Art Cullen’s Notebook

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Storm Lake gets sucked dry so the world gets cheap meat
If President Joe Biden wonders why his approval numbers stink, he should take a look at Storm Lake. For the second time in two years, the city’s…
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Art Cullen
Pandemic still colors everything
Storm Lake nurse Amanda Robinson administers a Covid shot during the height of the pandemic. It’s impossible to forget: I was on the phone one dank…
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Art Cullen
Truth: Mexicans don’t set your pay. They scoop corn.
If I were to suggest that the good people of Northwest Iowa were getting snookered by politicians, it might affect our self-esteem as astute civic…
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Art Cullen
5
August 2023
Trump controls the Iowa race
Former President Donald Trump said he is a champion of farmers in a campaign visit to Council Bluffs on July 7, 2023. (Photo by Jared Strong/Iowa…
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Art Cullen
6
Fiddling while we burn
Here we sit sweating it out under a heat dome. It’s supposed to get hot in an Iowa summer, but like this? One heat dome after another. Then a shower…
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Art Cullen
2
Rockin’ with The Boss
“So what are you doing in Chicago?” the young lady smoking behind the bar asked Saturday night. We were there to see Bruce Springsteen at Wrigley…
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Art Cullen
The message from our governor: We are Iowa Nasty
Iowa used to be fetching for its wholesome charms. How do you do, neighbor? The index finger wave from the steering wheel. You could put up with the…
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Art Cullen
2
Senator, are you there? We’re good. No problems. Just vote ‘aye’
I’m sitting in a heat dome while Mitch McConnell freezes up on TV, and an aide whispers to Sen. Diane Feinstein to vote “aye.” Everything is fine…
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Art Cullen
6
July 2023
A bike ride hearkens to a common conversation we used to have
RAGBRAI riders making the trek from Sioux City to Storm Lake on July 23, 2023. Love-hate best describes my feelings about RAGBRAI which, in case you…
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Art Cullen
6
Get me some more duct tape
Anxiety that built in Iowa over at least three decades crested during the pandemic and continues to needle the body politic. Inflation dropped like a…
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Art Cullen
4
What is it that Iowa fears about ideas?
The two best movies about Iowa are “The Music Man” and “Field of Dreams” for their wry and subtle understanding of our culture. No arguments about it…
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Art Cullen
5
Hey, China, let’s do lunch
It’s good that the United States and China are trying to patch things up before we blow things up. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s recent trip to…
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Art Cullen
2
© 2023 Art Cullen
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