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Bible passages that befuddle

There are many verses in Scripture that cause us to research the message so we can understand the text. One of these places is Judges, chapter nineteen. If you let the words settle in your mind, it is a gory, heartless scene full of the most cruel things one can do against another. In this story, to protect himself, a traveling Priest offers up his concubine for the sexual pleasure of evil men. Then, he cut up the woman when she died from the ravaging. He sent the flesh and bones to all twelve Israelite tribes. The point of this story is that all tribes were guilty in the killing of ...

Voting for Mike Tupper

I’m voting for integrity, foresight, work ethic, determination, task completion and creativity. These are the characteristics that define Mike Tupper. With over 30 years of community service, he will do an excellent job as representative in House District 52. I’m voting for Mike Tupper.

Minority rule

Most of us are familiar with the old saying that, “If something seems too good to be true…it probably is!” That is exactly true about Iowa’s Amendment One! Amendment One is a scheme to protect Iowa’s corporations and wealthiest individuals from ever having their income taxes raised again. How? By turning our democracy’s majority rule on its head and giving the power to stop income tax increases to a minority. So what, you ask? The same people are using up State reserve funds by passing unbalanced budgets to the tune of One Billion dollars a year which must end someday. ...

No legitimate chance to speak against data centers

Data center promoters and developers, the city, and county planning commissioners have not given data center opponents a legitimate chance to voice their opinions. Yes, all residents are welcome to speak at city council, but that is not an ad hoc and informal opportunity. I was at the first public forum for discussion on regulating data centers, but despite the large number of attendees who were also opposed to data centers, the meeting was explicitly about regulating data centers. The question of whether they should be here at all was never an official discussion topic. The second ...

Beware of the false prophet

The Times Republican editorials "Trump is the Picasso of Corruption" October 10 by columnist Mona Charen and The Guardian says Donald Trump's Assault on the rule of law is intensifying" October 19 is just the tip of the iceberg of Corruption that hangs like a rotting carcass around Trump's neck. However it is terribly wrong to describe Trump's assault on the rule of law as artistry because artists like Picasso bring forth beauty, inspiration, imagination, even awe on the canvas. No Trump's corruption is more like Al Capone who dealt in the business of rot (theft, murder, political ...

Marshalltown’s future has been sold out

So, remember those planning and zoning meetings that have been occurring for the past few months now? The ones meant to get public opinion about data center regulations and incorporate public feedback into proposed regulations? Stuff like the data center roundtable, where over one hundred citizens voiced their concerns and regulation ideas to ease the impacts development would bring? Yeah, turns out they were pretty worthless and our feedback was tossed out because it isn't worth anything in dollars. During the October 26 city council meeting, we learned that these data center ...