If you’re too sick to go to school, you can’t go outside and play. If you don’t finish your homework, you can’t watch TV. If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat? more

On a bright and sunny pandemic day in early March, I received a text message from an old college friend about his spring break travel plans. “Nice time to get into the travel business, huh? … more

The coronavirus has changed the way we work, in many cases forever. The pandemic has also brought into sharp focus the powerless state of workers here in Iowa and the employer-driven policies that intentionally keep it that way. more

Public health experts have given us a long list of ways we can help prevent the spread of COVID-19.  Unfortunately for Iowa’s universities, students, faculty and college towns, finger-pointing has yet to be proven effective at warding off infections. more

Question: How do we hold open meetings if there is a concern about COVID-19 exposure? more

The 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in 1920, equal rights for women, and the pending Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution make for a trilogy around a common theme. But, here we are in 2020 with many men and a political party fighting against the advancement of their sisters. more

Vice President Mike Pence claimed in Iowa last week that President Trump had fulfilled his promises to Iowa farmers and ethanol producers. It’s not true and he knew that, because Iowa farmers told him so. more

There’s something about the battle over local control during a pandemic that inspires references to old sci-fi movies. Last time, it was “Star Wars.” This week, it’s the dystopian “Judge Dredd,” starring Sylvester Stallone as a roving combination of cop, judge, jury and executioner. His catchphrase: “I AM the law!” more

August 8th marked five months since we learned of the first positive cases of COVID-19 in Iowa. Since then, our lives have been disrupted in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Schools and businesses closed. A record number of Iowans were suddenly out of work. And our normal daily routines were turned upside down as we prioritized doing things differently to mitigate the spread of the virus. more

It may be hard to believe, but the Republican National Committee has one of the most compelling arguments yet for why Iowa should dump its burdensome and unnecessary voter identification requirements for absentee voting. more

Years ago, one European nation found itself under the spell of a cruel dictator. He united the citizens by oppressing Jews, Gypsies (now officially called Roma,) and homosexuals: blaming them for everything that was wrong. more

Iowa’s state leaders might benefit from a brief lesson from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. more