Karl Marx said, “History repeats itself. First as tragedy, then as farce.” The reaction to the killing of George Floyd was somber with serious consequence. The assault on the Capitol was opera buffa, a “tale told by idiots signifying nothing.” A South politician preaches to the poor white man “You…
BY ED FELIEN Estimates range from between 1,000 and 1,200 people who gathered on Sunday, Jan. 3 to protest yet another police killing of a young Black man. On Wed. night, Dec. 30, the Minneapolis police Strike Force/SWAT Team/Community Response Team/Roughrider Cowboys/or whatever this unit of the MPD is currently…
BY ED FELIEN By the time we went to press, there were three candidates for City Council in Ward 11: the incumbent, Jeremy Schroeder; Dillon Gherna, a young gay man who worked on Hutchinson’s successful campaign for sheriff; and Emily Koski, the daughter of former mayor, Al Hofstede. We asked…
BY ED FELIEN Alondra Cano has announced she will not run for a third term as City Council member for the 9th Ward. Southside Pride supported Cano four years ago when she ran for reelection. We were thrilled when she supported demonstrations supporting holding Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officers accountable…
BY ED FELIEN Last month in this space we published a notice we found on the Nokomis East Neighborhood Association (NENA) website about a new program they were planning: Nokomis East Neighbor-to-Neighbor Communication Project. We felt this could be a very useful community resource. Who could disagree with their organizing…
BY ED FELIEN In ancient China, the state apparatus was 3,000 years old when the student revolts on May 4, 1919, began the Nationalist revolution that eventually overthrew the emperor. The bureaucracy was so far removed from the people that they spoke a different language. They had contempt for the…
We all want a safe Minneapolis. But I’m not certain that more of the same will bring that to us. I sent the following comments to the Budget Committee: Attention Mayor Frey and Members of the City Council: I support the actions of the six brave City Council Members who…
BY ED FELIEN There is nothing more dangerous than a cornered rat. It is desperate. It will do anything to survive. Donald Trump knows that when he leaves office there is an almost endless trail of criminal charges he will face. He will pardon his fellow felons: Manafort and Flynn…
To the City Council Public Health and Safety Committee on “the current model of community safety and opportunities for change:” There are some very simple things this council, working with the mayor, could do to improve the efficiency and restore public confidence in the Minneapolis Police Department. First, return to…
BY ED FELIEN Jojo Rosenbaum was killed trying to talk Kyle Rittenhouse out of his gun. Anthony Huber was killed trying to knock away Rittenhouse’s gun with a skateboard. Michael Reinoehl was killed by the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, a group organized by Erik Prince for Donald Trump.…
BY ED FELIEN Around 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23, Kenosha police officers responded to a reported domestic when a woman called saying her boyfriend was present and was court-ordered not to be on the premises. Officer Rusten Sheskey and his partner tried to detain Jacob Blake. He resisted arrest. They…
BY ED FELIEN Is the nightmare over? Have the plague and pestilence gone? Have we buried the dead? No, the nightmare is not over. The madman still runs the White House. The plague and pestilence have not gone because there is no leader to rid the land of plague and…
BY ED FELIEN Council Member Phillipe Cunningham was quoted in a recent article in The New Yorker: “No one could say that we didn’t try reform. We tried every kind of reform.” I phoned his office. No one was there. I left a message: You say you’ve tried everything? How…
BY ED FELIEN Cierra Hoffman reported on Nextdoor that while she was in the Speedway at 44th and Lake, “I was standing at the register checking out when the gas station clerk ran outside abruptly and confronted a young woman (in her 20s) with a large black & white patterned…
BY ED FELIEN They’ve pretty clearly laid out their battle plan for the next months leading to the election. A sympathetic police force will say it can’t keep order and protect federal buildings and monuments, and we’ll have to rely on federal assistance. Erik Prince is coordinating the operations. He’s the one recruiting…
Columns by Ed Felien