September 1, 2026

Today is the 6th day of the Minnesota State Fair, and the last day, Labor Day – the latest possible, Sep 7 – is 6 days away. [POSTNOTE Sep 2: my kid brother, for many years a Californian, visited the Minnesota State Fair on Sep 1 for several hours and had what I. would describe as a WOW! reaction to the entire experience.  There’s still time to go.]

In Minnesota, since 1985, school has always been mandated to start the Day after Labor Day so as to not conflict with the State Fair, a Minnesota institution since statehood in 1858.

Last year the Minnesota Legislature passed a modification of the Law, doubtless after extensive research and debate, giving school districts the next two years to exercise an option of opening school before Labor Day.  Minnesota has 325 school districts; apparently 42 will exercise the option….  So goes the ordinary process of making and adjusting rules of the road – the reason for lawmakers, and the rule of law, in any Civil Society.

For the ordinary citizen, like me, all that we notice is the final result.  For the people we elect, who make the rules, there can and should be exhaustive and, frankly, exhausting debate about implications of this rule and that.  In the instant case, the next two years will be an experiment to see if a 40 year rule should be retained, or relaxed, or modified.

All is not so simple, as we are learning daily in the chaos of throwing out the rules and unilaterally imposing a new rulebook, and effectively changing the definition of our civil society.  There now seems the chaos of the day, every day…

At the inauguration of the 47th president in January 2025, I made a decision to keep the news section (usually about eight pages) of our daily Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper (to which we subscribe).  [Postnote Sep 3: friend, John, asked me about these papers yesterday.  I’m including a photo of the collection below]

I had planned to do this only for the first 100 days of the administration.  At the time, I thought it would give a good sense of how much drastic change the President planned to try to enact.

I was grossly wrong.  I am still keeping those newspapers, now in the hundreds.  They’re in boxes, neatly kept, and the odds are they will never be looked at again, by anyone, but I have this need to document the disastrous times we are assaulted with, daily.

Those hundreds of newspapers, and my blog, are some of my personal actions…and my own education.

[POSTNOTE after publication early Sep 2, 2026: the latest outrages as recorded by Heather Cox Richardson in her Sep. 1 Letter to an American, re White House ballroom and the USPS.]

At 9-11-2026, the 25th anniversary of 9-11, I’m going to recall the past and attempting to foretell the future.  I hope you’ll take a look, then.  I also hope you participate.  I don’t plan to make it excessively long – just my thoughts as usual.

My personal game plan: 1) how I remember the year preceding 9-11-01; 2) a summary of the 25 years beginning with 9-11; 3) a summary of my memory of the 50 years before 9-11; 4) my effort at fortune telling the 50 years ahead of us, depending on the fork in the road most of us choose to take: renewing democracy, or embracing authoritarianism.

Now I’ve said it, and on 9-11-2026 I have to produce a product.  Check me then.

My friend, Kathy, recently gave me this mug she found at a volunteer recycling facility.  It sort of hits the nail on the head.  Elders like me are put out to pasture, and that’s best – our time has passed.  But over the years we’ve soaked up the wisdom of experience,  that hopefully is not forgotten or dismissed.

Enjoy Labor Day and get ready to make a difference in the next months.