Posted April 09, 2026in Morain
In the movie version of To Kill a Mockingbird, attorney Atticus Finch’s young daughter Scout says to a schoolmate of hers at dinner, “What in the Sam Hill are you doing?” It’s the same question more and more people are asking President Trump about his war on Iran. It’s an
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Posted March 19, 2026in Morain
In times of war (and that’s what the U.S. is engaged in with Iran, regardless of what our government calls it), there is usually more than one cause. That’s true in spades for the current conflict. From the American side, it’s the unsettling potential threat of eventual Iranian nuclear weapons.
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Posted March 05, 2026in Morain
When it comes to the First and Fifth Amendments, I’m a Jeffersonian Jeffersonian. The amendments are two of the ten in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. Thomas Jefferson didn’t write them, since he hadn’t yet returned to the U.S. after serving as Minister to France by the time James Madison
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Posted February 26, 2026in Morain
To public officials and political candidates of all stripes: enough already with the foul language. Government leaders since the founding of the United States have used off-color words. According to one associate professor of presidential studies, “President and Vice Presidents who don’t swear are the exception.” But there’s a difference
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Posted February 19, 2026in Morain
The works of William Shakespeare exist in the public domain. That means a writer can use, or copy, anything The Bard (1564-1616) wrote in his 39 plays, 154 sonnets, 3 long narrative poems, and other verses. For writers, including me, that’s a very good thing. Great Britain in 1710 adopted
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Posted February 12, 2026in Morain
Standard majority rule now governs state income tax decisions in Iowa. The state’s constitution requires that five procedural steps be taken to change that. Three of those steps have already been taken. In 2024 the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate both approved a resolution to amend the state constitution,
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Posted January 08, 2026in Morain
A few days ago a team effort by U.S. military, intelligence, and law enforcement personnel seized Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, and took them into American custody. The move has overwhelmed the news cycle across America, and much of the world as well. The couple, now
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Posted December 25, 2025in Morain
The American writer James Agee, together with photographer Walker Evans, in 1941 released Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, a book documenting the lives of impoverished Southern sharecroppers during the Depression. The title is an apt referent for the subjects of this column: men and women whom I admire for
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Posted December 11, 2025in Morain
Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell’s decision to accept Penn State’s head football coaching position devastates Cyclone fans, gladdens Nittany Lions fans, and brings big-time football’s structure front and center in the collective mind of college football fandom, especially here in Iowa. Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard got
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Posted December 04, 2025in Morain
What will you be doing in the year 2033? If you’ll still be younger than 67 years of age, there are innumerable answers. But if you’re 67 or older by then, chances are the Number One item on your mind will be how in heaven’s name you’re going to make
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