St. Paul turkey on St. Anthony Avenue
This week’s news is going to the dogs — and the turkeys, turtles, camels, reindeer, donkeys and sheep. Continue reading
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Half-staff: Oregon to Afghanistan
Photo by Clyde Robinson, published under Creative Commons license.
[UPDATED 10/6] I saw the flag flying at half-staff today, and wondered — could it be because of the 19 22 medical personnel and patients killed by a U.S. bombing raid that repeatedly hit a hospital in Afghanistan on Saturday? No, of course not. The United States would never fly a flag at half staff for a mistake made by our own military, no matter how many doctors and nurses and children were killed. The flag is flying at half-staff because of another tragedy, the shootings that killed nine people at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. Two tragedies, one perpetrated by an individual acting against all laws and morality and the other, an official act done by our government in our name.
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Dear NRA Member: Please resign
Photo by Jay Phagan, used under Creative Commons license.
I grew up on a farm, with rifles and shotguns leaning on the back wall of our home’s entryway, boxes of shells on the windowsill. My grandpa, dad, uncles and brothers all hunted. Many of my relatives still hunt, but guns no longer sit casually, unlocked and unguarded. Just as hunters in our family have changed the way their guns are stored, so the country needs to change our gun laws. In order to do so, every responsible gun owner needs to withdraw their support from the NRA, which has repeatedly obstructed all efforts to regulate or even to study regulation of guns in this country.
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Failure to process rape kits leaves serial rapists on the street
Photo of forensics lab by Tym, published under Creative Commons license.
The Star Tribune reported last week that more than 3400 Minnesota rape kits have never been processed, characterizing the number as “part of a continuing national scandal.” Nationwide, the number of unprocessed rape kits may reach the hundreds of thousands.
A similar Cleveland Plain Dealer investigation, ongoing for the past five years, revealed serial rapists who were never prosecuted because rape kits were never processed. That, says Columbia Journalism Review, “means that every unsolved case is even more likely to be another rape waiting to happen, and that removing even a single rapist from the street eliminates an ongoing threat.” Continue reading
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Why I haven’t been blogging much lately
My father, Howard Turck, died on July 30, after a long and gallant struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was a blessing to his family and his community, and we mourn his passing from us. With other family members, I spent much time with him in his final weeks, and we said goodbye to him today. I have posted the eulogy I gave at his funeral on my Fragments blog.
I’ll return to News Day tomorrow.
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Power in the words
Screen shot from YouTube video of President Obama’s eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney
I love playing with words in puns or poetry, and working with words to build accurate descriptions and stories of the world, to sketch out parameters of relationships and agreements, to define rules and contracts and compacts. I love the way words resonate, passion in the mouths of preachers and the soul-catching rhythms of hymns.Words purely amuse and amaze as they flash and dance in the back-and-forth of humor and repartee. I believe in the power of words to communicate and cajole and convince, to create visions of new worlds.
Today was a day for words of power: the Supreme Court decision on marriage equality and President Obama’s eulogy for the Reverend Clementa Pinckney. Continue reading
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Legislature tells fox to choose watchdog for hen house
Brehm’s Life of animals : Volume 1, Mammalia
Chicago :Marquis,1895.
http://biodiversitylibrary.org/item/37942 Some rights reserved by BioDivLibrary
The West Central Tribune quoted Willmar city council member Ron Christenson speaking at a council committee meeting earlier this year: “I remember the advice: ‘Don’t forget. The City Council can do anything … even if it is illegal.'” That sounds a lot like the response I got from a judge in another Minnesota town back in the day: “I know the law, and I don’t have to follow the law.” Small towns and counties often run on their own rules, set by governing cliques who don’t give a damn about law and individual or minority rights. That alone is a reason for independent oversight over local finances and government — a protection that the Minnesota legislature just eliminated. Continue reading
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Three thoughts about the Charleston church massacre: The flag, the church, the way forward
Photo of Emanuel AME Church by Howard Arnoff, published under Creative Commons license.
On the day after the shooting, the U.S. flag was lowered to half mast in Charleston. The South Carolina flag also flew at half mast. The Confederate flag did not. Continue reading
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Fast Track to nowhere: Part 3 — Defeating Fast Track, for now
Photo by Wendy Colucci of the CNY Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, republished under Creative Commons license.
Was Fast Track really defeated by Democrats in the House of Representatives? Way to go! But wait — like a zombie, this one’s going to keep on coming back, so the fight is not over yet. Here’s how yesterday’s vote on Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) went down, and what might happen next. Continue reading
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Singing songs of hope: Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, Ronnie Gilbert
Photo by Laurie Avocado, published under Creative Commons license.
The Daily Kos’s eloquent essay, In Praise of Poets: Gwendolyn Brooks and Nikki Giovanni, and news of Ronnie Gilbert’s death came together today, reminding me of the power and importance of poetry in my life, in our lives. Continue reading
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Mary Turck