‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
Raise Your Voice
Peter Molenaar Vikings Fans Against the Bills By PETER MOLENAAR The emotional roller coaster ride might be stimulating, but one wishes our team would just blow them out of the water (so to speak) and be done with it. Evidently though, the magnitude and intensity of our collective prayer does manifest a material force on the field of play. In the end, the ‘blue wave’ prevailed against all manner of falsehood. Get this: EVERY HOUSE REPUBLICAN VOTED AGAINST ENDING BIG OIL PRICE GOUGING. Who then is responsible for inflation? Closer to home, General Mills hiked its prices five times since June of 2021, and the company saw its net earnings climb 32% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. Excuse us for not believing that Governor Walz was responsible! However, while canvasing in Blaine under the banner of Teamsters Local 120, I did encounter a couple who insisted that Democrats foster pedophilia. Hopefully, repetition of [...]
Raise Your Voice: Healing Little Earth
By PETER MOLENAAR Press release from the U.S. Department of the Interior: As established by order 3404 under Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the Board on Geographic Names has voted on replacement names for some 650 geographic features previously designated by the word sq---. Yet, those familiar with Little Earth are acquainted with the prominent signage there: END PIPELINES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, TRAFFICKING, HOMELESSNESS, RAPE, ALCOHOLISM, RACISM, GENOCIDE. Certainly, the struggle for reparations must press forward. With this in mind, Elizabeth Royal, attorney for our Urban Farm project, believes we have a very strong case against our city’s intent to concentrate more pollution in the neighborhood… dirty air which imparts asthma, and yes, diminishes the learning capacity of our children. Moreover, our readers know about the Pope’s recent visit to Canada with intent to heal the historic trauma meted out by the [...]
Seize the Beans!
Raise Your Voice Seize the Beans! By Peter Molenaar On August 1, 2022, a two-day strike commenced at the corner of Cedar Avenue and 47th Street. Starbucks workers had coalesced in their newly formed union, Starbucks Workers United (SBWU, SEIU) to demand negotiations. Here is a taste of their colorful pickets: Seize the Beans of Production! LIVING WAGE NATION NOW! and Union Coffee Tastes Better!. “This strike is a warning”, said strike captain Ethan Tinklenberg, “it sends a signal to management that we are capable of doing this.” We are told that management has systematically cut workers hours, changed opening and closing times, and has in recent memory, fired workers for resisting. Tinklenberg added: ”We are sick of management doing illegal things.” Indeed, Starbucks founder and on-again/off-again CEO Howard Shultz has a history of anti-union behavior. Naturally, this fact found its reflection [...]
