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We’re caught between high stakes negotiations

Some mighty high-stakes poker is being played in our nation’s capital these days, with the nation’s fiscal future hanging in the balance. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to approve a federal debt limit and funding continuation plan that would allow the government to remain open when the U.S. fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. It passed on a 220-211 party line vote. It now has to go through the evenly-divided Senate, where Republicans are firmly against, and the Democrats can’t afford to lose one vote, and where Republicans can block with a filibuster that can’t be ...

Without the UN, what?

Over the years we have been critical of the United Nations for a variety of reasons. It has often been hamstrung in times of crisis; it has often catered to dictatorships and tyrants; it has made a mockery of human rights issues by putting some of the worst offending nations on commissions intended to deal with those issues. But as the UN begins its annual General Assembly this week, we have to remark that without the UN, where would we be? Where else can leaders of the world’s nations stand up and declare their agendas, state their grievances, call for changes and demand action ...

Haiti no place to send refugees

The U.S. is in the process of deporting thousands of Haitian refugees who have gathered at the Texas border, sending them back to a country that has little to offer them. Haiti is the western hemisphere’s poorest nation. It has been ravaged by major earthquakes not once, but twice in the past 11 years, once in 2010 and again this year. The earthquakes have been followed by hurricanes and tropical storms. The country is in the midst of political upheaval, its president recently assassinated, its military trying to set up a government. Its streets are run by violent gangs. Most of ...

Concerns for Minneapolis

Early voting began Friday in Minneapolis for the city’s charter amendments. Among them is the question of whether to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a Department of Public Safety. Whether this question passes or not, Minneapolis needs to do something about its crime problem. Minnesota’s largest city is suffering through a year where violent crime is on the rise, where each weekend brings news of more shootings. Many of the victims are children caught in the crossfires of randoms shootings. This weekend, for example, 11 people were injured in seven separate ...

Thumbs Up/Down

Happy Birthday, FD THUMBS UP: The New Ulm Fire Department is celebrating its 150th birthday this weekend, a year later than intended, thanks to COVID-19. The Firefighters Dance is being held on Saturday, with the crowning of Miss New Ulm, at the New Ulm Event Center. On Sunday, the Fire Department will be setting up fire trucks and equipment, old and new, in Turner Hall Park, where no doubt some veterans will recall tales of the time the department fought the Turner Hall fire while the Rathskeller remained open. The event is from noon to 3 p.m. New Ulm has been blessed to have a ...

Booster question doesn’t change benefits of vaccine

To boost, or not to boost, that is the question being weighed by health experts and advisors in the FDA. There are differences of opinion in the federal government regarding giving booster shots of of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. President Joe Biden and his top health advisors are pushing booster campaign, but others within the FDA are cautious about saying if this would be safe and effective. To those who are dubious about the COVID-19 vaccine in the first place, this is another sign that the federal government doesn’t know what it is doing, and therefore the vaccine is to be ...