Just To Be Clear

I'm trying really hard not to be screechy. Everybody and their mothers are writing about what's happening in Minnesota these days. Some of it is true, some of it is total horse-hockey. People (including me) can be really hot and passionate about this subject. Several hundred people walked out onto real ice on Bde Maka Ska to send a message to the world: SAVE OUR STATE. See, here's the thing: ICE has been around for a long time doing their job with warrants and due process in their polo shirts and khaki pants. They were not running around the street of Minnesota looking like some paramilitary vigilante force. I don't care what anyone says: these costumes are meant to terrify and intimidate; that's exactly what they do. 

This is not to say there was never any pushback in regard to illegal aliens and deportation orders; there was. But ICE should know who is already in jail just like they used to know. Real criminals in the prison system were picked up on release and deported. I used to prep some of those airline tickets. It was part of my job whenever I was on loan to the government branch. I don't think I could do that in this environment. 

Just to be crystal clear in regards to my position of immigration law:

1. I believe in the Constitution of the United States, especially Amendments 14 and 44.
2. I support the existence of immigration law
3. I support the right to due process for all people within the jurisdiction of the US
4. I support the right to apply for asylum. 
5. I do not support the idea of open borders.

The 14th Amendment states:

 All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

There are two phrases in there 

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States
2. nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

that speak directly to the condition of the individual. Any number of cases heard in the Supreme Court deal with that very issue. A good one to look at is Shaughnessy v. United States ex rel. Mezei as it is presented in Cornell's Legal Information Institute. Just about every case comes down in favor of "any person" meaning both citizens and non-citizens alike, regardless of their immigration status.

The breakdown is not really about illegal immigrants, it's about the tactics being used. American citizens are being swept up. Legal immigrants with residency status are being swept up. ICE is using immigration check-ins as a way to sweep people into an amorphous net. None of these sweeps allow for due process. People are locked up, denied access to attorneys, denied basic human health necessities.When the office who shot Renee Good walked away from her car, he called her a fucking bitch and it was heard on the tape around the world. She was alive when the car crashed and then denied medical attention. THIS is what people are fighting against. It's not the law as much as it is the absence of the law. 

The story of Liam Conejo Ramos is not an isolated case of child-grabbing. His cute hat helped him to not just make headlines, but to start a groundswell rejection of ICE tactics. The picture was not staged, not taken by a photographer; it was taken by a bystander. He was used as bait, and there are lots of witnesses to testify about what happened at the front door. Even so, ICE and DHS continued to lie about it. Is this what we have come to expect and accept? A confederacy of liars running our government? 

Off the scale, folks

Apparently, yes. Wag the dog is the order of the day. Anything to misdirect away from Epstein and the files. Demolishing part of the White House, changing the name of The Kennedy Center, going after settled 2020 election results..........all red herring to deflect this real issue of a sexual deviant-pedophile-crook who is lining this own pockets with YOUR money every time he sues the government for doing its job. Now he's suing the IRS for $10,000,000,000 for leaked tax info. Isn't he supposed to release his taxes when he runs for office? What a crock... and just think, we're supposed to lap it up with one of his golden plastic spoons. Uh, not happening. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....

As long as I'm doing WP positioning, I want to clarify something about me and AI. 

1. I do not condone using AI for any creative writing. Period. If you use AI to write, it's not your work, it's a collaboration between you and a machine and should be subject to full disclosure.
2. I use a spell checker and that's it. If you read this regularly, you know I have more than my fair share of typos. And no, I'm not a great speller so I do look up a whole lotta words.
3. I do not use AI for any part of the blog. I view Google as a sort of card catalog. I avoid AI research results because I believe those results are not trustworthy. I search and research using the long form....meaning I type in my parameters, ignore the annoying AI box at the top of Google, and then search "by hand and eye." 
4. I do not use AI in writing my books. EVER.  My voice is my voice and no machine is gonna tell me how to write a sentence to "make it better." I am the Queen of Prepositional Phrases and proud of my ability to edit those suckers out. (I can cut thousands of words from a manuscript by doing that. Just sayin'.)

On another day, I'll talk about AI and art as an emerging medium. Just like people said photography would destroy painting, moving pictures would destroy theater, and television would decimate movies, and CGI would stifle the imagination, none of those things happened and new art forms became art. But I'm saving that for a day when I don't wanna rant about the government. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Proud Mam Moment:

The Senior Son just release a new EP and I gotta admit

CRUMBS TO A FEAST

is my new favorite earworm. 

Apple Music

Spotify

Domestic Terrorism In Our Streets

We, the People of Minnesota, are on overload. Processing the events of the last week are damn near impossible. We are living in a surreal war zone, where the government is bent on quelling a riot that has not happened. Facts are meaningless when the so-called leaders of this country continue to spew lie after lie, expecting us to blindly believe what they say instead of what we see with our eyes...over and over and over and over again. The circle on the right is over the hand of the ICE officer shooting pepper spray into the faces of Alex Pretti (the left red circle) and the woman who was shoved to the ground. The tape shows Alex attempting to help her up when they are sprayed. Mr. Pretti is then shoved face down to the ground and is beaten by the officers. He remains face down on the pavement.  According to the New York Times, an agent fired a single shot into the prone Alex Pretti, and then 9 more shots were fired: 8 in rapid succession followed by a single shot. 

The New York Times has an excellent minute-by-minute account.  I would strongly suggest you view it. 

A photograph taken that morning by NYT photographer, David Guttenfelder should also be viewed. This is what's on our streets: a paramilitary force with no training, no leadership, and absolutely no common sense. Take a very close look at the guy pointing the gun. At his crotch. Views who have examined this closely think he's going commando. I sure hope so. I only hope the big, brave urban guerilla got his tiny-weeny winkie frozen and it fell off. It's only fitting because this image belongs in a video game, not on the streets of an American city. I see images like this and I think I'm looking at some other country because we have checks and balances and this could never happen here. 

Silly me.

As I'm sure you have all read, the demonstrations were astounding. Thousands of people showed up in sub-zero temperatures at the airport, the federal Whipple Building, and downtown Minneapolis and Saint Paul to protest the takeover of our state. I get that some people are in this country illegally and need to be removed. My issue is that tactics that are being used to terrorize all Minnesotans. This is domestic terrorism by the government.

Rabbi Emma Kippley-Ogman, friend of the Senior Son and once-upon-a-time a Beth Jacob kid, was arrested demonstrating against ICE at the airport on Friday, January 23rd, just hours before the start of Shabbat. In an op-ed published by The Forward, she makes an profound connection between the plague of darkness and our own situation:

Standing there among them, on Erev Shabbes in the cold, I thought about the Torah portion we would read the next morning in shul: parashat Bo, from the Book of Exodus.

In it, the darkness of the ninth plague that befell the Egyptians is described as something that the oppressors — the mitzrim, which I’ll translate as “the ones of narrowed sight” — could actually touch. It was so thick that it kept them isolated from each other, unable to move.

In contrast, the dwellings of those seeking liberation were full of light.

I imagined that palpable darkness not as a punishment, but as a reflection of reality. The oppressors were unwilling to see the humanity of their neighbors. But if they had been, they too could have found themselves in dwellings full of light, able to clearly perceive the richness and possibility of living in a multiethnic community.

So too with the federal oppressors here in Minnesota, and those who collude with them. They are so welcome to join us in the light of that recognition. We were there at the airport to invite them in. Instead, they arrested nearly 100 of us, while we sang and prayed for the protection of our people in the languages of our diverse traditions. Doing this work in coalition builds the power we need to break through the oppression: Our differences make us stronger.

I want to believe that...that our differences make us stronger. I want to believe that all political persuasions will come together to stand for due process and the constitution. I have to believe that because I refuse to believe we are doomed. 

Meanwhile, back on the ranch.....

Back in October, I arrived in Israel the day after the live hostages came home. There were tears of relief, hugs, kisses, but no celebration because some were not returned. They came back in drips and drabs in body bags. The hostages were honored, hugged, buried, mourned, but no one celebrated. So long as one hostage is missing, we do not dance.

Today, the last hostage held in Gaza came home. Ran Gvili's body was found in a cemetery in East Gaza by IDF soldiers charged with the task of finding him. There were photos of the last poster being removed, Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, removing his yellow ribbon pin. The entire country had been holding out for Ran Gvili's return. Without him, all Israel could not be whole. And now he's back. 

President Pinocchio's peace plan is now supposed to begin phase 2. This is the part where Hamas lays down its arms. Sure they will. 

 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Even into the bleakest of times, a little levity must fall.

Here's this week's optimistic moment:

The Israeli Bobsled Team has qualified for the Olympics.

!תנו לאנשים שלי להחליק

Let my people slide!

I wish I had a clever title for this.

 Well, I'm back in Minnesota and none too thrilled with the idea. This is one scary place right now. On the advice of a friend who knows about this stuff, I now carry my passport in my purse. I also filled out a form asking if I qualify for Canadian residency. I know it's a long shot, but what the heck. If Minnesota isn't gonna secede from the Union to hook up Canada, I just wanna hedge my bets. I do have friends and family scattered there, but hey! I can drive there. Frankly, we'd be a good addition. And we are a totally hockey-driven state. That's gotta mean something.

But the truth is that I cannot write about Minnesota right now. We are under siege by a crazy person who is using the federal government as a form of retribution. The injustice department is going after our elected officials on all levels of state government. Thoughts are that he is using Minnesota as a target practice for martial law and suspension of our state rights. Since he is already ordering criminal investigations and charges for our elected government officials, including Keith Ellison and Governor Walz. There is every reason to believe he will use us as a testing ground for authoritarian rule, overriding the separation of state and federal powers. California was too big; we are not. And I am not alone in thinking this. 

So with that said, I want to turn our attention to Greenland. I'm guessing you don't know the history of Norway, Denmark, the Danish West Indies, and Greenland because, after all, most Americans don't know the history of the United States. So let's not argue the point and I'll give you a brief overview. Google Greenland if you want a deeper dive, but this should give you an idea 

• Greenland has long ties to Scandinavia, but the ones we're interested in begin in the 19th century, when Norway and Denmark got a divorce in 1841. The Treaty of Kiel severed Norway's relationship with its colonies, putting them under control of the Danish Crown. (Note: Eastern Greenland, however, remained in contention until 1931, when it, too, joined Denmark when the Permanent Court of International Justice decided the matter in favor of Denmark.)
• In 1899, negotiations for the sale of the Danish West Indies to the United States for the sum of $5,000,000 were initiated, but in 1902, the treaty failed ratification by the Danish Parliament and negotiations were halted. 
• Conversations began anew in 1915 when US relations with Germany were floundering and concerns about Germany appropriating the islands became more focused. The sale was ratified in 1916 for $25,000,000. 

Here's where it get interesting. At that time, Denmark insisted that the US make a declaration about Greenland. In the Convention Between the United States and Denmark for the Cession of the Danish West Indies, prepared by Robert Lansing and signed by President Woodrow Wilson and signed on August 4, 1916, there is, tucked at the bottom, a little paragraph:

DECLARATION

In proceeding this day to the signature of the Convention respecting the cession of the Danish West-Indian Islands to the United States of America, the undersigned Secretary of State of the United States of America, duly authorized by his Government, has the honor to declare that the Government of the United States of America will not object to the Danish Government extending their political and economic interests to the whole of Greenland.

In other words, the US has no viable claim on Greenland and no grounds for annexing or otherwise absorbing it into the United States.

Of course, we know how reliable treaties from the 19th and early 20th century are when it comes to sovereignty and indigenous rights. However, this is a treaty with a sovereign nation with whom we have a long standing alliance. In fact, the US signed a Defense of Greenland Agreement with Denmark in 1951 in which

...the US unambiguously recognizes ‘the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark’ over Greenland. In the updated agreement of 2004, the US expressly notes the change of the status of the territory from colony to that of an ‘equal part of the Kingdom of Denmark,’ precluding any US challenge to the lawfulness of that change of 1953.

 That said...

The US has repeatedly attempted to buy Greenland from Denmark, beginning in 1867 as proposed by Seward, the same guy who gave us the icebox known as Alaska. It failed, along with attempts in 1910, 1946, 1949, and 1955. All attempts have been rebuffed not only by Denmark, but by Greenlanders as well. In 2019, Feckless President Felon told Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen he wanted to buy Greenland and she told him that was absurd. He tried again with Norway, and they shot him down as well. 

As we descend further into the Caverns of the Ridiculous, he's the latest attempt of the Dementor-in-Chief's to get Greenland: he wants a consolation prize for not getting the Nobel Peace Prize. I kid you not. T. From the New York Times:

Text message from Mr. Trump to Mr. Store [Prime Minister of NORWAY] on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 4:15 p.m.:

Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT

The TriWizard Cup

Is this the action of a world leader? Is this the action of an adult? Hundreds of people are now posting memes of President Felon being presented with everything from bowling trophies to participation certificates. The man is unhinged. 

But it's far worse than trophies and prizes. He has cut off funding for childcare in five states. All five have Democratic governors. Thousands of children will be unable to attend day care. It's not simple like, "Oh, they can stay home." It means thousands of parents won't be able to go to work. Many will lose their jobs. They're already lost their health insurance and now they will lose the ability to provide for their families. This is not an an investigation into fraud; this is punishment. 

On January 13th, he posted a screed on Truth Social that ended with this:

FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!  

9.31k ReTruths                             35.3k Likes                         Jan 13, 2026,7:40 AM

How is this NOT weaponization and threats? It's a call to war. And that's exactly what he wants so he can invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807.  He really thinks that's gonna stop Minnesotans? The man is delusional.  But we already know thia. 

Where is Congress as their constituents starve and freeze? Where is the Supreme Court to prod someone, anyone, to take action against the fascist despot bent on destroying families if not through insane arrests, but through starvation and disease? Where are the adults because they sure as hell are not in the room. 

And he wants to buy Greenland.He wants to "fast track" the building of the cheesy gold-flocked ballroom.  He is mad; crazy mad like a hatter. And the people that voted him in...the south...will be the hardest hit. Who will they blame? Anyone who isn't that feckless asshole in the Tacky Gold House.

Meanwhile, back at what's left of the ranch.....

Whatever happened to WE, THE PEOPLE  OF THE UNITED STATES? 

We were supposed to be forming a more perfect union, establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defence, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity? That is why we did ordain and establish this Constitution FOR the United States of America.

We're coming up on our 250th anniversary, What will we have left to celebrate by July? I am just not sure. 

[Thank you, Arthur, for sending the updated info on Who Owns Greenland.]

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

This is a Margaret Atwood quote...an excellent one at that

Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. 

Women are afraid that men will kill them.

From Whence We Came

I learned something recently that, in hindsight, I should've known but didn't. It's one of those weird factoids anyone who lives in the L'Etoile du Nord should know. Seriously. I was even at the State Capitol a few weeks ago and didn't see it mentioned there, although I'm sure somewhere in the building, probably the gift shop, it's mentioned. I mean, it's even on Minnesota's Wikipedia page :

The word Minnesota comes from the Dakota name for the Minnesota River, which got its name from one of two words in Dakota: "mní sóta", which means "clear blue water", or "Mníssota", which means "cloudy water." Dakota people demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it mní sóta. Many places in the state have similar Dakota names, such as Minnehaha Falls ("curling water" or waterfall), Minneiska ("white water"), Minneota ("much water"), Minnetonka ("big water"), Minnetrista ("crooked water"), and Minneapolis, a hybrid word combining Dakota mní ("water") and -polis (Greek for "city").

 Another version is Mní Sóta Makhóčhe; where the water reflects the sky. 

I just asked the Senior Son if he knew the original name of Minnesota and he did not. He did say, however, that it was probably a Dakota name, which it is, as opposed to Ojibwe or Chippewa. At least they taught them that much. 

Bdote Mní Sóta - where two rivers meet

I am in great favor of recognizing and renaming places with original names. I was thrilled when Lake Calhoun became Bdi Maka Ska. Although the high school formerly known as Henry Sibley (as in not a nice man who should have things named for him) became Two Rivers High School, I would've preferred Bdote Mní Sóta High School... The Joining of Two Rivers High School. There is something overwhelming and powerful at the place where the Mississippi and the Minnesota Rivers meet. The Mdewakanton Dakota thought of it as sort of a Garden of Eden kinda place. You can see why even now. 

Since I, too, grew up in the land of Indigenous Names, albeit ours were heavily Mohegan-Pequot, an Algonquin language group that dominated New England and Eastern Long Island, and Mohican upstate, I can actually spell all sorts of weird towns without thinking too hard. We learned this stuff in junior high civics class. Seriously. We did. We were expected to know what was spoken where and how the names came to be because, after all, this is how our state was born. 

As the kids come up on a new school year, I hope someone is taking the time to teach them about from whence We, the People, came. Not just the stories of immigrants and slavery, but of the people who lived here. The ones treated as less than human beings throughout much of the history of this country. The ones portrayed as ignorant savages when they were the ones who knew this land best. They may not have built cities or industries, but they lived full lives off the land as active stewards, a skill we have yet to master. They were the ones caring for the planet, not the Europeans who came having already befouled their half of the hemisphere. Not knowing is more dangerous than knowing. Understanding that the earth requires active care is key if we're gonna live here. Ignoring the heritage of the land, the lessons we need to learn, the practices of the past that must come into our future...is all at our own peril. 

On the other side of my world, we are coming up on the Yamim Nor'aim, the holiest days of the Jewish Year. I cannot help but think we should be pounding our breasts for more than the usual sins on the list. All of us need to add the sins we commit just living in our urban/suburban little bubbles. We need to add the sins that divide rather than unite a community. I think it's pretty much safe to say every one of us owns a sin or two for scoffing at the beliefs, religious or political, of others. Maybe as summer slides into autumn this is a good time to examine what we had, what we want, and/or what we actually need. I do believe all those answers are very different one from another. 

Everyone knows the first part of Deuteronomy 16:20: 

.צֶדֶק צֶדֶק, תִּרְדֹּף 

Justice, justice you shall follow...

But how many people know the rest? 

--לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ 
...that you may live and inherit the land that G-d had given you.

 See how that all dovetails one into another? Teaching our children and ourselves is a communal, civic, and environmental responsibility. Make no mistake; this planet belongs to all of us. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o' the Week

Introspection is rarely a fun-filled activity.

Still, owning up to stuff we need to change is important.

More than important, it's crucial to our very survival as a species.