Haven’t heard from Gene, Donald and Debbie for a while. It was time. And I need them this morning…
1. Laws? What laws? This is GOOD racism… Black Minneapolis native and entrepreneur Jesse Ross is spending $3.8 million as part of his “Wealth Redistribution Project to establish a 68,000-square-foot facility to house 15 to 20 businesses, and those with white owners need not apply. There will also be even space for weddings and conferences; its unclear how or if Ross will discriminate regarding these as well. His plan is illegal, after all. One of the results of all the “diversity, equity and inclusion” virtue-signaling is that a lot of people have forgotten what illegal racial discrimination is. Ross is clearly in this category, and so are the local corporations the always ethically clueless city of Minneapolis,which have provided him with cash grants to discriminate against whites.
The news media is doing its part too. In its story about this exercise in compensatory racism, NBC’s KARE 11 says, inspirationally, that the project is “an investment reaching far beyond dreams once thought unattainable.” It IS unattainable, you fools, unless he’s allowed to break the law.
But to be fair, this basically follows the same logic as Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness EO.
2. Don’t ever count Alec Baldwin out in the Asshole of the Year race! Yes, Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi and Joy Reid always are threats to run away with the honor, but underestimating Baldwin would be a serious mistake. For example, having shot and killed his film’s cinematographer on the set of the now-defunct film “Rust,” Baldwin is suing the armorer and multiple crew members for negligence because they handed him a loaded gun. Baldwin’s lawyer says his client “seeks to clear his name” by holding the defendants “accountable for their misconduct.” This is a ridiculous legal theory, unless it can be proven that the gun was secretly loaded intentionally to cause Baldwin to do harm. He produced the film. He is responsible for the conduct of his employees on the film, including their mistakes. He is essentially suing himself in order to avoid responsibility for what he is unquestionable responsible for—and that would be true even if he wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger.
3. A virtual “Bite me!” Commenter JutGory points out that after incompetent and dishonest Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (he’s the one who said under oath that the Southern border is “secure”) asked U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus to resign—in other words, to be the Department’s scapegoat—Magnus refused. No weenie he! And here’s the objective, not at all biased or misleading explanation by ABC News:
Magnus was confirmed by the Senate less than a year ago following a contentious partisan confirmation hearing where Republicans attempted to tie him to what they have long called President Joe Biden’s “open border” policies. However, despite attempts to roll back some of the hardline restrictions of the Trump administration, which were historically severe, Magnus has overseen a continuation of strict border security measures.
Strict security measures! How strange that they have resulted in historic numbers of illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S. As George W. Bush might say, “Helluva job, Magnussy!”
4. “You know…morons!” Three Rikers Island correction officers were arrested on federal fraud charges following an investigation into their sick leave abuse. Not too much digging was required, though, since they boasted about their abuse of taxpayer-funded paid free time on social media…as in this post by one of the accused officers, Monica Coaxum:
“Yes at home still getting paid, unlimited sick baby. Get like me! Living my best life!”
Coaxum was MIA for more than a year after claiming a series of injuries and illness. Coaxum’s boyfriend, Officer Eduardo Trinidad, also witlessly aided in the inquiry by posting pictures showing him bowling and installing drywall despite being on paid leave because he claimed could not sit, run or lift anything since June 2021. The happy, disabled love birds also took trips to Florida, the Dominican Republic and West Virginia on agency time,
Ethics Alarms 
4. What fun is “getting over” and ripping off the government if no one knows about it?
Prologue: We saw “Singin’ in the Rain” the first time this year. We absolutely loved it. And then we realized that “Downton Abbey: A New Era” ripped its plot from this movie.
1. I wish him luck. Minneapolis is less than 20% black. If he wants to limit his clients to 20% of the population plus their hangers-on, he won’t last long.
2. Alec will do what Alec will do. This must have been a really embarrassing thing for him to endure so finding a scapegoat is essential for maintaining his cred in Hollywood.
3. And these are the intellects we have guarding our inmates.
Regarding #1: I am always kind of torn by things like this. The black community in America has repeatedly missed out on an important formative experience. Most immigrant groups come to the U.S. as outsiders. They typically band together in their insular group as they assimilate to the culture. Usually, it is involuntary, but sometimes not. The Jews did it; the Irish did it; the Italians did it; Chinese, Slavs, Russians. It is a familiar story.
However, blacks coming out of slavery were always thwarted. They set up black colleges; they set up business; they tried to assimilate. Lots of things stood in their way. Just to paint with some broad strokes: the KKK, Jim Crow, Wilson’s resegregation of the Federal Government; the Tulsa Massacre. So part of me is sympathetic.
But, of course, legally, your analysis is spot on.
Then, I got to thinking further. For better or worse, Minnesota is a refugee haven. It took in thousands of Russians in the 70’s and 80’s. Then, it took in thousands of Hmong and Vietnamese refugees. Then, the Somalis came. There has been some talk of bringing in Ukrainians.
Out of all of this, there are two Hmong shopping malls in St. Paul, Minnesota: Hmongtown Marketplace and Hmong Village, with an Asian Shopping Mall opening in Eden Prairie Minnesota as I write this. These are all organic creations within the community (at least the two Hmong ones are); they grew out of a need to cater to the needs in the group. They are not deliberately discriminatory; they are more self-selecting. And, to the best of my knowledge, they did not rely on outside support. It all came from within the community.
That seems to be the big problem with what Jesse Ross is doing. He is trying to create this environment from the top down, instead of from the bottom up. Were he simply to recruit business owners to create his vision it would be far different from what he appears to be doing.
-Jut
Jut
Every community has experienced some form of discrimination in the past. Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland and many other northern cities were the refuge of Blacks migrating away from their southern roots. These cities gave Blacks a solid foundation on which to build better lives. Unfortunately, government allowed those gains to be squandered because its “lets fix the past” polices left many young Blacks bereft of the initiative needed to capitalize on the gains made by their fathers and grandfathers of the forties and fifties.
The primary difference between ethnic group success or lack thereof is massive government intervention. Each of the immigrant communities mentioned before 1970 did not learn to rely on big government programs. In fact, even the Black community had higher home ownership rates and business venture rates than today. The Vietnamese immigrants struggled in the south especially around the Gulf coast where they plied their fishing trade. Their children studied and became professionals. The Vietnamese community coalesced to support one another. Ultimately, descendants of the original immigrants, be they Vietnamese, Italian, German or Jew expanded their markets to capture European clients. This is the assimilation and wealth building process. The Black community has been taught to rely on big government to protect them from having to compete and build wealth through value creation. If systemic racism exists it was created by the very people who claim to be their benefactors and protectors. It is they who are limiting Black entrepreneurial progress.
Excellent observation, Chris!
Re:1 diversity, equity, in inclusion have become synonyms for divisions, inequality, and exclusion.
Re: 2: “Once an asshole, always an asshole,” so said one of my ministerial mentors.
Re 3: Border, what Border?
Re: 4 Unions, especially unions of government employees, are the reason municipalities are on the verge of bankruptcy.