Yearly Archives: 2005

Blog for Iowa’s Lead Balloon Award Goes to . . . MidAmerican!

Posted on July 21, 2005 by bfialindathieman

Blog for Iowa’s Lead Balloon Award Goes to . . . MidAmerican! by Linda Thieman Yes, friends and neighbors, Blog for Iowa’s First Ever Lead Balloon Award goes to (drum roll, please) . . . MidAmerican Energy Company, the Number … Continue reading →

Posted in Corporate Greed, Environment, Health Care & Medicare, Iowa in the News, Main Page | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Vote Fraud: Diebold Dumpster Dive Yields Financial Documents

Posted on July 21, 2005 by bfialindathieman

Vote Fraud: Diebold Dumpster Dive Yields Financial Documents

BlackBoxVoting.org

JULY 20, 2005: One late night in Texas, 51-year-old Kathleen Wynne did something she never thought she would consider: She jumped into a dumpster.

An ordinary citizen who had become concerned about the integrity of Diebold voting machines, Wynne was amazed to find hundreds of pages of documents in the trash. Among them: internal notes and memos, planning information, problems with equipment and customers, price bid worksheets, staff bonuses, and financial statements from Diebold Election Systems. It was early July, just after second quarter financials, and the Diebold elections division seemed to be cleaning house.

Wynne was a citizen volunteer then – she is nowa full-time investigator for Black Box Voting, a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501c(3) consumer protection group for elections.

Diebold, a company that boasts of its security, had made no attempt to shred the documents, or protect them in any way. Instead, the company was in the habit of discarding its internal records in various publicly available locations — an apparent violation of the management requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The first batch of documents is posted here.

(We'll come back to the document stash in a minute.)

DIEBOLD DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN GALLINA MONEY

In May, Black Box Voting broke the story of ACG Group, LLC, which has been funneling money from Diebold into the pockets of . . . someone.

The 'G' in ACG stands for Gallina – Pasquale “Pat” Gallina. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Gallina was caught giving $10,000 to the Franklin County Republican Party, handed off through the Franklin County Director of Elections. The Dispatch also contains a report of a $50,000 donation by Gallina to Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell's political interests.

Diebold, according to the Akron Beacon Journal, denies any involvement in the donations by Gallina, pointing to “Celebrezze & Associates” and vowing to fire that organization (set up by Anthony Celebrezze, now deceased) if it is proved to have “provided the check in the name of Diebold.”

Excerpts from the above news articles can be found here
(scroll down).

Let us now dissect the spin:

1. The money was flowing through ACG Group LLC. A few dollars may also have wandered into Gallina's pocket through “Celebrezze & Associates,” but the large, UNDISCLOSED cash was flowing through ACG Group LLC, an entity Diebold has not uttered a word about.
Continue reading →

Posted in Corporate Greed, GOP, Labor, Main Page, National News, Verified Voting, Vote Fraud | 1 Comment

Social Security – Am I my brother’s keeper?

Posted on July 20, 2005 by bfiacarolinevernon

MUSINGS FROM THE DIRECTOR Social Security: Am I My Brother's Keeper? by Reverend Ron Quay – Churches United I am very honored to introduce Rev. Ron Quay to Blog for Iowa. Reverend Quay is the Director of Churches United  here … Continue reading →

Posted in Calls to Action, Corporate Greed, DFQC, Education, Guest Posts, How You Can Help, Jobs, Labor, Main Page, National News, Progressive Community | Comments Off on Social Security – Am I my brother’s keeper?

Iowa Race Getting National Attention

Posted on July 20, 2005 by bfiachadthompson

Iowa Race Getting National Attention Something to pass along from the recently convened governor's convention in Des Moines:  the national scene is looking closely at Iowa's race for governor – particularly from the national Republican Party: The upcoming race for … Continue reading →

Posted in GOP, Iowa in the News, Main Page | Comments Off on Iowa Race Getting National Attention

John Drury: Random Views From A Community Activist

Posted on July 20, 2005 by bfiajohndrury

Random Views From A Community Activist by John Drury Governors go to the fair This past weekend, 30 or so Governors from across the country met in Des Moines for their annual conference. Likely 2008 presidential candidate and current Governor … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Farming, Introducing DFIA, Iowa in the News, John Drury, Main Page | 1 Comment

Odds ‘n’ Ends

Posted on July 19, 2005 by bfiachadthompson

Odds 'n' Ends Today seems to be one of those days where the news outlets are focused on all-Karl-Rove-all-the-time, and some little things have flown past the radar.  Here are a few things that caught my eye. Turning Over The … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Farming, Iowa in the News, Main Page | 4 Comments

IBLTV Meets with Congressman Jim Leach

Posted on July 19, 2005 by Trish Nelson

   IBLTV (Iowans for Better Local TV) Meets with Congressman Jim Leach On Monday, July 18, at the Iowa City Public Library, Congressman Jim Leach met with several members of Iowans for Better Local TV (IBLTV) and other citizens concerned … Continue reading →

Posted in Calls to Action, Iowa in the News, Main Page, Media Bias, Progressive Community | Comments Off on IBLTV Meets with Congressman Jim Leach

The Top 10 Polluted Counties in Iowa (and the Companies That Make Them That Way)

Posted on July 18, 2005 by bfialindathieman

The Top 10 Polluted Counties in Iowa (and the Companies That Make Them That Way) by Linda Thieman Woodbury County holds the unpleasant distinction of being the single most polluted county in all of Iowa – with four and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Corporate Greed, Environment, Health Care & Medicare, Iowa in the News, Main Page | Comments Off on The Top 10 Polluted Counties in Iowa (and the Companies That Make Them That Way)

Making the Supreme Court Nominee Their Business

Posted on July 18, 2005 by Trish Nelson

  Making the Supreme Court Nominee Their Business Center for Media and Democracy/PR Watch “Business advocates are raising millions of dollars, plotting major lobbying campaigns, and quietly working to influence [Bush] as he “ponders” a replacement for [retiring Supreme Court] … Continue reading →

Posted in Big Government, Corporate Greed, Main Page, National News | Comments Off on Making the Supreme Court Nominee Their Business

LUCY NORTON TALKS ENERGY INDEPENDENCE FOR IOWA

Posted on July 17, 2005 by bfialindathieman

LUCY NORTON TALKS ENERGY INDEPENDENCE FOR IOWA by Molly Regan An article by LUCY NORTON, director of marketing for the IOWA Corn Growers Association of Johnston, appeared in the Saturday, July 16, edition of the Des Moines Register. Entitled “ETHANOL … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Farming, Iowa in the News, Main Page | 1 Comment