~a column by Colleen O’Brien “If he is elected, we’ll be at war within six months.” Attributed to Kamala Harris but not confirmed by research. Well, it has happened. I believed it as soon as I heard it third-hand – leavesdropping. What does one say when war approaches? What does one do? There is a lot of civil revolt –…
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A few things an autocracy requires of us
~a column by Colleen O’Brien We can’t practice DEI (diversity, equality, inclusion) in our lives now. The autocratic right wing of our politics (Republican) believes these three things (DEI) hurt white people. To them, diversity, equality and inclusion mean we insist that brown people and black folks and women and poor people need diversity, equality and inclusion in their lives…
Read MoreView from my window – Measles
~by Mary Weaver The June 12 edition of the Des Moines Register reported the third measles case in Iowa due to an unvaccinated child. The Department of Health and Human Services notified the public regarding the third case due to potential exposure in public areas, listing the public areas where the child had been in the Iowa City community. This…
Read MoreSen Green supports Reynolds’ veto of HF 639
HF639 has just been vetoed by Governor Reynolds. Before we jump to conclusions, we should try to understand her reservations. Many people have characterized this issue as either “pro-pipeline” or “anti-pipeline” but this oversimplification does not do the topic justice. HF639 attempted to create a new definition for a “common carrier” that includes all hazardous liquid pipelines and not just…
Read MoreWishful thinking
~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 MoreWhy 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…
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