The Chris Moeller Archives

The new neighbors

Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Iowa's largest health insurer is constructing this $194 million building atop a 6.5 acre tract of land four blocks from my home. I'd love to say the artist's rendering is inspiring, but the building looks rather plain to me.

I join in others' excitement over the renovation of Des Moines' Gateway West district, of which I have an emotional and financial stake, and I admit to selfish reservations about how neighborhood parking and my walking path to the library will be impacted, but wouldn't it have made more sense to have provided incentives for small businesses with multi-use developments to build on this space. Taxpayers are shelling out upwards of $10 million for Wellmark's project, and all we're getting in return, it seems, is an oversized eyesore that Wellmark can threaten to abandon at any time if the public subsidies dry up.

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One of the more heartwarming revolutions taking place in America is the rapidly-increasing public acceptance of gay marriage. Washington lawmakers-- both Republican and Democrat-- have almost all behaved like cowards in expressing support, whether it be Dick Cheney limiting his support to blood relatives or Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton hiding behind the concepts of "civil unions" and/or "state's rights," but Americans have come a long way in a relatively short time. In California, for example, where the institution was just legalized, 51 percent of poll respondents now back same-sex marriage, up from 44 percent just two years ago. During that period, opposition dropped from 50% to 42%. That translates to a change-in-heart for more than 3 million people, in one state alone. In 1977, the same pollster found that only 28 percent of Californians were in favor.

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Ten percent of Americans believe Barack Obama is a Muslim, according to Pew Research, but consider this...

22 percent believe President Bush knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance.
30 percent believe Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
23 percent believe they've been in the presence of a ghost.
18 percent believe the sun revolves around the Earth.

That last one is especially hard for me to believe. Maybe it's because we capitalize the Earth, but not the sun. Think about it, people.

posted by CM @ 6:18 PM