Medical Assistance program confuses everybody

BY DIANE J. PETERSON AND JOHN KOLSTAD Our Minnesota Legislature keeps allowing ever-increasing billions of our tax funds to pay private corporations to manage the health care of people who cannot afford their own medical care. However, most legislators and patients do not comprehend how this government function operates. On…

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Donald Trump, the racist

BY ED FELIEN The Star Tribune missed an opportunity to fully explain the extent of Donald Trump’s connection to the white supremacy movement when it published “Trump denial strikes familiar tone; Professing ignorance on Hitler similar to remarks about Klan, QAnon, Proud Boys” by Jill Colvin on Dec. 28. They…

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Spirits in the Coliseum

BY KAY SCHROVEN “It’s not the strongest of the species that survive but the most adaptable.” – Charles Darwin Chris Montana and his wife Shanelle of Du Nord Social Spirits are a living example of Darwin’s theory. When Du Nord’s well-laid plans were interrupted in 2020 because of the global…

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‘Where is your humanity?’

Speech by Ilhan Omar: “I am also saddened by the fact that 535 Members of Congress could come together in one breath and fully condemn the horrors of what Israelis experienced, and that there is now only a few handful of them who could get to the point of saying…

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Supercharge your winter wellness

BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE Be a superperson! You can be an actual superperson with these three weird tricks. 1. Eat superfoods! 2. Use superherbs! 3. Move your superbody! But, I hear you say, how do I know what is really a superfood when almost every food claims to be? And…

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East Lake Street revisited and reimagined

BY KAY SCHROVEN Recently, I ran into a friend whom I’d not seen in a while. She is a suburbanite. During the conversation she mentioned that she and her husband had recently driven down East Lake Street for the first time in a while. “What a shit show!” she said,…

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Fear and loathing in Palestine and Israel

BY ED FELIEN Most Palestinians want peace. Most Israelis want peace. But Hamas and right-wing Israeli politicians know that their ticket to success is to sow the seeds of fear and loathing. If they can convince their people that there is a tiger at the gates that wants to devour…

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Don’t forget your lutefisk for Christmas

BY STEPHANIE FOX It’s nearly Christmas and here in the North, that means holiday lights, tinsel-covered trees, and lutefisk. For many, it isn’t Christmas without a traditional bite or two of this iconic Norwegian delicacy. What many people don’t realize is that most of the country’s lutefisk originates right here…

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Queer bodies: a call for euphoria

BY FERN SNEDEKER (they/them) A queer community under increased surveillance. Queer bodies under attack—psychologically, ideologically, physically.  Nudieland—where two men shot seven and killed one at a queer punk show in Phillips—is the most recent example on my mind. But it’s not even the most recent attack on the trans community,…

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