Ron Paul Visits ISU in Ames, Ia.

10-26-07

Ames, Ia. was the site of a large meet-up for Ron Paul fans as hundreds gathered to hear the congressional Texan and presidential candidate talk. His speech was titled, “Limited Government and the Constitution,” and he delivered it in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union at Iowa State University.

After his speech Paul sat down with reporters for forty minutes answering questions on drug and energy policies, terrorism, and his presidency.

In this video, he talks about his first action as president and Commander-in-Chief of the military. He also discusses some motivations for the rise in the price of oil, the motivations of terrorists, and the private contractors and sub-contractors in Iraq.

And here is a small part of his speech:

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Eastern Iowan Maggie Tinsman on Rudy Giuliani

Former state Sen. Maggie Tinsman is pro-choice and also one of four state co-chairs for Rudy Giuliani’s Iowa campaign.

She was in Iowa City last week giving a talk on “Politics: Why Your Voice Matters” at an event sponsored by the University of Iowa Women’s Resource and Action Center. She told the Iowa Independent she wanted to encourage more women to get involved in politics.

She said that it wasn’t just his “phenomenal” response to 9/11 that attracted her to Giuliani. Like her, Giuliani is pro-choice but “against abortion.” According to Tinsman, Giuliani “doesn’t think the government should be involved with people’s medical, personal, and religious decisions.”

Tinsman, known as a political centrist, said the former mayor is “much more middle of the road than people have made him out to be.”

Students for Rudy Giuliani

 

Rudy Giuliani spoke before a mostly collegiate crowd of about 500 at the Iowa Memorial Union in Iowa City on Wednesday.

One of those students, Jimmy Centers, introduced the man he says will be the next president. Centers is the chairman of Students for Giuliani on the University of Iowa campus. He said that Rudy Giuliani is the only Republican candidate with an Iowa campaign office east of Des Moines.

Jill & Hunter Biden at Johnson County BBQ

Photo by Iowa Independent’s Tom Lindsey.

Jill Biden and family are in Iowa more and more to campaign for Sen. Joe Biden. Iowa is becoming like second home for many in the Biden clan.

In this video, son Hunter Biden explains why Iowa is such a great place to campaign for his Delaware Senator dad.

Read the rest of Tom Lindsey’s interview with Beau, Hunter and Jill Biden at the Iowa Independent.

Coining “Diversity” with Chief Red Hawk

For Chief Red Hawk, diversity can be seen as two sides of the same coin.  Where many might see only differences, he believes similarities also play into an understanding of diversity.

Red Hawk was the keynote speaker Monday at Iowa’s Mosaic Diversity Conference in Des Moines at the Polk County Convention Complex.

For Red Hawk, differences and similarities help to define what diversity means.  He said that any time two people are standing next to each other, there is diversity because no two people are exactly alike.

His inclusive framing of the politically-correct buzz-word helped many in attendance understand that diverse relationships can mean more than simple differences in skin color or gender.

Red Hawk is a North Carolina Cherokee, related to the Oklahoma Cherokee.  He noted with a smile that the two geographically-separated Cherokee groups generally dislike each other, but because they are the same tribe with different histories, they illustrate his point about similarities and differences being two sides of the same coin.

Plains Justice: Fighting Coal Power

The state of Iowa’s City Development Board today rejected a proposal for the annexation of 345 acres to build a 750-megawatt coal plant east of Waterloo. Opponents of the plant are calling the decision a “major victory.” The area under review contains the property of Merle Bell whose family has farmed the same 40 acres for over a century.

Carole Yates of the Cedar Prairie Group of the Sierra Club said, “It was clear that this annexation was not in the public interest.” Sierra Club organizer Mark Kresowik predicted, “This is the beginning of the end for LS Power in Iowa.”

New Jersey-based LS Power is the company behind the coal plant project, called Elk Run Energy Station.

Both the Sierra Club and Mt. Vernon non-profit law firm Plains Justice filed briefs against the proposal.

In this video, Carrie LeSeur of Plains Justice, talks about some of the reasons she gave up practicing law at a private firm and started doing environmental justice work. She spoke in front of about 500 people gathered at a Sept. 9 rally on Merle Bell’s farm.

Obama vs Clinton: Family Politics in Johnson County

College students for Obama, right? And health care workers for Hillary? Not in the Taylor family. Christine Taylor and her mom, Pauline, agree on their political party, but they prefer different candidates for president. Christine likes Hillary for her emphasis on health care, especially for children. But her mom will be caucusing for Obama.

Pauline Taylor has taken her daughter, Christine, to Democratic events in Johnson County since Christine was seventeen days old. Christine registered to vote on the day she turned 18 years old and thanks in part to her mom, she’s never missed a Johnson County BBQ.

Now it’s the young mother’s turn to raise a Democratic youngster, her three-month-old son.

In this video, they talk about their family, the lifetime of Democratic politics for Christine and the lifetime ahead for Christine’s first child, Michael Anthony Taylor.

Forest Whitaker Represents Barack Obama in the IC, IA

 

Forest Whitaker has won numerous awards and achievements for his acting and directing roles in film and television. He was in Iowa City to represent Barack Obama at the Johnson County Democratic BBQ on Saturday, giving a speech that enumerated the reasons he supports Senator Barack Obama’s bid for the Democratic presidential candidacy.

In this video, Forest Whitaker talks about a conversation he had with Barack Obama. He is introduced by former state senator Jean Lloyd-Jones.

Richardson Will “Turn Country Around” 10.6.7

 

When P.J. Sesker-Green met Gov. Bill Richardson two months ago at the Iowa State Fair she knew that he was the candidate for her.

At the Johnson County BBQ in Iowa City, she introduced the candidate to the hot and humid crowd. Afterwards, she told me that Bill Richardson has the experience to, “turn this country around and get people working together again.”

Sesker-Green works with Operation First Response supporting “wounded heroes and their families.” Her nephew, Sgt. Daniel Sesker, was killed by an IED in Iraq.

She says she felt his deep compassion and understanding regarding the service and sacrifice of U.S. troops, like her nephew’s, in Iraq. Richardson told her that he would bring all of the troops home.

P.J. Sesker-Green said he was the only candidate who promised her that he would bring the troops home.

Caucus Iowa

In this 3 minute video, meet Mark Holub, the project manager for the “Caucus Iowa” exhibit at the State Historical Museum.

More at:
Iowa Independent.com: “Caucus Iowa” Exhibit Opens at State Historical Museum

http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1227