Dear Friends,
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Oregon’s largest city boasts a daring slogan: Keep Portland Weird. Last Friday, in an annual ritual of collective weirdness, thousand of Portlanders mounted their two-wheeled steeds for the Buck Naked Full Moon Ride.
Kathy Byrnes with the rose given to her by the young lady in the photo.
Granted. That’s delightfully weird. But Des Moines, Iowa, has its weirdness (read “cool factor”) as well, as evidenced by Kathy Byrnes’s experience last Friday. Check out Kathy’s account (at the 2:26-minute mark) of her bizarre stroll through downtown Des Moines on the eve of the Buck Moon. It’s a journey that starts and ends with a red rose — with a whole bunch of weirdness transpiring in between.
On this week’s program, at the 14:32-minute mark, Judy Downs, executive director of the Polk County Democrats, discusses the sobering reality that Iowa has become a solidly red state.
How red? When I ran for Governor in 2006, there were 24,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. For the next four years, Democrats controlled the House, Senate, and Governor’s office (under Chet Culver). Yet things have gone downhill for Democrats since then — and they keep getting worse. There are now 48,035 more Republicans than Democrats in Iowa. The House, Senate, and Governor’s office are controlled by Republicans, as are five of six congressional and US Senate seats.
Judy and I talk about the huge shift and whether Democrats have prospects for at least turning Iowa purple again.
Then at the 28:12-minute mark, we talk with Albrecht Kustermann from Frankfurt, Germany, about the tragic floods that hit Germany so hard and fast that over 200 people died. As with the climate emergency generally, local scientists predicted the floods — but not the level of destruction.
Albrecht and I also talk about how the purveyors of fake news have shamelessly used this crisis to their own monetary and political gain.
Bill Gray
Next, at 41:14 minutes, Des Moines City Council member, Bill Gray, discusses what cities can and should do in response to the climate emergency. (Note: Seven of eight city council candidates have accepted my invitation to have this conversation. The election is November 2.)
Every week, the urgency of the climate crisis becomes more evident. Last week, Oregon Governor Kate Brown said, “In the last year, Oregon has had four federal emergency declarations. We had historic wildfires last fall that we are still rebuilding and recovering from. We had terrible ice storms in February. Over a half a million people lost power. And then most recently, we had the heat dome event. So climate change is here, it’s real and it’s like a hammer hitting us in the head.”
So yes, what can and should local elected officials do to prepare for the inevitable impacts of climate change? That’s my question for Bill and all city council candidates. Please talk with your own city officials and candidates, and let me know what they say.
While we’re on the subject of city councils, Des Moines officials caught flack lately for how they handled protestors disrupting meetings in response to the conduct of some police officers. Opinions differ as to how far the Council should go in limiting what protestors can do. Joining us for that conversation at the 53:43-minute mark is Randy Evans, executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.
Finally, in our food and farming segment, Kari Noble and Steve Shivvers talk with Kathy about an innovate composting technique. Thanks for tuning in! — Ed Fallon
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CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS WEEK’S PODCAST.
(2:26) Bizarre Buck Moon story starts and ends with a rose, with Kathy Byrnes
(14:32) A Democrat’s take on bright-red Iowa, with Judy Downs, Polk County Democrats
(28:12) Update on the flooding in Germany, with Albrecht Kustermann
(41:14) Bill Gray, Des Moines City Councilman
(53:43) When freedom of speech crosses the line, with Randy Evans
(1:06:17) Digging deep into composting, with Kari Noble and Steve Shivvers
CHECK OUT MY CONVERSATION WITH BILL GRAY ON YOUTUBE.
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Ed Fallon