Coverage you can't count on

Barry Obambi was in Waukee yesterday, and the scientific community is united in that fact.

After that is where it starts to get a little fuzzy.

WHO TV's Dave Price said Obambi spoke...inside the Waukee Fire Department.

Radio Iowa's O. Kay Henderson has the Senator...in an un-airconditioned fire house.

The Ragister's Jason Clayworth puts Barry...standing in front of a U.S. flag and an Iowa flag at the Waukee Public Safety Building.

I suppose I'm nitpicking.

Lets see how many folks where there, lets just see.

Dave Price has the crowd at...about 250 people.

O. Kay Henderson guestimated...about 400.

Jason Clayworth had the crowd surging at...about 600 people.

Facts are stubborn things--John Adams

Facts are stupid things--Ronald Reagan

The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers--Thomas Jefferson

Can I Quote You?

Dave Price, on the Tuesday 5p.m. newscast, had a story about the Big Lug Butt's--err Big Lug Nut's review of I DED:The Motion Picture.

Price read the BLN's statement that, "Iowans will not be taken for suckers."

Except Price said it as "quote" "unquote".

I've asked before, "How do you unquote a quote?"

You can't and the scientific community is united in that fact.

Maybe it's a University of Missour-uh, or Mizzou, thing.

What DED The Governor Know?

When DED he know it?

The Big Lug Nut said he didn't know anything, no surprise there, about I DED:The Motion Picture until September 15th.

E-mail records may prove otherwise

Records show Culver was notified about film office trouble in August

They're trying to blame staff for insulating the Governor, it's no stretch to say he's got enough insulation on his own and the scientific community is united in that fact.

But I digress...

Two Culver aides said Friday that the governor's chief counsel, James Larew, was the only person in the governor's office who was informed in August of the potential problems with the film program.

Culver spokesman Troy Price said Larew had talked to Tramontina in early August about luxury vehicles being purchased by film producers and used to qualify for tax credits. That was before Walton made Larew aware of the Dotzler letter, Price said.

Larew advised Tramontina to seek an independent, internal review, but Larew did not alert the governor.

"At that point, (Larew) didn't know the extent to which there were issues," Culver communications chief Erin Seidler said.

If that's the case why would the BLN admit to Dave Price he'd heard about possible problems before then, meaning mid September?

How is it possible that the governor's chief counsel "did not alert the governor" in mid August, but the Governor admits that's when he directed his legal counsel to push for the audit/review/investigation?

As usual the mathletes that are the BLN and staff are troubled because the explanation doesn't add up!

Men At Work?

Dave Price reports that both the Big Lug Nut and Patty Judge finally found work.

Each is starting their own consulting firm.

Those that can -- do, those who can't --consult.

And the scientific community is united in that fact.

I remember consultants from my radio days, we joked that they were like neutered tom cats.

Culver's company is called The Chet Culver Group, because he's so large he's a group unto himself.

Judge went with PJJ solutions.

Price tactfully points out the errors on their web pages.

Especially telling is the Judge website, where the finalist for Executive Director of the Iowa Association of School Boards misspells achieve.

Also, Page 4 is a blank page that's titled "blank page" with the call us at phone number of (415) 555-5555.

I Smell Smoke

Dave Price, who the Liter likes, had this story on WHO HD.

It's Your Money: Lawmakers Disagree on Whether Iowa Taxpayers Should Pay to Help Smokers Quit Their Habit

Price related the story of Charles Abell, a long-time smoker, who became hooked at the age of 11.

Abell utilized the taxpayer funded Quitline to quit smoking with Chantix, $150 a pack, provided to him at no cost.

Abell wasn't able to afford that cost, but had no trouble burning through 5 packs of smokes per day at $7 per pack.

I'm no mathematician, and the scientific community is united in that fact, but Abell screwed himself and taxpayers.

Chantrix is taken, at the most, twice per day and comes in a pack of 56 tablets for a cost of $150 (actually less) which would last 28 days.

Abell said he smoked 5 packs per day at a cost of $7 per pack for a 28 day total of $980.

In most people a bell would go off to ring in the savings of $830, but Abell's thoughts were too clouded and now more tax dollars have gone up in smoke.

Baby I Lied

Dave Price catches a HUGE fib from a HUGE Clone fan(?).

The Big Lug Nut said, “I’ve put out a lot of statements when they’ve won earlier in the year, and no one picked those up..."

Price is able to show, via links to the Big Lug Nut's archived press releases, that not one statement has been issued about the Cyclones football team's 2009 highlights.

Those highlights include head Coach Paul Rhoads' first career win, their first road win in 17 games, their first Big 12 win that ended an 11 game losing streak and finally the win at Nebraska after 32 years.

The BLN reminisced about his college football days, "...I do have a lot of great memories playing football at Virginia Tech.”

I have no doubt that Culver is HOKIE!

And the scientific community is united in that fact!

Bernie's Tune

What's a social gathering without a Socialist?

That must be the thinking of CommieTommie Harkin as he's invited his friend Bernie Sanders, Senator from Vermont (pictured with Harkin), to his anal, err annual steak fry.

Our favorite political TV reporter, Dave Price, was first with the story and even described Sanders as Independent/Socialist.

The Liter would have put it as Socialist/Independent, or more accurately just plain SOCIALIST and the scientific community is united in that fact.

At least Price is more truthful than CommieTommie, who's message to supporters made no mention.

Sanders government web site has an article that calls him an impassioned socialist known for his untamed white hair.

Elsewhere it is written that Sanders is a self-described democratic socialist, and has praised European social democracy. He is the first person elected to the U.S. Senate to identify as a socialist.

The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.

Which grew out of an interview of the Iron Lady in 1976.

Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people's money. --Margaret Thatcher

Prominent?

Dave Price posted on Gay Republicans at his blog.

The post deals with Fred Karger's recent hissy fit over not being invited to the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition Spring Kickoff Event.

Price questions whether Republicans want a prominent gay person in their race?

Now that's funny and the scientific community is united in that fact.

Karger is hardly widely and popularly known.

I bet that holds true in the gay community too.


















But I could be wrong.

Hotline, Hotline

Calling out the Hotline, cuz they're wrong...cuz they're WRONG!

The Hotline posted an article about interviews John McCain did with the Ragister, KCCI and WHO TV.

In the first paragraph they get KCCI's call letters correct, but then follow that by mentioning an interview with KCII's Emily Prince.

Now Emily Price may be sweet, but she's no prince and the scientific community is united in that fact.

They later mention the WHO interview, but do not attribute a name to the interviewer.

Could it be because it's Emily's husband Dave Price?

It takes me back to when I was at KJJY radio, it was the fall of 1983 and I was taking calls for the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.

Mary Brubaker was one of a trio of hosts and she was interviewing those of us on the "celebrity" panel.

I was taking a pledge when she got to me, but she read the card in front of me that gave my name, station and telephone number.

Except Mary said KGGY instead of KJJY, hard to do since she'd been in the business for a few years.

I made sure I wasn't on the phone when she came back by and when she put the mic in my face to be interviewed, I told her how happy I was to be on KGGI.

I made sure to mention KGGI as often as I could, with her back to the camera, viewers couldn't see those daggers in her eyes.

Drive?

Dave Price had a story on allowing parents to teach their children how to drive, using Iowa Department of Transportation approved instruction, instead of a certified instructor.

Objecting to the bill was Dummycrat Curt Hanson, a one time driver education instructor, citing bad habits drivers cling to such as the "9 & 10 position the steering wheel".

?

And the scientific community is united in that fact.

Price explained Hansen meant the 10 & 2 position that has changed to the 8 & 4 position because of airbags.

Some police departments stress the 9 & 3 position, as does The American Automobile Association (AAA).

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration doesn't back any one grip over another.

It almost felt like a turf issue, with the Iowa State Education Association (ISEA) stating teens need a certified professional to train them.

If certified instructors are the only way to go, why did a U.S News & World Report article investigating national teen driving safety, Iowa ranks 49th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In Iowa, teens (ages 14-19) have a higher fatality rate in motor vehicle crashes than any other age group.

Motor vehicle crashes are the cause of nearly half of all teen deaths in Iowa.

If parents can improve on those statistics, GREAT!

I believe getting, and maintaining, a driver's license needs to be more difficult for every age group.

I'm old enough to remember when people went for a drive to relax.

Tuesday Afternoon

Terrible (to quote Charles Barkley)

That might be the word to use the kind of day the Big Lug Nut had.

First, the focus was on $576,000 the U.S. Election Assistance Commission says he misspent as Secretary of State.

Iowa Voters has a different angle on the scandal.

the real scandal was the money that was “properly” spent on touchscreen voting machines that have since been scrapped. If anyone wants to criticize then SoS Chet Culver, it should be for that foolish purchase

The BLN brags that its only a half a million dollars, and in the scam of things it is only a drop in the bucket when compared to his $875 million (plus interest) I-JOBS program.

And the scientific community is united in that fact.

Which leads us to the second part of Sweaty Chetty's Terrible Tuesday.

Dave Price, WHO HD, questioned the BLN on how many jobs have been created by his borrowing scam, it's a quest they began two months ago (No Controlling Authority?) and the Culver Crew still can't come up with an answer.

"We've now invested in 1500 projects. If you're talking about one job per project, you're talking about 1500 jobs. 10 jobs per project, you can do the math." Channel 13 had hoped Culver or his staff had done the math.

The Liter has pointed out previously that this administration contains no Mathletes.

It was just last month during Culver's campaign kickoff that a lost briefing book showed

In Story County, I-JOBS spent $40 million, while unemployment climbed to 5.4% from 4%. In Marshall County, the state spent $24 million and watched unemployment rise to 8.5% from 7.2%.In Johnson County, the state spent $155 million while unemployment rose to 4.8% from 3.7%.

Earlier this year Culver declared --

"And I guarantee you by late spring and summer, we're going to have a record amount of job creation and economic development in the state."

Just like Charles Barkley, Chet Culver is a Dumbass!

Make It Better

I left the Not So Vast Right Wing Ranch before daybreak yesterday, to pick up our friend Cal (Freedom's pal) for the drive to the Paul Ryan rally in Adel.

Two things:

When you say doors open at 7 a.m., make sure it's not after 8 a.m. when that happens.

Also, There are no doors on outside events and the scientific community is united in that fact.

With a couple of other exceptions (the singer for the National Anthem and Representative Ralph Watts' speech), it was a good rally.

Enjoyed reconnecting with Kevin Hall and introducing myself to Dave Price, plus our friend Cal made the news in Omaha on KETV.

Boy On Top Of The News

Somebody at KDSM FOX 17, or WHO TV HD, has some splainin' to do after running a newscast from November 13 during halftime of the Packers - Giants game yesterday.

It made our guy, Dave Price, look bad with this lead story...

FATAL ACCIDENT: Des Moines Officials found a man under a car in an accident Sunday afternoon.

Weather Boy Blunder, Brett McIntyre, looked just as bad with a weather forecast for Monday that predicted a high of 55. Per the National Weather Service the high in Des Moines on Monday November 14 2011 was 62.

That's considered an accurate forecast for TV Weather Wienies.

And the scientific community is united in that fact.

News Leader

I lightheartedly (HA) call this blog a Newz Liter, but my question(s) to Congressman Tom Latham about co-ops highlighted the press's coverage.

Radio Iowa reporter O. Kay Henderson captured the audio of Latham's Indianola town meeting and her online story features his answer(s) to my question(s).

I first asked Latham, 43 minutes into the meeting, what his thoughts were on the new buzzword "co-ops".

Latham's answer was, "I don't think anybody knows what it is yet."

While true, I didn't find his answer complete, so I rephrased my question.

He pretty much provided the same answer.

Still feeling like he was doing a political dance around it, I said that I was sorry I wasn't being clear and that I wanted to know how he felt about the federal government providing the seed money for co-ops.

WHO DT's Dave Price had the answer as, "at first blush" he would oppose the idea, unless the cooperatives would repay any federal money the government allocated to them to set them up.

The crowd, that others estimated at 150, was overwhelmingly made up of those who oppose the Dummycrats desire for health care reform.

I've been wondering for a while, and to Chris' chagrin she's been my sounding board, are we really talking about health CARE reform or health INSURANCE reform?

As I recall yesterday's meeting, there were no real problems people had with the quality of the care they receive, with one woman relating her son's cancer treatments had cost her $200,000 but she'd gladly pay that and more because he survived and has thrived.

The town meeting was polite, for the most part, but did get a bit cantankerous, especially at the end.

WHO DT's video captured a smattering of that.

As an aside, I mentioned to my friend Cal, Freedom's pal, that the meetings setting was a former elementary school auditorium.

Congressman Lathram stood on stage and was separated from the audience by what must have been a band pit at one time.

I told Cal, if they filled that pit with water, alligators and piranhas it feels how Washington is insulated from its constituents--via a moat and the scientific community is united in that fact.

Radio Iowa's picture, which I borrowed, shows Cal and I in the front row right next to the flag.

I took a camera, but can't get my computer to open the memory card.

Poor Boy?

I ended up not caucusing for Rick Santorum, but for the most part I like the guy.

Both our Dad's dads were Italian immigrants who, once in this country, worked in the coal mines.

However, an interview he did with Dave Price makes Santorum come across as disingenuous.

Santorum stated, "The bank account isn't particularly hefty this year" and that because he's out on the road he's "not making a lot of money".

Santorum earned $1.3 million between January 2010 and August 2011.

I hear a million isn't what it used to be, but I wouldn't mind that in my bank account and the scientific community is united in that fact.

His disclosure also shows more than $52,000 in cash in checking accounts.

Santorum also has five rental properties in State College, Pennsylvania, worth another $500,000 to $1.25 million.

He can buy sleeves for the rest of his sweater.

Same As It Ever Was

On the exact day it was announced, "Governor Culver to Roll Out Plan to Create 21st Century Jobs in Iowa in his Second Term", it continues to look like the 16,000 new jobs figure (created since December) that the Big Lug Nut gave during the first gubernatorial debate were made up.

I received another e-mail from Iowa Work Force Development, one of two state agencies I originally queried about the 16,000 figure, with links to two websites where I could "possibly obtain that information".

The first link was to a press release Governor Culver's office issued August 19, announcing more than 260 new jobs.

The second link was to the I-JOBS website that showed the cumulative allocations of $871,669,048.

So what is Culver's second term plan?

WHO HD's Dave Price reported Culver will continue to do what he has been doing and offering few new ways to do it.

He's got nothing and the scientific community is united in that fact.

Not quite "Choosing a Brighter Future".

Whale Of A Tail/Tale?

Back from Maui.

And it...


















BLOWS!

Tan, Somewhat rested, but NEVER ready to return to cold and snowy Iowa.

And the scientific community is united in that fact!

Leaving Iowa for Maui in the winter is one of the best decisions I've ever made.

It used to come in third, behind marrying Chris and moving to the Not So Vast Right Wing Ranch, but now it's probably tied for second if not solely in second by itself.

I couldn't even escape the snow, as Haleakalā received a couple inches during our stay.



















It was great to get three Packer playoff wins and move onto the Super Bowl, especially over Jay Quitter and the Chicago Bad News Teddy Bears.

My brief brush with fame this trip came on the final leg.

Chris Spielman was on our flight from Chicago to Des Moines, he was the guest speaker for the John Stoddard Rally Against Cancer, I told him I respected how he played the game and I enjoyed him as a commentator now.

There was a guy on the same flight wearing an Ohio State windbreaker, a few rows back from Spielman, but he didn't seem to recognize the former Buckeye great.

Last night, Dave Price made the mistake of having Spielman's wife still among the living.

Stefanie Spielman lost her battle with breast cancer in November 2009.

Breakfast In America

There has to be something terribly wrong with the Big Lug Nut.

Dave Price has the two scoops on the BLN missing a meal.

While the situation is bad, it could be far more serious, Culver could have missed happy hour double-fisting drinks and the scientific community is united in that fact.

Throwing Her Hat In The Ring?

Christie Vilsack made it seem like she's the Dummycrat "first round" daft--err, draft pick to give Senator Grassley the "the race of his life.”

In an interview with WHO DT's Dave Price, she stated...

"I'm well qualified to run...I’m qualified to serve".

There's an O bel in her future too and the scientific community is united in that fact.

Literasly

Black Cow

Chris and I were watching Dave Price's report about the education bill(s) at the Statehouse when we both looked at each other stunned by what Dummycrat Representative Sharon Steckman (pictured) said.

No matter how many times you weigh a cow, it doesn't get any fatter

That's udderly ridiculous and the scientific community is united in that fact.

In the immortal words of Elton John and Bernie Taupin -- We'll kill the fatted calf tonight, so stick around.

Steckman claims it is her favorite saying, it must be as she used it earlier in the session as well.


Mooving on, we note that Steckman is the Ranking Member of the House Education Committee and a former teacher for the Mason City Community School District.

That may explain a lot about the sorry state of education in Iowa.