Category: Living in Society

Politics mostly social commentary.

Categories
Living in Society

Artificial Intelligence Experiment

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

I tried using Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence query for the first time last week. Then I tried ChatGPT. This post is about what the ai software returned with a query of “Tell me about Paul Deaton Johnson County, Iowa.” The responses are at the bottom of this post, yet I think my commentary may be more interesting.

Because of the way responses were written, combined with the fact I don’t have my defense shields up, I’m inclined to believe what I read. The ai software is taking advantage of my naivety. In a text world environment, my default belief is a human has written the text. That’s not at all true with ai software. While most sentences are well-composed, the smooth narrative hides all the stuff that is missing from real life as if it doesn’t exist. It’s a superficial answer to my query.

Naturally, some statements are completely wrong. In particular, I have not lived my whole life in Johnson County. ChatGPT is particularly bad here, saying, “has resided there for over 25 years, living in Iowa City, North Liberty, and currently in Swisher.” I have lived in Johnson County for more than the last 25 years, yet in none of those cities.

Both ai software queries picked up that I worked on Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 campaign. I Googled “Paul Deaton Lyndon Johnson” and found the ai software likely learned this from Bleeding Heartland or the Cedar Rapids Gazette, although I mentioned it many times in public spaces. ai software only picks up stuff that is prominently and publicly available on the internet, apparently. Bleeding Heartland is the source of multiple data points in the queries. I write more about myself on this blog and Blog for Iowa than I have on Bleeding Heartland. ai software appears to be cherry picking information that is most easily available.

There was no apparent reference to the 100 newspaper articles I wrote that were published in Johnson County for the Iowa City Press Citizen, the Solon Economist, and the North Liberty Leader. They weren’t the stuff of Pulitzer Prizes, yet they exist. Likewise, with the exception of Veterans for Peace, there is no mention of the many peace and social justice organizations for which I volunteered. Absent is any mention of working on the campaigns of Dave Loebsack, Rita Hart, Christina Bohannan, or several presidential candidates for whom I wrote letters to the editor. The reason VFP is prominent we made a diligent effort to make sure we were covered by traditional news organizations. That effort got picked up by ai software.

I find the main problem is a bias towards present-day points of view and internet exposure, also called presentism. There is a pronounced tendency to interpret the query in terms of what’s available right now in certain places. While the ai software states some facts about me, there is no deeper analysis. They editorialize in a way that wants to stroke the “Paul Deaton” ego without knowing anything in depth about them. If news organizations are using this kind of ai software to write articles, heaven help us: it is not news.

Here are the query results. I’d be interested in your comments about using ai software.

First, Gemini:

While there isn’t extensive information readily available about a “Paul Deaton” specifically tied to Johnson County, Iowa, several mentions suggest he is a politically active individual within the Democratic party there.

Here’s what the search results indicate:

  • Active in Johnson County Democrats: Paul Deaton is identified as a “lifelong Democrat living in Johnson County” and a “Democratic activist.” He was even inducted into the Johnson County Democratic Party’s Hall of Fame in 2025. This indicates a long-standing and significant involvement in local Democratic politics.
  • Political Commentary and Blogging: He is an author at “Bleeding Heartland,” a progressive Iowa politics blog, and also contributes to “Blog for Iowa” and his own website, “Journey Home.” His writings cover a range of political and social issues in Iowa and beyond. Recent topics include reflections on Armistice Day, analysis of Iowa politics, and book reviews.
  • Early Political Involvement: His first political work was reportedly for Lyndon Johnson’s presidential campaign, suggesting a long history of engagement in Democratic politics.
  • Views on Policy and Politics: Based on his writings, Deaton appears to hold progressive views. He has discussed topics such as water quality in Iowa, the challenges facing the Iowa Democratic Party, and the importance of political engagement. He seems to prioritize policy alongside political strategy.
  • Local Connections: He has been involved in local events, such as Armistice Day observances in Iowa City, and has connections with other local figures involved in politics and community initiatives. For example, he mentioned meeting Maureen McCue when they were both on the Johnson County Board of Health in 2006.

In summary, Paul Deaton is a long-time Democratic activist and commentator based in Johnson County, Iowa, with a history of involvement in local and state-level politics and a progressive viewpoint reflected in his writings. (Results of a Gemini query, May 3, 2025).

Now ChatGPT:

Paul Deaton is a prominent figure in Johnson County, Iowa, known for his extensive involvement in journalism, activism, and local politics.

Background and Community Involvement

Originally from Davenport, Iowa, Deaton moved to Johnson County for college and has resided there for over 25 years, living in Iowa City, North Liberty, and currently in Swisher . He is a lifelong Democrat, with his political engagement dating back to the Lyndon Johnson presidential campaign.

Deaton has served on the Johnson County Food Policy Council from 2016 to 2020 and was a founding member of the Iowa chapter of Veterans for Peace . He has also been active in organizing political events, such as candidate meet-ups in Solon.

Writing and Journalism

As a journalist and commentator, Deaton contributes to various publications, including Blog for Iowa , Bleeding Heartland , and The Gazette. His writings often focus on political analysis, book reviews, and social issues, reflecting his commitment to progressive causes.

Advocacy and Public Engagement

Deaton is actively involved in advocacy, particularly concerning peace and social justice. He co-founded the Iowa chapter of Veterans for Peace and has participated in events calling for humanitarian aid and ceasefires in conflict zones. Additionally, he engages in local issues, such as advocating for library funding in Solon, Iowa.

Through his multifaceted roles, Paul Deaton continues to influence and contribute to the civic and political landscape of Johnson County, Iowa. (Results of a ChatGPT query, May 3, 2025).

Categories
Living in Society

We’re Going Home – Larry Pippins

Larry Pippins died Dec. 2, 2017. Photo Credit – E.J. Fielding Funeral Home and Cremation Services website.

We were at home talking about some of my Army buddies and turned to my friend Larry Pippins. I Googled him and found he died on Dec. 2, 2017, after an 18-month battle with ALS. I hadn’t known. May he rest in peace.

Larry was born three days before me in 1951. I picked this photo from the funeral home site because the way he is standing and the shape of his hands remind me of how I knew him in Germany where we met. I could imagine standing next to him and taking a burger from the tray.

Larry was born in Pensacola, Florida, one of the few native Floridians I have known. He was a male of the South and enjoyed fishing, hunting, kayaking, drinking whisky and vodka, as well as many other activities.

He and his first wife split soon after they left Germany. I stayed in touch with them both until the 1980s. Together they lived in a German castle near Heidesheim that had been subdivided into apartments. I remember more than one overnighter sleeping on the flokati rug they had in the living room. One time, after too much drinking, they had to have it laundered. Those were the days.

We were in the infantry, although he changed his MOS (military occupational specialty) to military police soon after leaving Germany. When we were together, I said the changes we experienced were to transition the military from being prepared for jungle warfare in Vietnam to fighting a war over oil in the Middle East. As so, there we were. He was deployed to the Middle East to support Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. I kept a photograph of Larry with a postcard he sent from Desert Shield framed and with a yellow ribbon on it in our Indiana living room until the war was over.

When Larry was accepted to Ranger School I shipped all the fatigues I had left from my service to him to use while in training. Finishing Ranger School was a high point for him at the time. After graduation, he didn’t think Ranger School was all it was cracked up to being. Not a complete waste of time, but close.

When I was living as a writer in Iowa City in 1981, he sent me an audio cassette in which he admonished me to re-join the military. I did not. We fell out of touch after he invited me to attend a change of command ceremony down South and I couldn’t. We hadn’t had a good conversation since we last met in Chicago in the early 1980s.

We spent so much time together in the military and then after leaving our first assignments we corresponded in the days before the internet and email. Tonight I’ll say a prayer for my Army buddy. He lived a decent life full of friends and family. He made something of himself. He was something.

Categories
Living in Society

May Day in Solon

The advertisement read, “On May 1, 2025, we will come together to raise our voices in support of our quality public schools.” The event was volunteer-organized for the National Education Association.

Some students and adults showed up outside the high school in Solon, Iowa on a rainy Thursday morning.

May Day 2025 demonstration outside the Solon High School in Solon, Iowa.

Meanwhile, from Washington, D.C. U.S. Senator Chris Murphy posted the following:

Everything helps.

Categories
Living in Society

Taking Treatment

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

Like many people, I am self-sufficient, reasonably healthy, and don’t like going to the doctor or clinic. I go often enough to catch things before they get bad and mostly take their preventive medical advice. On Tuesday I had the third colon screening of my life and the results were favorable. The practitioners were helpful and congenial. I knew one of them from in real life, although surgical spaces with structured hierarchies and apparel are real life too.

My previous colonoscopy was on Feb. 20, 2015. The visit became a horror show when the physician asked me whether I wanted to add an extra procedure just as I took sedation. This seemed a bit of hucksterism. The treatment plan had been laid out for weeks. While I still had consciousness, I told them no thank you, I came for a colonoscopy, so let’s stick with that.

When I presented for the procedure on Tuesday, there was a protocol whereby I stated my name, date of birth, and why I was there. Then the practitioners repeated “colonoscopy” then they each said “I agree.” Things went much better because of this protocol. In both cases, no polyps or biopsies. On Tuesday, doctor said I was good for ten more years. I thought of the Social Security life expectancy table and said to myself, may I live so long.

Neighbors were involved in both procedures. In the earlier case, the neighbor hooked me up to the saline drip which had the apparatus for administering sedation. The night before, we had a discussion on the telephone about another matter. They had the professionalism to not bring that up while I was getting my IV. The procedure was well done. Tuesday, a different neighbor was called in because there was a shortage of nurses to do all the work. This nurse had been a member of the board of directors of a group I was in. In those days, I did not know they were a nurse. We used the time between tasks to catch up.

The community of practitioners is not very big in Iowa. It seems inevitable there is a relationship between the patient and one or more of the folks in blue scrubs and hair netting. One should be on best behavior… always.

The other thing I would mention about my 2015 procedure is getting a colonoscopy was a communal event. After check in, the morning’s patients were assigned space in a large room with flimsy curtains partitioning off one patient from another. We could hear each other talk and we knew what was going on right next to us. That curtain made for little privacy. In 2025, I had a room of my own as a base where the person accompanying me could wait and I could leave my clothing until needed. I felt the care was more personal in the new setting.

Other than the procedure, Tuesday was a lost day. I used the afternoon to sleep off the sedative. One day in the life in Big Grove. Let’s hope there will be others.

Categories
Living in Society

Week Fourteen

Trail walking April 23, 2025

The U.S. president looked like an old man struggling to descend the steps outside Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome Saturday morning. He leaned his head over and looked down, watching each footstep like a person who needed assistance on the stairs leading to Saint Peter’s Square where the requiem Mass for Pope Francis would be celebrated.

It seems clear at the end of week fourteen Trump is not in charge of the government. If there is a power player in the administration, it is Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Budget and Management. Vought also played a primary role in creating Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, also known as Project 2025. It is as if they are implementing Project 2025 policies page by page.

It is also clear the administration is in a hurry to gather all power it can in the executive branch of government, under the president specifically. Some describe this as conformance with the unitary executive theory, according to which the president has sole authority over the executive branch of government. In our government today, the legislative and judicial branches continue to have a role to play, including funding the administration and its agencies, and adjudicating what is out of bounds. The president signs executive order after executive order pushing our form of democracy toward the guardrails designed by the founders. No one knows if the guardrails will hold. Some of us have faith.

The Congress returns from Easter recess today. If their work seems superficial in the coming days, the more consequential work of shaping the administration will continue behind the scenes in the lead up to the budget reconciliation vote expected in late May. With the closely divided House, there will be tremendous pressure for Republicans to hold to a conservative budget, one that formalizes some of the president’s executive orders. Everyone knows all it will take is a few Republican House members to vote no to scuttle the conservative dreamscape of government. Democrats cannot afford to let the reconciliation bill pass without a fight.

The playing field is prepared, the players are known. While Democrats are playing defense, they must stick together and find a few Republicans to join them. This alone makes it worth contacting our members of Congress to let them know that the power and money grab by the well to do will not stand.

Categories
Living in Society

Reading the Shifting Sands of a Life

Flowers in the driveway.

Afternoon plans changed after the optometrist dilated my pupils. It was part of my annual eye exam, in which I seek to monitor whether or not diabetes is showing in my retina. I got an all clear diagnosis but the dilation persisted well into the afternoon. I could not bear working outdoors on a sunny day. That evening it rained for several hours.

Thursday morning I wheeled the recycling bin to the curb for pickup. It has been warm enough I dispensed with wearing a sweatshirt. A light breeze felt good on my skin as I contemplated the dark sky while walking back to the house. Simple things in a simple life.

Also on Thursday I began a five-day prep for a colonoscopy. The hospital would have me reduce the amount of fibrous food eaten, which is a chore since almost everything I eat by design has plenty of fiber. I asked them about it, yet they had no guidance about what I should eat, saying, “Do the best you can.” It will be a change during which I expect to drop a couple of pounds of weight. After the procedure I expect to gain it back.

Four paragraphs in and I’m not sure where this post is going. I don’t want to write about the political-media-government generated chaos available in my email and social media news feeds. I rely on email, newspapers, substack and BlueSky for most of my information in this category. Thing is, everyone has the capacity to access the same kind of information, so repeating it wouldn’t be adding much new to the fray. I guess I’ll write about my changing relationship with the public library.

My writing space has thousands of shelved books. Organizing them is a work in progress. There are thousands more stored in boxes. I don’t need to add many more to my collection, so this year I started using the public library more. It started with a simple request.

I asked the library to order Chris Hayes’ new book The Siren’s Call and they did. Part of this process is the person who suggests a new book gets the ability to read it first. I read it and reviewed it. I am glad others in the community will be able to check it out and read it too. Then I asked the librarian to order Bill Gates new book, Source Code: My Beginnings. They have a process to make book suggestions online, which I love. They did order it, I read it, and wrote a brief review on Goodreads. After reading it, I have no interest in finding a spot on my shelves for it. Better the library keep the copy, as this book should be popular. By this time I was enjoying the public library again.

I began exploring the website, the hosting of which is currently paid by a grant from the federal government. They have a feature called “What’s New” which is a query form that calls up the titles added to the library shelves in the last week. I’m checking it out daily. Already I found several new books to read, books I might have missed in other places. In addition, my home page has this banner at the top: “In 2025, you have saved $434.00 by borrowing from the library rather than buying!” Now I was really hooked.

My philosophy of reading is pretty simple. Read some pages in a book every day. This habit is part of developing a way to live a good life. Some books demand more daily pages than my typical 25 per day. Once I get going on a good book, it is hard to stop reading.

If you haven’t been to the public library in a while, I recommend you check them out. Maybe you will find a way, like I did, to reinvigorate your reading. Plus, there is usually no cost to check out a book! Other advice: figure out your topic before writing an essay. It may keep your readers more engaged.

Categories
Living in Society

Senator Duckworth on Loyalty vs. Performance

Senator Tammy Duckworth official portrait.

Why Trump’s pattern of purging our highest-performing military officers is dangerous by Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

“Our standards will be high, uncompromising and clear.” – Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s Message to the Force, January 25, 2025

President Donald Trump’s pick for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Lt. Gen. Dan Caine (retired), possesses an extraordinary record of service—in Iraq, in special access programs and in the National Guard. There is no question of his capacity to lead, devotion to our country, character, courage or competence.

But those aren’t the qualifications required by law to be the senior-most military officer in our Armed Forces. Federal law requires the chairman to be active duty and have served in any of three senior roles: vice chairman, service chief (except the Coast Guard) or commander of a combatant command. Caine fails to meet one of these.

The president can waive most of the qualifications if he determines it is in our “national interest.” But the only justification that President Trump has stated for waiving these legal standards in this instance is that he remembers Caine stating he “loved” Trump, would “kill” for Trump and that Caine proudly donned a MAGA hat which—as Trump gushed—would be a violation of federal law.

Strangely, Caine has categorically denied that he ever did any of those things, which means either Caine lied—under oath—or that he told the truth and Trump has no justification.

To President Trump, the “national interest” appears to mean personal loyalty.

The nomination of Caine is just the latest example in a dangerous pattern of President Trump purging—in multiple reckless and sudden bursts—the military of its highest-performing general officers from mission-critical roles. Why? Because they promised loyalty to the Constitution instead of to him? These firings have nothing to do with upholding high standards at all they are about prioritizing fealty over qualifications and putting our national security at risk in the process.

Please click here to read the rest of this important opinion piece.

Categories
Living in Society

Support Our Veterans

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I respect Republican Senator Joni Ernst for her service as the commanding officer of a transportation company during the Iraq War. I also don’t know how an accomplished military officer got tangled up with the DOGE caucus yet she did. She has been a cheerleader, saying, “DOGE will sweep over this city (Washington, D.C.) and forever alter the way it operates.” Indeed, the task force is attempting to do that and the Veterans Administration is not exempt.

When the 2022 PACT Act passed, Ernst was on board. “Our veterans, who have sacrificed so much and continue to pay the price for their service, deserve the life-saving benefits in this bill,” she said. “The PACT Act works to fulfill our duty to care for those who put on the uniform in the name of protecting our freedom, both past and present.”

President Biden staffed the VA to accommodate the new law by hiring some 83,000 new workers. DOGE now seeks to return staffing to 2019 levels, according to Military.com. What happens to the PACT Act if the VA cuts employees hired to fulfill its commitments? Ernst must decide. Support our veterans or support DOGE.

The good things Senator Ernst may have done are undermined by her declaration in support of DOGE. In the meanwhile, veterans may be left untreated while a diminished VA tries to care for their special needs with significantly reduced staff.

Senator Ernst should support the VA or find another line of work.

~ Published as a letter to the editor in the April 27, 2025 Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Categories
Living in Society

Bitter Coffee

Moon reflected in the state park lake.

Who knew the house of cards would fall apart after rendition of legal U.S. residents to El Salvador without due process? But there you have it. The coffee tastes bitter today. Here’s hoping the coming days are sweeter.

If immigration reform and rounding up undocumented U.S. residents was the first goal of the administration (and it was), they did a terrible job preparing for it. The present goal apparently is to deport one million people per year, far short of what was said on the campaign trail. They did not adequately ramp up the legal system to accommodate due process for each one of this number of deportees. They seemed shocked that the judiciary system won’t let them load random people on cattle cars and sent them off to foreign lands with gulags without charges or a hearing of any kind. They just assumed the judiciary would go along. This lack of due process appears to be a line in the sand. When it get the the U.S. Supreme Court, the hand-picked justices seem unlikely to accept it. We shall see.

One has to ask how much time to spend thinking about Trump and his minions. I follow the news in a cursory way. I am usually familiar with a story someone raises in conversation. It is best for my personal productivity to spend as little time as possible occupied with figuring out what the administration is doing. I do care, yet it seems pointless to try to make sense of it when there is no conventional sense to be made about much of it. There are two key threads: Russell Vought’s implementation of Project 2025, and the daily changing whims of the president. I am not interested in being a spectator in the coliseum.

To maintain my sanity, I have to stay focused on finishing writing the current book. Once it is put to bed, I can turn my attention to other important things.

Categories
Living in Society

Week Eleven

Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com

Today marks eleven weeks since the inauguration. Who knew we would be where we are? I’m not really sure where we are.

Of the many reckless changes the administration made, the following are most concerning to me: elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services; changes to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; threatened changes to the Smithsonian Institution; defunding NOAA; vast cuts in medical research funding; all the programmatic changes to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security; and of course, the reconciliation bill that moved through the U.S. Senate over the weekend providing stunning tax cuts for the well-to-do in society by borrowing money to pay for them. The hits against what we once thought was good keep coming.

On Saturday, millions of people, in all 50 states, demonstrated against the administration’s changes. Crowd estimating is an inexact science yet some say 5 million people showed up. The demonstrations appeared to be peaceful. The president was busy at his golf club, so I doubt he was engaged. The resistance is getting stronger.

The government was stable under Biden. The next president introduced uncertainty about the future. There is no perceptible benefit to the increased instability and uncertainty of our government. We now have a society in which the rich get richer and the rest of us can fight over scraps. Here’s the thing, though. Out of those scraps we will make a meal to nourish and sustain us to make our lives better than we have ever had them. Above all else, we must persist on the path toward righteousness.