Living in Society
Politics mostly social commentary.
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In 2006 I drove from work in Cedar Rapids to the Democratic campaign office in Iowa City once a week to make phone calls for Dave Loebsack. Staffer Tyler Wilson had a stack of papers with the names of people for me to call. That was a time when people would take a phone call… Read more
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When the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe vs. Wade in 1973, I was a junior at university. I reread the decision after retirement in 2009, along with dissenting opinions and some of the briefs. I know exactly one thing about House File 732 passed in a special session of the Iowa Legislature this summer: It… Read more
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A fundamental right in the United States is to choose what we each read, see and hear. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives us this right. Where is the boundary between educating our children and providing them free access to all forms of cultural expression regardless of content? This is not a new… Read more
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It has taken four days to recover from the move in Des Moines. Surprisingly, it wasn’t temperatures in the high nineties that affected me. The killer was walking up and down stairs endlessly as we loaded basement stuff into the truck. My legs began to hurt at home on Monday and have been sore ever… Read more
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Take action to raise awareness of the need to eliminate nuclear weapons by folding a crane for peace between Aug. 4-9, along with others associated with the nuclear disarmament movement and the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Crafting a brighter future starts with all of us. Between the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki… Read more
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With last night’s indictments of former President Donald J. Trump, handed down by a grand jury comprised of 23 ordinary citizens, a number of unnamed co-conspirators were mentioned yet not included in the indictment. The focus on the biggest fish is appropriate, the small fry having been pursued and jailed in significant numbers. What about… Read more
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RAGBRAI is finished, sweet corn is coming in, tomatoes are ripening, and home gardens and farmers markets are going full bore. Dinner may consist of a thick slice of tomato, steamed green beans, and boiled sweet corn. It’s life in Iowa, as good as it gets. August is also the commemoration of the end of… Read more
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More than 30 million people viewed a short video of Marjorie Taylor Green speaking about what the Biden administration is doing to the country. If you haven’t seen it, here it is: It’s not about the words she spoke. Greene appears to be framing Biden in a certain way, assuming people will accept her framing… Read more
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Last night I led the last annual meeting of our home owners association as president. About a dozen members gathered at the shelter in town to share a potluck dinner, socialize, and hear news of what our board has been doing. I did my best to be thorough. It has taken me a while to… Read more
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When the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe vs. Wade in 1973, I was a junior at university. I re-read the decision after retirement in 2009, along with dissenting opinions and some of the briefs. I know exactly one thing about House File 732 passed in a special session of the Iowa legislature this summer: It… Read more
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