With an acrimonious campaign and election just completed and six weeks or so of daily contentiousness from and about the new administration, these pages have been overflowing with vitriol coming from all directions (including my own laptop). Therefore it was quite refreshing to read about the Minnesota congressional delegation hot dish competition ("Rep. Collin Peterson's bear dish wins Sen. Al Franken's yearly event," March 10). That's right — politicians from both sides of the aisle coming together in unity and cooperation to make the most Minnesotan of all things. Yes, in the greater scheme of things, this seems pretty trivial. But to me it represents something often missing these days — togetherness. Not right or left, Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative. Just Minnesotan. Eating hot dish. Together. Marvelous.
Rick Rivett, Chaska
HATE GROUPS
They're here in the Twin Cities, and it's up to us to counter them
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks active hate groups around the country, our own Twin Cities is veritably dripping with hate. We have groups listed as Racist Skinhead, Ku Klux Klan, Anti-Muslim, General Hate, Christian-Identified Hate, White Nationalist and Black Separatist. The rural areas have only one, a Neo-Nazi group up near Park Rapids. (And a White Nationalist group on the North Dakota-Minnesota border we'll allow NoDak to claim, since it coincides with Grand Forks.)
Who would have thought all that could be happening in Minnesota? Let's make them feel as welcome and comfortable as they deserve — that is, not at all. The First Amendment applies only to "government action in restraint of speech," so when we hear or see a hateful presence, we can speak up and we can comfort the accosted. Let the haters feel the sting of exclusion and embarrassment, and the hated feel warmth, acceptance and support. We are Minnesota.
Mary McLeod, St. Paul
KOREAN PENINSULA
Reunification should be the goal, with benefits all around
Regarding the March 8 editorial ("Diplomacy still key to curb North Korea"): The most desirable outcome for four of the five nations with interests in Korea is reunification. China has the most to gain. It could establish its long-sought desire to be the leader of Asia. As the price for China forcing regime change on the North, the U.S. would withdraw militarily from Korea. The South would receive security guarantees, long-sought reunification and, with savings from reductions in military spending, could fund economic development and assimilation of the North. Japan would receive relief from concern of a nuclear-armed North. In addition, by financially contributing to reunification, Japan can go a long way toward easing the still deeply felt animosity in Korea and China from its World War II actions. The U.S., finally after 64 years, would be relieved of guaranteeing South Korea's sovereignty. In addition, concerns of North Korean nuclear ambitions would be gone.
Admittedly, there are loose ends. Open markets for all parties and security understandings are just two that come to mind. I agree that diplomacy can and must work.
S. Scott Standa, Wayzata
AIRPORT SECURITY
TSA ups its intimate humiliation because it doesn't grasp statistics
The Transportation Security Administration has a failure rate of 95 percent in detecting weapons. What is the agency's response? A greater and more intimate groping of travelers ("Those airport pat-downs are about to get more invasive," StarTribune.com, March 3). In today's modern manufacturing processes, failure rates of less than 1 percent are routine, and in some companies they are in the range of single-digit parts per million. This is accomplished not by inspection, the sorting of the bad from the good, but by using powerful and widely respected statistical methods for sampling. The TSA uses inspection, the sorting of the bad from the good, calling it screening. A 100 percent inspection (screening) in manufacturing is typically considered to provide only an 80 percent long-term average of success, hence the need for these statistical methods to achieve the required quality levels demanded by customers, such as automakers of their suppliers. Surely, the TSA, with its enormous budget, has statisticians who can provide the sampling plans that could be used to more effectively provide air travel safety and reduce cost, and what's more, spare most travelers the outrageous humiliation of intimate inspection.
For those of us who use and teach these statistical methods, the only reason we can think of for the TSA doing what it does is because of the grand ignorance of the leadership. Perhaps the leaders do know of these methods, but fear applying them for the political backlash that might ensue. The only good thing about these inspection methods is that the bad guys don't know that these inspection methods do not work. I have compassion for all of us who are now subject to even greater humiliation, and especially for those who may require incontinence products or colostomy devices.
Dale K. Mize, Plymouth
THE JUSTICE SYSTEM
The uneven playing field was obvious in last week's news
"Liberty and justice for all" in America is a farce. Last week it was reported that the former vice president of St. Jude Medical, who stole more than $140,000 from his employer to support a lavish lifestyle, will do no jail time for his felony conviction but instead just 500 hours of community service plus restitution ("Former VP at St. Jude Medical admits theft," March 8). Meanwhile, in West St. Paul, a family is facing a court order to bar them from their home after a high level of nuisance police calls ("After many calls, police want family out," March 8). Five hundred hours of community service for a series of thefts amounting to $140,000 or being barred from your own house over nuisance calls. Someone in our community is getting a sweet deal here, and another is not.
Victoria Ranua, Shakopee
CONGRESSIONAL TOWN HALLS
Emmer has the courage to show up, and it is noticed
Whether representatives are afraid of their constituents, embarrassed of their voting records, or just indifferent, their current unwillingness to face those who elected them is inexcusable.
On behalf of my colleagues in the Minnesota Peace Project, we want to express our appreciation and respect for U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer's open communication with his constituents as exemplified by his regular face-to-face town-hall meetings and his recent town-hall meeting in Sartell, Minn.
Thank you, Rep. Emmer.
Kathy McKay, Minneapolis
TARGET's TROUBLES
CEO inherited a mess
I disagree with a March 2 letter regarding Target's troubles ("CEO took the wrong approach from the start of his tenure"). The current problems are not a direct result of Brian Cornell, the current CEO. As we have recently heard in the news from a prominent government official who said "I inherited a mess!", Brian inherited a mess as well, one that has been unraveling for quite some time: low employee morale, vendor trust and many product category issues that will push customers into the shopping aisles of Target's competitors.
There are many new products and programs out there, but there has to be a willingness from Target corporate to make its assortments better in order to enhance the shopping experience. This isn't rocket science. You have buyers and sellers. Target needs to sit down with more of those sellers in order to "get the cool stuff" back into the stores and online as well.
