essentialestrogen.com

U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin are supporting a newly introduced bill that would ban most meatpackers from owning livestock. The measure was introduced Wednesday by Iowa Republican Grassley and North Dakota Democrat Kent Conrad. Iowa Democrat Harkin and South Dakota Republican Tim Johnson were original co-sponsors. The bill does not impact packers too [...]

The passage of the so-called “ag gag” bill (Senate File 2172) has been approved by the Iowa House and Senate. And, yes, it was changed from the over-the-top House version that passed in that chamber during 2011, but the basic sentiment has remained. For a really good wrap-up of debate, comments and voting, click over [...]

You might think that between health care reform, banking regulation reform, possible cap-and-trade legislation and tweeting that U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s dance card is filled. Well, think again. A press release sent out tonight by his office provides the prepared text of a floor statement offered today in which Grassley takes on a Time Magazine [...]

Dr. Norman Borlaug, a son of immigrants who fled to the U.S. when faced with famine in Norway and a man who taught people throughout the world how to increase crop production, died late Saturday night in Texas from complications of cancer. The Iowa native, who is credited as being the father of the Green [...]

Dolores Huerta, president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and lifetime champion for social justice, will speak Monday, Sept. 14, in Des Moines at Trinity United Methodist Church. The event is free and open to the public. Huerta was born in New Mexico in 1930 and grew up in a California, where she learned early in [...]

Today I discovered an absolutely fascinating article that focuses on the intersection of two of my personal interests: Rural living and women’s rights. The article focuses on the Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), adopted by the United Nations in 1979. As such, it is worth noting at the [...]

A study in the latest issue of Economics & Human Biology (abstract available online) notes that women — especially Caucasian women — who receive government assistance for food tend to weigh more than women who do not. The study, conducted by Jay Zagorsky of Ohio State University and Patricia Smith of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, [...]

The information in this press release from the Iowa Democratic Party is simply disgusting: Democrats decry hat speech at Republican gathering, demand to know why Republican hopefuls did not speak out Rants, Northey, Behn and others attend event where Dems compared to the Nazi Party Des Moines — Do Republican Gubernatorial hopefuls think Democrats are [...]

This week’s earworm — “Keep Young & Beautiful,” by Annie Lennox: What’s cute about a little cutie It’s her beauty — not brains. Old father time will never harm you If your charm still remains. After you grow old, baby, You don’t have to be a cold baby. I had no idea that Annie Lennox [...]

Congressman Dave Loebsack kicked off his second round of meetings with residents in Iowa’s 2nd District by shunning what he termed the “hyper partisanship” of Washington, D.C. “I might just say, generally, [my first year in Congress] was even more than I expected it would be in many ways,” Loebsack, a first-year Democrat, told the [...]