During the first half of 2009, there were 70 HIV diagnoses — 17 more than the average for the first halves of the years from 2004 to 2008. In addition, AIDS diagnoses in the first half of the year numbered 46, which is seven more than the average from the previous five years.

Jerry Harms, HIV/AIDS surveillance coordinator, was quick to remind state officials in a memo that because the state has a small percentage of population living with HIV and/or AIDS, such increases can disproportionately impact percentages in the reporting. A more complete picture, however, should be available in March when the state is scheduled to release full surveillance statistics for 2009.

As of June 30, 2009, a total of 2,147 people were believed to be living with HIV or AIDS resided in Iowa. HIV/AIDS advocates warn that these surveillance figures do not adequately represent true totals since some individuals who have contracted the disease either have yet to be tested or are avoiding testing. Also, since the state reporting relies on notifications from health care providers, both in and out of state as individuals move, the data might not always been 100 percent accurate.

Among those newly diagnosed with HIV during the first half of 2009 were two children, who acquired the virus perinatally. One child, an infant whose mother was diagnosed with HIV prior to pregnancy, was infected due to apparent failure of prenatal care, according to Harms. Little is known in relation to the other child, who was born outside of Iowa.

The largest concentrations of individuals living with HIV or AIDS remain near Iowa’s population centers. Polk County, home to Des Moines, has the largest total number reported with 602 residents. Scott County, the location of Davenport and Bettendorf, is second highest with 199. Other counties with totals above 100 are Linn County (Cedar Rapids) and Johnson County (Iowa City). Only 8 of Iowa’s 99 counties did not have a person living with HIV or AIDS as of June 30.

The large percentage jump in cases comes as little surprise to those tasked with administering the states’ allotments through the Ryan White Care Act. In September, The Iowa Independent reported that eight predominantly rural states had waiting lists associated with a prescription program for those living with HIV and AIDS, and how the need was due to both increasing diagnoses and current economic realities.

The Sept. 15 memo, authored by three key officials within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, instructs all agency officers “to hold in abeyance any waiver application and associated benefit request (such as adjustment of status or refugee), which would be denied under current law, if the only ground of inadmissibility is that the applicant has been diagnosed with HIV infection.”

The move to end the 22-year ban on HIV positive immigrants began in August 2008 when Pres. George W. Bush signed the reauthorization of a law that allowed the Department of Health and Human Services to consider removing HIV infection from the list of “communicable diseases of public health significance” that bar immigrants from entering the country. In July the agency published a proposed amendment to that effect and began accepting public comment on the rule change. There are currently 12 countries that prohibit entry of HIV-positive immigrants — Armenia, Brunei, Iraq, Libya, Moldova, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sudan and the U.S.

In light of the HHS proposed rule, USCIS will not deny any adjustment, refugee, or other benefit application if the sole ground of denial of the application would be based on inadmissibility due to HIV infection. Nor will USCIS deny any waiver application if the sole ground of inadmissibility is HIV infection. If the applicant’s sole ground of inadmissibility is HIV infection, and the officer finds either that the alien does not qualify for a waiver, or that a waiver is not warranted as a matter of discretion, all written decisions should state that the case will be placed on hold and automatically reexamined by USCIS, pending the outcome of the rule. The hold is only for cases where the application would be approved, but for the HIV infection.

The memo prepares workers within the agency for a repeal (if only interim) of the HIV infection ban, which is a significant shift in immigration policy. The decision on the proposed rule is expected within the next few weeks.

More than 1.1 million people in the U.S. are infected with HIV, and more than 250,000 are estimated to unknowingly have the disease. Although the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Iowa remains relatively low when compared to other states — as of Dec. 31, 2008, there were 2,045 such people in the state — Iowa has seen increasing numbers each year since statistics have been kept. In addition, the state estimates that there are an additional 500 to 625 individuals in the state who have the virus but are unaware of their status.

Although a diagnosis of HIV was initially considered a death sentence, the disease has become a manageable, chronic condition that can be controlled with medications.

Donald Baxter of Iowa City was considered for prosecution under Iowa's criminal transmission of HIV law as a result of an altercation where Baxter claims he was only defending himself.

An interesting person with a history that spans from civil rights activities in Alabama and Georgia to clashes with local law enforcement in Iowa City, Baxter’s life story alone would likely be enough to prompt this article. But that’s not the reason for this interview. The unfortunate reality is that Baxter is one of about 3,000 people in living Iowa who are identified by the state as dangerous weapons worthy of regulation.

Sixteen years ago this month, Baxter learned that he was HIV positive.

Looking Back

“I like to tell people that I got HIV from doing what I thought I was supposed to be doing,” he said. “That is, I was living in a supposedly monogamous relationship. At the time, I don’t even quite know what I was thinking about the possibility of the person I was seeing being HIV positive. I think, looking back on it, I probably knew.

“I was doing HIV testing counseling. I was telling people how to have safe sex — mostly young men who were going out to bars and picking up men that maybe they didn’t know very well. That wasn’t what I was doing. Still, I ultimately was not following my own advice.”

Baxter, who was then a resident of Atlanta, had been living with another man for roughly three years, and, for a variety of reasons, the couple was aware that the relationship was coming to a close. Baxter made plans to get tested in September, a yearly activity he did in conjunction with his birthday. Although he asked his boyfriend to come with him and be tested, the man refused. The couple broke up shortly after that, and before Baxter learned that he was HIV positive.

“He may have known and he may just have not wanted to tell me,” Baxter said. “Ultimately … it was my responsibility. I mean, this person did not give me HIV. I got it from him. I got it by the decisions that I made not to be safe or to be as safe as I could have been.”

That attitude of personal responsibility toward his own disease has sparked Baxter’s interest about Iowa’s criminal law regarding HIV, which is among the second-most-serious felonies that can be committed in the state. Although the law is titled “Criminal transmission of human immunodeficiency virus,” the reality is that actual transmission of the disease is not required for there to be a criminal act. A person who is aware of his/her HIV positive status, according to the law, can be charged with criminal transmission for engaging in intimate contact with another person, providing bodily fluids or organs or sharing non-sterile drug paraphernalia. The only defense for a person with a positive status who is charged with the offense is to prove that status was disclosed prior to the offending action.

In the 11 years since Iowa began prosecuting behavior that could result in transmission of HIV, a total of 36 individuals have faced charges. Of those, 24 have been convicted and have received sentences ranging from a few months on probation to several decades in prison. Baxter, who bit another man during a bicycle-vehicle traffic dispute in Iowa City, was considered for prosecution under the law.

Iowa Impact

“This guy was poking me in the face. One of his jabs went into my mouth and I bit down hard,” Baxter said. “I didn’t even think about it. I wasn’t thinking that I was HIV positive and that I shouldn’t be doing it. I was just thinking that this guy just shoved his f***ing finger in my mouth.”

Baxter had been riding his bicycle on a street near the University of Iowa. The man was driving a van, and, according to Baxter, came up too close behind him, honked and moved into the other lane to pass before pulling abruptly back in front of him, effectively cutting him off. When the man then made a turn and came to a stop outside the school of pharmacy building on campus, Baxter followed and confronted him.

“I hit the side of his window — still straddling my bike — and he gets out of the van. He reaches back between the front seats and gets a four-foot-long windshield scraper and starts beating the hell out of my face,” Baxter said. “His wife comes out of the building and she tried to get him to stop, but he pushed her and she fell down.”

Baxter, who admitted to confronting the driver, was charged several weeks later with assault causing injury, a serious misdemeanor. Nearly a year later, and following a jury trial, Baxter was found guilty and ordered to pay fines, complete community service and take an anger management class.

“When I was sentenced, which I think was about two weeks after the trial, I was pretty shocked. I had actually deluded myself into thinking that I could win it,” Baxter explained. “When we lost our motion to suppress [my] HIV [status] at trial, my lawyer told me we lost the case. He said that he had been at a wedding in Davenport over the weekend and just sort of threw this out as a hypothetical. As soon as the HIV status came up there was absolutely no sympathy for me whatsoever. The people at the wedding thought that I put this person in jeopardy.”

Whether or not Baxter did place the man in jeopardy is a subject of contention. Most virus experts agree that the possibility of transmitting HIV through saliva or other bodily fluids that are not blood is minuscule, but no one is ready to definitively say the disease cannot be transferred by those means. Also the Iowa law is written with a broad brush, encompassing any and all bodily fluids, and making no exceptions for condom use or viral loads, information the medical community has acknowledged as playing a large role in possible transmission.

On a personal level, Baxter took at least two lessons away from the incident. First, Iowa law makes it difficult for a person who initiates a confrontation to later claim that he/she was acting in self-defense. And, second, “if you have HIV, you lose your right to self-defense.”

“I think that I would have stood a pretty good chance of winning the case if it was not for HIV,” he said, adding that his status creates an odd circumstance of living. “Really, HIV, despite the fact that it in some ways sort of runs my life, I’ve never been ill from it.”

Sledgehammers and Thumbtacks

Baxter, who is in his 50s and remains an avid bicyclist, is in physically better shape than many men half his age. He manages his disease by taking medications — four pills a day, usually before he goes to bed. The worst health he has known as a result of the disease is attributed to the initial side effects of the medications before his body adjusted to them.

“My ideal HIV law would probably not require transmission, but it would require intent,” he said. “I think that intent certainly has to be a factor. It should be difficult [to convict] … I mean, beyond a reasonable doubt, right?”

Baxter also advocates moving Iowa laws closer to those in neighboring Illinois. That state did not write a criminal code specific to HIV, but used existing public health laws to deal with any crimes associated with sexually transmitted diseases.

“I think the law we have here is a sledgehammer that is mostly looking for a thumbtack. I think the latest thumbtack was Nick Rhoades,” Baxter said in reference to a Black Hawk County case earlier this year where a 34-year-old man was sentenced to 25 years in prison following a one-time consensual encounter that did not result in transmission.

“I get no impression from him other than the fact that he is probably a 34-year-old man who is not a paragon of responsibility. He obviously has had some substance abuse issue, which is actually pretty common in the gay community. He is not a criminal, and his sentence angers me on a couple of fronts. He’s probably never transmitted HIV to anybody, let alone the person who made this complaint against him. As a taxpayer in the state of Iowa I also realize that we are probably spending between $65,000 and $70,000 per year to keep him behind bars. That pisses me off. That would piss me off if I weren’t HIV positive.”

Although knowledge about HIV has increased in the decade since Iowa wrote its criminal transmission law, the law itself remains untouched. Baxter acknowledges that another decade will bring more knowledge and perhaps changes.

“Yes, we are learning more and, as older judges and prosecutors are replaced by younger ones, there will likely be changes,” he said. “So, yes, I think that time will take care of this — but how much time?”

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control  and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have proposed removing the ban, and are accepting public comments through Aug. 17.

Proposed key revisions to the law include no longer placing HIV infection on the list of “communicable disease of public health significance,” ending mandatory testing for HIV infection as a part of the U.S. Immigration screening process, and ending the required waiver for HIV infected individuals before entry into the U.S.

“We’re trying to end the stigma and the discriminatory practice for a disease that doesn’t warrant exclusion for coming into this country. We have to appreciate this is not a threat we face from abroad,” Dr. Martin Cetron, director of the CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, told MSNBC.

“HIV is clearly a public health disease of significance. But in simply allowing in someone who’s HIV-positive, that individual doesn’t immediately pose a risk to the public.”

HIV is currently on a list with several other diseases that prohibit entry into the U.S. Some of those included are active tuberculosis, syphilis, leprosy and gonorrhea. Sexually transmitted infections on this list are lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), chancroid, and granuloma inguinale. Foreigners can also be prohibited from entry to the country if they are infected with certain diseases during periods of outbreaks — for instance, the H1N1 influenza, most recently.

The rule change is being proposed a year after Congress voted to repeal 1987 restrictions on HIV-positive immigrants. The vote was a part of an overall AIDS reform measure proposed by then-Pres. George W. Bush.There are currently 12 countries that prohibit entry of HIV-positive immigrants — Armenia, Brunei, Iraq, Libya, Moldova, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sudan and the U.S.

More than 1.1 million people in the U.S. are infected with HIV, and more than 250,000 are estimated to unknowingly have the disease. Although the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Iowa remains relatively low when compared to other states — as of Dec. 31, 2008, there were 2,045 such people in the state — Iowa has seen increasing numbers each year since statistics have been kept. In addition, the state estimates that there are an additional 500 to 625 individuals in the state who have the virus but are unaware of their status.

Although a diagnosis of HIV was initially considered a death sentence, the disease has become a manageable, chronic condition that can be controlled with drugs.

Iowa, however, isn’t a state with a high percentage of people living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Prosecutions related to this particular law are often highly publicized as much for their uniqueness as for a public’s need to know. In addition, of the statute’s 24 convictions since its inception, three have been appealed and subsequently affirmed by the Iowa Supreme Court.

Ed Fallon, a member of the Iowa legislature during the 1998 session when the HIV transmission law was nearly unanimously passed, said he voted in favor despite having some reservations at the time. Because more than a decade has passed, he can’t remember specific items of contention that may have been brought up during legislative debate, but he has a general sense of the federal government requiring such a law if the state wanted to access monies for HIV- and AIDS-related care and education.

Fallon also isn’t sure if often spirited debate surrounding the ban on same-sex marriage, passed earlier that same session, influenced debate of the criminal transmission law.

Opening a door to unintended consequences

Bob Rigg, an academic member of a legislative study committee charged with reorganizing the criminal code, believes members of the group are likely be willing to address issues surrounding this statute and others during the course of their research. That being said, he also wants advocates to understand that “once the flood gate is opened, it can’t be closed.”

“There is often this notion of ‘Boy, we are going to change it and we are going to make it all better,’ but sometimes when you open that door [you don't get the results you intended],” said Rigg, who worked as a public defender in Polk County until 1995 when he became director of a criminal defense program he developed at Drake University.

“Keep in mind that when you are talking about a legislature, a lot of them are from rural areas. They are conservative. They have notions about how things work and how they don’t work. Their understanding may be absolutely perfect, but their clarity on some other things might not be. And, you are asking these members to weigh in on a criminal act that you’re going to turn into a crime and punish someone for doing. To me, that is a very dangerous thing to do unless you know exactly where you are going with it and exactly what’s going to happen with it. … There’s no way to stop it, and there is no way to stop the amendments that would come from either one political party or the other.”

Rigg’s personal preference, because the political process can be so unpredictable, is to be extremely thoughtful when considering criminal code changes.

“When people start playing around with the criminal code or they start saying that we should amend our Constitution, I’m like, ‘No, we shouldn’t.’ I err on the side of caution,” he said. “If you think what you’ve got is bad, be careful. You just might end up with something even worse.”

Although he is familiar with and has written about Iowa’s criminal transmission of HIV law, he says he still doesn’t know enough about it to determine if it is effective policy.

“The worst policy in the world is made on an anecdotal basis,” he said. “That is, when you don’t like the result of one case out of 1,000, and you attempt to change policy to fix that one result. What happens is that you end up making the other 999 worse. That’s the worst way to make policy, and the worst way to get legislation through.”

A thorough evaluation of the transmission law, according to Rigg, would be an analysis of each case that has been prosecuted.

“You have to look at the Department of Corrections because although people have been sentence, you want to know exactly how much time they’ve served,” he said. “Just because a defendant is sentenced to 25 [years], doesn’t mean he or she is going to serve 25. Some of these individuals could be paroled in as little as two.”

While state intervention to reduce prison sentences may not be an intended consequence of the initial legislation, Rigg argues that it can have “a moderating effect” on an otherwise extreme sentence.

“It is the judge’s job to sentence them. It is the DOC’s job to evaluate them for release,” he said.

Because he hasn’t done an extensive study on the practical impacts of this particular statute, which is not currently on the committee’s radar, Rigg indicated he didn’t feel comfortable voicing an opinion as to its effectiveness.

“Is this statute something that should be discussed? Yes,” he said. “I think all laws should be evaluated periodically to see if they are accomplishing the intended goals of the legislature. Matter-of-fact, now that you called me I might bring this statute up within the subcommittee and ask what is going on with it.”

Yet even if Rigg and the rest of the committee decide to research this or other criminal statutes, such review is not likely to be quick. The last major revision of the criminal code took place in 1978, a process that began, according to Rigg, during the 1960s.

EARLIER: HIV-positive man’s prison sentence shines light on Iowa law; Iowa courts stand firm on HIV transmission law

If no candidate gets 35 percent, the party has to hold a convention to choose a nominee, and that’s a realistic possibility in one Iowa congressional race.The prospect of a convention was a hot topic in Democratic circles in early 2006, and Ed Fallon’s gubernatorial campaign made a big effort to elect delegates at precinct caucuses and county conventions. But the convention talk cooled after Patty Judge left the race to form a ticket with eventual nominee Chet Culver, who won a four-way race (don’t forget Sal Mohamed) with 39.1 percent.

Even in a three-way race, a convention is a possibility if the math breaks just right. The Republicans came within 1 percent of a statewide convention for governor in 2002, when the three candidates all bunched up in the 30 percentile. Doug Gross emerged as the nominee, with only 35.6 percent.

That same year, Republicans actually went to a convention for the 5th Congressional District. Four strong candidates competed in the brand-new, solidly Republican district, and they landed between 21 and 31 percent each. Steve King landed at the top of that heap, and then turned that lead into a convention win. The rest is history.

Who attends a convention depends on what level of office is involved. For legislative seats, it’s county central committee members, with votes weighted by the size and party strength of each precinct. County offices are nominated by a county convention, made up of the precinct delegates elected at the Jan. 3 caucuses. Congressional district and state conventions are made up of delegates elected at the March county conventions.

The likeliest prospect for a convention is the Democratic race in the 4th Congressional District, with four candidates seeking the nomination. Republicans have two major three-candidate races: the U.S. Senate race and the 2nd Congressional District.

Prospects also exist for conventions in local contests. The definition of percentage is less than straightforward in elections for more than one seat, such as at-large county supervisor contests. To determine the 35 percent threshold in these races, the Code of Iowa specifies a “percentage of votes” method. To get at this number add up all the votes cast for all the candidates, including write-ins. Then divide it by the number of seats available.

For example, look at the 2004 Democratic supervisor race in Johnson County. Eight candidates were running for three seats, and a total of 20,905 votes were cast. Divide that by three, and the baseline for calculating percentage is 6,969.

Johnson County Supervisors, 2004 Democratic Primary	votes	percentage of votes	percentage of voters	TV Percentage
Terrence Neuzil	5,060	72.6%	54.4%	24.2%
Pat Harney	4,627	66.4%	49.7%	22.1%
Rod Sullivan	3,187	45.7%	34.3%	15.2%
Mike O’Donnell	3,060	43.9%	32.9%	14.6%
Rick Dvorak	1,998	28.7%	21.5%	9.6%
John Schneider	1,339	19.2%	14.4%	6.4%
Julie Gilmere	1,134	16.3%	12.2%	5.4%
James Knapp	446	6.4%	4.8%	2.1%
write in	54	0.8%	0.6%	0.3%

This formula does not factor in the common dynamic of under-voting or “bullet voting,” in which supporters of one candidate don’t use all their votes in a vote for two or vote for three race. Instead, bullet voters vote only for their favorite candidate. You can’t use both, or all three, of your votes on that candidate, but you don’t have to use all of your votes. It’s a common campaign tactic, but one that’s usually done sotto voce so as not to alienate supporters of other candidates. If you want to crunch some math, add up the total votes cast for all candidates plus write-ins, then divide it by the number of voters. This will give you a “votes per candidate” number, illustrating how many people cast some sort of bullet vote. In our 2004 sample race, the 20,905 votes were cast by 9,305 voters, meaning the average voter only cast 2.25 votes for supervisor out of a possible three.

Calculating percentage of voters, by dividing the candidate’s results by the total number of voters, produces a lower percentage but provides a more reliable assessment of how many people supported a candidate. Another common, misleading method in a vote in a two-or-three race is to add up all the votes and divide each candidate’s vote by the grand total. This is often seen on local TV and produces seeming paradoxes like candidates winning with 17 percent.

Another seeming paradox happens in a race where four candidates are competing for three seats. It’s possible for a candidate to win support from a majority of voters, yet finish in last place, as in this 2001 Coralville contest. Over half of the voters supported Bream, yet he drew the least support and lost.

Coralville City Council, 2001	votes	percentage of votes	percentage of voters	TV Percentage
Henry Herwig	744	80.0%	70.4%	26.7%
Dave Jacoby	732	78.7%	69.3%	26.2%
Tom Gill	682	73.3%	64.5%	24.5%
Bob Bream	614	66.0%	58.1%	22.0%
write in	17	1.8%	1.6%	0.6%

]]> http://iowaindependent.com/2383/primaries-by-the-percentages/feed 0 http://iowaindependent.com/1934/rove-restricts-media-at-ui-lecture http://iowaindependent.com/1934/rove-restricts-media-at-ui-lecture#comments Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:23:14 +0000 T.M. Lindsey http://iowaindependent.com/1934/rove-restricts-media-at-ui-lecture Karl Rove, former deputy chief of staff and senior advisor to President George W. Bush, is scheduled to speak on the University of Iowa campus Sunday night. Rove’s public appearance, however, does come with a hitch — for the media anyhow.

From a legal standpoint, Rove is within his rights regarding media stipulations, says Nick Johnson, visiting professor of law at UI and a former member of the Federal Communications Commission. “Contractually, that is a matter the lecturer can control, so the stipulations are between Karl Rove and the UI Lecture Committee,” Johnson said. “Rove knows that whatever he says and does will be news outside the range of Iowa City. If news gets around to other campuses what he says, then this will lessen the economic value of what he’s doing.”

Phone messages were left with members of the UI Lecture Committee the past two days, but none responded to the Iowa Independent’s inquiries.

Rove’s appearance, scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m in the main lounge of the Iowa Memorial Union (IMU), is sponsored by the UI Lecture Committee, a presidential charter committee whose membership consists of students, faculty and staff. Admission to Rove’s lecture, “Reflections from The Architect,” is free and open to the public. The series and Rove’s $40,000 speaking fee are funded through student fees with select lectures supported in part by the F. Wendell Miller Fund. In 2003, former President Bill Clinton received a $50,000 speaking fee for his lecture at Carver Hawkeye Arena.

Also participating in the lecture will be Frank Durham, professor of journalism in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, who will interview Rove. A question-and-answer session will follow the on-stage interview.

The media won’t be the only ones restricted in what they bring into the IMU Sunday night. Certain items will not be allowed into the main lounge during the lecture, including large parcels, handbags, bottles, cans, signs and cameras or any other kind of recording device. No bags or backpacks will be allowed, and only purses smaller than 8 1/2 x 11 are allowed. All visitors are subject to search, and university officials reserve the right to allow entry.

]]> http://iowaindependent.com/1934/rove-restricts-media-at-ui-lecture/feed 10 http://iowaindependent.com/1663/videos-richardson-challenges-dem-candidates-on-iraq http://iowaindependent.com/1663/videos-richardson-challenges-dem-candidates-on-iraq#comments Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:28:58 +0000 Adam Burke http://iowaindependent.com/1663/videos-richardson-challenges-dem-candidates-on-iraq Speaking at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson made a pitch for himself as a presidential candidate.

He challenged the other Democratic candidates on Iraq when he said: “They’ve decided to stop talking about Iraq. Their campaign strategies have shifted to other issues.  Over the last few debates and on the campaign trail, our brave troops in Iraq seem to have been forgotten.”

Richardson did not ignore domestic issues in his speech. Among other concerns, he addressed unions and labor issues; health care; education and No Child Left Behind; and global warming and alternative energy issues.

He was asked by Cornell College student Bianca Byrd about leaving Iraq too soon. She said she was worried that Iraq would “implode” if we removed troops without a plan for protecting Iraqi people and stabilizing the region.

She was happy with his answer to her question.  He said he wants to have “American diplomacy take over” after removing U.S. troops.  He explained further that:

“Iraq is not exactly helpless. They  have over 300,000 security forces; … they have a financial foundation for the future. … And then we can pay attention to what really concerns America, which is threats of international terrorism, nuclear terrorism, loose nuclear weapons, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, becoming energy independent, helping with international poverty and disease and having a foundation of having a foreign policy based on our human rights.”

More videos of Richardson’s speech are below the fold.Part of Richardson’s speech on the teleprompter

Here is more from Richardson on U.S. troops in Iraq:

Richardson was also asked about Iran and the vote on branding Iran’s Republican Guard as a terrorist organization. 

He distanced himself from opponent Hillary Clinton, saying she was wrong to vote for the resolution, but he was quick to remind the audience of his work for former President Bill Clinton’s administration.

Here is Richardson on the foreign policy challenge of Iran and the rest of the middle East:

More on Richardson’s recent Iowa events from Iowa Independent reporters John Deeth and Tom Lindsey.

]]> http://iowaindependent.com/1663/videos-richardson-challenges-dem-candidates-on-iraq/feed 2 http://iowaindependent.com/1599/ag-policy-and-politics-discussed-at-farm-bureau-meeting http://iowaindependent.com/1599/ag-policy-and-politics-discussed-at-farm-bureau-meeting#comments Sat, 08 Dec 2007 17:26:56 +0000 Dien Judge http://iowaindependent.com/1599/ag-policy-and-politics-discussed-at-farm-bureau-meeting  Iowa Farm Bureau Federation president Craig Lang addressed the crowd on Saturday at the IFBF's annual meeting in Des Moines.

 Iowa Farm Bureau Federation's district directors, Carlton Kjos, Charles Norris, Phil Sundblad, Doug Gronau, Richard Merrill, Joe Heinrich, Daniel Johnson, Calvin Rozenboom and Jim McKnight.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, shakes hands at the pancake breakfast Saturday at the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting in Des Moines. Grassley told Iowa Independent that the U.S. Senate will be working on the Farm Bill and the Energy Bill next week. He said he hopes some important changes can be made to the Energy Bill so it will win bi-partisan support.Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey visits with Farm Bureau members at the IFBF annual meeting.

The trade show at the meeting was full of agriculture displays and booths on Friday at the Polk County Convention Complex.
Below, four Republican presidential campaigns had booths and displays at the IFBF meeting trade show: Ron Paul, John McCain, Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter.

 

]]> http://iowaindependent.com/1599/ag-policy-and-politics-discussed-at-farm-bureau-meeting/feed 0 http://iowaindependent.com/1065/obesity-a-growing-concern-for-paramedics-presidential-candidates http://iowaindependent.com/1065/obesity-a-growing-concern-for-paramedics-presidential-candidates#comments Tue, 18 Sep 2007 21:55:19 +0000 Douglas Burns http://iowaindependent.com/1065/obesity-a-growing-concern-for-paramedics-presidential-candidates It’s probably one of the more treacherous, or at least troubling places, to deal with the obesity epidemic in America: in ambulance and emergency services.

And it’s one of the reasons Jenn Vasquez, one of Carroll County’s eight full-time paramedics, spoke to the Carroll Rotary Club recently.

The ambulance service is looking to add to its inventory of Stryker Power Pro Cots, devices that make it easier to lift increasingly heavier victims.

“Every one of us is bearing more weight than is safe,” Vasquez said. “In all seriousness, our work is becoming heavier.”

In recent days, local emergency-response officials have told both the Rotary Club and the Carroll Daily Times Herald that the weight of victims has shot up dramatically, that it is not unusual to be transporting people over 300 pounds, and that they have assisted victims who weight more than 500.

Nationally, the obesity rate tops 20 percent, and 31 states saw an increase in the last year.

The Carroll County Ambulance Service recently bought two of the Stryker Power Pro cots and plans to add four over the next two years.

“The former nonmechanized cots were rated to hold no more than 500 pounds, and it would take muscle from paramedics and first responders on all sides to get a large patient moved,” the Carroll Daily Times Herald reports. “Powered by a rechargeable 24-volt battery, the new cot can easily lift a patient weighing as much as 700 pounds.”

The service says they have come close to seeing if that threshold, well, holds.

Besides being a topic among emergency officials, obesity is a topic on the presidential campaign trail.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s dramatic weight loss of more than 100 pounds is well chronicled. And tomorrow, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is expected to speak to a national conference on obesity.

As for the war on the front lines, the one waged by folks like Vasquez, it is not getting any easier. In fact, if people keep eating themselves into Jabba the Hut figures, it is likely some family, someday will have to do what the children in the fictional book “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” did with their overweight mother. They burned the house down when she died so the ambulance personnel or coroner’s office wouldn’t have to use a crane to get her body from its deathbed inside.

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