SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
May 27, 2021
Sullivan’s Salvos 6/1/21
In this edition:
*Masks
*Calling All Democrats!
*Wear Orange for Gun Safety
*Catch!
*Just Pay Your Workers!
*Buying Things
*Did You Know?
*Masks
Johnson County rescinded the countywide mask mandate on Thursday, May 27 -effective Monday, May 31. While it feels good to know that we have made great strides toward becoming a safer community, the Republicans in the Iowa Legislature did not make this easy.
I have heard that some have complained that the county “drug its feet” in reacting to Reynolds new law. I beg to differ. Johnson County followed state law by holding a meeting that was announced at least 24 hours in advance, with an agenda, which is recorded and posted publicly, where minutes are taken, and where the public has an opportunity to comment. The Iowa Legislature passes these laws for every other level of government, but they refuse to follow the same rules themselves. So I am not going to apologize for our process.
What’s more, overnight changes do not always work in your favor. Imagine that the GOP and Governor had signed a law banning the wearing of open-toed shoes at work. Would employees who came to work the next day – unaware a new law had passed – feel good about being written up? I doubt it. We do not generally pass laws at 11:30pm and make them effective immediately. And for good reason!
I really feel sorry for the schools, who were put in a terrible position. Schools ARE a different animal, as most children are still too young to be vaccinated. Most schools had a week or two of school remaining. Why throw a wrench in at this late date?
This whole episode is another example of what the GOP has done to Iowa at the state level: government by and for the bullies.
*Calling All Democrats!
We have a nominee for County Supervisor – Jon Green. Now it is time to get to work and get him elected! Election day is June 8, so the election is basically happening now!
Please spread the word, and encourage your friends to vote early! We need your help, and we need it now!
*Catch!
Happy to say that I am ready to play catch again! Just let me know if you are interested, and we will carve out some time. I have a baseball and/or a softball, and an extra glove. Let’s do this!
*Just Pay Your Workers!
Having trouble attracting workers? I have an idea: improve pay and benefits. You will be amazed!
*Wear Orange for Gun Safety
Join us June 4-6 as we honor survivors of gun violence this National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange weekend.
Moms Demand Action is a national group dedicated to ending gun violence. The organization has a strong local presence, so if this is a topic you care about, please reach out!
Meanwhile, just take a look at a few of these gun violence stats. I always find this type of data shocking. Of course, the important thing to remember is that every piece of data here was a human life, complete with friends and family.
*121 mass shootings in the US last year. One every three days.
*About 40,000 Americans die by guns every year. Over 100 people per day. By comparison, about 60,000 Americans lost their lives in Viet Nam.
*About 59% of gun deaths are suicides. 38% are murders. The rest are accidents or involve police.
*Half of all suicides use a gun. 75% of all murders use a gun.
*Every day, 7 children are killed and 12 more are injured with a gun.
*The gun death rate in the US is 6 times that of Canada, 12 times that of Australia, and about 10 times that of most European nations.
*27 people were killed by guns in America on Christmas Day in 2015, which is equal to the total number of people killed in gun homicides in an entire year in Austria, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Estonia, Bermuda, Hong Kong, and Iceland combined.
*Buying Things
I will be the first to admit, I have never been much of a shopper. I use things until they are well past their life span. I do not find shopping particularly fun. The only things I really buy with any regularity are food and books. So perhaps I am the wrong person to write about this, but here it goes…
When I do shop, I have traditionally tried to spend my money in accordance with my values. Which has become increasingly difficult. When you take all sorts of social justice issues into account, there is almost nowhere to shop!
Is the place local or national? Are products made/sold by union employees? Are the company practices racist, sexist, homophobic, etc.? Does the making/selling of the product hurt the environment? How does the company (or owner) spend the profits? Did the company rip off local taxpayers?
Trust me – once you look at your purchases through this type of lens, you will realize just how powerful these big companies really are. They are difficult to avoid!
Back in the ‘80s, I started by boycotting Wal Mart. And in the 36-37 years since, I have only set foot in one on a couple of occasions. (Again, it is hard to avoid completely! For example, a couple of years ago in a small town in Wisconsin, I had to go to Wal Mart to buy diapers for my granddaughter.) So Wal Mart has long been a non-factor in my world.
In the 90s I began avoiding places where cities had recklessly used TIF. I had some nice philosophical discussions with friends over whether it was better to spend money locally where TIF had been abused, or out of county where it had not. There are arguments both ways; bottom line, I had considerably fewer options for buying things.
Since about 2010, the issue has been online retailers, especially Amazon. I can honestly say I have never purchased anything from Amazon. I have bought things online, but not very often. I am old fashioned, I know, but I want to see and touch something before I buy it. I also want to support local retailers when I can. If I feel I have to buy online, I am fine paying some other company more to get the same thing I could have cheaper from Amazon.
So yeah, it is hard to buy things! I had a perfect example a couple weeks ago. We bought bag chairs when the kids were little. We are talking 20 years ago. One was ratty, and the other was missing. So I set out to buy a new bag chair.
It was easy to find all kinds online, but I didn’t want to do that. So I went to 5 local stores before finding what I needed. It was pretty frustrating. I know I could have found it cheaper online and had it delivered the next day, and I would have saved a couple hours of hassle. But damn it, I don’t want to give in!
Let me end on a positive note. There are great local companies out there. For example, I am a proud customer of MidWest One Bank, and have been for 35+ years. MidWest One is a local company that pays their taxes, treats their employees well, and contributes a great deal to our community. They have integrity and great customer service. I LOVE my bank, and I am happy to tell anyone who will listen to bank locally!
I guess I’ll put off my next shopping trip as long as I can!
*DID YOU KNOW? The first minimum wage law was enacted in 1894 in New Zealand. With the passage of The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), the U.S. minimum wage was initially set at $0.25 per hour for covered workers. Since then, it has been raised 22 separate times–most recently, in July 2009, to $7.25 an hour.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 12:31 PM
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