Posted February 25, 2020in Stray Thoughts
If you are looking for something in government that can be quite messy, even under the best of circumstances, look no further than the power that allows presidents to issue pardons. I’m not a member of the Donald Trump Fan Club, as my friends and readers can deduce. But President
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Posted February 18, 2020in Stray Thoughts
Members of the Iowa Legislature are in the midst of tying themselves into knots over the issue of equality, and that’s unfortunate. The knot-tying involves what these lawmakers call “religious freedom.” That has a patriotic ring to it. Who would disagree? Our constitutional right to freedom of religion sets the
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Posted February 11, 2020in Stray Thoughts
Forgive me, but I think some government officials forget they work for the people of Iowa, or maybe they just don’t want the public asking too many questions, especially if those questions could be embarrassing. Regrettably, I come to this conclusion because every week or two I hear about another
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Posted February 04, 2020in Stray Thoughts
For 40+ years, Iowa has been pulling the wool over the eyes of the free world every four years. It is time our state’s political leaders put aside their love of the national spotlight and retire the much-ballyhooed Iowa caucuses — or overhaul the process to address the obvious flaws
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Posted January 22, 2020in Stray Thoughts
Every one of us probably has a moment of dread from our grade school days squirreled away in the dusty recesses of our memories. Or many such moments. For me, it was in elementary school when it was my turn to sing a solo in music class. I would have
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Posted January 16, 2020in Stray Thoughts
There is a retired businessman in western Iowa who bristles every time he reads a newspaper article from somewhere in our state about government officials who have misused their government credit cards for unauthorized purchases. This man is worried such abuses could be happening at the local county hospital since
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Posted December 30, 2019in Stray Thoughts
Schools across Iowa have been dark for more than a week because of winter vacation. But a Des Moines teacher still managed to teach a very important lesson during that time — but this lesson wasn’t aimed at the kids she normally works with. It was intended for adults. Laura’s
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Posted December 23, 2019in Stray Thoughts
This is the time of the year when my psyche — after being worn down by the headaches, the hatred and the heartache around us — gets a much-needed pick-me-up from those wonderful news reports of secret Santas, free holiday dinners for the less fortunate, and communities banding together to
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Posted December 17, 2019in Stray Thoughts
Whenever a friend or relative dies, it’s not unusual to find ourselves dwelling on the conversations we wish had occurred or the questions that never got asked. That certainly was true with my parents, Noel and June, who left long before my brothers and I ran out of questions about
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Posted December 10, 2019in Stray Thoughts
The Iowa Board of Regents is being asked this week to consider a complex proposal to turn the operation of the University of Iowa’s utility system over to an unnamed a business that will be paid to operate it for the next 50 years. The business will make a cash
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