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….

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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.

Out with the old…

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December 31, 2025

We now have 345 days experience with the regime, which “we, the people” elected Nov. 5, 2024.

Here, again, is the total vote in November, 2024.

You know where your single vote appears above.

When you had the opportunity to select your representatives, for the most part the candidate you voted for, you elect for two or four year terms.

NEW YEARS EVE, 2025

This morning’s Minnesota Star Tribune has two long articles on two exposes on allegations that have received considerable air time.  Here’s the front page:  Of course, to the perpetrator, the accusation is all that matters.  The rumor mill takes care of the rest.  In this case, the media went wild.  A year or more ago I had personally visited one of the alleged sites in one of the articles.  It was very much a normal day in a normal place doing normal things for normal people.  I was with my sister, and the uncle of one of the employees at the center – an administrator.  Most people didn’t have the opportunity I had….  [Jan. 1, 2026 front page headline at end of post] [Jan 1.  I found that the place I visited was not one of the sites visited by the “journalist”.  It was, however substantively identical to the mischief maker.]

Back on December 10 I wrote a family letter for Christmas season, the relevant part of which follows.

Traditionally, the refrain this time of year is “have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”.  That presumes a settled present, and optimistic future.

For far too many, this is not a reasonable presumption as this year ends.

I happen to be an active Democrat, a lifelong mostly active Catholic, parent, grandparent, citizen.  I’m also elderly.  Being 85, as I am, suggests I’m much nearer to sunset than sunrise.  Why worry?  Not my problem?

We are a troubled country.  Too many of us seem to have blinders on, uninterested in seeing reality.  Worse, we are the ones responsible.  There is no one to blame other than ourselves, measured by our own participation in this fragile democracy, basically through our own single vote (or non-vote) in elections and participation in civic conversation.

I’m one person; so are you.  We need to work, together.  What is your niche?

POSTNOTE: VIGNETTE

On the day of 9-11-01, a Habitat for Humanity working group from our church was in day 2 of a 2 week build on a new two-story home in south Minneapolis.  The build was for a Somali family.  I was one of the volunteers the first week.  Per the usual arrangements, the prospective residents were expected to help out, and had done so before our tour (the project had been under way for some time.)

Following 9-11, the future owners did not show up, but nobody really expected they would.  They were a Muslim family.

The project was completed, and several months later we were all invited to a formal conveyance of the completed house to the family.  It was a memorable day.

I had a small investment in the house – a week or so of labor; and my wife and son-in-law also gave a couple of days.

In subsequent years on occasion I drove by the house and it was well kept.  A positive asset to the neighborhood.

Some years in – in my memory it was a few months after the George Floyd murder in May 2020 – I made my periodic drive by the address to take a couple of photos.   This was not intrusive – just a snapshot out the window of my car.

This particular day did not go as usual.  An angry woman came out of the house with a camera.  She was expecting the worst.

I managed to get her attention, and told her my story, as related above.  The tension was immediately relieved, and we went on about our respective lives.  I didn’t take a photo that day.

But it was a reminder that human interactions are not neutral, and even under the best of circumstances one needs to be aware of back stories.

I wrote a long letter to the occupants of the house, telling the story in writing.  I didn’t receive a response, but I didn’t ask or expect one in any event.

It was something that happened.  And I imagine that today is a big repetition of what happened after 9-11-01.

January 1, 2026 Minnesota Star Tribune

 

 

 

“Make do”

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December 20 I went in for my haircut, still a regular event in my life, albeit thinner.  Just a haircut and beard trim, once every four weeks.

This particular day I said to Pamela, “I suppose you’ve been pretty busy”.   Pam, who’s also the manager, said they were pretty busy for the holiday, but business had been unusually slow in November.  As she scheduled the next haircut she said  “Five weeks or six”, which surprised me – I’ve always done four weeks.  “Why?”  Customers were cutting back, she said.  Worried about anticipated personal economic downturns.

The entire thread of conversation surprised me, but not when we chatted a tiny bit about it.  We were talking about the practical matter of personal economics – the kinds of decision making individuals make all the time.  Can I afford this or that, or is it best to hold off, to make do, in case personal economics go south?

Examples?  Start with yourself, and how you really feel as this year ends…and how you act..and what you see and hear in person where you live, including yourself, family members, neighbors, friends.

We are not in normal times and in sundry assorted ways ordinary people, which are the overwhelming vast majority of us, have a cautious and apprehensive eye about the future, which is about to dawn in a few days, on January 1, 2026.  Most of us have been through “make do” times when we have to scrimp due to scarce resources.

Cutbacks like personnel layoffs are reductions in income with consequence.  Illusions and fantasies are not reality: tariffs are taxes to consumers, not costs to the provider of a good.

Credit card purchases are not free money.  AI [artificial intelligence] and the like promise to reduce labor cost, but wages to labor are what makes an economy vibrant.  On and on.

What nobody at the highest levels seems to internalize is the fact that the true engine for prosperity is the little folks like all of us who produce and consume the goods that generate income, and “we”  includes not only the people who live in our own home, state and country in this interdependent world.

And wealth is more and more concentrated in the ranks of the already super wealthy who have absolutely no need for the surplus money they covet.  The obsession with colonizing the moon or Mars is an endless fantasy…don’t expect a lineup of migrants to either; nor expect boatloads of new resources from Mars to be mined and delivered to the local factory down the street.

I’ve always considered myself to be an optimist.  This attitude is being sorely tested.  In the coming weeks and months we’ll find out.

POSTNOTE:

Very relevant column in today’s Minnesota Star Tribune: Mn Star Tribune Billionaires 12 27-28 25

COMMENTS:

from Jeff:

AI=Job losses
AI=Data Centers

Data Centers=Private credit and big tech having off the balance sheet debt
Data Centers= higher utility rates for consumers
is there anything about this that the Democratic party is forging a coherent message and election strategy on?  Layup.


response from Dick:  Jeff, at the same time you were sending this I was visualizing the above post .   I’d really appreciate your thoughts – each of you.

I read the piece.  I think AI for all of its wonders is going to be a real dilemma for a long time.


from Jeff: I have looked into the options when using google or other devices to opt out of any AI generated info…it doesnt exist…so you are forced to

use it in a sense. If you google something now, the first thing you get is an AI generated overview of it.  I do not see anyway of avoiding that…

from Barbara: Jeff, I’ve noticed that, too. “That” being the omni-presence of AI uber alles.
Working on training myself to keep scrolling down, away from AI, to flesh and blooders. Not absolutely sure where there’s a recognizable line is between the one and the other.
Simplistic, but there you have it.

more from Dick: I actually use the search function of AI frequently, when I am searching for a credible source about something or other.  As you know, the first references are almost always AI generated and acknowledged as such, abut in turn they at least open the door to verifying or refuting or modifying their assertion.

I was nearly 50 before I ever had use of a computer, and well into my 50s when the internet entered my vocabulary.  This was basically the later 1980s and forward.

Then it was slowly off to the races.  I remember the magic of word search, pdf’s, Adobe Acrobat, color copy and such, endless stupid jokes being forwarded, etc., etc., etc.  We all have these memories.

I think the solution to the problem (and it is a big problem) now is very simple.  It is the same one we learned when we were younger: if something seems unbelievable, it probably is.  So you try to find sources that seem most credible and even better verifiable, particularly if the issue is important to you.  I did this most recently yesterday.  The son of an elderly (99 year old) friend was asserting that our esteemed President was going to Nicaragua where hundreds of thousands of Christians were being slaughtered.  I don’t know if he actually said this, or if this is how she interpreted what he said.  Nonetheless it was startling, so I had to fact check, and of course, it wasn’t true.  What apparently is true is that there is continuing serious problems in northern Nigeria in Africa where some version of radical Muslim are doing bad things to all sorts of people regardless of religious belief.  I haven’t delved into that one more deeply, since it was a data point that simply didn’t seem believable.

Of course, there are endless opinions and examples beyond this, but each of us has the ability to separate enough of the wheat from the chaff to at least have a notion of how to avoid poison!   Thanks much.  Happy New Year.

“Silent Night….”

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Banner at St. Luke’s Presbyterian Church, Minnetonka MN.

Thank you to Nancy who took the photo, and Kathy who forwarded it on.

from Nancy: I don’t know the author. It’s a banner on the wall of our church. I think it’s pretty public.

from Kathy: “Christmas will always be,,as long as we stand heart to heart and hand in hand”  Dr. Seuss.  And “friend in Chicago said the saying “Rejoice in the birth of a brown skin  etc.  has come to her several times this week..so you should be able to use it also..

 

ALSO, IF YOU WISH:

The #1 NYT Best Seller “Let Them” by Mel Robbins, and the old “The Station” from Ann Landers 1997: Let Them The Station

Dec. 21 I posted a “Grandpa Story“.  There have been several comments, and I decided personally to work on a few recollections of the other grandparents in my own life (a work in progress).  It is an interesting exercise in connecting generations, pertinent especially to me since I am very much part of today’s Grandpa generation.

Yesterday we went to the 2:00 Christmas Eve Mass at. Basilica.  It was a packed church.  The Archbishop was celebrant.  The Basilica of St. Mary Midnight Mass can be watched here.  Father Tasto’s homily which begins at about 48 minutes, for perhaps 10 minutes, is outstanding, as his always is.

As I say, “If You Wish….”

COMMENTS (more at end):

from Fred:  Best wishes right back at you, Dick!   The banner is terrific. It should be nailed to the White House front door. Of course its resident would have no idea of its significance.

from Michelle: And a very merry xmas to you too Dick and thank you for enriching our perspectives all these years.

from Jon: JOYEUX  NOËL, Dick!

from Larry: Thanks Dick, and a most Merry Christmas and Justice for All, to you.

from Kathy: I watched on TV  Pope was outstanding..Channel 11 from 11 to 12;30 last night.  [Vatican News report]

from Barbara: And best wishes to you for a safe, sane, peaceful Christmas Day, Dick!!

from Carole: Happy and merry Christmas, Dick,  Thank you so much for reaching out this year. I truly do appreciate you.  Thank you for sending your wonderful letter and your special note.  Christmas blessings to you and your family.

from Harry: Blessed Christmas to you also dear Dick.

from Vince: Merry Christmas, Dick!

from Brian: Merry Christmas.  I so love your post!  Yay!

from Mary:  Enjoy the blogs and admire the courage of the ‘banner’ authors.  I worry about reactionary anger – we are much too ready to jump up and down with controversy.

from Richard: Keep up the inspirational work, Dick

from Claude:  Thanks, Dick! I especially liked this one.  Have a great remaining holiday season and a great 2025 No Matter what happens,

from Kevin:  Loving the reads. Thank you for including me.

The Certificate of Life

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All best wishes at Christmas, and for a good New Year.  Following is a family story which, in one way or another, likely applies to all of us.

Dec. 14, my brother, John, sent an e-mail with a most intriguing document: the death certificate for our grandfather Henry Bernard, died May 23, 1957 in Fargo ND (below). I’ve done much family history, but had never seen this document, which John had received from a local friend who’s an amateur ancestry researcher.

pdf: Bernard Henry May 23, 1957 death cert

Grandpa died when I was 17, near the end of my junior year in high school.  I certainly knew him, as I knew the other grandparents, all of whom died later.  But we never really knew any of the grandparents very well as we always lived a distance away, and family trips with five young kids were infrequent – perhaps once or twice  a year.

Grandpa and Grandma stopped by to visit us in August of 1956. I have a photo of this visit.  Grandma was not feeling well at the time.  Not long after they got home she suffered a stroke and I think most of her remaining years were in Grafton ND’s version of a nursing home – a room in the local hospital.

I know a lot about my grandparents ancestry on both sides, but Grandpa Bernard’s death certificate described part of his life I never knew.

Best I know, Grandpa wasn’t with Grandma his last year. They were both disabled.  At some point, Grandpa lost a second leg to diabetes (he lost the first about 1946), and died at the VA Hospital in Fargo, 120 miles from home.

The death certificate revealed that he spent 276 days – roughly 8 months, the entire school year – in the VA Hospital, about 60 miles from where we lived at the time.  Dad, their only child in the local area, probably made numerous solitary trips up to visit his Dad.   We – I was the oldest sibling –  stayed home.  Both Mom and Dad were full-time school teachers, so had more than enough on their plates.  Todays means of communicating were many years in the future.

Grandpa died, and we all went to the funeral in Grafton.  He was a well known man in the town, and judging by the signers of the memorial book, he was well respected.  It was a big funeral.

*

“The Life Certificate”, the rest of his and our stories, is what we all create about ourselves, day by day.  Bits and pieces are memorable to someone.

How much of, what characteristics of me is Grandpa?    We are all a collection of DNA and personal qualities going back eons, the last contributors to mine were the four people who were my grandparents and their ancestors.

*

I have few direct memories of Grandpa Bernard.   Here is the memory that first came to mind as I looked at Grandpa’s death certificate.

In their later years, Grandma and Grandpa lived in a tiny house, which had a tiny landing with a bench where grandpa would often sit, watching the world go by (1946 photo below).  By his bench he had a can full of small stones, and a homemade sling shot.

1946, Grafton ND. Dick is 5-year old in front.

Once,  we kids were with him, and he noticed a dog coming down the sidewalk which passed near the house.  He was a farm kid and in younger years always had a dog.  This day he said “Watch that dog”.  The dog approached. and when he was nearing Grandpa, he made a hard right turn, went across the street, and thence left, then left again, thence right continuing on his way.  Not a word – or bark – was exchanged. The dog and Grandpa obviously had an understanding.

It’s a memory that still brings a smile about 75 years later.

This was what I’d call a “Life Certificate” memory.  I carry some of the DNA of Grandpa, as do my siblings, and in a sense he’s always with us.  But what we remember, basically, are the moments like the one I describe above, which give our ancestors important parts of our life experience.  These are the things we remember.

What’s a memory that you have of someone passed?

Merry Christmas.

POSTNOTE: Perhaps you have an interest in family history.  If interested in the family from which Henry Bernard (Honore, in his native French) came, you can check out the history I did in 2010: here, click library click books, scroll down to Bernard-Collette.  Here are the pages about the family: 48-61, 67-71, 134-171, 213-216, 384-392.

COMMENTS:

from SAK:  Wonderful story of your grandfather & the dog that didn’t bark, a certain “understanding” you say!

Lots of memories of my grandparents come to mind, none as cute as that one though. I remember my grandmother always in black after grandfather died & most often with a small Bible in her hand.

Wishing you & yours a Merry Christmas & a Happy, healthy 2026,

from Gary: Am I correct that you are the one with the impish smile? [response: yes, just taking break from the hard work of being an oldest child, when competitors come along and challenge one’s turf!  #5 isn’t in the picture – he was two yeas in the future.]

from Carole: Thank you for your very special holiday message.

from Claude: Thank you, Dick. And I wish you a magical holiday season too!

from Frank: Some may quibble, but this is the shortest day of the year.  I join my fellow peasants in heaping wood on the celebratory bonfires, in eating, drinking and celebrating the fact that the sun will not disappear, while singing songs of joy and hope, and in my case plunking along on my guitar. Since we’re having an unusually warm winter, I’ll be joining friends for 18 holes of glorious golf after Mass. Hope springs eternal that this may be the day I shoot my age, even with a few mulligans, breakfast balls and the rare foot wedge. May fortune smile upon your endeavors today and all the days of the New Year.

from Brian: Thanks so much for your sweet post  I really APPRECIATE it!!   I’m here all alone in Brooklyn just with my wonderful cat, Amie.  Oh gee, Amie!

from Jeff: I hope you werent shooting rocks at neighborhood dogs as part of that DNA inheritance?  hahaha

Dick, to Jeff and all: The memory was first off the shelf when I thought about Grandpa, who was always a working man, farm kid first grade education in Quebec, lumberjack in New Hampshire, asbestos mines in Quebec, a long career as chief engineer at the flour mill in Grafton ND.   Dad talked about Grandpas dogs, apparently all named “Fosto”, the name, some slang he apparently picked up in Philippines in Spanish-American War 1898-99.  Doubtless they were trained in the old country way, as was this neighborhood dog who probably had watered some favorite object in front of Grandpa’s house once or twice too often.  You’ll note I said “small stones”.  He also had a BB gun by the back door should some varmint start messing around in their little garden.   I never saw him demonstrate either the sling shot or the BB gun.  Doubtless he knew how to use them!

from Mary Ellen: Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année to you and Cathy and the whole family.

I am in the Paris airport waiting for my flight home. It has been wonderful to reconnect with French friends and very special to attend my nephew’s Defense of Thesis. he is now PhD in Physics, U of Grenoble!!

from Carol: Beautiful card!

 

 

What can I do?

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All very best wishes for the ending of 2025 and 2026.  We need to be personally involved in this.

Some ideas follow.  More on photo at end of post;

late August 2008, St. Paul, Mn on the Mississippi River.

Getting in action:

Thursday morning a group of about 25 of us listened to an immigration lawyer talk about the current legal situation in our area and the country.  There was little new information, but at the same time, it was very good to hear someone who is close to the day-to-day issues; and to hear the information as part of a larger group – in our case, concerned senior citizens.  I think the gathering was important for the speaker as well – an opportunity to find out what we, the people were thinking.

My friend, Carol, had planned to attend but there was some conflict that changed plans.  She asked me to deliver a message to the lawyer, and I share that here with permission.  (NOTE: I had previously shared part of the below and changed or deleted some names.)

“We have friends from Peru.  One of them was once in my ESL class, and became like family.  Then his cousin, Sebastian, followed him here, and we are now friends with him also.  They both graduated from college here, obtained work permits and jobs, and are working toward permanent legal residency.

Yesterday Sebastian called, really distraught.  He said Immigration thugs had pulled a good friend of his over on the road (a man from Venezuela with no criminal record).  The friend has a valid work permit, came here by legal means and requested asylum – his case is pending.  The thugs in their vehicles passed him on the road, saw that he looked Hispanic, then pulled him over and pointed guns at him.  The friend was driving his own car but was delivering packages for Amazon at the time.  They plopped him into some facility in Elk River, where he was able to make a call.  He doesn’t even know what happened to his car.  He said someone just drove it off (along with maybe a dozen undelivered Amazon packages…)

Hearing the distress in Sebastian’s voice and realizing the terror of his friend is very disturbing.  As is his shock that this can actually happen in America.  I’m so ashamed and angry.

Sebastian and other friends of the Venezuelan man were trying to raise money for an attorney to represent him.  They said it wasn’t until they contacted an attorney that they even knew he has a court date on Monday; no one notified the man himself.

*******
update from Tuesday:
Sebastian (the cousin) said that the court date scheduled for Monday was pushed to today (Tuesday), then cancelled.  Through some means, they have learned that the man arrested has been transferred to Texas (I don’t know where) and no one has heard from him since.  He has had NO court appearances.  The cousin again said that his friend has absolutely NO criminal history.

update from today (Wednesday):
 
I just got another message from Sebastian.  He says “finally my friend just contacted us today. He is in Texas, he said that they didn’t give him any food.  He was handcuffed and foot cuffed for more than 24 hours.  There is a UofM professor too over there [presumably also in Texas?? altho’ I don’t see any news reports of a professor from the U being arrested] and he started a protest because they didn’t have the right to make a call since Sunday.  They are torturing them…. they said that they been transported to Texas because the jails from Minnesota are full already and need more space.”
 
*******
This man’s friends looked for an attorney for him when he was first arrested, and came up with a guy in Texas who was supposed to appear remotely when the Venezuelan appeared here in court (which didn’t happen).  He was charging them $3,000 to do that.  Sebastian surely doesn’t have a lot of money – and I’m sure none of his friends do.  Is there someone they could go to for help – either here in MN or in TX??  Their friend deserves his day in court…”

After I returned from the meeting I had another note from her which is pertinent:

 

I just watched the press conference of Minneapolis Mayor Frey and the young Somali man who ICE picked up, even though he kept telling them he’s a citizen.  Frey was impressive – as was the Somali.  They grabbed him when he came out of a building for his lunch break.  He said the restaurant he was heading for was 5 steps away.  They had NO ID, knocked him down in the snow, put him in a chokehold.  Then they hauled him off to ICE headquarters by Fort Snelling, where they fingerprinted him.  Someone finally looked at his passport, then they turned him loose and told him to walk home (to South Mineapolis…)  Mayor Frey was visibly angry.  A class action lawsuit was mentioned.
So I just sent Sebastian’s story to the mayor’s office also.  His friend is a Minneapolis resident.
Mayor Frey addressed any of us who are citizens, asking “Is this OK with you??  If this can happen to this young man, it could happen to you.”

Update Dec 16:

The latest from Sebastian re his friend just says “All the same with my friend, he’s still in Texas.  He has another court day on January 7.”  Not clear if that’s here or there, but I will ask him.  So here is someone who was doing absolutely nothing illegal, who should have had the opportunity to appear before a judge right after being thrown in jail, but who has to wait over a month to defend himself.
I had sent Sebastian some links I’d found to agencies that help in these situations, but the Texas Civil Rights Project was not one of them.  Thanks to Kathleen Valdez who provided the information – I will pass it along!
I also sent the story to a couple of journalists, but no one has responded.  Rubin is a good suggestion, THANKS.  Sometimes you just have to stir up the right person…

WHAT CAN I DO?  Carol got into action (which she typically does, anyway).  Her action counts for a lot.  Every action makes a big difference.

Back in July I wrote. letter of concern about ICE training in my community.  The letter and photos is here: Woodbury ICE at HERO Center.  It was just a letter, and the city couldn’t accommodate my personal request.  On the other hand, It got immediate attention from the chief of police who met in person with me, not to dismiss, but to dialogue.  I also copied the same letter to the President of the College I had attended years ago.

THE PHOTOGRAPH:  In August of 2008, the Republican Party had its national convention in St. Paul.  A group of peacemakers (I was among them) organized a Peace Island Conference, and another identically named Peace event took place after the conference across the river from downtown St. Paul and Convention Headquarters.   The gatherings were totally peaceful, as was an organized peace march at the time the Convention began.  But their very existence was viewed as a threat, to the extent that Coast Guard was deployed to protect the river (the photograph), and before the island event, a parade of ominous looking vehicles  drove slowly by.  Of course. nothing negative happened.  There were occasional negative events – not organized or sanctioned by us.  Our emphasis was peace.  There was no need for the authorities, such as they were, to go to war.  What we did were actions.  Actions make a big difference.
As bad as 2025 has been, I have a feeling that 2026 will probably be worse in unknown ways.  One of the things to prepare for beginning now is the possibility of tampering with the 2026 elections.  People must be mobilized to be properly registered to vote long before the election, and especially those who didn’t vote at all last time, or voted for candidates who had no chance whatever for success, have to be encouraged to cast their informed ballot.
Absent a great turnout of informed voters in 2026 and beyond, the future of our democracy is at great risk.

POSTNOTE: Heather. Cox Richardson on Alabama, Dec. 12, 2025.
At Christmas time:
Chuck sent a Native American prayer of thanks at Thanksgiving time.  Here it is: Iroquois Thanksgiving 
My brother John was recently on Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake, and sent an album of photos there.  Take a look.

COMMENTS (more at end)


from Carol: Thanks so much for sharing all that, Dick – plus your kind compliment.  However, nobody seems to actually care (enough).

I just texted Sebastian to ask if there are any updates – if so, I’ll let you know.  Last night I heard a figure of how many ICE says they have arrested – plus the estimate by others of how many they’ve actually hauled away, which was way higher.  I think they’re “disappearing” people who they know are legally here.  “There but for the grace of God”… and the fact I have Norwegian, German, “acceptable” skin color.  Wow, how quickly we’re becoming a third-world country.

from Pierre: That is horrible!!  I am ashamed of the U. S. government.  The Democrats need to be very hard-nosed dealing with these terrorists when this is all over.  No tap on the wrist.

from Jane:  OMG, these stories are just heartbreaking.  Not to mention unconstitutional.  Thanks for letting us know.

from Sue: Dick, thank you. This ICE nightmare is so ugly. MN ice fishing even on the coldest day is far more humane than the trumpian ICE fishing so many good people are dealing with. I can’t help but fixate on the greetings “Merry Christmas” & “Happy New Year” – who will be merry in 2025 & happy in 2026?


from Jeff including an e-mail from his friend Joe, who had seen this post:

Joe is the brother of a childhood friend…he was a CPA and did stints as [as corporate management] before he retired.  He
is very active in social justice regarding refugees/immigration and attends [a local Catholic Church with emphasis on social justice].  I never really knew the extent of his work, he just returned from El Salvador, but I know he has been down with groups monitoring elections in Central America.  Putting it on the line.     He … is about 75 or 76 I think.


from Joe:  Thanks…this is not the American I know.

I just returned from 10 days in El Salvador.  The delegation numbered 26 and of the 22 women, 11 were nuns and the other 11 lay missionaries.  The purpose of the trip was to commemorate the religious martyrs during their civil war and meet with several grass roots organizations.  It was a wonderful and fascinating experience and being surrounded by such an inspiring and joyful group was extremely uplifting.  I have long felt a deep connection with the people in the war-torn countries of Central America and may have missed my calling.
I wrote the attached letter to the Strib about my visit.   Even though they apparently decided not to run it, I thought I’d share it with you.  [Dick: I’m not including the letter, only because his commentary would be redundant to the above, and was submitted to local media, which is another action we all can take.  Just because his letter is not published (not yet a certainty), doesn’t mean it hasn’t had impact on the editorial page editor.  Keep writing.]

from Lois: Happy Holidays to you and your family!  I hope you and those enjoying your blogs will be recipients of better news as we start a new year.  Your messages and suggestions are appreciated to stay involved, consider all voices, and accept our differences while we work through every day’s events.

*
I\Finally if you need motivation for the work ahead for all of us:

Watching MTG

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8:15 a.m. CST December 8, 2026: I’m time-stamping this post for a specific reason: I watched the entire Marjorie Taylor Greene interview on 60 Minutes last night, and I want to give my impressions before I see or hear any analysis from anyone else.  You can probably access the interview on-line for a short time.  I’d recommend it.

I’ve watched 60 Minutes for its entire history.  I rarely miss it on Sunday evening.  Sixty Minutes recently has come under new management – same talent, same kinds of shows, but under new management, which has as yet unknown implications.

MTG’s interview, leading the show last night, was a big deal for everyone.  Odds that this was a spontaneous conversation is zero.  What questions were explored, what portions of film were included or not in the 15 or so minutes, are unknown.  But in today’s politics, everything is stage managed.

The first think I noticed last night was that MTG was wearing a white sweater.  That’s all that was seen initially.  Not long after, the sweater was revealed with an American flag front and center, no other text.  Dress always has its own message, I thought.,

During the interview she was asked about her relationship breakdown with DJT.  No, she was no longer MAGA, rather she emphasized more than once “America First”.

“America First” has a history in the United States, a rather ignominious history.  It was our very close call with fascism and alliance with Nazi Germany in the 1930s, into the U.S. congress in the 1940s.  It was very strong in Minnesota.  It took root here, perhaps largely because of the large numbers of German-Americans in the U.S. (full disclosure: my mother was 100% German-American, third generation in America.  I recall no discussion whatsoever about this within the family.)

Let’s start the conversation here.  Absolutely those who pull the political strings have a role in mind for Marjorie Taylor Greene.  It is how politics work.  We will find in upcoming months who the real MTG is, in the political sense.

*

Ironically, yesterday, hours before 60 Minutes, my friend Jim and I were having a short discussion about Charles Lindbergh and his active flirtation with Nazi Germany primarily in the 1930s.  Carlo had also commented that eminent Germans like Wernher von Braun had been recruited as scientists during the war.

The conversations are relevant to this discussion.  I had noted to both friends that former Governor Elmer Andersen, a great friend of mine and lifelong Republican, had an entire chapter of his book “A Man’s Reach” devoted to his friend, Charles Lindbergh.  The page in the book about America First and Lindbergh is 290-91 [Elmer Andersen on Charles Lindbergh 2000]; the entire chapter pp 286-301.

To this, Jim responded:

Well, I’m not surprised that Elmer Andersen would support a fellow Republican as
well known as Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh was the face of the America First
Committee in 1940; indeed, he was the keynote speaker at many America First
Committee events. But he was also a Republican strongly in opposition to
Roosevelt.
Lindbergh did go to Nazi Germany perhaps as a Defense (now War?) Department
agent. He was very impressed by what the Nazis had accomplished in war materials
and military training. He was convinced that Roosevelt would not be up to the task
of restraining Hitler, so he called for a surrender when Hitler declared war on
America.
As I wrote before, Lindbergh was also a fervent believer in eugenics. a theory of
human improvement that elevated the white race. Whites should breed more
often; other groups less so. Those with various abnormalities should be neutered.
Hitler was also a eugenics fan. It is believed that Hitler justified his prison camps
and sterilization measured forced on Jews, Eastern Europeans, and minorities
like gypsies strictly on eugenics terms. Theory resulting in barbarity.


Jim later added an amendment:

Complicated yes, but also easily convinced by simple, though wrong, answers.
Hitler was one of those wrongs. Yet, America had several pro-Germany (meaning
pro-Hitler) groups in the 1930’s. Most active in Minnesota were the silver shirts,
an organization modeled after the German brown shirts that supported Hitler’s
rise. Of course, all such American groups dissipated once America entered WWII.
The leader of one such group was sent to Germany to live in poverty after the war.

And the following:
I should have mentioned when writing about Charles Lindbergh that
having refused to fight the Germans, he did fight against the Japanese.
He flew several missions in Asia in WWII. It has been suggested that via
his eugenics thinking, the Japanese were an inferior race. Therefore they
possibly would be subject to elimination through a war started by them.

POSTNOTE: Here is a post I did about Fascism as viewed by the Army in the 1940s.

COMMENTS:

from Carol: Thanks for the link to the MTG interview, I hadn’t seen it.  She starts out so sweet ’n innocent until Leslie Stahl irritates her and then she goes for the jugular…  You’re right, she’s not to be trusted.


from Carlo:

I watched the interview. I think she’s full of bullshit.
I noticed the cross that she was wearing.
It warms my heart to see her tell the truth about things. One of the things that I truly do believe about Republicans is that they know that the stuff that is happening and they are doing in the Republican Party is wrong. And her new stances on things prove that they are not stupid and that they do know that these things are wrong.
I think it’s interesting that she’s concerned about the threats that her family has gotten, but you never heard her say a thing about that  judge in South Carolina whose house was burned down.
She showed her colors in that interview when Leslie mentioned her insulting people. She flipped and said well “you insult people,” that’s who she really is. So like I said before the woman’s full of bullshit.


from Jeff:  Germany.

one thing is that germany is always prefaced by a prefix to denote what type of Germany it was:
Imperial Germany
Weimar Germany
Nazi Germany
West Germany  East Germany
and now Germany
America seems is always just America, but it might need a prefix right now?