‘Letter to the Editor’ Archives
Encampment Safety: Is Private Security Really a Solution?
from Letter to the Editor The vital issue of security at homeless camps in our city is finally being raised by the City Council Public Safety Committee. The Public Safety Committee is tasked with a difficult job, made more challenging through past neglect of issues. The attention of the new members of the Public Safety Committee to the difficult problems posed by homelessness is appreciated. A proposed solution is to hire private security. Would the security at the camps be armed, and if so what would their liability be? What kind of complaint system and accountability will these private security guards be held to? Recently a man was shot and killed in one of the Nenookaasi Camps. The threat was known by camp members and police. The police did not try to intervene or de-escalate in any way. How will using private security be better than a professionally trained MPD officer? If the MPD can’t get it right, why do we think private security is the answer? Even considering [...]
Letter to the Editor – March ’24
All the Facts of Colonialism, Please I agree with the first half of Whitney Wildman’s Letter to the Editor, titled “Resistance is a Human Right”, in the alley newspaper, February 2024.Israel’s (Netanyahu’s) retribution for the October 7 massacre is horrifically out of proportion. Many Jewish people in the U.S. and in Israel would also agree. I disagree with Wildman’s take on the history of the area. The Jews living in Israel did not commit a “land grab”.Palestine was their ancestral home before most of them were driven out by the Romans hundreds of years ago. England acquired Palestine after WWI.They ceded it to the Jewish people as a homeland, ignoring the Palestinians.If this was a “land” grab or a “colonial project”, England is responsible, not the Jews, because Israel was their original home. Jesus was a Jew. Palestine also belongs to the Palestinians. A two-state solution is needed. Jane ThomsonSt. Paul, MN
Re: Letter to the Editor
Here is the promised “rebuttal” to Sam Harrison’s June letter which sought to discredit my May article entitled Peace Be With You. This May offering revealed a local connection to the war between Russia and Ukraine ($billions spent on war, even as climate change begs solutions and has induced starvation in East Africa). Frankly, Mr. Harrison’s dismissive tone is difficult to grapple with. He describes himself as “someone with a long academic background”, whereas, “Mr. Molenaar repeats a number of Russian talking points…all of which are refutable.” Rather wish he had troubled to refute one… am glad he is not a peace negotiator! Note: Although I placed primary blame on U.S. imperialism, I also stated: “Putin went way out of bounds to reveal his own imperial vision.” Mr. Harrison, you have asserted that my reference to fascistic gangs in Ukraine was somehow overblown when, not [...]
