“Shit Show”

John Deeth on his eponymous blog:

Caucuses with hundreds of people that take three or more hours to complete do ACTIVE DAMAGE to our organizing efforts. 

[…]

We don’t lose Democratic votes over it in the fall, and eventually they caucus again, only because they have no choice. But we lose PEOPLE. People who might be donors or volunteers instead sit on the sidelines because they are convinced the local Democrats are a shit show – because their first experience when they try to join is getting told “stand in line for 45 minutes to sign in, then go stand in the corner for three hours to vote.”

This is not the reason I’m convinced the local Democrats are a shit show, but Deeth isn’t wrong, either.

Community Engagement: A Timeline

Friday, Aug. 17: An Iowa City resident drives his car into tents housing people who are homeless outside of Shelter House in Iowa City. Five people are injured.

Saturday, Aug. 16, 2:02 a.m.: The driver is booked into the Johnson County jail.

Monday, Aug. 18, 5:05 p.m.: Shelter House issues a public statement about the incident.

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 6:35 p.m: KCRG, the market’s leading TV news, reports the driver is facing 14 charges and an ICE detainer

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 7:15 p.m.: KCRG posts a social media version of the story onto Facebook, with the copy “A 29-year-old male resident of the Hilltop Mobile Home Park is in jail facing 14 charges and under an ICE detainer after police say he intentionally drove into a group of five homeless people on Friday.” Typically toxic social media comments follow.

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 7:27 p.m.: A Facebook user under the name Andrew Patterson comments: “Oh man illegal vs homeless… whose side do we take?”

Sometime in the following 24 hours: Cade Burma of the Iowa City Police Department laugh reacts to the Patterson comment.

Not All Beds Are Equal, I Guess

Shelter House:

Put another way, of the 70 beds at Emergency Shelter, only 25 shelter beds are funded. In all of Johnson County, Iowa—12 cities and the entire rural area—public dollars pay for only 25 beds.

Twenty-five shelter beds in a community where even households who earn at or above the median income struggle to find housing they can afford.

Number of beds in the proposal for a new $100,000,000 to $110,000,000 Johnson County jail, 100 percent publicly funded: 140.

Loose Lips Sink Transgender Kids

A hed in The Des Moines Register:

Urbandale school board refuses to remove gender identity protection despite new Iowa law

This is sloppy and dangerous. 

There is no law requiring Iowa’s cities, counties or school districts to remove gender identity protections in the same way the State of Iowa did when we became the first state in the nation to remove civil rights protections from a previously protected class. Doing so is pre-compliance. 

It’s dangerous because plenty of entities were confused and removed protections anyway before restoring them, including the Iowa City Community School District, the City of Dubuque and the Dubuque School District, and this framing only reinforces this misconception.

The University of Iowa Cares Deeply About Writing Unless It Costs Money

Emma McClatchey for The Little Village:

Months after the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program was forced to make drastic cuts following the loss of its federal funding, two other writing programs on the UI campus are coming to an end. The UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) announced Monday the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and the Iowa Youth Writing Project will not continue in 2026.

The two announcements were brief. In both cases, “ongoing funding challenges” were blamed for the “difficult decision” to end the programs.

University of Iowa Executive Vice President and Provost Kevin Kregel announcing a new Office of Writing and Communication, less than three weeks ago:

Writing and communication are at the core of what we do and who we are. This new office reflects our commitment to investing in excellence, fostering collaboration, and advancing innovative programming that prepares our students for success.

Every Advice Column Ever

Q: I’ve had it up to here with my [boss / partner / neighbor / child / sibling / parent / friend / coworker / in-law] and would do anything to make this better!

A: You didn’t say you’ve actually talked to them — maybe try that?

Two Quotes on Arguments

“Never argue with a man whose job depends on not being convinced.”

— H. L. Mencken

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!”

— Upton Sinclair

You, Too, Can Own a Nick Bergus Original

For the longest time, my dream was to move to a cabin in the woods that was big enough for a comfortable bed, a simple kitchen, a reasonable bathroom and a studio for letterpress printing.

Not that I knew how to set type or print with a letterpress, but the hands-on monotony was appealing.

The fantasy also presupposed the cabin had clean running water, electricity, internet and was accessible all year round.

Flash forward, and I discover Public Space One and the Iowa City Press Co-op offer workshops, including letterpress and found a joy of making art.

And now you can buy some of my prints on Etsy. All proceeds will go to Iowa City Mutual Aid.

It’s not a hermit cabin in the woods, but it’ll do.

Shop on Etsy