it's worse than I thought out there

[mellowtigger]

I got most of my front yard weeded from grass.  Took a shower, then brain fog started setting in.  I decided that I wanted to splurge on some extra fattening food before I dozed off, so I got in the car to visit the discount grocery a few blocks away.

I drove past a small barber shop which was boarded up.  "That's excessive," I thought.  Then I got to the grocery.  I already knew from last night that looters got into the discount store by my laundromat, but I found today that all 3 businesses were boarded up and closed.  I wasn't getting food at Aldi's after all.  At least somebody left a political poster on the wall.  That's a good sign of organization and constructive intent.


Okay, so... I'll drive to the nearby Cub grocery store instead.  That's where I saw all the police on Thursday evening, so maybe they're fine.

	No, they're not fine.  They're boarded up and closed too, with broken glass by the front door.  Streets in that area are gridlocked due to all of the traffic.  I never saw the organized event there, although I heard someone on a loudspeaker.  I decided to skip a visit after seeing the burned out husk of the O'Reilly's auto parts store.
	So I detoured south from the gridlock, which took me past the 4th police precinct.  That's where we protested the police killing of Jamar Clark a few years ago.  I've been there before for the protests too (photos and video).  They were barricaded again.  I stopped to take a photo.  The lone cop out there looked none too happy with my tourist camera clicking.  I understand.  I know they had shots fired out there last night too.
	I got back in my car and continued my detour to Highway 100 to head northward to another Cub by the highway near Robbinsdale.  Their parking lot was packed, and traffic was bad.  They were boarded up but still open.  I decided to skip food in the crowded store but fill up my gas tank instead.  But no.  That was unavailable too.  Orange cones block every station. So I gave up and decided to just drive home instead.  A few blocks from home, I passed a local Pair Of Dice pizza business.  They were boarded up but appeared to be open.  They painted in big letters on the side, "Black Owned Business. MN Strong."  I don't know if it can spare them from the destruction facing other local businesses.
[plate photo removed for now]	Nearly home, waiting on a turn signal, I saw this car in front of me with California license plates.  The governor keeps saying that most of the trouble we're seeing now is imported from other states rather than local citizens.  I don't know if it's just propaganda or not, merely an excuse to trot out the military force.  It's entirely possible either way, but I have no sense of it myself yet.  Except for this car driving around with California plates.

I'm staying indoors tonight.  I'd be willing to violate curfew and risk arrest if I could find a message online somewhere with an explanation of the purpose for a particular gathering.  I am not a fan of wanton destruction.  If people were merely tearing down all of the police precincts throughout the city, I'd be willing to support them.  I might even haul out a few logs for the fire.  I've got plenty in my back yard to donate to a good cause.  Symbolism can be useful.  But I am very much against the random destruction of the very infrastructure that the local community needs to survive.

I know too well from my Occupy experience that logistics is key.  These riots are destroying our flow of food and supplies.  It is self-destructive.

I am not a fan.  I'm staying home tonight.