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Karen Sandness

Minneapolis, MN
Commenter for
5 years 14 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 09/30/09 at 03:01 pm in response to School fees and the common good

But what about the children and youth whose parents are too overworked or too overwhelmed with their own personal drama to provide any encouragement for their children's education?

Don't all children deserve opportunities to find their own special talents? Children from chaotic, troubled homes may find focus, discipline, self-confidence, emotional fulfillment, and a vision of life outside their narrow environment by running on the track team, playing in the band, singing in the choir...

Posted on 09/30/09 at 03:06 pm in response to Olympics: Obama vs. Lula? Chicago vs. Rio? Which would you choose?

We've had a lot of summer and winter games here in the U.S.: Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Lake Placid, just since 1980.

I like the idea of holding the Olympics in South America for the first time, although I must admit that I have a sentimental attachment to Tokyo.

Posted on 09/21/09 at 03:55 pm in response to One of the faces of Minnesota conservatism: Dave Thul

I'm sick of the right-wingers defining patriotism exclusively in terms of unquestioning support for military action and external signs such as waving the flag.

Has it never occurred to them that those of us who criticize the status quo in both domestic and foreign policy are also patriots, in that we believe that this country needs to take care of business at home?

Posted on 09/18/09 at 09:26 pm in response to Amid the turmoil, Minnesota ACORN folks stay mum

Thank you for proving my point, Tom.

Posted on 09/18/09 at 03:46 pm in response to Amid the turmoil, Minnesota ACORN folks stay mum

Some right-wingers (no doubt encouraged by their brainwashers on radio and TV) appear to think that ACORN is Obama's personal mafia or something similar.

Wrong. It was founded in 1970 in Little Rock, Arkansas (As much as conservatives would love to blame Bill Clinton for anything that ever happened in Arkansas, he was in law school at Yale at the time. Sorry, guys.) as an advocacy and aid group for low-income people.

Inquiring minds want to know who paid the fake pimp and...

Posted on 09/18/09 at 04:00 pm in response to Midnight prep football practice, and other symptoms of sports insanity

Sports are completely out of control in this country. It's gotten so that the only way for young people to get their names in the media is to commit a crime or be a sports star.

Even back when I was in high school in the 1960s, sixth period on Friday was a compulsory pep fest. When teachers complained that their sixth period students were getting behind their other classes, the principal decreed that the periods be switched on a regular basis every Friday, so that fifth period classes...

Posted on 09/18/09 at 09:17 pm in response to Where's the line between anger over policy differences and racist remarks?

I've seen a lot of presidential elections in my life, and I've never seen anyone trying to disprove the citizenship of a candidate and refusing to believe what would otherwise be incontrovertible evidence.

I've never seen such vehement and yet self-contradictory beliefs coexisting. Obama is a Muslim--and a member of a black church with a controversial pastor. Obama is a Communist--and a fascist (not that the people who say this could define either term). All this ire is directed at a...

Posted on 09/17/09 at 02:53 pm in response to Minnesota lawmakers find plenty of faults in new health-care proposal

This is simply a slightly kinder, gentler version of the Republican-inspired Massachusetts plan, with its mandate to buy PRIVATE health insurance or pay a fine. What a crock of corporate welfare to an industry that doesn't deserve it.

Posted on 09/17/09 at 03:00 pm in response to Mad As Hell Doctors press case for single-payer health care at Minnesota Capitol

I'm puzzled as to why Tom Emmers of Delano thinks that single payer would take away "choice."

Canadians can go to any doctor or medical facility they want. There is no such thing as in-network or out-of-network. There are no deductibles or co-pays. There is no such thing as rescission. There is no such thing as being denied treatment for a pre-existing condition. The doctor doesn't have to phone some bureaucrat for permission to initiate treatment.

Yes, Canadians may have to...

Posted on 09/17/09 at 03:24 pm in response to Maple Grove and Minneapolis: A tale of two health-care events

By the way, any discussion of Canadians possibly coming to the U.S. for health care can't leave out the numbers of U.S. citizens who go to foreign countries for health care, dental care, or purchase of drugs.

Minnesotans who winter in Texas and Arizona have found that not only their prescription drugs but also their OTC drugs are much cheaper in Mexico than in the U.S. It is also possible to find high-quality, U.S.-trained doctors and dentists in Mexico who attract clientele from...