Breaking News

Columnists

Trump’s outrageous threats get results

Think about it. Heads of government do not normally reveal the texts of private communications from other heads of state. Yet that is what Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store of Norway did Sunday, on the first weekend of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where the international press would have no difficulty finding appalled foreign leaders to comment. You could think of this as a hostile act of a statesman appalled that the American head of government does not know that the government of Norway does not decide who gets the Nobel Peace Prize. It is probably better to think of it ...

Ali risked all for his beliefs

Muhammad Ali was honored with his own forever stamp by the United States Postal Service on Jan. 15. “I should be a postage stamp,” Ali famously once said, “because that’s the only way I’ll ever get licked.” I attended the launch celebration in Louisville where Bob Costas served as the master of ceremonies. As I listened to each speaker share memories of The Greatest, I could not help but think about how grounded Ali was in his convictions. I keep coming back to the part of Muhammad Ali’s story when he refused to be drafted for the Vietnam War. Many sought draft ...

Risky moves

Well, Donald Trump finally got to hold a Nobel Peace Prize, which was gifted to him by last year’s winner, María Corina Machado. Unfortunately, this regifting was not recognized by the Norwegian-based committee. Some wondered whether the original prize was deserved, given that Machado encouraged a foreign government to attack her home country to open the way for the opposition. It would appear that Machado abased herself to no purpose. Her attempt to flatter Trump fell on deaf ears. It seems that he favors the present Venezuelan Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez. This action by Trump ...

Words that stay with us and shape our lives

I was in a meeting with a person who shared something they heard that has had a significant impact on their life. My own thinking went into overdrive on the people and messages that have impacted me (and still do). These messages have been received in various ways: one-on-one with a person, hearing a statement in a meeting or at a presentation, reading a book, watching a video, and so forth. Here is a partial list of messages that have impacted me. I hope you will enjoy this and will add your own to the list. * “Most of what we worry about never happens—and what does happen is ...

What’s the matter with Minnesota?

Minnesota? Somalis? Nine billion dollars in alleged welfare fraud? To understand what’s going on from a distance, it helps to understand basic culture. Minnesota was settled largely by people of Scandinavian and German ancestry. In survey after survey, Minnesota has ranked No. 1 or No. 2 among states, often just behind neighboring and much smaller North Dakota, in social connectedness, civic participation, workforce participation and voter turnout. It has traditionally led the nation in levels of trust and conscientiousness. This has been coupled with political behavior that ...

Is a red line still a red line?

One of the most embarrassing moments of the extremely embarrassing Barack Obama presidency came in the context of the Syrian civil war. In August 2012, Obama vowed that “a red line for us,” which would thereby necessitate some sort of American intervention, “is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized.” The 44th president continued: “That would change my calculus.” Except it didn’t. A year later, former Iran- and Russia-backed Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad crossed Obama’s “red line,” launching a lethal sarin gas on his ...