HometownSource Blogs

The missionaries who made the decision to take about 30 children out of Haiti into the Dominican Republic after the earthquake have such arrogance concerning their ideals and beliefs, they don’t realize what they did was wrong. In fact, with the threat of trafficking children, they still argue their mission was righteous and there have been no apologies.

According to news reports, they were doing God’s work. But, so were the Crusaders, the Taliban and countless other groups throughout history who feel their actions were justified. Because God said it was.

The missionaries must have realized it was against the law. Or didn’t they care? From recent news reports, some of these children were not orphans due to the earthquake, but homeless, along with their families. There parents may have not felt they could take care of their children properly, but that does not give the Idaho missionaries the right to just gather the children up and take them to another country. How dare they take matters into their own hands, defy the laws of Haiti and steal children away without proper documentation and permission from the government?

If an earthquake occurs in Idaho, and a group of “Austrailians” comes in to whisk away children to “Canada”, I’ll bet these people will not allow it. They probably would be outraged. Why do they think it’s OK to do it to others?

They should stand trial and pay for their arrogance.

I gave myself a present this year.
I went to visit an old friend this past weekend. We had recently reconnected after about 15 years of not being in contact. There was no estrangement, we just had moved on and lost contact.
I spent less than 24 hours at her home in Wisconsin, but it was some of the best hours I have spent in a long time. We did nothing, except one quick trip into town, but talk. We talked about all our antics when we were young and crazy, rehashing some of our mistakes and reveling in some of our accomplishments.
We discussed the events that shaped our lives, both together and with others. We laughed a lot, especially about the fact that we lived through it all.
We also talked about how sane we had become since those days. Our lives certainly more closely resemble old ladies than the ‘hip’ gals we once were.
I know we won’t lose each other again, and I am so grateful for the powers that put us back together again. I always cherished her friendship and I do so even more now.
Reconnecting with an old friend was the best present I could have given myself. This is a big part of what the season is all about … family and friends and love.
I recommend it for everyone.

The Vikings want a new stadium. Now that the Twins have a new stadium, the football team wants a new one even more than they did before. And, I hear the team would like to see the state, county, city and/or taxpayers pay for it.
Why? Don’t they know there is no extra money to be had … especially for a stadium? I think covering the bills and getting jobs for the unemployed should top the spending list, not a new stadium.
I owned a business for a time and I thought it would be nice to pave my parking lot. My business was very rural and although it wasn’t necessary, it would have cut down on the dust in the building. But, I never even considered going to the local government to pay for it. That was my responsibility. It was my business.
The VIkings is a business, too. Why don’t each one of the team, the administration, the owners, put up 10 percent of their yearly salaries towards a stadium? At that rate, they could have one built in no time, at no cost to taxpayers, and they could call it their own.
After expenses, each owner could get another paycheck, over and above their salaries, and make even more money than they do now.
Do you think an idea like this might work? It doesn’t sound too complicated to me.
It would also show people like me that those in professional sports are not as spoiled as they are perceived.

I am so disappointed.
I thought Tiger Woods was one of the good guys. He has a great family, is a dynamic golfer and kept out of the limelight when not performing his sport. A quiet, dedicated family man, or so I thought.
But I, and the world, now learn that for the last 31 months, maybe more, he has been spending time with a mistress. I so thought he was above that.
Is Jamie Grubbs the first? I now think that’s highly unlikely. Woods’ poor behavior probably goes back further than we think.
I don’t watch much sports on TV, but when Tiger was playing and my husband was watching, I would join him. Tiger was a thrill to watch. I respected him.
I will no longer be able to watch TIger without thinking about his behavior. He once made other sports professionals who think they can do anything because of their notoriety, their money or whatever, look bad. He was a role model to young golfers. What has his behavior taught them now?
I am so disappointed.

What is the big deal about President Obama’s message to students to study hard, stay in school, graduate, get a good job?
What are people afraid of? That their children may hear another opinion than from their parents? That they may agree with the idea of staying in school? Tell me what parent doesn’t want their children to study hard, stay in school, graduate and get a good job?
This whole controversy makes absolutely no sense to me.
If nothing else, President Obama’s speech may spur a conversation or two between parent and child, or teacher and student. Heaven forbid!

Gov. Mark Sanford, South Carolina, recently was caught visiting his mistress in South America. And, although he is being called to resign by many of the residents of his state and others, he said he possibly can do a better job as governor because of his infidelity.

The funny thing about that is when then Pres. Bill Clinton was caught having a dalliance with Monica Lewinski, Sanford called for his resignation. He said Clinton was not fit to be president.

This just reinforces the idea that politicians feel what is appropriate behavior for others doesn’t apply to themselves.

The case of Daniel Hauser, his family and government is a tough one. The 13-year-old boy has Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He had one round of chemotherapy and his parents decided to discontinue the treatments, because of religious beliefs. They want to treat Daniel with “alternative” medicines.
Now, I see nothing wrong with “alternative” medicines. I firmly believe there are other methods of treating illnesses than what the AMA says is so.
A judge made the decision Friday that Daniel must have chemotherapy. Keeping him from treatment was tantamount to medical neglect, said child protection officers.
I believe that every family has the right to raise their children without the government sticking their nose in where it doesn’t belong. But, I also believe if the government doesn’t step in on certain issues concerning children, a precedent will be set that could allow other child abuse cases to be ignored. When the life of a child is in danger, someone needs to step in.

In Minnesotan’s eyes, and the rest of the country, Coleman will always be the “sore loser” because of his actions in the 2008 senatorial race. He has dragged on the election results for six months now, way to long for most people’s tastes.

Most recently, he has petitioned the Minnesota Supreme Court to review prior decisions and hopefully decide in his favor.

Here’s what could happen:
The Supreme Court may decide to remand back to the lower cours and order them to count more of the absentee ballots. In that case, the process will be drawn out even longer, with more taxpayer funds spent.

The Supreme Court may not certify Franken as the winner. In that case, Franken may petition the Supreme Court to do so. Another wait for Minnesota to seat its second senator.

Or, the Supreme Court may not certify Franken and the Democrats seat him without a certificate. In that case, the Republicans may fillibuster.

In any of those scenarios, or probably a multitude of others, Coleman will always be looked upon as a “sore loser” and his future life in politics is probably nil.

All entries to this blog are the opinion of the blogger only, and not of the Morrison County Record or ECM Publishers, Inc.
President Obama recently said he favored compensating teachers according to the academic accomplishments of their students. If the students did well, so would the teacher. If the students fail, the teacher would not receive due compensation.

Yet, he gives big business (AIG, banks, automobile manufacturers, etc.) big money to fail.

I agree with Obama about limiting compenstion for teachers who cannot seem to do their job. They shouldn’t be teaching.

He should do the same for the rest of the country. If a business fails due to poor practices, let it fail. It sure did no good giving them hundreds of millions (billions) of dollars. The taxpayers are out that money and the many of the businesses are still in trouble. They are laying off workers faster than they are spending the money.

Stop with the hand-outs.

It’s official. Al Franken has won the senate race in Minnesota. After over five months of appeals and recounts, lost ballots and those ballots deemed illegal, it’s over. Maybe.

It seems Norm Coleman cannot accept the fact he has lost. Give it up, Norm. The judges ruled Franken won by a small margin (312 votes), but he did win. Norm needs to acknowledge that and move on. Let Minnesota move on, too.

Coleman’s spokesman said he will appeal the decision to the state supreme court, but is that best for the state? Norm, do what is best for the people of Minnesota and move on. You lost the election, let the people of Minnesota have two senators in Washington, like the other states.

I was totally against the bailouts in the first place. As far as I’m concerned, if a business is not run properly, it should not be in business. Granted, thousands more people would be in the unemployment line, but I think the companies that are doing things right would grow and take over the spots vacated the those that for so long felt “entitled.” Ergo, more jobs.

But, today I hear that AIG, and other big insurance companies, banks, etc., will be receiving more money down the road. This first check was just an installment. Are we going to keep throwing good money after bad? There are plenty of good, solid banks in my small community that don’t think they are owed a thing “just because” and would love to take the spot of those that do. And do a better job.

A retired grocer from Swanville, MN puts out a four-page newsletter weekly. Half contain bits about his small community, the other half is ads for the two grocery stores his children own.

Last week, though, he added a small paragraph on the front page that read:

Attention! All white people are requested to meet at the south end of the cotton field for orientation and instructions on the 2nd Tuesday of next week.

At first, I thought it strange, but didn’t equate it to the national elections. When I made the connection, to say the least, I was appalled!

I had been so happy to think that most of the people in this country weren’t the ignorant bigots I thought they were. We have elected an articulate, savvy African American. The American people should be proud of the leaps we have made during this historic election.

But no, right here in my community, there are factions who just cannot accept the fact that Barack Obama is as qualified, or more, as anyone else to lead the United States of America. And, he was the people’s choice. And it’s just because he is black.

That brings to mind that there are probably other people/ communities, in even my neck of the woods, that also feel the same way.
It makes me ill.

Why should Minnesotans have to endure another addition to the state sales tax?

In 1967, Minnesota adopted its first sales tax. Three percent was to replace increasing property taxes. In 1971, it increased to 4 percent to help schools. More budget problems helped to increase the sales tax to 5 percent in 1981, six percent in 1983 and another 1/2 percent in 1991. The last increase was to be temporary.

So, why not take that last 1/2 percent and apply it to the Clean Water, Wildlife, Cultural Heritage and Natural Areas Amendment, also known as the Clean Water Legacy Act. More money would be generated for water, wildlife and the arts while Minnesotans would not be taxed another iota.

Am I the only one who heard McCain during his debate with Obama refer to his ability to reach across the aisle to get things accomplished? Yet, did he once agree with anything Obama said during the dabate?

On the other hand, a number of times Obama said he agreed with McCain on many of his statements during the debate.

Now, who seemed more willing to reach across the aisle—Obama or McCain?

Have you ever called a professional to get a bid on a job? They are usually out of the office because they are, after all, professionals and very busy. So you leave you name and number with a brief message on the answering machine, or with a secretary, and wait. And wait. And wait.

My husband and I are thinking of moving. In fact, we have found a house we both really like. But, it has issues. So, to get a better idea of how much these issues are going to cost, we called professionals. In fact, we called four to set up appointments to deal with just one of those issues. One was in Brainerd, one in Staples and two in Little Falls (we live inbetween the three towns.) Two of the four actually called back, set up appointments, met us at the house and gave us bids. The other two, in spite of my explaining exactly what I want (the cost will exceed $10,000) never had a person return my calls to make an appointment. I talked to the owners of the other two businesses, who assured me their employees, experts on what I needed, would call back. I never heard from either one. And of course, the owner never followed up on my call.
I have a friend in the Twin Cities who has a theory. He thinks that small business owners know exactly how much they need to make each month to pay employees, pay the bills and take home enough money to take care of any personal expenses. When that dollar amount is reached, they quit working for the month.

That must have been what happened.

For those of us with needs of our own, it is frustrating. When someone is coming to my home to do work on say, Monday, I have learned to ask which Monday? Will it be this month? I also have learned ask if it will be in the morning or the afternoon, for inevitability I will sit home all day waiting.

I don’t do that any more. If I am told someone will be at my home Monday morning, I will be gone by noon if they have not shown up by then. They will be arriving to an empty house. And I won’t call them to return.

Has this ever happened to you? What have you done? Tell me your story. If I get enough, maybe I will forward them to those businesses who don’t seem to want the work.