Viewpoints

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that there is an old saying that a fish out of water starts to rot from the head down.

That occurred to me as a result of all the bad publicity the once sacrosanct Federal Bureau of Investigation is inviting upon itself.

There has been a handful of top FBI officers who have expressed disdain for and dislike of the politics or personality of the duly-elected president, both when he was a candidate and since his election.

That is contrary to the expectation that such high ranking officials, and indeed even local agents, are supposed to keep their personal politics separate from their work activities.

And along comes the recent mass shooting at that school in Florida.

Federal, state and local law officers are fond of saying, “if you see something, say something” about suspicious individuals or activities.

In the February 14, 2018 issue of The Standard, there was a front page article about the car accident which claimed the lives of Joan Lyons and Mary Engrav. I was able to witness some of the outpouring of condolences and support given to their family members, and the community involvement in celebrating their lives.

There have been several tragic deaths in our area over the past few weeks. As one person said: “Our entire community is grieving.” Questions often asked are: “How do we get through this?”, and  “What can I do to help?” There are a variety of ways we can respond and help one another.

To the Editor:

Maybe we could talk more about how thankful we should be for toast: wimpy milk toast, toasted grill cheese, or trying to eat “just a piece of toast” when you’re not feeling well. Then there is always the possibility someone is not feeling well because they got toasted the night before.

We have garlic toast, French toast, BLTs on toast.  Oh, and the response a waiter or waitress loves when they serve a beautiful triple decker sandwich and the customer says, “Didn’t I say I wanted that on toast?”

Then, of course, there are toasted marshmallows that usually end up burned. I know I really appreciate it when some unexpected guest shows up commenting on how my house smells like burnt toast when they walk in the door.

Let’s not forget, peanut butter and jelly on toast, eggs and toast or creamed dried beef on toast. Since chemotherapy there have been many times my stomach could only handle plain toast.

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that regardless of how Americans feel individually about recent congressional decisions, many feel uneasy about the conduct of some of those legislators.

House minority leader Nancy Pelosi stood at the podium and talked, or read letters, for eight consecutive hours, supporting a view which she knew was a lost cause. But it was her cause of the moment, and she wasn’t about to give up without making that view known, ad infinitum.

Later, Republican Senator Rand Paul talked until the wee small hours of the morning, repeating a position he has repeated and echoed time after time, again, in a lost cause.

As a result of the above, the legislative bodies toiled all night before reaching an early-the-next-moming vote, which confirmed what everybody knew all along would be the outcome.

My wife and I have just returned from a mission trip to India. Just as India is half a world away, so their culture is just as different. It’s a place of the 5:30 a.m. Islamic call to prayer, cattle roaming the streets amidst heavy traffic, people everywhere, traffic (and the steering wheel) on the wrong side of the road,  roosters crowing all night long, 85 degree temperatures by 10 a.m. (and it’s their winter), Hindu priests walking and chanting through the neighborhoods receiving offerings of rice in their headdresses, no road signs, and if there are any, no one pays attention to them anyway (they are just “road decorations”), stench from the open sewers running along the sides of streets and homes,  this is India! As I said several times upon arrival, “We’re not in Kansas anymore!”

To the Editor:

I’m writing to correct the misinformation and falsehoods stated by Angie Chambers about the pork industry in her February 7 “We are the problem” letter. As a northeast Iowa pig farmer, I have to stand up for myself and my fellow producers.

The Iowa Pork Producers Association and the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers strongly encourage hog producers to work with Dr. Steve Hoff at Iowa State University to properly site environmentally controlled hog barns. The coalition assists producers with site analysis to consider the location of neighbors, public use areas like parks and lakes, topography and prevailing wind directions. Potential livestock odor can be managed with proper siting and various other solutions.

What’s more, as heavily regulated as the pork industry is in Iowa already, the state requires producers to adhere to additional rules and regulations to build on karst terrain.

To the Editor:

With the astounding total of 18 school shootings in the past 45 days, that means that every 2.5 days a child is either killed or injured at school with a gun. This is not acceptable. We as a country need to start investing real money into accessible mental healthcare. Right now in the state of Iowa the police, corrections officers and sheriffs are given the unfair task of being not only a peace officer, but a mental healthcare provider. This is not what these men and women were trained to do, and it is unfair to our police officers.

We need mental healthcare reform throughout the nation. We need access to counselors,  psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists, psychiatrists and other medical workers who are specifically trained to help those individuals suffering with mental disease and distress.

To the Editor:

I have received positive comments in regards to Oklahoma drawing up a bill to protect its citizens from non-ionizing radiation due to smart meters. The bill gives decision making back to the people. Currently, the wireless industry via the utility companies with government funding has taken that away. There have also been some questions brought up.

What’s the life span of smart meters? Smart meters have a five to seven year life span and have the ability to violate the 4th Amendment due to the detailed data they collect. Mechanical analog meters have a thirty to forty year life span, are quite accurate and do not have the capability to violate the 4th Amendment.

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... in life, they say, sometimes timing is everything.

I was thinking about starting this column when I noticed that the classic movie channel was going to show an hour long documentary featuring Robert Frost. The poet. I have been a fan of his poetry since college days, when I used to sneak up to a remote area of the university library and listen to recordings of Frost reading his own poetry.

That would have been in the mid-1950s. He was well into his 80s when he died in 1963, and his voice was old and raspy on the recordings. But his words were powerful then and remain so today to anyone who listens closely. For someone who has made his life writing words, it is humbling to be aware that there are writers, and then there are WRITERS!

With that as prelude, I begin this column, which I intended to be mostly about the Super Bowl.

Valentine’s Day is upon us again. We all knew it was coming and yet many of us will be rushing to buy cards and flowers at the last minute. This is a day for those who are married (or hope to soon be married) to express their undying love for their significant other. While this is a good thing, many people feel the obligation of the holiday can take away from the sincerity of the expression of love. I believe husbands and wives need to communicate their love for one another and if it takes a holiday to make them consider how to express it, well, at least they are doing it!