“Vacation”

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POSTNOTE July 24, noon:  This morning, some unknown kids said “hi grandpa”, passably respectably, as I passed their gaggle during my walk at the health center.  They appeared to be about 8th grade, part of a group that had been doing what I call ‘wind sprints’.  I was about two miles into the walk, and didn’t say anything in response, but had only hours before completed the blog which  appears below.  The kids and I are in different “time zones”, of course.  What they don’t know is that they’re all in training for their own years ahead!

Just now, came an e-notice that a work colleague of mine just died at 86.  Time passes….

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July 10-12 two of my daughters and I took a ‘whirlwind’ trip to my ‘hometown’ of North Dakota.  It was a great trip, from which I’m still recovering (thus the quote marks around “vacation”).

Below is a sketch map for perspective.  Here is my personal narrative of three long, wonderful days: dick july 10 12 2023

How does an 83-year old cover the first 25 years of his life in a few words?  Here goes.

Years ago, when I was 16, May, 1956, I remember Eric Sevareid writing an  essay, “You Can Go Home Again”, for Colliers Magazine.  It is summarized here.  I was especially attracted to the article then, because a couple of years earlier we lived a few miles from his home town of Velva ND – the place he was writing about.

I can’t match Sevareid, who was legendary in his time, but so be it.  I pick two vignettes from my early youth, which I revisited on July 10.

On the way west, we stopped at the World’s Largest Buffalo in Jamestown – a tourist staple since about 1960.  In the surrounding ‘village’ is an old building which I asked the girls to notice:

Jamestown ND July 10, 2023

Down the road, 7 miles west on I-94, is Eldridge, where that General Store used to be, and a short way down the road was where we’d lived 1943-45.  The next day, at the ND History Museum in Bismarck, I showed the girls a photo I’d taken of the same store in 1991, when Dad and I were revisiting old sites.  Then. the abandoned store was still in Eldridge.

Eldridge store 1991

Places like these bring memories for folks like me.  As noted, we lived in Eldridge 1943-45.  I celebrated my 4th and 5th birthdays there.

Probably around my 5th birthday we lived in a little house maybe a block walk from this store, and we went to a birthday party – maybe my own – upstairs in the store.

I must have been having a bit too much fun, and forgot that nature was calling, and didn’t quite make it home when I messed in my pants – one of the earliest and most traumatic experiences of my life…at least I’ve never forgotten it, all these years!  Not one of my finest moments!

A little earlier, July 10, we drove by the former farm owned by my mothers family for over 100 years.  Lauri took an intriguing photo of the barn roof – amazingly still standing.

Busch barn rural Berlin ND July 10, 2023

I think I verbalized the back story of this barn roof with the girls.  Here it is.

The barn was built in 1916, and the barn roof in 1949, when I was 9 years old.

We were visiting the farm at the end of July, 1949, likely celebrating my Mom’s 40th birthday which had been a week or so earlier.

We were sound asleep, late at night, when one of those occasional horrific Dakota straight line windstorms came up and caused much damage.  We were all at the farm, in the house maybe 200 feet from the barn, most of us upstairs, awake and terrified – 11 of us in all, 6 adults, five little kids. I vividly remember the rain coming in through the window sill, as if a faucet had been turned on.  In the morning, we were fine, but barn roof was gone.

The barn, the morning after….  My Mom, and if you look carefully, you’ll see all five of us kids, end of July, 1949.    (I’m the “king”, with my back to the camera in foreground).  The others are Flo, Mary Ann, Frank and John (one at the time).  Dad took the picture.

Authorities can differ on how it was that we survived.  There would be the “Hail Mary” contingent, since lots of prayers were said by the elders; possibly there was also significant help from the hedge to the south of the house which deflected the wind a bit.

Whatever the case, we survived, and all of us were out there surveying the damage the next day.

Grandpa, story is, had just let the barn insurance lapse, so the loss was uninsured.  He found a barn to the east of LaMoure that had roof beams that he liked, and the family crew, including my Dad for much of the next month, built the replacement beams one by one, in a form on the hayloft floor.  Dad always had a lot of pride in their work on that roof, and it still stands today.

Here are some other photos from the trip: ND 2023 Trip Photos Jul 10 12 2023

All of our lives are a succession of stories. If you are interested, here are some memories of my growing up as a teacher’s kid in tiny towns in North Dakota: Bernard Dick School Memories

Thanks for hearing two of mine.

North Dakota State Capitol, Bismarck, from Slant Mandan Village, at the Missouri River and Ft. Abraham Lincoln south of Mandan ND

 

 

Sound of Freedom

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This is the first post since I took some time off from this blog on July 2.  It has been an active vacation, and I will catch up in coming days.

But this first post is to recommend a powerful film we saw on spur of the moment last evening.

It’s Sound of Freedom, 2023, in theaters now, nationwide.  Details for your area at the link.

A friend, 90, who walks at the same place I do, is the one who told me we should see the film.  We took her recommendation; we’re glad we did.

There was a showing at 6:20 p.m. on Tuesday, and I remarked we’d probably be the only people in the theatre – but it was nearly full, and everyone was completely attentive till after the final credits.  The film is over two hours.

There is endless food for thought throughout the film, and when you go, stay through the credits and for the few minutes post- movie commentary by the lead actor.  It’s not a waste of time.

I understand the film was ready for screening in 2018, but was held back till now.  I haven’t followed up on this, but will.  I have my own theories.  Perhaps I will comment some weeks from now.

Again, see Sound of Freedom.

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POSTNOTE: Another new film we saw was En Avant, L’Etoile du Nord Ou La Joie De “Vie”.  We were at the premiere of this 60 minute film on July 15.  There appeared to be  a full house, and the film was enthusiastically received.  It was part of the Lumieres Francaise Film Festival, part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Film Festival.

I found this film to be very excellent, but I defer comment for now, since I do not have information on followup showings of the film, which undoubted will occur.  When I know of new showings I will let you know.  The film was excellently and expertly presented by producer/director Christine Loys.

Stay tuned, particularly if you are, or know of, people of French heritage in the midwest.

COMMENTS: 

from Dick: You’ll note above my comment “I have my own theories…comment some weeks from now.”  I guess you need to trust that these theories won’t change because of the below – but I’ll stick by my own thoughts, and remember, I saw the entire film from beginning to end.

from Jeff: The movie and it’s star and promoters have been linked to Qanon fyi. alot of advocates who fight against sex and human trafficking have been critical of it.   most experts say the vast majority of victims know their enslavors/sellers/abductors.   I haven’t seen it yet, but my far right friends(not you hahaha) gush about it which makes me wary….maybe you haven’t read about it, but it is a bit of a controversial thing in some circles.

Less controversial,  and a movie I highly recommend, on Hulu now, “The Quiet Girl”, which was nominated for best foreign film, it is in the Irish Gaelic language.    it isn’t riveting and you have to appreciate slow moving development, but it is in a sense a good companion to Sound of Freedom, as it is about parental love and the right of a child to be loved and cared for.  it hints at potential child abuse as well.  It is a beautiful film of loss and love and family.


from Arthur:  I’m glad you had a good vacation

Caution Dick please don’t get fooled by a propaganda movie

from Juel: We saw the movie yesterday.It was very well done.  Most thought provoking. I was glad that details of the child scenes were excluded. Of course, we all have imaginations. It saddens me to know that the US is the number one child trafficking country.

from Georgine: Public radio did a program this morning about Sounds of Freedom.  Talked about the main character/person is a Qanon person that believes that children are being kidnapped so the elite can eat them.  They did not mention this in the film.  Cautioned that part of the movie is factual, some is not.  I believe it was on morning edition this morning.  What a weird world we live in.

from Dick: additional comment to the four above: I’m going to do my damndest to stick with the theory I started with.  But you have to stay tuned.  Thanks for the conversation.


from Terry:

Thanks, Dick.  Interesting recommendation.  I’m content to read about it and give my money to other filmmakers.
 
Slate’s article, “How Sound of Freedom Misrepresents its Subject–and Why the Movie Is So Seductive” explains how the film is propaganda, its connections to the far right and how sex trafficking has become a hot issue for evangelicals.   Trump, Steve Bannon, Glenn Beck, and other right wing figures have been endorsing the film. ‘Ballard’s organization, Operation Underground Railroad, was started in 2013 with funding help from Glenn Beck and Beck’s listeners.’ .

 

The movie’s star has given interviews claiming that children are torturing children to harvest adrenaline from their blood…  The article links the conspiracies they are pushing to Pizzagate where Clinton and John Podesta were part of a child sex trafficking ring.  The Slate article is too long to summarize here but it’s worth reading.  It is fascinating (and disturbing) to see how propaganda films can have an impact.
There are other articles in The Guardian, NPR, the BBC that question the accuracy of the film and look at its connections to QAnon.  Last night Trump held a showing at Mar-a-lago with the star, Kari Lake, and neo-Nazi Jack Posobiec.

Also, here and here.

“Anti-trafficking groups have already said that QAnon hinders their efforts, and the film revolves around the baseless panic that vast trafficking rings are waiting to snatch up American kids,” says Mike Rothschild, an expert on QAnon and author of The Storm is Upon Us. “Trafficking is real but films like this obscure the real issue.”  Here.

from Dick, July 28, 2023:  I actually find it useful to ‘kick up some dust’ when discussing issues like this.  As noted above, I said I’d respond later, and this is the response, for good or ill!

I attended this film because a friend, 90, highly recommended it.  I really knew nothing about it beforehand.

It is, first of all, a film, which like all films and books and other expositions of all kinds present a story with a point of view.   This one was particularly gripping for me because of personal circumstances, most of which I will not relate in this space.  Suffice to say, actually experiencing something is more important than just reading about it.  With that I dispense of the most important half of my own story.

I was most interested in learning that Sound of Freedom was an expensive film to make, and was ready for release in 2018, but not actually released until 2023.  There is lots of theorizing about this.  I’m not sure of the real story, and personally I don’t care a lot about that.  Mostly I’m glad the story is being told..

Into the film mix, at least for me, was Pizzagate, a sensational and outrageous and false conspiracy theory in 2016 alleging that Democrats and Hillary Clinton had a sex ring doing human trafficking of children out of a pizza place in D.C.  This was heavily publicized at the time.

Following along shortly thereafter, in 2017, was the infamous Qanon, which is said to have at least some its roots in Pizzagate.

Then comes the personal part, as I say, mostly unstated, but….

In 2017, a woman made my acquaintance at the coffee shop, and was extremely concerned about the prospects of sex-trafficking of children at the Super Bowl, scheduled for Minneapolis in February, 2018.  She had connections with the person/family whose story I will not divulge.  She seemed sincere and even caring. I had seen her from time to time at the coffee shop and  I had her e-mail and what turned out to be her alias.

Fast forward, along came Jan. 6 2021.  and this very woman was front page news at least once, and at least three other times subsequent, in the protests allied with Jan. 6 in D.C.  She was indeed a spokesperson for the group..

In addition, my search found a 5th article with her name in 2017.

I have not seen or heard from the woman since the contacts in 2017.  She was such a prominent and public player in the 2021 protests that my guess is that she has been at minimum removed from any visible role, politically.

All of this is simply allegations, I admit; as I also admit you don’t know the rest of the story that I will not tell.  But all in all, it is quite apparent to me that there is a story in the fact that the film was held up from release for several years, and it is likely we will never know for sure, why.

Key for me: the general thrust of the film story makes sense, and in particular the last few minutes after the credits about why the film was made in the first place.

In 2017, I know I was played for a fool.  The party unidentified  in this writing is now in her 20s, and by no means out of her woods, yet.

I continue to recommend seeing this film.

En Avant L’Etoile du Nord

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Saturday, July 15 at 1 p.m. at the St. Anthony Main Theatre in Minneapolis MN is the first showing of a new film about the French in what is now Minnesota.

I think you will want to attend.  Ticketing information is here.  The film is in English.

The current trailer should be here.  (If it doesn’t come up, let me know.  It’s been finicky.)

Do pass this message along, especially to those you know in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region.  This will be a single, world premiere, showing.  Director Christine Loys will attend.  This is a one day, one time, 62 minutes presentation, as part of the Lumieres Francaises portion of the MSP Film Festival at the festivals St. Anthony Main theater.  (Link above for tickets and more information.)

En Avant is a history film about the French in Minnesota and area.

Some years ago Director Christine Loys made her first visit to this area from her home in Paris, and was astonished to find all of the French names on streets, lakes, towns, etc.

At the time, she didn’t know the rich history of the French here.  Of course, she wasn’t alone…most Minnesotans haven’t heard much about “L’Heritage Tranquille” – the quiet history of thousands upon thousands of French-descended folks who came here, many of them before the ‘official’ history of Minnesota began with statehood in 1858.  Other places, as Quebec, Louisiana, etc., are better known for their Frenchness.  But Minnesota is not an also-ran.

Christine set about working at filling in the blanks of the history with film, and her project, many years in the making, is now complete, prepared for English speaking and French speaking audiences, here and in France.

As noted, the Minneapolis showing is the world premiere.

Christine Loys has been to Minnesota often in the last dozen or so years.

Her initial acquaintance with Minnesota came as part of support for the Trans-Antarctic expedition of Will Steger, French Dr. Jean-Louis Etienne and other international explorers in 1989-90.

Here is Christine with Will Steger and Jean-Louis in 2009.

Will Steger, Christine Loys, Jean-Louis Etienne, 2009.

In 2013, Christine became one of the founding members of the French-American Heritage Foundation in Minnesota, and in numerous other ways has been involved in activities here.

Come to the film.  Enjoy.

POSTNOTE:  While I was one of those interviewed by Christine early on, about ten years ago, I will actually see the results of her work for the first time on July 15, along with everyone else.  I have no doubt that the film will be very well done.

I have known, for many years, that many Minnesotans, like me,  have some French ancestry…mostly not Voyageurs.  (In my case, I am 50% French-Canadian through my father: one of his four ancestral families – his mothers mother,  was definitely Voyageur based – Blondeau).

The 1980 U.S. Census included an ancestry component, which reported that 7.9% of Minnesotans, 321,087, had French descent (France and Canada).  This would have included myself, and my four children.  Interpolating this to 2023, this number. would now be ten Minnesotans in my own line.

Here’s a graphic of the 1980 data, per the Les Francais d’Amerique/French in America calendar for 1989: pdf of below here: French in U.S. 1980001  (work of Virgil Benoit and Marie-Reine Mikesell, from 1985-2000.)

POSTNOTE: This blog space will probably go dark until after July 15.  Time for a little vacation.  My counter tells me that this is post number 1,932 since March of 2009.  Whew!  Stop back anytime.  The archive will identify back issues, if any.

COMMENTS:

from Jeff (who hails from the U.P. of Michigan): I see I was incorrect, the states with the highest % of French are VT, NH and then Maine….which all make sense due to the border with PQ.   I see my Michigan falls in with 10% French heritage….I knew many of them, and being close to Ojibwe reservations also alot of indigenous and partly indigenous peoples had French surnames:   Roland, Menard, Antoine, Mortier…etc. I suspect my little town had at least 6-8% French surnames, probably more if you added spousal names.
Un grande histoire!

from Claude: Thanks, Dick! I will probably be there with my brother (you may recall we had a French war bride mother who died in 2017).


from Norm:  I thought that the French were only in Wisconsin in the Somerset area and all of them related to my wife who is 100%! 😊

I an cc’ing  my response to you to Beth L_ whose husband, Paul,  is of French descent as well.

In fact, Paul may well be a distant relative of my wife, Sandy, through some of the many French folks living in Somerset, Wisconsin…on her grandmother’s side aka as her mother’s side.

Small world and all of that.

from Brad: The documentary looks very interesting and full of history.  I often wonder if other families of and around our generation ( like mine) have families that did not talk of their family history.  I always chalked it up to the american melting pot scenario but I think it might be deeper – a yearning to be just American and perhaps forget about the past times of hardship and war.

 

 

Independence Day

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PRENOTE; about the Supreme Courts decisions, if you wish, here.

POSTNOTE: Letters from an American: Heather Cox Richardson comments on the early history of American independence, here; and here.

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All best wishes for a good 4th of July.  And to Canadians, as well, celebrating Canada Day, today [July 1].

Going through some of Dad’s personal papers last week I came across an 8×10 photograph of the Liberty Bell.

The photo was a promotional piece from an advocacy group.

I’ve seen the bell in person (in Philadelphia, 1972) and whether photo or reality, it is awesome, one of the powerful representations of U.S. history.  A brief history of the Liberty Bell can be read here.  (At  the end of the brochure is a brief video about the history of the bell, including its naming.)

It is in the nature of countries to have significant dates and symbols, flags and other representations of national pride.

This particular July 4, upcoming on Tuesday,  leads me to focus on Canada Day (July 1), and a local celebration  sponsored by the Canadian Consulate in Minneapolis 10 years ago, June 28, 2013.

Here’s what seems to be the outline of some of this years July 1 celebrations in Canada.

Here’s a long and interesting article about Canada’s road to independence; complicated but very interesting.  This particular history tends to forget the French era in Quebec from 1534 to 1759, beginning in 1867,  I’ll leave the argument for others, but my earliest French ancestors were in Canada at least from the early 1630s and perhaps earlier.   And the French-Canadians called themselves “Canadiens” to distinguish themselves from others in Canada.  No matter.  All’s okay.

Of course, Canada is not our only geographic neighbor in North America.  To the south is Mexico, whose day of independence is September 16, 1810.    Here’s the Library of Congress rendition of the Mexican evolution to independence.

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As you can note, the histories of Canada, Mexico, ours, and indeed all countries are complex.  History is not easily reducible to a single specific symbol, or a specific date.  Indigenous folks were late to be recognized as people most everywhere.  The major colonial players were Spanish, English and French, all at about the same time.

Every country among the 194 nations in the world have significant milestones in their own histories.

I chose here to highlight the three major nations that comprise the North American Continent.  Much is made of the distinctions between these countries.  But regardless of rhetoric there is great interdependence among these countries, indeed all countries of the planet, in these times.

June 26, 2013, I saw our interdependence with out neighbor celebrated in person at a social event hosted by the Canadian Consulate in Minneapolis.  Then-Consul Jamshed Merchant invited us to the Consulate Canada Day celebration.  Representatives of the United States and Mexican government, and of course Canada, gave brief comments on how the three nations cooperate on a daily basis in many ways.

Sharing the platform with the speakers were four flags: those of Canada, United States, Mexico and the state of Minnesota, pictured below.  (The green is part of the Mexico flag.  As I recall, the speaker in the photo represented Mexico).  Note the sign: “Growing Stronger Economies TOGETHER“.  If I recall correctly, the rhetoric around the NAFTA agreement (North American Free Trade Agreement –  adopted 1994) was getting more intense: who gets what from cooperation, not an easy question with easy answers.  Today, I’d like to modify that sign, for all of us: “Growing Stronger Together”.

Each year of the event – I attended several – Canada had a brochure for those of us attending.  Here is the brochure for 2013: Canada-U.S.001.

I have fond memories of all of the gatherings I attended.

Whatever the case, you get the idea.  People and countries which work together do better, than fighting with each other.  It’s a lesson we find it difficult to learn.

A Year

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A year ago, June 24, 2022, The Dobbs decision came down from the U.S. Supreme Court.  I spoke of this in two posts a year ago.  The link is here.

I stand by what I said a year ago.

I have nothing more to add, though there is a great deal more to discuss.

There are plenty of good opinions you can read.  Take the time to learn more about this awful situation for which we will all pay a price in the long run.

POSTNOTE June 30 10:10 a.m. CDT:

This week there were several important Supreme Court rulings.

There are lots of opinions, beyond what the Supreme Court majority rulings say of the major issues reported this week.

I can only suggest each person becoming a ‘committee of one’ on the future, particularly on who is selected to represent them at the state and national levels in politics.  Ultimately, it is we as citizens who will be called to account when the book on Law is written.   “Elections have consequences” as I just heard someone say on television….

POSTNOTE July 1, 2023:

The Supreme Court ended its year yesterday issuing two additional rulings, which along with a third ruling a day or two earlier, and the Dobbs ruling a year ago, came down, largely as predicted.  All seem to have everything to do with a ‘win-lose’ philosophy, and nothing to do with resolution of issues.  (The most recent decisions can be accessed here.   Other opinions are filed by year.)

In short, the court has further divided we, the people, If you support the ‘win-lose’ position, you’re smiling; if you subscribe to the notion that we’re a complex nation which requires that divisive issues be resolved, you are angry.

I’m in the latter camp.

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I will stick with what I said about Dobbs, a year ago; we are now on a bitter course with an end result which will be the same as the very long quest to tame demon rum: failure.  In the interim we will be at war with each other – the ordinary outcome of any win-lose transaction.  The ‘win’ is very temporary.

Prohibition became the law of the land in 1920, when the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted.  In 1933, the 21st amendment repealed the 18th in 1933.

Prohibition has a very long history in the U.S. The quest was to, in effect, ‘deliver us from evil’, which flat out failed.  (Full disclosure, I rarely drink, don’t smoke or use illicit drugs and never have.  Just personal preference.  But like everyone, I know people whose lives have been destroyed.)

Similarly, the attempt to remake our society into a ‘conservative’ nation like we supposedly used to be in all areas – shall I say not friendly to “woke” – is doomed to disaster as well.  The only question is how long it will take and how damaging it will be.

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The July 1, 2023, post leads with a photo of the Liberty Bell, which I found in a file kept by my father.  It has its own story.

Dad was a patriotic guy, and he was likely conservative in the best sense of the old version word, though we never talked about that.  However he came to have the picture, it was cherished.  I found it in his flag file.

On reverse of the photo is information about the bell, and attribution of the source of the photo: Liberty Bell (2) ca 1980.

I looked up the source of the photo, and it was a group of conservative lawyers, founded in 1980.  This led me to wonder: is this a precursor of The Federalist Society?  Probably not: the Federalist Society says it was founded in 1982.

Of course, there are ‘liberal’ lawyers too.  But for the moment at least, the emphasis is not on resolution according to interpretation of law; rather it is a presumption of power.  Not healthy for our diverse society.

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I’ll leave it at that.  Each one of us has to be a “committee of one” to decide where we are at on the matters at issue and our future as a society – a “democratic republic”, as it were.  The matter is in every one of our own personal courts.

Fathers Day

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Also, recent posts: Canada and Gratuitous Force.

Happy Day to all, whatever your personal relationship to the term “Father” might be.  I specifically remember, this day, Marshall, who died March 30, 2023, at the doorstep of 87 years.  Marsh is survived by Karen, two daughters, grandkids and a constellation of other relatives and friends.

My vivid memory of Marsh was not long after he and I met in 1982.  He had just learned the location of the gravesite of his first ancestor in Canada, which we (Dad, Marshall’s spouse, and three other voyageurs) then visited at the Cimitiere Mont-Royal on Mount Royal in Montreal.  All of us, except Dad,  were in our 40s.  Time flies.  Bon Voyage, Marsh.  Memories….  Here’s a recollection of Marshall from 2015.

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Age is an endless accumulation of experiences of all kinds.

Friday morning I was doing my usual walk around the indoor soccer field near home and onto the field came a green monster which sounded ominous and looked like a gigantic grasshopper.  Slowly it crawled, and then it stopped.

Another walker, a lady in her 90s, a friend, was resting and I stopped and said “what would our ancestors think about this?”  We chuckled.

I asked the crew two-man crew what was going on, since I saw nothing obvious.  Matter of fact: “Ventilation fan problem”.  Its four feet planted firmly, the monsters ‘hand’ rose to the ceiling about 40 feet up, carrying its operator.  Mission accomplished, down it came, and crawled back where it had come from.

So much for the excitement on Friday morning.  (Here’s what the green monster was.)

Continuing the walk, I passed another walker, a man, an older friend I see frequently, who walks slowly with two walking sticks, and seems to have a limit of maybe 200 feet before needing to rest in place, but is indomitable, every day doing a few rounds.

What did he think?  What he’d seen reminded him of when his job was de-icing aircraft at Twin Cities International Airport.

He knew the drill from  long work experience.

What we watched, our ancestors, not all that far back, likely couldn’t have imagined.  It was another reminder of the cumulative nature of human progress.  Among all of the species, we do not seem to have boundaries on what we can accomplish.  We each have our own particular gifts.

Not everyone has exceptional talents in whatever area, but some do, and the accumulation of knowledge has served us well.  We routinely experience, what others could not even imagine generations back.  Individuals and groups among us  invent things, while “wily coyote” and other mammals are stuck with certain intellectual boundaries.

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The retired de-icer gentleman mentioned earlier had a career I wouldn’t have imagined him doing in his younger years.

Next time I see him, probably Monday at the same place, I’ll recall for him my friendship with Myron Tribus, possibly one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met, whose career started collecting eggs on the family farm in northern California in the 1920s, and ended with a prestigious position at MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

When I met Myron, he was retired from MIT, and we were on an education policy discussion group moderated by the National Education Association.  This was in the 1990s.

At some point, on a side chat, Myron was remembering WWII days and Minneapolis when he was an officer in the Army,  a young engineer assigned to a group testing assorted schemes for de-icing aircraft.  Minneapolis was an obvious place to field test their technology – weather.  He said their experience had been written up in Time Magazine at the time.  I looked it up, and sure enough – here it is: Tribus Jan 14, 1945 Time Magazine.  In fact, I found two articles on the topic – the second in the Reader’s Guide for 1943.  I sent both to Myron, then in his 80s, and he enjoyed the memories.

Myron died in 2016.  I am richer for having known him.

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This musing space of mine has always been ‘Thoughts Towards a Better World’.  I have two thoughts on this one on this Father’s Day 2023.

  1. Little things mean a lot.  In some small  way, the simple action on Friday gave an unexpected  positive connection between several people – a connection neither expected nor dramatic, along with an example of progress over the centuries, one generation building on previous generations.
  2. But with this comes a caution:  progress is happening so quickly now that we may well be setting ourselves up for possible future serious problems if we aren’t careful.  Things like Artificial Intelligence have raced far ahead of our understandings of the technology, or societies management of it.  This reminds me of the forever childrens game of seeing who can make the highest stack of blocks.  Here’s an on-line example. The stacks can get pretty high, but a point is ultimately reached where it collapses.  We don’t want this to happen.  We have to manage progress so as to permit it to continue.

Happy Father’s Day.

Gratuitous Force

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Saturday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune devoted three full pages to the Department of Justice examination in the wake of the George Floyd murder in south Minneapolis on May 25, 2020.

You can read everything about the report, including link to the report, here, the Department of Justice website.

I first wrote about this case on May 27, 2020, here, entitled “Dead Man Talking”, and word search says I’ve mentioned George Floyd in 42 posts since then.  I got within a half block of the intersection of 38th and Chicago – the scene of the crime – in the morning of May 27, but didn’t take photos or get out of the car – I wish I had.  The first demonstrations were beginning to be organized.

Whatever your opinion, I would suggest you take the time to read the report.

We were in Minneapolis last night at a concert at Orchestra Hall in the middle of downtown.  All was very usual, quiet, orderly, a city like we’ve always known it.  We’ll be back there tomorrow morning, at Basilica of St. Mary.  It will be the same as last night.

Do read and reflect on the report as it relates to yourself, personally, and where you live.

 

Canada

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Here’s downtown St. Paul, less than half mile away, 3:05 p.m. on Wednesday June 14, 2023.

downtown St. Paul MN June 14, 2023, 3:05 p.m.

This afternoon, as predicted, we got a package from the Canadian Wildfires – the same ones which nearly blacked out metro New York City and much of the northeast a few days earlier.

(I searched “Canada wildfires June 2023” and linked is what I found.)

As those who have experienced what we did would likely attest, the unpleasant ‘fog’ was aggravating.  If we’re fortunate,  it will move on, quickly, to someone else’s neighborhood.  My apologies to those who get what we got.

To me, today’s ‘smog storm’ (my descriptor) is simply another indicator that we are a world without borders.  We still harbor the illusion that we can control our borders, which are breached millions of times a day by wind streams, airplanes, ships, human beings on the move, disease….

Covid-19 was a stealth visitor whose ultimate outcome could have been predicted at the outset.

We delude ourselves into thinking that isolation will protect us; that walls can be built to keep others out; that one country can be found to be responsible for a disease, etc., etc., etc.  That being in a gated community gives security.

There will probably always be resistance to world government; indeed world government in and of itself its no guarantee of success.

Perhaps the best we can do is to refine and expand ‘best practices’ where individuals, small and larger groups, towns, cities, states and nations work in coalitions of the willing to make this a better world, the world that we share.

Success is often a succession of small incremental steps, which appear to be hopelessly small, but in aggregate and over time make a real difference.

Let’s keep working.

 

The Day and Months Ahead

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PRENOTE: Yesterdays post on the 2023 Minnesota state legislature results.

Tonight 8 p.m. TPT Channel 2 (PBS, Twin Cities).  airs Part Three (last part) of “Living With Hitler”, presumably how the Third Reich ended for the people who temporarily benefitted by its beginning and middle.  I’ve watched the first two parts.  It’s very well worth your time.  It can happen here.

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Most likely, later today in Florida, will come the arraignment of the former President of the United States and I presume his aide as well.  I deliberately write this before anything happens, including possibility of delays, demonstrations, or etc.

This is a very big deal.

Joyce Vance offers an informed review by a veteran prosecutor of the possibilities ahead here.  Her column, Civil Discourse, is very well worth the time it takes to read it.

My personal “tradition”, is a temptation to speculate in advance about what will transpire today and forward.

I will not do that, except to say that I think the matters upcoming will put to the test the very concept of the “Rule of Law” which is the cornerstone of stability in this massive country of ours.  It is too easy to make snap “armchair” judgements.  Joyce and others offer well informed analyses rooted in direct experience.

Here is the indictment as issued by the Department of Justice on June 8, 2023.

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There are a great plenty of other issues on our plate as citizens of this country.

I did a post a few hours ago, about my views of the results of the most recent session of the Minnesota legislature.  You can read it here if you wish.

Ukraine and Haiti and other places remind us that there are other places in our world.

We citizens are our country.  Keep informed and active.

POSTNOTE: About three hours after I published this, I brought in the morning Minneapolis Star Tribune.  The top headline: “Billions in COVID aid stolen, wasted”.  Of course, along the way, efforts to fully fund enforcement agencies like the IRS and law enforcement are fought at every turn.  Yesterday came a proposal, in Congress, to “Defund the Department of Justice”.  On and on.

Pull quote from the STrib article: “Criminals and gangs grabbed the money.  But so did a U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana.  All of it led to the greatest grift in U.S. history….”

Criminals are a timeless feature of Humanity.  A key government function is to protect all of us through the rule of law.

POSTNOTE 2: Dahlia Lithwick wrote a troubling but on point column today, published in Slate.  Here.

June 14: Overnight came an excellent discussion of what’s possibly ahead in the legal arena.  Joyce Vance’s Civil Discourse, here.  Also, take the time to read Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters From an American, here.

Last night I watched the third and last segment of “Living With Hitler” on PBS.  This segment dealt with the end of the dream of the Third Reich – the near destruction of Germany.  One of the narrators, near the end of the film, at about 40 minutes, said that until the very end many of the German people continued to support Hitler, even when their country had been destroyed.  It should bring pause to us, here.  The nature of human beings does not stop at borders, and did not stop in 1945.  We are very capable of making very bad mistakes, and refusing to own them.

 

What Democracy Looks Like.

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PRENOTE: Tomorrow night on Twin Cities PBS, Channel 2, 8 p.m CDT., part 3, last segment of “Living With Hitler”.  I have watched the first two segments, and this is really excellent.  Everyone should absorb the hard learnings of the results of the Third Reich.

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Last Thursday I attended a public meeting reporting on the results of the 2023 Minnesota Legislature.  The host was our local state Senator.  The two page summary handout is here: Minnesota Legislation 2023.

I attend these kinds of gatherings frequently.  This one was particularly interesting, there were many kids there, and Moms reporting, and art from work done by prisoners as rehab therapy.  A group which appeared to be Chinese American featured a spell-binding performance by a lion, given life by two young people.  Note the little girl in foreground of the picture.  She was with the program!

June 8, 2023 Hong De Lion Dance group performs.  

If you’re Minnesotan, you know the general drift.  This year the legislature, house and senate, and governor, were Democrat – an unusual occurrence here.  The elected Democrats – I am an active Democrat – decided to stick together and pass one of the most positive and progressive legislative programs ever.

A message today from MN Gov. Tim Walz says it well:

“Yesterday I was asked whether there would be a Republican backlash to the historic progress we made this legislative session. Here’s why I said I wasn’t worried:

Everything we accomplished this year was grounded in a very Midwestern value: Mind your own dang business. 

While GOP-led states were passing abortion bans, banning books, and bullying the LGBTQ+ community, we took action to protect the freedoms and rights of all Minnesotans. 

We codified abortion rights into state law, banned the harmful practice of conversion “therapy,” made Minnesota a refuge for gender-affirming care, and more.

The bottom line? In Minnesota, we don’t demonize our neighbors. We welcome everyone in, and we celebrate our diversity.”

Minnesota is characterized as a high tax state.  I hear almost no complaining about that.  In 1927, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said memorably “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society”, and that is very true.  Taxes, effectively used, pays dividends for everyone.

This is more truthful than an alternative view I once heard in person from a guy very upset with taxation generally.  He slapped his rear-end, the side with his wallet, and angrily exclaimed in a loud voice: “I want MY money, in MY pocket, RIGHT HERE”.  This was at a meeting, and he was in my small group.  A young ally of his, at the same table, apparently was thinking about this declaration, and said he liked to do off-trail bicycling, and they were spending tax money to build a local trail, of which he approved, for his personal benefit.  The trail didn’t impose on non-users.  It was a winner in all ways.

So much for getting rid of community, which is what society is, after all.  Community is Sharing.

Personally, we are fortunate to pay taxes.  This year our state and federal came to about 19% of income; about one-third of this was to state.  This has been fairly typical over recent history, hardly confiscatory.

A detailed review of all of the legislation passed this year would likely reveal things I personally would wonder about.  No matter.  They were important to other groups of citizens in other communities.  This is what society is. We all know this from personal experience.

The last few years we have been afflicted by destructive political relationships in this country.  There seems no justification for a society where one-half plus one seeks to win, the rest are losers.

There was a day when political differences like this could be complementary, not adversarial.  Most of our history as a society has dealt with issues in competition, rather than enemies in combat.  The ideal goal is resolution, not domination.  Best we relearn the skills we already have.

After the meeting on Thursday, I decided to look up government in Minnesota by ideology.  Here it is: Minnesota governance by ideology, 1901-present.  It is very interesting.  In numbers, Minnesotans have been divided by ideology, but most often we’ve worked things out cooperatively.  It has been 10 years since the Democrats last had the majority in all three branches; to the best of my knowledge, the Republicans had that advantage often in the earlier 1900s.  But there have been many years of divided government, currently often not constructively.

In one sense or another, all of us have elements of “conservative” and “liberal” in our makeup.  The difference, these days, is that one ideology tends to focus on the individual exercise of raw power; the other tends to more orient to the community at large.  Just my opinion.

POSTNOTE: I learned that I had one personal success in this session.  It took 17 years, but an idea I presented in 2006 – a very simple idea – finally was enacted this session.  In the fall of 2006, I noticed that on the application for drivers license, a kid was automatically registered for the Draft regardless of age.  Right below, on the same form, the same kid could register to vote. Both were effective at age 18, but for the Draft was automatically registered.  I asked, why not apply the same rule to both?  The simple idea was killed every year, but this year it passed.  Hooray!

POSTNOTE June 13: This mornings e-mail brought a Heather Cox Richardson “Letters from an American” well worth your time.  It is here.  Heather’s writing is well worth the small cost to subscribe.