Confronting the problem.

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PRE-NOTE: The content below the asterisk was written and published Jan. 16,  If you read nothing else, note paragraphs 9&10 (para beginning with “Wednesday”).  The City Council meeting is very powerful, in a positive sort of way.  Previous related posts for Jan 7, 13 and 14 are accessible here, [and Jan. 19 here].  You can also click on specific date on calendar at right.

As I think about the context of this outrageous national incursion on places, now our state, I keep thinking of the likely architect and enabler of this outrage – the current President of the United States.  He is fond of media manipulation, and is good at it.  I only knew of him as ‘star’ of “The Apprentice” and the phrase “you’re fired”.  The program (which I never watched, not once) was popular.

Succinctly, my view is that we are watching a huge, financed-by-ourselves, national Soap Opera.  The villains are portrayed as people like me, and the plan seems to be to highlight one Democrat labelled place after another, sending in masked hoodlums to punish and make an example which will promote fear from the rest of the populace.  This is just my thought.  Of course, if it doesn’t pass muster with the architects, it will be considered “fake news”.  But it is a thought I need to share.  What follows was written before I wrote this.  Also see POSTNOTE at the end.

POSTNOTE Jan. 24: Below I have a recording of a recent Woodbury City Council meeting relating to ICE.  Mention is made of “Tonton Macoutes” notorious police in Haiti during the Duvalier Years primarily in 1960s-1980s.  Here is an article about this group, and also the two letters I wrote referencing it: Tonton Macoutes Haiti.   My cousin, Mary provided a recent YouTube presentation by Minnesota Medical Professionals on the impact of the ICE  intrusion here.  Today, of course, is the latest killing of a civilian on a Minnesota street by ICE.  This is a developing story and will be heavily covered on national media.

*

This is day nine since the killing of Renee Good at 34th and Portland Avenue South in Minneapolis.  Here in the Twin Cities we are anticipating a cold weekend and early next week.  The activities continue as front page news, and I expect it to continue for some time.

Minnesotans are on the court, and not asleep.  I think it important to note that the spotlight at this moment is on one city – my metro area of over 3,000,000.  Perhaps the Twin Cities will be target for a month or two, then the “show” moves on to the next, on and on.  The intention I believe is to intimidate we the people through daily televised violence from our own governments gestapo.  I hope it doesn’t work.  But it is certainly damaging.

Here is my very brief view from my vantage point – news you won’t see on national TV or in the big city newspapers.  There is immense amounts of information out there.  This is just a very small sample.

This afternoon I got my Passport from my safe deposit box.  Then I looked: it expired in November 2025.  In ten years there has been no use, and no international travel is anticipated at my age.  But I’ll get it renewed, just in case.  But by that time, if I’m in trouble, I’m out of luck.

Away from the televised locations the local streets remain quiet, but the undercurrent is restive.  People are communicating.  Much of the more important news is not being televised – it is happening act by act in the local areas.  For example, I went to the local McDonalds on Wednesday – it’s my alternate ‘watering hole’ often in the afternoon.  Wednesday a guy told me the dining room was closed: not enough workers.   Fair enough.  It’s a very busy place in normal times.  Yesterday we went by there in late afternoon.  There was drive through, but no dining room open.  Today the same.

Odds are the McDonald’s dining room closure is in direct relation to ICE in the twin cities.  Many of their employees and customers would be  suspect because of color and language preference,

The front page in the January 15 Minnesota Star Tribune had a stunning graphic with the headline “DHS’ Minnesota presence dwarfs largest metro police forces“: 3,000 compared to 2,482 officers total for the ten largest metropolitan police departments.

Wednesday our State Representatives and many others were among those who gave maximum 3-minute comments to our local city council on issues relating to ICE.  We were going to be there.  The swarm of public arriving there, and lack of parking made it unlikely we’d even get in, so we went home.  Here is a detailed account of the City Council meeting.  The meeting is accessible on YouTube.  The relevant content begins at about 40 minutes and is extensive (about an hour).  It is well worth your time.  It is “citizen speak”.  As I have noted, Woodbury is just east of St. Paul and just west of the Wisconsin border along I-94.  It is a town of 83,000.

I did make my own input to that same Council last summer.  The letter is here: Woodbury ICE at HERO Center.  I was glad I sent the letter and had a very productive meeting with the city police chief, at his request.  Last week the local school district sent a letter to the parents/guardians of all its students.  It is worth reading: SoWashCo833 ICE.  Perhaps a third of the households have kids in school, so most residents wouldn’t. receive this notice.

Last night we were scheduled for a show, Luminescence,  at Basilica of St. Mary.  I had purchased the tickets on Dec. 5.  We didn’t go.  I frankly felt guilty about taking advantage of this, and Cathy agreed.  It would have been a good show.  It was a good idea, but a bad time.  I have no idea if there is anyone else who saw this the same way as we did.  The Pastor and the Archbishop know who I am, and I am corresponding directly with them about my concerns.

Cathy has a good friend, native of Antigua, long-time citizen of the U.S., retired.  She worries about her friend, who lives in a small low income rental facility in St. Paul.  Many residents would fit the profile of ICE targets, so leaving the apartment is risky for them.  Apparently arrivals/departures from the Caribbean states are on hold.  Or at least so I’m told.

In the general area of communication, there is really constructive communication back and forth among ‘birds of a feather’ – people who have been conversing for a long time, know each other well.  While I was working on this, Cathy was talking with her sister in Arizona, who mentioned a demonstration going on in her senior community.  I’m honored to be part of some of these small groups, and if one speaks the others listen, and can and do disagree or modify points of view.  In the end analysis, this is how the struggle – and it is a struggle – will play out.

Personally, I’m an active Democrat, one of those people the President frequently and very publicly says he hates, seeking and probably getting the desired effect from his disciples.

A closing comment:

As an active Democrat, I see the party as it is, an inclusive group that is both enabled and disabled by its openness to differing points of view.  We can be a difficult rabble as we debate issues, but then, what unit of related and unrelated people sees everything the same way.  We all need to find ways to work through disagreements.

Speaking of which, the first and very important political act in our part of the world will be Precinct Caucuses on February 3, followed by assorted conventions at progressively higher level, leading towards the 2026 election, and the 2027 Congress  swearing in Jan. 6, 2027.

DO NOT DISCOUNT HOW IMPORTANT YOUR PARTICIPATION IS TO THE END RESULT.  Check with your local political party for specific dates and events in your area.  The long and short, if you are not involved, you cannot effectively impact.  It’s up to you, not to anyone else.

Also, recognize that a key tactic of the powerful is to simply wait out the powerless.  You need stamina to make change.  It is more than one meeting, or one protest.  Stick with it.

*

POSTNOTE: In the PRE-NOTE, I mention I never watched “The Apprentice”.  I do watch TV, and two of my favorite reality shows are Dateline and 48 Hours.  This weeks Dateline was about Sarah, a very pleasant and attractive lady who abused her kids, and who attracted and in one way or another eliminated maybe five husbands (I lost count), and burned down a couple of houses, and finally took up residence for life in prison.  Granted, the subject was a little different, but not all that much.  The abuse of power ultimately will be punished.  But that’s a hard lesson for the already powerful to learn…it has worked so well for so long.

COMMENTS (more at end of post):

from Laura: Thanks very much, Dick.  Father Dan Griffith had a beautiful Mass for justice and peace that I just returned home from, after visiting with a number of people at the reception downstairs afterward.Good to have community support during these dark days.

from Carol: Speaking of the National Soap Opera…  A part of me has to be amused by photos of the ICE agents falling down on the ice, getting their vehicles stuck in snowbanks, being pelted by snowballs, beaten by snow shovels.  Today I understand the (dozen or so) counter-protestors from out of town, led by that pardoned thug from Jan. 6th, were hosed with water at their lame protest.  Sometimes ya gotta think Mother Nature has a sense of humor.  (Wonder if they’ll still be here for the finale of the Winter Carnival.  I mean, they could arrest all those Vulcans with the blackened faces…)

Can’t you just hear them discussing all this at night in their hotel?  @#$%& crazy people – who’d ever want to live here anyway?


from Mary Ellen:  In The north we all know about freeze up and ice out, the natural events that make it safe to walk or drive on the ice and to launch our boats in spring.Communities often hold raffles or lotteries to guess when the ice will go out on their local lake.

We probably need a new lottery called ICE OUT that would guess when ICE will get out. It should be a fundraiser for families broken and left behind by these brutal arrests.
What do you think? Is there any church or organization that would dare to do it?
Just as Napoleon was defeated by the Russian winter, the predicted Arctic blast may be helpful.
Does anyone know how many pardoned Jan 6 rioters have been hired by ICE?


from SAK:  No worries about wasting my time reading your posts Mr Bernard – but I cannot help thinking how much time is wasted watching lies & trivia . . . including shows like The Apprentice which was copied from UK TV if I am not mistaken.

Watching the news about Greenland & Minnesota feels like getting familiar with surrealism all over. This is amplified by your description & take on what’s happening in your own vicinity. Who would have thought it would come to this!?

Given the push back by enthusiastic & informed people like your good self as well by whole states (Canada, France, Germany, Scandinavians & even the UK which seems to have realised that with Trump there is no special relationship no matter how much one grovels!), I do get a feeling this is like a last hurrah before the downfall – “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall”.

from Mary:  Hi Dick….suffice it to say that this whole ‘Minnesota” thing is unfortunate and so dangerous.  Like many others I pray for reasonableness to prevail again.  I am not sure that future analysis of these days and weeks will provide the answers to where other decisions could have been made.

It is what it is – democracy is very messy.  Keep the courage of conviction and stay safe.


from Darleen: Once again your thoughts hit the nail on the head.  My passport is current so I guess it’s time I carry it daily.

Just last week I made a trip to the courthouse to get 2 copies of our daughter’s birth certificate so we can have one on file and she has one to carry.  She and our grandson live on E .Franklin just a block off Portland. We call her our Hawaiian child since her features and olive skin, inherited from her father, are quite evident.  When she was younger and drove into Minneapolis she was stopped more than once by the MPLS police for minor infractions and questioned.    Now she lives there and has a son she needs to get to daycare five days a week which by the way remains in lockdown and has put up curtains that block out the sunshine and Mother Nature.
Keep sharing your thoughts with us while I keep making phone calls and sharing important facts with family and friends about whom to call and why.  Wish I was strong and brave enough to take to the streets, but protecting my family in less visible ways is my priority right now.


from Gail: Thanks, Dick.  This was very interesting and very impressive how the community has spoken out and acted to defend itself against abuses by ICE.

At the end of the meeting, though, I was not happy to hear that when Councilwoman Wilson wanted a correction in something she said at the previous meeting, the Council would not listen to what she had said verbatim, but simply railroaded through approval of Minutes that Wilson claimed were inaccurate.
Minority opinions need to be protected, too.

 

The Invasion

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PRENOTE:  This is the third post on ICE in Minnesota.  The previous posts, on January 7 and 13 are included from about 24 hours ago when I posted my personal observations about ICE in my city.  I posted on what I was actually personally experiencing (and indeed am still experiencing), but I knew the rest of the story as well through media and people like yourself.  Related and relevant was a January 12 post related to Greenland.

But our rapid transition to authoritarian state alarms me even more than 9-11-01, which was the point that led to my active involvement in the peace movement.  We dismiss the problem now at our own great future peril as a nation.

Specifically for residents of Woodbury:

Overnight, two friends in my town, contemporaries in age, who I know well, one for a long time, the other more recent, both highly credible, separately sent the two following posts which focus on this area – my County and my area east of St. Paul.  What they share, I’ve heard from others, and indeed are no secret around town.  National news verified by local news and front page in this mornings Minnesota Star Tribune, is the announcement that six local DOJ attorneys, one of them a long term U.S. attorney in Minneapolis, have resigned, presumably because of disagreement with how the DOJ is handling the investigation following the death of  Renee Good.  There is plenty of open source news on this, so if interested just access on line.

If you think “it can’t happen where I am”, open your eyes and follow Minneapolis-St. Paul.  It is happening.  Following are the two shared posts.,  both from senior citizen women who I would consider activists.  Take the time to read these, and get on the court where you live.  This is not a ‘toy soldiers’ game.

FRIEND ONE: Criminy, [the newspaper]  said I could share that.  [from St. Paul Pioneer Press]

May Township resident Patricia Isaacs was among dozens of residents of Washington County who gathered Tuesday morning to implore the county board to do all they can to stop any possible plans for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in the county.
“My father was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home,” Isaacs said. “There’s an entire branch of my family that didn’t survive World War II. It was drummed into my head since childhood that we must never forget. Well, I’ve never forgotten. And we can’t forget. If we allow ICE to build a facility here that is essentially a concentration camp, we are complicit.”
More than 20 people spoke expressing concerns about a possible ICE detention facility on Hudson Road in Woodbury. Another 10 people submitted written comments.
Washington County Board Chair Karla Bigham said no one on the five-member county board is in favor of an ICE detention center. County and city officials previously have said they have not been notified of plans for a detention center and the property owner in question says they have not been contacted either.
“We can’t afford it financially,” Bigham said. “We can’t afford it from a public health perspective. We can’t afford it from a safety perspective. We cannot afford it from a Constitutional perspective. We cannot afford it from a due process perspective, and we darn well cannot afford it from a humanitarian perspective.”
Bigham told audience members that the board members would be “discussing and deliberating” the best response. “What I can guarantee you is that we will not be quiet,” she said. “We will not be complacent. This is about protecting our freedoms and having ICE in our communities violating the Constitution and due process does not make our communities any more safe.”
Bigham said the board plans to send a letter to the county’s federal delegation expressing concerns about the possible detention center. The letter, which is expected to be finalized next week, asks federal officials to consider the public health and safety risks and community impact.
“Beyond the local safety and compatibility concerns, such a facility would place substantial additional strain on county services, including law enforcement, public health, transportation, and other departments, at a time when resources are already stretched to meet state and federal mandates,” a draft of the letter states.
Carol Iwata, of Afton, a third-generation Japanese-American, told the county board that she now carries a photograph of her passport with her everywhere she goes, “just like St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her.”
Iwata’s mother’s family was incarcerated in a concentration camp during World War II, she said.
“My mother and her siblings were (U.S.) citizens, as were many of the people who were incarcerated,” Iwata said. “My family has experienced race-based unlawful detentions before, although we have seen from the awful tragedy of Renee Good that race doesn’t protect you from ICE.”
Janet Carlson, of Lake Elmo, said her family was forcibly removed by the Army in Seattle, Wash., in April of 1942 and incarcerated in Hunt, Idaho, in the Minidoka concentration camp.
“Today’s ICE actions bring all kinds of memories for me, even though I was not alive at the time,” she said. “These people were incarcerated without due process for two years, so this seems very similar.”
Carlson expressed concerns about the safety of the students at schools in the area of the possible detention center and said immigrants are key to the county’s economic development.
“Lake Elmo and Oakdale are on the list for the fastest-growing cities in Washington County, and that means we need construction workers,” she said. “People of color are heavily represented in the construction industry, and if we want to continue growing our community, we have to make sure that those people feel welcome and safe to work in Woodbury.”
Stillwater resident Nick Gorski said his father, a World War II veteran who fought in Northern Italy with the 10th Mountain Brigade, would be horrified by what is happening today.
“I’m glad he’s not alive to see what’s going on right now,” Gorski said. “The people he fought against are calling the shots, and it’s up to us to stand up.”
Nicole Sauer, of Woodbury, said she has been impressed with the level of trust that the Woodbury Police Department has built with the city. “I don’t want that to be ruined,” she said.
“Right now, it’s really about coming up with creative solutions and being able to act fast,” said Commissioner Michelle Clasen, who represents Woodbury.
“We don’t want to be complacent or complicit,” Clasen said. “(We) want to work with constituents, so that we can do whatever is possible to tell ICE that you are not welcome in our community. You are not welcome to have an ICE detention center. We want people who follow the laws and abide by the laws.”
Commissioner Bethany Cox, who has two young children, became emotional talking about how she, too, is “changing the way she moves around her community.”
“I’m sorry,” Cox said. “The trauma that this is causing in our communities is the part that I’m struggling with the most. Federal laws need to be followed, but there can be a way that it can be done that doesn’t hurt us as a community.”
Jennifer Vitale currently lives in Woodbury, but she was born and raised in Stillwater. She said she wanted to give the board “the parents’ perspective of what’s going on.”
Vitale said she has to tell her daughter and son-in-law that if they see ICE agents when they are at a store with their child they need to “turn around and come home — and that’s happened.”
“Parents are now thinking about where they can go and when they can go there,” she said. “They’re on the lookout for what’s around them. If there are ICE around, they turn around and go home. … Families in Woodbury are changing how we live in our community, and I think you guys should know that.”
Many of those in the audience on Tuesday were members of St. Croix Valley Indivisible, Afton Indivisible and Indivisible Twin Cities, groups working to “stand up for our democracy and the rights of our immigrant neighbors,” said Martha Winslow, a St. Mary’s Point resident who is the leader of St. Croix Valley Indivisible.
“Honestly, to call these facilities detention centers is a euphemism,” Winslow told the board. “I ask you to get out ahead on this thing. Call and write letters to anyone you can think that may have the power to stop this. Determine what powers you have to stop this before a specific proposal comes before you.”
Members of the Indivisible groups, along with officials from Woodbury and Washington County and members of the county’s immigrant communities, will hold a press conference at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Woodbury Central Park just prior to the 7:30 p.m. Woodbury City Council meeting at Woodbury City Hall, Winslow said.
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding that DHS and ICE immediately cease all operations in Minnesota. McCollum also wrote that she has been contacted by constituents and public officials concerned about reports that ICE is “actively soliciting warehouse space to hold as many as 1,500 detainees in Woodbury.”
McCollum’s letter asks Noem if ICE is in fact seeking to acquire a warehouse in Woodbury and, if so, what the address is and the estimated cost of developing the facility. She also seeks documentation about public health and sanitation standards.
“According to comments by ICE acting director Todd M. Lyons at a border conference in April, the Trump administration’s goal is to deport immigrants like Amazon moves packages: ‘Like Prime, but with human beings,” McCollum wrote. “Not only is this plan dehumanizing, it fails to account for the fact that structures designed for storage and shipping are not fit for human habitation, because they lack adequate ventilation and temperature controls.”

FRIEND TWO: Not like you needed more on this – I deleted the name of the contributor – and I hereby thank her/him.
AND  . . . let me know if you are tired of these, or whatever

———————

Life is NOT a competition, WE are better together.
Remember, I’m pulling for you. We’re all in this together.
(Red Green, Canadian Philosopher)

Dear all,

What follows below the starred line is from a person who works in a local Twin Cities hospital. Everything is consistent with what I’m experiencing and seeing. The “ICE is not welcome” signs are up everywhere in South Minneapolis. In addition to the listing of the things the community is doing, these items are of note:

– The state of Minnesota is suing to block the ICE deployment.

– Some of us are learning to become observers at the immigration courts.

– The HHS budget (where ICE gets it funding) is up for discussion when the continuing resolution expires as of 3o Jan 2026.

 

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“Friends outside MN, you need to know what is happening here. Everyone knows that ICE shot and killed a woman here on Wednesday. But that’s not the only thing that’s going on.

-ICE agents are cruising areas with immigrant-owned businesses, and kidnapping patrons and employees alike. Yesterday they abducted two US citizen employees at a suburban Target, one who was begging them to allow him to go get his passport to show them.
– ICE is going door to door in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods, asking residents where their immigrant neighbors live. Read that again. If it sounds like something out of your high school history textbook, that’s because it is.
– ICE is targeting schools and school buses. They pepper sprayed teenagers and abducted two school staff members at the high school up the street from me on Weds. Police are literally escorting school buses to ensure children can get to school and home safely. The Minneapolis Public Schools have moved to virtual learning for the next 4 weeks because it’s unsafe for children or teachers to physically come to school.
– They are targeting hospitals and clinics. Patients are scared and are canceling their appointments or just not showing up. Kids are missing their checkups and vaccines, folks aren’t getting their cancer care, etc.
– They are smashing windows in cars and homes.
– ICE is increasingly picking up Native Americans—again, targeting folks based on skin color alone.
– They are arresting and beating legal observers. A friend of a friend had her arm broken yesterday. Folks are showing up at local hospitals, brought in in ICE custody, with severe injuries that are absolutely inconsistent with mechanism of injury reported by ICE. (Think: patient appears to have been beaten unconscious, while ICE agent says he slipped and fell.)

I can’t emphasize enough that these ICE agents do not have warrants. There are 2,000+ agents here and they are simply hunting for anyone that’s not white. It doesn’t matter if you’re a citizen or a green card holder, they will kidnap you first and ask questions later.

But the community is fighting back.
– Protests are happening every day.
– Community groups have been leading know-your-rights sessions for months, often to packed venues.
– Whistles are being distributed by the thousands, carried on keychains and worn on coat zippers, always at the ready to be blown in warning if ICE is spotted.
– Drivers are following ICE vehicles, blaring their horns in warning.
– Businesses are locking their doors even while open to keep employees and customers safe. As I type this, I’m standing guard at the locked door of our neighborhood burrito joint while I wait for my takeout order, so the employees can focus on their jobs. The place is packed with neighbors supporting this small business.
– Anti-ICE signs are posted everywhere. The community is making it crystal clear that ICE is not welcome here.
– Parents and neighbors are standing guard outside schools, organizing carpools, and escorting kids to and from school on foot.
– Parents of kids in Spanish-immersion daycare (there are a LOT of these daycares here!) are keeping their kids home so the teachers don’t have to take the risk of coming to work.
– Churches and community groups are holding fundraisers to buy and deliver groceries to families who don’t feel safe leaving home.
– Mutual aid money is going out to folks who can’t make rent because they can’t work or because a breadwinner was abducted, or who need a warm place to stay after their home’s windows were smashed.

THAT is what is happening here. This fight is ongoing and it’s horrifying to watch. But we are not backing down. To my friends in other cities and states, don’t think for a minute that this won’t happen in your town. It will. Be ready. Learn from us, as we have learned from Portland and Chicago and New York. Fight back. Don’t let us get to the last line of Martin Niemoller’s poem.”

COMMENTS (more below)

from Carol: Kudos to your FRIEND TWO for the terrific post.

I want to add, re ICE going to doors and asking about neighbors, that a woman in St. Paul said they came to her door asking if she knew of any neighbors who are Hmong or Asian(!)  (I thought this was supposed to be about Somalis…)  The Hmong have been here for 40 years.

An update on my previous story about the man from Venezuela (a friend of our friend from Peru) who was stopped by ICE while delivering Amazon packages before Christmas.  He had a work permit, and had requested an asylum hearing.  He ended up in a prison in Texas – and is still there.
Meanwhile, our Peruvian friend, who lives in a large apartment complex in Eagan, said ICE has been going through their building knocking on doors.  He just received his green card, but says he realizes it won’t help him.  His sister has been living with him and attending college on a student visa.  He said she was so scared she went back to Peru.
This is absolutely brutal.  And to those who say, well, Minnesotans just need to get with the game and stop “disrespecting” law enforcement (and they won’t get shot), I say that I am SO proud of Minnesotans right now.  We understand legitimate immigration enforcement.  And we also understand plain thuggery.
Speaking of being “disrespectful,” I understand that’s Trump’s latest excuse for the murder of Ms. Good.  That’s rich, coming from a man who calls others vile names each and every day.  And who pardoned all the Jan. 6th rioters who beat on police officers and trashed the Capitol – inc. smearing feces on the walls.  The last thing Renee Good said before her death was “I’m not mad at you” to her killer.  His last comment as he shot her: “F**ing bitch.”

from Mary Kay:

It’s hard to describe what we feel. It’s a horrible sight to see this is what is in the streets of America.
Hoping the elections change all of this, and until then, hoping republicans will see the wrong in all of it. I live in maga country and have neighbors and family who are hard to convince djt is not for America.
Thanks for your informative  and eye-opening emails!
As always,

from Mary:  Just some additions.  U of MN is closing public hours so you need active student ID to enter building.

  Teachers are choosing offering hybrid zoom classes for students option…what alto of extra work,,,
[at Medical appointment] went right in because few patients are showing up.
Nursing desk has poster telling ICE they must meet hospital administrator

from Brian: Thanks Dick!  I agree this is all very important, and very dangerous. Our thoughts are with you and your neighbors, our actions too.

from Larry: Good posts, Dick..thanks for your work.

ICE in Minnesota at 7 days.

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Seven days ago I was waiting for my flat tire issue to be resolved, and saw the first report of 34th and Portland on the local Fox News channel.  The post is here, as added to with numerous comments since publication.

This post is a few musings about today and the past seven in the metropolitan area at the scene of the crime.  Your comments are solicited.

The suburban city I live in, population 83,000, is about 20 miles from 34th and Portland in Minneapolis, the site of the shooting one week ago, and the ICE assault of Minneapolis and environs of course is also roughly that distance from us.  Yesterday we drove through the general area to visit a friend in the west suburbs.  If I were to judge the action only by local evidence (with no media) I would not know that anything was going on, and I’m not a hermit in this town.  Make no assumptions that someone else knows what you know.

There are rumors that we’ll be in the spotlight soon, but they’re only rumors at this time.  We have a relatively diverse population, and diversity is not a virtue to ICE.

Media is a different story, of course.  It depends on what media you follow.  Media likes ‘war’.

I know that the local school district sent a letter to all parents of students in the local schools (you can read it at the end of the previous post.  I’ve also added the link at the end of this paragraph).  But I’m not a parent or employee of the local schools, so, if I didn’t know somebody in that entity, I would know nothing.  And while I don’t have exact numbers, probably two-thirds of the households in the school district have no school age children or occupants who work in the local schools.  Here is the public school position: SoWashCo833 ICE

In short, if I want to be ignorant, or totally biased, it is an easy task, living in the suburb.  I choose to be informed or to be uninformed solely by my choice of media.  There used to be a local newspaper, but that is long gone.  The alternative, on-line, has not taken root well, and at any rate has chosen not to entertain local debate like letters to the editor on political topics.

As I note often, I am a Catholic and I’ve been an active part of Basilica Parish in Minneapolis for 28 years which gives another point of conversation in this tense time.

Basilica had the funeral Mass for prominent Minnesota legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband.  It was a full house, including President Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris.  Melissa was raised Catholic but apparently was not a practicing Catholic at the time of her death (she was described as a Christian) so there was a delicate dance with this issue, I’m sure.  To this day I don’t know where or even if she went to Church; when she grew up she was part of the Catholic Parish I once was part of.  After the assassination, Basilica had the space, and of course, the publicity was not to be ignored.  The latter would be denied vigorously, but non-practicing Catholics do not normally have Catholic funerals.  It is just not the normal protocol.  Rep. Hortman was not a normal deceased – she was a very prominent and highly respected legislator.

Basilica is about 3 -4 miles from Portland and 34th, and 6 1/2 miles from Annunciation, where children were assassinated inside the church during Mass.  Annunciation is 3 1/2 miles from Portland and 34th.  So these major tragedies were in the same part of Minneapolis.  The victims and perpetrators in all the cases were white.  On and on.

At the moment, Basilica faces another ‘crisis’, which in normal times would be good news:  it is the first Basilica in the United States, and has a gala Centennial anniversary party scheduled February 1.  It has been raising boatloads of money to do a very major renovation somewhat along the lines of Notre Dame in Paris, though certainly no fire.  Probably the major source of the funds are what I call high net worth individuals: the already rich.  I could normally support the project – the renovation is needed.  But this is not a normal time, and the Church leadership faces a major moral quandary: does business as usual take priority over the community crisis we are in.

Today, at my coffee shop, and on my daily walk, both in Woodbury, with plenty of local citizens, I heard not a single word, nor did I see a single piece of evidence that anything out of normal was happening in my metropolitan area.  The Minnesota Star Tribune front page today talked about Native Americans being targeted by ICE, and of course, turn on the TV news and your computer and you know what you get, the perspective from whatever side you’re on.

We are in a crisis in this country, and best we come to grips with this.  But the odds are we won’t until it’s too late.  The TV is reporting as I write on a Supreme Court hearing on Transgender….

On we go.  Don’t sit this out.  We know more than enough.

Greenland…and guardian of morality

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A quick geography lesson on Greenland.

Here is how the CIA Facebook describes Greenland.

This source of information is not intended to be anything other than a starting point for anyone interested in learning more.  I think it is important that we become more aware of the huge island.

Here is what Greenland looks like on a globe.  This is a possession of Denmark.  Denmark is a small country, geographically, north of Germany and accessible by bridge to Sweden, which is the pink landmass on the globe.

My personal position is that in the time since WWII the world has made an attempt to coexist with each other.  There have been lots of bad decisions, and there will always be bad decisions, the the coalition of the world into a United Nations has helped get rid of the specter of a few oligarchs running things.  Even highly successful career criminals die, and rarely are succeeded by anyone who can match their power.  The people have the power, but only if they choose to exercise it.

Guarding the World?  Sunday’s Minnesota Star Tribune had a front page article about the President and Morality.  The full article is here: Star Tribune: Moral Compass Jan 11.  The ball is in each and every one of our court.  This is no time to wait until tomorrow, or next week, or the last piece of evidence, or on and on and on.  We know the consequences of doing nothing.

A Thank You Note

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Yesterday morning, Jan. 10), I was at my usual “work” station at “my” Caribou Coffee, and three young girls went to work on the blackboard…they were just being kids, and they were fun to watch.  By the time I decided their work would be a neat photo, two of they were elsewhere, but one came back to finish the task, as she saw it.  And I took a snapshot…

Jan. 10, 2026 at Caribou Coffee.

I’ve been an almost every morning patron at this place for 25 years now, usually from about 6-7 a.m….sort of a solitary fixture, by choice, at “my” table near the entrance.

I suppose I could say Caribou is my centering-place each day – a place to see community as it plays out in my own town.  Those entering are mostly on their way to work.  In a way, most of these folks – it can be a busy place – are like me.  Just in transit from one part of normal life to another.

When I first dropped into this place in November of 2000, I had no intention other than to wait for a printing job to be completed at the then-Kinko’s (now FedEx) copy center next door.  The habit part just evolved over time.

It is a place where I see community life as it is, like those three kids.  A place where politeness is the norm, light banter, catching up, sometimes a place where somebody has lost somebody else and needs somebody to just be present with them, on and on.  Doubtless you can fill in the blanks from your own experience.

25 years is quite a long time to frequent a particular place, especially considering that the normal employees are all young people, some perhaps in their first job.  There is the normal banter as tasks are being accomplished.  The kind of joyful noise one likes to experience.

People holding open a door for someone arriving or departing.  “Good morning”.  Strangers sharing space.

For me, the “tab” is a single cup of coffee, which I rarely finish.  And a $1.00 tip – a real dollar bill.

In a short while I’ll be back there again, as usual.

The girls at the blackboard remind me of another flower (below).  It’s from a brief Thank You note from the manager of the store, a “thanks for your patronage” received somewhere around Christmas time short weeks ago.  Made my day.  It’s shared with the artist’s permission.  Just a note on a plain sheet of paper.  It will survive me, I would guess.

Thank you.  Have a great day.

Pay it forward.

Thank you from Trasie December 2025

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

A new post, farewell to Andrena.

An update on ICE in Minnesota.  Particularly note first lines of the initial post, and comments there thus far.

Thought starter on Greenland.

I noticed engraved on a glass at a friends home: “Speak your mind even if your voice shakes“.  Mary, our host, who is older than me, is a superb organizer.  At home I looked up the quote, and AI noted that Maggie Kuhn founder of the Grey Panthers is the source.  I haven’t checked it further.  The same AI directed me to a fascinating TedX talk by a young teenager on the topic.  You can watch it here. The torch is passed.  Those who will be most impacted by the future are the ones who must be the ones to make it possible.

Andrena

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POSTNOTE Jan.19, 2026: I dedicated my Jan. 19 MLK post to Andrena.  You can read it here.  Martin Luther King Jr was 34 years old when he wrote the famous public Letter from the Birmingham Jail to eight clergy leaders in Birmingham.  It is easy to forget that he was a very young man.  He and many others of his and other generations, such as Andrena, can be role models for all young people in the present day.

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Thursday I attended the funeral of Andrena Guines in Minneapolis.  I was there because I knew Andrena.  The Memorial writing about Andrea is here: Andrena Guines Jan 8 2026.  Below is a portion of the folder…

“From an early age, Andrena was taught that one’s vote and voice matters.  Her strong social beliefs left her to a life of service and deep commitment to empowering others.  She worked on many successful political campaigns in Georgia and Minnesota.  Andrena won the Vice Chair for THE Congressional District 4 -DFL and became a 2024 Presidential Elector for the State of Minnesota.  This honor placed her name in the Library of Congress.  She also participated as one of the core members of Black Women Rising, where she found community and offered support to others.”

Jan 8, 2026 Basilica of St. Mary

Best I know, Andrena died unexpectedly at home.  She was only 60.

The service, our mutual friend, Joyce, said: “was a beautiful service.”  Joyce also said, and I totally agree,  “Andrena was a force for good in everything she did”.

I’d say we experience a ‘crossing boundaries’ event:  Joyce, who is Jewish, had initially introduced me to Andrena, who was Baptist.  Ultimately Andrena became a very active Catholic.  I would guess that more than half the congregation was not Catholic.  The songs, congregation and indeed the entire tenor of the service reflected how we are all one.  I think Andrena would approve.

I could not help but note that the previous day, just a few miles to the south, at 34th and Portland Ave, was the tragic killing of a young woman by an ICE agent, and in this same church some months earlier had been the funeral for Melissa Hortman and her husband, both victims of a political assassination June 14, with funeral June 28, 2025.  And, of course, the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting on August 27, 2025, is still fresh on everyone’s mind and heart.  It is a brutal time..

June 8, 2026, Basilica of St. Mary Minneapolis.

 

ICE in Minnesota

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UPDATE Jan. 11, 2026: In my personal normal life in Minnesota, all is okay in my own “sphere”.  But all is not okay for this state where I’ve lived for all but one of the last 63 years.  Here’s an update on the last 72 or so hours.  Take the time….

UPDATE: Jan. 12: I would first call your attention to the end of the comments section, the e-mail to all parents in my local school district SoWashCo #833.  A particularly cogent column in this mornings e-mail from Just Above Sunset Doug Muder’s Weekly Sift, who has long standing credibility with me.   At Church, yesterday, the Priest commented briefly on the tragedy not far away down Portland Avenue.  Annunciation Catholic Church, where other recent killings took children’s lives, is only a few short miles away from the Portland site.  I don’t need to mention the daily front page headlines.  There is much more to be said.  Get involved.

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Noon Wednesday: I just returned from car repair – an errant nail and resulting flat tire have occupied my morning.

In the waiting room at the shop came Breaking News – somebody was shot down between 33rd and 34th on Portland Avenue South, related to part of the massive presence of ICE descending on Minnesota.  There are no confirmed details as yet.  Here was a screen shot I took of the TV where I got the news.

January 7, 2026 Minneapolis MN

I have no confirmed details as yet.  The TV will doubtless be filled, as it should be, with reporting, and I will weigh in more, as I know more.

The scene is well known to myself.  Indeed, my first weeks in Minneapolis, in 1965, were about 4 blocks away, on Portland Avenue South.  I will only say in addition, at this moment, that the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, which includes Minneapolis and St. Paul, is a city estimated population of over 3 million in a state with about 5.5 million residents.

Stay tuned.  Check in at this site.  I have other things to discuss as well.  I will go by official facts released by local sources – Minneapolis and state.  You can see the same on television.

POSTNOTE 5;15 a.m. Thursday Jan. 8:  This is major international news, now.  I can add a tiny but relevant note from personal experience. within the last 24 hours.  Yesterday at 7 a.m. I was sitting at my coffee shop, making a call to Triple A (American Automobile Association).  I’ve been a member for years, and I had a flat tire between home and the coffee shop about 4 miles away.  Road service.  Nail.  This is the reason why I was at the repair shop when I saw the first news of the Portland Avenue incident which, if I recall correctly, did mention somebody had been shot with no details.

Cars are very familiar to me.  Occasions interacting with police very rare, never serious, but always nerve-wracking “what did I do?”

To get Triple A road service is simple – if you are a member.  But even with a membership, each. caller is vetted before a driver is assigned.  In my recollection, they said they’d want identification; they had a description of my vehicle; they wanted to know if it had valid license plates, and, of course, what was the problem.  When the AAA driver arrived, certainly not anonymous, I had to show my drivers license, and they photographed everything, including the vehicle identifier, and once concluded, the rest was simple.  The spare was installed, and I drove the car to the repair place where I could drop off the tire and come back later to get it reinstalled.  For me, this was a matter of three hours, zero issues.  The repair guy was dressed for winter, no mask, of course.  All cordial.  Maybe a half hour on site.  On went life….

FLASHBACK: Today I think back to the end of May, 2020, when the George Floyd murder aftermath dominated the news.  I archive all of my posts, and here is the access to 4 of the posts from that week.  The murder was on Monday, Memorial Day.  It became news on Wednesday, and the aftermath basically was the rest of the week.  It was a terrifying time, and I remember personal fear that outside agitators were coming to town from Chicago.  It was misinformation, but I bit at the time.   This time, no question there are outside agitators.  They’re called ICE.

COMMENTS (also see below):

There are a few comments on Jan. 6 post, and doubtless there will be more content at the Venezuela post.  I value comments as they all contribute to the conversation.

from Gramee: ICE related murder. And Noem MADE UP a whole pro-ICE story about what happened and shot her big mouth off  (again) online.  [At 2:29 p.m. Jan. 7 Gramee added the following, which I have held until Jan. 19 and now add unedited with her permission].

Happened on Portland Avenue between 33rd and 34th Street.
My take, based on a rookie’s observation:
Murdered woman was trying to navigate her way ouf of the chaos. Her car was going somewhat diagonally on Portland going south.
ICE approached her car and she took off. I probably would have done the same, thing being scared shitless.
Unclear at what point guns were fired. Two versions: two shots, three shots. Also which of the three closest ICEs shot her.
Will be important to see the angle/location of the bullets into the car.
Car veered somewhat east in final view. May or may not because she’d been shot.
Within minutes of the murder, Noem (dressed like Dale Evans) announced that an ICE car was trying to get out of snow because, dontcha know, Minnesota!
Portland Avenue was clear and Jacob Frey Said Noem’s description was bullshit.
A final comment by Frey, directed at ICE: “Get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”
Tim Walz doing a 3:15ish TV appearance.
A situation still not totally clear.
I now love fearless Jacob Frey!
Stand by for breaking news.

from Remi: Horrifying news from Minneapolis, so near the site where George Floyd was murdered.

from Jeff Jan 8 (other comment from Jeff at end of post): Noem just parrots what her master, Stephen Miller, tells her what to say.  So its essentially propaganda, voiced forcefully and loudly with a bully’s bravado.

Slowed down video this morning clearly shows the shooter was not really in mortal danger and he shot 2 times point blank from the side while the car was moving away, therefore he was executing the driver, not acting in self defense.
I remain convinced that Justice Dept will take this investigation over  as a Federal matter. They will keep to the script. It will take courage from Hennepin County and the State of Minnesota to bring appropriate charges, but I suspect this will take a while as the Feds will keep them at a distance from the investigation until the FBI is done. It is hard to believe the Trump=Patel FBI will act ethically.
I don’t watch Fox, but on CNN and MSNOW the law enforcement experts repeated that the officer did not follow current guidelines when working with a suspect in a vehicle.  They contradicted the actual rules of engagement of the CBP/DHS for officers. And as noted, several police experts stated an officer NEVER stands in front of a car.

from Christine in France: I feel horrified by what is happening in Mnpls and also Oregon etc. We see all of it on television….


from SAK Jan. 9:

It is such a sad & needless loss of life & I am sure even the ICE agent who fired the bullets will suffer for the rest of his life for that momentary loss of control. Tragic all round. May she rest in eternal peace.

You provided some links which I followed & found moving and, in the case of Heather Cox-Richardson, detailed and informative as usual.

In logic we studied about syllogism and how one can reach a conclusion based on 2 premises. Well here’s my attempt!

  1. Heather Cox Richardson, Jan 6 2026:

Today, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told CNN’s Jake Tapper: “We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,” he said. “These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”

  1. Add that to something Marco Rubio said: “I don’t care what the UN says. The UN doesn’t know what they’re talking about …”

And one can easily reach a conclusion that agrees with Robert Reich: civilization is under threat.

Robert Reich, Jan 6 2026 :

“They threaten what we mean by civilization.

The moral purpose of civilized society is to prevent the stronger from attacking and exploiting the weaker. Otherwise, we’d be permanently immersed in a brutish war in which only the fittest and most powerful could survive.

This principle lies at the center of America’s founding documents: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. It’s also the core of the post- World War II international order championed by the United States, including the UN Charter — emphasizing multilateralism, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.”

“Civilisation” & how it can be lost also features in this article from a neurologist. It caught my immediate attention because there is mention of a book that has stayed with me ever since it was required reading at school when we were young teens, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Interestingly many of the boys stranded on an island become savages & actual murderers. However, when saved by a British naval ship, they break down & cry – I assume because they recovered their civility & childishness after suffering from something like mass hysteria without their realizing it.

from Huffpost Jan 9, here. by Jennifer Friedman MD

Trump Hurled A 2-Word Insult. It Revealed Something Deeply Troubling About Him — And Our Country.

“It is not a passing insult but an alarm bell, reverberating against barriers I have spent my career trying to overcome.”

As a neurologist, I care for some of society’s most vulnerable individuals — children with severe disabilities who are often mocked, dismissed or misunderstood. My career is rooted in supporting people with physical and cognitive differences, educating about empathy and respect for human diversity, and applying the principles of science and medicine to improve the lives of those facing challenges of one kind or another.

From that perspective, President Donald Trump’s public admonition of a female reporter in November — “Quiet, piggy” — was gut-wrenching and continues to resonate weeks later. To some, it was an offhand, albeit misogynistic, fat-shaming insult. To me, the remark instantly evoked Piggy, the vulnerable and marginalized character in William Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies” and revealed something far more troubling: a display of dominance, denigration and the subjugation of those deemed less worthy.

The rapid spread of the phrase across media platforms underscored a deeper danger — one that has only grown more unsettling as public displays of intimidation and condemnation increase. It is not just the cruelty of the words but the authority of the speaker, and the delight of many in his audience, that makes them so corrosive.

“Quiet, piggy” is not a joke. It is an illustration of how normalized bullying has become, and an affront to the people I care for and the values that guide my work.

Others have drawn parallels between “Lord of the Flies” and our political moment. In 2020, The New York Times published Jennifer Finney Boylan’s essay “President of the Flies,” in which she described feeling cast onto “some cruel and hostile strand … where people with disabilities were mocked, immigrants … were reviled, and grabbing women by their private parts was … A-OK.”

Boylan compared the “Flies” boys’ descent into savagery with a society in which democratic norms erode, expertise is dismissed and cruelty is sanctioned. Her metaphor captured profound moral decay and warned of the danger of unchecked power divorced from reason, science and shared truth.

Yet even as Boylan wrote, darker chapters still lay ahead: the attack on the U.S. Capitol; the dismantling of asylum protections; and the normalization of aggressive immigration enforcement tactics stripping primarily people of color of due process. What began as boasts about grabbing women’s bodies metastasized into a broader posture of possession — an expanding sense of what can be seized without consequence: democratic institutions, marginalized populations beyond our borders and — most recently — entire territories and nations framed as objects to be claimed. Golding captured this descent in “Lord of the Flies,” where casual cruelty gradually hardens into loss of restraint and hunger for control.

These events raise a troubling question: What has become of a society that greets such assertions of entitlement with indifference — or even approval? When the targets are distant, vulnerable or politically inconvenient, outrage seems to dissipate. Increasingly, the United States feels less like a democratic exemplar than a cautionary tale of how quickly ethical bearings can be lost.

In Golding’s novel, Piggy is intelligent, physically fragile and socially marginalized. He is mocked — and ultimately killed — for the very qualities that make him indispensable. When his glasses, the symbol of knowledge and reason, are shattered, civilization collapses into savagery.

The parallels today are difficult to ignore. Scientific expertise is ridiculed. Anti-vaccine rhetoric is elevated. Universities are portrayed as threats. Books are banned, history sanitized and facts themselves rendered suspect. Like Piggy’s broken glasses, our collective means of illumination is being smashed.

As a physician, I see the consequences of this erosion. Public health experts are harassed. Families distrust lifesaving medical advice. Vulnerable children absorb a cultural message that intellect and difference make them contemptible. What makes this moment especially dangerous is not merely who initiates the cruelty but who echoes it.

In “Lord of the Flies,” it is not Jack, the overt villain, who says “Quiet, Piggy,” but Ralph, the boy aligned with order and conscience. This is the moral creep Boylan warned about: the moment when those who believe themselves principled begin to accommodate degradation. That is what made the aftermath of this remark so disturbing. Piggy memes spread widely — not only among Trump supporters, but among critics and political leaders who claim to reject his politics. The very behaviors we teach children to avoid — mockery, humiliation, ridicule — have become entertainment, modeled by adults in positions of authority.

This casual embrace of cruelty — and the willingness to look away as acts of intimidation, coercion and lawlessness accumulate — reveals something deeper. “Quiet, piggy” conveys that bullying is acceptable, vulnerability is shameful, intellect is unwelcome and force — not dialogue — is the currency of public life. It is not a passing insult but an alarm bell, reverberating against barriers I have spent my career trying to overcome.

In Golding’s novel, the Beast is an imagined external threat, but it is Simon who speaks the most unsettling truth before he, too, is murdered: “Maybe there is a beast. Maybe it’s only us.”

That is the real warning.

The greatest danger is not a single leader, but a collective moral drift — a human capacity for dehumanization when norms collapse. Leaders do not invent this darkness; they unlock it.

We are not innocent bystanders. History shows where dehumanization leads — not through lone tyrants, but through ordinary people who acclimate to the erosion of decency. Like Golding’s boys, we have shown ourselves willing to normalize cruelty, relish humiliation and allow the expanding reach of those in power to go unchallenged. We cannot reclaim innocence, but as professionals, parents, educators and voters, we can resist the further unraveling of our civic soul.

As we start a new year, the question remains, more urgently now than ever:

Who will save us, if not ourselves?

Jennifer Lederman Friedman, M.D., is a physician in San Diego and a Clinical Professor in the Departments of Neurosciences and Pediatrics at the University of California San Diego. She has devoted her career to supporting individuals with severe neurological and developmental conditions and to advancing public understanding of disability. Outside of medicine, she co‑created and directed the Understanding Differences Program, a California Golden Bell award‑winning curriculum that fosters compassion and teaches students to approach differences with curiosity, empathy, and respect.

from Brad: So many horror stories coing out of Minneapolis. Please stay safe: it seems no one is safe now with fascists controlling our nation.  TheAdvocate Jan 11, 2026

This SoWashCo833 ICE was sent to all families with children in South Washington County ISD 833 (MN) O/a Jan 8, 2026.  Sowashco is a large suburban St. Paul School District.:

from Frank:

Five Years Ago Jan. 6, 2021

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Today is the 5th anniversary of the riot at the Capitol of the United States of America.

Today the Minnesota Star Tribune indicates that Minnesota is likely to be the reprise of what previously has happened in places like Chicago – federal ICE agents arriving in force.

Yesterday I learned that a plaque memorializing January 6, which was authorized by Congress for permanent display at the U.S. Capitol building, was completed but today is nowhere to be found, supposedly in storage.  At the end of this post is a one minute video from the Associated Press about this plaque and its status.  There will likely be more news about this today.

My three primary ‘go to’ commentators were first in line on my computer today.  You might set aside the time to read what they have to say.  In order of their arrival in my inbox:

Heather Cox Richardson 2:01 a.m.

Robert Reich, 3:16 a.m.

Paul Krugman 5:36 a.m.

Joyce Vance 2:16 p.m.

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The AP one minute video on the five year anniversary of Jan. 6, 2021, here.

 

Jan. 6 2021 mid-afternoon at our nation’s Capitol.

Minnesota State Capitol steps about noon, Sunday Jan. 17

Feb. 2, 2021, in the rotunda of the Capitol, in memory of the policeman killed in the insurrection Jan. 6, 2021.

COMMENTS:

from Mary:  Appreciate your blogs Dick and interest in self expanding awareness.  Check out Haywood Talcove (Lexis Nexis) for more insights.  I also love the variety of inputs I glean from a moderate Micheal Smerconish (Sixius XM/CNN). You tube more for information on the Smerconish Mingle projects.

What is happening in Minnesota is not unique to Minnesota and we are all paying through the nose for our generosity and reluctance to track programs.


from Lois:  Close to home opinion from Al McIntosh written 60 years ago.  [This column is from 1965.  Al is best known for the columns he wrote during WWII which were used by Ken Burns in his film on WWII.]

I am a “doer”, not a reader in allotted time outside of work necessity.  Even after retirement, my motto has been “old habits die hard” so not much progress.  Today I will forego my nap and read “Common Sense”.  Our challenge is to get a variety of opinions – your blog contributes to that endeavor.

 

Venezuela

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UPDATE January 4, 2026:  Numerous comments today.  Within the week, I plan to revisit a powerful week in December 2003 in Haiti.  This will be a separate post.  It seems particularly relevant to today, and is my own first person retrospective – my own opinion.  In times like this, the movers of agendas do not provide direct verifiable evidence, so all that is left is an informed guess.  That’s what I’ll offer.  Stay tuned.

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Probably a good time to become acquainted with Venezuela, a country more than twice the size of California, six times the size of Georgia.  Population of over 31,000,000, roughly one-tenth the population of the United States.

Good idea, too, to get up to speed about Vietnam War era, the Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and other places like Grenada, Iran, Ukraine, Israel-Gaza.  Check out the War Powers Act of 2002 as well.  Review U.S. adventures in Central America in the 1980s;  the U.S. facilitated coup in Haiti in 2004, on and on and on.  Get up to speed on Panama and Greenland.  Don’t sit on the sidelines.   

Here’s a map of the Western Hemisphere.  Venezuela (W on the map) is generally south of Florida, across the way from Cuba….

Here’s the CIA Factbook about Venezuela.

Venezuela from National Geographic World Atlas 7th Edition.

Sunday Jan 4, 2026:  These overnight posts from Joyce Vance and Heather Cox Richardson and Robert Reich are relevant commentary about the Venezuela situation as known.

COMMENTS (more at end of post);

from Brian:  Yes, Venezuela!   I just listened to Trump’s live speech where he talked about our attack there and we took the two leaders (a guy and a woman) away.

As you know I worked for 2 years next door in Colombia.   Also Louisa and I have flown our little Cessna to Venezuela.    Not good to do today.

from Gail: Thanks, Dick.  In case you don’t know, Venezuela is not the source of narcotics sent to the U.S.  The major sources of drugs are Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico.  The justification for invasion is a lie, as in all wars (see David Swanson’s War is a Lie).  The U.S. has been trying to overthrow Venezuela for decades, ever since that country voted out the descendants of Spanish colonizers who continued in power after Venezuela attained nominal political independence from Spain. The U.S. supported the ‘Comprador class’ rulers because they were easy to control and allowed the U.S. to take a large cut of Venezuela’s oil.  When Hugo Chavez was elected, he nationalized the oil company and used the oil profits to benefit Venezuelan citizens as a whole.  Venezuela has the largest amount of oil in the world – more than Saudi Arabia, although it’s a heavier oil and requires more processing.


from Carol: Monroe Doctrine = Magroe Doctrine, now called the Donroe Doctrine

We’re going to crash the cartels…
The man is a total frickin’ idiot puppet.  All they have to do is wave raw meat in front of him (and mention a Nobel Prize) and he’s on board.  Someone wrote the speech, shoved him out there, and once again told him to not go off script – which is a losing battle.
I was wrong – I told Cliff he was going to get us into a war in Venezuela by Christmas.  What took him so long?
We’re so screwed.


from Carlo:  I am so angry that Trump did that. He does not have the right and it is time Democrats in Congress stopped him.

We need to stop allowing his lies to walk and not acting when he does something This egregious.

from Sue: I’m stunned to learn that Venezuela has more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia. . .  And have we just discovered why Trump thought it was a good idea to explode a few bombs (or whatever) over Nigeria on Christmas Day?


from Fr. Harry: Many thanks Dick. Good information.  [Harry also forwarded an excellent commentary by Emmanuel Charles McCarthy.  This was published Dec. 31, 2025]. When in 2026 the economic elites who control the governments of the U.S, Britain and the EU order Trump to unleash, through the U.S. Military, the CIA, the FBI, etc., the fires of hell on Venezuela, its people, its political institutions, its infrastructure and its economy in order to restore democracy, to stop drugs, to end illegal aliens from entering into the U.S., to preserve the Monroe Doctrine and/or to get rid of the no-good, evil rulers of Venezuela who are sociopaths, murderers, oppressors of their people, just look at the graph here and know the actual reason for this murderous U.S. onslaught.

When the Catholic Bishops of the U.S., once again sit on their hands and remain silent and thereby give implicit consent to Catholic to savage and ravage Venezuela, then all that remains for an individual Catholic man or woman in the military, in the CIA, in the FBI, etc. is to stands as a solitary witness and say, “No” to murder.
Unfortunately, because of explicit decisions by the leaders of the institutional Church, almost no Catholic, young or old, has been catechized to that option. As the powers-that-be in the institutional Church well know, what people are poorly catechized in and/or non-catechized in they cannot even think of choosing. Hence the institutional Church becomes, as it has been for centuries, a significant recruitment tool for the home team’s the military, CIA, FBI, and other black ops groups.
Bishops, why are you allowing yourself to be deceived by the Evil One when it comes to war? Why are you chronically consenting to what you know are  the lies of the Evil One when it comes to war? What in the name of hell are you doing with your lives and with your ministry, and to other human beings, Christian and non-Christian, by being agents of the grand Satanic deception that there is a way to be a faithful disciple of of Jesus and engage in the mass slaughter of war?

From the President’s remarks on Jan. 3, 2026: “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to have. We had boots on the ground last night at very high level, actually.We want to surround ourselves with good neighbors. We want to surround ourselves with stability. We want to surround ourselves with energy. We have tremendous energy in that country. It’s very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves.”


from Terry to her large mailing list: Call your representatives to oppose this illegal invasion. Write letters to the editor. Attend protests. Talk with family and friends. Click on this Indivisible link to send a message to Congress. Complain to the Strib – their webpage has the Northstar story as the main online story today!! What else can we do?

Katie Miller, Stephen Miller’s wife, just posted [on X] a map of Greenland with the American flag superimposed on it – with the heading: “SOON.” They have to be stopped, to understand how much opposition there is to war.

 

Heather Cox Richardson gives some background for the invasion – that Trump is feeling cornered – the Epstein files, the Supreme Court ruling against his use of the National Guard, Jack Smith’s powerful testimony that he had the evidence to show Trump was guilty re Jan. 6, his low poll numbers.
In another talk, Richardson discusses how this aligns with Putin’s plan – if the US stays out of Ukraine, Russia will let the US have Venezuela (and Greenland, etc.).  [Dave Troy] The Donroe doctrine.


It’s another step towards authoritarianism here that they lied to Democrat members of Congress, told Senators they weren’t pursuing regime change in Venezuela, and then invaded without any pretence of Congressional approval. [CNN]. This morning Rubio did not deny that Cuba might be next.

from Carole: I did pop down to the White House yesterday, and chatted with others who had done the same. Interestingly, most were more recent immigrants (than I). And, most reflected the perhaps world view that Maduro’s kidnapping was a good thing. But, what about the Constitution? Rule of Law? Such bloody complicated times. No question that the sooner POTUS is replaced the better.

from Darleen: Thanks, Dick.  So much information to absorb but definitely worth sharing.

…in with the new….

/1 Comment/in /by

My understanding is that the 250th birthday of the United States of America is July 4, 2026, in recognition of the signing of the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776.  The move toward independence began earlier.  More can be read here.

On July 4, 2025 – our 249th birthday, we began our 250th year as a democracy.  We begin our 251st year July 4, 2026.  As of today, January 1, 2026, we are near half way through our 250th year as a country.  Our future as a democracy is by no means assured….

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I offer a proposal.  The first half of this 250th year has emphasized “retribution”.  I propose that we actively dedicate the second half of this birthday year to “contribution” in the context of working for greater good for all of us, not just some of us.  In other words, to change the conversation from a negative to a positive, one action at a time.

Get actively involved in something related to the common good, something which requires you to go beyond your self-imposed limits.  We are a political society, and politics is every single one of us, regardless of our passion.

My standing definition of US is a bird which, to fly and thus survive, requires all parts to work together.  A right wing cannot function without a left wing, and a head is useless without the rest of the body.  A head cannot by itself function at all.  An individual part, no matter how insignificant it may seem, is important to the rest of the body.  (Today we are afflicted by influencers who may know nothing, but can dispense nothingness virally to millions – it is a dilemma, the only solution is to doubt and reject any glib purveyor of his or her ‘truth’.  We all have the right and the obligation to be discerning consumers.)

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This year for Christmas I purchased for all of my children and grandchildren the book “Let Them” by Mel Robbins.  I was apprehensive about doing this – why should they care what an old man recommends.  I was astonished how many of them were not only aware of the author and the book, but were enthusiastic about it.  Here’s a little information I provided to the family members about the book. Let Them.  Take a look.

POSTNOTES

If you wish: December 31 I did a year end post,  December 27 I published one entitled “Make do”

One of the old farm postcards from about 1910. The U.S. has grown in many ways since its founding document was signed July 4, 1775

 

I looked for some official position on our countries 250th anniversary, and came across America250.  The google link behind the words is the AI page, which summarizes the controversies already in place about what the year will look like.  I would suggest taking a look at any of the links to perhaps get a bit of clarity on what can be a second revolutionary war.  I have little trust in the balance of position of this official commission.  But I think you might benefit by visiting especially the About pages and the definition of who the leaders of the program are.

COMMENTS (others at end)

from SAK:  Great idea that of contribution instead of retribution & I really liked the bird metaphor.

I am worried that cracks are widening within individual states & between states. It is surprising that humanity seems to be on a downward sloping incline but there has always between a debate about whether human nature is good or bad! Good I say if we can keep it that way. When conflicts start all bets are off though. I had yet another argument about pacifism recently with a deeply religious person who argued against pacifism. I can see that some will want to impose their views on the 250thanniversary celebrations & many of them are not convinced about the virtues of civility or even democracy let alone pacifism! In fact some are calling for a “recall of the 20th century” which would mean we forget about the world wars (and the lessons thereof), the civil rights movement as well as the many liberties that we take for granted.

Perhaps as Theodore Parker wrote: “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice” but why, dear Lord, does it have to be so long …

Wishing you a wonderful & active 2026, many thanks for the posts & emails throughout the past year.