Hopes and Dreams - Stuck on AutoDrive

Minnesota Primary
Vote
August 11, 2020

Hopefully you have already voted by mail: followed the instructions so your ballot won't get rejected and sent it in early. To date, more than half a million Minnesotans have requested absentee ballots for today's primary election and about 423,000 ballots have been sent in and accepted.

If not, Minnesota voters should vote today (Tuesday, August 11) in the primary (and vote again in the general election on or before Tuesday, November 3, 2020).

Polling locations can be found through the Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State or by calling 651-215-1440 or 1-877-600-VOTE (8683).

Here is information on registering to vote on Election Day.

Election judges will be wearing masks and will sanitize surfaces for your protection. Voters must wear masks and practice social distancing for the protection of other voters and election judges. Curbside voting is available by request.

If voters aren’t already wearing masks or face coverings, they will be offered a disposable mask in the polling place. If they refuse to wear the mask, they can cast a ballot through curbside voting without violating the state’s mask requirement. If a voter declines a mask and curbside voting, they will still be allowed to vote, but their name will be recorded as in violation of the mask requirement.

vote

Music Association: Rush - Freewill
“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”

In A Nutshell
Back To School
August 10, 2020

What's the difference between closing the country then opening schools and opening without closing?

One is a nutshell.

The other is a nut's hell.

Another thing that doesn't make any sense is sending teachers and students back to school, expecting kids to behave in ways that no child has ever behaved in the history of children.

Anyone who thinks that every kid is not going to spit on their hand and chase each other around shoving their hand in each other’s faces yelling out “Covid! Covid!”... has clearly never been around children. A kid goes to school with a Pikachu mask and comes home with a Spiderman mask, after trading the Pikachu mask for a Ninjago mask, which he traded for a Hulk mask, and finally settled on Spidey on the bus ride home. Masks were used as headbands, blindfolds, slingshots, and parachutes for action figures. And that's just the first day.

Could state education departments work with PBS to broadcast educational programming like Massachusetts set up? Could educational TV be set up on a national level like Mexico is doing?

Not in this country with this president it couldn't.

This president has spent the year barking that Covid-19 was a hoax or would go away with warm weather or encouraging quackery cures or ridiculing mask wearers, instead of providing actual leadership to fully close the country and stop activity for a few weeks. Trump, the king of crybabies, couldn't make the tough call. He still can't.

New Zealand could fully close and then reopen because clearly they are smarter than us and have national leadership. Covid-19 is dead to them. It's as if the perfect vaccine had already been created and distributed to all New Zealanders.

With about 165 candidate vaccines, Covid-19 vaccine is right around the corner, just like the self-driving car. But just like tomorrow's self-driving car, the vaccine will not be perfect. It will not be a cure all. The range of common vaccines goes from the one-time polio vaccine to annual flu shots. The Covid-19 vaccine is expected to be more like the flu shots and less like a polio shot. Not that New Zealand needed any shots at all.

New Zealand teachers and students can go to school without repercussions, because they had a national lockdown. New Zealand has gone 100 days without a new case of Covid-19.

Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools will distance learn this fall. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is calling for a national lockdown for up to six weeks to stop Covid-19, save lives, and save the economy.

Better late than never.

Music Association: Alice Cooper - School's Out

U.S. suffered the worst economic contraction with the GDP dropping a record 32.9%

US GDP Drops 32.9%
July 31, 2020

The U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell a record 32.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020, the worst quarterly contraction on record. By comparison, Europe's GDP fell 11.2% in the second quarter.

“The decrease in real GDP reflected decreases in personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, private inventory investment, nonresidential fixed investment, residential fixed investment, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by an increase in federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased. The decrease in PCE reflected decreases in services (led by health care) and goods (led by clothing and footwear). The decrease in exports primarily reflected a decrease in goods (led by capital goods). The decrease in private inventory investment primarily reflected a decrease in retail (led by motor vehicle dealers). The decrease in nonresidential fixed investment primarily reflected a decrease in equipment (led by transportation equipment), while the decrease in residential investment primarily reflected a decrease in new single-family housing. Current‑dollar GDP decreased 34.3 percent, or $2.15 trillion, in the second quarter to a level of $19.41 trillion. In the first quarter, GDP decreased 3.4 percent, or $186.3 billion.” [source: Bureau of Economic Analysis]

U.S. GDP drops a record 32.9% under the Trump Administration

Music Association: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Free Fallin'

Black Lives Matter
The Back Rooms
July 26, 2020

The next steps for the George Floyd Movement are advanced lessons in civics barely covered in college courses.

Activism and attention are needed in the city councils. When the mayor and the city council talk about zoning, they are talking about black lives. When they talk about projects, they are talking about black lives. When they are talking about funding, they are talking about black lives. When they are talking about housing, they are talking about black lives. When they are talking about schools, they are talking about black lives. When they are talking about everything and anything, they are talking about black lives. And what they are not speaking to is helping black lives.

Each meeting of each sub-unit of the city or county or state must be participated with the same activism and attention.

When courts hear cases, without regard to skin color of those involved, they are talking about black lives. Because the key question in every case is whether the same set of standards are being applied. That question must be asked over and over, until justice finally is blind.

It has been two months since George Floyd was murdered by the police in Minneapolis. What has changed?

The Department of Homeland Security troops fighting Portland protesters have become a “white spectacle” in the words of Rev. E.D. Mondainé, the president of the Portland branch of the NAACP.

In an Op-Ed in the Washington Post on July 23rd, Mondainé said, “recent events might be a sign that our work in the streets should be coming to an end.” He is “proposing that we take the cause of Black Lives Matter into those places where tear gas and rubber bullets and federal agents cannot find us, and where there is less risk of spectacle distracting from our true aims. In boardrooms, in schools, in city councils, in the halls of justice, in the smoky back rooms of a duplicitous government — that is where we will finally dismantle the gears of the brutal, racist machine that has been terrorizing black Americans and hollowing out the moral character of this nation since its inception.”

Yes and vote. Get started now.

Expect trouble. Expect voter suppression. Expect your name to have been taken off the voting rolls.

If you are voting by mail, expect the mail to be slower than ever before because President Trump's new Postmaster General (Republican mega-donor and Trump ally Louis DeJoy) has canceled all post office overtime to (if you believe this) save money.

Go to vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote and spend 30 seconds entering your name, address and date of birth, to find out instantly if your voter registration is current. If not, follow the instructions to register. Next, go to vote.org/absentee-ballot and sign up to receive an absentee ballot for the November election. It takes about two minutes. Have your friends and family do the same. If they’re technology-challenged, help them through it or give them the phone numbers for their states’ election offices, available at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. (This paragraph is on loan from another Washington Post Op-Ed.)

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/

https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot/

https://www.eac.gov/voters/election-day-contact-information

Music Association: Four Tops - I'll Be There

The Washington DC Racists
July 13, 2020

Washington DC NFL team drops name by listing the name 6 times

After 87 years of using an offensive slur as a football team name, team owner Dan Snyder announced today that they would be dropping the name, under the offensive mascot letterhead and by listing the name seven times.

It was time a long, long time ago.

Snyder only changed the name due to pressure from sponsors and stakeholders FedEx (stadium), Amazon, Nike, and others, who only now, in the wake of George Floyd's murder, realize their collaboration is systemic racism.

Congratulations are due to Ray Halbritter, the Representative of Oneida Nation who had started the Change the Mascot campaign to fight against the team’s name years ago. Also congratulations to David Glass, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe and president of the National Coalition Against Racism In Sports and Media.

My suggestion for a replacement name is the Washington Filibusters, representing a dogged-devotion to avoiding progress by talking incessantly without meaning anything.

The Internet has been quick to point out that maybe Snyder only plans to change the “Washington” part of the name. (He's such an @$$.) Other suggestions include: the Washington Georges (in honor of George Floyd), the Washington Monuments, the DC Comics, the Washington Overnight Deliverers, the Baby Trumps, the Washington Humidity (try to sew up that mascot costume!), and the Washington Pigskins.

After attending a 2014 protest-rally-march at the University of Minnesota over the former NFL-DC name, I said, “The name will change. It's just a matter of time.”

NFL-DC protest-rally-march on a warm, sunny November 2, 2014

Music Associations: Enya - Only Time
& America - Horse With No Name

Shock -- Outrage ☮ planning ahead ☮ community action ☮ Black Lives Matter ☮ police vandalism ☮ racial inequities ☮ police brutality ☮ qualified immunity ☮ stop police ☮ police hearing

The George Floyd Murder Tou Thao, Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, & Thomas Lane on George Floyd

First Hearing For Chauvin, Thao, Kueng, & Lane
June 30, 2020

Yesterday afternoon, Hennepin County District Court held the first hearing for the former Minneapolis police officers charged with killing George Floyd -- Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane.

District Judge Peter Cahill said that public commentary on the case has reached inappropriate levels; however he did not mention Hopes and Dreams specifically. The next hearing is scheduled for September 11, 2020, and the trial is scheduled for March 8, 2021.

The picture from Memorial Day has Tou Thao with Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane on George Floyd, pressing him into the pavement.

Music Association: Men At Work - Over Kill

Stop Police!
Police Escalation
June 29, 2020

Philadelphia police and mayor have apologized for using tear gas on protesters and have said they won't do it again unless absolutely necessary.

Meanwhile, Mayor Ginther of Columbus, Ohio ordered the police to turn in their tear gas. The police wrote back a letter asking to talk it over.

Columbus police letter on tear gas June 19, 2020

Columbus police letter on tear gas June 19, 2020

Police brutality: NYC police cars run over protesters, LA cops bat protesters, Buffalo police stampede old man.

Police brutality in 2020 is not just tear gas and pepper spray. It's police cars running over protesters in New York, Los Angeles police batting protesters like they are baseballs, and a stampede of Buffalo police knocking over a 75 year old man.

The police escalate tension and escalate violence. They are impatient. They don't want to wait for a non-violent resolution. They want to get home to the suburbs. Only eight percent of Minneapolis police live in Minneapolis. They are not part of the Minneapolis community.

There are better answers.

    Calling the police often escalates situations, puts people at risk, and leads to violence. Anytime you seek help from the police, you’re inviting them into your community and putting people who may already be vulnerable into dangerous situations. Sometimes people feel that calling the police is the only way to deal with problems. But we can build trusted networks of mutual aid that allow us to better handle conflicts ourselves and move toward forms of transformative justice, while keeping police away from our neighborhoods.

    1 Don’t feel obligated to defend property—especially corporate “private” property. Before confronting someone or contacting the police, ask yourself if anyone is being hurt or endangered by property “theft” or damage. If the answer is “no,” then let it be.

    2 If something of yours is stolen and you need to file a report for insurance or other purposes, consider going to the police station instead of bringing cops into your community. You may inadvertently be putting someone in your neighborhood at risk.

    3 If you observe someone exhibiting behavior that seems “odd” to you, don’t assume that they are publicly intoxicated. A traumatic brain injury or a similar medical episode may be occurring. Ask if they are OK, if they have a medical condition, and if they need assistance.

    4 If you see someone pulled over with car trouble, stop and ask if they need help or if you can call a tow truck for them. If the police are introduced to such a situation, they may give punitive and unnecessary tickets to people with car issues, target those without papers, or worse. [8 more]

Police alternatives in Minneapolis (www.mpd150.com)

Music Association: Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

The George Floyd Movement
Qualified Immunity
June 25, 2020

Stop me if you know this one. Fifteen priests enter a coffee shop at a bus station to have lunch. They were all arrested.

That's it.

That's all it took for the police to have a shield to protect them from having to know the law or obey the law.

1961 = no Cell Phones

The only complication of the story was that the 15 Episcopal priests included three black priests and the date was September 13, 1961. The date matters because 1961 was before cell phones. Cell phones would have enabled the two Jackson, Mississippi police officers to look up the law, specifically Title 42, Section 1983 of the 1871 Enforcement Act which should have protected the Freedom Rides priests from false arrest and imprisonment while exercising their civil rights. Cell phone cameras in the Trailways coffee shop also would have recorded that the only people breaching the peace were the two police officers, Nichols and Griffith.

The case of the 15 priests in the coffee shop, Pierson v. Ray, was decided in 1967 by the U.S. Supreme Court which dreamed up “Qualified Immunity.” The idea stems from sovereign immunity, the theory that kings and queens were above the law because they wrote the law. The reason the Supreme Court went so far out on a limb was that the lawyer for some of the priests sought damages from the police officers, the police captain, and Judge James Spencer, the local police judge. The Supreme Court in 1967 was defending judges (and the police) from liability, if the officials were acting “in good faith” and believed what they were doing was legal.

Over time, qualified immunity caused the police to act with impunity (see Police Brutality & Police Vandalism).

Just last week, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear eight qualified immunity cases, including seven involving police accused of excessive force or other misconduct. The SCOTUS ignored the fact that cell phones are around now. Legal information is at the fingertips, and cameras can tell the stories.

Colorado has ended qualified immunity. When will the rest of the country?

Music Association: Jewel - Who Will Save Your Soul?
#BlackLivesMatter

The George Floyd Movement
Police Brutality
June 24, 2020

police used tear gas in Minneapolis on May 30, 2020

police used tear gas in Raliegh on May 30, 2020

police used tear gas in Denver on May 30, 2020

A few weeks ago, police across the country were using tear gas on protesters. Chemical warfare used on American citizens, banned by the 1925 Geneva Protocol.

Here are some YouTube examples of police using Tear Gas and Pepper Spray on protesters (not a complete list).

May 27, 2020
Tear Gas in Minneapolis, MN (Reuters & Guardian)

May 29, 2020
Pepper Spray in Columbus, OH (Associated Press)

May 30, 2020
Tear Gas in Minneapolis, MN (MSNBC)

Tear Gas in Raleigh, NC (CBS17 & News&Observer)

Pepper Spray in Cleveland, OH (Cleveland.com)

Tear Gas in Dallas, TX (Dallas Morning News)

Tear Gas in Denver, CO (9news)

Tear Gas in Los Angeles, CA (ABC7)

Tear Gas in San Jose, CA (ABC7)

May 31, 2020
Tear Gas in Washington, DC (LA Times)

Tear Gas in Ft Lauderdale, FL (Miami Herald)

Tear Gas in Atlanta, GA (11Alive)

Tear Gas in Ferguson, MO (KSDK)

Tear Gas in San Antonio, TX (KSAT12)

June 1, 2020
Tear Gas in Washington DC (Reuters)

Tear Gas in Richmond, VA (Oscar Ruiz, VPM-PBS)

Tear Gas in Philadelphia, PA (New York Times, NBC, CBS)

Tear Gas in Bellevue, WA (ABC-KOMO)

June 2, 2020
Tear Gas at Washington, DC church for Trump photo-op (ABC)

Tear Gas in Atlanta, GA (11Alive)

Tear Gas in Kalamazoo, MI (Mlive)

Tear Gas in Kansas City, MO (Kansas City Star)

Tear Gas in Portland, OR (The Oregonian & KGW)

Tear Gas in Seattle, WA (ABC-KOMO & Telegraph)

June 3, 2020
Tear Gas in Huntsville, AL (Alabama Media)

Pepper Spray in Seattle, WA (ABC-KOMO)

June 4, 2020
Tear Gas in Charlotte NC (Associated Press)

Pepper Spray in New York, NY (NBC4) - Police pull down Andrew's mask, then pepper spray his face

Pepper Spray in Tampa, FL (ABC Action)

Here are the 100 U.S. Cities where protesters were tear-gassed.

Should police departments use chemical warfare?

Shouldn't they have some sort of connection to the people they police? And if they don't, shouldn't the local government have some connection to the people?!?

Resources
Here are way more incidents of 2020 Police Brutality by State. Plus, here's how to contact local officials about police brutality incidents (Report12 or posssibly FilePoliceReport). More information about 2020 police brutality:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/2020police

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/r2020policebrutality

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/r2020PoliceBrutality/

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/2020PoliceBrutality/ & badcopnodoughnut

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copwatch

App Website: https://2020policebrutality.netlify.app/

Github Repository: https://github.com/2020PB/police-brutality/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#How-to-Contribute-1

Music Association: Prince - When Doves Cry
#BlackLivesMatter

The George Floyd Movement
Changing Racial Inequities
June 21, 2020

George Floyd was killed while in police custody on Monday, May 25th by a Minneapolis police officer holding his knee to Mr. Floyd's neck for eight minutes and forty-six seconds. The Minnesota Legislature's special session on police reform and Covid-19 ended yesterday in failure, due to the actions and inactions of a few state senators.

Minnesota state senate majority leaders Paul Gazelka and Warren Limmer blocked bills correcting racial inequities. “We’re not walking away from Minnesota here, but I think we could all benefit from a breather,” said Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, just before the Senate approved his motion to end the special session. A breather, he said.

Other jurisdictions across the country have taken initial actions to change racial inequities.

Chokeholds banned City of Dallas City of Denver City of Houston City of Minneapolis City of New York City of Seattle City of South Bend City of Washington DC California Connecticut New York	Qualified Immunity ended Colorado The U.S. Supreme Court introduced qualified immunity in 1967, originally with the rationale of protecting law enforcement officials from frivolous lawsuits and financial liability in cases where they acted in good faith in unclear legal situations. Around 2005, courts started applying the doctrine to cases of police using excessive or deadly force.	Defund the Police City of Camden, NJ (2013) City of Minneapolis Camden, NJ reformed its police in 2013, ending the police union, and requiring officers to reapply. Police were no longer evaluated by number of arrests or tickets. Their use of force guide is 18 pages. Excessive force complaints dropped (65 to 3). On May 30th, they went to a protest with an ice cream truck.
Tear Gas ban City of Seattle (30 day ban) City of Washington DC California The Chemical Weapon Convention of 1997 outlawed the use of riot control agents in warfare. The 1925 Geneva Protocol also prohibited the use of poisonous gases in war.	Military-equipment banned Connecticut	Body-Cam Video releases Colorado Connecticut

Music Association: Anna Nalick - Breathe

George Floyd Rally
Police Vandalism
June 10, 2020

police slash car tires in a parking lot on May 30th

The video above was taken in the K-Mart parking lot at Nicollet and Lake Street on May 30th. What the H-E- double batons is going on here?!?

The video appears to show law enforcement officers repeatedly slashing all four tires on several cars. Some theories are:

† They are emptying their knives

† They are cosplaying as military (they have the gear, but the uniforms are not uniform, the posture is slouched, the boots are unbloused... they are kids playing dress up)

† They are attacking the tires because the tires are black

† The cars belonged to a StarTribune reporter, a New Yorker reporter, Radio Canada, four with CNN and the police are sick of the media saying everything they do is wrong

† They are angry and not the sharpest knives in the drawer

† They are kettling -- keeping people from leaving the area when curfew happens

† They have connections to a local tire store

† Organized crime

Music Association: The Kinks - So Tired Of Waiting For You

Tanya - The Future Of The Defunded Police
June 9, 2020

911: “911, what's your emergency?”

Caller: “I have a problem with my neighbor.”

911: “Are they threatening you with physical harm?”

Caller: “No. It's just that they--”

911: “Please hold, I'll connect you.”

Tanya: “Mental health services, this is Tanya, can I help you?”

Caller: “Uh, there must be some mistake, I'm calling about a problem with a neighbor.”

Tanya: “Are they threatening you with physical harm?”

Caller: “No. It's just that they--”

Tanya: “How long have you been envious of your neighbors?”

Caller: “Who said anything about being envious of my neighbors?”

Tanya: “No one yet. I just thought I'd save us both some time. So tell me about your problem with your neighbor...”

Music Association: Paul McCartney - Listen To What The Man Said

"I can't breathe," said George Floyd with Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck

The George Floyd 180° Reforms
Black Lives Matter
June 6, 2020

George Floyd 2016 image and the George Floyd 2020 mural

Image of George Floyd from 2016 and the George Floyd memorial mural (2020).

The police serve the community, not the other way around. They don't get that. The Minneapolis Police do not get that. A first step of reforms would require residency (police live in the same city they work).

Reform

• In addition to residency,
• prohibit chokeholds and neck restraints,
• restrict crowd control weapons (chemical agents, rubber bullets, flash-bangs, and marking rounds),
• hire more black people and other officers of color,
• limit police access to body and dash camera footage (while increasing legal access),
• require de-escalation training,
• end police testilying, and
• involve minorities in citizen review commissions.

The reforms should disarm, demilitarize, and end discrimination. The U.S. Supreme Court should end Qualified Immunity for the police (the Get Out Of Jail Free card).

Reform was tried in Minneapolis when Jamar Clark was shot by police in 2015. The police succeeded at causing reforms to fail (read more at MPD150, The Intercept, & The Marshall Project).

Defund

Since the Minneapolis Police Department refuses to reform, the only option is to defund the police.

✄ Several Minneapolis City Council members are talking about defunding the Minneapolis Police.

✄ Minneapolis Public Schools have cut ties with the Minneapolis Police.

✄ The Minneapolis Parks have cut ties with the Minneapolis Police.

✄ The University of Minnesota is limiting its relationship with the Minneapolis Police. They will no longer use Minneapolis Police during large events, like football games and concerts, or for specialized services.

✄ The Hennepin Theatres (Orpheum, State, Pantages) are discontinuing employing off-duty Minneapolis Police officers for part-time event security.

✄ The Minneapolis Institute of Arts and Walker Arts have cut ties with the Minneapolis Police.

✄ First Avenue has cut ties with the Minneapolis Police.

✄ The Minnesota Orchestra has cut ties with the Minneapolis Police and calls for the resignation of Minneapolis police union president Lt. Bob Kroll.

✄ The Dorsey & Whitney law firm says it will no longer prosecute misdemeanor cases via the Minneapolis City Attorney's program.

✄ The Pizza Luce chain has ended discounts for police officers. And the comments went ballistic because... pizza discounts?!?

No word yet from the Minnesota Vikings, the Minnesota Twins, or the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Minneapolis police officers use force against black people seven times more than they use it against white people, according to data collected by the city since 2015. (Mapping Police Violence, 2020 Police Brutality, Reddit - Police Brutality)

Music Association: Sheryl Crow - The First Cut Is The Deepest
Video Association: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (June 7, 2020)

George Floyd Rallies
Community Action
June 5, 2020

The police serve the community, not the other way around.

Serve & Protect statue in Salt Lake City, Utah

US Flag upside-down & Minnehaha-Lake Liqours

Everyone Must See... Somebody's Getting Away With Murder...

Music Association: The Police - Every Breath You Take

George Floyd Rally
Planning Ahead
June 3, 2020

Despite what you may hear from the short messages out there (Trump, Twitter, FoxNews, CNN), you can be for some things and against others and make your own choices, buffet-style.

You Can Be Here venn diagram of George Floyd protest issues

How to get to the necessary changes is difficult but not impossible.

civil rights - policing - actions: link to Toolkit for Change

The chart above is from the New Era of Public Safety: An Advocacy Toolkit for Fair, Safe, and Effective Community Policing, an initiative of the Policing Campaign at the Leadership Conference Education Fund, the education and research arm of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. This document should be handed out at the George Floyd protests to provide the toolkit for making change happen.

A simple, basic suggestion for change might be to have officers living and working in the same location. Many jurisdictions require police officers to be residents where they serve. For example, a Minneapolis police officer would live in Minneapolis. The police serve the community, not the other way around.

Music Association: John Waite - Change

George Floyd Rally
Tanker Truck On 35W Bridge With Protesters
May 31, 2020

The George Floyd Rally on the I-35W Bridge today

Thousands of peaceful protesters (5,000-6,000) on the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River were visited unexpectedly by a tanker truck, today at about 6pm.

The peaceful protest quickly became dangerous. The tanker truck driver was released without being charged. The road closure was haphazard.

[Edit: It was not an intentional act, according to officials. This Minnesota Department of Transportation (MN-DOT) video clears up how the highway could be closed and very not closed. ]

tanker drives past cars making U-turns on 35W

Music Association: Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

George Floyd Rally
Last Night's Rioters Were From Out-Of-State
Or they weren't.
May 30, 2020

Support Minnesota. Be strong Minnesota.

St. Paul followed the curfew last night. It was quiet. According to St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter this morning, there were not many arrests for breaking curfew, but all of those arrests were people from out-of-state. But then, the numbers said 12 of the arrests were from Minnesota and two were from North Dakota, one was from Wisconsin, and one was from Texas.

People who have been organizing protests to overcome police brutality and the murder of African-Americans, do not know these nightly rioters, arsonists, and looters.

Support Minnesota. Be strong Minnesota.

If there are outside agitators, they should go home!

Music Association: Jojo - Leave, Get Out

Derek Chauvin Arrested
May 29, 2020

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been arrested, taken into custody, and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

It is the correct next step toward justice.

That just happened this afternoon. This morning was different from most here in the Twin Cities. Some people were an odd mix of defiance and fear. Others were an even odder mix of fear and helpful. One was arrogant and aloof. A few vehicles were being driven like it was the end of the world.

There were businesses boarded up due to connections to businesses destroyed in the past few nights, as if rioters would travel ten miles to burn down another AutoZone or another tobacco shop.

And there were businesses not very near to the main rioting locations with broken glass doors boarded with plywood.

Minnesota is nowhere near a hurricane zone, even if Trump is drawing the map. Plywood covered businesses is not normal here.

Responsibility and accountability could become the new normal. That could lead us to a single, unified America.

Music Association: The Beatles - Norwegian Wood

Hopes and Dreams

The Two Americas
Shock. Condemnation. Outrage.
May 28, 2020

George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died while in Minneapolis police custody Monday. Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt for nearly 9 minutes (8:46) on handcuffed Floyd’s neck as Floyd said repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe. A video was widely circulated on social media. All four officers at the scene were fired. All four officers should be arrested.