Wow Jess! I just took a picture of a quote a few days ago. I think it might have been on Mastodon but I don’t know the author’s name. Its says this: The sheep spend their whole lives fearing the wolf, only to be eaten by the shepherd. Once you understand this statement the game changes and you start to understand politics.
The above statement is so true!
I marvel at the amount of traveling you do and the number of people you pull together. I’m so thankful for people like you who make such a difference.
As a resident in western St. Charles County, MO, some of the readers might know I’m about 35 miles west of St. Louis. They get their water from the Mississippi River. In my rural area, I have a well, which is very common in my area, and north and west. I’ve lived on well water since moving to Missouri in 1976. It tastes great, the well is 750’ deep, but I’ve never had it tested for anything other than lime and getting a water softener. A cattle slaughterhouse has set up business about 12 miles from my home (crow flies). I’m surrounded by people still farming corn and soybeans. But I’m mostly terrified by the slaughterhouse because it’s also drawing from a well and our water table. To think Project 2025 wants to do away with anything USDA and EPA related is terrifying. I’m overjoyed by the enthusiasm for the democrats, but I’m so worried about losing my water supply due to malfeasance and “normal” environmental issues. I’m happy they’re taking notice in Iowa. Missouri is so far behind on general public health and safety. Keep at it Jess!! Great post today.
Beautiful piece of writing Jess and a sad story that could be repeated in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana at a minimum with only the place names changed. The players are always the same and always with identical goals: more money for corporations and politicians.
Usually only in small ways, but every once in a while, there is a Lincoln or an FDR who bring about major change. The battle will never end, but we must do what we can while we're here.
Powerful commentary! Thanks, Jess! Before Beau Biden died from cancer, we was a clean water advocate, documenting how the increase in mercury in our drinking water was directly related to autism in children and cancer of human beings all over the world. I was priviled to hear Beau speak at a National Education Association Conference. I will never forget his passion and conviction! Soldier on, Chris and Jess! Your work is important!
Thanks for telling and sharing this story. There’s a whole lot of foul to be found when you peer into the closets of corporate and political convenience.
Thank you. Seems we forget - or have not fully swallowed- the realization that when the founders wrote "all men are created equal" they literally meant "men." And, they had an assumed understanding among them they meant "land-owning white men." (No one else was in the room.) Over 250 years, we have broadened our collective conception of "equality," although our laws and practices have not yet broadened to support our broader ideology. So, we the people, who are more than just land-owning, corporate-executive white men, still must work toward creating a government that represents all of us, most especially children with cancer caused by the greed of land-owning, corporate-executive white men. We're not going back.
This really hits home. I’ve said before I ride Ragbrai every July across Iowa. I didn’t know I was exposing myself to polluted water during that week. My sister and her husband live there. They drink the water 52 weeks a year.
It’s very troubling that Iowa, a state that was progressive fairly back in the 80’s is now deep red. I saw glimpses of blue this past July but much more red. The people are very hospitable during the bike ride but there’s probably an undercurrent of extreme conservatism that goes unspoken. Fortunately the people I ride with are not in this extreme faction. A lot of work needs to be done in iowa AND Missouri it appears. Thank you for revealing that. Iowan’s health should not be a political issue.
Iowa went into complete Republican control in 2017, and has gotten Redder every year since. Even Republicans in the 1970s and 80s had the good sense to adequately fund public education and other public services here in Iowa. Republicans in Iowa today are doing quite the opposite.
You're right. I have refrained from saying this for fear of sounding egotistical, but in the 1970's and 80's and beyond, so many of us young, well-educated Iowans moved to other states. That exodus has proved onerous for Iowa. Predatory, corporate-owned political leadership has extracted so much from Iowa that it's on track to becoming like West Virginia. Ruining the soil and water in Iowa is similar to the strip-mining and mountaintop removal that have devastated large swaths of land and water in WV. And dumbing down the educational system goes hand in hand with this corporate pillaging of resource-rich states like Iowa and West Virginia.
The exodus of young people from Iowa continues to this day. Especially since hateful laws targeting LGBTQIA+ people have been enacted. And now public school teachers, librarians, OB/GYNs etc are also being targeted. Iowa Republicans aren't interested in enticing people to move to Iowa, unless they're evangelical Christian Republicans who will have babies and raise them to be future Republican voters.
Did the name Kamala Harris or Tim Walz ever come up in an after-talk conversation? Thank you for your surrey of the gathering, activations, questions, and especially the closing. We need more Jess Piper(s).
We MUST give Harris/Walz the support they will need in Congress, or we will experience a repeat of the Obama administration. Speaker Johnson has already planted his flag at Mar-a-Lago. Like Mitch undermining President Obama at every turn, MAGAs in Congress will do the same to Harris. Then when changes are not made the gaslight, pointing out how "nothing was done." We have to vote down-ballot, as well as for the WH, or it will all be for naught yet again.
I say, they [those at the top] don't have to conspire, because they all think alike. The president of General Motors and the president of Chase Manhattan Bank really are not going to disagree much on anything, nor would the editor of the New York Times disagree with them. They all tend to think quite alike, otherwise they would not be in those jobs.
- Gore Vidal
Does the money and power corrupt or are the corruptible attracted to the money and power? Yes.
As my years add up I'm getting closer and closer to advocating for the peasant's rant from the MP's Holy Grail for our government. We'll never separate monied from the money. But we can separate the money from the pockets of those in government.
Thank you for this essay and speaking out in all the ways you do! This hit very close to home. I grew up on a farm and played in those fields after the crop dusters flew over. I also got breast cancer when I was 29 years old. I survived, but I live very differently than the way I grew up. We all need to examine how we live and realize all of the ways that our actions affect others. We cannot kill weeds and insects without killing ourselves. We cannot poison the land and the water without poisoning ourselves. We cannot hate and be complicit in hateful acts of racism and discrimination without being infected with bitterness and hate in our own lives. And this all circles back on us. Hoping we can change direction... soon. Some of us already have. We make choices all the time.
I just saw something recently saying that Love Canal in Niagara Falls was never completely cleaned up. And the pollution of both air and water in Louisiana is causing cancers in even babies. Pollution was a big issue in the 1970s but people thought the creation of the EPA meant they didn't have to worry about it anymore. And it's still an issue the Republicans won't acknowledge let alone propose to remedy. Instead, they want to keep that oil flowing. We can't even get rid of Roundup despite the fact that it's killing butterflies, bees and fish.
Wow Jess! I just took a picture of a quote a few days ago. I think it might have been on Mastodon but I don’t know the author’s name. Its says this: The sheep spend their whole lives fearing the wolf, only to be eaten by the shepherd. Once you understand this statement the game changes and you start to understand politics.
The above statement is so true!
I marvel at the amount of traveling you do and the number of people you pull together. I’m so thankful for people like you who make such a difference.
As a resident in western St. Charles County, MO, some of the readers might know I’m about 35 miles west of St. Louis. They get their water from the Mississippi River. In my rural area, I have a well, which is very common in my area, and north and west. I’ve lived on well water since moving to Missouri in 1976. It tastes great, the well is 750’ deep, but I’ve never had it tested for anything other than lime and getting a water softener. A cattle slaughterhouse has set up business about 12 miles from my home (crow flies). I’m surrounded by people still farming corn and soybeans. But I’m mostly terrified by the slaughterhouse because it’s also drawing from a well and our water table. To think Project 2025 wants to do away with anything USDA and EPA related is terrifying. I’m overjoyed by the enthusiasm for the democrats, but I’m so worried about losing my water supply due to malfeasance and “normal” environmental issues. I’m happy they’re taking notice in Iowa. Missouri is so far behind on general public health and safety. Keep at it Jess!! Great post today.
Beautiful piece of writing Jess and a sad story that could be repeated in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana at a minimum with only the place names changed. The players are always the same and always with identical goals: more money for corporations and politicians.
I agree and I wonder, does it ever change, really?
Usually only in small ways, but every once in a while, there is a Lincoln or an FDR who bring about major change. The battle will never end, but we must do what we can while we're here.
How wonderful that you had a full house and possible new candidates interested in making changes for clean water and community health.
Jess, the work you’re doing saves lives. I applaud your light 💫
As a native daughter of Iowa, my heart just breaks for how conservative values have literally metastasized into MAGA ruthlessness.
Tfg has promised all his maggots they will have the whole pie themselves, not just a small slice—-and they believe him.
Powerful commentary! Thanks, Jess! Before Beau Biden died from cancer, we was a clean water advocate, documenting how the increase in mercury in our drinking water was directly related to autism in children and cancer of human beings all over the world. I was priviled to hear Beau speak at a National Education Association Conference. I will never forget his passion and conviction! Soldier on, Chris and Jess! Your work is important!
We don’t want to connect dots. It ruins the neat narratives we’ve been fed. See: George Washington…
Ope. That part. And thank you for connecting the dots in my essay!
Thanks for telling and sharing this story. There’s a whole lot of foul to be found when you peer into the closets of corporate and political convenience.
Thank you. Seems we forget - or have not fully swallowed- the realization that when the founders wrote "all men are created equal" they literally meant "men." And, they had an assumed understanding among them they meant "land-owning white men." (No one else was in the room.) Over 250 years, we have broadened our collective conception of "equality," although our laws and practices have not yet broadened to support our broader ideology. So, we the people, who are more than just land-owning, corporate-executive white men, still must work toward creating a government that represents all of us, most especially children with cancer caused by the greed of land-owning, corporate-executive white men. We're not going back.
This really hits home. I’ve said before I ride Ragbrai every July across Iowa. I didn’t know I was exposing myself to polluted water during that week. My sister and her husband live there. They drink the water 52 weeks a year.
It’s very troubling that Iowa, a state that was progressive fairly back in the 80’s is now deep red. I saw glimpses of blue this past July but much more red. The people are very hospitable during the bike ride but there’s probably an undercurrent of extreme conservatism that goes unspoken. Fortunately the people I ride with are not in this extreme faction. A lot of work needs to be done in iowa AND Missouri it appears. Thank you for revealing that. Iowan’s health should not be a political issue.
Iowa went into complete Republican control in 2017, and has gotten Redder every year since. Even Republicans in the 1970s and 80s had the good sense to adequately fund public education and other public services here in Iowa. Republicans in Iowa today are doing quite the opposite.
You're right. I have refrained from saying this for fear of sounding egotistical, but in the 1970's and 80's and beyond, so many of us young, well-educated Iowans moved to other states. That exodus has proved onerous for Iowa. Predatory, corporate-owned political leadership has extracted so much from Iowa that it's on track to becoming like West Virginia. Ruining the soil and water in Iowa is similar to the strip-mining and mountaintop removal that have devastated large swaths of land and water in WV. And dumbing down the educational system goes hand in hand with this corporate pillaging of resource-rich states like Iowa and West Virginia.
The exodus of young people from Iowa continues to this day. Especially since hateful laws targeting LGBTQIA+ people have been enacted. And now public school teachers, librarians, OB/GYNs etc are also being targeted. Iowa Republicans aren't interested in enticing people to move to Iowa, unless they're evangelical Christian Republicans who will have babies and raise them to be future Republican voters.
But they and their children can't escape the poisons they are exposed to. And the new cancers that they cause. The cycle is insidious.
They're truly the ones who have been brainwashed.
I thank you for the amazing educational work you are doing - on the road & on the page!
Thank you so much for posts like this, Jess. Your writing should be required reading for ALL Americans. Sadly, some just can't handle truth.
Did the name Kamala Harris or Tim Walz ever come up in an after-talk conversation? Thank you for your surrey of the gathering, activations, questions, and especially the closing. We need more Jess Piper(s).
Yes! Many, many times. The excitement is infectious.
We MUST give Harris/Walz the support they will need in Congress, or we will experience a repeat of the Obama administration. Speaker Johnson has already planted his flag at Mar-a-Lago. Like Mitch undermining President Obama at every turn, MAGAs in Congress will do the same to Harris. Then when changes are not made the gaslight, pointing out how "nothing was done." We have to vote down-ballot, as well as for the WH, or it will all be for naught yet again.
Thanks to you, and to all who fight to make Iowa, and the whole country better.
I say, they [those at the top] don't have to conspire, because they all think alike. The president of General Motors and the president of Chase Manhattan Bank really are not going to disagree much on anything, nor would the editor of the New York Times disagree with them. They all tend to think quite alike, otherwise they would not be in those jobs.
- Gore Vidal
Does the money and power corrupt or are the corruptible attracted to the money and power? Yes.
As my years add up I'm getting closer and closer to advocating for the peasant's rant from the MP's Holy Grail for our government. We'll never separate monied from the money. But we can separate the money from the pockets of those in government.
Thank you for this essay and speaking out in all the ways you do! This hit very close to home. I grew up on a farm and played in those fields after the crop dusters flew over. I also got breast cancer when I was 29 years old. I survived, but I live very differently than the way I grew up. We all need to examine how we live and realize all of the ways that our actions affect others. We cannot kill weeds and insects without killing ourselves. We cannot poison the land and the water without poisoning ourselves. We cannot hate and be complicit in hateful acts of racism and discrimination without being infected with bitterness and hate in our own lives. And this all circles back on us. Hoping we can change direction... soon. Some of us already have. We make choices all the time.
This. A million times this, and I am very glad you survived your bout with cancer.
I just saw something recently saying that Love Canal in Niagara Falls was never completely cleaned up. And the pollution of both air and water in Louisiana is causing cancers in even babies. Pollution was a big issue in the 1970s but people thought the creation of the EPA meant they didn't have to worry about it anymore. And it's still an issue the Republicans won't acknowledge let alone propose to remedy. Instead, they want to keep that oil flowing. We can't even get rid of Roundup despite the fact that it's killing butterflies, bees and fish.
OMG, the corruption runs deep! Thank you for this information. This needs to be amplified!