‘Commentary’ Archives
Damage Done
from the series Something I Said... By DWIGHT HOBBES Dwight Hobbes ICE, the curse that keeps on giving. Operation Metro Surge was ostensibly called off, though as of June, hundreds of agents stayed, keeping a lower profile than committing outright assault and cold blooded murder. The damage is still done. On top of lousing up immigrant lives, actually dragging people away from work and worse, ICE cost Minnesotans somewhere around 5,700 hospitality jobs and 4,400 construction jobs from December of last year to this February alone. This is verified by federal data. North Star Policy Action researcher Aaron Rosenthal told The Minnesota Reformer early estimates for the same period were $46 million and $106 million in lost wages across Minneapolis and St. Paul. This is not just about dollars and doesn’t make the first bit of common sense. Nor does Minnesota GOP lawmakers refusing state aid to compensate Minneapolis’ revenue losses. They cited DFL pro-immigrant policies for [...]
Pondering the Breath of Life
from the series Raise Your Voice.... By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar It can be said with certainty that the neighborhoods served by this paper constitute a community of shared memories, one of which is indelibly etched within. Presumably, then, the young poets among us will grant an old man some license: Most of us bold enough to leave our mother’s womb will inhale the scent of lilacs when in bloom. Yet every blossom withers before evoking again and again: the breath of life. While pondering the breath of life, we might acknowledge our Ward 10 councilperson. Aisha has returned with reports from her recent tour of Cuba, an island nation long tormented by a blockade which now threatens to pull the electrical plug from incubated babies. Naturally, some voices have emerged on the local scene which appear to mimic the vocal shrugs: “stuff happens” and “that is the cost.” Others believe Aisha deserves commendation for her compassionate example. In [...]
