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Polio battle has lesson for current vaccination controversy

You will have to turn to the Baby Boomers to find people who remember what it was like when polio was the disease that scared people as much as COVID-19 does today. A contagious viral disease, polio carries dire symptoms. It starts with flu-like symptoms fever, sore throat, headache, vomiting, but also neck or back pain and stiffness, muscle weakness. It can advance to paralysis, wasting away of muscles, trouble breathing and death. It was a disease that terrified parents and led to cancellation of school and public gatherings. Parents wouldn’t let their kids go and play with their ...

9-11, 20 years later

It has been 20 years since a double handful of terrorists, 19 in all, carried out the most vicious and cruel attack on America that we have ever seen. They hijacked four jetliners and turned them into weapons, caring nothing for the lives of those on board. Two planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York. One crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth, heading back to Washington, was crashed into a Pennsylvania farm field when the passengers on board heroically rose up to take back the plane. That prevented it from destroying its intended target. Whether it was ...

Work is out there, if people want it

The U.S. Labor Department reported on Wednesday the puzzling news that while employers are posting a record number of job openings, millions of unemployed Americans are reluctant to take the jobs they are offering. Employers are boosting pay levels and offering signing bonuses to get more employees, but lots of jobs remain unfilled. People are afraid of the coronavirus. Child care is an issue for some, especially with uncertainty in whether schools are going to stay open or have to go back to distance learning. While some employers blamed the generous federal unemployment benefits ...

How will Minneapolis pull off police change?

Minneapolis voters have a big question on their ballot this fall. Do they want to keep the Minneapolis Police Department which is deeply unpopular with the people it is supposed to be protecting and serving, or do they want to start over with the new Department of Public Safety that could include police officers, but will emphasize other approaches to keeping people safe? Let’s assume voters approve the new Minneapolis DPS. Who is going to come up with the organization and plan? According to the ballot question, the Minneapolis City Council will have more direct control of the ...

Suing for a mask mandate

Has Minnesota’s health policy become politicized? Apparently, yes. Last year Gov. Tim Walz asked for and received approval for emergency powers that allowed him to issue rules to slow the spread of COVID-19 infections in the state. They were widespread and very impactful. Restaurants, bars and health clubs were ordered to close. People were told to work from home where possible. People were ordered to wear masks in public places, including schools. The state had all kinds of directives for spacing and sanitizing in schools, and for when schools had to go to distance learning. The ...

Labor Day 2021

It has been an odd couple of years for labor in the U.S. The COVID-19 pandemic put a lot of businesses, large and small, in shutdown. Employees of those businesses found themselves laid off, or furloughed. But as those jobs have come back, employers are finding it hard to hire enough people, thanks in part to generous federal unemployment benefits. Market forces have been pushing up the minimum wage to levels legislators had shuddered to consider. Those who have kept working have adapted how they work. Instead going to an office or business campus, they have been working from home. ...