~Colleen O’Brien “You know that. And everybody knows that.” This is an oft-spoken collection of words from a president who in the wee hours of every morning Tweets or Xs lies about any number of things medical, military, historic, artistic. He’s a blabbering mouth and the sheer repletion of lies shuts our brains down. For four years of the Biden administration,…
Read MoreCategory: Opinion
‘And make America again!’
~a column by Colleen O’Brien My good friend Chris sent me a gift that is nearly a century old, a copy of a poem I read many years ago but forgot. It was written by Langston Hughes, published in 1936 in New York during the Harlem Renaissance. Because it is in the Public Domain, it is history; it is also…
Read MoreView from my window: Balance
March 15, 2026 When I see my primary care practitioner for my Medicare annual physical, one of the preliminary questions is “Have you fallen this past year?” So far, I have been fortunate to say I have not, but I continue, “I am very careful.” In living with cohorts of my gender and age, it seems many of us have…
Read MoreOur government is alphabet soup
Below is a list of governmental branches within our republic – administrations, agencies, departments, bureaus, commissions : Executive Branch, Judicial Branch, Legislative Branch; Departments of Justice (DOJ), Defense (DOD), Agriculture (USDA), Commerce (DOC), Education (ED), Energy (DOE) Health and Human Services (HHS), Homeland Security (DHS), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Labor (DOL), State (DOS), Transportation (DOT), Interior (DOI); Affairs: Veterans Affairs…
Read MoreMurmurations – Can we learn to handle chaos from birds?
~View from my Window by Mary Weaver We have survived through January and February and thankfully now March is with us, coming in as a lamb. So, it may mean going out as a lion. The girls’ basketball tournament almost always brings us a winter storm, so it is not the time to put away those snow boots. With fondness…
Read MoreOne more thing we need to know everything about
~a column by Colleen O’Brien AI is on the march. I’ve come across five “news” items that were real ‘fake news’, to cop a phrase from an inveterate faker. The first two fakes were hour-long videos by Rachel Maddow talking about Canada essentially ghosting the US and never dealing with them again; and another one of Maddow explaining how Walmart had…
Read MoreDo I dare think things are looking up?
~a column by Colleen O’Brien After a two-week hiatus from the political news in America, I return to being informed in a mind-blowing way. . . almost literally, the eerie light-headedness being very close to feeling the top of my head opening up and all logical thoughts flying off. For as lazy a president as he is said to be,…
Read MoreLet’s put things in perspective
~Sue Richardson of Jefferson, retired school teacher There were several statements made at the town hall gathering with legislators in Jefferson on Saturday, Feb. 14, that needed more context to give an accurate account of the bills currently being proposed. When talking about school funding, it was stated that the Democrats decreased funding when they controlled the legislature and the…
Read MoreView from my window – The SAVE Act
It sounds so simple and reasonable. Persons voting in an election should be citizens. I think we all agree with that rationale. Iowa, along with the other states, has been given the right in the United States Constitution to have its own voting laws including registration, voter identification, early voting, mail-in voting, and polling hours. You may recall last year’s…
Read MoreThe Architecture of Liberty: returning to our educational roots
February 13, 2026 Every day, I find myself returning to a single, grounding philosophy: Know where you have come from, know where you are, and know where you are going. It is a simple compass, but it is the only way to ensure we aren’t just drifting with the political winds of the day. When we apply this to public policy, we…
Read MoreGovernment and Marriage: A match made in heaven?
February 4, 2026 For most, a wedding is the most dreamt-about day of their lives. Thousands of dollars and years of expectations are poured into this single milestone. We invite our closest friends and family to celebrate, stand before them and God to make vows to never separate, and then visit the courthouse for a marriage certificate to make the…
Read MorePutting students first in higher education policy
~by Jesse Ulrich, president, Iowa Central Community College At Iowa Central Community College, our purpose is simple and student-centered: we want students to finish their degrees or certifications in the shortest time possible, with the least amount of student loan debt, so they can have a better life. This purpose helps us fulfill our mission by meeting Iowans where they…
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