Day-AfterLeftovers
November
26,
2021
Music Association: Diana Ross -
ReflectionsElection Day-AfterTwin
Cities Results
November 3,
2021
Minneapolis voted down the move to
restructure police under public safety.
Minneapolis
and St. Paul both approved rent stability measures and solidly
re-elected mayors Frey and Carter.
Tallies
The
question restructuring Minneapolis police had 62,813 yes votes (43.83%)
and 80,506 no votes (56.17%).
The question of
Minneapolis rent stability had 75,598 yes votes (53.21%) and 66,468 no
votes (46.79%).
And the question of St. Paul rent
stability had 30,965 yes votes (52.89%) and 27,581 no votes (47.11%).
Voter
turnout was higher than usual for an odd-numbered year.
Music Association: Jefferson
Airplane - Count On MeElection DayNew
Laws Are Do-Overs
November
2,
2021
Minneapolis takes a next step in
policing with today's election.
The
question before Minneapolis voters is whether or not to change the
governmental structure of the Minneapolis police, in the wake of George
Floyd's murder by police officers last year.
If the
majority of
voters say yes, the office of the police will be moved under a new
office of Public Safety. It neither defunds nor abolishes the
Minneapolis police. It is a step in the direction of police reform and
civil equity.
Whether the voters say yes or no, the
issue of
police reform will not end with a single vote or a single election.
That's not how law making works in a democracy.
Law
making is
doing over the existing laws. The new laws strike out old language and
add new language to the (old) laws in the Constitution, state statutes,
city charters, or city ordinances. The Minneapolis police question
(Question 2) would rewrite sections 7.3, 7.4, and 8.2 of the
Minneapolis city charter.
Law making is an
incremental process -- sometimes one step forward, two steps back. Laws
evolve.
Sometimes
people laud the founding fathers of the United States in the creation
of the Constitution, failing to recognize that it was the second try --
a do over.
The “Articles
of Confederation and Perpetual Union”
was the first governing document of the United States, with ten
presidents under the ACPU (1781-1788) starting with Samuel Huntington,
although they were all presidents of congress.
The states
held more powers (raising money, coining money, raising armies) than
the federal government. The federal government was broke and broken. In
1789, the United States Constitution replaced the ACPU. It was amended
27 times, do overs of the do over.
The November 2, 2021 ballot
question - Department of
Public Safety
Shall
the Minneapolis City Charter be amended to remove the Police Department
and replace it with a Department of Public Safety that employs a
comprehensive public health approach to the delivery of functions by
the Department of Public Safety, with those specific functions to be
determined by the Mayor and City Council by ordinance; which will not
be subject to exclusive mayoral power over its establishment,
maintenance, and command; and which could include licensed peace
officers (police officers), if necessary, to fulfill its
responsibilities for public safety, with the general nature of the
amendments being briefly indicated in the explanatory note below, which
is made a part of this ballot?
Music Association: Jewel - Again
and AgainWhere The Renters LiveRent
Money
November 1,
2021
Tomorrow,
St. Paul and Minneapolis will vote (or not vote) on rent money issues.
The St. Paul question is the hot topic
because it limits rent
increases to 3% without any automatic exceptions
for inflation or new construction. Mailers, texts, door tags, ads, and
phone calls have saturated St. Paul, coming
from a Minneapolis-based organization of rental
property owners and out-of-state Real Estate Investment Trusts
(REITs) with nearly
$4 million.
They
claim builders like Ryan Companies (that builds skyscrapers and
subdivisions) will go out of business because of the 3% limit on rent
increases. If there is so much new construction in St. Paul, why is
there a housing shortage in St. Paul?
The
median year of apartment
construction in St. Paul was 1963.
In
the Twin Cities metro area (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington, and
other suburbs), the home ownership rate in 2020 was 73%.
St. Paul
has more rental units (57,271) than owner-occupied units
(55,717). The White population of St. Paul is
39% renters, compared to 82% of Black, 64% of
Native, 62% of Latin and 58% of Asian households, according to a 2019 American
Community survey. The population of
St. Paul is 311,527 and 18.9
% live in poverty.
Yet
the mailers have the audacity to say the rent stability will threaten
builders and “the
entrepreneur who is trying to increase their generational wealth by
acquiring and renting properties.”Weep
for the real estate investor who needs wealth to pass on to children
and grandchildren. How will wealth accumulate with only 3% annual
increases?
From a Spokesman-Recorder
article by Carolyn Szczepanski:
During
an October 13 press conference, some local landlords showed their
support for the rent stabilization policy, rejecting the claims of the
opposition with their personal experience as property owners.
“I
have been getting flyers in the mail about this initiative, and they
say that small mom-and-pop landlords would go out of business if this
passes,” said Katheryn Schneider, who owns and rents property
in
the North End of St Paul.
“Well, they
haven’t
spoken to me, and it’s just not true. This initiative would
change nothing for us. We take pride in our buildings and feel it is a
privilege to be able to provide housing. The rent stabilization measure
won’t have any impact on responsible property owners, but
will
protect our community against price gouging and predatory landlords who
want to use housing to extract as much profit as possible.”
The November 2, 2021 ballot
question - Whether to
adopt a Residential Rent Stabilization Ordinance
“Should
the City adopt the proposed Ordinance limiting rent increases? The
Ordinance limits residential rent increases to no more than 3% in a
12-month period, regardless of whether there is a change of occupancy.
The Ordinance also directs the City to create a process for landlords
to request an exception to the 3% limit based on the right to a
reasonable return on investment. A "yes" vote is a vote in favor of
limiting rent increases. A "no" vote is a vote against limiting rent
increases.”
For
more information, Jackson
Long works through the arguments about rent stability and the
details of how it would work.
Music Association: Supertramp -
Long Way HomeCool ItLeaves
Fall
October 11,
2021Right now in
Minnesota, the leaves are changing from greens to yellows, oranges, and
reds. A cool wind blows.
Trees with less water
turn colors sooner and drop their leaves faster.
Thud.
(That's all the leaves dropping all at once.) Thud. (There goes another
tree.)
It
was an exceptionally dry summer. Climate change is about extremes, and
in Minnesota, the effect is wetter weather, mostly. This year, the
pendulum swung to dry. I learned that tumbleweeds are mostly Russian
thistle. It was a dry summer.
It didn't rain. It
spritzed. Too dry for drips. Too quick for mist.
Maybe
climate change is effecting people too.
Music Association: Little River
Band - Cool Change Bang On The Drum All DayRepercussions
Of The Pandemic
September
22,
2021
Percussion
instruments can be as simple as a pan, a barrel, or a table. They
aren't instruments until they meet up with hands.
I
will lend you a hand.
(This is me on the drums.)
If
you think you shouldn't have a Covid-19 vaccine, you are thinking too
much. If you aren't vaccinated, get vaccinated.
As
of the end of August, four and a half million people worldwide have
died directly from Covid-19 (4,518,351).
Covid-19 has directly killed 634,415
in the United States. The availability of Covid-19 vaccinations has
meant that those dying alone of Covid-19 are anti-vaxers (Covidiots).
Many other people are dying from serious but treatable illnesses due to
either fear of going into hospitals or the health resources not
being available during the pandemic. The decline of health and dental
maintenance will have consequences.
Every American
president alive today has been vaccinated, from President Carter to
President Biden.
This is the Afghanistan War
(2001-2021) of pandemics. It will not end quickly. Slowly, the
Covidiots will suffer long, painful
solitary* deaths while those vaccinated will get periodic booster shots
and live on.
I
drove past a funeral yesterday, with few people seeing the casket into
a hearse. They all seemed to be looking at me like I should stop and do
something or say something. Maybe they just wanted more people and less
traffic.
So many people are not properly mourning --
having stalled or complicated grief responses -- not getting closure.
Anecdotal
evidence indicates a rise in domestic and child abuse, a rise in drug
and alcohol addiction and relapse, a rise in depression and
isolation, and accentuated political and social divisions.
Covid-fog
will be a long-term problem for many adults.
Economically,
Covid-19
is killing the hospitality industry, the wider service industry, and
global manufacturing. Supply chain shortages will kill Just-In-Time
delivery, increasing inventory overhead, and increasing prices.
(I'm
still drumming my table.)
Music Association: Dire Straits
- Industrial Disease* Death is usually solitary.
Ida
Evacuated
August 30,
2021Hurricane Ida landed
just before noon yesterday, as a Category 4* hurricane with wind speeds
of 150 mph.
Over a million (1,036,201) power company
customers in Louisiana
are without power today, according to the number-crunchers at poweroutage.us.
Pictures
and videos show roofs peeled off of some buildings, but no word of
breached levies like what happened 16 years ago with Hurricane Katrina.
No
pink
inflatable
unicorn llamas have been spotted in flooded streets (see July
15, 2021).
One
death has been reported so far, and Ida has been downgraded to a
tropical storm.
Music Association: Scorpions -
Rock You Like A Hurricane* On the Saffir-Simpson
Hurricane Wind Scale
Saigon 2.0Leaving
Afghanistan
August 15,
2021The
American troop evacuation of Afghanistan was a deal between President
Trump
and the Taliban from September 2020 to occur by May 1, 2021. Trump
freed 5,000 Taliban prisoners to make the evacuation
agreement. What a deal for ... you know ... the Taliban.
President
Biden is going through with the troop evacuation from Afghanistan. It
is being compared to the “Fall
of Saigon”
when U.S. troops left Vietnam in 1975.
Damn right.
The war in Vietnam was another long war the United States had no
business being in.
President Trump never had the
guts to end the longest American war (2001-2021) while he served as
president.
Neither did President Obama.
And
worse, President Bush should have never started the war in Afghanistan
or the war in Iraq. Bush explained U.S. troops
fighting in Afghanistan as nation
building.
If that were possible, it would have been built by now, after 20 years,
$4 trillion to $6.5 trillion*, and 2,448+ U.S. troops.**
Likewise,
President Kennedy should have never sent 'advisers' to South Vietnam.
President Johnson never should have escalated the war. And President
Nixon never had the guts to end the war.
The war in
Afghanistan has been a tug
of war
in Afghanistan, with the United States stepping into an already crowded
list of countries (Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia,...) pushing or
pulling Afghans in extreme directions. Russia
also lost a war in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a
land, not a country.
South
Vietnamese civilians try to escape Saigon on April 29, 1975 via an Air
America Huey Helicopter on the roof of the Pittman Apartments (22 Gia
Long Street / 22 Ly Tu Trong Street). The Pittman Apartments were the
headquarters of the CIA deputy chief of station and the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID). The picture was taken by Dutch
photographer Hubert van Es using a 300mm camera lens. Van Es would
later cover the failed Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.
(photo nearly-colorized by
Hopes-and-Dreams.net)
Music Association: Temptations -
Build Me Up
* The U.S. Afghanistan War
was paid in credit, not cash. President Harry Truman temporarily raised
top tax rates to 92%
to pay for the Korean War. President Lyndon Johnson temporarily raised
top tax rates to 77% to pay
for the Vietnam War. President George W. Bush cut tax rates
for
the wealthiest down to 8% rather than raise taxes, at the outset of
Afghanistan and Iraq wars. The direct costs of the Afghanistan and Iraq
wars was $2 trillion in 2020. The estimated interest costs by 2050 will
be $6.5 trillion. (source: Ellen
Knickmeyer | AP)
**
The U.S. Afghanistan War claimed the lives of 2,448 U.S. troops, 3,846
U.S. contractors, 66,000 Afghan military and police, 1,144 NATO and
allied troops, 47,245 Afghan civilians, 51,191 Taliban and other
opposition fighters, 444 aid workers, and 72 journalists. (source:
Ellen
Knickmeyer | AP)
Climate ChangeWildfires
- Out Of Control
July 21,
2021Wildfires (by
definition) are out of control. The United States has 83 large
wildfires in 13 states, currently burning 1,293,636 acres. Montana
has 20 large wildfires. Idaho has 18. Oregon
has 8, including the country's largest, the Bootleg fire, which has
burned over 364,000 acres. California has 7 large wildfires and 5,267
wildfires of all sizes. Washington
state has 7. Alaska and Arizona have 6. Wyoming has 5. Nevada has 2.
New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Minnesota each have one large wildfire.
Canada's British Columbia province has 741,316
acres of wildfires. Smoke from these western wildfires have
filled the air as far away as New Jersey and New York.
In
Russia's Yakutia,
wildfires are burning approximately 3,700,000 acres of forests
and tundra.
The scale of these fires are
unprecedented. Day is night, and night is aglow.
To
give some idea of the size of 1.2 million acres and 3.7 million acres,
Delaware is 1,593,153 acres, and Connecticut is 3,547,731 acres.
Central
China and Germany are experiencing unprecedented flooding.
And
Japan has only vaccinated 8% of its population.
So...
the world should ignore Climate
Change and the Covid-19
pandemic and begin the Olympics?!?
Music Association: Prince -
Let's Go Crazy
German
RainPink
Unicorn Llama
July 15,
2021In
the flooded town-lake of Hagen, a man rode a pink inflatable
unicorn llama, which I would argue has more practical value than a
billionaire riding into space on the USS Vanity.
Music Association: Coldplay -
Trouble
Abortion
Russia - Ukraine War
end
Israeli apartheid
China
in 1989
George
Floyd
Covid-19Trump
Timeline (PDF)Voter
Suppression
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