Secrets of the City

Sorry for only having newspaper links today. Nothing caught my eye in the aggregator. (A few new blogs will be added tomorrow, btw.) Check out the household IQ story. And wtf is Keillor doing?

What about the Colbert review at CP blotter?

http://blogs.citypages.com/ctg/2006/04/the_truthiness.asp#more

who is this April and how do I meet her?

My photostream from the Day Without an Immigrant thingy at Powderhorn Park.

who is this April and how do I meet her?

10 points for go_team!

The DeLaSalle issue is one of the entertaining dust-ups in the city. Don’t know really where I come down on it, but it’s fun to watch a bunch of people who are way too comfortable getting really nasty over a football field.

From now on when there’s a thunderstrom I’m just going to stand in the middle of the room until it’s over. Yikes!

Pinko De Mayo was a mixed success. My contacts tell me that about 300 latino bidnesses shut down to show “support,” but at a loss of millions in revenue. duh. About half the latino business owners thought it was a bad idea and that it will create a backlash of outraged gringos. But with the communist party controlling this “movement” business decisions are bound to be shakey at best.

go_team: it’s your second comment.. and already… you’re knocking it out of the park. MnSpeak: pervy humor– it’s all wet.

Your sources are from the John Birch Society, I presume.

All I know is the owner of my favorite restaurant was washing his own dishes yesterday.

Incidentally: what’s it say when the most dramatic example of the Day without Immigrants is that a bunch of Chipotle Restaurants had to close? Chipotle.

It says that it’s not locals who are making burritos bigger than your head.

Of course, it’s not too hard to make burritoes bigger than my head. My head is tiny. It’s already burrito-sized.

Wrote an angry letter to Pogemiller, my Senator about his Tax Committee vote.

Rubes in this state….

My friend who isn’t allowed to post from work just emailed me to suggest we start a post on “How Have Immigrants Affected Your Life Positively.” In my case, aside from the fact that I like Mexican food, I know the answer: I had loving grandparents who were immigrants.

I’m continually astounded that a nation of immigrants can be so hostile and parsimonious to our newest members, especially while taking such ruthless advantage of them.

It’s the galling ingratitude many seem to be showing the puts people off.
Is entering the country illegally taking ruthless advantage of open borders?

So why does the US have such restrictive immigration policies?

Unless you are 100% American Indian you are an immigrant to the lovely nation of ours and most likely within the last 2-4 generations.

Is this just a “I got here and got mine, and now want to protect it” mentality?

I’m confused whenever there is absolutely no actual information being distributed and all we get is “reporting” on the news of the day with no in depth coverage.

“Immingrant” and “illegal immigrant” are not synonyms.

No, they’re not. And I would think that few people here or anywhere have a problem with legal immigration.

But I don’t think that was the focus of the crowds yesterday and the ongoing debates.

New liberally biased journalistic trend:

Gradually eliminating ‘illegal’ from being paired with ‘immigrant’.

Watch closely how this is being done.

Oh, those crafty liberal journalists. You gotta watch ‘em so that they don’t pull some newspeak language trickery on you! Next, they’ll have us believing that we have always been at war with terrorism Iraq Oceana Eurasia.

“So why does the US have such restrictive immigration policies?”

Restrictive as compared to what? Other nations? Try getting into Mexico from the south. Canada? From what I’ve learned you need a stack ‘o cash.

So bud jr…why are you against most immigration?

Is it because it’s illegal?
Is it because they are brown?
Do you think they will take your job as resident what ever you are?

I’m just wondering.

And spare me talking points please I can get those from anywhere.

You want to see another example of the “I got mine” attitude? Look at the beneficiaries of the sweetest deal in history–the homeowners on Nicollet Island–and their opposition to the De LaSalle field, (which, btw, would serve as a much needed playfield for the Minneapolis parks when not in use by the school). Don’t forget their favorite shill.

“So why does the US have such restrictive immigration policies?”

I’m sorry, I meant restrictive compared to past US Policy.

My primary concern with ILLEGAL immigration is that it is a threat to our country’s security.

We must control our borders.

Pretty simple really.

Why would you assume anything about the COLOR of illegal immigrants?

Very curious indeed.

My primary concern with ILLEGAL immigration is that it is a threat to our country’s security.

So only allowing a very small number of mostly christian people from South American countries is about terrorism?

That sounds like complete bullshit. If it’s about controlling our borders why don’t they let in 10 times or 100 times as many people and actually have a process for screening them?

Mpls Simpleton: I think there’s room for both of you to be right. By targeting immigrants, instead of their enablers:

• You appease your corporate masters, by letting them off the hook.
• The base gets stirred by your wink and nod to latent racism.
• It seems like you’re doing something about the problem.

I think we’re well beyond the time where conservatives can be painted with broad brush strokes of racism, and there is definitely cause for concern with our immigration policies and execution. We can’t do that until everyone faces the reality that there are roughly 10 million illegal immigrants in the US because of a black market for labor, and we can’t just ship them all back.

Beyond that, I have no opinion on the issue, but I do have some miscellaneous thoughts surrounding the topic, beginning with the belief that immigrants have contributed more to the region than they’ve taken (imagine Lake Street between 35W and 55 without them). The reality we’re facing now is also exactly what the Libertarian Party (no to be confused with libertarianism) would codify into law: open wages, open borders, et al — minus the strain on social services because those would’ve been gutted.

mpls simpleton: proving once again that liberalism is a mental disorder.

For god’s sake man, read your own posts!

I asked for information on why we have our current immigration policy and now I’m a mentally incompetent liberal?

That a great way to have a discussion.
Bud jr, not to disclude you from the conversation but I think you still have a few pages left of the John Stossel Book.

Yeah Tom, let’s close up a street that’s been there over 150 years to squeeze a football stadium right up against the railroad tracks and another street, pay back the Met Council the $1million that they contributed to buy the land in return for less than 7 hours of public access every Sunday. All in a zip code that is 98% adult, requiring the park board to bus in all the poor kids they say they are doing this for. What a deal for the taxpayers!

It’s not a stadium. It seats 700 people. I doubt it will be used for anything in winter. Much at any time for that matter.

While we’re at it, let’s close the westbound access off the Hennepin Ave bridge that De LaSalle provided. And, let’s bus the De LaSalle kids all over hell so they can play sports. And, don’t forget all the way under market tax rates all those adults pay to live on park board land. Let’s close that off, too.

Finally, I can see you’ve never had a kid who has had to be driven out to Eden Prairie or Hopkins to play “home” soccer games because Minneapolis doesn’t have any fields.

Would you all please just drop the pretense of environmental protection and historical preservation? Where are all the protests of the big developments right across the river from you? Isn’t that historical? Isn’t that environmental?

Well, consider Bud’s point. After all, the terrorists who flew into the World Trade Center were here illegally (psst, no they weren’t) and the folks behind the Oklahoma City bombings were illegal immigrants from Mexico (psst, that’s not true); in fact, there have been thousands of documented cases of terrorist attacks on the US as a result of Mexicans streaming over the border (psst, what the fuck am I talking about?).

msparber:

Is breaking the law to get into the country a matter of security?

Is breaking the law to get into the country a matter of security?

This is the exact way this conversation always goes!
Everyone talks about issues on the most surficial way possible using simple logic statements.

Is lingusitically breaking the the law a security matter? YES!
Is illegal immigration a National Security Matter? Debateable.

If we suddenly made it legal to cross the border would we then be secure?

Just for the record (from someone who actually lives on Nicollet Island,) the “sweet tax deal” everyone keeps referring to only exists for a few of the homeowners on the island. Much of the housing here is co-op, reserved for low-income residents, and the two condo buildings right behind DeLaSalle enjoy no tax breaks, and have in fact seen more than 30% in property tax increases over the last three years. We pay through the nose, like anyone else in Minneapolis, so the notion that this debate is about a bunch of rich folks trying to screw inner-city kids is specious and wrong.

Are there well-off people on the island? Of course. But there is also a wide range of “starving artists,” middle-income folks, and others who just liked the location. There’s no exclusivity, and the island is used every day by people from all over the city. The DeLaSalle issue is simply one of appropriate usage. We’re going to close a street (which, by the way, is currently the only way for emergency vehicles to get to the northern end of the island from East Island Ave whenever a freight train is passing, which happens 30 times per day,) plow over park land, and throw up a stadium for a football team that plays 4, count ‘em, 4 home games a year? Why? For what? Tons of Mpls schools don’t have fields adjacent to their schools, but the DeLaSalle crowd have steadfastly refused to even consider alternatives, such as the existing field behind the soon to be closed Webster Open School, less than ten blocks away.

Nick Coleman’s absurd and totally un-researched assertions of racism and privilege are coming way too close to being embraced as conventional wisdom. This is not about race, about class, about privilege, or anything else but a standard debate over land usage. Those who wish to make it something larger are way, way, way off the mark.

The illegal immigration issue is interesting because it crosses wires politically, after all it is the right wing business interests that need cheap labor. And the usually anti-wto globalization left seems to be pro-immigrant, while illegal immigrants presence here drives down wages of the low skilled American worker.

In the 80s all of the meat-packing plants in the SW of the state paid around $13 an hour to start and then there was a wave of union busting and strikes and the unions were broken (the companies were making a profit all the while) and now wages are maybe $9/hr and surpise! that seems too little for the job for americans and seems like a lot to undocumented workers.

p.s. Feeling distracted from Iraq yet?

I hear you, Mpls Simpleton. But I discovered some time ago, that this is not the forum for such important matters. People here just want to talk about where to eat and drink… you know, “important” matters that affect their daily lives. Clearly, there are not a lot of self-idenitified immigrants in this lot… or people who feel truly affected by the world around them. Nope. We are all just wandering around with blinders on, searching for a good knish (event though we’re not Jewish) and screaming about sport stadiums and smoking policies. THESE are the things that truly matter, apparently. (note the bitter sarcasm; i’m on your side.)

It’s true what they say about politics creating strange bedfellows — now I can count on not just Phil Krinkie, but Larry Pogemiller to be on my side, too. I think everyone hates Pogemiller, but my feelings are different today.

Too bad for April, huh. 2nd place is 1st loser, right? But the last four days of the month were one hell of a run to pad the stats last minute…

Look, it’s quite simple really. There are about 6.5 billion people in the world, and about 3 billion probably want to live here.

You either have immigration laws that control your borders and the number of people who immigrate here or you have total chaos. Anybody who thinks illegal mmigrants contribute more than they cost should look at a breakdown of local school and hospital budgets for starters.

Menk:

So this group is not bitterly sarcastic enough for you?

Hi.

I’m sort of confused as to what side I’m on! I guess I’m usually on the side that thinks things are a lot more complicated than they look on the surface and a ten word sentence doesn’t aptly describe the situation or the solution.

Anybody who thinks illegal immigrants contribute more than they cost should look at a breakdown of local school and hospital budgets for starters.

So is this an immigration issue or an Education and Health Care issue?
We don’t seem to be doing a very good job at either of those things right now.

IMHO, I think things are going to change radically in the next decade and most of us won’t be real comfortable with the changes.

Pogemiller’s response is entirely consistent.

I kind of wish they’d tear down De La Salle altogether. It’s a remarkably ugly building on prime land that used to be heavily built up. Now it sits behind a parking lot off the most important street in the area on a beautiful island convenient to everything. The school itself is blight ):

tmayhem – no offense, but get rid of an educational institution for what? Another condo I can’t afford?

The definition of blight is about to change tmay. You’d better hurry.

touche, but maybe at least a newer facility that makes better use of the land? the whole area around the nicollet island side of the hennepin ave bridge is a wasteland–not even useful as parkland. There is also entirely too much parking on the island for my tastes, but that’s just me.

I bet if they’d build a new building right up on Hennepin ave they could put a parking garage under it and use the space where the school is now and their current tennis courts/whatever to build a stadium on without ripping off the city and closing the roads.

But of course they’re just a po’ little private skool that’s gettin picked on!

oh I didn’t mean the tennis courts, I meant the other athletic field they have directly behind the building now, but the same idea.

Also changing gears, did anyone read Steve Kelly’s op-ed piece in the strib about stadium/transit funding? link to article

Now that sounds like a good idea to me. If they’d couple transit infrastructure funding with stadium funding in a little bigger sales tax I’d shut up and say “play ball!,” &etc. I just think it’s pretty asinine and obviously shows a total mess of priorities when they put something like a stadium before things like public transit. Put them together and I’ll happily shut up!

t – the question of how DeLaSalle has/has not used their space on the island is legit. For sure.

Redarding house hazards -

Minnesota homes need a humidifier, otherwise air is too dry in winter.

False. Newer homes are well-insulated and sealed, which reduces the rate of air exchanged so indoor air doesn’t dry out so fast. Many older homes have been tightened up with new windows and doors. Under government-sponsored weatherization programs, they were insulated and weather-stripped to fill gaps, holes and cracks.

Someone should tell that to my acoustic guitar which was exiled from my apartment all winter after, despite my best efforts, the B and high E strings stopped making discernable notes after about the 7th fret.

Then someone should tell that to my landlord.

Though I suppose it does say homes, not rental properties…

Minnesota homes need a humidifier, otherwise air is too dry in winter.

False.

I hate when they put bad information in the paper!

Here is a good source document. Blue Flame

Speaking of bad information in the Strib!

Clear advice on windows

This article endorses using Ammonia and Vinegar to wash windows.

Many of the sites I looked at do not recommend using that combination because it is potentially dangerous and worthless as a cleaner.

Is Ammonia Safe for Cleaning?

Is Ammonis Safe for Cleaning?

Blue Flame or not, my skin says otherwise. It’s far too dry in this state!

Try this out:

http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin292.htm

Try this out:
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0604k.asp

Just fucking christ. Fuck the meth links, that brand of xenophobia should be banned from this site.

My primary question in the immigration debate is, where do we get the money? Current Estimates peg the cost of deporting the 10 million illegal aliens at about $40 million a year for at least five years. Now, throwing out the fact that $40 million is more than we spend on the entire Department of Homeland Security annually, or the fact that the (financial) cost of the war in Iraq is currently equal to only at about six and a half years of said deportation plan, where the hell does the money come from?

Do Republicans believe strongly enough in this to raise taxes that much?

I guess If I have to choose between the two views expressed in the last two links send me my Commie Liberal sticker.

Because if anyone is looking to a religious figure from Tennessee for their information on immigration it isn’t me!

Hi.

What’s going on.

Your Commie liberal sticker is in the mail.

Western democracy, we will bury you!

(Beats shoe on table.)

I’ll just say one sentence that really should be expanded into about 200 pages: The recently-devised notion that every political issue has two extreme sides that must be considered on equal terms is destroying intellectual rigor in this country.

Bah, I should stop talking about topics that I can’t fit onto a snarky t-shirt. Heh.

Anybody who thinks illegal mmigrants contribute more than they cost should look at a breakdown of local school and hospital budgets for starters.

Anybody who thinks illegal immigrants cost more than they contribute should ALSO look at how much they pay in taxes – with no benefit to themselves – since they don’t/can’t collect on most social services and they don’t collect on Social Security when they reach old age.

Remember to look at the whole picture, Dtester and Bud Jr. The whole picture.

Can we stop repeating the myth that only Native Americans are true Americans? There was no “America” here until Europeans got here and made it a single country (eventually). Let’s also not forget that the natives who were here also migrated to this landmass via the Bering Straits, Mexico and some perhaps by sea. And don’t forget that tribal displacment in this area was occuring rather recently. For example, Dakota/Lakota migration into Minnesota occured as late as the 19th century displacing tribes who were here at the time.

And when you get down to it, we all really come from Africa. Or some designer guy wearing a robe.

I’m perfectly happy with my commie liberal sticker… if nothing else, I serve to provide some balance here.

Oh, and hasn’t anyone picked up on “Pinko de Mayo”? Whilst crazy, that still gets five points for sheer cleverness.

The recently-devised notion that every political issue has two extreme sides that must be considered on equal terms is destroying intellectual rigor in this country.
»» Submitted by »»» rex at 1:20 PM on May 2

Amen, brother. Amen.

I’m going to keep using Pinko de Mayo. It’s hilarious.

Leigha, I assume your talking about income tax witholdings, Social Security, Medicare and other taxes that get taken out of paychecks. I thought these illegal immigrants were working the lowest paying jobs.

Are you asking me to believe the taxes taken from their miniscule paychecks come anywhere close to equalling what they “take in” in social services, etc from the rest of the taxpayers? I’m sorry but I just have a really hard time believing that about someone making the minimum wage or less. I’m not saying we should strive for a 1:1 ratio in taxes paid to services collected, but let’s keep some perspective and remember the kinds of incomes we’re talking about.

Not on immigration, but this This is quite the tax break for private purposes, we gonna have a big shitfit over this? How about a referendum?

Anybody who thinks illegal immigrants cost more than they contribute should ALSO look at how much they pay in taxes – with no benefit to themselves – since they don’t/can’t collect on most social services and they don’t collect on Social Security when they reach old age.

Leigha, the only problem with this is that the employers probably pay them under the table since they have no documents to hire them legally. That means, no, they probably do not pay SSI/Medicare/income taxes etc.

Which, if anything, is just more reason to legitimise their work status so they do pay taxes.

But it is true that Native Americans are only non-immigrants to this Continent in the last 400 years.

Give or take a few vikings.

You’d be surprised at how many of these folks ARE on the tax rolls, Tri. The majority of these people are employed by households and foodservice, according to what I’ve been hearing (gardeners, dishwashers, etc.). They get hired on and their employers do send in the payroll taxes, social security, etc.etc.etc. Many employers aren’t doing the document checks they need to, but they’re keeping their books correctly.

But Rex is right, as usual. Let this be a lesson to us all — we should always stick with topics that fit on a t-shirt. Keep it pithy, witty, and insubstantive. On the other hand, we could always try wrapping MCTC buses in some of this stuff to try and regain that intellectual rigor.

And I AM Jewish, so quit bitching about my knish cravings.

It’s in the details. Immigrants to what? If you ask an Ojibwe they might be persuaded to consider the dakota and immigrant into their territory. They could even consider the Europeans immigrants into this region. Just immigrants who happened to say, oh by the way, this is now a new territory/country controlled by someone else who is not you, thanks for playing. Borders are a political contruct as are immigrants.

Native Americans is a really really stupid term (I prefer the Canadian First Nations). Right up there with African American as something that just serves to further divide the already shoddy race relations in this country.

And here’s a brain twister. So if we allow natives to have sovereign status on their reservations, doesn’t that make them immigrants?

It’s obvious that you can’t separate your political and geographical America’s Saloth!

OK lets call them West Laurasians and West Gondwanalandians instead of North and South Americans.

No one is bitching about your knish cravings, richg. I have them too. It’s the need to limit conversation to t-shirt jargon that I’m bitching about. And for that, you are guilty indeed.

So do the authorities just look the other way right now? I can’t fathom how they can hire someone on the books without proper documentation …

I suppose better enforcement of that would have to go along with a guest worker program to legitimise their work status, but as long as the two are executed fairly and competantly (which I know is an unfortunately unlikely case for our government, but …) it would at least shore up that problem.

As long as a guest worker card is easy enough to get, but not too easy you could keep all the undocumented workers and allow for more, but through proper enforcement ensure that those bypassing the regulations will have a tougher time finding work (and hence living here). You don’t need to build a giant wall and have snipers to keep people out, just use economic forces to make sure only those going through proper channels can come in.

They may be on the tax rolls, but how much can they be paying? If they’re truly taking jobs most Americans don’t want, then their paychecks must be small and the nature of our tax system means low-income earners don’t pay that much, relatively speaking.

Menk — I’m not sure how long you’ve been around, but I’d venture to say that we actually do broach topics worthy of more discussion than a Big Johnson shirt. And we actually do have some fairly lively debate on those topics. The trick is balancing it so we don’t turn into MNvolved, part deux.

Shit. Now I want knishes.

Whatever, man. Just eat your knishes and keep smiling. I’m well aware of the conversations that take place on this here lovely site. I only take offense to being shut down, not to others’ need for knishes.

don’t forget sales, use, and lodging taxes, fees, and all the rest. You do not have to be naturalized or legally employed to qualify for the honor of paying that 6.5 percent (state) or 10 percent (minneapolis). Unless, of course, you’re also illegally growing your own vegetables, raising your own chickens, brewing your own booze, and drying your own tobacco.

I do sometimes wonder if anyone who visits this site actually cooks once in awhile.

Yay for cooking! Although, admittedly, if it weren’t for my wok I’d hardly ever cook.

I make a nice paella, which I learned to do while I was an immigrant in another country. You should try that sometime…I mean being an immigrant, not the paella. Well maybe after I get to know you all better, and get a bigger pan, then the paella.

Had paella in the home of paella, Valencia in February.

I prefer the Barcelona version, which is more seafood, less chicken and rabbit. When you were in Valencia, did you have to do the dishes?

In the end, we’re all knishes.

And yes, I have been accused of being a geographical determinist. OK, I made that word up, but it sounds good.

Alright, I’m headed down to Nicollet to get a knish from one of the many street vendors. Oh wait, I was mistaking thing for a real city for sec. No knish for me. Too bad, so sad.

Make us a paella, TB, and you’ll feed us for a day. Give us your paella recipe, and you’ll feed us for a lifetime.

Hi.

What’s going on.

Not much. How are you doing?

Oh, and hasn’t anyone picked up on “Pinko de Mayo”? Whilst crazy, that still gets five points

It’s not crazy. May Day is the day the commies picked for this event to coincide with their annual celebration. What’s crazy is how the press hasn’t picked up on that point in their reporting.

Build a man a fire, you heat him for a night; set a man on fire, he’s taken care of forever.

“When you were in Valencia, did you have to do the dishes?”

No.

The recipe’s in Spanish. I’d put it up here but I’m afraid the Tennessee religious thought police would get me and ship me back to wherever I came from. And, dammit, I’m not going back to Iowa.

And Rex, if we cut out the xenophobia, who could we blame for the meth problem?

Even if i opened a shop on Nicollet Mall all I’d hear all day is how they aren’t as good as the ones…_______…fill in the blank.

Hi.

Not much. How are you doing?

Same-o. I do however have a strange craving for a knish.

Maybe if you translated it in to Norweigian…

Courtesy of my friend Ben, the Strib scores another quality headline:

Moorhead police wonder how 12-year-old got so drunk

The recently-devised notion that every political issue has two extreme sides that must be considered on equal terms is destroying intellectual rigor in this country.

On the contrary. “Those at the extremes enjoy the greatest leverage. Those in the middle possess virtually none. ” Mechanical Engineering 101.

“Water runs downhill. Concrete is hard. Payday is on Friday.”

Civil Engineering 101.

MNSpeak field trip to Cecil’s!

Hi.

Same-o. I do however have a strange craving for a knish.

What’s a knish?

Oh, and we’ll discuss and probe deeply important issues while eating knish.

Someone should invite April.

Hi.

What’s a knish?

A knish is like a kwatt, only more delicious.

http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Aknish

Never would have guessed this thread would get 106 comments and counting. Knever count out knish jokes.

20 points: DeRusha

Water runs downhill. Concrete is hard. Payday is on Friday.”

Civil Engineering 101.

A+

Hey righties, what about citizenship for military enlistees? Talk about a job nobody wants!

Keillor has backed out of the Nicollet Island controversy. He also seems reluctant to take a stand on the knish vs. kwatt question.

Hi.

A knish is like a kwatt, only more delicious.

Wish I could convince her that.

Hey righties, what about citizenship for military enlistees? Talk about a job nobody wants!

Robert Heinlein is applauding from the grave.

I grok, man, I grok.

Whoops, different book.

Anyone care to guess how many illegal immigrants are in our prison system?

Or how many committed crimes today?

Or how many of their children needed health care today?

Just wondering…

I was watching a trauma show on TLC… An illegal immigrant was driving a pick up truck and when border police attempted to pull him over, the driver sped off. A high speed chase ensued. The truck flips over. The driver and passenger are both rushed to the trauma unit. The passenger has broken her back, and the spine is sticking out at a 45 degree angle. The driver escapes with a few scrapes and bruises. Neither one of them have insurance in the US. The driver is released from the hospital–no questions asked. The passenger will be in recovery for quite some time.
Does anyone care about police and border agents putting their lives at risk to enforce laws that protect our communities? Does anyone care that illegal immigrants ARE breaking the laws just being in the US illegally–and giving one crime a free pass will open the door to other crimes that then become acceptable?

Well, that proves everything. Now excuse me while I go shoot some heroin and butcher a family of seven, because there’s a few illegal immigrants in the country and that makes all crimes okay.