My how times have changed. As often happens between parents and their children, remnants of their past are passed along from one generation to the next. When I was in my early teen years, my father gave me a number of items he accumulated in his younger years. Among the items was a leather handkerchief box. I’m sure you’d be hard pressed to find one of these in any store … [Read more...]
Devil’s Advocate…Energized
I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. The United States has been through many trials in the last 241 years, and people of all colors and creeds have made their marks in history. This leads me to ask, what’s the big picture, America? In what condition do we want to leave our communities for those who come after us? I recently attended an Energy Breakfast (where we … [Read more...]
Common ground
Common ground is difficult to establish without a shared vision of reality. Who wants to find common ground with alternative facts, science deniers, liars and those who would trample the golden rule for a tax rebate. We cannot get past extreme polarization unless we find some core values that define what is good and true that we agree on. If we cannot agree that facts matter in … [Read more...]
Why lie?
By Donna Buckbee Rushford, MN Starting from when I was in grade school, every weekday night my father and I would read the Minneapolis Tribune together and watch the nightly news, both national and local. This quality time is one of my most cherished memories. After taking in the news we would discuss the highlights. My father let me know I was expected to have an … [Read more...]
One Moment, Please… Adopt-a-Sidewalk?
A couple of weeks ago, I was standing in Root River State Bank in Chatfield, preparing for a meeting with soon-to-be-retired Diane Meeker and recently hired Teresa Narveson. President and CEO Chuck Johnson, Jr., had requested my help with recognizing both of these individuals in upcoming issues of the Fillmore County Journal. As with most community banks, while you stand … [Read more...]
Rules of (online) engagement
By Eric Lee Harmony, MN Here I am, writing, as the 4th of July approaches. I want to talk about one of my favorite things. Civil political debate. I love it. I love this country, and I love exploring where we might take it into the future. This sometimes gets me into trouble, because I even enjoy it online, on social media. And this can be, well, difficult. But I have … [Read more...]
Encourage good media
I’ll be the first to admit that when it comes to journalism, I’m a traditionalist. Old-fashioned, even. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that even while confidence in the media drops to new lows and Time magazine feels moved to wonder “Is Truth Dead?” on its cover, huge numbers of Americans have come to believe the media is not as authoritative as it once was. … [Read more...]
By the dawn’s early light!
As we approach the nation’s birthday, we look to our flag waving in the wind, the red and white stripes and the stars in a field of blue, representing our 50 states, and we feel pride and joy. No matter our differences, today we are united, one large family under the dome of heaven! As I was writing this, my husband Glenn reminded me that the stripes in the flag represent … [Read more...]
Letter about America’s healthcare plan…
To the Editor, The Republican House and the Republican Senate have been working very hard to take healthcare away from over 20 million Americans. Trump is supporting these efforts which would kill thousands of Americans. It would also either raise people’s insurance costs and/or give crappier coverage. Seventeen percent of Americans support Trumpcare, but they still may pass … [Read more...]
Why we need to scrap the debt ceiling
Back when I was in Congress, I got a call from a constituent one day. I’d recently voted to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, and the man was more than irate. “Don’t you understand that we’ve got a serious spending and debt problem in this country?” he asked. “Why did you cast this idiotic vote?” He was right about the problem. But he was wrong about the vote. With Congress … [Read more...]