No hugs and casseroles make this more difficult
We always can use more humor. Even during a pandemic. At least that was my justification for a “thought” I shared with the world on social media last week. A [...]
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Posted May 18, 2020in Stray Thoughts
Posted May 11, 2020in Stray Thoughts
Coronavirus secrecy erodes the public’s confidence
The relationship between government and the governed is a delicate arrangement, even in the best of times. Government wants us to pay our taxes. It wants us to obey its [...]
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Posted May 04, 2020in Stray Thoughts
Essential workers deserve more than ‘thank you’
Editorial cartoonists — the outstanding ones, like the Des Moines Register’s Frank Miller and Brian Duffy — have a marvelous ability to express a point of view with only a [...]
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Posted April 27, 2020in Stray Thoughts
It’s time to rethink Iowa’s business incentives
The coronavirus crisis has exposed the financial vulnerabilities of countless Iowa businesses. Whether we like it or not, it will be touch-and-go to see how many come through this intact, [...]
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Posted April 20, 2020in Stray Thoughts
Public health ‘rock star’ gives us straight talk
In the world of contagions, epidemics and vaccines, there are not many true rock stars. There is, of course, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who directs the National Institute of Allergy and [...]
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Posted April 14, 2020in Stray Thoughts
Bail out the Postal Service before cruise lines
It’s quiz time. What arm of the federal government has the most contact with ordinary Americans, people like you and me? Is it the Internal Revenue Service? Social Security Administration? [...]
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Posted April 06, 2020in Stray Thoughts
Amazing heroes in the fight against coronavirus
One of my memories, one that had been tucked away back where the cobwebs congregate, is from that day in 2004 when the oldest Evans daughter graduated from Saint Louis [...]
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Posted March 31, 2020in Stray Thoughts
Crisis underscores how vital information is
We have all become acutely aware in the past few weeks why masks and face shields, respirators and ventilators are so important for hospital workers and their patients. The supply [...]
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Posted March 10, 2020in Stray Thoughts
There should not be a price tag to vote
Iowans take considerable pleasure in enumerating the various ways our state stands apart from the other 49 states — beyond our endangered first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. For many years, we pointed [...]
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Posted March 03, 2020in Stray Thoughts
Teachers deserve protection for protecting student rights
A bill now awaiting debate and a vote in the Iowa Senate is quite short. It adds a mere 10 lines to the Iowa Code. But those 10 lines are [...]
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