BY RICHARD TAYLOR In his book “The Grand Chessboard,” Jimmy Carter’s former National Security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote, with refreshing candor, “The three grand imperatives of imperial geo-strategy are to prevent collusion and maintain security dependence among the vassals, to keep tributaries pliant and protected, and to keep the barbarians…
BY ALLISON ANDRADE The U.N. warns that the world is “on course to exceed the temperature threshold” of warming, meaning another 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) above that set out in the Paris climate agreement. Many cities and community organizations in our country have set out to hold themselves…
BY JOHN CHARLES WILSON There are internet forums where people discuss every issue under the sun. Yes, even obscure subjects like public transit have their own online discussion groups. And, as you can guess, many people in those groups have the “transit vs. roads” or “transit vs. cars” misconception. Interestingly…
Members of the MN350 Solutions Committee met with Cargill executives on July 11 to make them aware of changes they could make to benefit the environment. When the activists arrived at Cargill corporate headquarters in Wayzata, they were not allowed to enter the building but rather were escorted by security…
BY ED FELIEN Somehow, as mysteriously as it appeared, Boulder Dam has disappeared. For more than a year, Southside Pride has called for the removal of the boulders under the 30th Avenue footbridge. The Barr Engineering study of Minnehaha Creek identified this rock weir as the control point for the…
Hello Ed, Mr. Tony Bouza, The subtle art of losing, does a good job of describing the cause of government bloat. A government official who is “a wonderful man -flattering, generous, thoughtful, knowledgeable and altogether a real pleasure to be with,” who tolerates a bloated bureaucracy. An official who allows…
Good gun news It’s seldom, if ever, one reads good news about guns. So, this bit of news should be well received. There exists a group with a mission antithetical to that of the National Rifle Association (NRA). it’s called GUNS DOWN AMERICA, organized in 2016 in Orlando, Fla., as…
BY JOHN CHARLES WILSON While transit users in the Twin Cities rejoice at improvements such as the new C Line “over North,” many are still annoyed by the thinning out of “plain old bus service,” which has gradually occurred over the past few decades. While the Southside Pride readership area…
BY ELINA KOLSTAD Many people agree that increasing the housing density of an area will decrease the CO2 emissions per person through increased efficiency. For example, people won’t have to drive as far, or perhaps won’t have to drive at all, because there are more likely to be resources they…
BY STEPHANIE FOX Looking for some fun this summer? Richfield might have just what you’re looking for, with parks, pools, music, food and even a wilderness adventure. Richfield’s parks have a lot to offer. Head south on Portland Avenue. Just past the Crosstown, turn left at 64th Street into…
BY ASHLEY FRAYED There is a lot of controversy in the mental health community about what these labels mean. Some say labels are demeaning. Others feel that labels help people who have a mental health issue be more easily understood. Everything and everyone are labeled in our culture. Some connote…
BY ELAINE KLAASSEN The first oil pipelines were installed in 1853, in Canada. Rockefeller took over the oil pipeline industry in the U.S. toward the end of the 1800s on the East Coast and it spread from there until today, thousands of miles of oil pipelines cover the globe. The…
An hour before the march was to begin the skies opened up in a torrent of rain, as though weeping for the sins of our nation. But as carloads of marchers began to arrive, the rain stopped and a cool breeze cleared away the oppressive heat of the previous day.…
BY TONY BOUZA Every essay is a drip between the Scylla of truth and the Charybdis of offending. What is your responsibility to readership? It is really a sort of sacred trust and central to my pretensions to integrity—pathetic though they be. The reader must be served. The writer is…
BY KATHRYN KELLY At the last Hiawatha Community Advisory Committee meeting in June, Assistant Minneapolis Park Board Superintendent Michael Schroeder referred to my research about constructed wetlands, and stated that the Park Board is not doing a constructed wetland; they are doing wetland restoration. I researched constructed wetlands because the…
