‘Commentary’ Archives
Moment of Silence
By Peter Molenaar Even as these words are written, another beneath the rubble has given up the ghost. The remaining resistance is fading… Flashback to 1803. Given a plague of wars, Napoleon Bonaparte’s France is a financial wreck. Concurrently, measures to maintain order in the lucrative sugar colony of Haiti are in jeopardy. Hence, the [...]
Wakan Tanka
by Peter Molenaar It took on the order of 200,000 years for humankind to develop a written language. Subsequently, “the word” accumulated in the form of scripture which in turn made literacy a requirement for entry into “the faith”. Hence, the emergence of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) within the once vast sea [...]
America, Wake Up & Mask Up!!!!!!!
By Raymond Jackson Cough, sneeze, wheeze, drizzle, and not even an excuse me, or any attempt to cover up the expulsion. How many times has this happened to you, already, and so early in this cold and flu season? We have huge pharmaceutical companies claiming that they can’t get going fast enough, to keep up with the demand for H1N1 flu [...]
How about also making Park, Portland, 26th and 28th Streets more “Accessible, Vibrant, Pedestrian and Biker Friendly with Less” and Slower Speeds?
Hennepin and 1st Avenues have been changed to two-way streets again so they will be “more accessible, more vibrant, with slower speeds and less around the block trips,” according to city planners and politicians, plus many pedestrian and bicycle improvements. The City widened Park and Portland Avenues and 26th and 28th Streets decades [...]
Irony Of Ironies
By Peter Molenaar Followers of this column might recall a two-part slogan issued prior to the Obama presidency. The first part read: “Unite to fight the ultra-right”. The second part: “even as we project the vision of socialist future”. It occurs now that it might be helpful to define some terms. By ‘ultra-right’ is meant: those [...]
THE WAR ON DRUGS HAS EXPANDED; Or Has It Really? part III
By Raymond Jackson This epidemic consists of highly addictive legal drugs that go under the moniker of painkillers. Because they are legal, and the big profiteers from them, is the pharmaceutical industry, it will be quite awhile before they are made a relevant part of ‘The War on Drugs’. Long considered a Suburban high, painkilling drugs, [...]
“…There are those that use pain meds appropriately…”
As I sit in my pain clinic reading Mr. Jackson tear apart pain meds without acknowledging legitimate use, I find myself getting angrier every line I read. I did not ask to be on pain meds just like I did not ask to be hit while on a motorcycle by a truck by an ass text messaging while driving. The obvious omission of a small insert of “there are [...]
Horsefly Swish
by Peter Molenaar Unlike the pensive almost melancholy feeling induced, for example, by a visit to my childhood fishing haunts, the annual tour of the “Great Minnesota Get Together” is for me always an invigorating adventure. Jersey cows, fine arts, tractor prices, eco-technology, countryside crafts and preserves… Then, after lightly [...]