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Jun 4, 2009 Ripples Dear Friends, To everyone who came to our wedding celebration last Sunday – thank you! We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the company of many friends and family. The setting was perfect – a simple barn, birds singing in the rafters, and a brief shower followed by sunshine. Two dear... more...
May 28, 2009 A New Green Revolution Dear Friends, This Sunday, May 31st, we celebrate our civil-marriage (held last December) with a public blessing ceremony, potluck and square dance. We sincerely hope you, your family and friends can join us. The blessing ceremony begins promptly at 5:30 in the Flynn Barn at Living History... more...
May 23, 2009 Howard Dean in Iowa to discuss Health Care Dear Friends, Let’s start off with a couple quotes a friend shared with us this week: "A populist is for the people. We're also more fun. We don't vote to hurt average Americans, even if the corporate payoff is really big." -- Molly Ivins “Over and over again, we... more...
May 11, 2009 Remembering Postville Dear Friends, May 12th marks the one-year remembrance of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on Postville. As Alicia Claypool wrote in a column published in yesterday’s Des Moines Register, “The raid in Postville clearly symbolizes what is wrong with current immigration... more...
Apr 30, 2009 An African American Voice for Marriage Equality Dear Friends, We are honored to host Alexander Robinson’s visit to Iowa next week. As a gay African-American who heads the National Black Justice Coalition, Alexander will share his story and dialogue with Iowans about civil-marriage equality. With the help of a great list of coalition partners... more...
Apr 23, 2009 Ethics Complaint Against Senator Bartz Dear Friends, This has been another busy week in the ongoing movement to retain justice for all couples who want to marry in Iowa. Today, we filed an ethics complaint against Senator Merlin Bartz for posting a petition on his website that encourages county recorders to “refuse to issue... more...
Apr 7, 2009 You Are What You Eat Eats Dear Friends, Food is in the news a lot lately, for both good and bad reasons. With the appointment of Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture, Iowa saw a flurry of news stories. And we were personally thrilled recently to see Michelle Obama plant a garden on the White House lawn. But there’s... more...
Apr 2, 2009 Breaking News on Marriage! Dear Friends, BREAKING NEWS!! Tomorrow may be another landmark in Iowa’s long history of advancing civil and human rights. At 8:30 a.m., Friday, April 3, the Iowa Supreme Court will issue its ruling on whether gay or lesbian couples have the right to marry. In the interest of fairness, justice... more...
Mar 24, 2009 Lessons from California's Proposition 8 Dear Friends, This week, we’re working with Marriage Equality USA (Iowa Chapter) to introduce Dr. Davina Kotulski (see the EVENTS section of this e-mail for details). Davina is a clinical psychologist and nationally recognized leader, speaker and writer in the marriage equality movement. Her... more...
Mar 10, 2009 Come Celebrate Our Marriage Dear Friends, Most of our updates focus on an issue; this one involves a personal matter. Late last year we were married in a small, private civil ceremony. Now we’re announcing the public celebration of our marriage – and YOU are invited. Not just you, but anyone else... more...
Mar 4, 2009 A Voice for Marriage Dear Friends, Working with Marriage Equality Iowa, we are honored to host Mandy Carter’s visit to Iowa next week. Mandy is coming to share her story and to invite African Americans and others to dialogue with her about the importance of civil marriage equality. There will be several... more...
Feb 25, 2009 Spring Ritual Dear Friends, [Be sure to see the Events section of this update to help celebrate Ed’s 51st birthday on March 1st.] Spring is in the air, and here in Des Moines we’ll soon open our windows. Yet we have many friends in rural Iowa who can no longer enjoy this ritual of spring because they... more...
Feb 19, 2009 School Consolidation A Local Decision Dear Friends, With Iowa’s budget in dire straits, all sorts of belt-tightening measures have been proposed at the Statehouse. Some make a lot of sense, especially combined reporting and the repeal of other corporate tax loopholes. Among the bad ideas being floated, leasing the Iowa Lottery... more...
Feb 13, 2009 Time For a New Groundhog Dear Friends, We heard a cardinal sing on February 1st, heralding the first sign of spring in our neighborhood. Five days later, daffodils pushed through the thawing soil about a mile from our home. The Des Moines River has been ice-free for a week, and the ice on the Raccoon River is on the... more...
Feb 4, 2009 Time for a New Shelter Dear Friends, Residents of Des Moines and its suburbs face a pressing challenge: how to meet the needs of Polk County’s homeless residents. Building a new facility for the homeless has been a work in progress for over two years. Yet the urgency of this issue catapulted forward two... more...
Jan 28, 2009 Chopin, Cabernet and Conversation Dear Friends, To help navigate the waning weeks of winter, we invite you to join us on Saturday, February 7 from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. to experience “CHOPIN, CABERNET & CONVERSATION.” The event is at our home, 752 16th Street in Des Moines, and is limited to the first thirty-five RSVPs. We’ll... more...
Jan 24, 2009 We Don't Do Bailouts Dear Friends, For our work on elections, issues and local business to succeed, this Weekly Update must occasionally ask for your financial support. Please take a minute to write a check to I’M for Iowa and mail it to 752 16th Street, Des Moines, IA 50314. We don’t do grants, loans or government... more...
Jan 14, 2009 Real Change Takes Commitment Dear Friends, For us, 2008 ended with a very personal commitment to change: we got married! The public commitment ceremony and reception will be the evening of May 31, so please mark that date on your calendar. We’re planning a big party with live music and Iowa-grown food and drink – and in... more...
Jan 9, 2009 Coal Plant Defeated Dear Friends, Chalk up a huge victory for the little guy this week. Out-of-state investors pulled the plug on a coal-fired power plant proposed on Merle Bell’s century farm near Waterloo. Proponents bemoan the potential loss of mostly temporary jobs; but the prospect for permanent,... more...
Jan 3, 2009 The Hour is Ours! Dear Friends, Here’s a great quote from Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins: “The spirits of those men and women who left their farms and fishing boats and headed out to confront the mighty British Empire, and of those who fought to emancipate the slaves during the Civil War,... more...
Dec 24, 2008 Holiday Reflection Dear Friends, This week, we’d like to reflect on our lives this past year and our hopes and plans for the coming year. The first half of this year was absorbed with Ed’s Congressional campaign. While we didn’t win, we count many small victories in new connections developed, friends... more...
Dec 19, 2008 Senate Seat for Sale Dear Friends, {The following piece by Ed Fallon appeared in The Des Moines Register today in relatively similar form, entitled “Illinois seat not only thing that’s for sale.”} It’s easy to muster contempt for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Politics in America is rife with corruption,... more...
Dec 10, 2008 White House Farmer Dear Friends, Last week, I applied for the job of White House Farmer (click here to read my letter to Obama). No word yet from Obama’s transition team, but whether it’s me or someone else, this is a job that should be taken seriously. Why? Because now more than ever, America’s... more...
Dec 4, 2008 Demand Action on Hog Confinements Dear Friends, This year, the Iowa Republican Party Platform added the following plank: “We support local control of agricultural zoning practices.” For many years, the Iowa Democratic Party Platform has contained this plank: “We support local control for CAFO siting, maintenance and... more...
Nov 25, 2008 Join Us On The Radio Dear Friends, Trying to follow Wall Street these days is like watching your kid learn to play tennis – balls and rackets are flying up and down, but you're never quite sure where they're going to land. Home sales are down and foreclosures are up. Gas prices were way up; now they’re... more...
Nov 22, 2008 Civil Marriage Equality Dear Friends, One of the beautiful things about America is our constant striving toward greater freedom and equality. Every so often, we collectively take a giant leap forward on behalf of constituencies shut out of some aspect of the American Dream. Such leaps are not without... more...
Nov 12, 2008 Join Us For Thanksgiving Dear Extended Family, Ok, so maybe that’s a stretch. But for Lynn and me, preparing this update is one of the highlights of our week, and we sincerely look forward to your responses (yes, even from you, Einstein). Your input often gives us fodder for subsequent ideas and action.... more...
Nov 7, 2008 A New Direction “The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.” Oliver Wendell Holmes Until Tuesday, it seemed obvious that America was moving in the wrong direction. But when the polls closed and we chose President-elect Obama, it was clear that... more...
Oct 28, 2008 Supporting Boswell Dear Friends, When I first announced I would run for Congress last January, I promised to support Congressman Boswell should he win the primary. He did. Yet many people have told me they plan to write-in my name. As promised, I plan to vote for Boswell when I go to the polls on... more...
Oct 21, 2008 The Truth About ACORN Dear Friends, It’s been both fascinating and disturbing to watch the radical right demonize ACORN over allegations of voter fraud, especially since Democrats (and for that matter, democracy) were the big losers to voter suppression in 2000 (Florida) and 2004 (Ohio). I first learned of ACORN in... more...
Oct 17, 2008 One More Plug for VOICE Dear Friends, I’ve lived half a century and can say sincerely that this is the most critical election in my lifetime. I’m excited about Obama for a number of reasons, especially his rejection of PAC and lobbyist money. I asked Obama’s Iowa campaign about making a plug for donations,... more...
Oct 7, 2008 Support Clean Money Candidates Dear Friends, This may be the first you’ve heard from I’M for Iowa since Ed Fallon’s congressional campaign last spring. People frequently ask Ed and Lynn what they plan to do next, and over the next few weeks, we’ll let you know as we lay out I’M for Iowa’s full agenda. But our first... more...
Apr 18, 2008 Action Needed on CAFO Bill Dear Friends, Legislative leadership continues to ignore the public clamor for fairer regulation of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Time to act on this is limited. The following information came to me today from a source inside the State Capitol. I... more...
Apr 11, 2008 Action Needed on Transportation Bill Dear Friends, For many reasons ranging from environmental to fiscal, transportation in America is at a crossroads. We can either (1) continue along the decades-old path of new highway construction at the expense of all else, or (2) shift our focus to maintaining... more...
Apr 2, 2008 Politics At Its Worst Dear Friends, I’M for Iowa focuses primarily on state-level issues. When the Legislature is in session, we help you let your voice be heard. We give kudos and criticism to Democrats and Republicans alike. We’ve had good things to say about Secretary... more...
Mar 29, 2008 Kansas Governor Takes on Coal Dear Friends, Pressure continues to build on Governor Culver. Across the state, but especially in Marshall and Black Hawk counties, people want him to speak out against the proposed coal-fired plants in Marshalltown and Waterloo . Last fall,... more...
Mar 20, 2008 Eminent Domain Proposal Needs Your Help Dear Friends, Several bills were offered in the Iowa Legislature this year to further refine Iowa ’s 2006 landmark eminent domain legislation. None were allowed out of committee. Three were resurrected in the House as amendments, but Speaker Pat Murphy refused to... more...
Mar 17, 2008 More Than CAFOs Stink Dear Friends, The Iowa state legislative session is more than halfway over, but in all honesty, any hope to see attention given to the regulation of CAFOs seems to have been eradicated with the dismissal of Rep. Mark Kuhn’s addition/amendment to the odor regulation study in... more...
Feb 29, 2008 Secure This Fall's Election Dear Friends, Kyle Lobner – former Fallon for Governor Communications Director now with Common Cause of Iowa – sent me an important e-mail message this morning. In a legislative environment where “we the people” seem to lose more battles than we win, it’s encouraging to see... more...
Feb 16, 2008 State Transportation Funding Update Dear Friends, Last year, I’M for Iowa promoted the 2007 Iowa State University Wildness Symposium, organized by Mary Swander. The event was a watershed experience for me. Lynn and I had supper with Bill McKibben and then listened to him talk about global... more...
Jan 25, 2008 Secure Our Voting System Dear Friends, Armed with truth and darn good ideas, Iowans for Voting Integrity are doing great work at the Statehouse this year. Their concerns have found a receptive ear with the new Secretary or State, Mike Mauro. The group strongly... more...
Jan 12, 2008 Running for Congress! Dear Friends, As some of you know, I’ve decided to run for Congress. Lynn and I will continue to publish I’M for Iowa updates and maintain the I’M for Iowa website. Through those tools, we’ll encourage your involvement with key state issues, including... more...
Dec 13, 2007 A Christmas Reflection Dear Friends, First, I want to invite those of you in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area to join me this Saturday, December 15 th from 10:00 – noon at the Cedar Falls Community Center at 6 th and Main streets. Local organizers are planning a spirited... more...
Dec 5, 2007 Water Quality Alert Dear Friends, First, I regret to have to tell you that the global warming plunge scheduled for December 8 th at Gray’s Lake in Des Moines has been cancelled. Second, Iowa ’s streams and rivers need your help. While I am no water-quality wizard, I have... more...
Nov 17, 2007 Update from November 17, 2007 Dear Friends, Every week – nay, every day – some new news on climate change hits the fan, underscoring the reality and severity of Earth’s rising temperature. Yesterday, the Associated Press (AP) published a story entitled “Climate panel seen as too conservative.” ... more...
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