#iowa

[saywhat-politics]

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) got an angry earful from constituents at a "raucous" town hall meeting, reported Iowa Starting Line on Friday — making him the latest in a long line of Republican lawmakers to be put on the defensive about President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk's efforts to dismantle the federal government.

“Why do you believe President Trump is above the law … Why have you not spoken out?” one man asked Grassley, according to footage obtained by the outlet. Another said, "It's your job" to audit what the executive branch is doing, and “We are depending on you and the others to help save democracy.”

People were angry not just about Trump and Musk's cuts through the Department of Government Efficiency task force, but Trump's increasing threats to defy federal court orders to restore certain funding, rehire dismissed federal workers, or pause deportation flights. A woman told Grassley, “He is making us afraid to stand up for our own rights because we’re then going to be sent to El Salvador.”

[evanfleischer]

Today's org is the "Iowa Mutual Aid Network."

Dear Internet Friends,

I hope you're not online and that you're not seeing this. If you are seeing this, that's okay! The internet loves to find ways to capture our attention, which sometimes draws us away from our community.

If it's of interest, I want to start a thread of charities and organizations in the U.S. in the comment section below this post. If you have the money and feel like donating, then that's great. If you don't, then that's just as good and just as fine.

I'll post one a day.

Today's org is Love Huntsville.

That's it! Hope you're all well/staying safe.

Evan

[thosemotivationalquotes]

Friendly reminder that almost half of the states in the U.S. have same day registration! This means you can go to the polling center for your location, register there, and cast your vote same day. So if you are over 18, are a U.S. citizen, and live in one of the states listed below, it is not too late to register and vote! I’m going to put notes for some of the states where voting is extra important due to the political climate of the state. *Please note that every state has its own rules and requirements for same day registration and voting, some are only for early voting, or have very specific ID requirements. Make sure to research your state specifically before showing up to the polls

California

Colorado

Connecticut

D.C.

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Iowa - recent polls indicate state could flip from red to blue

Maine

Maryland

Michigan - swing state! Could go red or blue!

Minnesota

Montana

Nevada - swing state! Could go red or blue!

New Hampshire

New Mexico

North Carolina - swing state! Could go red or blue - same day registration allowed only for early voting

North Dakota - voter registration not required

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

Wisconsin - swing state! Could go red or blue

Wyoming

You can go here for more info on voter registration

I also have a huge list of voting resources here

[turttastic]

Hey guys, I know there are a lot of really severe tragedies in the world right now and I in no way desire to push those aside, nor do I really want to load another thing onto people's plates, but anyone here in the US needs to be aware that on March 11, 2024, an agricultural company known as NEW Cooperative spilled 265,000 gallons (1500 tons) of liquid nitrogen fertilizer into the East Nishnabotna River. This is the ecological equivalent of dropping a nuclear weapon into the river. Over a 60 mile stretch downstream of the spill its been a near total ecological wipeout for the river. So far, an estimate of 850,000 fish have been killed from this spill, and that's to say nothing for the insects, amphibians, reptiles and birds that relied on or lived in this river. It is literally filled with animal corpses. This river flows into the Missouri River and the impacts will likely continue to spread far past this 60 mile stretch. And this disaster has barely made local tv in Iowa, let alone national tv, despite the fact that 60 miles of river ecosystem were just wiped out in a way that may be impossible to recover from. And what's the punishment for this heinous act of destruction through negligence, you might ask? As it stands, its looking like a 6k fine from the DNR to the company. Not 600k. Not 60k. 6000 dollars. The maximum fine that the DNR can charge in Iowa is 10k unless they decide to take it further in court. That's why these spills are so frequent in Iowa: it's literally cheaper to eat the fines than it is to bother properly storing fertilizer. I don't know exactly what the proper course of action is here, or who needs to be contacted to enact change--I'm hoping someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in with that information--but at the very least, every one of us should know. Every one of us should make sure we don't forget this. And every one of us should blacklist NEW Cooperative fertilizer unilaterally.

Sources:

[destiel-news-network]

(Source)

The Democrat won with 53% of the vote tonight; Trump carried the district with 60% of the vote in November. This changes the balance of power in the Iowa Senate to 34R–16D.

[lunettia]

the black angel, oakland cemetery

[quasarkisses]

does everyone here know about the iowa state fair butter cow

[angelx1992]

[mysharona1987]

ok, but sometimes the twitter algorithms are great.

[blacvibes]

[petra-constella]

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

It's a lovely sight to see a Northern Cardinal in the winter. Their colors are striking no matter the setting! The two cardinals pictured here were both very keen on eating their berries and were pretty unbothered by my presence. I didn't know until today that Cardinals are named AFTER Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church (the Cardinals wear RED robes)! Name origins for animals are fascinating, because sometimes they are references to things that we had names for prior, sometimes purely on how they look, and sometimes something completely new.

[catfindr]

[ex-frat-man]

[thosemotivationalquotes]

Reports are coming out that Harris is leading in Iowa.

So what does this mean for Iowa voters?

Iowa was red in 2020 and has historically been red. As someone who lives in AZ, a red state that is now a swing state, it is entirely possible to flip a state or at least make the Republican Party sweat. So if you are in Iowa and were considering not voting because “your vote won’t count in a red state anyways”, please get out and vote.

Obviously polls can be inaccurate, but how great would it be if we could flip a state that republicans considered an easy victory?

Iowa also allows same day in person registration!!! So if you are over 18 and a U.S. citizen who resides in Iowa it is not too late! Click here for info on voting in Iowa: https://voterready.iowa.gov/registertovote/

I also have a list of voting resources here!

Link to article: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2024/11/02/iowa-poll-kamala-harris-leads-donald-trump-2024-presidential-race/75354033007/

[political-us]