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Hoping for a state budget agreement

It’s hard to know how negotiations on the Minnesota State Budget are progressing. The negotiations are being conducted behind closed doors, and no one is giving out any progress reports. In a way, it’s comforting. In the past, the Republicans or the Democrats would come out from the negotiation room and blast the other side for being unreasonable, mule-headed and irresponsible. The other side would respond that the first side was being selfish, intractable and insensitive. They would go through a whole thesaurus before finally getting a compromise budget in place. So, without the ...

Osaka raises mental health awareness

May was Mental Health Awareness Month, and it ended with a huge rise in the issue of awareness, thanks to Naomi Osaka, one of the top women’s tennis players in the world who withdrew from the Frech Open Monday because of anxiety brought on by talking to the media. Osaka had been fined $15,000 by the French Open for failing to appear at a press conference, after she had announced she wouldn’t be talking with media because of the anxiety that gives her. When other major tournament organizers threatened her with punishment if she failed honor her contractual obligation to participate ...

The truth about Jan. 6 will come out

Thirty-five Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted against creating a non-partisan commission to examine the causes and activities of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. But that doesn’t mean that we, the people, will never know the truth. The FBI is investigating and charging those who were involved in assault on the Capitol and the Capitol police. Congressional committees, controlled by Democrats, are going to hold hearings, which Republicans will be free to criticize. These forums should be able to discern, especially given the ample social media evidence that exists, who ...

Ministry of Truth 2.0

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas is reportedly considering the development of tools that would help America’s children discern truth from lies and know when they are being fed “disinformation.” The Washington Times, which first reported the story, says a department spokesperson declined to give details, but that more information would be revealed “in the coming weeks.” Mayorkas might want to start by fact-checking his recent claim that the U.S. southern border is “closed.” He made the statement when news pictures showed waves of people crossing the ...

They gave their all

As we celebrate Memorial Day today, we can be grateful for those American troops who are coming home from Afghanistan, where our soldiers have been deployed since 2001 in response to the 9-11 attacks. But especially, we honor today those who did not come home, those who gave their lives in that country, and all those who have died in America’s wars. Those whom we honor today hold a special place in our nation’s hall of heroes. We know that no one enters the military planning to not come home. But anyone who does volunteer for military service knows the risks and possibilities, ...

The big prize for vaccination is health

Gov. Tim Walz announced Thursday that the state will be giving out prizes to 100,000 people who get vaccinated against COVID-19 between Memorial Day weekend and the end of June. Prizes are nice, but fairly mundane, like Minnesota State Fair tickets, amusement park passes or fishing licenses. Kind like the tote bags or coffee mugs given out by Minnesota Public Radio during their fundraising drives. That’s nothing compared to Ohio, where the state announced its first Vax-a-Million lottery winner. Abbigail Bugenske of Silverton, Ohio, won a million dollars in a random drawing, while ...