Unwashed men pose danger. You may have heard of VOCs, volatile organic compounds, which are released into the air from synthetic products such as carpet, gasoline engines, and paint. These compounds can cause health issues ranging from irritation, headaches, organ damage, and cancer. And, when men don’t wash, they emit them.
Bird flu marches on, with new testing done on milk to ensure safety and track the disease.
Speaking of tests, a blood test to supplement the more invasive colonoscopy has been approved. With colorectal rates skyrocketing, this test should make getting screened easier, although it will not entirely replace colonoscopies.
Italian philosopher and political scientist Norberto Bobbio argues that attitudes towards equality are primarily what distinguish left-wing politics from right-wing politics on the political spectrum: “the left considers the key inequalities between people to be artificial and negative, which should be overcome by an active state, whereas the right believes that inequalities between people are natural and positive, and should be either defended or left alone by the state.” (link)
In 2020, scientists performed an astonishing feat. In less than one year, they produced not one but several safe and effective vaccines against the novel coronavirus, sars-cov-2. Yet, by the summer of 2021, barely half of all Americans had been fully vaccinated, even though free vaccines were widely available. By the autumn of 2021, ten thousand deaths following vaccination had been reported, and only six positively attributed to the vaccine, with more than four hundred and fifty million vaccine doses administered. This is a vaccine-death rate of 0.00000001 percent.1 Yet public health officials still struggled to persuade the remaining Americans to get vaccinated. Commentators have read this opposition as evidence of a crisis of public trust in science. (link)
Mistrust in science has been seeded for a while, lead by conservative business leaders in the US who do not want regulations. The environmental and public health movements scared them and they saw these ideals as eating into their profits. Conservative people hate the environment so much, they won’t even invest in it. They like science well enough when it is related to production of goods but otherwise, it and the government, are expected to get out of their way as they do what they please. Interestingly enough, the anti-science attitude is strongest in educated Republicans, who then use money and influence to infect other Republicans with this view, which is basically anti-government. The anti-government movement funded think tanks at The University of Chicago which basically didn’t believe in public good. They don’t believe in helping people. Is it any surprise that Iowa’s attorney general is a product of that?
Government is not supposed to help people with science problems because then, people might want to government to protect them from the maladies businesses have created. In fact, these conservative business leaders go out of their way to block government solutions because they want the government to look bad. They do not want government to lend a helping hand.
One mastermind in this conservative movement is the National Association of Manufactures. You can see their leaders here. You’ll note that the head of both Pella Corporation and Vermeer Manufacturing are on their board of directors. A former head of Vermeer Corporation received their award recently and dutifully repeated some of their anti-government talking points. You may recognize a business ally of Trump’s. NAM has flooded newspapers, radio, and television stations with their messaging—enterprising businessmen heroes fighting pesky environmentalists and socialist moralists who seek a fair and safe workplace. These companies donate to their favorite charities, advertise in local media, in effect silencing them from speaking out on issues. Our lips are sealed.
One recent result: In Iowa, the public harassed a local weather man to the point that he left the state. Read more here. His crime? He talked about climate change as being science. Which it is. We Midwesterners have lost our niceness and it’s no accident. We’re trusting the wrong people.
It’s important to realize that much of the anti-science, anti-regulation rhetoric is myth, a right-wing myth that enriches a few. For our own good, for our health and safety we need to see it as the PR stunt it is.
Recently, I asked Pella’s Planning and Zoning director about flooding in town. Climate change models predict extreme weather, including flooding over much of the US. He said we have regulations to prevent flooding from 100-year floods but to push these limits would be too expensive. Here in a self-proclaimed religious city, protecting each other is too expensive. Maybe we should care more about our neighbors. My property is not at much risk for flooding. How about yours?
You have the right, as a citizen, to expect your elected officials to listen to basic science and take the appropriate steps to protect you. One small step you can take will be to push “delete” if you get a voting guide from a member of NAM. Another is to adopt some skepticism. A friend once joined a pro-business group, because he had a small business, and received their newsletters. He noticed that every issue had a right-wing spin. He tossed his membership in the garbage.
There is nothing wrong with manufacturing. It’s been with us since the industrial revolution. But, like Botox, too much used carelessly in the wrong place will hurt you. It can even affect your empathy for others. There’s no reason to trust right-wing business leaders on matters of science. Regulation can slightly raise costs, but it does protect the community. It also encourages innovation. The environmental costs of their neglect will be paid by the rest of us. Look through the PR stunt. Meanwhile, here comes the rain again.
Much of the information in this piece comes from this source (MIT Press)
As an eldest daughter, I can understand the appeal of authoritarianism. I was put in charge of these lesser beings, my siblings, by parental authority figures. Of course, they rebelled against my rule but I found that scaring them with the threat of home invasion and the paranormal—which only I could control– worked well to keep them under my thumb. Somehow, I inherently knew that making the world, or at least those nights when I babysat, a scary place worked in my favor. I’m glad to say I grew out of my tyrannical ways. I can’t say how it happened. Maybe I decided I couldn’t pull it off for the rest of my life, or, having a happy childhood, I outgrew it. Good thing! It was antithetical to being a scientist.
Scientists are drawn to a dynamic body of knowledge that builds and expands. Authoritarianism is a form of ignorance, governing by omission of information. It’s often static. That’s why science and authoritarianism clash. Authoritarianism most often fails, but it can last way too long for the life of a scientist.
Authoritarianism is fueled by both ideology and prejudice and is held up by two worldviews. Followers often follow the first view, leaders the second view, and some people have both views.
The world is a dangerous, unstable and un-predictable place. A candidate appealing to this group will take a dark world view. Coercing people into conforming helps stabilize the status quo. Punishing people for violating the norm is encouraged. Scary people are at the door! Crime is up! You’re going to need weapons! This is particularly true for right wing authoritarians (shown here in cartoon) and people who grew up with instability who have not developed “openness.”
The desire to socially dominate in a competitive world where the strong survive and the weak perish. These people cultivate inequality and see themselves as tough. They don’t like participation trophies. They aren’t afraid to lie. Lies make them strong when people believe them.
One important step along the way is creating prejudice. First, an out group must be identified as both threatening to the social order and capable of competing with the dominant societal groups. I was once at a bookstore selling some of my novels alongside a person selling Pella history books. She told me that Pella was once a coal mining town. When miners went on strike, the mining company went to the South and brought back black miners to break the strike, creating prejudice.
This might explain this racist political advertisement, which combines fear, subtle prejudice, and the superiority of the white, small-town life. And it’s not the only one that will flood your screen. Most authoritarian prejudice is towards people perceived as scary, people perceived as weak (lazy, old), and people perceived as different.
Authoritarians in general support these types of policies:
Leaving cooperative alliances with others. Brexit for example lead to the United Kingdom exiting The European Union
Aggressive behavior to others such as corporal punishment, banning abortion for rape victims, and forced assimilation (one language polices, forced religion) which involves removing civil rights.
Belief that your country should not be criticized.
Rigid stands against personal choices and public health and safety if they oppose monied interests, including those that honestly help the group such as maintaining a clean environment.
Unity means conformity, as this authoritarian expert points out in a bone chilling analysis of the RNC convention.
Restraints on voting and participation.
Both right and left political views can follow authoritarians but in general, left-wing authoritarianism is much less prevalent and focuses on the good of society. It still can suffer many of the flaws of authoritarianism. By definition, right wing politics promotes social hierarchy and meshes better with authoritarianism.
Authoritarianism is having a global resurgence. Only 20% of global citizens enjoy what would be classified as freedom. Iowa itself has repeatedly put well-funded authoritarians, often connected with Christian Nationalists, at the helm. Authoritarianism is the way with Christian Nationalism. Every bona fide pastor should be denouncing it but they won’t because they know what will happen at the hands of their authoritarian congregation members.
In general, traits needed to be a good scientist such as honesty, preference for group-based hierarchy (team players), and openness to experience do not promote authoritarianism and are negatively associated with conservatism. Thus, you will see right-wing authoritarians actively opposing scientists.
Although scientists promoted masking to protect classrooms from COVID, the Iowa Governor chose to listen to and promote a right-wing mom group. In fact, I know of people in Pella who would not get a covid test and got mad at people who did because they did not want to make their authoritarian governor look bad.
A downside of right-wing authoritarianism, which has been studied more than left-wing authoritarianism because it is more of a threat, is that the population will be exploited by right-wing leaders and will become less innovative and less open to learning and exploration. Because they are by nature dishonest and even unaware, authoritarians most often fall into corruption. Authoritarians are a danger to a country.
A right-wing society also faces more intergroup conflict because it promotes hostility, competition, and rigid beliefs. I like football and recognize that team sports can help foster cooperation but we are such a competitive society these days that people have to have therapy when their favorite team loses. The dark triad of high narcissism “fosters a competitive worldview.”
You can see these elements in this t-shirt. The shirt implies others might step out of bounds and need to be strong armed and removed from town.
Many right-wing leaders have emerged recently. They most often arise out of a chaotic situation which is why they love to sew more chaos and out-group hostility. Trump and the Iowa Republicans are such leaders. Trump and Republicans have authoritarian plans for education, which wipes out any intercultural understanding. Iowa appears to be a test case for Pr0ject 2O25 which is distinctly uncooperative and right wing.
Authoritarianism is a harmful societal ideal which ultimately undercuts personal autonomy, a key to happiness and diminishes democracy. It undermines science and public health. It cuts creativity, which requires openness.
To resist authoritarianism, point out their corruption and stand up for human rights. People who dislike authoritarianism and prefer intergroup cooperation are a diverse group of people, so appreciating some differences of opinion is important. Leave the absolutes to the authoritarians! Not all of them are not going to grow up, unfortunately.
Most of the information for this post comes from this review article in the prestigious science journal Nature.
I once was a part time DJ. I was program director at my college station and worked Sunday mornings at KKRQ in Iowa City. Back in the day, a Fairness Doctrine kept radio from being a partisan tool. The college station is no more and KKRQ moved to Solon and is part of IHeartMedia, which owns most stations in Iowa.
As I drive my husband to his chemo appointments in Iowa City, the government cutbacks, which the conservatives usher in is as obvious as the cracks in a country road. The more cracks, the more Trump signs you’ll see along the back-ways. You’ll not see a black person but you will see “all lives matter” signs. Conservatives run on slogans. In this article, a shallow guy repeats some slogans and says he wants good roads but government out of his life so he votes Republican, even as his teacher wife points out the down side. Buddy, you are not getting good roads or the government out of your life. Dumb stuff got in your ears and came out of your mouth.
Or take the back roads such as state highway 85 if you want to see the country and give your tires a workout. Be sure to tune in an independent radio station or bring a podcast. You don’t want to get one of those conservative ear-worms.
A few weeks ago, at an author event, Reverend Ovid Need came up to me and gave me his book.
I asked him what made him an authority on women. He said, “The Bible.”
I wouldn’t call myself a Bible expert. I took a New Testament class in college but his book was based on the Old Testament.
Here are the verses which inspired him to write 19 pages telling women what to do.
Proverbs 31 has a little bit of sexism in it but it is basically about marrying a hard-working woman instead of a beauty.
Leviticus 21 talks about tithing and how much people are worth. Men are worth more than women and young people more than old.
Here is how these verses were interpreted.
Note that he really strays from the passages, supporting homeschooling (unpaid labor by the woman basically), and declaring other people enemies to be shot down by weaponized kids.
He concludes with saying that women who don’t accept his advice are “pagan, anti-Christ, Humanists.” This is what life is like here in Marion County, Iowa. The hatred is getting intense. You can’t even go to your own book event without a confrontation.
There is no reason to consider people who believe this way to be nice or harmless. They are manipulative jerks with manipulated followers. They hate us. They consider us evil. The Bible is a very complicated book. One thing I learned in my long-ago Bible course was how many books were left out of the Bible and how much cherry picking was done to create the modern version of the Bible. There are many great parts of the Bible such as the Beatitudes. Jesus rebuking the Devil’s temptation is also a good section. These passages say that you shouldn’t hate and the ends don’t justify the means. Think about it, Reverend Need.
“People want to be connected to the natural world,” says biologist Paul Weihe. Connecting with nature isn’t easy here in Iowa, where just 3% of Iowa is public land and some of this is highway right of ways. Most Iowans don’t own large acreages and depend on public lands for their outdoor recreation. Fortunately, Pella has the 83-acre Big Rock Park owned by the City of Pella! On May 18, Dr. Paul Weihe of Central College gave a multigenerational crowd a new appreciation of living “solar panel apparatuses,” those woody plants that persist through winter and have one or several main trunks –also known as trees.
When one approaches a tree you want to note its
habitat—where it is
its habit—its size and spreading, some of which is influenced by sunlight
and its anatomy—such as the color of the bark and the width and of the bark plates along with the presence of thorns and fruit.
Big Rock Park has a variety of habitats—a meadow, a native oak savannah characterized by widely spaced trees, and a prairie like wet meadow. Thus, it’s home to a variety of trees.
Bark is the dead skin of a tree, which grows out from the trunk anon the tips of branches and roots. Bark is a way to identify trees, even in the winter.Above we see two similar trees. The closer one has vertical stipes or plates of bark with red fissures and bristle top leaves and the other one has white fissures with rounded leaves. They are two oaks of different species—one red and one white. The oak-hickory forest is the most dominant forest ecosystem in Iowa, thanks in part to their fire resistance.
Could anything be prettier than green leaves reaching for a clear, blue sky? This tree (below) is an American Basswood or Linden tree, used for making wooden shoes.
The shagbark hickory (below) has compound leaves and lifting bark plates that are popular homes for bats.
What tree has double dentate leaves, very dry bark that yields easily in layers of cream and reddish brown? It’s one of the many native trees that was over-planted as a “street” tree and later fell victim to sweeping plague? Pella’s Main Street was lined with them until the1960s. See the photos and answer below.
People can identify trees by learning from others, through apps such as iNaturalist, and from keys in books. Dr. Weihe says all are valid, but the books tend to have fewer errors.
I had a great Mother’s Day. My family is amazing. But I can’t help be a little disturbed about what “Mother” is coming to mean these days. Have you noticed all the women and politicians who are playing their Mom card when they do mean things to other women? “I’m a mom and I want to regulate your pregnancy.”
It really doesn’t matter if you are a mom, a grandma or whatever. Those labels don’t get you off the hook for your misogyny. Misogyny, hatred of women, runs deep.
Women have faced so much oppression that naturally, some seek refuge in being misogynists themselves for their own safety. This link points out the numerous forms of female misogyny, some of which I have no doubt embraced at a point in my life. Certainly, we can have different opinions. But let’s face it, betrayal and denial of autonomy, is the ultimate crime against women. At its core, misogyny takes away choices and sadly, some females are more than happy to take away the choices of others.
Take a moment to read about the hellscape Idaho has become for women of childbearing age. The idea that you and your doctor can’t make pregnancy decisions is a blatant form of misogyny. Why do females subscribe to these views? The answer is: we’ve all been indoctrinated into a society that devalues women. Some of us may have been mean girls. We may have gotten our promotion but kept other women down. Maybe we’ve felt that a capable woman didn’t deserve a leadership position. Maybe, like Queen Victoria, we’ve disparaged feminists, because we are good girls, worthy leaders, and they are bad.
Yes, women are misogynists. They even hate themselves. Hatred of women rubs off. I don’t think many can escape it. Now it seems, we have a whole crop of female politicians and Supreme Court justices who are here to support the devaluation of female life. It’s getting to be too much. Doctors won’t put up with this unhealthy, inhumane behavior.Heck, normal people won’t either. But misogyny is sneaky and takes many disguises. The most recent is to pretend to be a gynomorph.
The gynomorph, combining male and female characteristics, has always had a certain allure. Think David Bowie, who has recently had a gynomorph lobster named after him. Many of us love unisex fashion, unisex fragrance, and gender neutral baby names. In the past, Bacchus, the ancient god of ecstasy, has been portrayed as a gynomorph. The gynomorph is powerful, but it’s being used for unsavory ends that betray the whole concept.
If you think about it, a woman who is willing to define and betray her sisters and/or who embraces violence, is a warped evil gynomorph, embracing the male art of betraying females and being a violent misogynist. Gynomorphs are supposed to be symbols of unity. Too bad this symbol is being used for false purposes by politicians.
It’s difficult for women to get ahead without some form of gynomorphism. It might be brandishing a gun, drinking men under the table, or most blatantly, making laws targeted at other women. I wish I had a dollar for every man who said positive things about women who hold the very same views as misogynistic men. These false gynomorphs are reversing women’s rights and obediently doing everything misogynic men would love, as this person points out so clearly.
There are “moms” who support the assault on information both in the forms of library bans (claiming some sort of knowledge about books harming children) and bad mouthing public schools—because censoring and ignoring other opinions is a sign of these control freak moms married to control freak men who lose their cool. It’s sad to say but their kids will suffer—struggling to make choices and exhibiting low self-esteem. Maybe that’s the way they like it.
There is nothing wrong with a woman being strong, decisive, informed, a scientist, a rugby player, a Jezebel, a homemaker, or even liking target practice. Several people in my family are good shots. There’s nothing wrong with protecting children.
One beef I have with these evil gynomorphs is the way they downplay the expertise of other women and their advocates (such as OBGYNS) as if there are only so many seats at the table. Another problem comes when they deny autonomy to others, because autonomy is at the heart of happiness. Having autonomy in life choices is key to adolescent happiness. It makes for a better workplace. Lack of autonomy is why traditional roles can be stifling and it’s why, people are drawn to the power of the gynomorph.
A gynomorph should be a unifying symbol, a fun way of celebrating inclusivity. Sadly, those masquerading as a gynomorph want to take away the choice and self-expression of others. Women, let’s stop killing each other, and our pets, to try to get self-respect. And please, stop labeling hate groups with the word “mom”. It’s truly degrading.
I’m really lucky that my kids took me to Missouri and into the center of the path of the total solar eclipse. I sometimes get the hint that they aren’t sure I’ve had enough adventures yet, having been a lowly professor who was dedicated to my job. Until this time. I was sure that eclipse viewing close to totality was good enough. I was wrong.
We went camping at the Sam A Baker State Park. It’s not close to any major city and the crush of people they expected didn’t show up in force, although the campgrounds were full. We camped and although I’d prefer a luxury hotel, it was worth it. The park was pretty and well kept. The spring ephemerals were in bloom.
We attended a lecture about the eclipse given by a retired astronomy professor. We learned that one special thing about this eclipse is that the moon was very close to the Earth (perigee) and the sun far away (apogee). This made it possible for the moon to totally cover the sun. (An annular eclipse doesn’t meet this requirement). I also had no idea that the moon has a titled elliptical orbit, as does the earth, which is why an eclipse occurs in so many varied places. This also explains why they are more likely to occur when the Earth is titled towards the sun, which means they are rare in winter. Here’s a map of upcoming eclipses. He stressed that we needed to wear eclipse glasses to prevent us from going blind, but at totality, we could take them off.
He also told us to look for Baily’s Beads and talked a little about solar ejections (coronal mass ejections.) The later has the potential to disrupt telecommunications and navigation devices. This is called a Carrington Event –one melted telegraph lines and sparked railroad tracks during the US Civil War. The world is anticipating another one, with a scary scenario. Using their best predictive powers, scientists are working to predict the next super storm.
We had no cell service and hadn’t gotten a weather update in days. Starlink traveled overhead but we couldn’t get a connection, only a reminder not to subject ourselves to the whims of billionaires. People asked the wise professor the inevitable. “What’s the weather going to be like?” He echoed what a man selling firewood had predicted. “It’s going to be perfectly clear.”
Sometimes, it’s hard to muster a sense of awe, but with cool breeze and eerie shadows, the eclipse caught us in its snare.
Moon-shadow basking.
We weren’t prepared for the weird and surreal moment of totality. Without a sunset, darkness fell as if a switch was thrown. We dropped our glasses, under the spell of the darkened sun with its dazzling corona. Had I been alone, I might have cried. Stars came out. Crows cawed. A frog chirped. Humans yelled at the raw moment of cosmic wonder. Within 4 minutes, the sun peeked out and the light came back in a rush.
(photo on location by Paul Van Zante)
We headed for home, avoiding St. Louis and its traffic. Back roads put us behind an hour, not bad considering all-nighters experienced by some.
During the long car ride, I sat there thankful for the experience. I was grateful to the professor and his insights. It made me proud to have been a professor. Without understanding of an eclipse, it would have been a frightening experience. It’s good to be reminded that we really are at the mercy of the universe. Science has helped make nature appear less capricious, but every bit as magnificent.
As I was traveling on highways a couple weeks ago through North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana, I saw signs, particularly in Indiana, where politicians were really pushing fear and bragging about how strong they were and how they were going to make sure you weren’t going to be a crime victim. Crime is not a laughing matter, but the crime rate has plunged and people over estimate how common it is. (A notable exception is domestic violence. )
The political billboards were showing how tough on crime each politician was. The irony was, it was rainy, the traffic was terrible, and trucks in particular were just driving like crap. Unlike the crime rate, the motor vehicle accident rate is on the rise.
On a dark desert highway…
Trucks were in a hurry and they were doing bad jobs of merging. I saw one pull in front of a little Honda and almost take it out. At a merge, two trucks didn’t want to give each other room and almost crashed. Another truck wove all over the road, the driver looking at a screen in her hand.
To my horror, I saw a truck driver getting out of a truck at a gas station. He was wearing slides with thick soles. My chemist danger signs flashed. Flip flops and sandals have caused over a million accidents. Not only do they fall off and get stuck under pedals, they double driver reaction time. Add thick soles and you get even slower at pushing the brake pedal. Imagine this in a truck.
Welcome to Indiana!
That was just on a small stretch of Indiana highway. I started thinking. Really, what should be we be worrying about? Should be we be worrying about getting mugged and robbed? I mean, sure, we should be, but what is more of a danger to us—other peoples’ bad driving or a stranger’s criminal intents? What’s most likely to kill us?
The political billboards were meant to make people afraid of death by homicide. It isn’t a top cause of death overall, especially not compared to heart problems, cancer, poisoning, or motor vehicle accidents. I suppose one thing that makes people afraid of it is that you can choose to get in a car but you can’t choose not to be mugged. But politicians are notoriously guilty of ramping up the fear. Interestingly enough, people who are more educated are less likely to commit homicide. (Domestic violence is also less common for educated women and educated couples.) Educated people are less likely in general to commit crimes. What do you want to bet that some of those tough on crime politicians complain about student loan forgiveness? If they really cared about reducing crime, they’d make college free. They’d pour money into public education.
Meanwhile, drive safely. Watch out for the other guy.
Last week, I had the delightful pleasure of visiting St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, one of the US Territories.
Just east of Puerto Rico, the US bought these islands from Denmark in 1917.
Above: Flying in
The US Virgin Islands is a US territory. US citizens don’t need a passport. They don’t go through customs. Dollars are the currency. The only weird thing about it is that cars are driven on the left side of the road. And, the people can’t vote. They have a representative to Congress but she can’t vote either.
It’s been described as a sleepy place to go for snorkeling, diving, and beach life. We visited the town Frederiksted, off the beaten path. How “sleepy” is it? Well, what could be more peaceful than a beautiful ocean view with a chicken?
Besides being mellow, this town had great sunsets. It’s a little over 1000 miles from the equator, which makes it immune to seasonal daylight fluctuations. Sunset was always about 6:30 pm. The temperature was in the 80s during the day and in the 70s at night, with a soft, balmy trade wind.
*
And best of all—great friends live here!
Beaches were sandy or rocky depending on the location. Some were great for beach combing, although you aren’t supposed to take your findings off the islands.
The coral reef ecosystem meant abundant animal and plant life. Here (above) is a brain coral skeleton on the beach. Brain coral make up the foundation of coral reefs and can live up to 900 years!
One of the first thing we did was go snorkeling. I was pretty bad at it—something to improve for sure—but I did see peaceful turtles, beautiful fish, and colorful corals as I thrashed around and adjusted my snorkel.
During turtle nesting season, streetlights are red to keep the females happy and the hatchlings from being fooled into crawling towards the road.
We enjoyed great Caribbean food, local beer (excellent), and even a shot of rum at this place shown below.
*
We weren’t able to see the entire island during our too short trip but we managed to visit a former sugar plantation and its not so nice dungeon. The only bright side to this is a successful slave rebellion and emancipation in 1848.
As mentioned before, the citizens can’t vote and have little representation, but they are US residents. Hurricanes in 2017 damaged several buildings and funds to repair them are just coming in now.
I wasn’t on the “shopping” side of the island (Christiansted) but I did manage to grab a few souvenirs. I’ll have to return!
Catherine Haustein 
