Posted September 18, 2023in Stray Thoughts
Many decades ago, Mrs. Gentry and Mr. Halferty put up with an inquisitive kid’s classroom questions about American democracy and the workings of government. I did not imagine back then how the meaning of some words could take on such importance in government. Take, for example, a much-talked-about word in
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Posted September 11, 2023in Stray Thoughts
Iowa is about as far removed from an ocean as you can get. But this state figures in recent news reports about the U.S. Navy — and not in a puff-up-our-chest-with-pride way. One of the reports was a New York Times examination of the Navy’s largest ship-building budget in history,
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Posted August 30, 2023in Stray Thoughts
Campaigning for public office is no picnic. Day after day there are speeches, Q&A’s, interviews and the constant need to think before you speak. Candidates eat enough chicken to have Colonel Sanders clucking approval. But for those who speak before engaging their brains, there other item on the menu often
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Posted August 22, 2023in Stray Thoughts
There were more disclosures in recent days in the ongoing saga involving the ethical standards of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court — or, more accurately, the lack of ethical standards. With each new disclosure about our nation’s highest court, the reputations of justices here on the Iowa Supreme Court
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Posted August 15, 2023in Stray Thoughts
Deanna Mahoney was like countless Iowa women through the years. She nurtured three children. She worked outside the home to supplement the family income. She loved bowling and mushroom hunting. That is how she lived. How she died tells us so much about the way some business owners, and too
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Posted July 31, 2023in Stray Thoughts
Silly me. I thought I had been paying attention to the issues about which Iowans feel strongly. You know, things like inflation, taxes, government spending, the war in Ukraine, a new farm bill, water quality, immigration, the federal debt. Those sorts of issues. But I have spaced off a vital
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Posted July 24, 2023in Stray Thoughts
Around the time the famous movie “The Bridges of Madison County” premiered in 1995, author Robert James Waller was at a book-signing in West Des Moines. Between scribbling his signature for fans on copies of his novel, Waller answered questions from a Des Moines Register reporter. At one point, the
Read More →One of the photographs of my father that I clearly remember appeared on the pages of the Bloomfield Democrat about 60 years ago. Pop was standing chest-deep in a hole that had been hastily dug in the street on the Bloomfield city square. His face was grim. There was urgent
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Posted July 03, 2023in Stray Thoughts
My late friend Paul was a fine Des Moines teacher. I wish the Evans girls had him for history and government. Judging from his ability to entertain me with descriptions of his interactions with students, parents and administrators, I am confident he could make the Peloponnesian War come alive
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Posted June 27, 2023in Stray Thoughts
These are challenging times for Iowa’s 327 public school districts. They are being watched closely by state officials and lawmakers, by parents and by others in the community. These eyes are looking for signs schools are treading lightly on topics like racial history and sexual orientation or that schools are
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