Category Archives: Weekly Updates

PayPal is not your pal

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If you value independent media, please donate to the Fallon Forum. Our platform has run continuously for the past 16 years and includes:

— A radio show that airs on eight stations in six states
— A weekly podcast
— A weekly blog and Substack post
— “Extra curricular activities,” like the recent 220-mile Save America March, and …
— Promoting candidates who embrace “prairie populism,” and …
— Working with local elected officials to promote greater food security.

So please, pitch in. It’s important. We couldn’t do this work without the support we receive from (1) local business sponsors, (2) non-profit supporters, and (3) individual monthly pledgers. Continue Reading →

Former Des Moines mayor, Frank Cownie, discusses UN climate summits

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ACTION ON CLIMATE … OR NOT
COP veteran and former Des Moines mayor Frank Cownie joins me for a hard look at UN climate summits, past and present. Overall, this year’s COP was disappointing. That’s probably no surprise, given that there were more than 1,600 fossil-fuel reps in attendance, and petro-states continue to wield inordinate influence.

With more and more local governments refusing to wait on national and international action, Frank’s idea of decentralizing the COP process is promising. Some cities and counties are already launching initiatives.

Two recent actions in Des Moines exemplify this strategy. Last month, working with Kathy, me, and local non-profits, the City coordinated planting 36 fruit trees in a public orchard at Drake Park. This isn’t a one-and-out. City staff are researching other good locations for urban orchards.

Also, this month the City Council voted to establish the Food Sustainability Advisory Committee. This permanent body is an encouraging outgrowth of the Food Security Task Force that Kathy and I led the way to bring to fruition several years ago. Continue Reading →

The new leader of the Trump resistance

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Over the past ten months, President Trump has moved with alarming speed toward solidifying his complete control over the federal government.

Yet millions of Americans continue to speak up, act out, and refuse to be silenced, even as some big institutions (media, universities, law firms, corporations) have buckled.

No institution has buckled more completely than Congress, with Republicans conceding to the President their Constitutional role as an independent and equal branch of government.

But back in the summer, that started changing. Just a little. But enough to be noticed. And the primary agent of change?

Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Continue Reading →

Catching up

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It’s been a rough first half of November. After a long battle with liver cancer, my mom passed away on October 28. Then I landed a sinus infection, which I’m still recovering from.

So, I’ve had little time to write, record a program, or wrap up the final details of the Save America March. Things should be back to normal next week.

As Kathy and I catch up on the remaining fall harvest tasks, I’ll leave you with a selection of Birds & Bees Urban Farm photos I took this morning as a reminder that:

— Life persists, despite setbacks.

— The Earth is generous, almost beyond conception.

— Growing food is a year-round undertaking, accompanied by year-round rewards. Continue Reading →

Day Eighteen: Save America March – I finally meet a guy who thinks everything’s fine

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It’s the last day of the March! I’ve managed to walk 220 miles in 18 days without meeting a single drop of rain. More important, the hospitality has been exceptional, which I’m happy to say is typical for Iowa.

More important still, though I’ve had fewer conversations than I’d hoped (harvest season), dozens of conversations have given me renewed hope for our democracy and our country.

My “worst” interaction of the March happened today on a swanky golf course in West Des Moines.

For much of today’s thirteen-mile trek, I follow the Great Western Trail. A short stretch runs through Willow Creek Golf Course.

I come to a stone bench where the trail crosses a golf-cart path. It’s an ideal spot for lunch, so I take off my shoes and pull a banana and some bread from my satchel.

After a while, two golf carts whiz past, passengers barely glancing in my direction. A third cart stops abruptly, and the driver looks at me disapprovingly. My thought is he takes me for a homeless person and is about to order me off the golf course (which he doesn’t have the authority to do). He carries a distinct air of privilege and wealth.

“What are you doing?,” he asks, with a tone of annoyance rather than curiosity. Continue Reading →

Day Seventeen: Save America March – A bag of cookies

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The rolling, winding gravel roads of Warren County are as beautiful as any I’ve walked this month. At one bend in the road, there’s a small farm stand selling pumpkins, eggs, peppers, and various baked goods.

No one attends the stand, but there’s a sign indicating how much each item costs, and a box marked “Pay Here.”

As I’m surveying the stand’s offerings, trying to decide between a bag of cookies and a cinnamon roll, a battered Jeep pulls up.

The driver says, “Hey, can you pull me a dozen eggs out of the cooler and put this cash in that box?”

“Of course!” I say.“

The guy hands me five bucks. He tells me he’s disabled so it’s tough for him to get in and out of his Jeep. He suffered an injury earlier this year, and recovery has been slow. Continue Reading →

Day Fifteen: Save America March – And the “winners” are …

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I asked for it last week when I invited readers to submit captions for this photo that I took of a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste littering the side of a gravel road. There’s no way I can share all the responses with you, but here’s my top three, in no particular order:

“Fluoride treatment in 1/2 mile!” – Jan Thomas

“It can be a rocky road to dental hygiene, but the good news here is that we see no missing teeth.” – Winter Ross

“The Save America March is committed to preserving the Tooth, the whole Tooth, and nothing but the Tooth.” – Jon Krieg

There’s no official panel judging the captions. It’s just me. So if you think your stroke of brilliance was underrated, that’s my bad. Continue Reading →

Day Fourteen: Save America March – An apple tree, a train crash, and a man from Miami

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The guy told me I’d soon be crossing the train tracks where three kids were killed six years ago, and I’d see a memorial there. It was one of those stupid, tragic things that kids sometimes do, trying to beat a train across the tracks. The train hit their vehicle and dragged the car 1,440 feet before being able to stop completely.

Later that day, I meet a truck driver waiting to load his rig at a Pilot station. He’s Cuban, from Miami, and when he sees my shirt he says, “Yes we have to save America, save it from the communists. Trump is doing a great job.”

I told him I didn’t see it that way. I asked how he felt about all the people being deported. He insisted they were all criminals. I did a search on my phone and showed him objective data showing that 63% of the deportees had no criminal record, and only 7% had committed any kind of a violent crime. He said it was fake news. Continue Reading →