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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Posted December 03, 2019in Stray Thoughts
Down through the ages, a pretty comprehensive list of sins has been compiled to guide our daily lives. Some have been added over time as society’s norms have changed, and others have been stricken from the list. I’m not here to preach to you about envy, gluttony or greed, or
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Posted November 26, 2019in Stray Thoughts
Mark Cady was right at home at the piano and was an occasional singer, too, maybe best known among family and friends for his rendition of “Easter Parade” each New Year’s Eve — a whimsical tidbit that widened the eyes of some people at his funeral last week. But it
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Posted November 19, 2019in Stray Thoughts
Credibility is oh so fragile, and officials in Iowa’s largest school district dented theirs last week. Even people who don’t live in Des Moines should be troubled by what occurred, because there is a good chance, come January, the Iowa Legislature will respond in ways that could affect every other
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Posted November 13, 2019in Stray Thoughts
I was in Dubuque last week to toast a friend who was retiring after a long and distinguished career. There was a big community reception that was attended by scores of people. The speakers mentioned his many contributions to the company where he worked for 33 years. They commented on
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Posted October 29, 2019in Stray Thoughts
Here we go again. Many politicians and their followers are warning of the dangers of the United States drifting into socialism. If you listen to those sounding the alarm, the culprits behind this trend are presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic Party in general, and some of
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Posted October 22, 2019in Stray Thoughts
I have been sputtering like an old pickup truck for the past three years over the sometimes outrageous, sometimes ill-informed, and often infuriating comments our president makes each day on his Twitter account. But before readers rush to judge me too harshly for that statement, allow me to add: It
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Posted October 10, 2019in Stray Thoughts
Fifty-three years ago, I was a high school kid in southern Iowa who knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life: I wanted to be a journalist. The first step on that journey occurred when I walked into the offices of the Bloomfield Democrat and introduced
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