Tag Archives: Randy Evans

Kathy’s favorite farm and food lady

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We wrap up this week’s podcast and radio show with Kathy paying tribute to her Aunt Marian, who died this month at the glorious age of 99.

Marian was Kathy’s mom’s older sister and the mother of twelve children. In addition to an old-school farming operation with hogs, corn, beans, alfalfa, and sorghum, Marian ruled over a huge garden and two full kitchens!

Between preserving food for the winter and serving three meals a day to 14 people, the kitchens pretty much ran full-time. Marian’s apple pies in particular were known far and wide.

It’s my contention that 21st century America has much to learn from Marian Smith and the farming practices of a bygone era. As supply chains are further disrupted from climate change and other calamities, large gardens and small-scale meat production will become necessities, not novelties.  Continue Reading →

Why Biden and the DNC killed the Caucuses

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Democrats across the US are celebrating the demise of the Iowa Caucuses. That’s unfortunate, because the passing of the Iowa Caucuses is a huge loss to democracy. And President Biden and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) are to blame.

Iowa has never gone well for Biden. In 1988, Biden polled poorly even before dropping out after he got caught plagiarizing Neil Kinnock. In 2008, Biden finished fifth in Iowa. In 2020, fourth. Ouch.

It’s no surprise that Biden would love to never have to campaign in Iowa again. He made that clear at a 2019 forum when he said to me and others in attendance, “All you guys in Iowa are pains in the neck, you know that?”

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Do Climate Bill’s weaknesses outweigh strengths?

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There’s an excellent article in The Guardian this week, giving voice to some of the countervailing viewpoints on the Climate Bill. It’s titled “Landmark US climate bill will do more harm than good, groups say.” I highly recommend you read it, and I’d greatly appreciate your feedback.

Some of the article’s highlights:

[T]he bill makes a slew of concessions to the fossil fuel industry, including mandating drilling and pipeline deals that will harm communities from Alaska to Appalachia and the Gulf coast and tie the US to planet-heating energy projects for decades to come.

Siqiniq Maupin, executive director of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, said: “This new bill is genocide, there is no other way to put it. This is a life or death situation and the longer we act as though the world isn’t on fire around us, the worse our burns will be. Biden has the power to prevent this, to mitigate the damage.” Continue Reading →

Bizarre Buck Moon story starts, ends with a rose

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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. Continue Reading →