Letters to the Editor: Beltway ‘Big Ag’ boondoggles

Cullen, your editorial take on the Biden Administration Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack Politico interview, for an old, seasoned reporter, does not comport with reality. In fact, it strikes me as shockingly naive and willfully blind!

Vilsack is not exiting the Beltway, for his lobbying law firm will continue to take large, yearly representation retainers from those “Big Ag” companies worth millions of dollars to be shared with his family members and other cronies-grifting members of his private, lucky sperm club. Vilsack is not “Mr. Rural America;” he is “Mr. Monsanto,” a moniker hung onto him by Obama Administration insiders!  Historic indeed.

The Vilsack and Culver administrations may have thrown us a bone or two with some economic development dollars our way in the past, but that is merely returning some of our tax dollars back to the citizens. You state: “Vilsack did a good job as a monied system will allow.” The second and unstated conclusion is that he personally got extremely rich doing it.  

It’s a bit and little late to blame Richard Nixon for Ag Secretary Earl Butz, who famously said:  “Get big, or get out.” And, for the Duke of Earl telling a certain Pope to stay in his celibacy-lane in a rather classic and colorful manner!

It is also late to blame Jimmy Carter for Fed chair Paul Volcker, who raised interest rates into the stratosphere, squeezing inflation and highly levered producers out of the farming business in the mid-1980s.

Visack’s naming a few remaining prominent Democratic politicians now standing, such as Illinois Governor JB Pigster, a man whose personal carbon footprint precedes him, doesn’t strike me as a politician with few options remaining other than a (super-sized) appetite for higher office.  

Exactly, how did you and your Times Pilot brain trust get Trump’s margin of victory wrong in Iowa by, get this!, 17 percentage points? Those polls got it wrong, but you lived in a thought bubble, high on your own partisan supply.  You said that this erroneous reporting by the late (and irrelevant) Des Moines Register restored your soul! If you are concerned about your mental health or soul, might I suggest that you... wait for it... “Go to Mass, Mr. Cullen!”

We will have four more years of Donald Trump and perhaps eight to 12 more if VP Vance satisfies the conservative populists out here with deeds and not words.  As an editorialist, you will have many years ahead to virtue signal as the unhappy party out of power.

And we still have those ineffective and harmful Big Pharma products courtesy of Operation Warp Speed as a recent incarnation of a secular, state-sponsored religion. Go out and take that sacrament.... “and get your fourth, serial,  Covid booster jab, Mr. Cullen.”

Wyatt Yon, Storm Lake

Public health and vaccines

I am very alarmed with RFK Jr. being appointed to fill the role of the administrator of Health and Human Services by incoming President Trump.

Here is some public health information...

I was never able to sit on my grandpa’s lap as Thaddus Voshel Dorris died at age 36 from tuberculosis. I had an Aunt Alpharetta who died of scarlet fever, Uncle Raymond and Uncle Thaddeus died from diphtheria. All three as infants or below the age of four. Granted this was back in 1911-1918 time, but I share it as we think about the importance of vaccines in our current lives.

I have a good friend whose niece is expecting her first baby in April. The mom-to-be is very anxious that she will not be able to obtain the needed vaccines for her newborn.

Often when people think of “public health” they think of home care or for the indigent. As a former public health nurse, I prefer to have it identified as the health of the public. For example, one person receiving an immunization is good for that individual. But when we think about the entire population, disease prevention is best when we have herd immunity. Herd immunity comes through mass immunizations, or the disease invading all persons, and those who live have immunity.

Many of you know about the Iditarod, the March 1 dog sled race in Alaska, but you may not be aware of the public health significance of the race. The name Iditarod came from the native Inuit  languages Ingalik and Holikachuk. The word means distant or distant place.

In January 1925, the children and adults in the city of Nome, Alaska, were dying of diphtheria. Every day more cases developed. The doctor in town thought the disease might wipe out the town of 1,400. He initiated a quarantine, but knew the only way to stop the deaths from the respiratory disease was the vaccine.

Nome was locked by sea and air due to the subzero temperatures. The only way to save the town was to obtain the serum, but it was far away in Anchorage.

The territory’s governor, Scott Bone, determined to have the serum transported by dog sled. He summoned the best dog sled mushers to run a relay. A train brought the serum to Nenana from Anchorage and on Jan. 27, Musher Wild Bill Shannon began the journey of transporting the serum 674 miles. Traveling in the moonlight and the shadows created by the northern lights, the relay ran at an average of six miles per hour. The previous time for the travel was about 10 days, but this relay was completed in five and a half days.

The serum arrived and was administered and within three weeks, the town physician of Nome was able to lift the quarantine.

Persons of my vintage remember when the polio vaccine was developed in the early 1950s. We lined up and took a little cube of sugar with a pink dot in the middle. My fourth-grade teacher wept with tears of joy while the sugar cube was being administered to my classmates.

RFK states vaccines result in bodily harm, sadly, some children have a negative response to a vaccine. Those are extremely rare instances, especially when we think of the number of children who have not contracted diphtheria, scarlet fever, polio, measles etc.

I carry anxiety regarding the attitude being voiced by RFK when he claims he will be discontinuing the Centers for Disease Control, the Federal Drug Administration and   the National Institute of Health. These are the places microbiologists and scientists research, develop and test for immunizations and vaccines. When the next epidemic or pandemic arrives, the scientists and researchers will be gone.

For the immediate moment, elderly cohorts obtain your shingles, RSV, influenza and Covid shots. You farmers and gardeners get your tetanus shot renewed. Moms and dads of children, please make certain your children’s immunizations are current.

With or without RFK, seeking immunizations is always imperative for the health of the public, our relatives, neighbors, friends and  us as individuals.

Mary Weaver, Rippey

An old woman scattering seeds...

After the election result, I asked a woman, who I respect, if she had ideas of protective action that could be taken. She had none. It’s about a month later now and an idea “found” me. It’s clamoring around in my brain and driving me nuts. I’m writing it down so it will shut up.

Woman power is needed, with Indigenous women prominent in the circle. Here is why I think Native women are essential:

In their culture, there is a Great Circle of Life: Reverence for Mother Earth, Father Sky and all Life on Earth. Gratitude to all is of paramount importance. Gratitude to the Creator and to Mother Earth, for all of her gifts. Reciprocity is part of the gratitude circle.  We give back to all that have given to us. (I’m not native so my words may need correction by native people.)  

Circle of Life, I believe, is imbedded in the soul of Indigenous people. I’m understanding that they hold together through this culture of belief and being.  I believe that is what is needed now and that all women can come together, initiating needed changes.  Indigenous women can prod us when we get off track and basically keep the vision of Circle of Life strong.  

The thought that people are above other forms of life is a thought brought over by white colonists.  It is one of arrogance. The colonists who started coming to this continent more than 500 years ago were without foundation. They probably thought they had one and there were many good people. But, they saw the bounty of the earth as something that was here for the taking. For some, it was relief from hardship. For others, it was greed.  In meeting the native peoples, there were also some kind-acting whites. However the view that prevailed was that whites were better than the natives. The natives were a people who needed to learn what the whites knew; i.e. become like whites. As time went on, the natives were controlled, bullied, exploited and killed. Despite some good white people, greed, arrogance and violence ruled. Those qualities have evolved into the environmental and societal mess we are in today. Many people are kind at heart, and find ways to feel ethical. I believe, however, this country’s system needs a seismic shift. And, that Indigenous women are essential for transformation to happen.

A word about Indigenous people: As I said, their culture has existed alongside non-native people for 500 years. Despite horrendous abuse and killing, the native culture exists today. This is what a native woman said: “What we see is the broken circle, and we’re going to make it whole. This isn’t about men and women.  This is about our whole culture and our ancestors and our children. White people always think of themselves first, and how to get your individual rights. We don’t. We think about the culture and how to make the people strong within it.”  

There are five native women I am aware of who are strongly active at the national level. They are impressive. I think woman power may already be happening. There are many ethnic groups in this country. All are important. As women, we are excellent listeners and cooperators. When we need to listen to counsel, we do.  We need a giant circle where all women can be heard. I am not excluding men. Those who accept woman power and are good listeners, are welcome.

In talking about Indigenous women, I’ve tried to explain my ideas respectfully. If I’ve offended, I would appreciate hearing how I need to change.

This is the third draft of this letter, not counting all the rumbling that’s been going on in my head. I’m ready to scatter seeds. Perhaps a seed or two will germinate. Please join me in wishing that goodness prevails for all.

I’ll end with a quote, Lakota Elder Dan: “Maybe it is we who are the sons and daughters of your God, who had to die on the cross of your fears and greed, so that you could be saved from yourselves.”

Donna Cochran, Champaign, Ill.