‘Commentary’ Archives
Thor and Pandora
by Peter Molenaar To the ancient observer, the approaching cumulonimbus cloud appeared as a giant hammer from which lightning bolts penetrated the earth. Hence, the hammer-wielding Viking god associated with thunder storms and destruction, but also healing and renewal, was born in the people”'s mind. Thor was his name. In the modern world, Thor”'s considerable legacy is honored once a week (“Thor”'s day”). But what redemption might he bestow upon the suffering people of Japan? Curiously, there is a chemical element which also bears his name. Thorium, atomic number 90, has emerged as the alternative to uranium. (more…)
Commentary NRP Funds”¦Are Mpls. City Hall Democrats still Democrats? Party of Compassion?? Do the Math!! The Rich Get Richer, The Poor Get Poorer and Neighborhoods, too
By Carol Pass In the midst of watching the destruction of the democratic right of collective bargaining going on next door in Wisconsin, an action bought and paid for by the billionaire Koch brothers, I attended a meeting called by a group of Democratic legislators. A graph was handed out, shown here, of the seriously regressive taxation rates current in Minnesota. Fellow Democrats in the room expressed outrage at years of too much political control by wealthy Republicans and at how regressive taxation has distorted the economy of the American populace into a tiny group of haves and a major group of have nots”¦.so much so that a current magazine with clear legitimacy ran an article entitled ”˜Plutocracy Now!”' (rule by the rich), a play on the name of the TV show ”˜Democracy Now”'. The graph put out by the State Department of Revenue showed those making from $9,000 to $86,000 paying an average of 12% of their income for taxes, while those earning [...]
