I want my money to go directly to the people in the most affected areas in Iowa.  The Grant Wood Chapter of the Red Cross covers the greater Cedar Rapids and Iowa City areas. You can also identify yourself as an Obama campaign supporter.

Our family lived in the area and frequently attended the Iowa Women's Basketball games in Iowa City.  It was a great adventure for my family to go to Iowa City.  And it was the closest place (50 miles away) to get bagels.  True, they were only Bruegger's, but hey, at least they were not frozen Lender's bagels!  The riverside road (now way under water) and the campus were beautiful.  Hancher Auditorium is where we saw Garrison Keillor do his Prairie Home Companion show.  And there was a great Lands End Outlet nearby campus where we shopped every time we went to Iowa City.

Please give.  Please give generously.

Update:  A massive thunderstorm with torrential rain and hail and a tornado in West Branch just pummeled eastern Iowa.  This may affect the height of the crest of the Iowa River in Iowa City and southeast of there.  Sandbaggers had to be pulled from the frontlines to seek shelter.  Say a prayer for the Hawkeyes.

My heart goes out to my old friends in Iowa.  It is much, much worse than the national news is portraying, because they are only showing major cities, such as Cedar Rapids which is experiencing a record 500 year flood.  The small towns along the Cedar and Iowa rivers and the farms are being devastated.  Think of the livestock, the waste treatment plants (destroyed or without power), and people's lives at risk not only from the rising waters, but lacking access to health care, and being exposed to what is in the water.  Go to the area papers, Cedar Rapids Gazette
and Iowa City Press-Citizen for the latest information and pictures.

Steph pushing her on gas tax.  She doesn't answer question on who is supporting this among economists.  I tuned in late, and she's already said elite 3 times.  An Obama supporter pushes her on this issue again.  She doesn't answer straightforwardly.  Pushes for the long distance commuter and truckers.  Total unreality.  This isn't going to happen this summer in Congress.

Tune into the Today Show for interview with both Barack and Michelle with Meredith Viera.  Matt is in Istanbul, btw.

Did you know 5 soldiers died in Iraq yesterday (the Pentagon announced their deaths Friday morning)?  How could you not know this?  Doesn't this qualify as "news"?  Hasn't this information been "on the news"?

more below......

Uff da!  That's Norwegian for "oh crap!"  It seems that the Inspector General of the CIA, John Helgerson, has crossed those who get their knickers in knots when their "It's OK to torture" ethic gets publicized and critized.  John Helgerson is calling them out, and now they are counter-attacking.

I've developed a friendly relationship with the young woman who cuts my hair.  She is very good at what she does and has plans to build her own business and own her own shop.  To start on her goal, she will attend community college part-time to take business courses.

In the course of our conversations every 6 weeks, I discovered she is dating a soldier who has already been to Iraq once.  He's stateside continuously training.  Many on his base have already gotten their orders for early winter deployment back to Iraq.  I made a few remarks showing my frustration with the war and Bush, and asked if she would prefer that I not talk about it, as it may be upsetting to her.  She said, on the contrary, that it helps her to talk about it, as there are few people she knows who do.  She added that she's started reading about candidates on the web, and I offered to send her links to the blogs I usually read.  

We talked further, and to my surprise she said that Bush should be impeached.  If my hairstylist says so, then the sentiment to do so must be huge!  What do you think?

Is anyone else absolutely thrilled that the Grammy went to the women who stood up to Bush?  They were pilloried by the right-wingers.  Their music was banned from hundreds of radio stations across the nation.  They were threatened.  Yet they stood up, wrote incredible music, and performed it across the country.  More after the flip.

If any of you missed their concerts, please buy and listen, really listen to their "Not Ready to Make Nice" CD.  

I had heard some of their music before, but I hadn't really listened to the lyrics.  Nor did I really listen to the music.  They are fine musicians. You won't be disappointed.  

Red Cross in need of Volunteers: Locally, the Red Cross is need of volunteers to answer phones and enter information into computers at the Red Cross Response Center in Falls Church. The Response Center is the phone bank where individuals affected by the Hurricane can call in for Red Cross assistance.

Individuals interested in volunteering at the Response Center should contact Sallie Hairfield at: HairfieldS@usa.redcross.org

Ideally, the Red Cross is looking for folks who can commit to at least 1 four-hour shift. The Response Center is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All training will be provided on-site. No prior Red Cross experience is needed.

Additionally, if anyone is interested (or has family/friends interested) in traveling to the Gulf Coast for 3 weeks to assist with the Relief Effort, the Red Cross chapters in our area are offering accelerated Disaster Services Training. Information on this training can be found at: www.arlingtonredcross.org

Copy and paste to your email lists.

There are no words to express the anger I feel about the GW's failure to proactively call up all the forces necessary to be ready to roll last weekend.

Anyone who knows anything about hurricanes knows that a Cat 5 huge storm hitting any coastline will destroy anything in its path!

Anyone who knows anything about gas and oil would know that rigs in the Gulf and refineries would be destroyed or inoperative for weeks if taking a Cat. 5 hurricane hit.

Anyone who knows anything about coastal wetlands and marshlands knows that destroying them worsens the devastation of a Cat. 5 hurricane hit.

Anyone who knows anything about worst case scenario planning knows that the old, unreinforced levees would be breached in a Cat. 5 hurrican hit.

And anyone who knows anything about being poor knows that people would be trapped because they didn't have the money to leave.

I could go on and on what he didn't know.

Folks, he will never know what he needs to know because he chooses to live in denial and ignorance.

People are dying as I write this because of this !@#$!