Why Only Police Unions?

Break the cycle: Five changes in Minnesota policing that can be enacted right now

Rarely do I get really frustrated with the media, politicians and social media, but this obsession with "Police Unions" are bad and they need to have less power by typically "Union Supporting Friggin Liberals" is DRIVING ME CRAZY !!!

These folks fight tooth and nail to support ED MN, block major school reforms and the removal of poor performing teachers.  I mean the school system and policies are screwing up 1000's of kids at a time and here they are laser focused on the officers that have to deal with the mess our questionable parent(s), social service system and education system have give them.

Now I have avoided Minnpost for a LONG time due to their slow and questionable moderation...  But I am trying again. 

"It’s pretty clear Boss Kroll’s removal is a necessary (but not sufficient) component of reform. The awful Kroll is a symptom of dysfunction, not the root cause. Just as Trump did not cause the degeneration of the Repub party and its supporters, he is merely a logical evolution of the movement. 

Boss Kroll occupies an elective position, and his supporters apparently love his, um, “approach”. No decent copper apparently would dare challenging him, probably because they would lose and become force pariahs to boot. 

Quite curious how “conservatives” despise public employee unions in general, but turn a blind eye to (reactionary?) police unions in particular…" BK

And the comments I left.

Okay, I have to ask since BK brought up the topic. As you know, I am happy to weaken public employee unions in America and let the elected officials (Mayor/ School Board) and their hired Administrators (Superintendent/ Police Chief) make big changes in the system and staffing.

I mean we give the elected and hired bosses goals and a budget and then tie their hands with union rules. Not sure that makes sense when 50% of kids are being left behind and that leads to some very bad consequences.

Are the normal Union supporters willing to stop protecting questionable personnel across the board? Maybe even change compensation systems to reward people who take the most challenging positions and exceed expectations?

Or do they deem Union Employee choices as “bad” in one case and “good” in another?

The second question is should we encourage rethinking licensing requirements, employee reviews, alternative licensing paths, etc for all “public employee” positions? And if a Teacher has questionable performance results, should we have their performance graded by an independent committee? My point is that questionable cops harm the community, but so do other questionable Union employees.

Then there is the big question that no one seems to be discussing… What should society do to hold parent(s) accountable to ensure their kids are ready for kindergarten, supported in K-12, etc? Or do we accept their right to have kids with no accountability for how they are raised?

Please remember that part of the problem is that gang membership within certain segments of our society is much higher. Are we willing to tackle the whole problem or only go after the police who have to face the consequences of our society’s choices?

Kim Jong Trump?

Stages a Photo Op to show strength? WAPO

Barr Orders Protesters Moved FOX News

Apparently he did not make friends with the Episcopalian Bishop or the Catholic Arch Bishop.

"Just before he arrived, the Catholic Archbishop of Washington, Wilton D. Gregory, the nation's most senior African American bishop, issued a blistering statement along the same lines as his Episcopal counterpart, saying the Shrine, which he does not oversee, was also being "misused" by Trump. 

"I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree," Gregory said. 

"Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings. His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth. He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace," he said." 

GOP Senators support Trump's Photo Op and the clearing of the protesters. CNN

It is pretty surreal seeing this happen in the USA, however I assume he was so embarrassed at being moved to hide in a bunker that he needed to pose for the pictures to look "strong".

Maybe he learned from Kim Jong Un ?

Lots of Security = Tough / Brave?

Trump's Culture War

Is Likely to Bite him in the Ass... :-)

The man has cheered on tough policing and riots may pay for it this year.

I guess it may be true that if one lives by the sword they are likely to die by the sword.

Of course the Public Employee Union lovers have dirty hands in this also.  There is no excuse for those unions protecting poor performing employees, be they police, teachers, bureaucrats, etc

The Problem's Beginnings

How Twin Cities Became so Racially Divided

ARC GIS Redlining in Minneapolis

Racial Bias in the GI Bill

A Forgotten History of Government Bias

More Inconvenient History

Land and Roots of the Problem

For any White folk who are feeling superior and judgmental tonight, you may want to read the history above.  I agree that many of the struggling folks need to change their choices and actions if they want to escape poverty.  However many our families were given many benefits that were withheld from them.

It is okay to be proud of what our ancestors accomplished, but it is very wrong to look down on others who faced much hard challenges and failed. 

Still looking for ideas on how to help them escape the trap we helped lead them into.  Giving them money / reparations is NOT the answer.  They need education, good jobs, stable families, etc.  Thoughts?

History of Twin City Segregation

End of Days?

Disease, Unemployment and Riots

And given the legal issues this may last for awhile.

And our President instead of leading, kicks the hornets nest.

And after spending $3 Trillion we do not have...
To save folks at a cost of $5+ million per saved citizen...
They are looking at spending even more we don't have.

And we have a Republican President wanting regulations so he can post lies on a company's system.

And in the middle of a global pandemic, the President decides to exit the global organization that is fighting it.

Maybe the end of days is nearing and we won't need to worry about Climate Change anymore. :-)

Cuomo's Tale of 2 Cities

Cuomo's Tale of 2 Cities

This is an excellent piece though it leaves me with our usual question...

How can America get minorities educated, financially stable and in 2 parent families?

Just giving them money is not the answer as we learned from the war on poverty.

EdPoverty

Gang Dbase

I am Concerned for the Folks Back Home

So many of them have been listening to FOX news downplay the severity of the COVID Virus.  So they are against masks and think it is just another flu. :-(  And slowly but surely it seems to be surrounding them. :-(  Oh well, I tried to warn folks out there but they will unfortunately learn the hard way unless something changes. :-(

Hard to believe we have 600 Minnesotans in the hospitals and over 200 in the ICU for this "harmless bug".

Mpls Make National News

for the death of George Floyd and Riots.

The odd thing is that kneeling on the back of the neck is an approved restraint, however I do not understand why it was held so long?  Were they waiting for a vehicle, ambulance other?

Of course it is being portrayed as a racist action, and has triggered violent protests and looting even though cause of death has not been announced that I know of.  One facebook friend even referred to it as a "lynching' though I am pretty sure the officer had no intention to suffocate Mr Floyd in front of the cameras.  Or do you disagree?

I am very interested to see the body camera footage.  Because at one point they were politely walking Mr Floyd to the cruiser and next he is on the ground.  What happened?

MPLS Police Policy Book

Big Government Control?

Will Trump try to control companies?

Now I knew that Trump was not a small government conservative, but will he have the nerve to try to use Big Government to make a Company display his lies?

It will be humorous if Trump removes their liability protection and in answer to that they clamp down even further on what content we can share on their systems.  Either way I think Trump is just going to lose even more voters if he tries to add "regulations" on our favorite businesses.

I mean what does a normal customer do if they do not like the policies of a service provider...  Go find a different service provider...  I mean if Trump's wants to publish lies and conspiracy theories all he needs to do is set up a web page of his own.

By the way, apparently Zuckerberg is a big chicken who is willing to help propagate lies and conspiracy theories.  I suppose he is worried that Big Government Regulation Man Trump may try to interfere in his company.

Of course Trump needs something to help people forget that he promised COVID was a big nothing burger in February and now it has killed 100,000+ Americans.  And the fact that if he had acted earlier tens of thousands of Americans would still be alive.

Thank Heavens Twitter Fact Checks

Trump and Other Lying Trolls.

And of course Trump is not Happy that his statements will be fact checked, but I sure am ecstatic.

I am not sure how we got to the point that our President can lie daily and almost half the American citizens either believe him or don't care.  I am not even sure which is worse, I mean:

• stupid cultists who don't know better is bad, but
• citizens that know he is lying and accept it as okay seems so much worse.  

To those who believe Trump, my offer still stands.  Find a factcheck here that you disagree with here and I will research it and post on it. Or even here...

I like this comic, Honest Abe was like rolling in his grave as Lying Trump was interviewed at Abe's monument. 

Who Pays the Bills

if Churches Open and Folks get Sick?

A FB friend triggered that thought with that link.  I mean:

• Churches, Mosques and Synagogues do not pay taxes.
• They host a mixed age group with more older people.
• The services are often held in doors.
• They often sing, speak, etc at and with each other.
• Many of the people wanting them open are against wearing masks.

So we have a "special interest group" who wants to open in essence the perfect transmission space for the virus.  And I am fine with them doing so, however as a fiscal conservative I want to know if they are willing to pay the healthcare bills (ie medicaid, medicare, etc) and contact tracing bills for their members who get COVID in that environment?

Now please remember that I am a Church member and they are still taking my monthly offering out of my checking account.  They are still fulfilling their essential duties, except just not in chapel services.  So why exactly is this a big deal to folks ?  I am assuming it is just a political thing and Trump knows how to wind up his True Believers.

And yes there is a risk of transmission at the big box stores, however they generate a TON of MONEY in Sales taxes, Property taxes, Corporate taxes, etc.  And I do not see people gathering to sign hymns, chat, etc in aisle 6... :-)

COVID Moving into Trump Country
Minnesotans: 550 in Hospital, ~25 dying each day

COVID is Coming for Rural Americans

As this real cool map shows...

It is almost like a horror story where the blob or slow moving zombies close in on the unaware or denying locals... Cue the screaming woman... :-)

And yet I keep finding people who are adamant that they do want to wear a mask when they are inside crowded buildings with other people.  Oh well... This "blob" needs unaware people to help transport and spread it. :-(

 

Now though I wish Gov Walz had opened inside eating with spacing constraints. Here is an update on Sweden vs MN...  If we had followed Sweden's method we likely would have had another 1,100 dead Minnesotans for better or worse.

Sweden Dead (3,831 of ~11 Million)

MN Dead (809 of 5.5 Million)

MN Dead by Age

GOP Fears Voters

Why else make it so hard?

TX Appeals Court Ruling

Trump makes threats

Heritage Voter Fraud Site

Fact Check Voter Fraud Site

NBC Trump Pushes False Claims

Usually I accuse the DEMs of not working hard enough to  secure the votes from the moderates and disenfranchised in the purple states.  However today's message is if the GOP is scared that people will not vote for them if voting is easy, maybe they should do something different?

Protecting the safety of voters and making it easy to vote should be the goal.

Is He Taking Hydroxychloroquine?

Given his tendency to lie, is it beyond reason to think that he would say yes while not doing it?

I mean he went on record supporting it and the research is not going so well.  The FDA is even recommending against using it.

"We have reviewed case reports in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System database, the published medical literature, and the American Association of Poison Control Centers National Poison Data System concerning serious heart-related adverse events and death in patients with COVID-19 receiving hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, either alone or combined with azithromycin or other QT prolonging medicines.  These adverse events were reported from the hospital and outpatient settings for treating or preventing COVID-19, and included QT interval prolongation, ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, and in some cases death. " FDA

Now one must remember that Trump is a self centered chicken...  Does it seem that he would be willing to use his unhealthy self a guinea pig?  Especially when he does not have COVID.

"Trump’s doctor released a letter that said only that the two men had discussed the matter and had “concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks,” without saying whether he has prescribed it to the president." 

On the upside maybe more Trump True Believers will take their medical advice from him and not Neal Cavuto.  It is so unfortunate that we even have to consider that our President may have just lied bold faced, and by doing so he may have put some of his most ardent cult members at risk. :-(  Well those who did not try to drink bleach... :-)

Let's hope that this time he told the truth.  At least that way he has some blood in the game.

Who is THEY?

That is manipulating the COVID data and analysis?

I mean these folks have their man in charge of the CDC and the US Dept of Health.  And the people he chose are running those organizations...  And yet repeatedly I hear people saying that there is some big conspiracy with the numbers.

At what point will they trust the numbers that the Trump Administration is publishing?

One gentlemen just inferred on FB that "they" were keeping the number of tests down so that "they" could claim COVID is more dangerous than it is.

Now if it was a Democratic President and Senate, I may understand.  Or if this was Trump's first year in office...  But Trump has been in office for over 3 years...  He owns the issue, the data, the consequences, etc. It is the DEMs who should be distrusting the numbers... :-)

And who is is questioning the importance of more testing other than Trump himself.

And he is praising a test that his FDA is questioning.

And this hilarious one... Navarro Blames Trump.

This all started when I said I was really interested in getting a reliable antibody test...  And was told that "THEY" were dragging their feet.  :-)  I wonder if "THEY" is related to "NOT ME". :-)