~a column by Pollyanna, aka Colleen O’Brien My dream: That when one reporter is publicly dissed and called “nasty” (favorite word for reporters) by the President, all reporters at the venue pick the reporter off the floor where he has pretended to faint from the verbal abuse. His compadres carry him out, flat on his back between them, as if…
Read MoreCategory: Opinion
Why we need history
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Why do we need history in our educational system? Really, why do we need an educational system? So we don’t act stupid. So we’re not led around by the nose. So we can think for ourselves. And because we live in a constitutional republic of, by and for us, we can be critical of government…
Read MoreView from my window: A pair of ‘feel better’ stories
June 1, 2025 The anxiety and chaos around us regarding citizens who look different than us being placed in jail, the concern around the loss of funding for Medicaid for those receiving as well as the potential of health care facilities closing because of funding losses, the impact the tariffs are having on commodity prices and businesses, are all resulting in…
Read More2025 year-end Capitol Roundup
Greetings from the Golden Dome! It takes a while to allow the dust to settle after each session to be able to properly contemplate and soak in all that occurred. I can’t imagine being a full-time legislator and not being able to unplug to properly evaluate policy and life in general. The following are some of the situations this session…
Read MoreLTE: Reynolds should sign HF639
To the Editor: The future of every Iowan’s right to own private property rests in the hands of Governor Kim Reynolds. At question is whether the Governor will sign HF639 into law to curtail the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines by private companies for profit without public necessity. Hundreds of impacted Iowa landowners anxiously await her decision. Summit…
Read MoreDangerous conclusions from American slang
~a column by Colleen O’Brien Donald J Trump made his own video on his own media, the storyline being a how-to, like what you can dial up on YouTube, perhaps “How to fix a toilet that never quits running.” To rid the world of an enemy who tells it like it is when it comes to himself (Trump, videographer) shows…
Read MoreHis own ‘High Castle’
~a column by Colleen O’Brien “What if” stories are fun to read, as well as thought-provoking. Philip K Dick, a science fiction author of the 1940s through the 1970s, wrote a novel belonging to the subgenre of science fiction known as alternate history. The Man in the High Castle is about an alternative end to WWII: The Germans and the…
Read MoreView from my window: Vision 2030
VIEW FROM MY WINDOW VISION 203O I have just finished reading a book entitled ABUNDANCE written by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. It was unsettling. The authors describe abundance as a state in which there is enough of what we need to create lives better than what we have. The authors prescribe that the focus must be on future building…
Read MoreGood news, for a change
World-wide good news, in fact ~a column by Colleen O’Brien Australia’s influential labor party leader Anthony Albanese (known as Albo) won an almost 100 percent victory over his right wing adversary for a second term as Prime Minister of Australia on May 3. In his acceptance speech, he was happy to credit his winning to Donald J. Trump. For…
Read MoreLetter to the editor – Do not allow eminent domain for CO2 pipelines
To the editor, A couple weeks ago I had a chance to read a Summit Carbon Solutions (SCS) easement contract offer. WOW!! Ready to sign away your property rights “forever”? As written, it appears the contract would be applicable to ALL real estate residential, industrial, businesses, agriculture, wherever. Last year the Iowa Utility Commission (IUC) gave SCS eminent domain powers…
Read MoreHere we are we
~a column by Colleen O’Brien As the kids used to say, “Where we are we, Mom?” I was relieved when I could answer“Here we are we,” as I finally pulled into our intended destination. And now, I’m the one asking, “Where we are we?” hoping for an answer. After reading the first three pages of a really good book, Abundance,…
Read MoreThe apostrophe and me
~by Denise O’Brien Van I’ve lived with apostrophes all my life (see writer’s name.) And a recent friendly discussion about whether to write 1900 or 1900’s got me thinking about when and how to use that airborne punctuation mark. Overuse and underuse of the flying comma are everywhere. We’ve all seen the signs: Open Sunday’s Were open today No bicycle’s…
Read More