By Senator Amy Klobuchar There’s a cost that comes with the 450% increase in the price of EpiPens. Parents worry that they won’t be able to afford their child’s medication. They drive to pharmacies miles away from their homes just to get the best deal on EpiPens. School nurses watch as families weigh the risk of sending their child to school without this life-saving … [Read more...]
Governing in 2017
Our new president will be inaugurated on January 20, 2017. Leading and governing, especially after this election cycle, will be extremely challenging. Neither candidate has the trust of even a majority of the electorate; neither will have a mandate. We hear over and over that this is a “change” election. How each of us defines “change” probably covers a wide spectrum of … [Read more...]
The media’s responsibility to our democracy
Politicians spend a good bit of their time complaining about the media. But why should they have all the fun? I’m going to join in, though I tend to get upset about different things than most sitting politicians do. You see, I don’t actually mind when journalists — whether in print, on television or online — treat what politicians say with skepticism. That means they’re … [Read more...]
The other view of who you are
Who are you? Do you know? What dumb things to ask, you say, of course I know who I am. True, you may know yourself, but in the world of the lamestream media, on college campuses, and in the view of many in the political establishments, especially on the left, most of us are not who and what we think we are. There is a great email floating around on the internet that helps … [Read more...]
Words of wisdom from an old baseball coach
Dear readers, I want to share a speech given in 1996 by a retired baseball coach at the annual ABCA coaches’ convention in Nashville. The speaker, John Scolinos, was well respected by his peers, having posted over a thousand wins during a career at Pepperdine and Cal State Poly, with three national championships to his credit. The 4,000coaches present represented all the … [Read more...]
Surviving the silly season
By Yvonne Nyenhuis I have it on “good authority” that Donald trump is “secretly a Muslim” and was “born in Kenya!” When we abandon truth, facts and reason the possibilities are endless! It’s a great way to confuse our enemies and each other. Indeed we seem to have decided that freedom of speech allows license to lie and create our own reality. The Democratic convention in … [Read more...]
One Moment, Please… Echo chambers
In last week’s issue of the Fillmore County Journal, there was a Letter to the Editor crafted by Aaron Bishop of Harmony and he concluded his piece with the statement “Avoid echo chambers. Cheers.” I’ve been meaning to write a commentary about echo chambers, a newer phrase (to me) I first heard on Minnesota Public Radio about two months ago. During a talk show on MPR, one … [Read more...]
The privilege for which “they” struggled
By Kathie Haynes I took this title mostly from a 1999 book edited by Heidi Bauer and Barbara Stuhler. I say “mostly” because the original title was for which “We” struggled. It is all about Minnesota women of the suffrage movement. You know I never really thought much about the suffrage movement. It is easy to take for granted something you have always had. I guess it is … [Read more...]