Author: Paul Deaton

Iowa Returning to its Roots

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date September 16, 2016

Tucked away in a North Liberty strip mall in Iowa’s most Democratic county is a Republican campaign office.

The yard signs along Highway 965 are noticeable only for their comparatively large number (five), and one including an image of the GOP elephant and the letters “G.O.P.”

The county had 18,335 registered Republicans on Sept. 1 and regardless of their chances in 2016, Republicans hope to build on their numbers and influence here.

Former Apprentice finalist and Donald Trump Iowa campaign chair Tana Goertz was slated to appear with State Representative Bobby Kaufmann, who represents six precincts in Johnson County, at yesterday’s grand opening. Current office hours are 1 until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, a token presence in a Democratic county.

Iowa is not a Democratic state. It is Republican, such appellation including many voters who register “no party.” If the Republican Party of Iowa was caught off guard by the 2006 insurgency against their terrible governance, they reacted and have their act together more now than at any time since our family moved back to Iowa in 1993.

Expect Iowa to award its six electoral votes to Donald Trump this cycle, contrary to the claims of prominent Iowa Democrats. It’s not just me saying this. Yesterday’s Monmouth University poll showed Trump leading Clinton by eight points with a 4.9 percent margin of error.

“Among Iowa voters likely to participate in November’s presidential election, 45 percent currently support Trump and 37 percent back Clinton. Another 8 percent intend to vote for Libertarian Gary Johnson, 2 percent say they will support Green Party candidate Jill Stein, 2 percent say they will vote for another candidate, and 6 percent are undecided,” according to the Monmouth University website.

A single poll in September is meaningful only as a wake-up call to starstruck Democrats. As readers may know, the author is with Hillary and nothing has changed since I declared for her before the February Iowa caucus. She could indeed win Iowa’s electoral votes. If she does it will only have been if the Iowa Democratic Party changed its process for voter registration and turnout. There is nothing to indicate any substantial changes and 2016 is not expected to be a wave election for Democrats in Iowa. If anything, there is a solid chance the wake from relative Republican unity will sweep the Iowa Senate into a Republican majority. Democrats are working hard to prevent that from happening.

In 2016 people still talk about the Kennedy administration as if it were bathed in the glow of Camelot. What is forgotten is Richard Nixon won Iowa’s electoral votes. 2016 is more like 1960 in that despite Iowa’s participation in the nominating process, Hillary Clinton will win 270 electoral votes, just none of them in Iowa.

Why do I say that?

Unlike in Democratic states, Republican culture has gone mainstream in Iowa. Democrats have invested too much in chattering social media and too little in mainstream presences like university activities, farming, community groups, churches, and the like. By focusing on the outrageous behavior of Governor Terry Branstad, Bruce Rastetter and other prominent Republicans, Democrats left everyday Iowans behind.

Low wage workers are everywhere in Iowa in significant numbers. Based on my conversations with them, if they vote at all, they are just as likely to vote for Donald Trump as Hillary Clinton, whose name the corporate media associates with all things bad.

The kernel of hope that arises from 2016 Iowa Republican hegemony is that after Nixon’s defeat, Iowans elected Harold Hughes governor. Hughes was a liberal’s liberal who was later elected U.S. Senator. Let’s hope Clinton holds her own nationally, and that 2018 can be a comeback year for Iowa Democrats.

There are still Iowa Democrats who haven’t given up on 2016. I hope they are right and I am wrong.

Tags politics

Kitchen Garden

Red Bell Pepper Soup

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date September 13, 2016

The abundance of tomatoes, bell peppers and onions is leading to a pot of soup featuring those ingredients.

There is no recipe — I used ingredients already in the ice box. I cut up a bag of onion seconds and sauteed them in extra virgin olive oil until translucent; poured in a quart and a half of diced tomatoes (drained); and added a scant pint of the pulp of red peppers cooked and separated with a food mill, also drained. I seasoned with salt and that’s it.

The mixture is simmering in my Dutch oven on medium heat. Once it is thoroughly cooked, I’ll take the stick blender to it and taste. After that, who knows?

The adventure is in the doing and learning. Because of the uniqueness of this season, the dish is hardly replicable.

Tags cooking, onions, recipes, tomatoes

Work Life

Work in Late Summer

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date September 11, 2016

This week my to-do list turned into a deal-with list and I don’t like it.

The tipping point was the car overheating while driving north on Highway One. There is not enough time to fit car repairs into late summer.

I’m going to have to deal with it.

The pool of liquid in the garage was the first sign. At first I thought it was condensation from the hot, humid weather. When it didn’t evaporate after 24 hours, I became concerned, then the car overheated enroute to the orchard. After checking fluid levels and consulting with friends I was able to make it home without overheating again. Now I have to find a repair shop and arrange transportation while it is getting fixed — all without going broke or missing a day of work. I’m dealing with it.

The key to dealing with this and everything else on my deal-with list is to take care of myself and not freak out. That I have this blog helps with the not freaking out part. There is solace in work.

Saturday I worked the orchard mapping station after my colleague left for the day. The ambient temperature was in the 70s and a breeze blew up from the creek bed cooling everything. I interacted with hundreds of people during the remainder of my shift, hearing about people’s plans to pick and later use apples in baking, making applesauce and storage. Most said they would just eat them. Who wouldn’t?

I also heard some personal things: about a trip to Palestine, protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline on the river, and a story about my mother when she was younger, how she had influenced another woman. Everything was part of a broader society, one with many personal connections, that arrives at the orchard in late summer.

From time to time it was quiet. The breeze was cool and comforting on my face. The exigencies of a deal-with life escaped like vapors, leaving me at the map station where I was content just to be.

My advice is when life has many demands, get to work. Not only can it accomplish something positive in the form of income and work-product, it can help sustain our lives in a turbulent world.

Tags worklife

Home Life Work Life

Pressing the Limits

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date September 9, 2016

For the first time in a long time I missed work on Wednesday.

After a futile attempt to shave, shower and drive into the home, farm and auto supply store, I called off and slept until 2 p.m. — a total of 19 hours in bed.

I’m back to normal and scheduled four days vacation at the end of the month. If approved, I will use the time to catch up around the house and rest.

I don’t want to admit it, but 100 days of work may have been too much to attempt.

In an effort to understand low wage work life and the exigencies of lives where there is not enough income, I dealt with it as many do by adding more jobs. A predictable conclusion has been it doesn’t resolve the issue.

A key driver in the financial shortfall is buying health insurance, an expense that takes 34 percent of my wages from a full-time job. As the two of us approach Medicare age we’ll see some relief. We’ll also be approaching full retirement and presumably slowing our outside work. I look to my maternal grandmother’s example: she did alterations into her eighties. I expect to be doing something to earn money as long as I’m physically able. My current work on area farms is setting the stage for that.

Trying not to complain, these are observations about a life. In the spirit of Cotton Mather I’ve self-inoculated to see what happens. While believing in unlimited potential of a human, the brief illness is evidence of a physical limit. Knowing one’s limits will make us stronger and hopefully more effective.

We are well into the apple harvest at the u-pick orchard where I spend my weekends. It is an abundant crop and I enjoy interacting with hundreds of apple pickers each day. It is something like a fair, about which Garrison Keillor wrote in the Washington Post this week.

“The Fair is an escape from digitology and other obsessions, phobias and intolerances,” Keillor wrote, “also a vacation from the presidential election which has obsessed many people I know, including myself.”

The lone evidence of politics I spotted at the orchard last weekend was a single too-young-to-vote teen wearing a Trump T-shirt. Discussion of politics was completely absent within my hearing. I don’t know the demographics of apple pickers except from my own observations over the last four seasons. What I’d say is apple culture is an equalizer, something almost everyone with transportation can take part in and one in which I am happy to participate.

For me, it’s about forgetting a life that’s challenging and sometimes too hard for a shift at a time. It’s also about hope that society will find common ground.

Tags apples, homelife, Local Events, local food, worklife

Home Life Kitchen Garden Writing

Into The Vanishing Point

A new perspective revealed itself from paths traveled daily.

Something showed through the uncut grass and garden in the light of a rising sun.

I should quit thinking and mow the damn lawn.

It depends. What time will I finish at the orchard? How will I feel after interacting with locals for a shift? Will the press of decaying produce draw me into the kitchen again? How guilty will I feel about letting grass grow long?

So much depends. If conditions are right — temperatures moderate, weather dry, and a couple hours of remaining daylight — I may mount the John Deere and make a first pass. The lawn is so long it will take at least two.

So much depends upon weather, capacity for work, and a will to sustain our lives in a turbulent world.

I looked up and saw the vanishing point through the middle of my garden for the first time in 23 years this has been our home.

It has been there all along, the work of the farmer who subdivided his homestead, the surveyors who platted the lots, and the home builders who positioned structures according to convention and restrictive covenants recorded at the county administration building. I played my part unintentionally by positioning my garden in the southeast corner of our lot.

It was hard to miss.

Yet it was there. I walked into it and am still here.

Tags homelife, Kitchen Garden, Sustainability

Home Life Work Life

September Song

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date September 1, 2016

An air traffic controller can land only one airplane at a time and so it is with us.

Life’s cornucopia brings many gifts. Midst the abundance of life’s instance what’s essential for a sixty-something is reliance on a foundation built over time and selecting single tasks related to grand plans as well as we can.

August and this summer has been a great success, a disaster, a drain and an inspiration all at the same time. 37 days into 100 Days of Work it is time to take stock and see what makes it through the funnel of current interests related to longer term plans. It is also time to consider rainbows.

I plan to take a brief hiatus, a week or two, to take stock of the ongoing harvest of produce, and ideas. Then I plan to go on living. Hope to see you on the flip side.

Tags homelife, worklife

Environment Living in Society Sustainability

Stronger Together

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date August 31, 2016

If we accept the premise articulated by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, that we are stronger together, there is a lot in society requiring our collective attention.

What did we work on? What are we working on? What should we be working on? What did we get done?

If we are separated from the pack, answers to these questions don’t much matter. We might think of ourselves as lone wolves, fending for ourselves in a hostile world, but we aren’t by nature. Being stronger together is a fundamental characteristic of homo sapiens. It’s what we do as a species.

I see three critical issues requiring us to be stronger together to save ourselves from near-term extinction.

The first is applying the golden rule, or the law of reciprocity. When we view the troubles of society through our flawed lenses, there is no other, only the One, of which we are all a part. We should treat others as one seeks to be treated oneself. We should be applying the golden rule to everything we do already. This is basic.

Second is the threat of nuclear weapons. Today, on very short notice, nuclear powers could unleash a holocaust that could end life as we know it. Nuclear war is not talked about much in the 21st Century, however the threat is as real today as it was in the wake of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings. The United States should begin taking steps to eliminate nuclear weapons. As my friend Ira Helfand said, “We need a transformational change in our nuclear policy that recognizes that these weapons are the gravest threat to our security and must be banned and abolished.”

Finally, we are wrecking our environment and need to stop. Just 90 companies are to blame for most climate change, taking carbon out of the ground and putting it in the atmosphere, geographer Richard Heede said. If that’s the case, and he has evidence to suggest it is, the move to eliminate fossil fuel extraction and use can’t come quick enough. Our governments must intervene, and targeting the 90 most responsible businesses should make it easier. The businesses say they are not to blame for demand from billions of consumers driving fossil fuel use. The technology exists to eliminate fossil fuels and we should work toward its adoption with haste.

The measure of August’s passing was in milliseconds, and September will be the same. The election will be here before we know it, as will the next one. What should be our focus? The three issues outlined above represent a viable starting point, and I plan to get to work. Will you join me?

~ Written for Blog for Iowa

Tags environment, nuclear weapons, politics

Writing

Friends and Bloggers – 2016

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date August 30, 2016

A goal of a writer should be to provide unique insight into contemporary society informed by life events. If what’s written is not so informed, then why bother?

At the rate internet memes are cranked out and distributed in conventional social media channels, a primary source for contemporary information and opinion, it is not easy to differentiate oneself from the vociferous hoards. Like an amateur anthropologist it is difficult to avoid tainting the insight with questions asked.

At the same time, there is no such thing as “objective” reportage. Those who have been through “new journalism” know that by now. Unique is not equal to unbiased. Tainted can be akin to seasoned, as in adding chervil leaf to a soup or casserole. We bloggers should seek to be a cross between Margaret Mead, Howard Zinn, Joan Didion and Hunter S. Thompson, with a dash of Truman Capote, Molly Ivins or Tom Wolfe added for extra measure.

There are two parts of this: reading and writing. Of these, reading to inform one’s point of view is the critical aspect requiring diligence. Following are some authors you may not have heard of who are worth reading.

Arnie Alpert is Co-Director of the American Friends Service Committee’s New Hampshire Program. He recently participated in a two-week fact-finding trip to Mexico focused on human rights. He posts at https://inzanetimes.wordpress.com/. I met Arnie at FCNL in Washington, D.C. while advocating for the New START Treaty.

Recent post: Central Americans are Running for Their Lives.

Carrie La Seur practices energy and environmental law on behalf of farmers, ranchers, and Native Americans, and does a little writing, from an office in Billings, Montana. I met Carrie while serving as a member of the Johnson County, Iowa Board of Health.

Recent post: Little Miracles Everywhere, or How Billings, Montana Got Its Bookstore Mojo Back.

Leilani Münter is a biology graduate, professional race car driver and environmental activist. I attended Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project Training with Leilani and a thousand others in Chicago in 2013.

Recent post: Since the North Carolina Department of Transportation Did Not Take Public Comments At Tesla’s Sales License Hearing in Charlotte Today, I Submitted Written Testimony.

Davis Shorr is a member of the Stevens Point, Wisconsin City Council and author of a new book, I Call Bullshit: Four Fallacies That Keep Our Politics From Being Reality Based. I met David while working on nuclear disarmament issues.

Recent post: Today’s Republican party is out of ideas.

Paul Street is an independent radical-democratic policy researcher, journalist, historian, author and speaker based in Iowa City, Iowa, and Chicago, Illinois. He is the author of seven books. I met Paul at a reading from one of his books in Iowa City.

Recent post: Miranda, Obama, and Hamilton: an Orwellian Ménage à Trois for the Neoliberal Age.

Rod Sullivan is a Johnson County, Iowa supervisor and blogger since 2007 at RodSullivan.blogspot.com. I met Rod while working on a campaign at the Johnson County Democrats office in Iowa City.

Poblanos, Onions and Pickles

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date August 30, 2016

JOHNSON COUNTY, Iowa — In the margins of time between social engagements lives a local food movement available to all who seek it.

There is inadequate time in life’s span to become an enthusiast, however pursuit of local food culture is not only okay, it can be rewarded with meals that comfort more ways than imaginable.

While Jacque was in town with her sister, I made last night’s supper of seconds of poblano peppers and yellow onions from the farm, a couple of links of vegetarian sausage, and a variety of home made pickles.

After removing bad spots from the onions and peppers, I cut them into thin strips and piled them on the cutting board. I cut the sausages on the bias and browned them in a pan. Once finished, I removed them to a paper napkin sitting on a plate and began sauteing the onions and peppers in olive oil, seasoning with a bit of cilantro, granulated garlic, salt and pepper.

While the vegetables were cooking I arranged three kinds of pickles, sweet, dill and daikon radish in a bowl. Once the vegetable mix was finished I spooned it into the bowl beside the pickles and topped it with the cooked sausage. With a glass of iced water, it made a meal.

After dinner I went downstairs and checked the crock full of cucumbers. Fermentation bubbles had begun to appear after two days, indicating a successful pickling process. Patience is a key ingredient when making pickles. I hope I have enough of it on hand to make it 11 additional days when the dill pickles will be ready to eat.

Simple stir fries and pickles become a way of life when vegetables are available from the farm and garden in abundance. Cooking in the local food culture is an act of rebellion from a consumer culture that engendered us in the Western hemisphere. It represents taking control of our lives.

Do I always cook locally produced food at home? No. I pay attention to the seasonality of food and align with it as much as possible. I’ve found it makes for better ingredients and depending on the cook, for better eating.

There is more to the seasons of food than common affection for sweet corn and tomatoes. Learning more is a step toward living a better life and who doesn’t want to do that?

Tags cooking, local food, onions, peppers, Sustainability

Work Life

Into Fall

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date August 29, 2016

The first leaves on our Autumn Blaze maple tree turned over the weekend — a reminder of summer’s imminent end.

A lesson learned this season was of the limits of worklife and the tendency to let personal things go when engaged in a big endeavor.

The garden, yard and house cleaning fell to the bottom of the priority list as I worked four jobs. It is ironic that in a year when my skills as a gardener improved, I was unable to keep up with the weeding and harvesting, which when combined with the lack of mowing for a month, created a jungle in our back yard. The birds and rabbits may be happy, but I was not.

Harvesting will continue. The garden paid for itself many times over. The question is what level of abundance is enough? I’m already thinking about preparing the plots for winter. It won’t be long before I pull the plants, stack the cages, roll up the fencing and mow. It assuages my guilt from leaving so much produce — tomatoes and pears especially — in the field.

Thunder and lightning blew past the orchard Sunday afternoon and I was released from work early. Because of the lightning, I skipped the greenhouse work at the farm — we don’t work when there is lightning. The storm created an opportunity to rest and after finishing my last post during Trish Nelson’s hiatus from Blog for Iowa, I did.

This week I hope to finish the onion trimming work and move on to what’s next. The presidential election is sucking up oxygen, so dealing with that is out there.

More importantly, what do I want to do next with my remaining years.

I used an on-line life expectancy calculator which determined I have a 75 percent chance of living past age 80, with an estimated life expectancy of 87 years. If that’s true, there’s a lot of living to do.

It will take a full day, maybe two, to clean up the tangled mess the yard and garden have become. Some time — not too much — must needs be spent learning to choose my occupations wisely.

Tags local food, Sustainability, worklife, Writing