Best products from r/Iowa

Not from Australia, but this is a book by Lord Richard Acton about Iowa from a British perspective after he married his third wife who taught at the University of Iowa. I found it easy to read and fun to learn about Iowa from a perspective other than my own. I have lived here most of my 31 years. As a bit of a political and news junkie it is exciting to watch the political broohaha every 2 or 4 years. However, I have cut the cord in terms of not having cable or satellite, largely because I got so tired of the commercials. I really don't like attack ads from either party or 3rd parties. That said learning what I has brought to the world in terms of agriculture, technology, and literature to name a few categories is amazing to me. Even an old teacher of mine found some of the oldest films in the country just recently a few miles from where I live. Everyday I wake up and look outside my window and can see for miles. I love this place and thank you for showing an interest.

Okay, I'll bite. I'm on board with your theoretical goal, and you clearly understand there's only one realistic way to achieve it, though you have dramatically underestimated the degree to which the same money that rules Congress also controls many state legislatures quite thoroughly. I think presenting yourself as a PAC is going to leave you dead at the starting line. Thanks, ironically, to Citizens United and the shitstorms that have ensued for years afterward, even most average Americans are acutely aware that PACs have proven themselves largely untrustworthy no matter the cause, and totally impossible to hold accountable either way. Saying you're the PAC to get rid of PACs will net you almost no support among either people who know what the fuck is going on or the people who see "PAC" and respond with boos and hissing. Those two categories cover a lot of the Americans you're trying to get on your side.

Plus your name makes me think of the weird guy from The Hangover, and when I mentally associate your organization with Three Wolf Moon, well... that's not good. Change your name and choose a new legal structure; I think you'll get MUCH further.

As a separate issue: your legislative language game is strong, and I'm relieved to see that. Had there been any glaring errors in your proposed resolution, I would have immediately dismissed you as having zero chance of success. That didn't happen, so that's good. There are still some minor mistakes in your presentation of the template (for example, your final paragraph mentions Connecticut), and I'd like to see those cleaned up immediately. Opponents and skeptics will jump on any small opportunity to discredit your viability- I know, because that's the sort of thing I would spot and attack.

Additionally, I strongly question your strategy of presenting this template without a resolution clause that specifically spells out that the intended purpose of calling a Convention is to propose amendments that would serve to guarantee free and fair elections as you have envisioned them. Your resolution currently gets 95% of the way there, but then leaves it up to hope and the assumption that surely delegates to the biggest political event in the past century will forgo their own desire for power and do nothing but act with a spirit of goodwill toward men... for the first time in about a century. I understand these state resolutions cannot require or mandate the amendments that would be proposed at a Convention, but, since surely additional amendments will be proposed, spelling out the initial intended purpose as being free and fair elections rather than leaving it up to chance seems to be prudent. Plus, if a few more states start to pass these resolutions and they get media attention, the text will be examined; don't leave it up to chance (again!) that the talking heads will correctly interpret your goal before trumpeting it to their assorted masses. Spell it out for them, literally.

Awesome!

This is about as official as it'll ever get, thanks.

That document gives an exact Annin product number which is perfect. It also turns out the government is only paying around $5/flag more (EDIT: I meant less) than you can get it for on Amazon. If you asked to buy in bulk you might even get the same deal.

To save everybody else from having to open the pdf, here is the direct link to it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/SolarGuard-Specifications-Annin-Flagmakers-141760/dp/B0018ZVXUM/

I'm still curious as to why there are different versions of the flag (specifically how the eagle looks), but from reading up on it some more it looks like there isn't really a 100% correct version. The official specifications for the state flag can be found here: http://law.justia.com/codes/iowa/2009/title-1/subtitle-1/chapter-1b/1b-1/ and they just mention that there's an eagle in the middle holding a banner. It doesn't even say which way the eagle's head should point, although that's consistent on every version I've seen.

Even though I'm not a huge fan of this style eagle, it's government approved and Annin is a good flag company, so I'll probably just end up ordering this one, so thanks again.

Yeah, just make sure if it does not list that it works with Mediacom that you call them and check if they support that model.

I went with this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JGT2JI6

You can see in one of the images it list Mediacom as a supported ISP.

Took like 5 minutes to get service switched to it, now I have much better speed and range on my wifi, plus if I need to restart the modem it takes like 20 seconds rather than 10 minutes.

Good question. Some folks might be surprised to hear about white supremacist activity in Iowa, but there have been a bunch of high profile incidents lately, to show just a few:

• https://www.kcci.com/article/some-iowa-city-residents-find-white-supremacist-flyers-on-lawns/15116891
  
  
• https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/29/mollie-tibbetts-robocall-brooklyn-iowa-immigration-white-supremacist-white-nationalist-neo-nazi/1134435002/
  
  
• https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/01/24/national-alliance-member-arrested-while-distributing-white-supremacist-flyers
  
  I'm not positive how this compares to the previous few years, but I would be surprised if we haven't seen an uptick.
  
  Honestly, the most important thing we can do is to vote Steve King out of office. Even the Congressional Republicans are sick of his racist crap, and are (finally!) starting to call it out, which should tell you something. Replacing him would send a very powerful message.
  
  Self-education is a big piece, too. I was in my early twenties when I decided that I hadn't learned enough about America's history with race in school, so I started trying to figure out what I should learn and know. I read a bunch of books, and the two I recommend the most are Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, which is about the modern day, and A Short History of Reconstruction by Eric Foner, which is about the period immediately following the Civil War and how white people messed up the one shot we had as a country to really correct the evils of slavery at that moment in history. And one of the most shocking parts about the legacy of Reconstruction is that until very, very recently (like the 1980-90s) the most widely taught history of Reconstruction was that it went "too far" in helping former slaves and empowering black people (!!) not that our nation messed it up by ending Reconstruction less than fifteen years after starting it. Slavery, by contrast, existed in America for over two hundred years.
  
  And beyond just learning more, deciding to take action is most important. Be willing to attend community or town hall meetings if there is some kind of event. Join counter-protests if there are white supremacists in your community. Find or create opportunities to engage the public. I went to my first-ever Juneteenth event over the summer. I would love to see more towns and cities celebrate it. It's a great American holiday for anyone who loves freedom.

You can't fix it, but you sure can help! I forgot that forced altruism is the best type of altruism there is. Here's the link again. Every little bit helps.

https://uichildrens.org/ways-give

Oh and here's another link because you ABSOLUTELY need some of these.

I've read a couple of good books on the recent history of AB, which I'd recommend:

Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America's Kings of Beer

Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out: Goose Island, Anheuser-Busch, and How Craft Beer Became Big Business

I'd welcome any other recommendations.

What's the Matter with Kansas? is a good read. Despite being more than a decade old, most of the points put forth in it are relevant today.

It's a good title, and lately I've seen "What's the Matter with Iowa?" and "What's the Matter with Trumpland?"

NEVER get an all in one modem/router/wireless combo. They are cheap, shitty pieces of hardware.

Wirecutter just had a good article on wireless routers. They suggested the Archer C7 for a solid fast wireless router at a solid price.

If you go mediacom the Zoom 5341 is a good modem that beats out the Motorola Surfoard 6121 at the same price point. I actually have both because Mediacom tried to tell me it was my modem that was the problem.

I currently have Mediacom and paying less than $50 for 100/10. Just agreed to a 2 year and will got up by $10 in the 2nd year. In my first 2 years I had a total of about 2 weeks worth of problems. The longest being 5 days without internet. They do pro-rate for down time and I actually got about 5 weeks comped because the issues were ongoing. The best way to get fast service is to complain at their twitter account. Getting a good tech is a crapshoot. I've had both good and bad. I have a bit of networking background and when I know more than they do I almost always have to call again. When you do get a good tech shit gets fixed.

Commonly brought up as the best modem under $100

I bought this one a few months ago, been great so far:

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-340Mbps-XFINITY-Cablevision-CM400-1AZNAS/dp/B0111MRLES

I use this one and have had fantastic results

Sure, Congress ended the bracero program in 1964, and the next 15 years were steady increases in wages for farm workers in California until the mass migration of illegals came back. https://www.amazon.com/Union-Their-Dreams-Struggle-Movement/dp/1596914602/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=cesar+chavez+Miriam+Pawel&qid=1550583013&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Why would you buy an oz package of taco seasoning when you can get a 24oz container for $6.

Yeah OK that escalated a bit but for some reason I get triggered by people buying the individual packets.

I have 100mb Mediacom and use this D-Link modem and it's been rock solid.

And use this [wireless router] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JOXW58I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_WgXczbJZYJMMC) for WiFi, which has also been rock solid.

Here's what I got. I have the 100 download plan from mediacom and get that speed 99% of the time.

https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-Surfboard-SB6183-RB-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B01ERK1JLM/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=refurbished+docsis+3.0&qid=1569198826&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Then for a router the archer a5 or a7 wouldn't be bad options!

https://www.amazon.com/THIS-SITE-1897-NOTHING-HAPPENED/dp/B077S5R55F

Literally nothing. The signs can be purchased on amazon. This one has been hot glued on...