the holiday that wasn't

Reminder for locals in Minneapolis: The general strike is scheduled for 2026 January 23 Friday.

People are posting photos and stories of cars left abandoned in the middle of neighborhood streets or on the side of highways after ICE took away their occupants. I can't remember if I've mentioned it already, but since ICE is taking unfair advantage of "public space" to enter businesses and arrest shoppers or employees (even after benefiting from the staff's labor first), some businesses are closing the public space. One grocery store I visit locks the doors now, so patrons have to wait for staff to unlock the door to let them enter or exit. A local business magazine tells this story about statewide business changes, including this new practice of locking the doors. Local KSTP News aired this piece about business closures in downtown Minneapolis. When our plutocrats notice, then something might finally change.

You know it's bad when local police from various cities have to hold a press conference to tell the public (paraphrased), "Please, stop hating on us because we're not the ones committing these obviously unconstitutional crimes. Our own off-duty officers are being racially targeted for illegal harassment by ICE."

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Click to read details about today's tiring tasks...

I had yesterday off from work due to national holiday (ironically MLK Day), and I scheduled vacation for today and tomorrow. I didn't know when I requested the vacation days that I wouldn't get to sleep excessively and play computer games during all of my waking hours. I didn't know that instead of rest and relaxation, I'd need to organize myself to protest my country's turn to fascism.

On the plus side, I walked to the library, printed out my informational notices for neighbors (and got my Prince library card because they still had some available!), walked to the store to buy nylon cord for whistle necklaces, and walked around my block delivering every single paper notice and a few requested whistles.

I'm disappointed that I'm getting too old for this resistance effort. Everything hurts now: feet, waist, back, hands. I had to go find my arthritis cream for my hands while I was trying to tie knots in the cord for the whistles and notices.

When I was leaving a house that I believe to include Native Americans, I saw a car stopped directly in front of that sidewalk, with what I guess to be a Native American person at the wheel, staring at me. Hopefully they calm down once they finally check their mailbox and see my note. In better news, one of my neighbors offered eggs to me from their chickens, so I'll have to talk to them another day and learn how that process should go. I didn't think to ask for details at the time. I left a notice at every house, even the one with the NRA sticker on the door.

But, at least it's all done now. Within a 1-block radius of my house, I know homes that include each of the currently-targeted ethnic identities: hispanic, asian, native american, and somali. I hope these notices (redacted here for sharing publicly) that I delivered can help in at least some small way, and it isn't just me spinning in circles wondering what to do.