You knew this was coming. Says the AP: “Washington and more than a half-dozen other states said Thursday that they plan to sue the Trump administration over a policy of separating immigrant families illegally entering the United States. … The states set to join Ferguson’s lawsuit are Massachusetts, California, Maryland, Oregon, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Minnesota.”
On second thought. Miguel Otarola of the Star Tribune reports, “Richfield police have withdrawn an invitation to have a federal immigration official speak at a planning meeting for this year’s National Night Out event, following backlash from neighborhood leaders. … National outrage over the government’s practice of separating children from parents who were illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as federal efforts to ramp up deportations, led Richfield police to question the wisdom of having an ICE officer making any kind of presentation now.” Perhaps someone from the EPA instead?
Why not try? For WCCO-TV, Bill Hudson reports: “For the next six weeks, many residents in St. Paul just might be getting a knock on the door. It is part of a new marketing campaign designed to reverse the trend of declining enrollment in public schools. Teams of teachers and administrators will be targeting neighborhoods of nine specific schools. The goal is to have 2,500 conversations with parents, touting the benefits of enrolling their children in St. Paul Public Schools. … The idea for the marketing campaign, ‘Select SPPS,’ came from last winter’s teacher negotiations. It is a possible way to reverse enrollment declines and deep budget deficits resulting in program and staff cuts.”
It’s not like they could have anticipated the massive demand … The Pioneer Press’ Kathy Berdan reports on frustrations with Ticketmaster’s online “verified” system for those trying to score ‘Hamilton’ seats: “The ‘Ticketmaster Verified’ system cut down on the box office line, but left many fans unhappy. ‘How long should I wait on the “searching … sit tight” screen? 21 minutes now,’ one hopeful tweeted. Fans reported waiting up to an hour and a half when the system advised them to ‘sit tight.’ And came away without tickets. The verified system had would-be ticket-buyers register ahead of time for a code to get online tickets.”
Actually not surprised at all. MPR’s Martin Moylan writes: “If you don’t regularly park in downtown Minneapolis, you might be surprised by what you could pay for an hour or so — or a day — of parking. The city’s parking prices are edging up and figure to ramp up more.”
More charges. Says Steve Karnowski of the AP: “A grand jury added federal civil rights and hate crimes violations to the charges three Illinois men face in the bombing of a mosque in suburban Minneapolis, prosecutors announced Thursday. The new five-count indictment names Michael Hari, 47, Michael McWhorter, 29, and Joe Morris, 23. They were previously charged with arson in Minnesota and are being held in Urbana, Illinois, on separate charges. … According to the weapons and other charges in Illinois, the three were part of a militia group that called itself the ‘White Rabbits.’”
Senate Majority leader Paul Gazelka has written a commentary in the Star Tribune about hitching a ride with the president: “When I was asked to meet President Donald Trump on the tarmac on Wednesday when Air Force One landed in Duluth, I was honored. … I often carry a coin in my pocket that gives me strength of spirit when I need to make tough decisions as a leader. One side is a picture of a warrior wearing the armor of God: the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, etc. The other side is emblazoned with the scripture of Ephesians 6:10-12, which encourages us to wear the armor of God, ‘for we wrestle not against flesh and blood,’ but against powerful, dark, spiritual forces we cannot conquer alone. … When I met President Trump, I gave him the coin.”
Now I-90. Says the AP, “Heavy flooding in southeastern South Dakota has prompted officials to close part of Interstate 90 in southwestern Minnesota. South Dakota Department of Transportation officials say the Minnesota Department of Transportation has closed I-90 7 miles (11 kilometers) inside the Minnesota state line because of flooding on roads. The South Dakota DOT says eastbound I-90 traffic is being detoured off at Minnesota Exit One to Minnesota Highway 23.”
Not Sure What Is More Ridiculous
The ones acting like cult-like yahoos in Duluth participating in the mindless worship in Duluth or a state Republican leader giving Trump a religous coin to help him make “make tough decisions as a leader.” The so-called leaders have sold their entire souls for basically tax cuts for the wealthy, fewer regulations that protect the public and the environment, and the hopes of a couple of Supreme Court justices down the line. The yahoos are fine because Trump is sticking it to the folks who are threatening the white priviledge owed them, and he ain’t like that dishonest Hillary. Um, never mind the latest lie–can’t keep track.
Setting aside the inconvenient separation of church and state thing, interesting the coin has that quote. Be more reassuring if the quote was one by Jesus about how to treat the poor and downtrodden. But, I guess that’s how Gazelka can make those tough decisions to play political games crafting gotch you omnibus bills or burying gun reform legislation the majority of the public wants but not his NRA buddies.
I know its not nice to talk about money
when your Government is committing atrocities, but housing the kids Donald is ripping from the arms of their mothers is costing us a huge amount of money. In “normal” detention facilities is costs us about $260 a night per person, we could put them in a nice hotel for that, but that’s the low end. The “stable genius” in the White House created tent cities to house them at the cost of $800 a night per person. I guess that makes sense, that’s more in line with what Donald would think a low end hotel room would cost, but from a tax payer’s perspective that’s just nuts. How much longer can we afford this guy?
Money Talks
You raise appropriate questions from the taxpayer’s perspective. Consider, however, the operators who are in a position to line their pockets with government contracts. Housing detained children is another opportunity for them.
Please remember where our national priorities lie.