Monday Mix

Monday Mix: Linux Free

Linux Monday is postponed again this week, with the main laptop STILL in the shop. I've got some good ideas for the coming weeks but I need my tools back.

Meanwhile, we'll dig into the mailbag:

Dale Shultz attended Dave Loebsack's Cedar Rapids fundraiser and writes:

There were about 60 people there, despite the snow, and one group drove up from Mt. Pleasant. Dave is working hard to make sure that Iowa gets its fair share of the disaster relief money. He has met with Axelrod and Rahm Emmanuel (Rahm has a nickname for everyone - he calls Dave, "Lobes"). Dave said that Culver was very effective at a meeting with the HUD Secretary.

Dave and Terri arrived about 4:30, and Dave started speaking around 5:00, and then he answered some questions from the floor. He said that he is concerned about the lack of an exit strategy in Afghanistan, and said that he is good friends with Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), who turned against the Iraq invasion.

Elected officials that were present included CR Mayor Kay Halloran, Linn Supes Lu Barron and Ben Rogers, State Senators Rob Hogg and Tyler Olson, plus Jack Evans from the Board of Regents. I saw some JC activists there too, including Dick Myers, Brian Flaherty, and Emily Silliman.

Rahm could call people a lot of worse things.

Senate Candidate Bob Krause checks in on my post about him from last week:

Mr. Deeth, I think, depends too much in his analysis on the monoculture of the state legislature as a proving ground for candidates. He probably does not recognize that as chair of the Iowa Democratic Veterans Caucus that I have electronic access to literally thousands of veterans in Iowa, and they hear from me regularly. This is a unique state-wide base that cannot be duplicated by other candidates.

Fair enough, Bob; the Vets Caucus is a nice start. But that base will need to expand to the hundreds of thousands.

Thanks for reading, Bob, and for running. I took on a tough race myself a dozen years ago and it's easier to be a critic than to make the run. And also credit for the early start, the earliest for a Grassley opponent in ages.

No action on the Smallest Farm this weekend. They say spinach and peas are cold-hardy and now I'll find out; I've never had post-planting snow before. The seemingly innocuous White House veggie garden is under attack from... the big ag lobby, who writes to the First Lady:

Much of the food considered not wholesome or tasty is the result of how it is stored or prepared rather than how it is grown. Fresh foods grown conventionally are wholesome and flavorful yet more economical.

Hey, Michelle, the doctror called. Says Sasha and Malie aren't getting enough Roundup.