For years, contractor Jeremey Lawson took advantage of numerous customers in Iowa and several other Midwest states, defrauding them out of thousands of dollars for jobs he never completed.

But this week, the longtime felon received a stiff prison sentence of 20 years in connection with a crime spree in Bloomfield, where he and another felon burglarized businesses and robbed local Amish while they were in church on a Sunday in March 2023.

Lawson, 48, and alleged accomplice Michael Diedrick II broke into several businesses, including Wagler Metals, Hwy. 2 Discount Groceries, Midwest Truss Co. and KW Welding, as well as two residences. At one of the homes, according to court documents, a boy and two teen girls, one in a wheelchair, hid in a back bedroom as Lawson and Diedrick broke in.



Lawson was sentenced for four felony burglary counts, as well as for being a felon in possession of an offensive firearm, under a plea agreement reached with Davis County prosecutors.

In July, Diedrick was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted on four burglary counts and one of control of an offensive weapon by a felon.


Lawson, who has lived in Bloomfield and nearby Drakesville, could not be reached for comment.

Court records show Lawson has a decades-long, documented history of taking large advances from customers for construction jobs and then walking away.

He's been the subject of news stories since a December 2014 Watchdog probe found that he and his brother, Marvin, had racked up criminal convictions, civil court judgments and allegations of construction fraud and theft in at least four counties in Missouri, four in Illinois and 19 in Iowa, including Polk.


As a contractor, Lawson been a top generator of complaints over the past two decades to the Iowa attorney general's Consumer Protection Division, even though a judge barred him in 2015 from taking further advance payments for any construction jobs. In the case that prompted that ruling, Lawson owed more than $102,000 in restitution tied to 25 victims in connection with court action initiated by a consumer protection lawyer in then-Attorney General Tom Miller's office.

One of the last times Lawson was imprisoned was after his sixth conviction for OWI in 2018. With two sheriff's deputies in pursuit, Lawson sped and drove drunk in Davis County, crashing into a stop sign and plowing into a bridge before flipping his Chevy Silverado, according to a criminal complaint against him. Two of three passengers were taken to the hospital.

For some reason we have never gone through the steps for TSA precheck, which we are doing now. From everyone I talk to, if you fly even once a year, it is completely worth it. Makes we wonder what else I have not been doing which I should have been. Lay it on me oh great and wise HORT.

The Pentagon will rush about $300 million in weapons to Ukraine after finding some cost savings in its contracts, even though the military remains deeply overdrawn and needs at least $10 billion to replenish all the weapons it has pulled from its stocks to help Kyiv in its desperate fight against Russia, the White House announced Tuesday.



It's the Pentagon's first announced security package for Ukraine since December, when it acknowledged it was out of replenishment funds. It wasn't until recent days that officials publicly acknowledged they weren't just out of replenishment funds, but $10 billion overdrawn.


The announcement comes as Ukraine is running dangerously low on munitions and efforts to get fresh funds for weapons have stalled in the House because of Republican opposition. U.S. officials have insisted for months that the United States wouldn’t be able to resume weapons deliveries until Congress provided the additional replenishment funds, which are part of the stalled supplemental spending bill.




The replenishment funds have allowed the Pentagon to pull existing munitions, air defense systems and other weapons from its reserve inventories under presidential drawdown authority, or PDA, to send to Ukraine and then put contracts on order to replace those weapons, which are needed to maintain U.S. military readiness.


“When Russian troops advance and its guns fire, Ukraine does not have enough ammunition to fire back,” said national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in announcing the $300 million in additional aid.


The Pentagon also has had a separate Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI, which has allowed it to fund longer-term contracts with industry to produce new weapons for Ukraine.


Senior defense officials who briefed reporters said the Pentagon was able to get cost savings in some of those longer-term contracts of roughly $300 million and, given the battlefield situation, decided to use those savings to go ahead and send more weapons. The officials said the cost savings basically offset the new package and keep the replenishment spending underwater at $10 billion.





One of the officials said the package represented a “one time shot” — unless Congress passes the supplemental spending bill, which includes roughly $60 billion in military aid for Ukraine, or more cost savings are found. It is expected to include anti-aircraft missiles, artillery rounds and armor systems, the official said.


The aid announcement comes as Polish leaders are in Washington to press the U.S. to break its impasse over replenishing funds for Ukraine at a critical moment in the war. Polish President Andrzej Duda met Tuesday with Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate and was to meet with President Joe Biden later in the day.


House Speaker Mike Johnson has so far refused to bring the $95 billion package, which includes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, to the floor. Seeking to put pressure on the Republican speaker, House Democrats have launched a long-shot effort to force a vote through a discharge petition. The seldom-successful procedure would require support from a majority of lawmakers, or 218 members, to move the aid package to a vote.


Ukraine's situation has become more dire, with units on the front line rationing munitions as they face a vastly better supplied Russian force. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly implored Congress for help, but House Republican leadership has not been willing to bring the Ukraine aid to the floor for a vote, saying any aid must first address border security needs.


Pentagon officials said Monday during budget briefing talks they were counting on the supplemental to cover the $10 billion replenishment hole.


“If we don’t get the $10 billion we would have to find other means,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said. “Right now we’re very much focused on the need for that supplemental.”


This is the second time in less than nine months that the Pentagon has “found” money to use for additional weapons shipments to Ukraine. Last June, defense officials said they had overestimated the value of the weapons the U.S. had sent to Ukraine by $6.2 billion over the past two years.


At the time, Pentagon officials said a review found that the military services used replacement costs rather than the book value of equipment that was pulled from Pentagon stocks and sent to Ukraine. The discovery resulted in a surplus that the department used for presidential drawdown packages until the end of December.


The United States has committed more than $44.9 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration, including more than $44.2 billion since the beginning of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.


The Pentagon is $10 billion overdrawn in the replenishment account in part due to inflationary pressures, and in part because the new systems the Pentagon is seeking to replace the old systems with cost more, such as the upcoming Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, which the Army is buying to replace the long-range Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS.


The vast majority of those munitions have come from Army stockpiles due to the nature of the conventional land war in Ukraine.


The months without further shipments of U.S. support have hurt operations, and Ukrainian troops withdrew from the eastern city of Avdiivka last month, where outnumbered defenders had withheld a Russian assault for four months.


CIA Director William Burns told Congress that entire Ukrainian units have told him in recent days of being down to their last few dozen artillery shells and other ammunition. Burns called the retreat from Avdiivka a failure of ammunition resupply, not a failure of Ukrainian will.

See you fat bitches down the line! I'm taking my soon to be skinny ass to the knife drawer.

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Tied at 77 at the end of regulation in the Big Ten Women’s Championship.

Looking for an all - session ticket for 1. Anyone got an extra for sale?

It’s about time someone is being sued over discriminating white males. I hope he wins.

I have never understood how we want to treat everyone as equals yet businesses constantly are able to advertise or promote jobs strictly for women or minorities.
I’ve been passed over for promotions before because I wasn’t a woman and different times interviewed for positions because they saw my last name and thought I was Hispanic.

I keep hearing how we are supposed to not be racist yet it’s being advertised all the time.

What's your take? She should be able to do what she wants if legal or she at least owes the decency of providing an explanation?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/massachusetts-funeral-home-being-sued-112044509.html

• Andrew Serrano's family is suing a Massachusetts funeral home, The Eagle-Tribune reported.
• The lawsuit said a strap broke and Serrano's body fell out, "oozing liquid," the report said.
• Family members saw it happen and "became visibly distraught and hysterical," the lawsuit said.
  

I've never encountered workers as rude as the ones there. **** that place. It takes a lot for my wife to get pissed and she was ready to throw down.

Incident #1. Walked up to a sample booth with my 5 year old. There were kids going up and grabbing samples left and right, no parents with them. My kid, who is right next to me, grabs a sample. Lady flew off the handle about him needing to be 18 and I have to grab them for him. I laughed, legit thought it was a joke, and she gets up from her perch and starts laying into me. Cool, been a member for 5 minutes and had no idea, thanks for calmly explaining your rules and doing a bang up job enforcing them.

Incident #2. As we were walking up to the checkouts, they had 3 drink sample stands that we stopped at. The final one didn't have a trash by it so I just held on to my cup and told my son to do the same until we found a trash. We get up to the checkout and my wife starts unloading the cart while I have my membership scanned by the checker, I had my wifes card as well because she had a 3 card slot on her phone that has her ID and 2 cards, so i was holding it. My son noticed people eating hot dogs and wanted one, so I told my wife I was going up to get him one while she checked out. 2 birds, one stone. 30 seconds later I hear my name and see my wife waving for me. She told me she can't use her card with my membership. Huh? Then the guy, in a very rude tone, explains the membership name has to match the card name. Again, didn't know that, was not told that signing up, thanks for the condescending tone. Then I hear "Jesus, I fricken absolutely hate it when people do this! There are garbage cans right next to the stands." I didn't even know what was happening, then see that my son crumpled up his cup and threw it in the cart. He looks up at me with sad eyes, and I simply told him it was OK, but he needs to throw trash away, not in the carts. I also told him that it's never ever OK to talk to people that way. In the middle of this, douchnozzle interups ne to ask if I needed boxes. I told him to hold on a second while I finish talking with my kid and he responded with "fine, take your chances on their being boxes out front, I'm loading your cart." At that moment I hear my wife yell NOPE, just leave it all.

We walked up to the guy that signed us up and told him we wanted out money back. He finally did after explaining the scenario to him. What a bunch if ****ing clowns they have working there. We did absolutely nothing that deserved the attitude and ass chewings we got. CSB/Ctl alt del. I look forward to the comments of them being amazing and we must have done something.

Getting married is often seen as a milestone achievement — right up there with buying a house or having kids.



But when Lyz Lenz, former columnist for The Gazette and now acclaimed author and writer for the New York Times, Time, and the Washington Post, got married at 22, she quickly discovered that marriage wasn’t always about both partners equally supporting each other. In fact, it was often about the woman providing free labor and support for the man.


After filing for divorce, Lenz found her life as a single-parent was filled with more: more time, more autonomy, and more lucrative work opportunities.




“Marriage is touted as a solution for everything from child care to poverty. But those benefits rest on the unpaid labor of women,” Lenz said in a recent interview.


In her latest book, “This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life,” Lenz blends extensive research with her own story to explore the role marriage plays in our society.

This American Ex-Wife by Lyz Lenz
“I wanted to write a book that acted as counter programming to the message that marriage was the solution. I wanted to show that actually, for women, it’s often a form of entrapment.”


“In a world that seems to see marriage as an uncritical good, I wanted to say, ‘Actually, it’s not that great and there are other ways to live.’"





This interview has been edited for clarity and length.


Q: You did quite a bit of research for this book. Did you find anything surprising?


A: One of the things that surprised me the most was research that indicated that countries with liberal divorce laws saw women make more money, have longer lasting relationships, kids stay in school longer, and rates of domestic violence decrease. In sum, when women are given freedom and opportunity, everyone benefits.


So, when I hear politicians and pundits say we should make divorce harder, I realize it’s not about strengthening American families. If we wanted to do that we would empower people with choices, because that’s what the data shows.


I also saw data from a study that showed that women who made more than their husbands were more likely to be victims of domestic violence, and I think that reveals how deeply entrenched these toxic gender dynamics are in our relationships.


Q: My ex-wife and I are divorced. Did your research focus on heterosexual couples, or did you find overlaps that could apply to all marriages?


A: The sacred cow I am slaughtering with this book is specifically heterosexual marriage, because that's the system that is being touted as a political and economic solution for American problems. And there isn't enough research on gay marriage because it hasn't been around long enough. Which I think speaks to the power of marriage in our society that it's such a metonym for social order that it takes an act of the Supreme Court to change it.


However, I do think toxic gender dynamics trap us all. We are all raised in this culture and sexuality doesn’t absolve us of the messages we receive in our churches, from our parents, and from movies and books. I've heard from a lot of queer friends who talked about how they replicated these dynamics in their own marriages and lives. Part of the goal of this book is to push back against binaries and queer the understanding of love and relationships.


Q: I’m sure you’ll get lots of interesting emails once this book comes out. Why do you think people have so many opinions about marriage?


A: A lot of people keep asking me questions that are focused on the backlash I will receive. And as a former employee of local Iowa news, who has written about white nationalists, Tucker Carlson, Ron DeSantis and so much more, I am no stranger to backlash and I don’t think it's specific to the topic I am writing about.


Rather, I think it's more important to analyze the reasons why people feel comfortable shouting at, demeaning and firing women who challenge them. It's because even now, in 2024 an intelligent, liberated woman is a threat. A successful woman who exists outside the systems and prescribed boxes is seen as dangerous and people will do anything to push her back inside.


It's not just that people have opinions on marriage. It's that people do not like to see a woman successfully and freely exist outside of the binaries. And that's what this book does. It shows that the narrative of happily ever after is flimsy and precarious and that life on the other side can be fulfilling and glorious and beautiful. Also, I relish a little backlash. If what I wrote made people comfortable, I wouldn't be doing good work.


Q: What are some of the best things about being divorced?


A: Peace. Quiet. Not having someone expect an emotional performance of me …. I go hang out with friends or have people over and there is no one huffing about it in the corner.


I recently bought a beautiful piece of art for my wall that was priced like $200 less than what you can find online. And the guy selling it said the previous woman who tried to buy it couldn't because her husband told her to haggle and was such a jerk about the price, the seller eventually just told the couple to leave. I feel bad for that woman. I used to be that woman. But now I have a lovely home, I make more money, and that piece of art is above my bed.


I know even happily married women who tell me in secret that if something happened to their marriages, they'd never remarry. Our society fetishizes marriage so much, we've failed to fully understand how much of it is predicated on women's labor and misery. Not my life. Not anymore.


For couples who decide they do want to get married: what conversations should they absolutely be having before they get hitched?


See, for me, when you say what conversations “couples” should have, I know that in the case of cis/het couples, this will always be the woman initiating these conversations and I hate that. So, I am not giving that advice.


The advice I would give is that men in these cis/het relationships would take on the duty of reading “Fair Play” by Eve Rodsky, getting the Fair Play cards, examining the labor they do. Like actually being honest about it. And I wish that women would sit down and really think through the things they are compromising on and ask themselves why they feel they need to do that.


If you have to compromise on your career or give up your last name to make a partner happy, you are already giving up too much. And I know there is a Greek chorus of well-meaning people saying, "Well that’s just how relationships work." Actually, no. Because he's not giving up those things. So, why should you? Why sacrifice yourself on the pyre of a relationship that has no room for you?


Be pickier, be bolder, don’t be afraid to break things. Don’t be afraid to walk away. It’s great out here.

Accusing others of being neo Nazis while being a bigot yourself. Lawsuit filed.

State lawmakers this week advanced a bill that would dismantle citizen review boards that probe alleged police misconduct like those established in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Coralville, University Heights and Dubuque.



Senate File 2325 would make changes to city civil service commissions that oversee the testing, hiring, promotion and discipline for police officers, firefighters and other civil service positions.


The bill passed the Senate 37-9 after being amended to insert a provision that states a city with a civil service commission “shall not adopt, enforce, or otherwise administer” or establish “a board or other entity for the purpose of citizen review of the conduct of police officers.”




Skylar Limkemann, an attorney for the Iowa Fraternal Order of Police, said the bill aims to improve due process in disciplinary hearings for civil service employees, including police and firefighters, by incorporating case law and clarifying procedures. The group represents about 2,000 of the roughly 7,000 law enforcement officers in the state.


Limkemann, who represented a former Cedar Rapids police officer who unsuccessfully appealed his firing for being dishonest about 2016 traffic stop and violating department policies, said the bill aims to standardize the civilian review process for law enforcement in Iowa.


“What this bill does is it says we already have a civil service commission process here in the state of Iowa. We do not need a civilian review process,” Limkemann told members of a House subcommittee that advanced the bill Thursday.


Additionally, Iowa law does not provide regulations for how civilian review boards operate. As a result, each of the communities that has one has adopted different processes and purposes for their police review board, Limkemann said.





“Unfortunately, what we've seen really since 2019 and 2020 is just a continual attack of our law enforcement officers by some of the civilian review boards,” he said. He didn’t cite any specific incident where a board's review has escalated to the point of officers receiving additional consequences.


Representatives for the Iowa League of Cities and the cities of Iowa City, Coralville, Des Moines, Cedar Falls expressed concerns to lawmakers about eliminating citizen review boards — even if their city does have them in place — citing their role in increasing transparency and accountability.


Kelly Paschke, representing the Iowa Peace Officers Association, argued that the civil service system is broken and stacked against police officers, saying they often face political interference and lack of due process.


Employees appealing disciplinary decisions before a civil service commission would be allowed to request the production of documents and depose witnesses.


The bill states a civil service employee could be removed, discharged, demoted or suspended only with “just cause and upon a finding by a preponderance of evidence” they violated the law, city rules or policies, or is physically or mentally unfit.

‘We have their back’​

Sen. Scott Webster, a Republican from Bettendorf, during Senate floor debate criticized past discussions about policing policy by Iowa City’s Community Police Review Board. Webster also asserted citizen review boards “give no due process to a police officer at all.”


The Iowa City Community Police Review Board, according to city code, “has no power to review police officer personnel records or disciplinary matters” and “has only limited civil, administrative review powers, and has no power or authority over criminal matters.”


Webster also said the legislation is needed to defend law enforcement from “political interventions by citizen review boards and the media frenzy that goes along with them.”


“Today we send a clear message to the brave men and women who put on their uniform every day, who stand on that thin, blue line: We have their back. We stand with them. We respect them,” Webster said.


Sen. Janice Weiner, a Democrat who represents Iowa City, took umbrage with Webster’s comments about Iowa City's board, and defended it when she spoke on the Senate floor the next day.


“As for our community police review board, facts are super helpful. They’ve helped build relations within the community,” Weiner said. “They’re citizens who in some cases may have had difficult relations with police in the past and want to improve them, citizens who just want to be part of the process, as well as others who have experience with policing.”

‘Local-control issue’​

In Cedar Rapids, the Citizen Review Board is focused on public engagement and improving community-police relations, advising the city on police department policies and practices, reviewing citizen complaints and serving on the committee that hires the police chief — a process the city just recently completed.


The board was created in 2021 after racial justice advocates, led by the nonprofit Advocates for Social Justice, pushed for stronger civilian oversight of local law enforcement after George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police in 2020 as one of seven demands for reform.


But the board itself doesn’t have disciplinary authority over officers. When the city receives a complaint against an officer, the police department’s Professional Standards unit conducts an investigation and delivers findings to the police chief, who then reviews that report and may request additional information.


Afterward, the chief provides a report to the board, which may provide its own report to the City Council if a board majority disagrees with the chief's findings.


Under the ordinance, “detailed written findings of fact and evidence concerning the allegations in the complaint” are provided the board, but identifying information such as faces or names of witnesses, officers and victims are edited out of the materials.


Rep. Eric Gjerde, a Democrat and Cedar Rapids police officer, said there’s merit in changing civil service procedures “to ensure every civil service employee has due process,” but objects to eliminating citizen police review boards.


“This comes back to, in my opinion, a local-control issue,” Gjerde told The Gazette. “ … I think the Cedar Rapids Police Department, the city of Cedar Rapids and the Cedar Rapids police review board has a positive relationship and should be able to continue.”

Bill would ‘silence’ marginalized voices​

In a statement, the Advocates for Social Justice board urged the community to call state representatives and ask they vote no on the bill. The advocates say the Cedar Rapids City Council's approval of the board affirmed its role in strengthening community-police relations and law enforcement accountability.


"SF 2325 is yet another example of our state legislature trying to silence the Black, Brown and other marginalized voices of the citizens of Iowa,“ the group said. ”After all the protests, community forums and negotiations, it is disgusting, heartbreaking and telling that we are still having to navigate repeated attacks and setbacks. ASJ affirms that the state’s action to ban citizen review boards is an act of white supremacy and one that is intentional act to uphold violent and racist systems in our state, all while undermining local agency.“


Rep. Sami Scheetz, D-Cedar Rapids, said House Democrats plan to offer amendments to “preserve and protect the existence and operation of citizen review boards across Iowa.”


“While I recognize and support many aspects of the civil service bill that provide necessary protections for public-sector workers,” eliminating the police review boards “undermines the progress we have made in establishing crucial platforms for dialogue, accountability, and reform within our policing systems,” Scheetz said. “The presence of citizen review boards has proved to be an invaluable asset in building trust and fostering a constructive relationship between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.”


The bill now heads to the full House Local Government Committee for consideration and passage before a March 15 legislative deadline.
https://www.thegazette.com/state-government/iowa-bill-would-ban-citizen-police-review-boards/

Bored and curious today so I ran some population numbers comparing Iowa and the United States population growth since 1940…..
In 1940, Iowa’s population was approx. 2, 538,268…..
In 2024, Iowa’s population is estimated at 3, 123, 899…..
a gain of 585,631 in 84 years,,,,a tad over 23% (about 1/4% of 1% annual growth)
In 1940, the US population was approx. 132, 164, 569….
In 2024, the US population is estimated at 341, 814, 420….
a gain of 209, 649, 851….approx. 159% (about 1.9% annual growth)
Iowa’s population is growing at about .27% annually……the US’s population is growing at about 1.9% annually….so the US population is growing about 6-7 times the rate of Iowa’s population…..No wonder Iowa cant keep up!
More proof…….. In 1940, Iowa had 9 seats in the House of Representatives (US Congress), today it has 4….,Iowa’s Congressional representation has decreased steadily since 1932, when Iowa had 11 seats in the House….

F'ing kill yourself. SOTFE.

Majority Of House Republicans To Skip Annual Retreat​

March 12, 2024 Infighting Is Funny, Republicans



Axios reports:

The House GOP is in turmoil ahead of its policy retreat in West Virginia on Wednesday, with attendance expected to be sparse and a keynote speaker dropping out. Fewer than 100 GOP lawmakers are expected to be in attendance at the three-day event, which is aimed at unifying the conference and crafting policy goals outside of the Capitol grounds.
The issues conference will be hosted at the Greenbriar Resort in West Virginia after being held at locations in Florida for several years.
One GOP member argued that moving their conference discussions from the Capitol to a resort with alcohol could exacerbate infighting between members. “I’d rather sit down with Hannibal Lecter and eat my own liver,” the source said.

Click to expand...

Republicans have complained about the venue choice. Sources said Speaker Mike Johnson selected the Greenbrier Resort because it was “family friendly,” in a break from past retreats which have taken place in sunny Florida – the preferred location of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

And other GOP lawmakers and aides told CNN they were simply not enthusiastic about the idea of having to huddle with the rest of their party at a time when Republican infighting has prevented them from even passing procedural votes.

In a remarkable split screen, firebrand GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida will be attending a rally in Texas on Thursday in support of Brandon Herrera, a far-right candidate who is challenging GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales.

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I’m going to go with about 45….. also, I think I would prefer a four day work week to five. Three day weekends are underrated.

I was splitting wood with the neighbor today and I got a bloody nose. No big deal, I'll shove a kleenex up my nose and get back to it, right? Except it turned into a gusher, as in I couldn't stop the flow of blood, I was bleeding profusely out my nose. Ended up going to Urgent Care, it turned out to be a blown capillary which they didn't cauterize. It blew again later this afternoon and took about 3 hours to stop bleeding.

I was concerned. No headache, no fainting, my BP was 127/80. It was just a huge gusher that wouldn't stop bleeding. Ever had anything that concerned you that turned out to be nothing?

Stumbled across this one the other day......and I oddly can't stop listening to it. Probably the darkest song I have ever heard, but there is something about it? Maybe I am a closet serial killer????


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What other weird, but good songs you got GIAOT????