Deter assaults with personal bodycams

It’s well documented that cameras deter many forms of criminal behavior. One logical response to the recent surge in carjacking and personal assaults across the metropolitan area is for a publicity campaign by state and local law enforcement agencies to issue small, body/button cameras to the public at a reduced price. Seems like a public subsidy well worth the price. And for those not willing or able to pay the purchase price, safety agencies can promote and distribute fake, look-alike cameras to give more peace of mind to folks and keep potential crooks wondering.

Last I checked such cameras ranged in price from $50-$100. Cheap deterrent for a worried and increasingly fearful public. And maybe a good use of a little of that state surplus money.

Mark Schreiber, St. Paul

 

One president at a time

I believe that there should be some way in order for the minority party to get something to the floor to be voted on by the House of Representatives or the Senate. Case in point would be President Obama nominated Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court and Sen. Mitch McConnell, then majority leader, would not even have a hearing, much less a vote, and now Speaker Mike Johnson won’t allow aid for Ukraine and Israel that has passed the Senate to even be debated or allowed a vote. I believe he has taken orders from an outside source.

No one person should have the power to block any proposed legislation just because they have the position of speaker or majority leader. I can fully understand why the speaker would want to hold up a vote for something that their party has proposed until they have the necessary vote secured, but for the speaker or the majority leader to be influenced by someone who is only running for office and doesn’t even have their party’s nomination yet just seems not right.

In this United States of America we only have one president at a time, and Joe Biden is that president now.

Tom Kapsner, White Bear Lake

 

‘Freemobiles’

I’m old enough to remember when people used to pay to ride the bus. Those were the days, my friend. … I was riding a Route #18 bus while I typed this. A man got on the bus, told the driver flippantly, “It’s cold out, I don’t feel like walking today,” and walked to his seat. Metro Transit should tell it like it is and call its buses “freemobiles.” Welcome to Socialist Minnesota.

Ann Redding, Minneapolis

 

Excessive bail shall not be required

While I join ACLU-MN Paul Sullivan in welcoming justice-system-impacted Americans to the voting register, our U.S. Constitution already regulates “wealth-based bail.”

The Eighth Amendment begins: “Excessive bail shall not be required”.

That’s pretty clear; ACLU-MN and Pioneer Press editors should know this.

The real issue is government officials in all three branches choosing to ignore the plain text of our Bill of Rights, and nobody seems to care enough to report on it.

Karl Olson, St. Louis Park

 

The will, not the bill

Democrats have a brilliant but dishonest strategy to change the narrative on the border crisis.

They blame Donald Trump for not completing the border wall when they did everything they could to stop it when Trump was president, and they completely stopped it on Joe Biden’s first day in office.

Biden immediately reversed a dozen Trump policies that were reducing illegal immigration, and now he claims that he needs the border bill to use similar policies. Biden does not need the “bill” to secure the border, he needs the “will” to secure the border, which he has not had for three years. Will the bill change his will?

Now Biden blames Republicans for the border crisis because they do not support a bill that is weak and ineffective. I hope that voters can remember the truth about the border and see through the deception.

Dennis A. Helander, White Bear Lake

 

Inconsistency and embryos

With the ruling by Alabama’s Supreme Court that an embryo should be considered the same as a child, the Republican Party is  struggling to come up a with a new position on embryos.

I found it interesting that major Republicans are now stating that how embryos are used for in-vitro fertilization should only be a decision between the patient and her doctor.

I don’t quite understand how that the Republican Party thinks an embryo that is inside a woman’s body is the job of a state to control but the same embryo outside the woman’s body is her decision and her doctors’.

Gregg Mensing, Roseville

 

Free to go?

At a recent sporting event, while listening to our national anthem, I was drawn particularly to the words “land of the free, and home of the brave.” Oh how some of our elected and appointed left-leaning officials have tarnished Francis Scott Key’s words to the point where they sound more like the land of … you are free to go and we will not defend our brave.

These, sworn to uphold the laws of our state and nation, officials have disgraced the brave souls who put their lives on the line daily to protect the very freedom they enjoy, a disgrace brought on by an agenda to protect the feelings of the offender and dampen the efforts of the defender.

To these officials, it is time to set aside emotions and abide by the laws you are sworn to protect.

Mark Kirchner, St. Paul

 

Where are the men, then?

Regarding the article “Cease-fire resolution…” (Feb. 27)  “…where seven self-professed progressive women were elected to the most diverse City Council in St. Paul history last November.”

I am old enough to remember the controversy over gender equality. If this is diverse, where are the three men? Or is the City Council now 14 members and the others weren’t pertinent to the story?

Art Thell, West St. Paul

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If you’re between jobs for almost any reason — laid off, quit, fired, caretaking — you’re a perfect candidate to become a volunteer. I know you don’t have the time, but on the other hand I’m guessing you probably do. It’s a rare individual who can’t spare even an hour or two to help someone else, at least now and then.

That said, your time is still precious, and you want to spend it wisely. On that note, I won’t use any more of your time on preamble. Here are 11 ways you’ll benefit by volunteering if you’re not currently working in a paid position (and even if you are). These reasons are calibrated toward the specific issues faced by people who are not working or searching for a job.

1. Volunteering can lead to new friends: Sharing a common purpose is a fast way to connect with others. Friends you make as a volunteer become closer than most colleagues, just because you start the relationship with a common bond and no competition.

2. It’s nice to feel welcome: You know how it feels when your friends come help you with a big project? That’s the happy relief you’ll give someone whenever you volunteer. If you left your last job under duress, it’s nice to know someone wants to see your smiling face.

3. Volunteering can provide structure: If you’re in a job-search process, you may have already discovered that the day can fly by without anything getting done. It’s counter-intuitive, but obligating some of your time elsewhere is the antidote. When people have fewer hours for job search, they tend to use the time more effectively.

4. It helps defend against bad habits: Sleeping late? Watching television all day? Not showering or getting enough exercise? You can still form bad habits while volunteering, but you have to work at it. Knowing you’re expected somewhere tends to inspire better self-management.

5. It can fill a skills gap: Learning to lead, training others, being trusted with a program or project — these are things you can do as a volunteer that could take years to be assigned in a workplace.

6. It lets you use the expertise you already have: On the other hand, you already have a lot of skills — are you using them? By volunteering in your area of expertise, you keep your skills sharp between jobs.

7. Volunteering gives you interview stories: “What have you been doing since…” is a wince-worthy interview question for candidates with a résumé gap. You can provide a decent or even amazing answer if you’ve been volunteering.

8. Volunteering can lead to a job: It’s not uncommon for organizations to hire from their volunteer pool. Who better to join the team than someone who clearly wants to be there?

9. You can score some fun benefits: You won’t get traditional work benefits such as health insurance, but what about tickets to a show, free food or volunteer dinners? Depending on the role, you could also receive excellent training and even skills certifications.

10. Volunteering is good for you: Mental, emotional and physical health have all been shown to improve for people who volunteer. When you feel good about what you’re doing, you feel good.

11. It’s a good thing to do: Helping others is just the right thing to do, however you go about it. It also sets a good example: When we see others do good, we want to do good as well. And that’s the community we all want to live in.

Getting started as a volunteer

1. Identify how much time you want to offer: It may be as little as an hour per week, so don’t worry that you can’t fit something in. Because some volunteer opportunities are regular and others are on-call or intermittent, something is bound to fit your schedule.

2. Decide what you’d like to be doing: Perhaps you like interacting with people or maybe you enjoy doing online research or working with your hands. If it’s hard for you to get out, there are also ways to volunteer without leaving home. You get to choose.

3. Look for opportunities: This doesn’t have to be hard. If you already know of an organization you support, you can reach out to them directly. Otherwise, you can use an online system such as Volunteermatch.org to connect with a gig you’ll enjoy.

That’s pretty easy, right? Right. So go ahead and get started. Your résumé will thank you, but so will your heart, your spirit and your community.

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You may not know it from the title or the vaguely cartoonish logo bearing that title, but “Spaceman” is not just another Adam Sandler-Netflix movie.

Unlike the comedic live-action and animated romps the actor and producer has churned out as part of the multiple-times-extended movie-making deal between his Happy Madison Productions and the streaming giant, this is a drama with Sandler front and center trying to make one giant leap for mankind and boldly going where no man has gone before.

But while “Spaceman” sees Sandler’s character travel deep into the solar system on a solo mission, this story is primarily one of an introspective journey, as the protagonist worries the marriage he left on Earth is failing and works through choices he’s made with the help of an unusual new friend.

It’s always interesting to see Sandler take on the occasional drama, the “Saturday Night Live” alum giving strong performances in, for example, the well-received “Punch-Drunk Love” (2002) and “Uncut Gems” (2019). Sorry to say he’s not as good here, the actor never seeming to find a groove with the character of lonely Czech cosmonaut Jakub Prochazka.

Still, it is a little surprising — and very disappointing — that “Spaceman” is rarely more than borderline-engaging given it’s directed by Johan Renck. Best known for helming episodes of television shows, including a handful of “Breaking Bad” installments, he most notably directed every chapter of the acclaimed 2019 limited series “Chernobyl.”

“Spaceman” is not on that level.

After a brief sequence in which we watch Jakub walk through a small river while wearing his spacesuit, we are formally introduced to him as he is nearing Jupiter. Near the giant planet resides what’s been dubbed the Chopra Cloud, a visually striking phenomenon in space that poses a threat to Earth.

“I wish you could see it the way I do,” he says during a broadcast back home before expressing excitement about soon venturing inside it and learning more about the mysterious particles that comprise it. “We still don’t know what they are or where they come from, but as I enter the Chopra Cloud, I might just unravel some mysteries of the universe.”

During this chance for folks to interact with him, a young girl asks Jakub if he’s lonely, noting that he’s been referred to as “the loneliest man in the world.” He assures her that he is not that, that he talks every day with his wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan), who is carrying their child.

In truth, not only is Jakub lonely, but he’s also not sleeping well, thanks at least in part to a malfunctioning toilet making constant noise. One night, he dreams of a small alien entity literally getting under his skin and crawling around under his face.

Soon, though, he encounters a much larger creature from a far-away place, a spider-like being he will come to name Hanus.

Initially, Hanus terrifies Jakub, who flees to the craft’s airlock, suits up and exposes the ship to a blast of anti-contaminant chemicals in an attempt to hurt the nightmarish visitor. However, Hanus, speaking calmly and gently (Paul Dano of “The Batman” provides the mellow voice work), quickly convinces the fellow explorer he means him no harm.

Although he believes he may have lost his mind, Jakub is happy to have someone to talk to, especially since he suddenly isn’t hearing from Lenka, which concerns him.

His worries are not off-base, as his wife has recorded a message in which she informs him she’s leaving him — a message the woman in charge of the mission, Isabella Rossellini’s Commissioner Tuma, is refusing to send through to Jakub.

Hanus not only can communicate with Jakub in his own language, the creature saying he has studied humanity and refers to Jakub only as “Skinny Human,” he seemingly has the power to help Jakub replay moments from his life, many of them painful.

However well-intended, this all is a bit … well, something. It feels a little precious at times, downright trite at others.

Scenes on the ground featuring Lenka, who goes to visit her mother, Zdena (Lena Olin), are strong enough that “Spaceman” may have benefited from more of them — especially given the acting talent of Mulligan (“Maestro,” “Promising Young Woman”).

The screenplay for “Spaceman” is written by Colby Day, who adapted it from Jaroslav Kalfar’s 2017 novel, “Spaceman of Bohemia.” Regardless of whether this is intentional, the story keeps you guessing as to whether Hanus is real or something Jakub has unwittingly constructed — distractingly so, as that really isn’t the point of the film.

It’s also a little distracting that both Sandler and Mulligan sound as they typically do, Renck noting in the film’s production notes that he doesn’t “do accents.” (You may recall that in “Chernobyl,” a lot of Russian characters sounded VERY British.)

Ultimately, thick accents wouldn’t elevate “Spaceman” to the point of being easy to recommend — especially with an ending that may require more than one viewing to understand. (Thank the cosmos for the rewind function!)

As it is, the film’s appeal lies mainly in the fact that it is not the typical Adam Sandler-Netflix movie, and that takes this journey only so far.

‘Spaceman’

2 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for language)

Running time: 1:48

How to watch: On Netflix Friday

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