Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/mary-turck/page/2/)
Mary Turck (maryturck@gmail.com) is a freelance writer, editor, teacher, and lifelong activist. She is the former editor of the TC Daily Planet, the Connection to the Americas and AMERICAS.ORG. She is also a recovering attorney and the author of many books for young people (and a few for adults), mostly focusing on historical and social issues. She lives in St. Paul with her husband, two daughters, and two cats.
On the day that President John F. Kennedy was shot, November 22, 1963, a classmate told me that she could see why I was upset, as I was a Democrat, like the president. But why should she, a Republican, feel bad? Something like that is going on now, with the Ferguson/Michael Brown grief and protests. Now, as in 1963, the voices that say “their sorrow, their problem, not mine” are wrong. We are all in this together. Continue Reading
If the Storify story doesn’t appear, refresh your browser. Original story here.[<a href=”//storify.com/maryturck/hands-up-don-t-buy” target=”_blank”>View the story “Black Friday protests: Hands up, don’t shop” on Storify</a>] Continue Reading
What can any one person do in the face of #Ferguson and grief over a child’s death and despair over a country’s continuing racism and failure? What can any white person say, in the face of so much white failure, white racism, white guilt? Continue Reading
With the election over, President Obama has no good reason to delay executive orders to mitigate the harsh application of current immigration laws. Every day that he delays means more families torn apart by deportation. He cannot change the immigration law itself — only Congress could do that, and they won’t. But the president can and must use his executive power to change the way that the current law is applied. That is now the only way to stop deportation of family members and longtime U.S. residents and to protect refugees and asylum seekers fleeing violence and terror in Mexico and Central America. Continue Reading
Volunteering at a rape crisis center in college changed Sarah Deer’s life. She worked with rape victims, heard their stories, accompanied them through trials. The crisis center was “grass-roots, tiny,” Deer says, but its influence was huge. Her work there set her on the road to becoming a lawyer and, this year, winning the prestigious MacArthur Foundation fellowship commonly known as a “genius grant.” Continue Reading
The increase in the minimum wage is the biggest public health legislation passed in the last legislative session, according to Minnesota health commissioner, Dr. Ed Ehlinger. Moving from lowest twenty percent income level to the second-lowest twenty percent income increases life expectancy by three years. Public health is also closely tied to transportation, said Ehlinger in his keynote address to the October 25 St. Paul Healthy Transportation for All forum. His insights offer a lot of food for thought. Continue Reading
The weekend brought news of two dirty tricks that could cheat people out of the health care coverage they need. Continue Reading
Ebola has killed one person in the United States, and two more are infected and being treated. E. coli killed two children in Oregon in September, and at least one more child is in serious condition. The CDC estimates that every year almost 48 million Americans get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die from food-borne illnesses, including E.coli, salmonella, campylobacter and others. Continue Reading
The package of information came in the mail. It covered just one part of the Medicare plan choices: the Part D prescription drug coverage. It weighed two pounds. Health insurance decisions are weighty questions! Every year, you need to make those decisions. If you do nothing at all, you are choosing to continue with last year’s insurance, even if the premium or coverage has changed. What do you need to know to make a good decision? Continue Reading
Start poor, stay poor — there are exceptions, but that’s pretty much the rule in America. From last week’s depressing news cycle, some insights on how it works — Continue Reading