Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 10.26.08

[David Shove (shove001]

             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R    10.26.08

1. End MN poverty   10.27 10:45am
2. Amnesty Intl     10.27 7pm
3. Build website    10.27 7pm
4. Acid drainage    10.27 7pm
5. Open religions   10.27 7pm

6. RNC/poor march   10.28 5pm
7. RNC court watch  10.28 6pm
8. Recount/vote/f   10.28 6:30pm
9. RNC/Tom's Drug   10.28 7:30pm

10. Nader/Halloween 10.31

11. Charley Underwood - Miami Model: RNC in St Paul (Bostrom v Underwood)
12. Charley Underwood - Broken promises

--------1 of 12--------

From: Erin Parrish <erin [at] mnwomen.org>
Subject: End MN poverty 10.27 10:45am

October 27: Minneapolis Branch American Association of University Women.
9:30 - 10:30: Special Interest Groups. 10:45 - 11:45 AM: Restoring the
Vision: Ending Poverty in Minnesota with Sen. John Marty. Noon - 1:15 PM:
Luncheon. 1:15 - 2:15 PM: International Courts and How They Work. 2115
Stevens Ave., Minneapolis.


--------2 of 12--------

From: Gabe Ormsby <gabeo [at] bitstream.net>
Subject: Amnesty Intl 10.27 7pm

Augustana Homes Seniors Group meets on Monday, October 27th, from 7:00 to
8:00 p.m. in the party room of the 1020 Building, 1020 E 17th Street,
Minneapolis. For more information contact Ardes Johnson at 612/378-1166 or
johns779 [at] tc.umn.edu.


--------3 of 12--------

From: Tim Erickson <tim [at] e-democracy.org>
Subject: Build website 10.27 7pm

SPED Outreach Workshop - Fall 2008
ALL workshops listed are FREE on Mondays at 7:00 PM. Unless otherwise
noted, all are in the Electronic Classroom at Rondo Community Outreach
Library (University & Dale, in St. Paul).

Oct 27th -  Building A Website
This workshop will introduce you to the basics of creating a website, from
HTML to content management systems and hosting. We'll show you what to
consider when setting up websites large and small.


--------4 of 12--------

From: Christine Frank <christinefrank [at] visi.com>
Subject: Acid drainage 10.27 7pm

COMING TO A RIVER NEAR YOU: ACID-MINE DRAINAGE IN PERPETUITY!
Why Minnesotans oppose hard-rock sulfide mining

Diadra Decker of Save Our Sky Blue Waters, www.sosbluewaters.org a
coalition of seven leading environmental groups in the state, will be the
featured speaker at the next 3CTC Environmental Forum.  She will present
the ecological hazards of hard-rock sulfide mining and its serious
implications for the state's water quality.  Ms. Decker will also explain
her group's opposition to Congressional legislation proposed by
Representative James Oberstar to sell National Forest Service land to
Polymet, a Canadian firm, for its mining operation in Northern Minnesota.
She will describe how this land grab will fast track hazardous
sulfide-mining to avoid environmental review and how it will assist in the
destruction of a vital bog and wetland if the mining company is allowed to
proceed.

The forum will take place on Monday, October 27th at 7:00 PM at Mayday
Books, 301 Cedar Avenue South, West Bank, Minneapolis.  The event is
sponsored by the Climate Crisis Coalition of the Twin Cities (3CTC).  It
is free and open to the public.  It will be preceded by the Monthly
Clean-Energy Vigil to Cool Down the Planet, which will take place out on
the plaza at 5:00 PM and the 3CTC Business Meeting at 6:00 PM.  All are
welcome.  For more information, EMAIL:  christinefrank [at] visi.com or PHONE:
612-879-8937.  SAVE MOTHER EARTH!  See you there!


--------5 of 12--------

From: Charles Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Open religions 10.27 7pm

10/27 to 11/24, 7 pm, series of 5 Monday evenings titled "My Truth and
Your Truth: Absolutes and Openness in Our Religious Traditions" in 5
different houses of worship, beginning with Dr Anant Rambachan (Hindu) at
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 700 Snelling Ave S, St Paul.  FFI see
http://www.spacc.org/spin or mblakesley [at] spacc.org or 651-789-3840 or
register at http://www.interfaithings.org


--------6 of 12--------

From: Eric Angell <eric-angell [at] riseup.net>
Subject: RNC/poor march 10.28 5pm

Stalwart St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN) viewers:
"Our World In Depth" cablecasts on SPNN Channel 15 on Tuesdays at 5pm,
midnight and Wednesday mornings at 10am, after DemocracyNow!  All
households with basic cable may watch.

Tues, 10/28, 5pm & midnight and Wed, 10/29, 10am
RNC 08: Stories from the Streets: Poor People's Economic Human Rights
Campaign
Footage from the streets of St. Paul during the "March for Our Lives".
Cheri Honkala and Deeq Abdi share their experiences during the 2008 RNC.
Hosted by Karen Redleaf.


--------7 of 12--------

From: Do'ii <syncopatingrhythmsabyss [at] gmail.com>
Subject: RNC court watch 10.28 6pm

RNC Court Watchers are in need of participants to help with organizing
court information, documentation and etc.  RNC Court Watchers Meetings are
every Tuesday, 6 P.M. at Caffeto's. Below is announcement for our
meetings.

Preemptive raids, over 800 people arrested, police brutality on the
streets and torture in Ramsey County Jail. Police have indiscriminately
used rubber bullets, concussion grenades, tasers and chemical irritants to
disperse crowds and incapacitate peaceful, nonviolent protesters. The
RNC-8 and others are facing felonies and years in jail. We must fight this
intimidation, harassment and abuse!

Join the RNC Court Solidarity Meeting this coming Tuesday at Caffetto's to
find out how you can make a difference in the lives of many innocent
people.

Caffetto's Coffeehouse and Gallery (612)872-0911 708 W 22nd Street,
Minneapolis, MN 55405
Every Tuesday @ 6:00 P.M to 7:00 P.M
participate and help organize RNC court solidarity.
For more information, please contact: rnccourtwatch [at] gmail.com
THE PEOPLE UNITED WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED!



--------8 of 12--------

From: patty <pattypax [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Recount/vote/f 10.28 6:30pm

This Tuesday we will show the film Recount, the story of the 2000
election, a presidential race that further split an already divided
America.  This is the made-for-cable film staring Kevin Spacey and Laura
Dern. This was the race with the closest vote in history, the battle
between George W Bush and Al Gore with Florida being the heated election.
It is long, so we will start at 6:30.

Pax Salons ( http://justcomm.org/pax-salon )
are held (unless otherwise noted in advance):
Tuesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 pm.
Mad Hatter's Tea House,
943 W 7th, St Paul, MN

Salons are free but donations encouraged for program and treats.
Call 651-227-3228 or 651-227-2511 for information.


--------9 of 12--------

From: John Kolstad <jkolstad [at] millcitymusic.com>
Subject: RNC/Tom's Drug 10.28 7:30pm

Tom at Schneider's Drug, is doing a Salon about the RNC, Tuesday, Oct 28,
at 7:30 to 9 PM, located at 2400 University Ave, ( Bedford at University,
Across from KSTP TV - the Big Tower, Minneapolis.

Cam Gordon is putting the presenters together and will have someone from
Mayor Rybak's office, maybe police Dept., ACLU. The National Lawyers Guild
NLG has been invited to send a member.

Tom wants to have a calm, orderly discussion about this event. Open to
interested people; arrive early to get a good seat.


--------10 of 12--------

From: PRO826 [at] aol.com
Subject: Nader/Halloween 10.31

This Halloween...dress up as your favorite (or least favorite) politician
and come hear a real one speak!

Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader
Friday, Oct 31st, 7pm
Willey Hall, Rm 175
University of Minnesota
225 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN  55455

Suggested contribution:  $10/$5 students
FFI:  Nader/Gonzalez '08 MN office,  612-338-1494
_www.votenader.org_ (http://www.votenader.org)

ALSO

YOU ARE INVITED
to a Halloween Night Costume Party/Fundraiser
with Presidential  Candidate Ralph Nader
715 Hennepin Avenue South
(Located between  7th and 8th Street on Hennepin)
Minneapolis, Minnesota  55403

Friday October 31,  2008
8:30pm
Costumes, Drinks, Hors  d'oeuvres
RSVP: 202-471-5833 or
_rob [at] votenader.org_ (mailto:rob [at] votenader.org)

Guest Minimum Contribution:
$100 per person with  costume
$150 per person without costume


--------11 of 12--------

The Miami Model: The RNC in St Paul (Bostrom v. Underwood)
Charley Underwood <charleyunderwood [at] hotmail.com>
Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:30:03 +1300 (NZDT)

[In a way, comparing the promises made by St Paul Assistant Police Chief
Matt Bostrom with predictions I made is like comparing apples and oranges.
Bostrom, of course, was spokesperson for the St Paul Police Department and
represented himself as able to give St Paul citizens realistic
reassurances about their civil liberties, since he claimed that St Paul
would maintain fundamental control of security during the RNC.  I am, on
the other hand, not a public official or a spokesperson for the police; I
am a kindergarten teacher with no great power or even influence beyond my
limited ability to persuade people in forums like the St Paul Issues List.

[Apples and oranges do share some characteristics, however.  They are both
fruit.  So it is possible to look at both Bostrom's statements and my own
statements as predictions, and to compare both of them against the reality
that was the RNC.  In that regard, I am taking the liberty of re-printing
an essay I published on November 16, 2007.  I hold it up now to the
scrutiny of 20/20 hindsight.  I invite SPIF readers to go over Matt
Bostrom's predictions, to go over my own predictions, and to voice their
own analysis as to which statements came closer to the truth.]

******************************

The Miami Model and the RNC in St Paul

Have you noticed how ineffective large public protests seem to be in
recent years? As we in Minnesota approach the Republican National
Convention in September 2008, I have found many comments to be naive and
lacking in background on how protests are now policed in the U.S.A.
Serious, large protests are systematically marginalized and manipulated by
the police and the Secret Service. I'd like to tell you how they do it.

First, a little background. The 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO)
protests in Seattle were a watershed event. Previous mass demonstrations
had involved violence by either police or protesters. But Seattle was the
first time I know of when 40,000 or so protesters were able to actually
shut down the business of the WTO by blocking the access of the conference
attendees.

Every action produces a reaction, and Seattle was no different. In the
next election, the Seattle mayor lost and the Seattle police chief was
fired. But more importantly, a new set of crowd-control tactics began to
develop. These tactics have come to be known as "The Miami Model," named
for their first use at the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA)
protests in Miami in 2003.

The Miami Model has evolved as a set of actions designed to reduce the
attendance, the power, and the public impact of large demonstrations. It
has also evolved into a special cottage industry within law enforcement
circles.

What are the characteristics of the Miami Model?

First, months prior to the public protest, there is a massive gathering of
intelligence by both police agents embedded within various protest groups
and by electronic surveillance. Prior to the 2004 RNC in New York, for
example, police officers were sent to cities all over the United States
and even some in Europe to pose as sympathizers or fellow activists in
order to collect information from groups as diverse as the Ruckus Society,
Planned Parenthood and the National Lawyers Guild. Websites, chat rooms
and comments on blogs (such as that of cartoonist Ted Rall) were
monitored.

Second, permits are withheld for legal protests, or the conditions of
those permits are altered in order to discourage widespread citizen
participation. Again from New York 2004, city officials withheld
permission of use of the Great Lawn in Central Park, which would have
accommodated the many expected protesters, telling the permit-seekers to
instead mass in several smaller locations somewhat distant from the
convention.

Third, there are direct visits to friends and families of key potential
protesters, leaving various direct or implied warnings in an attempt at
intimidation.

Fourth, there are massive pre-emptive arrests or "sweeps" of protesters
and others during the event itself. During the New York RNC, for example,
around 1,800 were arrested and held for up to three days without charges
in what police had dubbed "Operation Overlord." The New York arrests
actually began with the massive, violent arrests at a Critical Mass bike
ride just before the convention (similar to the arrests in Minneapolis on
August 31).

Fifth, there is a massive, costly "security" presence at such large
gatherings, often with police officers dressed in anonymous paramilitary
gear and often including the use of private "security" contractors (the
company Wackenhut had a large presence in the Miami FTAA protests of
2003). In this garb, police officers resemble nothing so much as an army
deployed against its own citizens.

One notable aspect of this intimidation has also been the use of "less
lethal" weapons. The police in Minneapolis used mace and tasers at the
Critical Mass in August. If you are curious about these details, Wikipedia
has 56 pages on "less lethal weapons." An early weapon of crowd control
was the cattle prod, used by Southern sheriffs during the Civil Rights
era. Current intimidation weapons include tear gas, pepper spray, tasers
and rubber bullets. A newer one was the bean-bag weapon used in Miami.
Experimental weapons include the use of sound or lasers to incapacitate
protesters. "Less lethal" weapons aren't necessarily "non-lethal"; there
have been nearly 300 documented cases of deaths from tasers, for example.

Last, there has been a greatly increased control over the press coverage
given to large protests. As with Iraq, a great deal of press sympathy is
gained by "embedding" journalists with police, giving the appearance of
great openness, but actually merely creating the camaraderie necessary to
write a story favorable to the police. Embedding also helps keep reporters
away from protest spokespeople, who might actually explain WHY everybody
is protesting in the first place. Under ideal circumstances, embedding can
actually keep the press photographers far enough away that they can't
get a picture of the full scope of the protest.

There is also a framing used to marginalize protesters by describing them
all as anarchists; it also makes a much more interesting picture to show a
masked fellow in black shaking his fist rather than a group of nuns
kneeling in prayer. If it is possible to get a good action shot of someone
breaking a window (even if it turns out later that that person was paid by
the police), then so much the better. And never, never, under any
circumstances should the police give an accurate number for the protesters
in attendance. That allows the large corporate media to say "thousands"
for 70,000 people or to say "tens of thousands" for a half-million. Not
only can the report make the protest seem pathetically small, but it also
justifies giving equal coverage to the half-dozen counter protesters who
show up to offset the tens (or hundreds) of thousands.

All in all, the Miami Model has been fairly successful in diminishing the
impact of large public protests. By identifying any disagreement with
government policies as crazy or violent, large numbers of citizens have
been discouraged from participation. (Who wants to get tased, after all.)
By denying permits and delaying their approval, protest organizers have
had greater difficulty in mobilizing national resources. By placing agents
within targeted groups, the police have been able to neutralize those
groups by selective arrests, selective harassments, provoking groups to
irrational actions or sewing discord within or between allied groups
through rumors and betrayal. (This tactic is often known as COINTELPRO,
named for the FBI operation against leftist groups in the 60s and 70s.)

Once the protest begins, care is taken to keep it far away from the event
that the press is covering. Large numbers of protesters are arrested on
the eve of the event or in its early hours. (I will never forget the 70
paper mache folks arrested in Philadelphia 2000 RNC, just before they were
due to bring out their puppets, or the over 1,800 people rounded up and
held for days at that pier in New York in 2004.)

After the event come the inevitable lawsuits for police brutality and
unlawful arrest. The awards given to protesters can be quite expensive,
but those almost never get much press coverage, coming five or six years
later. Even then, it is hard to get numbers, as I can attest from spending
hours with Google trying.

The net effect of the Miami Model is that protest gets discounted and
marginalized, new weapons get tested, and the authorities get to keep
their jobs. Mayors don't lose their elections. Law-enforcement officers
don't get fired. There are no more worries about having to be
accountable to a bunch of angry citizens.

For months now, many in the Twin Cities have been startlingly naive about
the coming Republican National Convention. Even now, looking on the
websites or listening to various officials, it is treated as nothing more
than an economic decision. According to our city fathers, everybody's
going to get rich and nobody will be inconvenienced in the slightest.
According to our police spokesmen, the entire city of St. Paul will be a
free speech zone and every single person will have their rights respected.
According to even our Democratic political leaders, we will put St. Paul
on the world map, showing those cold-hearted Republicans what Minnesota
nice can do to bring love into their lives.

Well, maybe. St. Paul isn't Miami and (thank goodness) our police chiefs
don't reach the level of John Timoney (who masterminded the Philadelphia
ugliness, the Miami debacle and consulted on the "free-speech cage"
for the Democratic Convention in Boston in 2004). Maybe we actually will
be able to voice our opinions, and even get press coverage (if there are
any paid reporters by then) and even use those convenient porta-potties
and drinking fountains. Maybe.

But so far, the evidence is mixed. St. Paul Assistant Chief Matt Bostrom
says that the idea of protecting our civil liberties is what gets him out
of bed in the morning, but he also says he can't give us march permits
yet, since St. Paul's city ordinance stipulates that permits may be
granted no more than 180 days before the event. He says that there will be
no mass round-ups and that people will only be arrested as individuals if
they specifically break some law, but Sheriff Fletcher asked for $4.4
million to build a pen to hold 3,000 of us. Bostrom says that there is no
plan to infiltrate or otherwise intimidate any citizen groups, but that
certainly hasn't been the experience of those organizing large protests
during this century. Much has been said about the "free speech" advisory
groups that have been set up by both Minneapolis and St. Paul, but as I
understand it the St. Paul group hasn't met for months and the Minneapolis
group has been meeting without any public notice or participation, in
apparent violation of the Minnesota Open Meetings law.

There is a lot that depends on how this all plays out.

On the most minimal level, there is the question of how citizens interact
with the police. If protesters are accorded their constitutional rights
without being tased or maced or beaten over the head, if only those who
break things or harm others are arrested, then we will have one sort of
relationship. If we try to express our opinions peacefully, only to be
confronted by a menacing SWAT team armed with high-tech weapons and
wearing "Norm for Senate" buttons (as I saw 6 years ago at the Xcel
Center), then we will no longer see police as those who protect us. We
will see the police as those paid to oppress us, and all of our lives will
be more dangerous because of it.

On September 1, 2008, we have yet another chance at democracy. If our
politicians won't read the polls, if they won't vote for our
interests, well then we can peacefully take to the streets.

What we want is already ours by right of the American Revolution, ours as
enshrined in our Constitution. We want the right to change our government.
We are the people and it is a right that resides precisely in us. We want
to get rid of the war profiteers who benefit from the death and suffering
of others. We want to get rid of the politicians who send young and
frequently poor people off to die in needless wars. We want to banish
those who would deliver the entire treasure of our country to a few
billionaires, while children go without healthcare and young people cannot
afford college.

So far, Minnesota preparations haven't included very many Minnesotans.
There have been expensive police junkets to New York to learn from their
experience during the 2004 RNC (as if we would like to repeat that
disaster). There have been requests for large amounts of money to build
large holding pens for demonstrators. There have been initial preparations
to recruit law enforcement officers from many jurisdictions and initial
work on coordinating those people. There have been a total now of four
public meetings, where many vague assurances and optimistic predictions
have been made, but with no specifics given whatsoever.

There have been no permits issued, despite at least three separate
requests submitted. There have been no indications about how large a
security area would be set aside and forbidden to ordinary citizens, nor
public spaces made available for mass gatherings or assemblies. There has
been virtually no involvement by the peace and justice community in the
two municipal "free speech" committees that have been set up.

It is difficult to know how much public outrage there will be in nine
months. At this point, a bewildered and frustrated country watches in
disbelief as the country heads in precisely the wrong direction, with
twelve billion dollars spent every month on a senseless and sinful war,
with nearly four thousand American lives and well over a million Iraqi
lives sacrificed to the whims of a few beltway insiders, with bridges
falling and our schools sagging under the weight of so much indifference,
even as we edge closer and closer to another delusional war. It is easy to
imagine that there might be a certain pent-up anger with our government,
by the time next Labor Day rolls around.

Here are some things that could be done:

St. Paul could change the law and allow the police to negotiate reasonable
protests, protecting the rights of the majority to disagree with their
wrongheaded government, while protecting the safety of the few at the
convention.

Conversations might be started with the larger protesting groups, with
specific signed assurances about police as well as citizen accountability
and transparency during any public actions.

We want our country back. We want it back by next Labor Day, September 1,
2008. Let's issue the permits, already. If the St. Paul city council
wants, they can change that law tomorrow. Enough with the expensive police
junkets to New York; we already know what the New York police think of
civil liberties. Talk to us. Give us our permits. Stop buying all those
expensive weapons and lining up all that statewide police overtime. Be our
police. Just don't get in the way of our free speech.

Charley Underwood Longfellow (SD 62 A), Minneapolis Info about Charley
Underwood: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/charleyunderwood


--------12 of 12--------

Broken promises
by Charley Underwood
10/24/08 -
Daily Planet

One year later, it's time to compare the reality of the RNC with the
pledges made by Assistant St. Paul Police Chief Matt Bostrom on October
23, 2007.

On October 23, 2007, the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers and the
University of St Thomas Justice and Peace Department invited the St Paul
police to discuss the upcoming Republican National Convention. It is
absolutely amazing to look back on the promises made and compare them to
what actually happened. Let's review.

Assistant St Paul Police Chief Matt Bostrom promised that St Paul would
absolutely NOT be a repeat of Seattle 1999. He said that we would not be
following the brutal and repressive "Miami model" from the 2003 FTAA
protests, but that there would be a warm and welcoming "St Paul model" for
all to see. He said that what got him out of bed in the morning was his
abiding concern for civil liberties.

Bostrom promised that there absolutely nobody would be arrested unless
they committed a specific crime, that there would not been any general
sweeps. (Fact: There were actually three mass arrests for "being in the
wrong place at the wrong time," on Shepard Road September 1, after the
Rage-Against-the-Machine concert in Minneapolis on September 3, and on the
Marion Street bridge on September 4.)

Bostrom promised the police officers would be readily identifiable and
wearing regular police uniforms, not tactical gear. (Fact: Nearly all
"security" personnel were clad in black "ninja turtle" suits, with no unit
or personal identification visible, and even covered up so much that it
was usually impossible to determine gender.)

Bostrom promised there might be some changes in traffic patterns, but
there would be absolutely no restrictions in foot traffic. (Fact: Nearly
every bridge near St Paul was closed at one point or another, and major
parts of the downtown area were blockaded on each day of the convention.)

Bostrom promised that all "security" would be under the supervision of the
St Paul Police Department and that any other jurisdictions cooperating
with the event would be "partnered" with St Paul officers and under the
direct control of the St Paul Police Department. (No contradicting "facts"
here, but I have yet to meet a single person who concluded that St Paul
Police controlled security of the convention. Most would speculate that
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher was in immediate control, but that the
general direction was determined by some anonymous federal agency.)

Matt Bostrom declared there would be absolutely no restrictions on free
speech and that, in fact, the entire city of St Paul would be a "free
speech zone". (Fact: You couldn't even get to the "public expression"
zone most evenings of the convention, because the streets were blocked by
menacing lines of black-clad storm troopers.)

Bostrom said that there would be permits granted in advance, but that
officers on the scene would also be able to grant permits "on the fly".
(Fact: The Thursday march permit was actually revoked "on the fly" and
nearly 400 people were later arrested as they attempted to march to the
Xcel Center.)

Bostrom promised that St Paul police would not let federal agents "go
after people". (This might be technically true, if all those preventative
arrests were at the initiative of Bob Fletcher and not merely Fletcher
acting on behalf of some federal agency.)

Bostrom promised that protesters would be able to confront the Republicans
within "sight and sound" in accordance with previous court rulings. (Fact:
Thursday's march was specifically prohibited from going crossing
Interstate 94 or going anywhere near the Xcel Center.)

Bostrom promised that there would be no massive holding pens or arrest
quotas of 3,000 people. (Fact: False on the holding pens, but technically
correct on the quota number, since only about 800 were actually arrested.
It should be mentioned, however, that many more were tased and especially
pepper-sprayed than any previous similar event.)

Bostrom said that there were "no plans" to infiltrate any groups. (Fact:
Recent court records relating to search warrants indicated that
infiltration had actually started at least the month before, probably
under the supervision of the Ramsey County Sheriff's office.)

Bostrom indicated that no private security would be hired. (Both Pioneer
Press and Star Tribune reported that a million dollars was approved by the
St Paul City Council for private security.)

I have saved the most interesting promise for last. Professor Gerald
Schlabach of the St Thomas Justice and Peace Department asked Chief Matt
Bostrom a very serious question toward the end of the evening. Schlabach
wondered how Bostrom would react if St Paul lost control of the convention
security to a different agency and if all of the promises were broken.
Gerald Schlabach asked Chief Bostrom if Bostrom would resign.

Matt Bostrom thought quietly for a good long moment. He didn't answer in a
way that seemed impulsive or off-the-cuff. Bostrom seemed to really
consider the question quite seriously before answering. Then Bostrom
answered quite simply that he would resign. (Fact: Bostrom is still
employed as Assistant Chief of the St Paul Police Department. Like the
other promises, this one was broken.)

Someone made a video recording that evening, but I can't locate it. It
would be interesting to hear all those promises directly now, remembering
that time a year ago, when some people actually believed the St Paul
Police.

[Those days are gone forever. Ditto for our mayors and city coucils. We
need to believe ourselves and in ourselves and act. The local officials
that brought this on or remained silent before during and after need to be
swept out of office at the next election - 2009 for Mpls mayor and city
council, 2009 for St Paul mayor, and alas not till 2111 for StPaul city
council (who can and probably will treat us as non-persons until 2010).
If we don't rise up, we can only expect more and worse, as the officials,
as usual, sniff the wind for advancement at any price. -ed]


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   rhymes with clove         Progressive Calendar
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