If you happen to stumble onto most message boards on the Internet that include politics, religion, or philosophy sections, you might see it: one common voice seething in negativity against opposition. These people aren’t worth talking to at all. They lack the intelligence to comprehend truth. There’s something to be said about the effect of [...]

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Earlier this summer, David Rozga, an 18-year-old teenager from Indianola, committed suicide after smoking a substance called K2. This substance contains synthetic cannabinoids found naturally in cannabis and could be legally purchased in many Iowa stores as well as many websites such as Amazon.com. The incident prompted the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to place an [...]

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I think it is a great piece, very professionally researched and written. Nice to see that there is an outlet for a more in-depth treatment. My only comment is with the one statement you made about the Ames ordinance after the Supreme Court decision: “After the ruling, Ames kept the unenforceable ordinance on its books, [...]

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Ah, how joyous the mood was when the new administration took over. Many of the new, young liberals who had worked so hard for Obama, who had texted and e-mailed all of their friends about Obama, who reminded everyone they knew to vote on Election Day, were ecstatic. The first black president (or the first [...]

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Ryan Gerdes’ essay was originally published in issue 2.6. Read it here. The Israeli-Palestinian war is a strange conflict: it inspires people to assume positions of impassioned and often radical advocacy, to make strident accusations and judgments, in spite of colossal ignorance. While defying most of the familiar paradigms of conflict and oppression, it is [...]

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I read with great interest a Tribune article about the effort to add needed programs at our state prisons, which would help rehabilitate citizens: jail diversion, drug courts, mental health programs. California has an alternative system in place which has saved the state billions of dollars, as well as saved families, children, and communities. I [...]

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According to Brian Faler of The Washington Post, the turnout for the 2004 presidential election was the highest it has ever been since 1968, or “more than 122 million people.” This would be somewhat encouraging, if it were not for the fact that a large bulk of the populous was voting for Kerry explicitly on [...]

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I have to admit that when I saw the recent report on Fox News that the FBI was wiretapping the turned-off cell phone microphones of suspected mafia members, I was a bit surprised. No, not that the government would be spying on its own citizens; rather, I was surprised at its competence in doing it. [...]

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When people approached me about writing for the Ames Progressive, I said that I didn’t want to associate myself with any label. I was faced with the question that if I wrote for the Ames Progressive would that necessitate I label myself a progressive? Recently I realized that I could, instead of boycotting the title, [...]

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Why did Wolford fail to get any binding leases by Dec. 1, 2007 for his proposed development on East 13th Street? The Ames Tribune reported December 7 that Bucky Wolford said his failure to obtain leases was due to: 1) “delays in getting the major site plan approved,” 2) the “unknown certainty of receiving approval [...]

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