Widespread suffering from Ida

September 3, 2021

Hurricane Ida hit the Gulf Coast states last weekend and wreaked havoc along the coast. Flooding and power outages are challenging the recovery efforts. Over a million households in Louisiana and Mississippi were without power as of Wednesday and gasoline shortages were hampering rescue and emergency efforts. The bright spot is that only about half a dozen people have died from the storm, though that figure is expected to rise. We haven’t seen the disastrous flooding that Hurricane Katrina inflicted on New Orleans in 2005. That flooding led to 1,800 deaths in and around New ...

Stop the political vengeance games

September 2, 2021

Last year the Republicans in control of the Minnesota Senate found a way to punish Gov. Tim Walz for continuing to exercise emergency powers in the fight against COVID-19. During the monthly special sessions that the governor had to call to extend the emergency powers, the Republicans started picking off the commissioners Walz had appointed, and which the Senate had taken its time on approving. After a couple of years on the job, the commissioners fell victim to the Republican wish for vengeance. Now, even with the emergency powers gone, Republicans are making threats against more ...

We owe a home to Afghan refugees

August 31, 2021

America’s misadventure in Afghanistan is over. The last troops were airlifted out, but many more people were left behind. “We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out,” said Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command in Washington after the last planes left. Some are people who worked with U.S. troops as interpreters, or in other ways. There are still be some American citizens in Afghanistan for one reason or another. The Taliban, now in control of the country, will not be allowing any more airlifts, but the U.S. government will still be working through other ...

A bitter ending

August 30, 2021

As the last few evacuation flights get ready to leave the Kabul airport, we can already see the kind of society we will be leaving behind in Afghanistan. The Taliban will be ruling the country by dint of military force (bolstered by arms and equipment the U.S. left behind for the Afghani forces who quickly abandoned them). The Taliban will have to set up a government that people hope will be inclusive of all factions in the country, and that will respect the rights of women, but the Taliban has already said that Sharia law will be the basis of their rule. So much for a kinder, gentler ...

Et Cetera

August 28, 2021

Rotary Club Congratulations to the Rotary Club’s 31 members on their recognition as Paul Harris Fellows. The recognition acknowledges individuals who have contributed or have had someone make a contribution in their name of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation. In this case, an anonymous donor had contributed $1,000 on behalf of every Rotarian in the district. We agree with Jim Nelson of the Minneapolis City of Lakes Rotary Club, who said that an awful lot of good is done with the funding they receive. From helping with Habitat for Humanity building projects to volunteering at the ...

No guns at the fair

August 27, 2021

A judge issued a just and eminently reasonable ruling on Wednesday, refusing to grant an injunction requested by a gun owners’s group to allow gun owners with permits to carry their weapons at the Minnesota State Fair. The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus had sought the injunction, saying the state fair’s no gun policy violated their Second Amendment rights, and the state law that allows gun owners to carry their guns in public. Ramsey County District Judge Laura Nelson pointed out that the fair has not allowed guns since 2003, but the Gun Owners Caucus didn’t sue until earlier this ...