~a column by Colleen O’Brien Upon visiting a house advertised as a “tiny house” in a neighborhood near me, it dawned on me that long ago my husband and I had become tiny house folks without knowing it. The term wasn’t around when we started out, so we thought of ourselves as merely living in smaller houses than most people…
Read MoreCategory: Opinion
The press and the prez
~a column by Colleen O’Brien “There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the security of a comfortable past which, in fact, never existed.” This is a quote from Robert F. Kennedy in 1964, speaking to the fact that his brother Jack…
Read MoreLetter to the editor – Katlynn Gannon-Mechaelsen
To the editor, I am Katlynn Gannon-Mechaelsen and I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself. For those that are unaware, I am running for the office of Greene County treasurer in the November 2018 election.
Read MoreTeens brave the status quo
~a column by Colleen O’Brien “Here are the rules,” said the teenager at the podium. “No rudeness. No backstory of your own. No revealing of your party affiliation. Questions only.” So started a town meeting conducted by students from Lakeland, Florida’s Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School on the subject of gun laws. On Valentine’s Day, a shooter entered that school…
Read MoreLetter to the editor – Bruce Banister
To the editor: We didn’t elect “Crooked Hillary” but, instead the people chose “Traitor Trump”. It is obvious that he is in “Thug Putin’s” pocket. Devious Donald prefers to take Putin’s word over the facts from our own intelligence agencies. Iowa Senators Grassley and Ernst issued weak, cowardly comments. They are terrified to stand up to the liar-in-chief.
Read MoreWho’s got the answer?
~a brief column by Colleen O’Brien Is there a way for the world to come to and pay attention? It seems most of us need to be led and there are just enough among us who get off on leading. Mutual agreement would be a pleasant solution, but that’s difficult to establish even in small groups like families, book clubs,…
Read MoreReasons to be happy on the Fourth of July
even while there are reasons to make you feel like you have a low-grade fever ~a column by Colleen O’Brien The older you get the less birthdays mean. Except if you’re a country. Today, the Fourth of July, 2018, is our country’s 242nd birthday (if you count from 1776; if you count from the Declaration of Independence, it’s 241).
Read MoreWhy I’m Running as a Libertarian
~by Thomas Laehn This November, I will be a candidate for Greene County attorney. And, against the advice of family and friends, I am running as a Libertarian. Many people for whom I have great respect encouraged me to run as a Republican or a Democrat instead. To run as a Libertarian, they argued, all but guaranteed an opponent, who…
Read MoreGrassley answers questions about immigration
~by Sen Charles Grassley (R-IA) Q. What needs to be done to fix our nation’s immigration policies? A: By all accounts, the current immigration system is broken. The last major overhaul was adopted 32 years ago in 1986. Unfortunately, the Immigration Reform and Control Act did not live up to its promises.
Read MoreCan you tell the real from the fake?
~a column by Colleen O’Brien The term news literacy is defined as the ability to use critical thinking to judge the reliability and credibility of information, whether it comes via print, television or the Internet.
Read MoreTurning darkness into light
~a column by Colleen O’Brien I just finished, for the fifth time, a book titled The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The only other book I’ve read as many times is Gone with the Wind. Four of those reads happened between seventh grade and 12th grade, the final read when I was 20 or so. It took me…
Read MoreMiller, 20 AGs demand end to cruel, illegal immigration tactics
The deliberate separation of children and their parents is wrong, letter says Des Moines — Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and 20 other attorneys general called on U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to end the cruel and illegal actions against children and families lawfully seeking asylum in the United States as they seek protection…
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