Secrets of the City

It’s a contentuous subject, but nontheless the New York Times’ treatment of the skyrocketing rate of autism among local Somali children is worth looking at: “Autism is terrifying the community of Somali immigrants in Minneapolis, and some pediatricians and educators have joined parents in raising the alarm. But public health experts say it is hard to tell whether the apparent surge of cases is an actual outbreak, with a cause that can be addressed, or just a statistical fluke.”

Police raided the houses of local immigrants in South Minneapolis and Bloomington this morning. Not much is known as of now, but IndyMediawill be posting things as they find them out. If you know anything about the situation (names, meetings in response, etc.) please share.

It looks as though a committee formed to work on the financial problems of the Minneapolis libraries is going to recommend merging them with the Hennepin County system. Given the unique characteristics of many of the Minneapolis libraries, which differ significantly from the county libraries, it will be interesting to see if it happens.

Last night KSTP ran a story on an old law school pal of mine, the linear-reasoning-challenged, highly dramatic Susanna De Leon. De Leon is the type of shy violet who wears a five-foot Aztec feather headdress to commencement, accessorized with percussive arm- and ankle-bracelets. The bonus is that the racket made by her outfit is loud enough to drown out her voice. The Steele County Coalition for Immigration Reduction called KSTP to complain because De Leon, an adjunct at the U of M, went on some sort of tirade which included calling Americans of European descent “wetbacks.” This raises an interesting question: if you left De Leon and the Steele County Coalition for Immigration Reduction in a room with a trashcan fire and a bucket of water, how long would it be before they all succumbed to smoke inhalation?