Miscellaneous


The Curious Life of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar

A Short History of the Mn 5th District Minnesota’s 5th congressional district is a geographically small urban and suburban congressional district in Minnesota. It covers eastern Hennepin County, including the entire city of Minneapolis, along with parts of Anoka and a slice of Ramsey counties. Besides Minneapolis, major cities in […]


The George Floyd Timeline: How it Really Happened

NOTE: “Full body camera videos and the Derek Chauvin trial are included at the end of this article – Thao, Kueng, Lane” It was a warm spring night, Memorial Day, May 25, 2020, when George Floyd arrived at the corner of East 38th St and Chicago Ave in Minneapolis in […]


Is Olmsted County “Sacred Ground”

At the beginning of each school board meeting in Rochester, MN the chairman gives an opening invocation: “The board acknowledges this site and all RPS sites are situated on the ancestral land of the Dakota people, and we honor the Dakota Nations and the sacred lands of all indigenous peoples.” […]


The Minnesota Grant Merry-go-Round

Minnesota state government showered more than $1.1 billion directly to nonprofits in the 2023 legislative session through legislatively named grants. What could go wrong? Plenty. There are many problems inherent in this approach to delivering government services. Most prominent among them is due diligence. State agencies typically award a grant […]


The Russia Hoax Unraveled

  By: George Perry   Special Counsel John Durham’s indictment of Democrat lawyer Michael Sussmann for making false statements to the FBI alleges in revealing and damning detail how the Trump-Russia collusion fraud was fabricated and disseminated on the eve of the 2016 presidential election. Far from being a departing […]


Corona Virus Reality Check

Data are coming in, and their import is clear. The coronavirus pandemic is not and never was a threat to society. COVID-19 poses a danger to the elderly and the medically compromised. Otherwise, for most who present symptoms, it can be nasty and persistent, but is not life-threatening. A majority […]


The Diamond Princess, a Corona Virus palace, Provides Suggestive Data

What’s frightening about the COVID-19 corona virus is the overwhelming amount of inconclusive data we have about it. We are inundated with media speculation and hyperventilation, Chinese disinformation, and data that changes daily thanks to the treatment and quarantine initiatives governments are trying around the world. The fact that the […]


Some Corona Virus Humility

There are two well-known themes, or topoi, in classical literature. One concerns the graphic descriptions in Thucydides, Sophocles, and Procopius of plagues—especially the human misery and despair that accompanies outbreaks that killed large numbers. The unknown plague at Athens (430–429 bc) killed one-quarter of the Athenian population during the Peloponnesian […]


The Corona Virus Pandemic

We are in the midst of an annual event – the flu season. While seasonal influenza (flu) viruses infect year-round in the United States, flu viruses are most common during the fall and winter. The exact timing and duration of flu seasons can vary, but influenza activity often begins to […]


Most Of The Rise In CO2 Likely Comes From Natural Sources

It is ten times as likely that atmospheric CO2 is coming from natural sources, namely the warming ocean surface, as it is likely that it is coming from anthropogenic sources. The changes in CO2 track ocean surface temperature, not global carbon emissions. Burning fossil fuels is not increasing atmospheric CO2. […]


How did the Affordable Care Act Become Unaffordable

While the debate proceeds over some details of the American Health Care Act, it’s worth pausing to take another look at how awfully misnamed the so-called “Affordable” Care Act has turned out to be, especially for people who buy their health plans on their own, rather than obtain it through […]


Confessions of a Public Defender

I am a public defender in a large southern metropolitan area. Fewer than ten percent of the people in the area I serve are black but over 90 per cent of my clients are black. The remaining ten percent are mainly Hispanics but there are a few whites.


Trail Ridge Apartments

Trail Ridge Apartments, located at 875 21st Ave SE in Rochester, has been making headlines the past two months, along with its mysterious owners. What is going on at this building and is it a preview of what is happening at many similar properties in the city? What is the city doing, if anything, to correct the situation and make the owners responsible for their actions or neglect? These are just a few of the questions that arise. The Trail Ridge property has a long history of problems. The Campustown subdivision on which it resides was first platted in 1976 as potential student housing for the nearby Rochester Community and Technical College. The 60-unit complex was built in the 1980s as Carnaby Apartments. From the beginning it was a low-income subsidized housing unit and quickly developed a bad reputation and problem tenants.