West Burlington IA News-Sports-Opinion

Falcon

Just wondering, if a ceiling tile fell down in Jeff Heland's house, would he move out and get a new house?

He is very good at spending other people's money. Maybe he can contribute some of his County insurance money that he is using to build his retirement fund from old poor people that he has raised their property taxes so he can continue benefiting financially. Take from the needy and give to the greedy!

-DMC Taxpayer

A Japanese doctor said, "Medicine in my country is so advanced that we took the kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have him looking for work in six weeks."

A German doctor said, "That's nothing, we can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in four weeks."

A British doctor said, "In my country, medicine is so advanced that we can take half of a heart out of one person, put it in another, and have them both looking for work in two weeks."

A Chicago doctor, not to be outdone said, "You guys are way behind. We took a man with no brains out of Chicago, put him in the White House, and now half the country is looking for work."

The Second Amendment provides Americans a fundamental right to bear arms that cannot be violated by state and local governments, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who wrote the opinion for the court, said: "It is clear that the Framers . . . counted the right to keep and bear arms among those fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty."

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Derivative Monster:
Alive and Kicking Despite Reforms

Anyone who thinks the new financial reform law will save us from the next debt disaster must be dreaming. Here are the facts ...

Fact: The U.S. derivatives that helped cause the last debt crisis are merely being shifted around like deck chairs on the Titanic.

Fact: Nothing whatsoever is being done about the derivatives monster overseas, which is more than TWICE as big.

Fact: Most important, despite months of debate and thousands of pages of legislation, the two biggest risk-mongers of all — the Treasury and the Fed — didn't even get a slap on the wrist. They got more power.

Little has been done to address the huge derivatives risks that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned about 16 years ago in its landmark study, Financial Derivatives, Actions Needed to Protect the Financial System.

And nothing has been done to address the risks we warned Congress about 15 months ago in our white paper, "Dangerous Unintended Consequences."

Need proof? Then read on ...

Fact #1
Derivatives at U.S. Banks to Be Shifted
Like Deck Chairs on the Titanic

In its latest update, the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reports that the national value of derivatives held by U.S. commercial banks is $216.5 trillion, or nearly FIFTEEN times the nation's Gross Domestic Product.
Moreover, instead of diminishing, they're getting larger, up by $3.6 trillion — the equivalent of one full quarter of GDP — in just the most recent three-month period.

Yes, regulatory reform takes some steps in the right direction, such as getting a piece of this monster off the street and under the roof of exchanges. But how far is that going to go toward protecting investors if the beast keeps growing bigger?

Despite the new reforms, derivatives will continue to grow in size. And they will continue to be highly leveraged investments that put financial institutions, their trading partners, individual investors, and the entire financial system at risk.

Congress knows — or should know — what these risks are; the GAO explicitly warned about them 16 years ago, long before the 2008 debt crisis began. Derivatives create massive exposure to:

(a) credit risk, defined as "the possibility of loss resulting from a counter party's failure to meet its financial obligations";

(b) market risk, "adverse movements in the price of a financial asset or commodity";

(c) legal risk, "an action by a court or by a regulatory or legislative body that could invalidate a financial contract";

(d) operations risk, "inadequate controls, deficient procedures, human error, system failure, or fraud"; and

(e) system risk, a chain reaction of financial failures that could threaten the national or global banking system.

Are these risks addressed in financial reform? Only marginally.

Moreover, the GAO warned that a handful of big players accounted for the overwhelming bulk of the derivatives trading — a dangerous concentration of risk.

Has this risk diminished since then? No, it is even more deeply entrenched today: The latest OCC tally of the largest 25 banks (Table 1, pdf page 23) shows that ...

• Just FOUR of the largest commercial banks — JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, and Goldman Sachs — control $205.3 trillion in derivatives, or 94.9 percent of the total held by all U.S. banks.

• Only 25 of the top banks control $216.1 trillion in derivatives, or 99.82 percent of the total. In other words, for every $100 of derivatives, the big banks hold $99.82; while all the rest of the banks hold a meager 18 cents' worth.

Does the new regulatory reform address this intense concentration of risk? Hardly. In fact, I fear it could have precisely the opposite effect, tacitly giving the government's rubber stamp of approval to this dangerous oligopoly.

Fact #2
The Derivatives Monster Overseas Is Twice as Big.
But Nothing Whatsoever Is Being Done to Tame It.

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) reports that, at year-end 2009, the total notional amount of derivatives traded on the over-the-counter market globally was $614.7 trillion.

In addition, the total traded on organized exchanges was $21.7 trillion in futures contracts and another $51.4 trillion in options.
Grand total globally: $687.8 trillion.

Problem: At this juncture, strictly the portion held by U.S. banks (the $216.5 trillion tabulated by the OCC) has anything to do with the new legislation. The balance of $471.3 trillion — TWICE as much — remains outside the realm of any reforms.

Fact #3
Financial Reform Does Nothing to Curb
The Two Biggest Risk-Mongers of All:
The Treasury and the Fed

The financial reform bill grants both the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve new powers and responsibilities to control and monitor the risk-taking of large financial institutions.

What's ironic, however, is that these are precisely the agencies that have created — and continue to create — the greatest systemic risks of all:
• The Treasury, by running the largest federal deficits of all time, exposes the U.S. bond market to the same kind of contagion risk that recently struck Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Hungary. And ...
• The Federal Reserve, by massively increasing the U.S. monetary base, helps create the same kind of speculative bubbles that caused the debt crisis in the first place.

Clearly, Congress has done little more than tinker — fighting the last war, even as it sits on the powder keg of the next one.
My recommendation: Stay safe. And if you have speculative fund available, start now to stake out positions that stand to profit from the consequences of our government's failure to act decisively — higher interest rates and lower equity prices.

Good luck and God bless!

-Martin

This investment news is brought to you by Money and Markets. Money and Markets is a free daily investment newsletter from Martin D. Weiss and Weiss Research analysts offering the latest investing news and financial insights for the stock market, including tips and advice on investing in gold, energy and oil. Dr. Weiss is a leader in the fields of investing, interest rates, financial safety and economic forecasting. To view archives or subscribe, visit http://www.moneyandmarkets.com.

Under New Emergency Powers

President Obama will be handed the power to shut down the Internet for at least four months without Congressional oversight if the Senate votes for the infamous Internet ‘kill switch’ bill, which was approved by a key Senate committee Thursday and now moves to the floor.

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Falcon:

Our Founding Fathers quoted regularly from the Holy Bible. A recent study of some 15,000 of their surviving documents reveal direct biblical quotes 34% of the time. Other sources, which the founders quoted, include Baron Montesquieu, William Blackstone and John Locke. Quotes from these great thinkers demonstrate that they took 60% of their material from the Bible. As a result, our Founding Fathers quoted directly or indirectly from the Bible, fully 94% of the time.

And yet, there are those who say we are not, and never were a Christian nation.

There are those who cry out for some kind of separation of church and state.

What was intended originally is a government that would stay out of religion; not a religion that would stay out of state.

The 56 men who signed our Declaration were politicians representing their respective colonies. Many of them were directly responsible for authoring/ratifying their individual constitutions. Every one of the 13 original constitutions includes a reverence to the Almighty.
Examples:

“We the people of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom…”

“The people of this state (Connecticut)…by the Providence of God…hath the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent state.”

And just for your enjoyment, how about this one:
“Preamble. WE THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF IOWA, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of those blessings, do ordain and establish a free and independent government, by the name of the State of Iowa…”

Is America a Christian nation?

A 2008 Harris poll says 92% of all citizens surveyed professed a belief in the one true God of the Bible.

A 2010 Pew Research survey shows that 74% of all Americans interviewed professed to be Christian with Judaism a distant 2nd at 1.4%

Please join us in celebrating the God inspired birth of our Nation on July 4th, at 10:30 AM at a nondenominational praise service in downtown West Burlington.

We will be singing the great patriotic songs, listening to an inspired message from former active duty marine Pastor David Behlman of WB Christian Church, and joining together, rain or shine, for a very public worship service.

We hope to see any and all God-fearing Americans there!

-Dan West

Conservatives have maintained their leading position among U.S. ideological groups in the first half of 2010. Gallup finds 42% of Americans describing themselves as either very conservative or conservative. This is up slightly from the 40% seen for all of 2009 and contrasts with the 20% calling themselves liberal or very liberal.

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Falcon:

Isaiah 33:22 (New International Version)
22 For the LORD is our judge,
the LORD is our lawgiver,
the LORD is our king;
it is he who will save us.

Baron Charles Montesquieu wrote (1748) a highly influential book titled The Spirit of the Laws. He proposed that the might of government should be separated in order to allow power to check power. His idea of the three branches of our federal government was based on Isaiah 33:22; the Judicial, the Legislative and the Executive as in our judge, our lawgiver, our king.

Montesquieu was a major influence to the Founding Fathers. The 56 brave, pious men who authored and signed our Declaration Of Independence fully understood that bowing to an earthly king was not in God’s plan. The birth of our nation occurred when the Continental Congress laid this document upon the table for consideration. When the collaborators signed their names they pledged more than their lives, fortunes and sacred honor; they pledged their very souls.

They started this nation down the righteous path. We became a God-fearing country capable of self-rule. Never before in the history of man had such an opportunity arisen. Never before in the history of man were all the components in place; a spiritual people, a bountiful continent, an adequate separation from the motherland (ocean).

Our Nation, this experiment in autonomy, has endured and prospered because of the strong, moral foundation provided it. We could not, will not, carry on without such a principled standard to guide us.

Join us, the citizens of West Burlington, on July 4th at 10:30 AM as we celebrate this Nations Love of the one true God. We are hosting a nondenominational praise service under the big top right next to City Hall. We will be singing several of the great patriotic songs, there will be a Marine Honor Guard with a gun salute, a children’s choir and an inspired message from Pastor David Behlman of WB Christian Church.

Rain or shine, please join us. All God fearing Americans are welcome.

-Dan West

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A Southern California city caught in a budget squeeze has fired its entire workforce, including police.

The city council in Maywood, population 29,000, voted unanimously to outsource the municipality's jobs, including police protection.

"We will become 100 percent a contracted city," says Angela Spaccia, Maywood's interim city manager. Maywood will save about $164,375 by outsourcing all of its services.

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A top aide to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he believed Barack Obama knew of Blagojevich's plot to win himself a presidential Cabinet post in exchange for appointing Valerie Jarrett to the U.S. Senate.

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In a bizarre statement to police, the Oregon woman who claims that Al Gore fondled and groped her during a massage session described the former Vice President as a giggling "crazed sex poodle" who gave a "come hither" look before pouncing on her in a Portland hotel suite.

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6/22/10 - 6:12 p.m. at West Burlington Pool.
Robert William Bowling, 33, Burlington; warrant arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of controlled substance - prescription meds (two counts).

Falcon:

With all the problems Obama has caused the American people he’s now branching out to the family with the web site: www.fatherhood.gov

I would think he’d have more important things to do than interfere with the family. He’s sticking his nose into everyone else’s lives when no one asked him for his opinion.

He needs to clean up our immigration problems by sending all the wetbacks back to Mexico. Help support small business something he hasn’t done at all yet and create private sector jobs not government jobs.

Stop lying about jobs created when 98% of them are government and not in the private sector where most jobs are created.

Drop his cap and tax program that will devastate the American worker through excessive taxes, lower our standard of living and destroy another 2 million jobs a program entirely based on myth and false science perpetuated by the likes of Al “the mouth” Gore and other liberal greedy people whom Obama believes in without proof of their statements. The majority of the American people do not want any thing to do with his cap and tax program but he thinks he’s a Messiah, in his own mind putting him in the infallible arena.

His idea of immigration is to put up signs in Arizona warning Americans to not enter certain areas of Arizona because it’s over run with drug runners, wetbacks and other less desirable people from Mexico and this is in Arizona and not across the border in Mexico. Now he’s giving parts of our country to Mexican bandits and drug dealers. Has Obama no shame?

This Obama guy has no concept of the oath of office he took to defend our country which is something he has no plans on doing. His only desire is to destroy the American dream once and for all.

-Sickofhim

Thomas Sowell issues warning

When Adolf Hitler was building up the Nazi movement in the 1920s, leading up to his taking power in the 1930s, he deliberately sought to activate people who did not normally pay much attention to politics.

Such people were a valuable addition to his political base, since they were particularly susceptible to Hitler's rhetoric and had far less basis for questioning his assumptions or his conclusions.

"Useful idiots" was the term supposedly coined by V.I. Lenin to describe similarly unthinking supporters of his dictatorship in the Soviet Union.

Put differently, a democracy needs informed citizens if it is to thrive, or ultimately even survive.

In our times, American democracy is being dismantled, piece by piece, before our very eyes by the current administration in Washington, and few people seem to be concerned about it.

(more...)

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The US remained the world’s biggest manufacturing nation by output last year, but is poised to relinquish this slot in 2011 to China – thus ending a 110-year run as the number one country in factory production.

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Commercial property losses stress banks

83 bank closures so far this year is more than double the pace set in all of 2009, which was itself a brisk year for shutdowns. By this time last year, regulators had closed 40 banks. The pace has accelerated as banks' losses mount on loans made for commercial property and development.

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A blockbuster draft report from the European Commission saw the light of day recently, thanks to some reporting from Bloomberg. It highlights an incredibly dangerous Catch-22 facing many sovereign nations — the “Snowball Scenario.”

Let me give you an example how this works …

Suppose country A’s economy goes into the tank. The government responds by borrowing boatloads of money and spending like mad on stimulus packages.

The markets allow it to go on for a while. But then investors start to get antsy about all the debt being added to the government’s balance sheet. So they start dumping its bonds, driving prices lower and rates higher. That, in turn, forces the country to implement austerity measures to get its debt and deficit under control.

The problem?

Those moves send the economy BACK into the crapper! Government spending has to rise yet again to pay for things like unemployment insurance, new stimulus packages, and so on … at the same time tax revenues fall. That drives debts and deficits even higher.

The end game in this snowball scenario? A sovereign default!

And that’s not just a theory. In fact …

Snowballs Are Already Rolling Downhill in Spain, Greece, and Portugal

Spain is trying to slash its budget deficit from 11.2 percent to 9.3 percent in 2010 and 6 percent in 2011. Portugal wants to cut its deficit from 9.4 percent to 7.3 percent this year and 4.6 percent next year. They plan to do so by some combination of pension freezes, wage cuts, new taxes, and other measures.

But the European Commission, which is the executive arm of the European Union, says that probably won’t be enough. Its conclusion?

“While the newly announced measures are significant and the targets imply impressive budgetary consolidation, more measures are needed to meet those targets.”

The EU has told Spain and Portugal to get their budgets back in shape.
In plain English, the message is “Get even tougher! Crack down more! Slash spending! Raise taxes!”

But as the Commission admits, the governments it is counseling face “low GDP growth, poor competitiveness, stable or declining prices and wages and high real interest rates.” So it’s virtually impossible to avoid a “snowball effect on the government debt.”

Stay Cautious! Stay Safe!

Bond traders aren’t dumb. They can see this coming from a mile away. Yields on Spanish 2-year notes shot up recently, then eased a bit. But now they’re rallying yet again — hitting a new cycle high just this week.

Spanish borrowing costs have skyrocketed from 1.51 percent in March to 3.29 percent, the highest in 17 months! It now costs more on a relative basis for Spain to borrow than it does the euro-area’s main economy, Germany. And it’s the highest that the 10-year Spanish/German yield spread has been since 1999 — when the euro currency debuted.

Portugal is seeing costs rise, too. It’s paying 5.58 percent to borrow money for 10 years, up from 4.15 percent back in April.

Reports are surfacing that Spain may need a 250 billion euro ($307 billion) credit line from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, and possibly the U.S. Treasury.

Naturally, policymakers are denying that anything is in the works. But what do you expect them to do? These guys said the same thing about Greece, claiming it wasn’t at risk of defaulting. Then they pushed through a $135 billion bailout!

Use market rallies as selling opportunities.
In short, this sovereign debt crisis is playing out just like the private credit market crisis did before. It comes in waves — with periodic sharp drops triggered by some event, then some kind of bailout that makes everybody breathe a temporary sigh of relief, and finally yet another plunge as another hole appears in the dike.

My advice?

Don’t get suckered in by the short-term rallies. This sovereign debt crisis is nowhere near over, and that means you have to stay cautious and safe in your investments.

Consider using inverse ETFs to hedge risk, keeping positions small, and dumping stocks into sharp rallies if you’re lucky enough to get them.

Until next time,

Mike Larson

This investment news is brought to you by Money and Markets. Money and Markets is a free daily investment newsletter from Martin D. Weiss and Weiss Research analysts offering the latest investing news and financial insights for the stock market, including tips and advice on investing in gold, energy and oil. Dr. Weiss is a leader in the fields of investing, interest rates, financial safety and economic forecasting. To view archives or subscribe, visit http://www.moneyandmarkets.com.

"The big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is bad enough in itself. But politics can make anything worse. Let's stop and think. Either the government knows how to stop the oil spill or they don't. If they know how to stop it, then why have they let thousands of barrels of oil per day keep gushing out, for weeks on end? All they have to do is tell BP to step aside, while the government comes in to do it right. If they don't know, then what is all this political grandstanding about keeping their boot on the neck of BP, the Attorney General of the United States going down to the Gulf to threaten lawsuits -- on what charges was unspecified -- and President Obama showing up in his shirt sleeves? Just what is Obama going to do in his shirt sleeves, except impress the gullible? He might as well have shown up in a tuxedo with white tie, for all the difference it makes. This government is not about governing. It is about creating an impression. That worked on the campaign trail in 2008, but it is a disaster in the White House, where rhetoric is no substitute for reality. ... This is not about oil. This is about snake oil."

--economist Thomas Sowell

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday took its first formal step towards the adoption of new regulations for the broadband industry, setting the stage for what could become one of the most expensive lobbying campaigns to hit Capitol Hill by major telecommunications and cable providers.

In a 3-2 vote along party lines, Democrats at the FCC on Thursday agreed to begin formal consideration to adopt new rules for high- speed internet.

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Falcon,

The executives of BP going to the White House is totally reprehensible. This is nothing more than making a pact with evil just like the corporations did with Hitler. Unemployed drilling workers were put on the unemployment line by Obama's vile policy of no more deep water drilling, yet BP must foot the bill. How about Obama allowing drilling to take place again? That would be the best bet. Of course, how can we forget, Barack Hussein Obama does not care about putting these people back to work, he wants to destroy capitalism and make former workers addicts to government handouts. Then BP is going to have a "trust" fund administered by congress? I trust corporate executives a lot more than the crooked politicians in D.C. Do you really trust the same people that "borrowed" from the social security "trust" fun to administer the funds in a proper manner? I foresee them raiding it for pet projects then shaking down BP for more money to put back in there. Now a suspension of all dividends for the rest of the year. That is going to make people really want to invest money in BP to keep it afloat. Why should I as a shareholder keep my stock or buy more to only be told we cannot recoup our investment back? Perhaps I will find someone like Shell oil to buy my stock. The only thing that came out of this was Obama wants more power to dictate to corporations what to do, and how to do it. People are all rallying around cheering for this. Little do they realize that the consumer is going to pay. Just wait till gas hits $5.00/gallon to cover the costs that BP willingly made with a dictator like Hugo Chavez. All Obama wants to do is punish BP and implement a ban on fossil fuels. This pact will eventually allow that to happen. Remember, Rhom Emanuel is not going to let this crisis go to waste.

Now as for BP, they should have never went to the meeting. They should have told Obama to go to hell and that their @$$ was available to kiss. Remember they have the leverage right now. BP needs to say, we are not going to even bother fixing the leaking well until these conditions are met:

1. The government will not nationalize BP
2. Cap and Trade will never be voted on.
3. Filthy crooked cronies in D.C will not adminster one dime of the trust fund
4. All czars, special commisions, and tribunals will end immediately
5. Off-shore drilling will continue to happen unimpeeded
6. BP is allowed to raise its prices to recoup the financial loss incured
7. Prosecution and admition of guilt by the admnistration for sabotaging the well causing the explosion and spill.

Unless all conditions are met, the oil will flow freely.
That is what BP needed to do. Anyone who holds stock in the company needs to vote out all executive officers that met with Obama at the next shareholder meeting.

-Proud Patriot

The federal government would have “absolute power” to shut down the Internet under the terms of a new US Senate bill being pushed by Joe Lieberman, legislation which would hand President Obama a figurative “kill switch” to seize control of the world wide web in response to a Homeland Security directive.

Lieberman has been pushing for government regulation of the Internet for years under the guise of cybersecurity, but this new bill goes even further in handing emergency powers over to the feds which could be used to silence free speech under the pretext of a national emergency.

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WHO RADIO GREAT IOWA TRACTOR RIDE COMES TO SOUTHEAST IOWA FOR FOUR DAYS!

(Des Moines, IA) The tractors, 575 to be exact, are coming to Southeastern Iowa on June 20-23 for the WHO Radio Great Iowa Tractor Ride! With more than 750 participants, and another 400+ family members, this event promises to get people talking TRACTORS!

“We are really excited to use Burlington as our home base this year,” said Janine Van Vark, one of the many coordinators of the event. “The people here have been absolutely fantastic to work with and have made us feel like we are at home and a part of their community.”

The WHO Radio Great Iowa Tractor Ride will begin on Sunday, June 20th. Tractors will be parked on Sunday at the Community Field Parking lot on Mt Pleasant Street. Our Registration and Base will be at PZAZZ! Entertainment Complex. According to Van Vark, tractors and participants will begin rolling in sometime around 8 AM and continue arriving throughout the day. “Sunday is our gathering day, where the participants register, and get their tractors shined up and ready to roll on Monday morning.” We encourage the public to come and look over the Tractors, visit with the Drivers and have lunch at the Community Field. The Local Des Moines County Cattlemen will be serving sandwiches.

Monday, June 21
Burlington to West Point

Monday, June 21 the tractors start rolling at 7 AM toward their lunch stop in West Point. “We’ll roll tractors every 30 – 45 minutes on Monday morning. We find that putting some space between the groups helps with traffic control on the highways,” Van Vark said. With eight total tractor groups, Van Vark hopes to have the last tractors leave Burlington around 11:00 AM.

The beauty of Southeast Iowa begins early as we will take our morning break in Geode State Park at the Beach Area. With tractors then continuing on the road to arrive at Merschman Seed in West Point about 10:45am. Merschman Seed will be hosting all the Tractor Drivers to “free“ lunch which includes a locally homemade Bratwurst. Tractors will continue arriving until about 1:30 PM. “In the 14 years of our Tractor Ride we have never had a Sponsor provide us with a “free“ lunch, Van Vark said. “Merschman Seed is a Family owned Seed Company that demonstrates great hospitality along with seed genetics bar none. The Tractor groups (8 total) head to the afternoon stop at Elder Implement, also a Sponsor, in Houghton. Each group will take a 20 minute break and head back to Burlington for the evening. Tractors will arrive back at the Community Field from 3 pm to 6:30 pm.

Van Vark encourages the public to come out and view the beautifully displayed tractors Monday night.

Tuesday, June 22
Burlington to Mediapolis

On Tuesday, June 22, tractors begin rolling out of the Community Field at 7am, as they head toward Mediapolis for lunch. Tractor groups will roll out every 30 - 45 minutes until 10:30 am on Tuesday.

Van Vark expects to see the first tractors in Mediapolis around 10:45 on Tuesday morning, with groups continuing to arrive until about 1:30. “We anticipate lunch on Tuesday to be a great experience in Mediapolis. FFA Students will be posted throughout the town helping with directions. Our lunch Sponsor in Mediapolis is Big River Resources,” Van Vark adds. “Big River Resources was our first area Sponsor this year. They wanted to make sure the message about Ethanol was a key component to our drivers. The afternoon route does includes a “drive through” of the plant in West Burlington. But first the Drivers will take in the bluffs on Highway 99 and then a break at the Flint Hills Golf Course throughout the early afternoon. Staying north of Burlington, we will head to Big River Resources but evening parking location will change. We will be headed down Highway 34 from 3pm to 6:30 pm to arrive at the Port of Burlington for an evening in downtown Burlington. “I am stressing to the Drivers….NO Tractor Tire Dipping!” Van Vark also adds that she and WHO Radio are very appreciative to the City of Burlington for allowing this to occur. Again we welcome the public to come take pictures and visit with the Drivers.

Wednesday, June 23
Port of Burlington to Gladstone, Il.

“I think I can safely say this is a first,” Van Vark said. On Wednesday morning approximately 575 tractors will cross the Burlington Bridge to Illinois. The route will be shorter, only 35 miles as it is our last day. The scenic view, a break to watch Barges load on the Mississippi and drive through Twomey Company, one of the largest grain storage facilities in the Midwest promises to be a first for many of our drivers. Lunch will be offered in the park/VFW building in Gladstone. After lunch Tractors will be headed back to our base in Burlington to load up and head home. Tractors will be on Highway 34 between 12:30 pm - 3 pm.

WHY?

Now that you have all of the information, many of you may be wondering WHY a Tractor Ride? We come together for four days of fun and fellowship, to celebrate Iowa’s rich agricultural heritage. We hope to make a positive impact to your communities and perhaps bring a smile or encourage an old childhood memory. The Drivers might not see each other, or talk again until next year!” But for the hundreds that participate, it’s become an annual “tradition“.

For complete WHO Radio Great Iowa Tractor Ride information, visit our website, www.whoradiotractorride.com

Falcon:

Guess What? Obama wants to put us another $50 billion in debt under the guise of saving teacher jobs to those states like California where they spend like idiots, who have absolutely no responsibility or accountability just like Obama. Of course most of the $50 billion will go to bureaucratic worthless dimwits that have ruined the American education system and none of the money will trickle down to the teacher who believe me, are not starving. The Obama regime has not spent one dime on the private sector and it doesn’t intend to because it wants to destroy the private sector. His aim is to destroy the private sector and make everyone dependent on government which has never worked anywhere in the world. All the stimulus has gone to the public sector which is why it has failed and will continue to fail.

-Worriedtodeath

This is as good a time as any for investors to think long and hard about taking some profits off the table.

Why, you ask?

The Tax Man is coming to town on January 1, 2011. Taxes are going up across-the-board. So investors should seriously consider selling into any stock market strength ahead of the tax deadline. Doing this will enable investors to lock in a lower capital-gains tax this year and beat next year’s higher rates.

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Photo by Dan Hockett

St. Paul’s United Church of Christ Pastor Dean Moberg (center) stands with the congregation during their 125th anniversary celebration in West Burlington Sunday. The church was founded in 1885.

Falcon:

Obama says he would fire the CEO of BP if he worked for him yet when the head of Arlington Cemetery, an employee of the federal government who basically works for Obama does not get fired for his dereliction of section 27 of our national cemetery for over 19 years just goes to show how full of misrepresentations this president really is and no one can believe his Jekyll and Hyde statements.

If Obama were any kind of a boss he’d of fired the guy with reduced pension and any number of insubordinations and dereliction of duty charges but no, he gets off free of all charges and will collect his pension off the taxpayer for the rest of his life.

His insubordination went on for 19 years and he just walks away which just goes to show how our federal government has become nothing more than a haven for incompetent and irresponsible deadbeats who could never make it in the private sector but in government they flourish because government has become a safe haven for the lower forms of life who do little to earn their excessive pay, benefits and retirement.

The American people would be better off if it were possible to outsource our government employees including the congress along with the other two branches.

These are the same people that have replaced the constitution with their nanny form of politically correctness and socialism. We’d all be better off if Arizona were running the country rather than the fools now in Washington.

-Disillusioned

Retail sales in May plunge by largest amount in 8 months, raising worries about recovery.

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Falcon

It cost $12.00 more per hour to employ government employees. We are feeling this same burden here locally but no elected official will address it. Our taxes continue to go up to pay for annual pay raises, Free health insurance, growing pensions and LESS services. Pensions are base on a percentage of the employee's pay. The pay increases each year and the pension funds are an out of control burden to the tax payer. It is hurting everybody but the government employee.

Every year, including this year, the local government does not have enough money to repair the City streets or County roads that were promised, but they give out nice pay raises to every employee. It happens every year. Who gets free health insurance in America in 2010 other than government employees? Elected officials to part-time positions are receiving it too. County supervisors receive free health insurance, but they can't find the money to clean the down tree limbs from the bridges in the creeks. There is one example. Pensions are sky rocketing. Government employees retire and earn more than the average person that is working. When the pension funds drop, taxes are raised to build the pension funds back up. Everybody in this economy has sacrificed except the government employees. Some at the State level have taken furloughs but nothing changed for the Local governments. They got their pay raises every year, still get the free insurance unless they are taking the money (Heland) and their retirement gets bigger.

And now they expect all of us taxpayers to vote to raise our taxes so they can have a nice new police and sheriff building. We all would like a nice new building. Fix the streets first and pay for some of your health insurance like the rest of us local citizens and we will vote for it.

-Taxed enough

It costs about $12 more per hour to employ a state or local government worker versus a private sector employee, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

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Jo's view on immigration is outside reality.

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6/8/10 - 2:25 p.m. at 14876 Washington Rd. #64 Timberline Estates.
Stormie Dawn Barsten, 25, West Burlington; third degree harrassment.

6/4/10 - 5:10 p.m. at DMC Correctional Center.
Steven Robert Welcher, 49, West Burlington; Des Moines County warrant for parole violation.

New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that a majority of American union members now work for the government. The pattern of unions adding members in government while losing members in the private sector accelerated during the recession. The typical union member now works in the Post Office, not on the assembly line.

Representing government employees has changed the union movement’s priorities: Unions now campaign for higher taxes on Americans to fund more government spending. Congress should resist government employee unions’ self-interested calls to raise taxes on workers in the private sector.

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Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Victoria Kennedy — widow of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) — are expected to be named co-chairmen of a $125 million campaign that White House allies are rolling out to defend health care reform amid growing signs Democrats are failing to get political traction on the issue.

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U.S. debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015, according to a Treasury Department report to Congress.

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Falcon,

As you take a ride around our county you see many political signs asking for your vote to a particular candidate. I wonder how many of those land and homeowners actually know anything about the candidate they support. With the turn outs at the political gatherings being only a handful of people who care about issues and want to know who is running makes you wonder who cares.

If you asked those people with signs how they know about the candidate they are supporting they are relying on word of mouth, mailings, Ads, TV. Unions and family members.

This is a sad state of affairs of our political system and our Freedoms. Failure to educate yourself about who you put into office is only going to disappoint you in the end.

As Americans we knew what we had in Washington, Iowa, Des Moines County, and our city officials in office during the last elections and we can clearly see were that got us. We put these people in positions that made things worse that we had before. Now is the time to start making selections on what you know and what you have researched not what you have been told.

We can clearly see the idiots that keep raising our taxes and pushing social programs to save us from ourselves, but who is going to save us from them.
We are afraid to discuss politics with friends and family because we have to be politically correct not to hurt someone’s feelings for numerous reasons,

• Spouses do not want to discuss issues they are affair of hurting feelings
• Friends do not want to discuss candidates since they think differently and afraid
• Business owners don’t want to lose business and are afraid
• Union members afraid because they do not believe the union platform
• Employees afraid of losing their job if they do not agree with employer
• Conflicts with one’s own beliefs.
• Pastors tells us this is how we should morally believe

You cannot fault yourself when you are lied to, but you are to blame if you failed to check out candidates prior to voting

• Ask questions
• Talk to people about the issues
• Stop being afraid
• Contact the candidates
• Take a stand on what you know and not what you have been told

Take responsibility

-G. Deen

"When I joined the military it was illegal to be homosexual, then it became optional.

I'm getting out before Obama makes it mandatory."

-GySgt, USMC

Falcon,

At the end of Nick Bergin's The Hawk Eye hagiography of Roxanne Conlin http://www.thehawkeye.com/story/conlin-060710 we are told that: "In 1982, she lost a primary bid to run for governor." In fact, she was the 1982 Democrat nominee and lost to Terry Branstad in the general 53-46%.

Doesn't The Hawk Eye have anyone who can proofread or fact check?

The 1982 race was notable for her admission that, despite being a multi-millionaire and advocating tax increases, she used tax shelters to avoid paying income tax. Just a few days ago, the Des Moines Register http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100604/NEWS09/6040375/Roxanne-Conlin-s-tax-credits-total-64-2-million-in-19-years reported that Conlin and her husband have received $64.2 million in the last 19 years from federal low-income housing tax credits.

-Horace Greeley

"[T]o preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
--Federal Farmer

"Gun owners might not feel besieged right now, but they should be very concerned. [Recently] the Obama administration announced its support for the UN Small Arms Treaty. This treaty poses real risks for freedom and safety in the United States as well as the rest of the world. According to the U.N., guns used in armed conflicts cause 300,000 deaths worldwide every year. Their proposed solution is a simple one. Keep rebels from getting guns by requiring that countries 'prevent, combat and eradicate' what those countries define as 'the illicit trade in small arms.' The UN's solution isn't too surprising when one looks at the long list of notorious totalitarian regimes, such as Syria, Cuba, Rwanda, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, and Sierra Leone, which support these 'reforms.' But not all insurgencies are 'bad.' To ban providing guns to rebels in totalitarian countries is like arguing that there is never anything such as a just war. ... Political scientist Rudy Rummel estimates that 262 million people were murdered by their own government during the last century -- that is 2.6 million per year. This includes genocide, the murder of people for political reasons, and mass murder. Even if all 300,000 deaths from armed conflicts can be blamed on the small arms trade, an obviously false claim, people have much more to worry about from their governments.

... The Small Arms Treaty is just a back door way for the Obama administration trying to force through gun control regulations. With the huge standing ovation that House and Senate Democrats recently gave Mexican President Calderon for his advocacy of a new so-called 'Assault Weapons Ban,' Americans who care about self-defense have been put on notice."

--economist John Lott

The time-honored tradition of the political townhall meeting is teetering close to extinction for Democrats. Of 255 Democrats who make up the US House majority, only a handful held townhall meetings last week in their home districts.

It was no accident.

With images of angry, finger-waving crowds still seared into their memory, most Democrats followed their party leaders' advice and avoided unscripted question-and-answer sessions. Party instructions were clear: hold events only in controlled settings — a bank or credit union, or tour local businesses or participate in community service projects.

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"The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity. At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms. The intersection of these two issues is what we're getting together to discuss."

The National Academy of Sciences framed the problem two years ago in a landmark report entitled "Severe Space Weather Events—Societal and Economic Impacts." It noted how people of the 21st-century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. Smart power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity. A century-class solar storm, the Academy warned, could cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.

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Falcon:

The Obama and other leftist ideas on immigration are to let all the criminals become citizens in order to bolster the democratic voter bank. Why would any country admit people of little to no education in to become citizens? The Democratic Party wants unintelligent people; people they can make believe they are helping when they have no intentions of helping anyone, just look what they’ve done to the black family with their great society program.

Black families have been destroyed by all the entitlements and free rides they’ve been given along with affirmative action and so on. Less than 30 percent of black children now know who their dads are when before the Great Society it was about the same as whites, close to 70 percent or better. Government has again shown its ugly head through its worthless attempts at creating social justice or whatever it was they intended on doing for blacks. Government destroyed their family life making mothers become both parents and putting all those children in education jeopardy by not having a father and a mother in what has been proven to be the best for children all the way around.

We now have all these people uneducated, on welfare, unemployed, and fatherless because government thought they were the great equalizer. Black people should have no love for the party responsible for destroying their families under the guise “we’re helping them” when all they want are their votes.

Iowa alone spent $100 million on illegal aliens last year helping support them while the entire country spent $12 billion on illegal aliens that have no right to even be in our country. Our government both state and federal is making suckers out of the American taxpayer by supporting illegal aliens in our country.

How much longer will the American taxpayer continue to fund this invasion of our country by illegal uneducated aliens from Mexico? Send them all back home because we really don’t need them here. Three presidents have run them out before and now because we don’t have strong independent thinkers in the White House anymore, to take command of the situation, they’ll want to make them citizens and further the burden on taxpayers.

-Disgusted

Falcon,

I noticed in the Weiss report that several local banks were not mentioned at all. I wonder how they managed to escape the scrutiny of this report. If they were not on the list then maybe they are already dead and we just do not know it.

With these banks not on the list makes you want to ask more questions than the Weiss report can give. As a holder in several of these banks you need to look to see who accepted TARP monies and those who did not. I know of one bank that accepted TARP is not listed; the other that did not want the strings of the federal government received a poor score. Does this start to make you want to ask more questions?

Question for Matthew C. Morris President/CEO of Fort Madison Bank & Trust Co is did you accept tarp money?

Those that had an A rating did they accept tarp?

I have more questions than answers and who would want to make sure banks would want to fail?

-Alfredo The Brain

Alfredo,

-Falcon

Falcon:

Most bankers can be rated on a par with the respect lawyers, politicians and car salesmen rank on the scale of most admired professions.

Just ask yourself why bankers were so opposed to the way credit unions operate in Iowa? That alone tells one what a banker thinks about. If one were to compare fees of a credit union and a bank it’s easy to see why bankers are so afraid of credit unions and would like to destroy their operations.

Ask a bank for a copy of their fees and just look them over and by the way, I think it’s the law they have to provide you with the list of fees. It’s just amazing how many ways a bank can rip a person off on a daily basis.

-Wondering

Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, are separating after 40 years of marriage.

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Divorce pains the planet

As if the burden of divorce weren't bad enough, people with failed marriages can be blamed for global warming, according to a study by Michigan State University.

Divorced couples use up more space in their respective homes, which amounts to to 38 million more rooms worldwide to light, heat and cool, noted the report.

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5/29/10 - 4:18 a.m. at Agency & Roosevelt, Burlington.
Ronald Kirkland Warden, 25, West Burlington; possession of drug paraphernalia.

Saddled with an aging population and runaway budget deficits, Canada is taking tough measures to curb healthcare costs. A crisis for the Canadian healthcare model favored by President Obama.

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