Category: Living in Society

Politics mostly social commentary.

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Living in Society

LGBTQ? Not if Republicans Can Help It

Vote board at the Iowa House of Representatives on Feb. 21, 2022

During last night’s Iowa House of Representatives debate on HF 2416, regarding eligibility for girls’ athletics, Rep. Jeff Shipley (R-82) repeatedly referred to supporting LGBTQ students as “affirming a mental illness.” He also compared being LGBTQ to “spreading cancer that will continue to grow.” He voted for the bill, which said in part, “Only female students, based on their sex, may participate in any team, sport, or athletic event designated as being for females, women, or girls.” The usage of “sex” means sex at birth as it pertains to trans-gender girls.

Shipley’s Republican colleague, the bill’s floor manager, Rep. Skyler Wheeler (R-04), said the purpose of the bill was protecting “biological females” from “biological males.” HF 2416 passed the House 55-39 and was messaged to the Iowa Senate, where it is expected to be approved. Governor Kim Reynolds was willing to sign the bill into law, although she wanted to see the final version before committing. Last night, Iowa made mockery of its motto, “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.”

Should the bill be signed into law, there is likely to be a lawsuit. Janice Weiner, candidate for state senator and current Iowa City City Councilor, posted on Twitter, “Expect at least one lawsuit to be filed as soon as it passes. And likely will request a preliminary injunction. This is federal legal territory, not a state legislative culture wars playground.”

I have a t-shirt that says, “Love is Love.” Well not in Iowa where being LGBTQ is a malignancy, and trans girls are discriminated against, and potentially bullied. Why won’t Republicans leave children alone?

I wrote a post “Republicans Sweep Big Grove” after the 2020 election, in which I laid out my beefs with the Iowa Democratic Party. Since then there have been multiple announcements of Democratic legislators departing the Iowa legislature at the end of the 89th Iowa General Assembly. According to Laura Belin at Bleeding Heartland, nearly 40 percent of current Iowa House Democratic lawmakers are either retiring or running for a different office. While legislators like my State Senator Zach Wahls, House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, and Iowa Democratic Party Chair Ross Wilburn have not given up, the consensus is Democrats will be unlikely to build a coalition to defeat Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections, or even in the 2024 presidential election.

The plain truth is Iowa politics is so toxic, few voters want to engage and even fewer are willing to volunteer in campaigns. Legislative capers of the patriarchy like HF 2416 don’t add anything positive to the political climate. Republicans seek to divide the electorate and have been relentless in the pursuit of prejudice against LGBTQ citizens.

We can’t let HF 2416 stand. It is a long, difficult road to overturning the Republican agenda, although try, we must.

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Reviews

Fiction

Books from the Library Used Book Sale

Fiction usually serves a specific purpose in my reading life: it functions the way a palate cleanser prepares us for flavors ahead, or in the case of reading, the next serious book. It is not that fiction writers are trivial in their efforts, it takes the same hard work to produce decent fiction as it does any other type of writing. Fiction is not the main event for me, so there are different expectations.

A novel must be paced quickly to hold interest. While fans of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky exist, their books have been difficult reads. I’m willing to suspend disbelief, yet only for so long.

I don’t like it when the mechanics of assembling a story are visible in the narrative. Yes, the author has to end a novel, although arbitrary resolutions of plot, ones in which the author’s hand is clearly visible, are particularly annoying. I’m thinking of Richard Powers novel The Overstory, an otherwise engaging tale.

Reading the first chosen novel of an author is almost always better than the next. I’m comparing Amor Towles books A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway. I was enraptured by the former and the latter seems forced and vapid. Towles seems full of himself and we don’t read fiction because of that. The same applies to Zeyn Joukhadar’s The Map of Salt and Stars and The Thirty Names of Night. The former is memorable, and the latter, not so much. All of them helped pass the time, so what am I complaining about?

Time was I wanted a novel to teach me something. Michael Crichton’s State of Fear cured me of that. One needs no further thinly veiled and polemicized presentations of a political argument. That Crichton was required reading to work in a logistics company rubbed salt into the wound. I seek to engage in a good story, follow it through to the end, and move on. Spare me the polemics, please.

When I consider past reading, there are only a few novels I would read again. Among them are The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tolkien’s books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow, and On The Road by Jack Kerouac. I enjoy reading John Irving, who is an exception to the rule about next books. Before I’d re-read one of his, I’d finish reading what I haven’t. My favorite was A Prayer for Owen Meany.

Give me a good novel, one that reads quickly, encourages me to suspend disbelief, and is a narrative for the sole purpose of telling the story. Do it well and you’ve got me hooked… at least until I move on to the next main reading event.

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Living in Society

Democrat Elle Wyant is Running for Iowa House District 91

Elle Wyant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/12/22

Elle Wyant
Elle for Iowa
elleforiowa@gmail.com

ELLE FOR IOWA. ALL IOWANS. 

Marengo, IA — LGBTQ+ activist Elle Wyant announced her campaign for the Iowa House of Representatives today in House District 91, representing both Iowa County and the northwest portions of Johnson County.

“I’m proud to announce my campaign for the Iowa House in House District 91,” said Wyant. “Like many Iowans, I’m tired of our politics getting in the way of our progress. It’s time to open back up the dialogue. If you have an open ear, come with an open mind. I’m ready to run a campaign for all Iowans.” 

Wyant was raised in Marengo and attended Iowa State University, graduating with a communications degree. She is a born and raised farm girl, who previously managed 160-400 acre farms consisting of grain crops such as corn and soybeans in Marengo. Her family owns two Iowa wineries– Ackerman Wine in the Amana Colonies and Fireside Wine in Marengo. Professionally, Wyant has spent almost two decades as an account executive with UPS where she also served as chairwoman of the company’s LGBTQ Business Resource Group. She currently works in Air Cargo Sales at UPS Airlines.

“I’m running because I believe in equity for all, not for some,” added Wyant. “I believe in equity in our schools by funding them fully, in our economy by championing a fair tax plan that gives Iowa families a fair shot, and by living up our reputation for being ‘Iowa Nice’ by building communities where everyone has the space to be fearlessly authentic.” 

Being part of the LGBTQ+ community herself, Wyant is passionate about giving a voice to Iowa’s LGBTQ+ youth. Along with advocacy in her own community, Wyant is currently on the Board of Directors with OneIowa. She is the proud parent of two daughters, an aviation enthusiast, and foodie.

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Learn more about Elle and her campaign at elleforiowa.com. Follow her on social media at twitter.com/elle_wyant and instagram.com/elleforiowa.

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Living in Society

Death March Continues

Chart from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Feb. 15, 2022

As we enter the third year of the coronavirus pandemic, no end is in sight. The United States is proving to be less competent than we thought in managing this pandemic. I lost track of how many people I know contracted COVID-19 because there are so many. The virus is penetrating my close circle of family and friends more deeply and effectively this year than it did in 2020 and 2021. Fortunately, my spouse and I have been able to avoid it.

The total number of COVID-19 deaths reported to the CDC as of yesterday was 920,097. The number of excess deaths since the pandemic began already exceeds one million, they reported. With climate change and degradation of our environment, we expect other viruses presently unidentified to affect humans. It was not helpful that the Trump administration dismantled and hobbled the mechanisms we had in place to monitor and mitigate new infectious diseases. The coronavirus seems likely to persist among other viruses and diseases.

In February 2022 we are ready for the pandemic to end. The pandemic continues unabated. We made adjustments.

The main impact personally is we seldom leave the property. When we do, we wear a mask and clean up thoroughly when returning home. I’ve been starting the automobile once or twice a week. When I have been outside the house in winter it has been to take compost out to the bin, work in the yard, take a walk, or head into the retail centers for provisions. The restaurant food I’ve had was delivered by a service, and only when I helped move our daughter from central Florida last summer. Local restaurants have gotten no business from us since March 13, 2020. I picked up vegetables last spring at the farm using a pandemic protocol. We attended no in person meetings, except with our daughter. I severed relations with most of the groups to which I belonged. Combined with my retirement, the pandemic brought substantial change.

What is next? I haven’t done a deep analysis of the COVID-19 death march, although I know enough to see it targets the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and people who have not been vaccinated. We must remain vigilant so as to avoid getting COVID-19, and that means continuing to make do on our property as much as is possible. There is plenty to do. That the pandemic coincided with the beginning of our pensions and retirement from paid work means it impacted us less than younger people who must work for a living.

March 11 is the two-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaration that COVID-19 is a pandemic. Yesterday the Iowa governor ended her proclamation of disaster emergency. Today, the death march continues.

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Living in Society

Ukraine Weekend

Kyiv, Ukraine on Feb. 12, 2022. Photo Credit – Matthew Luxmoore, Wall Street Journal.

Long-time readers of this blog know I could care less about the annual Super Bowl. The rest of the world is much more engaging.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, I would use the time as people made final preparations to view the game for shopping in almost deserted retail establishments. This year, I already provisioned for the next two weeks, so there’s nowhere to go. It’s one change among many in my post-pandemic behavior.

A reporter posted a photograph on Twitter of an almost deserted square in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ukrainians do not seem concerned with Russian troops massed at the border. The United States, European Union, and NATO are on high alert, waiting to see what happens in the way countries do when war seems imminent. The two situations are difficult to reconcile.

President Biden is planning a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin today. There may be a readout of the call and we’ll just have to wait to confirm there is and what it says. There is more to worry about if there is no readout or public statement. (The readout is here).

Ukraine’s exports have increased since 2016. It is a regional leader in production of wheat, corn, sunflower oil, and other agricultural products. They also export iron, steel, mining products, chemical products and machinery. If Ukraine is annexed by Russia, then it’s possible such exports could be directed internally rather than being sold in global markets. I believe the foodstuffs production is the main prize here.

It’s difficult to forget the Russian wheat crisis of 2010 when Russia stopped exporting wheat due to poor production made worse by climate change. Restricting wheat exports disrupted global markets and the food shortage was a contributing factor in the Arab Spring uprisings that followed. Annexing Ukraine would be good for Russian food supplies.

When we consider Ukraine in the context of the 2013 Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, a cornerstone of Xi Jinping’s foreign policy, annexation is a way for Russia to gain access to Ukraine’s production capacity without all the fuss of formal agreements. Russia is no China. The idea that the United States and European Union can rely on open markets to meet internal needs seems quaint in light of the direction Russia and China are taking.

As tensions rise in media depictions of evolving events, we wait. It’s an occasion to consider the broader world and how what happens in it affects our daily lives. It is a chance to gain an understanding of whether American pursuits are sustainable. Because of a media that serves corporate interests, we citizens are receiving a much distorted picture of what is going on in the world. We can’t be distracted by annual, meaningless rituals like the Super Bowl.

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Living in Society

Goodbye Local Newspapers

Solon Economist – 2016

The North Liberty Leader, a local newspaper with about 300 subscribers, announced today will be their last issue. If that’s all the subscribers they had in a city with a population of more than 10,000 they deserve to go out of business. Harsh assessment, yet true.

The Dubuque corporation that bought them, Woodward Communications, Inc., likely knew this fate was coming before the acquisition. Today they informed readers of the Solon Economist unless something is done, they are on the chopping block as well.

Folding the Economist seems inevitable when community leaders surveyed felt ambivalent or indifferent about the newspaper’s future. I sent a note around to the Facebook group of neighbors to which I belong, encouraging them to subscribe. It may be too little, too late. Facebook is likely part of the problem causing a decreased subscription rate.

I’ll do my part by encouraging people to subscribe, providing free content if we can work something out, and advertising if I have need. In the transition of local culture, the demise of local newspapers is just one more unwelcome step.

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Living in Society

Iowa Caucus – 2022

The late Bob Handley signing nominating petitions at the 2010 Democratic caucus.

When the alarm to take my pill went off at 7 p.m., 263 accounts had logged in to the 2022 Iowa Democratic virtual caucus in Johnson County. Some accounts had multiple household members named or in video feeds that were shown. Throughout the main part of the caucus, the number wavered between 290 and 300. It was a reasonable turnout given the persistence of the coronavirus pandemic combined with a more general lack of interest in party politics.

It was nice to walk upstairs to retire when it finished instead of driving half an hour from some godforsaken corner of the county while watching for deer crossings and drunken drivers. My takeaway is as some long-time legislators and officials step back from public office, not enough new names were on the roster of attendees. Democrats have a tough row to hoe in the midterms. When don’t we in Iowa? We chose Richard Nixon instead of John F. Kennedy for Pete’s sake.

Last Obama Campaign Rally, Des Moines 2012.

The main business of the caucus was twofold: learn who is running for office and elect folks to do party work going forward. I self nominated to be a delegate or alternate to the county convention. I also self nominated to be an alternate central committee member. I hope the two central committee members we chose in 2020 sought re-election, although I didn’t see their names on the roster of attendees. No committee work for me this year.

The single person I recognized from my precinct had contacted me earlier in the day for our traditional pre-caucus chat. Our main relationship is related to county politics and we both have opinions about what is going on. We began working together on campaigns in 2004 and attended Barack Obama’s last political rally in Des Moines together, just before election day in 2012.

Elle Wyant and Kevin Kinney at the Feb. 7, 2022 Iowa County caucus in Marengo.

A slideshow displayed on a shared screen while we waited for caucus to begin. One slide showed State Senator Kevin Kinney is running for re-election in the new District 46. Elle Wyant had a slide as well. She is running for House District 91 in her first-ever run for political office. She gave a one-minute speech in her allotted time. These Republican districts will be tough to win for any Democrat. Best of luck to the two candidates.

Five U.S. Senate candidates had slides on the presentation, although my only question in this race is whether retired Admiral Michael Franken will win the June primary. It is between him and Abby Finkenauer, although Dr. Glenn Hurst is actively campaigning. Franken, Hurst and Satro Narayan gave one-minute speeches at our caucus. Until the primary, I’m keeping my activism powder dry in the U.S. Senate race.

I dialed in early and the caucus ended shortly after 8 p.m. Much less of a time commitment than attending an in-person event. I liked that aspect of it. Democrats have to get organized in an election year and the caucus format serves this purpose. We now have the framework from caucus to the election, a timeline upon which to hang our plans.

Off we go!

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Living in Society

Republican Romp

Iowa Capitol

We know Republicans are feeling pretty good about the way the state is going when the normally reserved Matt Windschitl includes a joke in his legislative update. “If a car uses wheat-based ethanol, does it qualify as a hy-bread vehicle?” The newsletter was about ethanol, and Republicans feel good when they address it to support corn-growers and the product from which it is made.

The Iowa House got its way with last week’s HF2128 regarding E15 ethanol in the state. It passed with many Democrats joining the Republican majority in favor. What didn’t get told in Windschitl’s newsletter was it was Democrat Mary Wolfe of District 98, ranking member of the judiciary committee, who wrote the language to help gas station operators in small towns deal with changes the new law would bring by increasing the blend of ethanol.

As has been expected for many years, especially since Republicans gained control of the Iowa Senate in 2016, each year brings more crazy legislation. Among the topics that have been broached in the early days of the final session of the 89th General Assembly are eliminating state income tax, eliminating all Iowa Code (yes, all) a bit at a time until it is revised by the legislature or deleted, putting surveillance cameras in virtually every K-12 public school classroom so parents can watch, sending teachers and librarians to jail for making unapproved classroom materials available, qualified immunity for police officers, and there will be something about taking away the rights of women to manage their health care once the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling that may impact Roe Vs. Wade later this year.

With all of these and more, Republicans are feeling pretty good about themselves. Don’t break your arm patting yourselves on the back people.

It looks like Democrats have a long road toward regaining a majority in either legislative chamber. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds rules the roost and is expected to cake walk into another term after the November election. Democrats ran one of their biggest donors against her in 2018. He came up short on charisma if not on money. Only Democrat Deidre DeJear, the losing 2018 Secretary of State candidate, is in the running against Reynolds. DeJear’s campaign hasn’t been able to achieve lift off. Being well-liked among Democrats hasn’t translated into a successful campaign for DeJear.

As I wrote yesterday, the pandemic is being normalized, even if it is not over. What hasn’t been normalized, or even adequately addressed, is how Democrats dig out of the grave they dug for themselves since Tom Vilsack was governor.

Like many Democrats, I’m willing to do my part. I also have stuff to do before I’m ready to enter my own grave. As a new septuagenarian, there is no time to wait for Democrats to get organized. That I can write that sentence does no justice to how disorganized we are as a party. The fear is there is no hope of digging out in the foreseeable future or in my lifetime.

I’m not encouraged by people who say we should wait until the campaign season is upon us. That means the 89th General Assembly adjourned sine die, summer is behind us, and the election is within shouting distance. The long-term structural change Iowa Democrats need lies outside any single election.

Some positive things have been accomplished by our leaders, especially by my state senator and senate minority leader Zach Wahls. What Ross Wilburn, Zach and the gang are doing is okay, yet not enough, and too slow in evolving.

While good people try to organize the circus we Democrats tend to be, Republicans are telling jokes and enjoying good times promoting corn ethanol during the Republican romp of which they can see no end.

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Living in Society

Pandemic Being Normalized

It had been 13 days since I started the automobile. Luckily, it turned over and was ready to go across the lakes to the wholesale club for provisioning. The trip there and back took less than two hours. I won’t leave the house again until mid month if all goes well.

All of the staff and about half of the customers at the retail outlet were wearing masks to protect against the coronavirus. No one bothered me as I wore my KN95 and went about my business. I worked as efficiently as possible, staying away from the unmasked as much as I could. It seemed a bit weird because absent were many of the well-dressed, Chinese-speaking folks who frequent the place, replaced with scruffy-looking white folks shopping without masks and heatedly discussing shopping choices among themselves.

The governor’s press release arrived after I returned home. It indicated there is no ending the coronavirus pandemic. She is extending the state’s Public Health Disaster Emergency Proclamation on Feb. 3, announcing it will expire at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb.  15. After that, the coronavirus becomes normalized in daily, routine public health operations. I’m not surprised.

Here is the press release in full:

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Governor Kim Reynolds ★ Lt. Governor Adam Gregg 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2022
CONTACT: Alex Murphy, 515-802-0986

Gov. Reynolds announces expiration of Public Health Proclamation, changes to COVID-19 data reporting

DES MOINES – Governor Reynolds signed the final extension of the state’s Public Health Disaster Emergency Proclamation today, announcing it will expire at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, February 15, 2022. The signed proclamation can be found here.

The proclamation was first issued in accordance with the Governor’s executive authority on March 17, 2020, to enable certain public health mitigation measures during the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over time, it included hundreds of provisions assembled in the midst of an emergency to quickly address a pandemic the nation knew little about. Today, the remaining 16 provisions focus primarily on lingering workforce issues exacerbated by the pandemic that are best addressed outside of emergency executive powers.

The State of Iowa is working with stakeholders in an effort to address pervasive workforce issues through more permanent solutions like legislation, rule changes, and grant programs.

“We cannot continue to suspend duly enacted laws and treat COVID-19 as a public health emergency indefinitely. After two years, it’s no longer feasible or necessary. The flu and other infectious illnesses are part of our everyday lives, and coronavirus can be managed similarly,” stated Gov. Reynolds. “State agencies will now manage COVID-19 as part of normal daily business, and reallocate resources that have been solely dedicated to the response effort to serve other important needs for Iowans.”

The expiration of Iowa’s Public Health Disaster Emergency Proclamation will result in operational changes related to the COVID-19 response. The most noticeable change will be how data is reported publicly. The state’s two COVID-19 websites, coronavirus.iowa.gov and vaccinateiowa.gov, will be decommissioned on February 16, 2022, but information will remain accessible online through other state and federal resources.

“While our COVID-19 reporting will look different, Iowans should rest assured that the state health department will continue to review and analyze COVID-19 and other public health data daily, just as we always have,” stated Kelly Garcia, director of the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH). “The new format will include data points that Iowans are used to seeing, but moves us closer to existing reporting standards for other respiratory viruses. This new phase also assures that our teams, who have been deeply committed to the COVID-19 response, can return to their pre-pandemic responsibilities, and refocus on areas where the pandemic has taken a hard toll.”

IDPH will report relevant COVID-19 information weekly on its website, similar to how flu activity is reported. Data will include positive tests since March 2020 and in the last seven days, cases by county, an epidemiologic curve, variants by week and deaths since March 2020. Vaccine information, including total series and boosters completed, demographics for fully vaccinated Iowans, and vaccination by county, will also be reported. Aligning the agency’s reporting processes will create greater efficiency for its staff while continuing to provide important information to Iowans. The new report will be available starting February 16 at idph.iowa.gov.

The State of Iowa and its health care providers will also continue to report COVID-19 data as required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC’s COVID Data Tracker reports state-level data for cases, deaths, testing, vaccination and more. The site is available at coronavirus.gov or covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker.

The State Hygienic Lab will continue to operate the Test Iowa at Home program. As testing supply increases and more options for self-testing become available, the state will reassess the need for the program. For more information or to request an at-home test, visit testiowa.com.

States are not required to have a disaster proclamation in place to be eligible for federal coronavirus-related funding or resources. Iowa will continue to receive vaccine and therapeutic allocations as normal after the proclamation expires.

Nearly half of U.S. states have already discontinued their public health proclamations, and several more are set to expire in February if they aren’t renewed.

Press Release Feb. 3, 2022, Iowa Governor’s Office.

So it goes.

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Living in Society

Saturday Baking

Bread made from a mixture of regular organic all purpose flour and flour of an indeterminate kind.

The coronavirus pandemic persists toward the end of its second year.

Mostly, I stayed home in January. I made five retail store visits: two to the wholesale club, one to a supermarket, one to the orchard, and another to the home, farm and auto supply store. I picked up milk at the convenience store twice when grocery store trips became too infrequent. Only so many jugs of milk fit in the refrigerator at a time.

Snow covered the ground for much of the month so I moved exercise indoors. I don’t want to risk turning an ankle on the snow pack during walkabout, or slip and fall on an ice patch. The trip to the mailbox and weekly delivery of trash and recycling bins to the end of the driveway became my main regular outings. Using sand collected from the road during previous years, I heavily sanded the ice patch where the concrete meets the gravel.

Other outdoors activities included pruning fruit trees and emptying the compost bucket. Compared to normal times, outdoors activities slowed.

Indoors, I have been cooking more and reading a lot. I finished nine books in January. I’ve been making steady progress on the autobiography. We are using up food preserved in the pantry, freezer and refrigerator.

In my quest to make a weekend, I’ve been thinking of the loaf of bread I baked Saturday. Setting aside some Saturday time for baking would be a positive, potentially recurring thing. It would also enable me to use up some of the older flour sitting in cupboard containers.

I found two containers of mystery flour. At first I thought it was whole wheat. After tasting them, I’m not sure. Mixed half and half with all purpose flour, whatever it is made a grainy loaf that was risen, yet somewhat dense. It was great for making finger sandwiches with mustard and cheese from the refrigerator for afternoon snack.

I started onions and shallots and they are doing well. In early February I plan to start cruciferous vegetables. Inch by inch the garden is beginning to grow. Outside, deer are beating a path between the plots. They are coming from the 25-acre woods and heading west to parts unknown, likely the wooded area west of our subdivision. The fencing hopefully discourages them from stopping to see what I’m growing during the gardening season. There is not much edible out there now.

Debt was incurred in January. On a fixed income, I use a credit card to handle spikes in expenses. There were one-time expenses: subscription to the Washington Post, biannual servicing of the John Deere, and printing an annual blog book. There were increases across the board on recurring expenses: the monthly escrow amount, gas, electricity, broadband, and health insurance. The debt is manageable and it won’t take long to pay down if there are no February surprises.

Noteworthy is the sense of being alone when my spouse is sleeping or busy working on a project. Since I can remember I’ve been active in society. I wrote a friend,

I’m leery of volunteering with the COVID-19 surge and all. I would like to volunteer doing something once I feel more comfortable being out in the world.

Just turned 70 years old last month, so there is a lot of living left to do.

Letter to a friend, Jan. 15, 2022

There is a lot of living left to do.