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Return ill-gotten profits to the people

Unlike the buccaneers, highwaymen and feudal land barons of yore, the robbers of the current economy are the oil profiteers, grocery corporations and landlord hedge funds fleecing the working-class people. They must be stopped in robbing the people by the only means of control they understand — taking away their excessive stolen profits by imposing a windfall profits tax. A windfall profits tax is a higher tax rate on profits that ensue from a sudden windfall gain to a particular company or industry. This has been done several times with great effectiveness in history, including ...

2022 graduates represent our future

Spring is in the air and summer is just around the corner. It’s a special time of the year. Not only are we enjoying the warmer weather, but it’s also a time to celebrate new beginnings such as graduations. From kindergarten to college, students can express a sigh of relief as they are handed diplomas that signify overcoming long journeys in education and advancing to the next stage in life. For some, that next stage means a long awaited career. For others it means they can take the next step in the education process. For most students, the COVID pandemic has presented ...

Sounding the alarm on no siren

As a fast-approaching storm zeroed in on southwest Minnesota Thursday evening the emergency sirens went off in Minneota. Linda Nuytten could hear the sirens and she told an Independent reporter she rushed into the utility room inside her Minneota residence. Nuytten was interviewed as she helped cleanup the fallen tree branches outside Hope Lutheran Church. She joined residents throughout Minneota and Ghent area that spent Friday morning cleaning up blown down trees and flooded basements. The destructive winds even blew off the roof at the Minneota Auto Center. Fortunately, there were ...

Pay homage to those who died in protecting, serving

Police officers in Massachusetts have been running and walking a 425-mile foot beat this week to honor Officer Enmanuel “Manny” Familia, who drowned last year attempting to rescue a drowning teenager last June. The officers honoring Familia are headed to Washington, D.C., where the journey will end at the National Law Enforcement Memorial, where Familia’s name was recently inscribed. Officers will attend National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day on Sunday, May 15 to honor Familia and other officers who have died in the line of duty. As with Familia’s story, that ...

Bipartisanship gets the boot

Can’t we all just get along?!” • Rodney King With the city of Los Angeles engulfed in flames following a controversial verdict that found four policemen not guilty of assault charges against a black man, it was the victim who called for peace. “Can’t we all just get along,” pleaded Rodney King as the city he called home burned to the ground. In the political arena, King’s desire to bring peace between two opposing parties is lauded as bipartisanship. Or at least it used to. As voters and Americans, we expect a certain level of rancor between our politicians. ...

All of us need healing from pandemic- inflicted trauma

We, all of us who have endured this COVID-19 pandemic, are experiencing the insidious effects of post-traumatic stress, even as the pandemic is still happening, perhaps transitioning into another ingredient in the witches’ brew that is life on Earth. Like the coronavirus, these insidious symptoms are coming from within us — not just those physically infected but also those who have lived though it in fear, in denial, in sadness, in sorrow, in anger, in rage, in uncertainty — in every negative feeling and emotion of the human condition. That means all of us, everywhere. We’re ...