Dubuque

U.S. Navy captain Alexander G. Balian, on trial for not rescuing Vietnamese refugees, was remorseful at not picking them up but said Navy rules did not allow him to do so, a defense witness said Monday. "He felt bad about it. He had picked up people before. . . . He felt sorry, I guess, that these people didn't meet the guidelines," Bruce Butterfield said at Balian's court-martial.

Recently, I wrote a post for my personal blog about the opening of a garment factory in Haiti. The ceremony was attended by, among others, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Sean Penn, Ben Stiller and Haiti's president, Michel Martelly. But I was bothered by the idea of cheap Haitian labor making scores of T-shirts each day that would sell, individually, for more than a worker at the plant earns per day, and that's what I wrote. The post got a lot of reaction. I heard from politicians, celebrities, a State Department liaison.

Capt. Alexander G. Balian, former skipper of the U.S. warship Dubuque, was convicted today of dereliction of duty for failing to give adequate aid to a boatload of Vietnamese refugees adrift in the South China Sea last June 9. The six Navy captains who heard the case ordered that Balian be issued a letter of reprimand for his handling of the refugee incident.

Mitt Romney, seeking a first-place finish in the caucuses that eluded him four years ago, grew increasingly confident Monday, predicting victory when Iowa holds the first presidential voting contest in the nation. "We're going to win this thing, with all of our passion and strength and do everything we can to get this campaign on the right track to go across the nation and to pick up other states and to get the ballots I need, the votes I need to become our nominee," he said at an asphalt plant here.

U. S. Navy Capt. Alexander G. Balian testified Tuesday that he would have rescued a boatload of Vietnamese refugees his ship found adrift in the South China Sea if he had been correctly informed of their plight. His voice sometimes choking with emotion, the 48-year-old Balian told a Navy court-martial that, if he had known the desperate conditions aboard the Vietnamese craft, "there is no doubt in my mind I would tow them to my side and embark them. That's what I did on two previous occasions."

U.S. Navy Capt. Alexander G. Balian testified Tuesday that he would have rescued a boatload of Vietnamese refugees his ship found adrift in the South China Sea if he had been correctly informed of their plight. His voice sometimes choking with emotion, the 48-year-old Balian told a Navy court-martial that if he had known the desperate conditions aboard the Vietnamese craft, "there is no doubt in my mind I would tow them to my side and embark them. That's what I did on two previous occasions."

Mitt Romney, seeking a first-place finish in the caucuses that eluded him four years ago, grew increasingly confident Monday, predicting victory when Iowa holds the first presidential voting contest in the nation. "We're going to win this thing, with all of our passion and strength and do everything we can to get this campaign on the right track to go across the nation and to pick up other states and to get the ballots I need, the votes I need to become our nominee," he said at an asphalt plant here.

Recently, I wrote a post for my personal blog about the opening of a garment factory in Haiti. The ceremony was attended by, among others, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Sean Penn, Ben Stiller and Haiti's president, Michel Martelly. But I was bothered by the idea of cheap Haitian labor making scores of T-shirts each day that would sell, individually, for more than a worker at the plant earns per day, and that's what I wrote. The post got a lot of reaction. I heard from politicians, celebrities, a State Department liaison.

The memo leaked in the spring of 2007. A deputy campaign manager for Hillary Rodham Clinton urged her to skip the Iowa caucuses in her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination. Participating in the first contest of the 2008 presidential calendar, he wrote, was expensive, outdated and unnecessary. Iowans, who take their role as first presidential vetters seriously, were not amused. Clinton scrambled into damage-control mode. But she'd violated an unwritten Iowa rule: Never, ever, give voice to the idea that Iowa is not the center of the political universe.

Word processors are working overtime as one consultant after another offers a prescription for this ailing state at the hub of the farm belt. A common flaw in the diagnoses is the failure to understand that image is everything. Iowa's image is awful. Say Iowa, and, unfair as it is, people think flat. They think rural. They think unsophisticated. Investors think not with my stockholders' money. Remaking Iowa's image could take decades.

The memo leaked in the spring of 2007. A deputy campaign manager for Hillary Rodham Clinton urged her to skip the Iowa caucuses in her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination. Participating in the first contest of the 2008 presidential calendar, he wrote, was expensive, outdated and unnecessary. Iowans, who take their role as first presidential vetters seriously, were not amused. Clinton scrambled into damage-control mode. But she'd violated an unwritten Iowa rule: Never, ever, give voice to the idea that Iowa is not the center of the political universe.

Teri Hawks Goodmann is getting stressed. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. has just delivered an hourlong campaign speech to autoworkers at Dubuque's convention center, and the presidential hopeful now faces a hurdle of fans wanting a picture, a handshake, a chat. The furrow between Goodmann's finely plucked brows deepens as time drains from Biden's tight campaign schedule. Every time the senator from Delaware tries to pull away, another enthusiast appears.

Folks couldn't flee this Mississippi River city fast enough in the 1980s when farmers lost their land to foreclosure and businesses closed their doors. Times have changed, though, and community leaders want those wayward Dubuquers to come back and give their hometown another chance. Civic leaders are spending $75,000 to reach them by mail, on the Internet and through their alma maters.

James Sutton was working on railroad maintenance gangs out of Chicago when he first saw how blacks were welcomed to this Mississippi River city. As trains arrived, he recalled, police officers would greet disembarking black passengers and "tell them to get back on the train." That was the 1950s, and the technique worked, giving the city that made John Deere tractors and Dubuque hams an ugly reputation among blacks.

Capt. Alexander G. Balian, former skipper of the U.S. warship Dubuque, was convicted today of dereliction of duty for failing to give adequate aid to a boatload of Vietnamese refugees adrift in the South China Sea last June 9. The six Navy captains who heard the case ordered that Balian be issued a letter of reprimand for his handling of the refugee incident.

U. S. Navy Capt. Alexander G. Balian testified Tuesday that he would have rescued a boatload of Vietnamese refugees his ship found adrift in the South China Sea if he had been correctly informed of their plight. His voice sometimes choking with emotion, the 48-year-old Balian told a Navy court-martial that, if he had known the desperate conditions aboard the Vietnamese craft, "there is no doubt in my mind I would tow them to my side and embark them. That's what I did on two previous occasions."

Folks couldn't flee this Mississippi River city fast enough in the 1980s when farmers lost their land to foreclosure and businesses closed their doors. Times have changed, though, and community leaders want those wayward Dubuquers to come back and give their hometown another chance. Civic leaders are spending $75,000 to reach them by mail, on the Internet and through their alma maters.

The Ring, Part I. It's five years ago. Bob Petrich and his family return to their El Cajon home after visiting neighbors. Their front door is open. There's been an intruder. Petrich rushes inside, through the living room, past the spot where burglars had hauled away the television, past where they had wrapped up the stereo. He runs directly into the bedroom, grabs for the tiny tray on top of his dresser and-- gone! They'd taken it. His 1963 American Football League championship ring.

U.S. Navy Capt. Alexander G. Balian testified Tuesday that he would have rescued a boatload of Vietnamese refugees his ship found adrift in the South China Sea if he had been correctly informed of their plight. His voice sometimes choking with emotion, the 48-year-old Balian told a Navy court-martial that if he had known the desperate conditions aboard the Vietnamese craft, "there is no doubt in my mind I would tow them to my side and embark them. That's what I did on two previous occasions."

U.S. Navy captain Alexander G. Balian, on trial for not rescuing Vietnamese refugees, was remorseful at not picking them up but said Navy rules did not allow him to do so, a defense witness said Monday. "He felt bad about it. He had picked up people before. . . . He felt sorry, I guess, that these people didn't meet the guidelines," Bruce Butterfield said at Balian's court-martial.