The 2011 debt limit crisis demonstrated beyond any doubt that our Republican-controlled Congress is willing to do damage to America and its people. They behaved like a kidnapper cutting off a finger and sending it back to distraught and fearful parents to get them to pay a ransom. We understand that… Read full post »

As my wife and I drove down a rural Iowa highway last week, we began speculating about the next revolution in field management. Currently, tractors blindly and mechanically groom rows of crops spaced wide enough to accommodate their massive tires.  Large quantities of herbicides and insecticides… Read full post »

My sweet wife and I were sitting on the front porch swing, reading the Sunday paper and enjoying the cool breeze of the early morning. It still amazes me how many things we don’t know about each other, even after all these years. She was reading the obituaries. I knew something… Read full post »

Joe rolled his eyes after watching yet another cranky TV talking head take yet another pot shot at the other party’s candidate. “I just don’t get it,” Joe moaned, “They’re all crooks. If I even bother to vote this year, I’m tempted to just write in, ‘So… Read full post »

Among the many opinions about the differences between Conservatives and Liberals, some point to the difference of blaming internal or external causes. “If you were to ask people about the cause of someone’s problems and sufferings (such as homelessness), you will hear two very different e… Read full post »

Is America a Christian nation? What if one of our Presidents had been a Primitive Baptist from Tennessee? Should he have felt right about insisting that no citizen play musical instruments in church or hand out temperance society tracts?

Would Americans have approved of anyone who had… Read full post »

It has been suggested that I sound “too preachy.” Yeah, that should have been expected. Let me introduce myself a little more to those of my neighbors who, so far, have only smiled and waved.

As you probably have noticed, there’s nothing like a conservative preacher, any teacher, o… Read full post »

I would like to say a few nice things about the Girl Scouts.

In recent news, Bob Morris, A conservative State Representative from Indiana, made headlines by writing in a letter that the Girl Scouts were “quickly becoming a tactical arm of Planned Parenthood” and were bein… Read full post »

It has been a week for contemplating Matthew 12:34, where Jesus pointed out that, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” We continue to be witness to speech and actions of intense hate, cruelty, and outright evil.

I like to think that I am optimistic and frequently take… Read full post »

“No man is an island.” Communities are the foundation of civilization. It is almost impossible to be entirely self-sufficient. We need each other for our variety of abilities, interests, and ideas. Our individual differences make us stronger as a group.

Farmers understand that monoculture… Read full post »

“Chum” is the word for chopped fish that is thrown overboard to attract other fish – and especially sharks. Ideas are like chum for thought.

I believe that comparing ideas can be a force for good that attracts us to each other. Strangers often become friends as they talk and work… Read full post »

If you don’t already know, Stratfor is a private company, founded by George Friedman, that gathers international intelligence and creates reports which they sell to individual subscribers, businesses, and governments. They have been in the news recently because their data and email were serious… Read full post »

Jesus was "the good shepherd." He washed feet, gathered children to himself,  recommended being a "good Samaritan," fed the hungry, and healed the sick.

Jesus showed compassion for the 99%: the poor and the common people including sinners, lepers, tax collectors, and prostitutes.

On the other h… Read full post »

When did they decide that, because I’m a “liberal” that I like taxes? That's a serious misrepresentation! I don’t like taxes at all. But, here’s the difference. I understand that I like what my taxes get for me and I'm not inclined to be a parasite.

I like… Read full post »

Hate is a very strong word. It is one thing to be disappointed, to dislike, or be opposed. It is quite another thing to let your emotions drive your opinions over rational consideration. Hate is divisive and destructive. Instead of healthy competition, with debate of ideas leading to compromise in pu… Read full post »

I found this posted on the information board at my US Post Office in Dayton, Iowa, 50530 on March 2, 2012. There were also three modified cartoons referring to President Obama, fried chicken, watermelon, and black salami. I thought that the cartoons were inappropriate and offensive to public… Read full post »

By David Satterlee

This morning, I opened the Fort Dodge, Iowa Messenger News. I’ve been skipping past the editorial section because it tends to feature mostly conservative columnists beating the same old drums. Today, feeling the sap rising in the grass-roots democratic arm of the De/… Read full post »

 will.i.am rounded up his friend Jesse Dylan, the filmmaker son of Bob Dylan, to direct the project. In the span of two days, they got some 30 Obama-supporting celebrities to come into the studio, including Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Tatyana Ali, Nick Cannon, Common, Kelly Hu, Scarlett Johansson, John… Read full post »

Very few people now alive have had the experience of what I think of as “Real War.” Oh, we still use the word “war,” but it doesn’t seem to carry the same sense of dramatic finality that it formerly did. War, and our thinking about war, has gotten soft. Our changing… Read full post »

Heartwarming poem for children, A very active child negotiates a trip to Grandma's house, which is full of "precious things." Read by the author.

I wrote this poem in 2004 for a grandchild. You know who you are. And, you’re still welcome to visit at every opportunity!

Friends, please h… Read full post »

Fable of brother and sister eagles raised with a farmer’s chickens. One likes his lot in life but the other seeks to fulfill her potential.

An integrally informed story of personal transformation. Adapted from memory from a Cherokee story teller. Read by the author. Read full post »

 
Porter brothers (Duane, Allen, and Tom) perform their specialty act.

 by David Satterlee

 Allen Porter, born in 1918, still bears the broad shoulders and strong hands of a sturdy working man. He also still wears cowboy boots and keeps the horns of a longhorn steer mounted above… Read full post »

Published in the Dayton Review on October 19, 2011 – Front page, above the fold

It was a privilege to be “embedded” with the emergency first responders in this drill. Special thanks to the K-9 dog team who agreed to let me accompany them.

Read the complete article… Read full post »