Watch and listen a little
It is unfortunate that we can’t have certain conversations. I have become very aware that some very left people (not all) don’t care to ever talk ideas with people on the right.
If a person on the right talks about what they may be thinking, many times the far left just puts their fingers in their ears and sings LA-LA-LA-LA-LA. They can’t have a conversation because it hurts.
I wish both groups could listen and watch some of the other’s ideas to see what they are thinking and saying, and then see how things end up.
Please watch and listen a little to the other side before total judgment.
Philip Hove, Cottage Grove
If the program is valuable …
The federal government is going broke, and that fact threatens the blessings of liberty we mean to leave to our posterity. To protect the federal government, it should return to serving the enumerated powers designated in the Constitution.
It is troubling that a federal job corps program, listing millions each year, should need to close, as is reported in in June 3 newspaper. Yet, this most certainly should not mean the end of the program if its effectiveness and value can be proven.
Labor unions, professionals, and others who benefit directly from the work of the Job Corps, should step forward, reorganize the program and fill the need. State education funding can be directed to provide some of that support.
If the program is valuable, then let Minnesotans step into this void.
Dave Racer, Woodbury
Didn’t get it done
So the traveling Tim Walz roadshow rocks on across America. Regarding the recent election debacle, he admits he “didn’t get it done.” Seems to be his normal operating mode. Didn’t send the National Guard in to quell the “peaceful protest” until the damage was done. Didn’t handle the $18 billion budget surplus. Didn’t even suspect the $250 million COVID food fraud. And as his state was deadlocked on the looming budget issue, he hit the road to protect the Dem Party image of the tough guy.
Lou Matis, Roseville
Meaner? How about smarter?
Based on the extensive travel and speaking engagements that Gov. Tim Walz has embarked upon, it would appear that he remains in a state of delusion, thinking that he could actually be the Dems’ presidential candidate in 2028.
However, the governor has done a great service to the State of Minnesota by being absent for many weeks. The DFL will continue to make a financial mess out of the state, but they lack the socialist leadership of Walz.
In his recent speeches, Walz has asked that Democrats become meaner; he perhaps should have suggested that they become smarter.
As he looks back on his efforts while teamed with Kamala Harris, he said that “I didn’t get it done.” It is not often that he is right about anything, but he clearly has that quite correct, both at home and nationally.
Jon Swenson, Eagan
Forget new ideas
Last Sunday’s Pioneer Press reported on Tim Walz’s plan for fellow Democrats. His plan is for Democrats to be “meaner,” and he called President Donald Trump a “cruel man.”
Forget new political ideas and moving the Democrats more to the center, the governor resorted to name-calling and a negative personal persona.
After reading this, I can see Walz abandoned “Minnesota Nice” and stomped it to the curb.
Thomas McMahon, White Bear Lake
Historically, cousins
In response to a recent Letter to the Editor asking to stop antisemitism, I have a question that I hope will be answered. I am a semite of Syrian-Lebanese origin, yet antisemitism does not pertain to me. Why was the term coined only for Jewish people? As my friends would tell me, you know that Biblically, the Jews and Arabs are cousins.
Ferial Abraham, St. Paul
Vindicate the rights of Indigenous people
Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented May 27 from the decision of the Supreme Court to refuse a hearing on the appeal of Apache Stronghold against transfer of the land containing their ancestral sacred site, Oak Flat, to Resolution Copper. The justices have it right. The appeal ought to be heard.
Gorsuch based his dissent on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. He wrote that the court’s decision not to hear the appeal is a “grievous mistake — one with consequences that threaten to reverberate for generations.” Gorsuch further stated, “Just imagine if the government sought to demolish a historic cathedral on so questionable a chain of legal reasoning. I have no doubt that we would find that case worth our time.”
Wendsler Nosie Sr. of Apache Stronghold is in the process of submitting their appeal to President Donald Trump, asking him to vindicate the rights of Indigenous people to land so often violated in our history.
Richard W. Podvin, Roseville
Spring into summer by moving more
Too many Minnesotans are not getting enough physical activity. Low levels of physical activity and a sedentary lifestyle increase the risk for developing many health conditions, such as heart disease, cancer, obesity and depression as well as the risk of premature death.
During the past several years, the “Promoting Physical Activity for Americans Act” was introduced to the U.S. Congress on multiple occasions. This would require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to issue physical-activity guidelines at least every 10 years based on the most current scientific and medical knowledge. Unfortunately, the bill has not received the support it needed to pass. As a professor who studies physical activity and its impact on health, society and quality of life, I cannot underscore enough the critical need for our elected officials to support physical activity legislation by reintroducing this bill and for all of us to do our part by being physically active.
Engaging in regular physical activity can help to prevent and treat many chronic health conditions, combat infection (such as from COVID-19), and improve mental health and well-being. Increasing your physical activity and fitness level, by even modest amounts, can translate to an average savings of $1,600 in annual healthcare costs. Simply put, physical activity is a “form of medicine” that is effective, safe, accessible and affordable.
Only 1 out of 4 adults currently meet the recommended guidelines of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and performing two days of muscle strengthening activities each week. A nation that continues to be physically inactive will face grave consequences: Our healthcare costs will be even more astronomical than they are now, we may not have enough active young adults to serve in the military, and we will be more vulnerable and less resilient to other threats, including pandemics and natural disasters.
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At first 150 minutes may seem like a lot. It is a reachable goal though as it translates to just over 20 minutes a day. Any activity that facilitates movement, makes your heart beat faster, and increases your breathing will work. So yes, even things like walking your dog, doing yardwork and playing with your kids or grandkids all count. Any amount of activity is better than no activity for improving your health.
As we approach summer, now is the time to get outside and enjoy everything the Twin Cities and Minnesota have to offer, like their parks, trails, lakes and outdoor events.
Steven Elmer
The writer is an associate professor in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program in the Henrietta Schmoll School of Health Sciences at St. Catherine University.
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