Breaking News

Opinion

The gambling snare

Columns

There is a saying attributed to PT Barnum that goes like this: There is a sucker born every minute. One area of activity that this saying can apply to is gambling. How might it apply? The thought is that there is an inexhaustible supply of people who are willing to be exploited using games on which they can play and have fun, while they lose their money and make a profit for the casino or owner of the gambling house. The owners are correct in their assumption that there are lots of people who are quite comfortable and willing to lose their money. The owners may be confident ...

People going to space, instead of curing cancer

Letters

To the editor: I have had five different cancers in the last 5 years. Why are people going into space? Shouldn’t they be trying to cure cancer with that money. Or homelessness, or so many other things. It just makes me sick. Fritz Livingston Franklin

Facts matter: Addressing claims of non-citizen voting

Letters

To the Editor: In response to the letter from Paul Platz published in The Journal on March 31, we felt it was necessary to issue a clear, fact-based response. First, it is important to understand that voting by non-citizens in federal elections is illegal and carries significant penalties. In addition to prison and massive fines, a noncitizen would risk deportation or derailing their naturalization process by voting. Beyond that, our election system includes multiple safeguards to prevent ineligible voting. Voter registration requires verification of identity, and states routinely ...

Playbook on truth and honesty

Letters

Most educators and coaches have spent parts of their career convincing teenagers that truth and honesty are attributes to a life well lived. Unfortunately, we are in need of a new instruction manual on how to do this as our youth have seen and heard just the opposite for many many years. Adults, we cannot say "it's just the way it is". We have a responsibility to teach the values that hold societies in harmony. Denny Lux New Ulm

Living our choices

Letters

Today I think positively of what will be. Some say the system is wrong. Some blame the government for their ills. One word comes to mind: responsibility. Responsibility, in itself has little to do with systems or governments. You guessed it. It has to do with the person. People make choices. Whatever our choices one thing is certain: we must live with our choices. Out of all this comes experience. Out of that comes knowledge. Knowing something out there is greater than you is the first step to wisdom. What will be is greater than what is. In the end its not what you know, but who you ...

Erica Schwartz delivering in the Legislature

Letters

To the editor: In one of the most remarkable moments of this session, Rep. Schwartz secured unanimous passage of her bill, House File 2169, on a 134-0 vote. In a closely divided House, that kind of bipartisan support is almost unheard of-especially for a freshman legislator. But the reason is quite simple: the bill does exactly what good policy should do, it protects people. House File 2169 closes a dangerous loophole in Minnesota law by ensuring that individuals who commit unintentional murder while under a protective order are held fully accountable, no matter where that order was ...