BY STEPHANIE FOX The time is 1950 and all of Korea is involved in a war between the North and the South, each side supported by large armies. Bina, at age 10, is the youngest of her family of apple growers. They produce some of the best apples in Korea,…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE COVID-19: Both cities implement vaccine, test result checks On Jan. 12, both Minneapolis and St. Paul, reeling from the high rates of new COVID-19 omicron variant cases, announced mandates for restaurants and bars to check either vaccine status or a negative COVID test within two days…
BY JOHNNY HAZARD The recent history of immigration through Mexico to the United States is one of “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss,” of the realization that the arrival of liberal or moderate presidents in both countries has not led to an examination or reversal of the…
BY TONY BOUZA Grinding poverty concentrates the mind powerfully. If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich? Money talks … We live in a merciless capitalist society. You’re either at the table or on the menu. My reaction to such cruelty? Bravo! There’s never been a more generous economic idea…
BY ED FELIEN The following is correspondence between Mel Reeves and me. On Aug. 2, 2013, I wrote to Mel, “We’re planning a demo at the MPD Federation headquarters under the slogan: ‘Get rid of bullies, racist thugs and murderers!’ Would you like to participate? Speak about Terrance Franklin? Can…
BY STEPHANIE FOX So! What’s love got to do with it? What does love have to do with Valentine’s Day? Today, Valentine’s Day is celebrated with gifts of chocolate and flowers and sentimental love poems. It is not, as some like to claim, an invention of Hallmark and greeting card…
BY ED FELIEN Last July we called Jeremy Schroeder “The foolish public servant who wants to do good.” We wrote: “When I was a small boy attending Mass at St. Helena’s Church, I remember a sermon by my favorite priest, Father Don Schnitzius. The way Father Don told the story…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Home safe home These days, for a lot of us, our homes are a refuge from the dangerous world out there. The experience many of us had of “sheltering in place” has possibly given us a new appreciation of the good points as well as the…
BY ED FELIEN In one of its last acts of 2021, the City Council approved a framework for beginning public discussions about what kind of development should happen when they re-construct Nicollet Avenue between 29th Street and Lake Street. The press release announcing the plan said: “The broad project goals…
BY ED FELIEN The North Star Caucus of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has recently circulated, for discussion and approval, an outline of strategic objectives for 2022. They call for a United Front Against Fascism and the need to “jettison a growing tendency towards a ‘go it alone’ approach…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE A little over a year ago, I heard of an effort to launch a Democratic Socialist Caucus in the DFL. I have called myself a democratic socialist since about the mid-1980s. I made the transition from anarchist (because of Ursula K. Le Guin, Emma Goldman, and…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Owamni is everywhere The January issue of The Dish may strike a discordant note. Written, as per the iron deadlines of local journalism, in the dying days of a year too full of dying, it still strives to strike a note of hope for 2022, and…
BY ED FELIEN You survived a pretty rough first term of office. Standing up to the president of the United States, sending him a bill for the added security necessary to guarantee him a safe environment to hold a political rally, was the easy part. You were getting good marks…
BY ED FELIEN “When he comes out of the hole and sees his shadow, then it’s six more weeks of winter.” It makes sense. If the groundhog comes out of his hole on Feb. 2 in Minnesota, and he sees his shadow, that means there’s most likely still snow on…
BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE The connection For the past decade or so, I have been thinking a lot, and acting – a bit less, but still acting – on ways to reduce my personal harm to the environment in the process of consumption. As the four “R”s tell us (reduce,…
