Tag Archives: Joe Henry

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 →

Day One: Save America March – the importance of listening

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I always strive to be completely honest and transparent. So I’ll share with you that I’d rather be home than walking around Iowa. I’ll miss my wonderful, beautiful wife, Kathy. I’ll miss our farm and the seasonal rhythm of chores, harvest, and good eating. I’ll miss our diverse community of friends and neighbors.

But times such as these — when an authoritarian government threatens democracy, and run-away climate change threatens our very survival — we are each called on to do what we can.

This march is one more thing I can do. It’ll be difficult, that much is certain. Perhaps it’ll also be fruitful, if even in a small way.

Halfway through today’s seven-mile march from Sherman Hill to the southeast side of Des Moines, I was greeted by a sign that prodded me with a gentle but important reminder:

“Earn the right to be heard by listening first.” Continue Reading →

Boston’s Old North Church heralds a new revolution

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The build-up to a massive day of climate action has begun. SunDay is “a day of action on September 21 to celebrate solar and wind power, and the movement to leave fossil fuels behind.”

Bill and I talk about last week’s brilliant kick off to SunDay, when Boston Mayor Michelle Wu lit the lantern at the Old North Church, reminiscent of Paul Revere’s lighting of the church’s lanterns to warn people that the British were coming.

Well, the Brits were bad (attests this Irish-American). But the climate chaos barreling toward us is worse. Way worse.

Yet President Trump continues to regard climate science as a hoax. We need to rise up against the tyranny of ignorance and the insatiable greed of the fossil fuel industry. Sure, many of us have been doing that (me, since 2007). SunDay presents a great opportunity to broaden the movement and deepen our personal and collective commitment. Continue Reading →

Four reasons to support Melissa Vine for Congress

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The corporate-funded DC establishment has thrown its collective might behind Lanon Baccam in the Democratic primary. I’ve got nothing against Baccam. Never met him, and I’ve only recently met his opponent, Melissa Vine. But I’ll give you four quick reasons why you should support Vine:

(1) It’s insulting, undemocratic, and morally wrong for DC insiders to try to handpick winners in local elections. Not surprisingly, the candidates chosen by DC Dems tend to be cozy with big business. A vote for Vine is a vote against this increasingly pervasive corruption of the democratic process.

(2) DNC-backed Democrats usually lose in the fall. See Patty Judge and Theresa Greenfield for details. Vine is hands down the best candidate to beat Republican Zach Nunn.

(3) Baccam’s light on key issues. Vine’s solid on the things I care most about and has a compelling personal story. Ten years ago, she bailed out of an abusive marriage, lost everything, and took a job checking groceries for $8.50 an hour. After earning her master’s degree in mental health counseling, Melissa became the Executive Director at The Beacon, a nonprofit for women coming out of trauma.

(4) Finally, a vote for Vine pushes back against the absurd attack against her, orchestrated by the DCCC, a local activist, and the mainstream media (MSM). Spurious ethics complaints and outright lies were thrown at me when I ran for Congress, and I can assure you the ethics complaint against Vine is so much BS. Yet that hasn’t stopped the MSM from giving it all kinds of coverage, basically parroting Melissa’s detractors’ talking points. I challenged two MSM outlets to give equal coverage to the real scandal of DC election meddling. They declined. Continue Reading →

Are you ready?

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I make no apologies about focusing most of my attention on the climate emergency. That said, I try to approach the conversation with cautious optimism and a sense of humor, and I make sure to leave time for other important conversations. In my personal life, I make sure there is time for activities essential to maintaining and nurturing a healthy mind and body. Walking. Music. Friends. Bocce ball. Sleep. That sort of thing.

I hope all of you are able to find the same balance, even as you commit to doing your part in the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced — a challenge, alas, brought on by our own greed and ignorance, or at least the greed and ignorance of a few powerful men and nations. Continue Reading →

Justin Brady: communications professional, non-Biden voter

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Most of my Trump voter conversations cover a lot of ground. With fellow podcaster and radio dude, Justin Brady, we focus on partisan politics. And I promise, Justin’s not at all as angry as he looks in that photo. (Really, Justin, you couldn’t have sent me a pic of you smiling while playing with a cute kitten?) Continue Reading →

How bad is the COVID surge going to get?

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I received this disturbing and heart-wrenching message from a worker at an Iowa healthcare facility: “We are fighting a battle that we just can’t win here. No matter what we do, no matter how careful we are, I know without a shadow of a doubt that all our people WILL GET this thing. It has taken on a life of its own. A third of our people have COVID and half of our staff has it. We are drowning!!!!!!!” Continue Reading →

Big Meat’s ugly history

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League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council 307 has launched a boycott of meat products from Tyson, Smithfield, JBS, and other negligent slaughterhouse giants. A coalition of workers, farmers, immigrant-rights advocates, and consumers is encouraging people to either do without meat or buy it from local farmers raising animals sustainably — and restaurants and grocery stores that carry their products. Continue Reading →