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Another inglorious retreat for U.S.

The lessons of Vietnam were ignored during the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, and the result gives truth to the saying that those who ignore history are bound to repeat it. President Joe Biden is pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, nearly 20 years after they first went in to dismantle the Taliban government that had harbored Al Qaida, the terrorist group responsible for the 9-11 attacks on the U.S. It’s hard to fault Biden’s decision. We have spent far too much blood and treasure in a futile attempt to stamp out an enemy that can slip away into remote areas or across ...

From pets to pests

An interesting news item from Burnsville this week recounts the problem of lunker-sized goldfish taking over Keller Lake. Apparently people have been dumping their no-longer-wanted pets into the lake and the cute little finny friends are growing into football sized pests that tend to root up bottom vegetation, roil the bottom sediment, releasing phosphates that lead to algae growth and compete for food with native species of fish. It is against state law in Minnesota to release goldfish or any other fish into domestic waters; it’s called illegal stocking. We’ve seen what has ...

Sacklers got off easy

Last week Purdue Pharma, makers of OxyContin and the Sackler family that owns it reached a settlement in a lawsuit over their part in creating the opioid epidemic. The Sackler family will pay $4.3 billion to 15 states, including Minnesota, involved in the suit. Minnesota will receive more than $50 million for opioid addiction prevention and treatment. The family got off easy. Their company created an extremely dangerous and addictive product, promoted it relentlessly while hiding what it knew about its dangers, and reaped in billions in profits while tens of thousands of people across ...

Pity the poor state commissioners

Minnesota Senate Republicans returned this week to a practice they began last summer to punish Gov. Tim Walz for not ceding his emergency powers. When Walz would call a special session to extend the emergency declaration, Republicans, unable to overcome the DFL-controlled House’s votes, would select one of Walz’s state commissioners and vote to reject the appointment. It’s a tactic made possible by the practice of governors and senators for decades. A governor appoints a commissioner, with the advice and consent of the Senate, but there is no time limit for senators to approve or ...

From rescue to recovery in Florida

The hardest thing to lose is hope, especially in a situation like that in Surfside, Florida, where a 12-story condominium collapsed on June 24. The families of those missing have been hoping against hope that their loved ones somehow have managed to find some space and survive. But recovery officials have come to the conclusion that there’s little chance of finding more survivors, and the operation has turned from search and rescue to recovery. The searchers continue to find bodies of people, most of whom were asleep in bed when the collapse occured. Fifty-four bodies have been ...

Cyber criminals grow more brazen

Over the 4th of July weekend, a cybercriminal gang of thieves struck again, delivering the largest global ransomware attack on record, one affecting thousands of organizations in 17 countries. The attacks are tying up their computers, and the criminals are demanding millions in ransom. This attack is sophisticated, and designed to reach the maximum number of victims. Instead of targeting single companies, it targeted firms that manage the IT security of other companies. By hacking them, the attackers could access the systems of companies those IT management firms service. What makes ...