| No High Moral Ground (anywhere) When the Dogs of War are Let Loose. |
 |
By John Freivalds
Duluth News Tribune
Published: TBD
Shakespeare was perhaps the first person to use that phrase which aptly fits what is happening in Gaza. The dogs of war is a phrase spoken by Mark Antony William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "Cry 'Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war."
Local View: Immigration has long, brutal history, legacy in US |
|
Published October 7th, 2023
By John Freivalds
Duluth News Tribune
Illegal aliens, migrants, undocumented immigrants, open borders: those are words and terms in today’s headlines — yet we forget that the Pilgrims we now hold in high regard didn’t arrive that way. In fact, historian John Kuroski notes that the original illegal immigrants were the Pilgrims who we venerate every Thanksgiving with table decorations and turkeys.
|
Local View: Insisting on 'English only' is truly befuddling. |
|
Published 9/6/2023
By John Freivalds
Duluth News Tribune
We are living in an era when many people are saying, “Let’s be isolationist” and, “Let the world take care of itself.” Along with that comes the feeling that English, American English, is the only language that matters. In fact, many people believe English isn’t a language; it is like air or water in that you don’t think about it.
Thus, the University of West Virginia, faced with a budget crisis, dropped teaching and language courses this August. But, due to public pressure, it was forced to rescind some of the cuts. The New York Times reported that, “Language requirements for graduation have been eliminated at Amherst College, the University of Alabama, Johns Hopkins, George Washington University and Duquesne University, among others.”
| Nazi whistleblower's advice, lessons still ring true | |
Polish soldier, resistance-fighter, and diplomat during World War II Jan Karski (left) greets U.S. Gen. Colin Powell at the opening of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1980 in Washington, D.C. / United States Holocaust Memorial Museum photo.
By John Freivalds
Published 4/15/2023
Duluth News Tribune
Jan Karski. Who dat? And why care? Karski in 1942 sought to inform the western world about the atrocities being committed by the Nazis against the Jews in Poland. In today’s parlance, he was a whistleblower. His actions came to light in a one-hour PBS special in March, part of its Great Performance series: “The Legacy of Jan Karski.” Imagine, Karski risked life and limb to bring these Nazi horror stories to light, and only 83 years later did he get some real recognition in America.
|
New 'warning to the West': beware Ukraine fatigue |
Ukrainian security forces comb through debris shortly after a strike at a residential building in Konstantanivka, Ukraine on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023. Russian shelling has killed at least eight civilians in towns and villages along the front line.
By John Freivalds
Published 1/31/2023
Minneapolis Star Tribune
The NATO defense ministers, including the government I serve, Latvia, have decided to send more weaponry to Ukraine to fight the Russians, including fancy battle tanks. There is total unanimity that the war should continue within the military leadership. They recognized that is the only way to stop President Vladimir Putin. He will not go quietly into the night and go to his villa in Sochi, drink cognac and enjoy his pension.
