Tag Archives: Jeffrey Weiss

Three things you can do

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Instead of my usual blog, I’ve got three asks for you:

ONE. Listen to at least one segment of this week’s program. Share it on social media or in an email message to friends. Spread the word. With so-called “Legacy Media” in free-fall and increasingly dominated by large corporate interests, local and independent alternatives are more important than ever. Ours is one of them. Please support it.

TWO. Support local businesses owned and operated by people in your community. I can’t emphasize this enough. The dominance of national chains is a plague on our economy, entrepreneurship, and the land itself.

If you live in the greater Des Moines area, patronize the small, locally-owned businesses that help make this platform possible Continue Reading →

Fighting Trump with “Irish Democracy”

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On this week’s Fallon Forum (LISTEN HERE), Jeffrey Weiss and I take a deep dive into a piece by Chris Armitage: “We live in a Fascist nation, what now?” (Read the piece in its entirety below.)

It’s an important read. Let me know what you think. I’d also appreciate your feedback on Jeffrey’s and my analyses.

Here are my key takeaways:

1. Though he makes a strong case, I disagree (so does Jeffrey) with the author that we’ve already arrived at fascism. Sure, the threat is imminent, and existentially frightening. But pillars of resistance remain, as some leaders, institutions, and businesses show increased fortitude. Heck, maybe even Senator Chuck Schumer will grow a backbone. (Ok, that’s a stretch.)

As opposition to fascism gains strength, we see cracks in President Trump’s efforts to further erode the US Constitution and solidify one-party, dictatorial rule. We must take advantage of those cracks, the most important one being the shift away from Trump among some of those who voted for him.

2. Non-violent action is the best response to creeping authoritarianism. I’m not a pure pacifist, but in my read of history, violence is rarely the answer. WWII is an exception where, to me, a military response was the only way to stop Hitler. Otherwise, during my lifetime, in terms of foreign and domestic conflict (real and imagined), violence fails, both strategically and morally. Continue Reading →

America’s nuclear test victims

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Sadly, here’s something on which nearly all of us can agree: Our government lies.

One of the most egregious lies came into renewed focus last month when the Republican Congress did something I support., approving compensation for Idahoans poisoned by above-ground nuclear tests detonated in Nevada between 1951 and 1962.

Americans have been lied to by our federal government so often it’s easy to understand why people don’t trust politicians. The lie I want to talk about today (and during the first segment of this week’s radio show and podcast) happened during and after America’s first nuclear test, called Trinity, denoted on July 16, 1945, in central New Mexico. Continue Reading →

The journey of one thread of plastic from your washing machine to your dinner

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The Guardian is one of the few mainstream news sources I almost always appreciate. I was particularly impressed by The Guardian’s recent account of how a thread of microplastic finds its way from your washing machine to your dinner. The story is clever, informative, and deeply disturbing. Read the full story here, and/or check out these key quotes from the story:

The story starts with a single thread of polyester, dislodged from the weave of a cheap, pink acrylic jumper [i.e., sweater] as it spins around a washing machine. This load of washing will shed hundreds of thousands of tiny plastic fragments and threads.

Along with billions of other microscopic, synthetic fibres, our thread travels through household wastewater pipes. Often, it ends up as sewage sludge, being spread on a farmer’s field to help crops grow.

Spread on the fields as water or sludge, our tiny fibre weaves its way into the fabric of soil ecosystems. A worm living under a wheat field burrows its way through the soil, mistaking the thread for a bit of old leaf or root. Continue Reading →

Does America need a divorce, or just marriage counseling?

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Des Moines Area Community College poli-sci prof, Jeffrey Weiss, thinks so. He’s written a piece called We the people, to dissolve an imperfect union, grant a divorce to the United States of America. You oughta read it.

Weiss also makes his case on this week’s Fallon Forum. We discuss dividing the country along the Mississippi River — Republicans on one side, Democrats on the other. I ask tough questions like, “Who gets the nuclear weapons?” and “Won’t it just devolve into another violent civil war?”

Really, someone oughta organize a debate for us.

I’m not for divorce. I’m for marriage counseling. Let’s talk through our differences and brainstorm solutions. I believe that most Americans want to persevere and continue this grand experiment to build a more perfect melting pot of freedom, justice, and democracy. (I know, we still have a long, long way to go.)

As Kathy said to me after we recorded the program, “When a relationship is so bad that one party recommends ending it, both parties might suddenly wake up to the reality that splitting up would be harder than taking steps to make up.” Continue Reading →

“The enemy” is sometimes right

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First off, regarding the title of this message, I don’t see the world in terms of enemies and allies. Thus the quotation marks. Sure, there are hard-core evil-doers who pock-mark the annuls of history with their wickedry. Adolf Hitler. Vlad the Impaler. Oliver Cromwell. The Zodiac Killer. Jack the Ripper. That’s the tip of the ne’er-do-well iceberg, the sordid sliver of humanoids the world would have been better without.

But of the estimated 117 billion people that have, at some point, called Earth home, most have been decent, reasonable, and good. Granted, that’s an opinion, not a fact. But it’s an opinion I’ll back-up with 67 years of personal experience. 

This week was, for me, a reminder that there aren’t too many people in today’s world who I’m willing to tag as “the enemy.” (I do put Donald Trump in that category, with apologies to my friends who voted for him. If history proves me wrong, I’ll apologize.)

I use the term “enemy” lightly because, as this week demonstrated, politics does indeed make strange bedfellows. Here are some of the Republican voices I’m finding common ground with this week, in response to President Trump’s decision to bomb Iran and the threat of nuclear war:
Continue Reading →

A conversation with State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott

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During each year’s legislative session, I invite all Iowa lawmakers to come on my program. Few seem inclined. I guess I’m scary, or maybe most don’t appreciate hard-hitting questions. Maybe I smell bad. Who knows.

This week, Iowa State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott joined me in the studio. Sarah doesn’t mind tough questions, and her answers were always clear and straightforward.

In addition to being a mom, a wife, and a Lutheran minister, Sarah represents Dallas County — the fastest growing county in the state. She’s won three close races in a district previously represented by Jake Chapman, the former Republican President of the Senate, who Sarah beat in 2022.

We discuss Sarah’s priorities. She’s concerned about Republican attacks on education, including a disturbing double standard: increased oversight of public schools and very little oversight of private schools funded with public money.

We discuss eminent domain legislation, which for three years has passed the House but stalled in the Senate. With public pressure mounting, the Senate Commerce Committee agreed to take up the House’s strong eminent domain bill last month. But under the leadership of the Committee’s chair, Republican Senator Mike Bousselot, many of the bill’s protections for landowners were removed.

Continue Reading →

You’re invited!

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I’ve got a big announcement to share: In my spare time, I’ve managed to learn and memorize all 21 Chopin Nocturnes!

Check out the first recording on my YouTube channel. The rest will be published over the next 12 weeks weeks on Thursday mornings. Know in advance that: (1) I’m not a virtuoso, but I don’t suck; (2) the recordings include improvisations that might offend “serious” musicians; (3) there are classical guitar, Irish whistle, and vocals thrown in; and (4) I had more fun with B-roll than adults oughta have.

But wait, there’s more. You’re invited to a live performance combined with conversation about relocalizing food production. Kathy and I and others are hosting a series of house parties/events. The format is a 60-minute concert followed by 60 minutes of food talk. At the two events at our home, Kathy and I will serve “sips and nibbles.” We’re asking for free will donations for Birds & Bees Urban Farm and The Fallon Forum.

Let me know if you’re interested in hosting or sponsoring an event. Continue Reading →

An Iowa Democrat worth listening to

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It’s no secret that I think the Iowa Democratic Party is an unmitigated disaster. That’s not a hard argument to make, given the scarcity of Democrats holding elected office at the Statehouse — super-minorities in both chambers and only one statewide elected official. When it comes to the US Congress, Iowa Democrats have exactly zero elected officials representing our state.

Iowa used to have a strong Democratic Party. And don’t get me wrong: Iowa needs a strong Democratic Party.

That can happen again if people start listening to this guy: State Rep. Josh Turek. Continue Reading →

Trump the Imperialist?

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Love him or hate him, most Americans probably agree that Donald Trump is an authoritarian. But is he “Hitler”? My guest today, Jeffrey Weiss, doesn’t think so.

On this week’s program, Jeffrey and I discuss Trump’s threats to buy (or forcibly take) Greenland, reclaim the Panama Canal, and somehow convince Canada to become ‘Merica’s 51st state. (Sorry Puerto Rico, get back in line.) That leads us to the “Hitler” question.

Before I share some of that discussion with you, I have to throw in a bit of humor. Yeah, there’s nothing funny about the risks of fascism, but for some of us, humor is a tool that helps manage life’s most disturbing challenges.

Humor in the face of tyranny was certainly on display on January 19, 1940. After Hitler laid claim to Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, The Three Stooges produced a short parody, You Nazty Spy. Lead stooge, Moe Howard (in photo), made an impressive Hitler, even speaking Yiddish. Continue Reading →