Tag Archives: Iowa

Editorial Of The Day

From the Des Moines Register editorial board: At a press conference last week, Gov. Terry Branstad reiterated his long-held belief that Iowans should be allowed to vote on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages. “It has been blocked in the Senate by the Senate leader,” the governor observed. “It’s up to the people to decide who they want to send …

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72 Years In Love

The lesbian couple who married in Iowa last week after 72 years together have told their life story. It begins: Vivian was a farm girl near Creston. Nonie a farm girl near Yale. Vivian was an indoor girl, spending hours “teaching my dolls,” practice for her dream of becoming a teacher. Nonie was an outside girl, helping on the farm …

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GOP Mocks Clinton’s Iowa Return

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Hillary Clinton Stumps In Iowa: I’m Back!

CNN reports: Hillary Clinton told reporters Sunday that the purpose of her return to Iowa for the first time in over six years was “to support candidates.” But 2016’s presidential politics were everywhere on a sun-soaked field in Indianola, Iowa. Clinton captured the sentiment best herself with a joke from the stage of the 37th and final Harkin Steak Fry: …

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Lesbian Couple Marries After 72 Years

After 72 years these ladies finally manage to marry each other, Wonderful!! #gay #Lesbian http://t.co/1PHX34Mj9K— Mrs.W (@MrsWsOpinions) September 8, 2014 From Iowa’s Quad City Times: Vivian Boyack and Alice “Nonie” Dubes say it is never too late for people to write new chapters in their lives. Boyack, 91, and Dubes, 90, began a new chapter in their 72-year relationship Saturday …

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New From MoveOn.Org

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IOWA: Newspaper Editor Sues After Being Fired For Using The Word “Gaystapo”

An Iowa newspaper editor is suing on the grounds of religious discrimination after being fired for using the word “gaystapo” on his personal blog. Via the Des Moines Register: Bob Eschliman, former editor of the Newton Daily News, filed a complaint this week with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission office in Milwaukee arguing that he was terminated May 5 …

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Iowa Hate Group Leader Links Terrorism With Same-Sex Marriage

Miranda Blue writes at Right Wing Watch:  Bob Vander Plaats, president of the Iowa-based Religious Right group The Family Leader, held a revival event yesterday that also happened to be a good marketing opportunity for his new book about the “urgent call for revival” in America. Vander Plaats introduced the event — which also featured a Q & A with …

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Democrats Mock Senate Candidate Joni Ernst For “Agenda 21” Conspiracy Theory

Joni Ernst, you may recall, rocketed to crackpot fame with campaign ads that trumpeted her ability to castrate a pig and her promise to literally shoot down Obamacare. Now that she’s won the Iowa GOP nomination for the US Senate, Democrats are mocking her belief in the loony tunes Agenda 21 conspiracy theory. Over at Wonkette, Doktor Zoom explains Agenda …

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IOWA: State Supreme Court Reverses Conviction In HIV Criminalization Case

Via press release from Lambda Legal: Today the Iowa Supreme Court set aside the conviction of Nick Rhoades, an HIV-positive Iowan who was initially sentenced to 25 years in prison, with required registration as a sex offender, after having a one-time sexual encounter with another man during which they used a condom. In reversing the conviction, the Court recognized that …

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IOWA: US Senate Candidate Joni Ernst Vows To Literally Shoot Down Obamacare

Via Aksarbent: “Joni Ernst, the Iowa state senator who voted in 2012 for a Ag Gag law to send animal cruelty whistleblowers in Iowa to prison and who touted her skills at pig castration in her first campaign ad, is now pandering to bang bang fetishists in her newest ad.” Last year Ernst cosponsored a bill to overturn same-sex marriage …

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Iowa Reforms HIV Criminalization Law

Yesterday the Iowa House approved a bill that reforms draconian HIV transmission laws. The bill was approved by the state Senate in February. Current Iowa law makes it a felony to expose someone to HIV without their knowledge whether or not transmission takes place or if condoms had been used. The Iowa Legislature has sent to the governor a measure …

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Iowa Celebrates Five Years Of Marriage

Five years ago today the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage violated the equal protection clause of the state constitution. Iowa then became the fourth state to legalize gay marriage, but that right had been stripped in California by the time Iowa joined the list. Emboldened by the success of Proposition 8 and egged on by …

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Researcher Resigns After Confessing To Faking AIDS Vaccine Results

An Iowa State University professor has resigned after confessing that he falsified blood samples to make it appear that an AIDS vaccine was working. Dong-Pyou Han was an assistant professor of biomedical sciences. He resigned in October after admitting responsibility, an ISU spokesman said. The fraudulent results helped an ISU research team gain millions of dollars in federal money, according …

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Here’s A Book Trailer From Iowa Hate Group Leader Bob Vander Plaats

The theme of the book is that Jesus will turn America back into a Christian nation if everybody prays at 7:14am and 7:14pm every day. Or something. Vander Plaats, you might recall, was last year accused of offering to sell his presidential endorsement to Frothy Mix for a sweet million dollars.

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Tweet Of The Day – Soledad O’Brien

My post on this story is here.

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IOWA: Art Gallery Sues Civil Rights Commission Over Hosting Gay Wedding

A Christian-owned art gallery has sued the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, claiming that being “forced” to host a same-sex wedding violates their religious liberty. The 11-count lawsuit by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty was filed late Monday in Polk County Circuit Court and wants the Iowa Civil Rights Commission to rule the refusal of Betty and Richard Odgaard is …

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IOWA: Appeals Court Upholds Conviction Of Man Who Didn’t Disclose HIV+ Status

The Iowa Court of Appeals today upheld the conviction of Nick Rhoades, a gay man who did not disclose his HIV+ status to a sex partner he met online in 2008. His partner, who did not become infected, called police after learning of the man’s HIV status even though condoms were used during their encounter. At his trial, Rhoades pleaded …

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IOWA: Brian Brown Loses Again, State Won’t Remove Campaign Investigator

Last week NOM’s Brian Brown launched a screaming complaint campaign against the Iowa official assigned to investigate Fred Karger’s complaint that they violated campaign finance rules. This just in from Karger: The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board will not remove its executive director from an investigation into whether the National Organization for Marriage violated state law by not disclosing …

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NOM Calls For Removal Of Iowa Official

“The people of Iowa are entitled to the highest standards of ethical conduct and independence from the state’s top ethics officer, but Megan Tooker has shown herself to be biased and incredibly unprofessional in her handling of the complaint against NOM. Ms. Tooker worked for one of the justices we helped remove from office in 2010 and which is the …

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