As we said earlier, the documentary movie “Storm Lake” was scheduled to screen in Odesa, Ukraine, last month as part of an effort by the State Department to help inform struggling young democracies about the importance of a free press. Our preparatory Zoom session came just after a Russian bombing that left 30 dead in Odesa, a major commercial and cultural center. Ultimately, the screening had to be delayed because of another bombing that knocked out electricity.

Finally, last Friday the movie played in Odesa. A small crowd, maybe a dozen or so, came out to watch. We were invited, along with filmmakers Beth Levison and Jerry Risius, to join in a question-and-answer session.

Many of the questions centered around perseverance.

“Did you ever think about quitting the movie when it got difficult?” No, Levison and Risius said. It was too important.

“Why do you keep publishing?” Because, we said to our friends so far away, the truth will prevail. It always does.

They wanted to know how to spread factual information when everything is such a fog, and you don’t even know the people in your building. We told them that the USA grapples with those problems all the time.

There were young journalists in the audience wondering where to start, or if they should start.

We were getting into it when the bomb sirens went off. Our host picked up her dog that watched the movie, too, and held it close. She said they could take one or two more questions, as if a severe storm were approaching, before heading to the bomb shelter. We got cut off halfway through.

Not before telling our compatriots that we are with them. That freedom is worth fighting for, and that the defense of democracy never ends. After the sirens sounded we thought ourselves superficial and full of ourselves talking to people running for cover. We explained that it was just a small number of Congress critters who are holding up aid for Ukraine, including our own from Iowa. All reports are that Ukraine is having a terrible time, short of air defense ballistics, delayed by us, amid a rain of Russian bombs.

What we did not get to say was that Russia will never win. That has been decided by the Ukrainians. They may occupy but never win so long as the brave people of Odesa go out on a Friday evening looking for freedom. That sounds like a platitude, but we do think it is true. We are reminded here at home that despite all the efforts to distort the facts and deny the truth and subvert democracy, billions upon billions in dark money pouring to that end, the Constitution endures. Its defense never ends.

We can never quit defending freedom. It is under attack in the US and Ukraine. We are spared the bombings, so far. Here, repression is more insidious but no less a danger. When they ban books, everyone should be on guard. It also is incumbent on us to support our friends in Ukraine who are under an unprovoked siege of terror as they worked to build a new democracy. It was humbling to be in their virtual presence, a safe distance away.

Ignoring next pandemic

Of course it is disconcerting to see avian flu spreading to dairy cattle, and then to humans in the Southwest. Experts in livestock disease and pandemics doubt that the virus is a widespread threat to humans but mutations have a way of humbling us. Scientists at Iowa State University and the University of Minnesota worry about the virus jumping to swine, which makes transmission to humans easier.

Northwest Iowa’s incredibly dense livestock herds — poultry, swine and dairy cattle — are right in the path of migratory waterfowl believed to be responsible for the disease spread.

Congress has been ignoring this problem for over a decade as funding was reduced for livestock disease research through budget sequestration. The Farm Bill, which includes scientific research funding for agriculture, is stalled in Congress. Lord knows when they might get around to it, and if they take pandemic disease seriously.

Disease can wipe out five million laying hens at a time at Rembrandt. It endangers our entire regional economy. It is a threat to people who work with infected animals. Can we finally get serious about research, pandemic preparation (including mass vaccination), and how to safely care for animals amid industrial concentration? It is irresponsible for Congress to stunt research that can save lives and prevent huge economic losses.

Our own Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, should be leading the charge for increased funding for research, prevention and preparation. He is not. He talks plenty about immigrants, not so much fatal diseases that could rip our economy to shreds.