Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/category/politics-policy/page/12/)
One of the most moving moments of last spring’s medical cannabis debate in the Minnesota House of Representatives was when Southwest Minnesota state representative Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake), who lives with multiple sclerosis, rose to speak of his transformation from being an opponent of legalizing cannabis for medical use to becoming a supporter of the new restrictive bill. Continue Reading
Fast food workers, home health care workers, airport employees and dozens of supporters blocked traffic outside an Uptown McDonald’s on Dec.4, demanding a $15 minimum wage and union benefits. More than 50 protesters marched into the nearby McDonald’s where several employees walked off the job.Thursday marked two years since fast food workers first walked off the job in New York City to demand a living wage, sparking a movement across the country. Minneapolis first joined the “Fight for $15” in September, when workers went on strike for a day at several fast food locations around the city. Just last week, nearly 500 people took part in a Black Friday protest at two Walmarts in St. Paul and Minneapolis, including dozens of retail janitors who walked off the job. Continue Reading
The largest highway in Minneapolis was brought to a standstill on Dec. 4 after protestors marched down a two-mile stretch of I-35W from Uptown to downtown Minneapolis to rally against several recent, high-profile cases of police brutality and racial inequality in the United States.For more than an hour, northbound I-35W was reduced to foot traffic, with cars backed-up for miles behind the barricade of police cars separating protestors from oncoming traffic.Read more TC Daily Planet coverage of police misconduct issues.Related story: Protesters shut down 35W over Pantaleo non-indictment, not fast foodThursday’s “Black Lives Matter” protest was part of a national movement to denounce police brutality, racial inequality and a lack of accountability, sparked most recently by the decision to withhold charging police officers responsible for the deaths of two unarmed black men in New York and Ferguson, Missouri.Around 200 protesters joined the march from Uptown to Minneapolis City Hall.“People are tired of the opposition, people are tired of police not being held accountable and we’re deciding to take a stand,” said Nekima Levy-Pounds while walking down the onramp near 34th Avenue toward the main stretch of I-35W.“We’re ready for change. It’s time for change now,” the University of St. Thomas Law School professor added.Protest organizer Michael McDowell said the group’s goal for Thursday’s protest was to create change and “not just looking to get a bunch of media.”The protesters’ goals include a structural audit of the Minneapolis Police Department, quarterly progress reports to the community on racial diversity issues and police misconduct in the city, and body cameras on officers. The group presented them to Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges in an open letter published in the Star Tribune in September.Hodges, who spoke at a fast food labor rally on 33rd and Nicollet Avenue earlier that day, did not attend the Black Lives Matter protest stating she was unaware of the second protest until she had already arrived. Continue Reading
Today the House of Representatives takes up H.R. 5759, the “Prevent Executive Amnesty Act.”Don’t feel bad if you’ve not heard of this bill. Introduced just two days ago, the bill bypassed any committee debate or discussion, going straight to the House floor today. Continue Reading
If the Storify story doesn’t appear, refresh your browser.Read more TC Daily Planet coverage of police misconduct issues.Related story: [PHOTOS] #BlackLivesMatter protesters halt 35W traffic: “We’re ready for change”[<a href=”//storify.com/tcdailyplanet/blacklivesmatter-protest-in-minneapolis-shuts-dow” target=”_blank”>View the story “Protesters shut down 35W over Pantaleo non-indictment” on Storify</a>]Coverage of issues and events that affect Central Corridor neighborhoods and communities is funded in part by a grant from Central Corridor Funders Collaborative. Continue Reading
The Iraqi security forces, bolstered by a small contingent of US ground forces working as advisors to the Iraqi Army, have been battling the terrorist organization known as ISIS or ISIL for the last four months (the air campaign has been in effect for six months).This is a Community Voices submission and is moderated but not edited. The opinions expressed by Community Voices contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the TC Daily Planet.The conservatives don’t think the Obama Administration is doing nearly enough and Liberals think that throwing a pebble is too aggressive against any foreign or domestic enemy and are generally against any form of military action. The point of the matter is why was a terrorist organization able to gain such a strong foothold and able to threaten large cities (including Baghdad) in a country the United States military had a strong presence in for almost nine years? For whatever reason, the Iraqi armed forces weren’t ready to secure their country and, as is often the case, the US military needs to bail those forces out unless they want to see Iraq overrun by a fanatical terrorist organization and see a new authortarian government formed in Baghdad.The air strikes and the current US ground forces serving as combat advisors to the Iraqi security forces would not be necessary if the United States and Iraqi governments had negotiated a modest US force to occupy and maintain a few permanent bases in Iraq-say 40,000 soldiers. Three or four divisions of US troops would have been more than enough boots on the ground to maintain security and keep the peace while at the same time not overshadowing the work and continual training of the Iraqi Army or looking like an occupying power to Iraqi citizens. Continue Reading
According to a press release from Senator Franken’s office, he is talking with Lyft about their privacy policy. Lyft is a rideshare program – and apparently there have been problems with Lyft’s privacy policy – in terms of how much access they provide about their customers and how they communicate their privacy policy to customers… Continue Reading
The coming weekend marks not one but significant dates in American history. Sunday, December 7, is familiar to many Americans as the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the efficient cause of the Second World War. Since 1994 that global tragedy has been officially designated as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, a date that FDR correctly predicted would live in infamy. (See earlier post) Continue Reading
This week’s guest is Emilia Gonzales Avalos. The discussion continues to explore President Obama’s recent executive order on immigration. How does the order figure into the criminalization of people of color? What does the Ferguson grand jury’s decision not to indict former officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Mike Brown mean for immigrant communities?
Late in November, just before Thanksgiving, Abdullahi ali Anshur was murdered by al Shabaab in Mogadishu. In what must have been a planned execution, they stopped his car and sprayed it with bullets.