It’s Friday, Apr. 25, 2025.

🗣️ It’s Friday: Time for the takes!

But first, here’s this week’s Pets and Bloomers:

🐱 This is Shay, a 2-year-old “who is so handsome, but is our new kitten’s #1 hater,” according to Elliot H. of Cedar Rapids.

Fact: Pets hate new competition. (Source: my three pets.)

Send me your pet photos here!

🌼 “Our snow crocus and puschkinia (aka striped squill or snowdrift) bloomed/are blooming, respectively,” Marc W. wrote.

This made me think my own crocuses are the snow variety, because they looked just like this!

Send me your flower photos here!

Amie Rivers

Newsletter Editor, Iowa Starting Line

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Readers are invited to add to the conversation by emailing responses@iowastartingline.com. Please include your first name and last initial. You may also want to include your city, but that’s up to you.

This week, we asked:

What’s causing our growing cancer rate?…

“Could the water be polluted from farm runoff?” ~Pam
“https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/15/syngenta-weedkiller-parkinsons” ~Lee H.
“Chemicals on all of our farmland may be the reason we have so much cancer. The chemicals seep into the ground and thus the aquifer. Our drinking water comes from our groundwater and lakes and rivers. Check out the number of bodies of water in Iowa that are polluted. Too many for sure.” ~Mary T.
“Farmland in Iowa and all the herbicides used cause cancer.” ~Wanda D.
“They surely couldn’t have anything to do with the amount of poisons that farmers spread on our food, land, air, and water, could they? Have you noticed that Bayer is running billboards and ads propagandizing glyphosate’s ‘benefits’ because R.F. Kennedy Jr. might look into it and ban its use?” ~Jim H.
“The cancer rate is due to the extensive use of chemical fertilizers in Iowa’s farm fields and by homeowners who were raised on farms that use it on lawn weeds too. I know this happens because my own husband is guilty of it. He killed a whole bed of cover plants by our front door last fall. I am hoping to encourage him to use a better choice this season.” ~Clare S.
“Iowa has numerous factors that increase chances of developing cancer. Iowa has a high risk from radon, leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. The high amount of cancer-causing agricultural chemicals including pesticides, herbicides. High nitrates found in Iowa’s water sources linked to increased cases of colorectal, bladder, and ovarian cancers. Add this to behavior and genetic factors and you see the high rates of cancer in Iowa.

I was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer in Feb. ‘23. Republicans’ inaction concerning issues listed here put Iowans at higher cancer risk.” ~Randy B.
“The high cancer rates in Iowa, I think are due to all the pesticides that are being used in the farming industry. They are spraying it on the fields before and during the growing season. Farmers are using airplanes to spray the fields that, BTW, go directly over our homes in rural Iowa. What is that doing to the air quality that we breathe? What is that doing to our lungs when we are working outside on the acreage; how long does it linger in the air? How many farmers and farm workers have been exposed to harmful chemicals over the years and now have cancer? How many of these people have cancer that have been directly linked to chemicals?

BTW: I have a high school friend who is dying of cancer and it has been linked to chemicals. She was raised on a farm, loaded the chemicals into the farm equipment and also helped her husband in the car repair business and all of those chemicals used in that industry.

In addition, we have the pesticides that are ending up in our drinking water and aquifers.” ~Coleen G., Keota

…and what should our elected officials be doing about it?

“Continued Research!!” ~Marnie W.
“Test our water. Enact reasonable controls on the amount of nitrogen that can be used both from anhydrous and manure.” ~Mike M.
“I think it’s telling that as cancer rates are rising in the state, a bill was introduced (again) in the Iowa state legislature to prohibit lawsuits against pesticide companies for the negative health effects Iowans are experiencing, which are related to their products. Iowa has one of the highest rates of nitrate pollution in the US, and high nitrate levels have been linked to cancer. Time to stop pretending our farming practices are not contributing to our cancer rates.” ~Noël V.

Next week’s question:

Remember the “South Park” movie where the US went to war with Canada? It was hilarious because of the absurd premise, namely: Why would we ever go to war with Canada?

Fast forward to 2025: Besides the trade war, Trump said he’s serious and “not trolling” calling an independent country our “51st state” and its leader a “governor.” I don’t buy the hype that he’ll actually try to go to war with Canada, but obviously our relationship now is not great.

What do you make of our souring relationship with Canada, and how will that affect us? Click the button below and email me.

Share your thoughts here

More readers sound off:

Replies to last week’s Letter of the Week:

“In response to Greg C.’s previous letter of the week… Your comment is well taken. But one must believe that mankind is fundamentally good. One can argue ad nauseum concerning the role of institutionalized religion and its effect on society. Are we inherently kind, caring and empathetic? I believe so. I hope so. Perhaps humanism most closely represents that philosophy. Whatever the case… It takes a village to raise a child. May we endeavor to provide our children with life’s positive lessons and never miss an opportunity to set good examples to teach them right from wrong. It starts with the family. One must have good seed to have a good crop. May we be good stewards of the land in that regard. May we fill that void you referenced with kindness and caring which seems to be the antithesis of so many of our elected politicians today.” ~Kevin S.
“Greg C., I found the style of your writing to be very entertaining: I enjoyed reading it. But, the substance of your thoughts, now, that’s another matter. I’m always confused when I hear the decisions and actions of the Trump Administration described as ‘toxic masculinity.’ It’s hard for me, someone who was raised on a farm in Iowa, during a time when physical strength was not only valued but a prerequisite for doing the work of a farm hand, to understand how a man nearing the age of 80 can be described as someone with an ‘excess of masculinity.’ …

Another point you make is about how your religious upbringing prevents you from agreeing with Trump’s eagerness to annex Greenland or, perhaps, even Canada. Do you believe the reports that China and Russia are increasing their naval presence in the Arctic Ocean? Greenland offers the US a buffer zone should China follow through with their stated goal of supplanting the US as the dominant world leader. Remember, should China become the hegemonic, ruler-for-life, political system we all kowtow to, stating your Christian beliefs as you did in this post will not be permitted.” ~John J.
“I really appreciate where Greg is coming from, but given the duration of the current crisis [I started fighting the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling of 2012 right after it occurred], I retired from full time work in 2011 and became a political activist pretty quickly. We have had little or NO success in removing the effect of ‘big money’ on politics since then.
I think we will have to have a ‘revolution’ of some sort to take the power away from those beholden to the big money before we can enact any of the changes Greg is proposing. I can’t see any other way of wresting control from the Right-wingers and ‘Christian Nationalists.’” ~Clare S.

Why isn’t Iowa in the Big 10 defense pact?

“I do not live in Iowa but follow your newsletter from Chicago since my twins are students at the University of Iowa. I am very concerned about NIH cuts and the attack on universities, among the countless other offenses that have occurred since January.

Anyway, I learned last night on the Rachel Maddow show about the Big 10 Legal Defense Pact that MI State has started. Several Big 10 schools have joined, and UI grad students have asked that UI join this legal defense pact. There seems to be real momentum for this as there is of course safety in numbers. I wanted to know if you know where the university stands with this.” ~Jennifer N.

(NOTE: To clarify, as of this writing, the pact has only been signed by Big 10 faculty and/or student senate groups at seven of the 18 Big 10 colleges, as an ask that it be activated by their university’s leadership. The University of Iowa’s faculty senate didn’t even go that far, however, only endorsing a “shared values statement” instead of the pact.)

Is the arrest disparity true?

“This was click bait, and not attributed to any source. As a rural Iowa mixed race family with two young African-American men, we can surely attest to disproportionate traffic stops and car searches. Just wanted to vent a little and ask if 8 to one is the true ratio [of racial disparities for marijuana arrests]?” ~Bill O., Plymouth

(NOTE: Per the ACLU (report is from 2018), Iowa did have one of the highest racial disparities in marijuana arrests, at 7.3 times higher. It was 8 times more likely in 2013, so perhaps that’s what this was pulling information from. I have not seen anything more recent on this subject; if you come across anything, I’d be interested!)

On DOGE:

“Regarding DOGE: If Kamala Harris had been elected President and she turned loose an immigrant from South Africa to meddle in federal agencies with no oversight, she would be impeached by the current Congress. Unfortunately, we are seeing law firms, media outlets and universities buckle to the rather mobster-like machinations of the chief executive. The Congress has shown no desire nor effort to rein in the actions of the Executive branch. I share two quotes from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King: ‘In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.’ And, ‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.’” ~Steve H.

More pushback at the Cedar Falls rally:

“Didn’t know if you were also made aware of a man on a large riding mower [who] drove into the crowd, spraying them w/ grass, dirt, etc.—including a woman in a wheelchair and a dog—and destroying signs. We believe he was either an employee or member of the Bethany Bible Chapel congregation which is the church near where the peaceful protesters had gathered. The church had posted a large sign already stating they didn’t support the protest and nobody came to stop him. … The next day the church issued a statement claiming it was an apology but did not accept responsibility for what happened. … Many of us feel strongly that this needs to be made very public.” ~Blair W.

On pushback at protests:

“People need to shut up and keep their opinions to themselves and that would solve a lot of problems.” ~Pam W.
“Trump’s raging hatred for all those who do not ‘fit’ his narrow, white, misogynist, etc. view of the world—coupled with his the laws be damned and my people must do what is ‘right’—is inevitably filtering down to people on the streets. Frankly, I am surprised that there have not been more reports of incidents that reflect an intent to harm on behalf of MAGA true believers than there have!

Trump has been signaling since he began his efforts to seize the presidency once again that this time he would not ‘be constrained’ or feel in any way obliged to honor custom, standards of decency, or even the law but, rather, that he would seek revenge and retribution.

Particularly for those who have placed all their ‘chips’ on Trump and his game it follows inevitably—if far from ‘logically’—that they feel free and, indeed, encouraged, to wreak some revenge and retribution of their own.

In everything that Trump has said and done it is clear that it must be my way or the highway, and his defenders/believers will increasingly feel emboldened to enforce that view.” ~Greg C.
“We really have to stand up to bullies who don’t agree with our political position. No violence, but firmly and positively respond. I’m not sure how to respond to those who want to harm us with a vehicle or a handheld weapon. But if voices are raised, we can call on them to back down and have a conversation not a stand off.” ~Clare S.
“I’ve often asked myself if I would have hidden Jews if I lived in Nazi-occupied Europe during WWII. From the comfortable distance of the 21st century I always think, ‘of course I would.’ So when I go to a demonstration in my deep-red, heavily armed state these days, I remind myself that I need to have at least some courage like those others had in abundance in that earlier era. And in researching how to combat fascism, two factors that are always mentioned are courage and persistence.” ~Randy D.

Big mad about defending Kilmar Abrego Garcia:

“All people have to do is come to America the legal way it is not that hard! My parents came the legal way!” ~Jay J. (NOTE: He had a federal permit to work in the United States.)
“If [they’re] here legally they have nothing to be scared [of].” ~Kenneth W. (NOTE: The administration is deporting people who are here legally.)
“You seem to have forgotten to mention that he had a order from two judges to be deported, and a order of protection from his wife. Stop trying to make him out to be the upstanding citizen that he isn’t. Bring him back and let him be your neighbor?” ~Kirk W. (NOTE: Read the facts on Abrego Garcia’s case for yourself.)
“You have no clue what [you’re] talking about or [you’re] purposely pumping bullying. Union member, that made me laugh out loud.” ~Brian J.

On those contemplating a run in 2026:

“Seriously? A bunch of white guys? I will keep voting for one of the very few DEIA I see in Iowa even if she is a partisan hack. I prefer change I can see with my eyes.” ~Jane T.

Company headquarters:

“Just curious why an Iowa focused Labor organization has a New York City mailing address. With declining union membership, I would think you’d be more sensitive to ‘elitist’ appearances. Surely office space in Des Moines is far less expensive than New York? Oh well, it’s not your money.” ~Chris W.
(NOTE: I’ve answered this in our Friday newsletter before, but *we* do not live in New York. I live in Waterloo, my coworkers are in the Des Moines and Iowa City areas, and we all work from home, not in an office. Like most news organizations these days, we’re owned by a larger company; ours is Courier Newsroom, which is where you’d send physical mail.)