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Earth action day: Unleashing our power for our planet

Columns

April 22nd will mark the fifty-fifth anniversary of Earth Day.  The power of those 20 million voices that came out on the streets that first Earth Day led the U.S. to create the EPA and the first generation of environmental laws addressing clean air, clean water and toxics.   Fast forward to today. Under the banner of, “Our Power. Our Planet”, EARTHDAY.ORG, the global organizer of Earth Day, is calling on people from all walks of life to join in “Earth Action Day” — an effort to once again mobilize people power to tackle the current generation of environmental ...

Suggest reading other sources of news

Letters

To the editor: I tip my hat to Kim Sjogren’s letter (April 10). Well written, to the point, and accurate. I personally visited Second Harvest Heartland several years ago and saw a brand new facility with all the latest bells and whistles. I thought something seemed odd. How could a volunteer operation give away food to people week after week, and seemingly not have a care in the world about finances?  Now the answer is here. It was Minnesota Government “generosity” funded through NGO (which basically means no oversight, no accounting). We’ve also been hearing a lot ...

Embrace our laws

Letters

To the editor: Thank you, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, for having a course called "Totalitarian Patterns” way back in the last century. It was taught by a professor originally from an East European country, who had held a high elective position there until ousted by the communists. We students of Russian language and culture and/or of politics, generally, learned to become more aware of the signs of a slide towards authoritarianism, whenever and wherever that happens. And it’s happening, isn’t it? Pardon me, for a few minutes, while I weep. Then onward. A Swedish ...

Not fit to lead most powerful country

Letters

To the editor: Last week four American soldiers died in a training exercise in Lithuania. When their bodies were recovered, Lithuania paused to honor their sacrifice. A crowd gathered as men carried the four coffins from the hearses to the U.S. transport jet. Many Lithuanians wept. When a similar event happened during his term, President Bush waited on the runway and saluted. When a similar event happened during his term, President Obama waited on the runway and saluted. When a similar event happened during his term, President Biden waited on the runway and saluted. But when ...

National shame in White House

Letters

To the editor: I would like to put aside the horrific economic policies and fractured international relations of this administration for a moment and concentrate on the current resident of the White House. It seems that many Americans no longer value common human decency so I would like to remind those people of a few facts. I believe that if these people were being totally honest with themselves, they would agree with these simple observations. Donald Trump is the embodiment of everything we would teach our children not to be. Donald Trump is cruel, he is a bully, he is ignorant, ...

Sharing Easter memories through greeting cards

Columns

Easter is a strange holiday in that it’s constantly moving around on the calendar like a hyperactive mouse who has just consumed its body weight in caffeine. If you were born on the Fourth of July, you would know that your birthday always falls on the fourth. Its day of the week varies from year to year, which means that you are given a three-day weekend every few years to celebrate or recover from your birthday. Not so if you were born on Easter. The formula that determines the dates for Easter involves tracking the phase of the moon and checking to see if Jupiter has aligned with ...