Sunday Morning Coffee - 11 September 2016

Good Morning! You're only going to get half-a-pot of Sunday Morning Coffee today. Leg cramps got me up at about 3:30am and I didn't get back to sleep until 5:30 and crashed until 7:30 this morning! Yikes... That's usually brewing time so I can get this out by nine.  (I know my Republican friends are delighted.) But, just to stay in practice here are some things you may have seen or, perhaps missed.

Fifteenth Anniversary

I suspect you know exactly where you were 15 years ago this morning. It is like other jarring events in history: Pearl Harbor, V-E Day, V-J Day, the killings of President Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. events that are seared into our memory.  The reverberation of that attack on America and our values continues today. We are not the same nation, people and world. And, it is chilling. But, we also, for a brief period of time came together as a nation without division and with a firm resolve to rebuild.

May G-d bless and comfort those families who lost loved ones on that dreadful day. The fight continues against an enemy that is far different than what we have faced in the past.

(Cartoon - Tim Lloyd)

Senator Grassley and Women

I have known Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) for decades. Our relationship goes back to a long evening together in Webster City some 34 years ago. Much has changed since then as the senator continues to tack further and further to the right. This week there was an amazing article in the Iowa Starting Line about Senator. Grassley and what appears to be, in an email exchange, his opposition to having a focus on women in science, engineering. math and science or STEM. That opposition even when women who enter those fields tend to make 33% more than women in other fields.  If you would like to read the notes between the two sides on this here is that link to The Iowa Starting Line...a damn fine piece of work from my friend Rick Smith.

Equal Pay Means Equal Pay

"Why are we even having this conversation?" that question from Carolyn Jenison (seated far left) one of several women at a round table meeting with Stephanie Schriock the president of Emily's List and US Democratic Senate Candidate Lt. Governor Patty Judge.  The event was held in the offices of Happy Medium a marketing company led by Katie Patterson. The issues: Equal Pay for Equal Work, Paid Family Leave, Changes in Hiring Practices. Each of the women there told of their frustration that comes from being paid, on average, 77% less than men doing the same work and balancing a career with being a wife, mother...or even a woman. 

If you would like to hear the exchange between me and Carolyn and the frustration in even talking about the issue, here is that clip:

IOB 9 Sept Carolyn Jenison

One of the interesting side notes of this meeting was the lack of diversity among the women who attended. While it was noted that African-American women and Latino women fare even worse than white women when it comes to pay issues...there were none present. I think a missed opportunity.

 

 

Partly Personal

Sorry for the brevity of this post...and hope you have a spectacular week ahead.

Notice I said nothing about the trouncing Iowa State received last night...I'm being kind.

Thanks for reading! 

Comments

[Michael Devine]

Not one mention of the most significant event in the state the last few days? The ISU-Iowa game?

This is 'Merica, Reverand. Get on on the big train of prosperity and freedom, Boy.

[Michael Libbie]

Mike....check the last entry: Partly Personal....I know long weekend! Thanks for reading!! - Michael