Baby T: First Contact

One of the coolest things I have ever done was today. Today was the end of the first trimester check-up for Mrs. IWG. At this visit to Dr. Fun as I like to call him, cuz he is hilarious, we got to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time. WOW! I was overwhelmed when the sound came over the machine. Mrs. IWG was beside herself laughing and giggling in anticipation of the event, and then immeadiately dissolved into happy tears, making it difficult to hear the sounds again. Watching her react is one of the great things about going to the doctor during the pregnancy!

The whole occassion is somewhat surreal, and when you hear the heartbeat it is a relief! I spent the time before wondering, "What if the heartbeat is not right?", "What if there is no heartbeat?", and "My God, what if there are two heartbeats?". So when the sound came over the receiver and the doctor pronounced that the baby sounded good, I was super relieved and could smile!

First contact has been made, and we now know for sure, there is a living and growing thing inside of my wife. How cool!

RNC: Day One: "Sept. 11th"

I am in the middle of watching the Republican Convention on TV. The GOP says the theme today is "A Nation of Courage". From my viewpoint, the theme so far has been "September 11th", but that is why the GOP decided to have this convention in New York.

So far, at least three memorials to Sept. 11th, McCain mentioned it by name five times in his speech. No doubt Guiliani will also make it a focal point. Why is this a focal point? Bush was just as neglegent as Clinton in ignoring warning signs that led to Sept. 11th. He ignored the briefings, made terrorism a second rate priority to missle defense, and marginalized terror reports from Clinton aides and his own terrorism czar.

If you put all that aside, Bush II still had a chance to unite the nation and clinch his second term. He took care of business in Afghanistan, and then let himself get entagled in the Iraqi quagmire. He lost all credibility then. He had 85% approval ratings after Sept. 11th...anyone want to say where he is now...try half of that. Bush is using the emotional tragedy of Sept. 11th to put blinders on the American public so that they do not focus on his failures on the domestic front, and with the war on terror in general. Keep watching, count how many times Sept. 11th gets mentioned in speeches for the rest of the convention....I bet it outnumbers policy initiatives for the next four years.

And lets hear it for the "big tent party", ramming home their platform today that isolated gays, pro-choice Republicans, and diversity. Don't be fooled, the evangelicals are being kept under tight control so that Bush can still look like a moderate, but once he is re-elected the right wing gets it's prize....Supreme Court judges.

By a Nose....

This election really feels like a horserace going down to the stretch. There have been so many polls that will point you in a million different directions. I am not sure what to make of polls, so I am going to conduct my own. It is an easy poll, so you can play along at home. Ask people who they voted for in 2000. Then ask people who they plan to vote for in 2004. I am guessing that there are more people that voted for Bush in 2000 and will be voting for Kerry this time, than people that voted for Gore last time will vote for Bush this time. This may hold the key to the election. Keep track as you talk to people, it could be a huge barometer of how things will turn out.

I was shocked and inspired by the demonstrations at the convention yesterday. Inspired because so many care to make a statement. I was shocked to find out it was the largest demonstration at a convention...not even the 60's could compare...crazy. However, I suspect it is the location. If the Dems had picked a place like central Alabama to hold their convention, they would have churned out quite a few protestors!

Okay, this week is big with the GOP convention. This week I will write about GOP moderates vs. THE GOP, a dissection of Bush's speech, and a nice article on why Bush is still in this race at all. Stay tuned and have a great day!

Tis' The Season To Be Jolly!

Ah yes, the summer winds have come crashing, from across the sea. August is waning, and the faint hint of walnuts on the forest floor is discernible on my hikes. Soon it will be Labor Day....no, not the time when my wife gives birth, but the weekend that traditionally marks the end of "summertime". I have to admit that the summer loses some of it's power when you finally leave school and are employed on a 12-month schedule. No more days spent entirely at the pool, and the Residence Halls really get going early on in August...so the end does not feel quite as bitter to me.

The fall in recent years has elevated much on my list of favorite times of the year. I used to think of fall as the time before the earth turned into a cold, frozen, hellish wasteland of depression and snow(maybe I get a touch of seasonal depression), but now I have a new found respect for two large reasons.

First of all, fall marks the time in many places of this country when the grapes are ripened, or have been ripe and are being harvested off of the vine....of course that means it is time to start the process of production of my favorite sipping treat....wine. Now, I love everything about wine. I love to drink it of course, but I really love all the other stuff surrounding wine. I love the geography and history of where wine comes from and how it has been produced according to local customs. I love visiting vineyards and wineries, especially smaller ones off of the beaten path, where families grow and produce special wines that no one knows about. Fall means it is time to start pressing the grapes and allowing the process of wine making to begin...the grapes coming off of the vines, we may not even get to taste until 2007-2008 in some cases, what mysteries of greatness lie in store? In the fall, visit a winery if you get a chance....one of my favorites is in central Missouri, Adam Puchta Winery in a little German town called Hermann, MO...which needs no introduction to lots of folks. Adam Puchta makes some of the best semi-sweet white wines I have ever tasted...try the Vignoles or Vivant if you love Riesling....can't be beat. The Adam's Choice is also very good. All of these wines are perfect for fall days or evenings.

The other reason I love the fall, is of course, for football season. I love football. High school, college, or NFL, I love to watch the action. The teams I root for are diverse...the Bears are the only pro-team I root for, although with my involvement in fantasy football I root for many individual players. At the college level I cheer for my undergrad alma mater, Eastern Illinois University. However, my big teams are the Tigers from my graduate alma mater, The University of Missouri-Columbia; and the home team of my youth, The Fighting Illini. It will be exciting to be a Tiger fan this year, but I suspect hard to be an Illini fan again. At any rate, I currently work at the University of Northern Iowa, and they have a great I-AA football team. My joy with football is also enhanced by my love of tailgating, for at least 3 hours before every home football game. I drive the SUV out to the parking lot, hoist up my gazebo, get out the washers set, light the grill, and pop a cold one. Now the nice thing about UNI is that we are able to avoid a game in the cold because we play in a Dome. I really miss being outside for games, but I love the warmth in the Dome, and man does it get loud in there. Still two weeks until our home opener, but I am fired up and ready! UNI plays Iowa State on Sept. 4th...Lets hope for a big win.

At any rate, I hope you are celebrating the Fall as well. While it means colder weather, it also means a lot of great things are on the way!

A Slight Miscalculation....

A great article today in the New York Times...an interview with President Bush. Now my conservative friends will automatically dismiss any story in the Times. My pal Savannah J says of the Times, "it is just talking points for the Democrats." However, this article has some interesting quotes and thoughts from Bush II, our monarch appointed by God (or the Supreme Court). Bush calls the insurgency and aftermath of the Iraq war a "slight miscalculation". A SLIGHT MISCALCULATION???? A slight miscalculation is tipping a waitress 12% instead of 15%. A slight miscalculation is forgetting to order 2 large T-shirts in a T-shirt order for 120 students. What was Bush's slight miscalculation? How about a 17 -month insurgency and 828 American lives lost since the time he declared "Mission Accomplished". C'mon your majesty, that is no slight miscalculation, that is what the Iowawineguy Dictionary calls " (n); origin Greek meaning: One Major Fucking Catastrophe and Lack of Planning resulting in unneccesary loss of life, can also be substituted with "Incompetent", "No Imminent Threat", and "Haliburton". G'Dub, you should know all about "slight miscalculations", remember Florida 2000, it was a "slight miscalculation" that gave you the job you have.

Okay so the other good part of this article is Bush talking about Iran and North Korea. These are two nations that actually do have real nuclear weapons, not just "desire to obtain nuclear weapons". Shocking to yours truly(not), here is what Bush said:

"He said that in North Korea's case, and in Iran's, he would not be rushed to set deadlines for the countries to disarm, despite his past declaration that he would not "tolerate'' nuclear capability in either nation. He declined to define what he meant by "tolerate.''
"I don't think you give timelines to dictators,'' Mr. Bush said, speaking of North Korea's president, Kim Jong Il, and Iran's mullahs. He said he would continue diplomatic pressure - using China to pressure the North and Europe to pressure Iran - and gave no hint that his patience was limited or that at some point he might consider pre-emptive military action."


Let me get this straight...Iran and North Korea, big nuclear weapons, hatred of United States, past history of directly hurting and trying to hurt Americans; no timelines, diplomacy is good.....Iraq, no nuclear weapons, no bio weapons (although at one point they did, cuz we provided them), hatred of US, no history of directly hurting or trying to hurt Americans; pull inspectors out (cuz they couldn't find what was not there), invade and try to recreate in America's image. What is the difference???? Oh yeah, Iraq sits on top of a huge freaking oil reserve, and Saddam Hussein is already kind of a bad dude. Maybe that is conspiracy theorist stuff, but c'mon, why the double standard? Iran and North Korea are equally as oppressive of human rights as the Iraqi regime was. No doubt that they both probably have had dealings with terrorists on the level that Iraq had. And what the hell, now Europe is a great partner to put pressure on Middle Eastern dictatorships? When did we all of a sudden welcome Europe back into the fold of the US world policy? If nothing else, maybe Bush is learning from his mistakes....or maybe it is just time for re-election. Talk about flip-flopping.

At any rate I am going to take a break from political commentary for the weekend, because next week is the GOP convention. It should be fun, the party marching up Guiliani and Arnold and other moderate Republicans with socially liberal viewpoints, while the ram home a hardline conservative platform...don't be fooled by their promises of compassionate conservatisim this time!!!!

Your hero, dreaming of scuba diving!!! 

The Glow

For those of you that don't know, Mrs. iowawineguy is 12 weeks pregnant and we are both thrilled about it. My good friend Jules M.D. told me that she thought pregnant women were beautiful, and I had to agree. My wife is skinny rail of a thing and the first thing she noticed about getting pregnant was that her clothes did not fit so great anymore. So we have been doing the maternity clothes shopping thing, which is kind of fun for me, but sort of depressing for her I think. At any rate, 12 weeks means that she is still very slender, but with a slight round expression in her belly. Now, I cannot wait for the big belly that I can rub and talk to all the time, but I think this small protrusion is so cute and makes her look so beautiful. She can still wear some of her old clothes and dresses, except now you can tell she is "a little pregnant". It makes her look so beautiful I can't hardly stand it, and I love to put my hands on her tummer.

At any rate the pregnancy is progressing fairly nicely. No morning sickness, no super cravings, and no problems. Mrs. IWG has been feeling very tired and worn out, but she is also just starting a new job, so what can one expect. Anyway, she is my hero and I love her twice as much (is that possible?) these days! So, the glow of pregnancy lights our home these days and I am sure it will be covered in future posts as well.

Another Bush Endorsement

It seems that watercraft operators of all kinds are supporting Bush these days. First it was the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, of course official Navy records have proven them wrong, and they still have no documentation to prove their accusations. John O'Neil, the lead instigator is trying to defend all of his inconsistencies, but now audio tapes of him with Nixon point out more of his lies. (P.S. I love using Fox News Stories to disprove Republican attacks!! It feels like I am actually helping them be Fair and Balanced.).

Well now we have endorsements from Swift Yacht Vets for Bush. This Band of Brothers seems right up Bush's alley, and is a great laugh.

...With Liberty, and Justice For All.

I apologize for a long post today, but if you stick with it, it is decent reading! The last line of the pledge of allegiance. The pledge has been in the news quite a bit recently for the line that precedes this line...one nation under God. I personally have no problem with including the reference to a higher being in this pledge. I firmly believe that God, in whatever manifestation he takes, plays an important role in the lives of many Americans, and I do not think we should ignore that. I do have a problem when that manifestation becomes Christian-centric however. And that thought leads me to my premise of this post that we do not place enough emphasis on the last line of the pledge, with LIBERTY, and JUSTICE for all.

My thoughts today center on the topic of gay Americans and gay rights. I was floored this morning by the comments of the Vice President of the USA Dick Cheney, and I was floored in a good way, which shocked me even more. You see, I think Bush II is a harmless monarch. I firmly believe that he lacks the mental capacity to run this country on his own...he is aloof, and just a simple guy. It is his advisors that make this administration so hardcore to the right(wrong) of the majority of Americans. Now, the chief villain in this is John Ashcroft. A guy so popular in his home state of Missouri that he lost a Senate race to a dead guy (much respect for Mel Carnahan). But next on the list for me is Dick Cheney, D. Rumsfeld, and Condoleeza Rice.

Dick Cheney is a politician that I have respect for because he has views, he sticks with them, and be damned if anyone challenges them. The reason I dislike him is because many of his views are too conservative for me and tend to focus on the advancement of the wealthy. I also have had issues with him because he does have an openly gay daughter and he has stood by Bush II during this ridiculous push to "ban" gay marriage. What frustrated me was that Cheney and his daughter Mary seem to be close. Mary works closely with her father to help him get elected to offices and is one of his closest allies, even though Cheney is forced to take a hard-right stance on gay marriage, which may alienate his daughter. Although, to be fair, gay marriage is also controversial with some religious gays as well. At any rate, last night, Cheney abruptly broke with the Bush doctrine on gay marriage. It occurred during a town hall meeting and Cheny actually used the words, "freedom means freedom for everyone,". Now, part of me really appreciated the support a dad was showing for his daughter, and another part of me finally screamed, at last, someone on the right acknowledges that this is an issue of LIBERTY and JUSTICE and not an issue of GOD and MORALITY. However, another part of me was skeptical. If freedom means freedom for everyone, why would Cheney support a document like the Patriot Act, which obviously makes Muslim Americans a target? Well, at least it is a start. Today at least Dick Cheney, you get kudos from me for breaking with your boss in the name of what is right and what is humane. Hopefully the fate that befell the others that took a similar stance (Paul O'Neil, Richard Clarke, etc) will not happen to Cheney, but the religious right (wrong) is already up in arms.

Now, I am a member of the Human Rights Campaign and I consider myself to be an advocate for GLBTQ issues, I have to be considering my work with developing college students. The religious right (wrong) has tried to turn the issue of gay marriage into an issue of sin and righteousness. I have to take issue with this. First of all, what gay Americans are seeking is the right to enter into a legally binding agreement in which they share the same benefits of couples that are in heterosexual unions. We are talking about tax breaks, right of visitation, adoption rights, right of survivorship, and other benefits. Now, the legal definition of this union is called marriage, and this is where the problem is. Marriage is the legal term, but marriage in it's religious meaning is a spiritual union that can only happen between a man and a woman (depending on what religion you practice). By using marriage as the definition in legal terms we quantify it as a religious ceremony when what people are seeking is a legal union. I mean there are tons of registered religious leaders (including myself) that are able to spiritually connect two individuals through ceremony right now. Having a religious ceremony is not at issue, but having it called marriage is what incites and infuriates the religious right (wrong). They think that by banning gay marriage they are protecting the spiritual value of the marriage ceremony, but what they are really doing is blocking the pursuit of LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. Any human should have the right to enter into a relationship with another consenting adult and receive the benefits the government confers to couples.

Finally, the right (wrong) says that legalizing civil unions/gay marriage will destroy the sanctity of marriage and ruin our social structures. Friends, my question is, what is left destroy???? We have divorce rates that quantify to 1 in 2 marriages ending in divorce. We have an urban parental crisis that is leaving single parents to care for numerous children on their own. We have articles on CNN talking about if extramarital affairs are becoming more accepted. How exactly are two homosexual people who are ready to commit to each other, be monogamous, and love each other enough to fight this difficult fight going to destroy heterosexual relationships anymore? We have done f***ed them up enough as it is. I say we should welcome loving couples into the fold with open arms and say, let us learn from you, let us welcome you to the community. If we have two loving parents that want to adopt children we should say, please take some of these children that only want love and support! Nurture and raise them to be respectful and responsible citizens! Teach them about love and understanding, teach them tolerance and peace. Instead of pushing citizens out of the process we should strive everyday to make sure that we give them liberty, and we make sure there is justice for all. If God is looking down on us, it is what he would want and would expect, but that is another post, for another time.

The Lesser of Two Evils

Well, there is more interesting news on the political front today. This article talks about one of the best and most respected prognosticators saying the race is Kerry's to lose. Now I am not a huge John Kerry fan. I supported Howard Dean in the primary and was really turned off by the negative campaign tactics that Kerry and Gephardt used against Dean, not to mention how the DNC stabbed the Dean man in the back. However, you can be damn sure that I will not vote for Bush. That leaves me in a quandry because I live in Iowa, a swing state for one of these candidates. Nader has lost all credibility, respectability, and electability so my choices are limited. I have been toying with the idea of writing in Howard Dean...a protest of sorts. At any rate the election feels like a vote between two evils, and I hate that more than anything. To me there are not a whole lot of differences between Kerry and Bush except that Bush has had four years in the drivers seat to make a royal wreck of things.

I also look at this website about the electoral vote every morning because it is updated with new state by state polls which makes it more accurate than reports of national popular vote. Tomorrow it gets updates from all the new Zogby info, so be sure to check it out then as well.

Stick The Landing

Okay, I admit that I am kind of a geek when it comes to the Olympics. I did not pay any attention to any of these sports before last weekend, but now that they are on TV I cannot help but become enthralled with the drama. One of my favorites that I am waiting for is the indoor cycling. It is simply amazing to watch that many bikes on an inclined track racing at amazing speeds. I think I am addicted to the Olympics though, I sat this morning and watched the entire live broadcast of the women's marathon....two hours and eighteen minutes...with commerical breaks. To top it all off, NBC's melodramatic heartstring stories had me so emotional by the end that I shed a tear when the woman from Great Britain had to quit, and when the American took the bronze...damn emotions!

I also know I am too enthralled when I start to pick apart the terminology and rules for some of the events. The one that has me perplexed tonight has to do with gymnastics, which is one of the sports I only see when the Olympics role around. I love the gymnasts because they are able to do things with their bodies I could never possibly do, but can certainly fantacize about! Tonight the floor exercises were going on and I noticed the commentary..."A wonderful dismount!", "A difficult mount to start". Now, my question is, how does one technically "mount" the floor exercise? When you step on the floor, are you not mounting this apparatus? The conundrum has me searching the complex resources of my college trained critical thinking mind. Can one additionally mount something that one is already mounted on? The real kicker is then, how does one "dismount" the floor exercise. My creative mind wanders to gymnasts doing a double-back sommersalt off of the floor and exploding like a rocket off of the floor, out of the arena, and into the sky above. Or perhaps if the gymanst stuck the landing, and was sucked into the earth...that would be a dismount!

If anyone can help my feeble mind grasp mounting a floor, let me know. Otherwise, I will be here attempting "stick the landing" each time I get up from the couch....

No Arms plus a Speech Impediment = Funny

Nothing brings me greater joy than Homestar Runner (be sure to watch the intro). This website makes me smile and is a great example of why creativity should be cultivated, supported, and developed in all of our children. It is a website chronicling the characters of a land of make believe...or maybe real life. Homestar is the supposed star. One of my favorite parts of the site are the weekly emails answered by the resident grump/mischief maker/tenderhearted Strong Bad. His emails are so funny you can't help but laugh......I am spending my day catching up on his emails! Check out one of my favorite clips, Strong Bad interviewing Homestar. An added bonus, you can never go wrong in a land of make believe when one of the characters is called the The Poopsmith. Never hurts to spend a whole morning smiling!

Bush Exposed...Not all Veterans Are Like Him!

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. A group of veterans that puportedly served with John Kerry in Vietnam and are now producing ads challenging the credibility of two of his purple hearts and his bronze star. Bush II has said he believes that Kerry served honorably, but will not dissavow the claims of the group.....but, why would he? It serves to help him politically if people second guess Kerry's credibility on the veteran front. And today, it is proven that the Swift Boat Veterans, a 527 group "not affiliated" with a campaign or candidate, has lied, and is connected to Bush II.

Now, I really deplore how negative this campaign has gotten on both sides, but this makes me sick. A group of veterans, many of whom won the same medals as Kerry, in the same incident, using negative campaigning to destroy a worthy veteran who served proudly. The kicker is that Bush II is connected. He has no shame, even though he too is a "veteran" of military service, although there are many questions regarding his service and discharge that may or may not have had to do with his cocaine use. How can any "leader" not condemn this faulty attack? Well, I will tell you why. It is because Bush II and the Royal Jester Karl Rove have used these tactics before and blamed them on operatives acting independently, it happened to John McCain in the South Carolina primary in 2000. So much for visionary leadership. Is it now acceptable to question Bush's character in all of these matters? Even if he does not personally give the order, isn't he responsible for having advisors like these on his staff and responsible for this character assassination? Character does count, and doing anything and everything to win when you are behind in your re-election campaign is a sign of weak values.

Beware...Death By Scuba!

I fancy myself as a future scuba whiz. I have only been three times, all at a resort in Jamaica while on my honeymoon, but it grabbed hold quickly and I am currently saving enough money to take lessons and get PADI certified. Hopefully that will allow me to dive on those rare occasions that I get to a place near the ocean!

This cracked me up though...more protective services from the Department of Homeland Security, brought to you by the (un)Patriot(ic) Act.

The Film That Would Make A Traitor

Everyone has heard of the film...Farenheit 9/11. No matter what you think of Michael Moore or what side your politics fall on you cannot help but react to this film. Personally I have seen it twice, and I feel that it is truly an emotional roller coaster of a ride. I don't buy all of the conspiracy theories presented in the movie, but it is easy for me to believe some of the things. Michael Moore will show you support for all of his accusations if you want to see them. I did not support the invasion of Iraq in any sense, so seeing many of the realities of that conflict was upsetting, hurtful, and left me feeling very angry, although I did not need any of the movie to make me angry at the reign of Bush II.

The thing that really gets me about this film are the unfounded attacks on this film by critics that refuse to see it. How can you attack and discredit something that you have not seen? How quickly do people dismiss your opinions if you have not even seen what you are attacking? The right(wrong) wing seems to have a pure hatred of Michael Moore (much like my own for Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reiley and others), going so far as to label him as a traitor and his opinions as treason. Saddam Hussein would agree. For a state to condemn dissenting opinions in such a manner is a direct slap in the face to what the right(wrong) wing says we are fighting for. Michael Moore airs an opinion that, while not mainstream, gives voice to an important segment of the population. The truth is that the majority of America does not lie along the extreme left or right, but the population needs to know we exist because these sides point out important issues to consider for everyone else.

I wish people would see this movie so we could debate it on it's merits, rather than who is making the movie. One quality of the servant leader is that they listen to an opinion or statement based on the merit of the statement, not on who is saying it. That is called respect and every American brave enough to voice an unpopular opinion should be given the respect.

The End of Happiness??

So I guess I have been noticing something since the tragic date of September, 11th. Something that is eating at my soul and my spirit and something that seems to be eroding the core of the good ole' USA. It is the loss of optimism.

You see I know what the terrorists took from our country and from all of us living in it. They stole the sense of wonder, the pride, and the happiness that our country used to be know for. Now I know that some of you may say that pride and patriotism was never higher than after the period of September 11th....but think about it this way. The last time you were in a fight, and you got cold-cocked in the jaw....maybe you got a good lick in, or maybe you kick the living crap out of the opponent. Sure you feel good about your victory, but somewhere deep inside you feel bad. You feel shamed that you got hit. Maybe you don't show any ill effects...but maybe you are more cautious walking around. September 11th was the biggest cold-cock ever laid on the steel chin of the USA. We banded together to blow the hell out of the Taliban in Afghanistan which made us feel better, but deep down we were changed.

Bush II and his inquisitions had us all peeping over our shoulders. Looking for that next big attack. We all bought it. We gave up our hopes of what we could do as Americans to huddle together to make sure we did not lose the safety of being Americans. Some would say we might have had it coming...but I think it is a shame that the optimism is gone and that we look at the future with pessimism and distrust.

Maybe not eloquent, but reason enough for me to start this blog. I am the iowa wine guy and I am the optimist in the face of certain failure. I am starting this blog after reading countless others that are full of doom and gloom. I hope to be able to share the pinpoints of light that shoot in to our lives, and hopefully to also share my opinion.

Who am I? A Residence Hall Director on a Iowan University. Surrounded by 484 of the best and brightest students in the country. Daily living has it's interests. I am a Socialist Democrat, observing a selfish society, and I am a follower of the true teachers of the past....a servant leader. The characters of my life are all valuable to me and I hope to share them with you.........To Be Continued