Kos
Friday, November 28
EPA Moves to Ease Pollution Rules
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 28 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CST
EPA Moves to Ease Pollution Rules
by Matthew Blake, The Center for Independent Media
 A Final Attempt by Bush Administration to Weaken the Clean Air Act
The Environmental Protection Agency seems on the brink of issuing a new regulation that would make it easier for power plants to operate longer hours - and emit more pollution. Under the proposed rule, power plants would be able to measure their rate of emissions on an hourly basis instead of their annual total output.
As long as the hourly emissions stay at or below the plant's established maximum, the plant would be treated as if it were operating cleanly - even if its total annual emissions increased as plant managers stepped up output. The proposed power-plant rule marks a final attempt by the Bush administration to radically revise the way environmental laws are applied, especially the Clean Air Act.
Throughout his term, George W. Bush has sought to weaken the traditional regulatory authority of many federal agencies - like the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission - to make them more friendly to business. This anti-regulatory stand has had perhaps its most sweeping effect on the EPA.
Read more here.
The Center for Independent Media is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that operates an independent online news network in the public interest.
Thursday, November 27
Call in to Fallon and Heuss Radio Show Thursday and Friday
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 27 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CST
Call in to Fallon and Heuss Radio Show Thursday and Friday
Lynn Heuss and Ed Fallon
 It’s important to confront head-on the serious problems facing our country and
our planet. While we’re all eager to see what Obama will do to address these challenges, there are steps we can each take on our own.
Today (November 27) and Friday (November 28), we’ll host The Jan Mickelson Show (Jan’s on vacation). Tune-in to WHO Radio (1040 AM) from 9:00 – 11:30 a.m. Thanksgiving Day, we'll talk with guests and callers about the growth in local food production in Iowa, the importance of knowing where our food comes from and the economic, environmental and health benefits of buying food from Iowa farmers.
Friday, as Iowans head to the malls and shopping centers, we'll discuss the necessity (and fun!) of supporting locally-owned businesses, along with the spiritual and economic value – to oneself, one’s family and one’s community – of living simply.
We hope you’ll tune-in from 9:00 until 11:30 both days. If you’d like to call in to the show, dial (515) 284-1040 or (800) 469-4295. If you’re outside WHO’s listening range, you can stream us live at WHO Radio.
Thanks, and we hope you enjoy a truly happy, peaceful holiday weekend.
Wednesday, November 26
Native American March Set for This Morning in Sioux City
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 26 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CST
Native American March Set for This Morning in Sioux City
Sioux City Journal
 This morning, the sixth annual Native American Memorial March is set to take place. Frank LaMere, local Native American activist, said marching from South Sioux City, Nebraska, to Sioux City, Iowa, on Wednesday morning will be a time for Native Americans to strengthen themselves and prepare their families for the work ahead.
LaMere, one of the founders of the Memorial March, now in its sixth year, said the walk from Nebraska to Iowa represents native families who came to Sioux City from Nebraska in the 1940s looking for a better way of life.
"Our march symbolizes our desire to start over again and to help our families to live, to grow and to flourish," LaMere said. "To do this, our families must be intact and presently, they are not. We have lost hundreds of children to adoptive and foster care over the years and though there have been some successes there have been many failures. We will take our opportunity tomorrow to remind everyone of that."
The sixth annual Native American Memorial March and Dinner begins at 9 a.m. at the Marina Inn in South Sioux City and continues over the Veterans Memorial Bridge to the Woodbury County Courthouse, the Trosper-Hoyt Building and the Four Directions Community Center, 613 Water St., where a meal will be provided for marchers.
Tuesday, November 25
Decision on 'Organic' Fish Sets Dangerous Precedent to Gut USDA Organic Program
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 25 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CST
Decision on 'Organic' Fish Sets Dangerous Precedent to Gut USDA Organic Program
Consumers Union
 In case you missed it, last week Consumers Union derided the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) decision to accept the recommendations for “organic” fish production that will allow fish to carry the USDA organic label—despite being raised under conditions that fail to meet fundamental USDA organic principles. The NOSB recommendations allow:
• Fish to be fed food other than 100% organic feed—the gold standard that must be met by other USDA-certified organic livestock;
• Fishmeal used to feed farmed fish from wild fish—which has the potential to carry mercury and PCBs; and
• Open net cages to be used—which flush pollution, disease and parasites from open net fish farms directly into the ocean, adversely impacting wild fish supply, sustainability and the health of the oceans.
The recommendations have been transmitted to USDA, which will issue an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) immediately.
“To slap an ‘organic’ label on this fish is deceptive and undermines the entire organic program,” said Urvashi Rangan, PhD, Senior Scientist and Policy Analyst at Consumers Union. “If enacted, this gutting of the organic standards will not only allow sub-par organic fish to be sold with a premium, but will undermine consumer confidence in the entire organic marketplace.”
Furthermore, it was clear at the NOSB hearing that USDA advised NOSB to circumvent the regulations to lower the organic standards bar for fish--something the American public clearly does not agree with. Just last week, a Consumers Union Poll revealed that 93 percent of Americans think that fish labeled as “organic” should be produced by 100 percent organic feed, like all other organic animals. Nine in 10 consumers also agreed that ”organic” fish farms should be required to recover waste and not pollute the environment and 57 percent are concerned about ocean pollution caused by ”organic” fish farms. Nearly 30,000 signatures have been collected in favor of maintaining strong standards for the organic label for fish.
Read the complete article here.
Monday, November 24
Minnesota Ballots and Civics Quizzes
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 24 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CST
Minnesota Ballots and Civics Quizzes
 These are a couple of things I had fun with over the weekend, courtesy of the folks at Daily Kos.
As you know, Minnesota is currently in the middle of a recount due to a very close race between DFLer Al Franken and that other guy, who one hopes loses his U.S. Senate seat.
Scores of ballots are under dispute, and Minnesota law is very clear that if the intention of the voter can be deciphered, then the vote will count.
See some examples here and choose if you think the vote should be counted and for whom.
When you're done voting over there, go take this civics quiz. Apparently, the average score of the elected officials (US) who took the quiz was only 44%. Ordinary citizens scored an average of 49%. Yikes. Only 33 questions, and a great ego-boost to those progressive lovers of the U.S. Constitution.
Go here to try your hand at the quiz.
Sunday, November 23
DEATH OF 50-STATE STRATEGY?
by
Linda Thieman
on Sun 23 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CST
DEATH OF 50-STATE STRATEGY?
 This note from the Progressive Populist:
[Since] Howard Dean is expected to be replaced as Democratic national chairman, [this clears] the way for President-elect Barack Obama to name the new party chairman. Also out the door, apparently, is the 50-State Strategy, as the 200 organizers who had been deployed nationwide to organize state parties are being laid off at the end of November. The new DNC chair will decide whether to continue the 50-state policy, but Chris Bowers of OpenLeft.com noted that firing the organizers “effectively kills the program, no matter the messaging and commitment of the remaining staffers.”
Well, it figures. It's no different from when Gov. Dean set up a health care system for the people of Vermont only to have it largely dismantled by the governor who followed.
It's like, as soon as Dean leaves a place, a black hole closes around where he used to be and the whole thing implodes, sucked back into nothingness.
I wonder how all the new registered Democrats will feel going back to being ignored.
Saturday, November 22
Resolution Opposing Possible Bush Pardons
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 22 Nov 2008 05:00 AM CST
Resolution Opposing Possible Bush Pardons
AfterDowningStreet.org
 Here's a resolution, hot off the presses from Jerrold Nadler, Chair of the Constitution Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee: H.RES.1531, "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the pResident of the United States should not issue pardons to senior members of his administration during the final 90 days of his term of office," Sponsor: Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] (introduced 11/20/2008). There is a petition promoting this resolution, through which you can write to your representative and senators here.
Please urge Senator Russ Feingold to introduce in the Senate the same resolution that Nadler has in the House.
Never before has a pResident pardoned himself or his subordinates for crimes he authorized. The idea that the pardon power constitutionally includes such pardons ignores a thousand year tradition in which no man can sit in judgment of himself, and the fact that James Madison and George Mason argued that the reason we needed the impeachment power was that a president might some day try to pardon someone for a crime that he himself was involved in. The problem is not preemptive pardons of people not yet tried and convicted. The problem is not blanket pardons of unnamed masses of people. Both of those types of pardons have been issued in the past and have their appropriate place. The problem is the complete elimination of any semblance of the rule of law by pardoning one's own subordinates for crimes you instructed them to commit.
Yes, of course, there's something absurd about knowing that a president authorized crimes, not impeaching him, not prosecuting him, not proposing any action with any teeth at all, but formally objecting to the idea of him issuing pardons of his own subordinates for crimes he authorized. But this is where we are. State, local, civil, foreign, and international prosecutions are likely ways of holding Bush, Cheney, and gang accountable, and pardons can't interfere with them. Pardons can't interfere with impeachment. But if we allow these pardons, we not only guarantee no federal prosecutions, and not only give Congress an excuse to drop its investigations, but we also establish the precedent that from here on out any president can violate any law and then pardon the crime. This is simply to end the idea of law. We cannot allow that.
We need to work with Congressman Nadler and Senator Feingold to promote awareness of what is wrong with self-pardons. In this way we can prepare the American public for the appropriate response when the pardons come. The appropriate response will be to demand:
1. Immediate impeachment of Bush and Cheney, even if they are out of office.
2. Overturning of the pardons, as Bush's lawyers told him he could do to Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, which was a far more minor abuse of the pardon power.
3. Legislation banning self-pardons and pardons of crimes authorized by the president.
4. A Constitutional Amendment banning self-pardons and pardons of crimes authorized by the president.
5. Prosecution of Bush, Cheney, and their subordinates for their crimes.
Please sign the petition:
http://democrats.com/nadler-pardons
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