ICE/fascist thugs continue to terrorize immigrant communities, committing random acts of murder along the way.
For many conservatives, the reply to such a killing is to shrug their shoulders and claim the brown person shouldn't have been in the country illegally, as if murder is an acceptable punishment for a misdemeanor offense.
On Monday, ICE killed a young man in Maine; they shot him numerous times, with his wife and his 3-year-old daughter in the car with him. They dragged his limp, lifeless body out of the car, carelessly allowing his head to strike the pavement, handcuffed him, and left his body in the sun for hours. This is all so sickening and maddening. And like with the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti here in Minneapolis, the government was quick to say that the ICE officers acted in self-defense, while at the same time choosing not to conduct a serious investigation of the officers' actions.
I worry that many have become desensitized to these crimes. There is so much that is happening in the news (all of it by design from this administration) that there simply isn't the time or reporters to adequately cover it all, or even place a meaningful focus on acts such as the murder of innocent people by the government. We move on without properly processing what has happened. And if you're in support of this fascist regime, you accept the administration's lies that belie what your eyes tell you.
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
—George Orwell, 1984.
Trump addressed the nation last night with not one sentence of truth in a 25-minute unhinged rant about election fraud (which, up to now, is virtually nonexistent). Most television networks declined to give him airtime.
I'm so tired of this fraud, this pedophile, this rapist, this fascist, this despicable excuse of a man running and ruining our country. His demise can't come soon enough, and I will cheer it heartily! I have a 3' x 5' yellow smiley face flag I'll be flying on our front porch when the time finally arrives! As Tom Petty once sang, "The waiting is the hardest part."
No reasonable person can take Trump's talk of election security seriously when at the same time he's cutting oversight meant to ensure the security of our elections. Those of us not under the spell of conservative media and this administration's propaganda rightfully worry about the lengths Trump will go to interfere with the results of November's election. I can imagine a scenario where we devolve into anarchy because spineless Republicans refuse to stand up to him. May history remember them with much disdain.
There have been numerous recent incidents of unprofessional behavior involving military pilots, who use their aircraft to perform unsanctioned, reckless stunts. The most recent example came on Wednesday when a Navy Blue Angel pilot flew dangerously low over a crowded beach in Pensacola, Florida. No worries, though, because the likely rapist and war criminal in charge of our military, Pete Hegseth, condones such behavior. With his 'warrior ethos' guiding the military, we can expect this sort of nonsense to continue, and we shouldn't be surprised when it leads to an outcome similar to this.
Canada is on fire, as are the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota near Tammy's hometown of Babbitt, resulting in shockingly high air pollution levels. We experienced thick smoke here in the Minneapolis metro area, with skies obscured and the accompanying campfire smell hanging in the air. The air quality index was deemed hazardous, the worst rating possible.
It seems a horrible time to have our heads in the sand with respect to climate change.
Terry brought his rocket driver to the course last week. He said he spent about 5-6 hours making it. While it was impressive, I passed on trying it.
The first church I was a member of as an adult was Family of Christ in Lakeville. We started out as not much more than a dozen families meeting at what is now Kenwood Trail Middle School off Highway 50. That would've been in the spring of 1988. The church grew over the next few years, and we eventually built on a piece of land in an undeveloped area south of 185th Street, just east of the freeway, where it remains today. As part of the organizational process for any new church, there were formalities we needed to follow, and one of them was officially calling our pastor to the position of Pastor at Family of Christ. Dell had been serving in that capacity for about 4 years, so I assumed this was a no-brainer. But it wasn't. To my surprise, one woman stood up and expressed her dissent with the nomination. I couldn't believe it. What was Kathleen thinking? I was totally oblivious to what had been happening behind the scenes there. It would take a couple more years to fully...
I was on a ride yesterday when I found myself waiting for the light at the intersection of France Avenue and Old Shakopee Road in Bloomington. I was only a mile away from where I grew up from 1966 to 1975. As I sat waiting for the light, I quickly surveyed the area and noticed that there was very little left from when these were my stomping grounds. I thought to myself that I should come back to take a slow walk around and do some reminiscing. I got up this morning and drove my truck back to the same intersection to have a closer look; my camera in hand. I pulled into McDonald's parking lot and went inside. I ordered my usual: Egg McMuffin, Cinnamon Melts, and a large decaf coffee. I recalled when this McDonald's first opened in the early '70s. Before then, the nearest McDonald's was off Nicollet and I-494. Maybe once a month a couple of us would go there and bring back dinner for our family of eight. I can still remember holding the warm bags of food on my lap fo...
I jynxed us in my last blog post when I spoke about our mild winter. A strong depression came through Saturday night and into Sunday morning, bringing with it about 15" (38 cm) of snow, single-digit temps, and winds gusting in excess of 40 mph (65 kph). It's pretty out there, I'll say that! But a warmup is on the way! My WeatherBug app is forecasting 68°F (20 °C) for Saturday, just two days from now. As someone who charts the progress of my rides and walks, and has for decades, I've occasionally pondered how I'll cope with diminishing returns as my pace and distance both ebb with age. I'm 68. With respect to cycling, I've mostly moved beyond the pondering stage and to the acceptance stage. I'm not the rider I was just a few years ago. But having said that, it's possible, and likely, that I'll gain speed and distance on my rides compared to recent years now that I've mostly recovered from knee replacement surgery. I'm looking forward to ...
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