Author Archives: Iowa Life

About Iowa Life

Experiencing life in Iowa.

House District 45

Iowa-Des-Moines-Iowa-State-Capitol-Building-1440x954

Story County Iowa, being a liberal enclave, is represented in the Iowa Legislature by Democrat Beth Wessel-Kroeschell. She needs to be defeated and could be, if conservatives had any sense. For anyone deeply concerned about the 2nd Amendment, recent events at the national level with the NRA and Congress should have crystalized their thought process. Wayne LaPierre looks to be compromised. The NRA looks to be “this close” to bankruptcy and being completely dysfunctional. Congressmen like King and Grassley are controlled by big money interests that the little guy couldn’t possibly compete with. They’re too busy working for Big Ag and Big Pharma to work for you. That’s where State House races come in. You could give $100 a year to the NRA and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference. Give that $100 to a House race for the Iowa Legislature and it would make a huge difference!

We for the most part can’t do anything about national elections of Representatives and Senators. They swing on millions of dollars and tens of thousands of votes. But a State House race is decided by a couple a thousand votes, a few hundred dollars and an army of volunteers. It would be so easy to put a pro-second amendment Republican in the Legislature. Its the power of the County. A lot of freedom lovers already know that when exercised, a County Sheriff has incredible power. That State Legislatures (made up of the individual counties) also have incredible power. The power of the State to resist national abuses can be great.

I have a pretty good sense of what the average Joe is thinking when it comes to gun rights. We’re scared. Beto O’Rourke promising to confiscate rifles just put a spotlight on it. The trick is to show gun owners in Story County how easy it would be to elect a progun Representative. Story County Republicans unfortunately (I suspect) have developed a loser mentality. They’ve gotten used to losing. We live in a university town full of liberals. Concentrating on a winnable race would be something to build on. Success in Story County would show that if it can be done here, it can be done anywhere. The Left has always feared the NRA. Not because of the money, any lobbying group besides the NRA can lay out more money. The power of the NRA is the people.

Presidential races are the sexy ones. The ones everybody likes to get worked up about. They are also the ones you can’t do anything about. Millions of votes and hundreds of millions of dollars decide a presidential race. You can’t do anything about that race, but you can do something about Iowa House District 45. I personally will set aside $50 dollars and 10 hours to help with that candidate (assuming he/she is pro gun). If every gun owner in Iowa gave $20 and 1 hour to their Iowa House race, we could own the Legislature. Thus setting a 7 year goal of passing Constitutional Carry for the State of Iowa. $20 and 1 hour from every gun owner in Iowa can make it a reality.

[Closing thoughts: It just occurred to me Republican Sheriff candidates could use the same help. I personally don’t plan to ever vote in a national race again. You can’t just go to Washington and stand on the desk of your U.S. Representative. But you better believe you can get the attention of your State Representative. Getting a group like Iowa Firearms Coalition onboard would be essential. Its about setting a goal. An objective. A generic, “Vote for Republicans, they’ll protect your gun rights!” Doesn’t sell as well to me as having a target you can point to, constitutional carry in 7 years.]

Luck is for rabbits

3 Replies

Going through the comments on a recent gun video I encountered a common theme: “You Americans, you so lucky to own guns.” I know what he meant. Its not about luck though. America the beautiful didn’t just “happen”. It wasn’t “the luck of the draw”. Our forefathers were willing to bleed. They were willing to die to birth this country. They were willing to lose it all. Their house, their farm, their business, their life. Furriners ain’t willing to do that. They’ll live under despotism forever rather than fight. That’s when change happens, when people are willing to bleed. These other countries, they’re not willing to bleed. They’ll stay third rate. They’ll never rule the world. They’ll never own guns.

[FYI at $33.87 for 200 rounds of Federal 115 grain brass case 9mm at Walmart, you can’t beat that. 11/26/19 update: Walmart now has 200 rounds for $33 flat.]

1-303-967-1090

Leave a reply

In the old days (the early 2000s) technology was rather cool. I could type a friends name into Google and get their address and phone number (in those days we had what you call a “landline”). On my TracFone 9000 I could block a telemarketer by hitting the ‘block‘ button. My MSN email program allowed me to “Block Sender” of annoying emails. A very handy free program came on computers called Microsoft Works, now you have to rent or buy a word processor, in addition to your computer. None of that stuff works now. You have to pay for it.

So now I have a goddamn son of a bitch Visa/Mastercard telemarketer in Denver calling me multiple times a day and I am completely impotent to stop their invasion of my privacy. They load up my answering machine, they wake me up from naps, they destroy the tranquility of my day. I have their phone number, which cost me a dollar to get, thank you Century Link, 1-303-967-1090. Can I get their address in Denver so I can go have a conference with them? No. Will the Federal Communications Commission in charge of the phone system do anything? No.

Will Iowa AG for life Tom Miller work with the Legislature to craft law protecting Iowans from telemarketers? No. Will Century Link block this number to stop the annoying and harassing phone calls? No. Does the Federal Do Not Call list work? No. So after beating you down for years you can buy a service that will take you off their lists. Its kind of a protection racket like the mob used to run. “Give us a $100 dollars a week and your windows won’t get broke. But you guys broke the windows?”

Guillermo Gonzalez

Leave a reply

Guillermo Gonzalez of Iowa State University was burned at the stake for saying there was a God. On his own time. What’s ironic was the instigator of his firing was a professor of religion, Hector Avalos. I was reminded of all this today when it came out a Canadian professor was fired for stating polar bears weren’t endangered. You do not want to cross the climate Nazis. They have their agenda and that is that. Blasphemy is not allowed with the religion of the secularists, climatology.

Gonzalez was a professor of astronomy at ISU who helped with the making of the above pictured DVD and book, The Privileged Planet. He wasn’t particularly a religious zealot, but as his knowledge of the universe grew it became obvious to him that planet Earth was not an accident. I believe after his firing he landed on his feet at another university back east. From the few clips I’ve seen of him he seemed like a nice, rational, humble man. Quite unlike the strident nincompoop who got him fired, Hector Avalos.

The gun club

Leave a reply

These 2 photos will look familiar to anyone who has belonged to a gun club in the midwest. Probably 75% of Iowans have never been to one. A lot of misconceptions go with them. One of the most ludicrous I ran into years ago was that us redneck shooters took a 6-pack of beer out to the range for an afternoon of shootin’! Taking a swig before tossing the can into the air to shoot it 3 times before it hit the ground. Hardly. 99.9% of the time members of gun clubs are safety geeks. Alcohol and guns don’t mix.

Having been a member of several I have noted one glaring omission from all of them. When they lay out the firing range rules there’s never been a clear procedure for what to do when a cease fire is called and people are down range checking targets. In the military all shooters step behind the red line, leaving their weapon ‘action open’ in front of the red line. That eliminates any and all possibility of an accidental discharge with someone downrange. You do not handle a weapon during ceasefire. At civilian ranges I’ve seen people handling weapons during ceasefire. That’s nuts.

On the other hand I’ve noticed a curiosity that State and County bureaucrats ignore about another recreational activity, yet they get all worked up about about the few public shooting ranges. People drown every year at their lakes. Most often there are no lifeguards. There is no procedure to verify you know how to swim before you are turned loose in the water. Any number of other safety precautions they don’t worry about. And people end up drowning at lakes and pools every year. Not to mention most Iowa lakes are toxic cesspools of farm runoff. No one talks about banning lakes and pools. Yet I’ve never heard of anyone getting shot at a shooting range. I’d say our track record is a lot better than swimming!

There are some odd ducks you run into at ranges. A lot of it you see when they aren’t even there. You see the aftereffects, even if you don’t see them. I don’t know if shooters are more quirky than non-shooters, but it seems like it sometimes. One of the most bizarre is “the gate”. Those who don’t have a key fob motor operated gate, still have a combination padlock attached to a chain welded to a gate. You drive up to the gate, spin the code, open the gate, drive through, get back out, close the gate and reattach the chain. A time consuming process that you are glad to eliminate when you have a partner to get out and do it for you.

You can tell a lot about the people at the club just from this process. There are the “lazies”. They spin the 4 numbers of the padlock in a number of different ways. Some rotate just 1 of the 4 numbers. Others rotate all 4 numbers just one turn. Others spin all 4 in a random fashion. Some grab just the last link of the chain so you have maximum slack to orient the lock for easiest viewing. There is one strange class of member that removes all slack from the chain and links it as tight as possible! What this does other than make it hard to view the padlock dial is beyond me. But in their mind the gate is more secure if they cinch it up tight on the 4th link.

One thing I don’t understand is why the club officers don’t do anything about the rule breakers? There must be 10 cameras at my current club. Recording the goings on throughout the day. Most people at a range understand you “leave it like you found it” (or leave it better than you found it). Not so everyone! They will leave tables turned every which way. Bench rests all piled on 1 table. Brooms and dust pans (you use them to sweep up the shell cases) not returned to their hooks. And the worst absolute slob behavior, not picking up your brass.

And depending on the shooter, that can be a lot. At this club I’ve “identified” 3 absolute morons, even if I don’t know their names. The .223 guy, the 9mm aluminum guy and the shotgun guy. The .223 guy has a pistol chambered in it. I don’t think he’s ever picked up one brass. Its very easy once you’ve been shooting awhile to see what everybody shoots, its on the ground. The 9mm aluminum guy buys the cheapest ammo you can find. It kind of goes with the slob mentality of the guy who evidently thinks his mother is going to pick up after him. The “shotgun guy” instead of patterning his gun using a cardboard box he brings, blasts holes in the backing of the target stands at the pistol range that says “pistols only”. The next guy using the target stand doesn’t have useable cardboard on which to place his target, because there’s a big hole blown through the back! Even though the signs say “no rifles or shotguns at this range”.

The cameras capture all these transgressions. I can tell just in my short time most of these idiots come out on Friday and Saturday nights. It would be child’s play to review the tape and find out who. Makes me wonder, do the cameras reveal people are drinking there? Alcohol is supposed to be prohibited. I imagine the officers don’t handout ultimatums to these nimrods because they don’t want to lose the membership dues. But on the other hand, not enforcing the rules also costs them. I’m pretty sure this one guy was holding a shooting class that he charged for on Sunday mornings (a time of low traffic).

He’d pull up and 4 people would pile out of this little car. Only he had a gun or any familiarity with the range. It just seemed odd. But by not enforcing the rules, the club was missing 3 yearly dues. Miscreants make up a really small portion of the general population. My way of thinking is who needs them? Kick out the rule breakers. People who are slobs in one way, tend to be slobs in other ways. Not obeying the safety rules, driving other dues paying members away. Any number of things.

I don’t know, it just seems strange that in a sport where safety demands everyone color between the lines, that they wouldn’t demand everyone follow the rules? Slobs who take shortcuts get people killed. It also lets other people know you’re serious. If a slacker gets kicked out from time to time, it sends a message. And since I’m sure most clubs are like this one, the officers haven’t changed in decades. People get comfortable, people get in a rut. I imagine its simply a matter of a club needs 600 – 700 paying members to continue operations, and they don’t want to lose any. Not thinking they might actually get more members, if they ran things right.

Did somebody die?

Leave a reply

TCM is showing a black movie, did somebody die? In the 70’s they had a kind of “separate but equal” scenario with white films / black films. Then somebody decided it was “exploitation” and black people no longer appeared in films at all (Oh excuse me, Denzel Washington, Will Smith & Halle Berry did). I think a lot of it was the Elites in Hollywood weren’t getting what they considered “their cut”, or have control of what was getting made. In time I think the quality of the films would have naturally improved and become a serious venue outside of Hollywood control. Kind of what Tyler Perry did by moving his operation to Atlanta. He had total control and he kept the profits, becoming one of the wealthiest men around.

Section One

Leave a reply

My track record is I usually don’t discover something until 40 or 50 years after its heyday. So I’m doing better on La Femme Nikita, its only 20 years old. Why I’m not more culturally aware I have no idea. The premise of Nikita was that Section One of the ‘Center’ saw this convicted murderer as someone they could make into their ultimate assassin, given her beauty and physical skills. Wrongfully convicted of murdering the cop and of being a drug addict, she is forced to do their bidding or become “cancelled” herself.

The 96 episodes of the Canadian series ran from 1997 – 2001. Most of it filmed around Toronto, though the secret agent was a globetrotter as I understand it. The only other series (which I didn’t watch either) that had the ‘cool’ factor this one did was Miami Vice. Part of the reason for this was they used mind control to flush her emotions so she’d be the cold blooded killer they needed. It only half works as she constantly struggled to retain her humanity against incredible odds.

Peta Wilson started out as a fashion model (big surprise), so she already has this air about her of the “yes I know I’m the most fabulous thing to ever walk the planet“. In her case it just happens to be true. One thing I’ve noticed having done several posts on beautiful women, the ones who were models rarely had a bad photo. The photographer may have had a bad idea or execution, but the model pretty much always did their part. At the end of the post I’m just going to throw down a bunch of photos of the Australian born goddess that I consider great. It was really hard to pick the lead one for this post. So many captured the gist of her character.

So anyway, thanks to Central Iowa’s ME TV channel 8.2 for putting this show on at 11 pm. Its worth staying up for. If you like tall, leggy blondes that is.

La Femme Nikita TV Series (1997-2001) starring Peta Wilson, Don Francks, Eugene Robert Glazer, Roy Dupuis, Matthew Ferguson and Alberta Watson – dvdbash.com

What I consider the best ‘Nikita’ photo.

“Buy local!”

Leave a reply

KPSZ ‘Praise’ 940 am has a public service spot where they ask people to “take the buy local pledge”. I should have been in marketing I find business trends fascinating. 25 years ago when Best Buy sprung up they put a hurt on mom & pop appliance stores and smaller computer and electronic stores. Now they are on the ropes from online sales and big box stores like Lowes that have ate into their appliance share. Main street 50 years ago didn’t “buy local”. They went to China to flood their stores with crap. They didn’t give a rat’s ass whose goods they were stocking their shelves with. Now after all the jobs have left we’re supposed to care about them? Then main street got blown out of the water by K-Mart, Walmart, Target and the like. Karma’s a bitch ain’t it?

I was reading an investment book by Peter Lynch he wrote 30 years ago. its funny in hindsight to hear him talk about these stalwarts of business that you could tell he never envisioned dying a pitiful death. Sears, AOL, General Electric. The bigger they are the harder they fall. I wasted a day trying to buy local. Having some dull knives I had the crazy idea I’d be able to drive to Des Moines and buy an electric knife sharpener. Nope. Walmart is the only store in the tri-county area that sells a cheap model for twice what its worth (2 stage for $50). I went online to Walmart.com and ordered a 3-stage for $45, it will be here in 2 days.

I searched all over, thrift shop, Salvation Army, Target, Kohls, JC Penney, nobody had a knife sharpener! If I’d wanted to drive to hell and gone (Altoona or Jordan Creek), Bass Pro and Scheel’s had $50 dollar ones they were selling for $80. Every store had an extensive selection of new cutlery they’d sell you. Its almost like they want you just to buy new stuff rather then just sharpen the old. I noticed that when I had to buy a water heater recently. Oh no you can’t get a tankless! That would last forever and we wouldn’t be able to sell you another $1,000 one in 10 years!

I hate corporate America. What part of their business they couldn’t ship overseas, they brought in Indians and Mexicans to replace American workers at half the price! Which is a lie of course, we the taxpayers just pick up the wages they don’t pay through welfare and other social costs. You cannot beat the system.

There are consequences to cronyism

Leave a reply

Sarah Palin might have coined the phrase ‘crony capitalism’. Describing how business and politics function in America, in a parasite / host relationship. Recently in Fort Dodge a pastor was murdered by a crazy person with a long history of violence. There’s only so many times you can talk about lazy county prosecutors who, if they did their job, we wouldn’t have these homicidal maniacs walking the streets. But, to the point, former Governor Branstad closed down the mental hospitals. He couched it as “saving money” through privatization.

When in reality what he was doing was funneling taxpayer money to his cronies under the guise of ‘residential treatment facilities’. So instead of Iowa being in the top 10 for mental health treatment, with very good inpatient facilities, we sunk overnight to the bottom 10. And pastors in Fort Dodge (Allen Henderson) get murdered (by Joshua Pendleton) because of political payoffs. Cronyism has consequences.