This from KMSP-TV, “The names of 514 Minnesotans, including six law enforcement officials, appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group, which is accused of playing a key role in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The list is according to a report released Wednesday from the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism, which found hundreds of elected officials, law enforcement, military members and first responders in the U.S. are alleged members of the Oath Keepers extremist group. The report says the total number of Oath Keepers Signups in Minnesota is 514, including one elected official, six law enforcement members, three members of the military, and two first responders. The report does not name the members.”
In the Strib Liz Sawyer and Paul Walsh report, “The search committee tasked with finding the next Minneapolis police chief has winnowed the applicant pool down to three, and none is from within the department. The finalists are: Elvin Barren, a former deputy police chief in Detroit and the current chief of Southfield, Mich.; RaShall Brackney, the former chief in Charlottesville, Va.; and Brian O’Hara, a deputy mayor of Newark, N.J., who previously served as the city’s director of public safety.”
A KSTP-TV story says, “A 25-year-old man from Minneapolis has been federally charged for being in possession of and manufacturing auto sears, devices that are used to convert a semi-automatic firearm into a machine gun. The U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Andrew Luger, says that Aaron Malik Cato had four 3D printers at his residence and was in possession of several 3D-printed auto sears. In addition to the homemade devices, authorities say Cato also possessed the parts to make up to 10 more devices. Customs and Border Patrol agents intercepted a package sent from Taiwan to Minneapolis destined for Cato, and law enforcement conducted a controlled delivery of the package.”
In the New York Post Mary K. Jacob reports, “The U.S. housing market has been slowing down in the past few months as interest rates continue to climb. But Goldman Sachs has warned prospective home sellers that the housing market downturn is expected to worsen in 2023. And for interested home buyers, this doesn’t necessarily mean lower home prices. ‘We expect home price growth to stall completely, averaging 0% in 2023,’ Goldman strategist and economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a memo to clients. ‘While outright declines in national home prices are possible and appear quite likely for some regions, large declines seem unlikely.’”
A story by Tommy Wiita of BringMeTheNews says, “MyPillow’s last remaining mall store appears to have closed its doors. The sign has been taken down from the MyPillow location at Rosedale Center. Twitter user Paul Merrill posted a photo of the shuttered space, with items being taken out of it. If it has indeed closed, it leaves only the company’s official outlet store in Shakopee. The company previously had other stores at malls including Southdale and Maplewood Mall.”
This from Laura Butterbrodt in the Duluth News Tribune, “Essentia Health announced Wednesday morning it has filed another unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the Minnesota Nurses Association’s planned strike, this time for failing to include Essentia Health-Duluth in its 10-day strike notice list. The list of 16 hospitals that were given the notice about the Sept. 12-15 strike included Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center, but did not include Essentia Health-Duluth. Because of this, Miller Dwan (Building) nurses are still expected to show up for work during the strike.”
At KSTP-TV Alex Jokich reports, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new COVID-19 Forecast Hub shows hospitalization and death predictions for Minnesota heading into the fall. The CDC’s forecast compiles COVID-19 modeling from dozens of teams across the country to create a larger virus forecast, with national predictions and state-by-state breakdowns. The model predicts deaths will trend slightly downward in Minnesota over the next month and hospitalizations will remain stable. ‘It’s actually not good, in my opinion,’ said Dr. Frank Rhame, an infectious diseases physician at Allina Health. ‘The last six months have been very stable at a level which I’m not altogether comfortable with. The hospitals are no longer being hammered but we’ve got these people still dying.’”
In the Minnesota Reformer Christopher Ingraham says, “Black Minnesotans are nearly five times as likely to be arrested on marijuana charges as white ones, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. It’s a disparity that has persisted for years, despite data showing that Black and white residents use cannabis at similar rates. The recent statewide legalization of certain marijuana edibles is likely to draw even further scrutiny to marijuana policing practices.”
The Oath Keepers are a coalition of active duty military personnel, veterans, and first responders pledged to defend the Constitution. It is not anti-government, it is anti-totalitarianism. It is pro freedom. In a formerly-free society where people are persecuted if not prosecuted for their political beliefs, it is considered to be an extremist organization.
“A full-blown totalitarian police state cannot happen here if the majority of police and soldiers obey their oaths to defend the Constitution and refuse to enforce the unconstitutional edicts of the leader.”
“pledged to defend the Constitution”
As long as the Constitution does not get in the way of their political views and if so the Constitution has all the significance of a contract for a free 30 day membership at a gym.
Still trying to understand why this Constitutionally grounded speech could not have been given in 2020 as well as 2000:
GORE: Good evening.
Just moments ago, I spoke with George W. Bush and congratulated him on becoming the 43rd president of the United States, and I promised him that I wouldn’t call him back this time.
I offered to meet with him as soon as possible so that we can start to heal the divisions of the campaign and the contest through which we just passed.
Almost a century and a half ago, Senator Stephen Douglas told Abraham Lincoln, who had just defeated him for the presidency, “Partisan feeling must yield to patriotism. I’m with you, Mr. President, and God bless you.”
Well, in that same spirit, I say to President-elect Bush that what remains of partisan rancor must now be put aside, and may God bless his stewardship of this country.
Neither he nor I anticipated this long and difficult road. Certainly neither of us wanted it to happen. Yet it came, and now it has ended, resolved, as it must be resolved, through the honored institutions of our democracy.
Over the library of one of our great law schools is inscribed the motto, “Not under man but under God and law.” That’s the ruling principle of American freedom, the source of our democratic liberties. I’ve tried to make it my guide throughout this contest as it has guided America’s deliberations of all the complex issues of the past five weeks.
Now the U.S. Supreme Court has spoken. Let there be no doubt, while I strongly disagree with the court’s decision, I accept it. I accept the finality of this outcome which will be ratified next Monday in the Electoral College. And tonight, for the sake of our unity of the people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.
The Constitution sets out a process. It does not mandate a result; meaning, sometimes, your side will lose and that is a perfectly legitimate result.
You may neither like nor approve of Joe Biden, but it is absurd beyond belief to think that he is not the legitimate President of the United States, and that he won a legitimate election.
I would say “better luck next time,” but that would not be a good thing.
Dennis, you are definitely behind the times on the status of the Oath Keepers.
Their stated goals are in stark conflict of their very real and dangerous goals.
(Kind of like when the fascist German Nazis incorporated words like “democratic” and “socialist” into their name, when in fact they were the opposite of allowing everyone an equal say in government and the opposite of people before corporations)
Here is something I just read about one of our local Oath Keepers that sums it up quite well:
By the time Republican Donald Raleigh of Blaine signed up for the organization in October 2013, the Oath Keepers had established a reputation as a fringe group with some violent tendencies. Multiple members had been arrested on charges ranging from weapons to explosives to sexual assault of a minor, according to a 2010 article by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Trying to stop people from making things, including gun parts, on 3D printers, is going to be difficult, if not worthless.
Giving criminals, especially recidivist criminals, real jail time would mean really going after the problem. But Choi, Freeman, and the Freedom Foundation wouldn’t like that.
Stolen and straw purchased are more troublesome than 3d printed or kit guns.
Instead of guns themselves, why not go after ammo? A right to bear arms doesn’t say anything about the right to buy ammo. Ban sale of some types, tax the snot out of others and require an ID to buy those. You can’t buy pseudoephedrine cold medicine without getting your ID scanned, so why not bullets? Put VAT on buying new guns, say 75%, that is allocated to crime prevention. As some folks like to say “Freedom isn’t free.”
Hopefully the feds will catch every gun nut that participated in the ring. It’s also time to hand out maximum sentences for suppliers of all illegal weaponry, such as this dangerous clown. Gun crimes need to be given the highest national priority.
The employees of MyPillow are unfortunately finding out what it means to have a rightwing crackpot for a CEO and founder.
Yes, a few years ago I remember Lindell going on and on about his thousands of loyal employees. I took a Google Earth look at the pillow factory in Shakopee and its’ 50 parking spaces. I guess they are great believers in public transportation.
Don’t forget all those hucksters at the State Fair who stand in and in front of their booth trying to rope you in with their spiel as you attempt to get by.
Ha, hucksters and their spiel, was half the fun of the fair, but at some point in the 80’s or 90’s the changed midway operators and got a “kinder gentler” Carny. It hasn’t been the same since.