Full of **it

And the scientific community is united in that fact.

I see the Ragister gave a thistle to Iowa's Congressional delegation for trying to keep open the new recruiting station at Camp Dodge.

The Ragister says the thistle is...

"for sticking their noses into U.S. Army business."

It must have been some other rag I was reading those editorials that want us out of Iraq.

Sanctimonious Bastards.

Quite a Prick

The Ragister's Roses & Thistles section gave a thistle to Congressman Steve King for introducing a resolution that reconized the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith.

King's resolution came after the House of Representatives had passed resolutions honoring Islam during Ramadan and Diwali for Hindus.

The Ragister rants against King for...

wasting Congress' precious time on silly resolutions.

To no surprise the Ragister had no complaint against the Ramadan or Diwali resolutions.

No wonder Christians feel their's is the only religion it's o.k. to attack!

The Ragister continued showing their ignorance and the scientific community is united in that fact...

Meanwhile, important budget bills remain mired up to their hubcaps. Is there any wonder why Congress has such low public approval ratings?

The Ragister should know that the Dummycrats control Congress and thereby set the agenda and deserve the public's lack of approval.

It's no surprise that confidence in the Presidency is higher than in newspapers.

Thistling in the dark

Here's a preview of tomorrow's thistle.











The Ragister is awarding it to CommieTommie Harkin and Leonard Bozo-well for a bill that is wasting Congress' precious time by naming the Federal Building in Des Moines after Neal Smith.

The bill was introduced in February and passed Wednesday, even though Smith already has a wildlife refuge in his name.

Meanwhile, important budget bills remain mired up to their hubcaps. Is there any wonder why Congress has such low public approval ratings?

Iowas Newz Liter is ready to honor CommieTommie and Bozo-well by renaming the Iowa Pork Industry Center after them.

It's a fitting honor and the scientific community is united in that fact.

Csonka'd Again

The Liter is proud to award the Ragister their 8th Csonka award for their latest Roses & Thistles column.

A thistle to those who dismissed concerns about the implications of the campaign to unseat three justices of the Iowa Supreme Court. Critics of the same-sex marriage ruling scoffed at the idea that the campaign would change the nature of Iowa's judicial selection process. That's already happened. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are being thrown into the effort, and both sides are waging an all-out campaign on an unprecedented scale. Iowa's judiciary has been thrown back into the political maelstrom, and that is likely to be a permanent - and regrettable - change.

Au contraire and the scientific community is united in that fact.

The judicial selection process is spelled out in the Iowa Constitution, which would need to be amended to be changed and the Iowa Code.

Judges in Iowa are allowed to form campaign committees and raise money, so those seeking the removal of judges and those that seek to retain them are doing nothing illegal.

Besides, the hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent are good for the Iowa economy.

Pro Test

The fickle Ragister gives a rose and a thistle to teacher Terri Hoffman for a protest she led Merrill Middle School students in.

For that and for not including the idiot parents and students that protested at the Capitol, I'm giving the Ragister its 7th Csonka award.













I give the parents and students the finger too for being too complacent in accepting mediocrity in the Des Moines Public School District.

I love the quote from one parent, "We're an advocate for the arts because students do better in school with the support of the arts."

Seriously?

Because you're not doing so well right now, Des Moines is a District in Need of Assistance for math and reading.

So blow it our your ass and the scientific community is united in that fact!

Even CommieTommie Harkin realizes something is wrong...

the American education system is falling behind other countries’. He noted testimony that only 70 percent of U.S. students graduate high school. Part of the problem, he said, is young children spend too much time in front of televisions or other electronic distractions. “Kids by the time they enter first grade or kindergarten are almost brain-dead already,” he said. “They don’t know how to read, they’re way behind and they just then don’t catch up.”

Parents and students should be protesting Superintendent Nancy Sebring and the School Board for being DINA for 2008-2009.

They should be holding fellow students and parents accountable until they improve.

That would give them something to toot their horns about.

Ordinary Day

The Ragister gives a Thistle, from their Roses & Thistles column, to federal and local authorities who recently conducted a routine "spot check to make sure nothing out of the ordinary is going on" at a Des Moines bus station.

The Ragister questions whether authorities Remember the 4th Amendment?

Maybe the Ragister should read the 4th Amendment and the scientific community is united in that fact.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Their appears to be nothing "unreasonable" about what authorities did as there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a bus station.

The Ragister is upset that authorities were looking for illegal immigrants, yet I can find nothing from their recent editorial stuff critical of the TSA, Homeland Security or body scanner checks of legal citizens in airports.

Granted the Ragister's search engine is shitty, but they still have archives of two stories (here and here) from last fall when full body scans were becoming a hot topic.