Ever wonder why our Midwestern rural layout consists of 36 one-mile-square sections per township? Or where the Midwest’s emphasis on public education comes from? Or why slavery never gained a foothold here? Or why so many of the federal Bill of Rights protections were guaranteed in the Midwest even before
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Posted August 03, 2023in Morain
I may never write a column again. The other day my sister Deb in Sioux City emailed me about ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence application that writes stuff in the style requested. You may have seen demonstrations of it on TV. (The abbreviation for artificial intelligence, of course, is AI. In
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Posted July 06, 2023in Morain
An insidious word has been worming its way into America’s political lexicon. It’s the loaded word “unelected.” It’s a useful word. When appointed public officials take steps with which someone disagrees, it’s increasingly common to hear them tarred with being “unelected.” Well, duh. Exactly how should the millions of government
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Posted June 29, 2023in Morain
Nearly everyone knows that Jefferson is named for Thomas Jefferson, 18th Century intellectual, author of the Declaration of Independence, and third President of the United States. And many people know that Greene County’s namesake is Nathanael Greene, Revolutionary War general. But that’s about the extent of it. Greene deserves more.
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Posted June 22, 2023in Morain
I’m old school. In pretty much everything. It’s not just my age. Most of the guys in my morning coffee group are in their 70s or older, like me. But most of them are more with it than I am, especially in technology. In that regard I’m probably the hoariest
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Posted June 15, 2023in Morain
Last week Special Counsel Jack Smith, representing the U.S. Department of Justice, indicted former President Donald Trump in federal district court in Florida. Let’s be clear: The indictment was not part of the Justice Department’s investigation of Trump’s allegedly instigating the mob at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,
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Posted June 08, 2023in Morain
Three federal judges have made the national news recently. One of them is not like the others. See if you can tell which one. Federal District Court Judge Mark E. Walker last Thursday recused himself from overseeing Walt Disney Company’s lawsuit against Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis’ lawyers had requested
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Posted June 01, 2023in Morain
This is a season for remembrance. On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies, finally ending World War Two in Europe. The beginning of the end took place nearly a year earlier, on June 6, 1944, when the Allies debouched their immense D-Day invasion force onto the beaches
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Posted May 25, 2023in Morain
This column may be a relic by the time you read it. It’s about the federal debt ceiling dispute, and, by today, the factions may have reached a compromise settlement. But that looks pretty unlikely as I write (Sunday evening, May 21), and since the players still have a few
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Posted May 18, 2023in Morain
Federal government whistleblowers have a champion in the U.S. Senate: Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa. We can measure a politician’s sincerity about a specific issue or policy by how consistently he or she maintains that position, regardless of which party holds power. Through the years—decades, really—that Grassley has served in
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