We had a weird candidate for county commissioner. People on FB are bitching about their property taxes going up, and this spider-throwing lady is showing up in the comments to say that people should've voted for her.

Here's a news article about the spider throwing:

https://www.eplocalnews.org/2024/07/19/spider-toss-case-takes-new-turn/

And a news segment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYDUeI72Eik

She's so crazy even Republicans wouldn't endorse her:

> Late last month, the 3rd Congressional District Republican Party withdrew their previous recommendation for Simonetti in the special election race, stating in a press release that Simonetti, who had not sought a recommendation for the Nov. 5 election, “does not reflect our values.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/22334414

> Summary > > Two transgender women, Dahlia and Jess, were attacked at a Minneapolis rail station, with onlookers cheering their assailants instead of helping. > > After confronting a man yelling transphobic slurs, the situation escalated into a violent assault involving four or five others, leaving both women unconscious. > > Advocates attribute the rise in anti-trans violence to emboldened transphobia fueled by misinformation and political rhetoric, including Donald Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies. > > The local trans community is responding with solidarity rallies, self-defense classes, and firearm training to prepare for a potential increase in attacks. > > Police are investigating, but no arrests have been made.

> Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin, whose party hasn’t lost a statewide race since his tenure began in 2011, announced on Tuesday that he’s running to lead the Democratic National Committee. > > Martin has also served as a DNC vice chair since 2017. > > Martin, whose early political career included an internship on the iconic 1990 campaign of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, is a strong fundraiser who inherited the DFL Party when it lost both legislative chambers in 2010 and carried $725,000 in debt. > > The next DNC chair will become the face of the party as President Joe Biden leaves the stage, while charting Democrats’ path forward and reimagining its message after their electoral defeat earlier this month. > > Democrats are currently split about how to win over voters in the future, with some saying the party needs to abandon some progressives messaging on social issues, while others say Vice President Kamala Harris’ more corporate-friendly and hawkish foreign policy campaign failed to turn out enough Democrats. > > But the party’s problems seem to transcend ideological positioning. As Democrats have come to win over college-educated voters, Republicans, and especially Donald Trump, have won an increasing share of working class voters — including Hispanics who voted for Trump in greater numbers than any GOP presidential candidate since 2004. > > Martin, who did not immediately respond to the Reformer’s request for comment, told the New York Times that Democrats have a “huge branding problem,” as the majority of Americans see the Republican Party as the party of the working class and the Democratic Party as one that represents elites. > > The Times reported that Martin entered the DNC chair race with endorsements from 83 DNC members, which is more than any other candidate to date. > > “If you’re looking for a creature of D.C., that’s not me,” Martin said in a video announcing his candidacy. “But I do know how the DNC works and how it isn’t working. I know how to listen to the voters, to those who feel cast aside by Democrats and to the people working hard within our party who have great ideas.” > > Current DNC Chairman Jamie Harrison is not seeking a second term, and the election for DNC chair is expected to take place early next year. > > Martin has a long resume in Democratic politics, including advising presidential campaigns in Minnesota and the successful 2008 effort to pass the Legacy Amendment, which has raised billions for clean water and the arts. > > While he can boast the long statewide winning streak as DFL chair, Martin also managed the campaign of the last Democrat to lose a statewide race, Mike Hatch, who lost his cool in the final days of the 2006 campaign and was narrowly beaten by then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty. > > Martin was instrumental in establishing the constellation of outside groups — and the money to fund them — that have given the party’s candidates massive fundraising advantages in the past 15 years. > > Martin has at times found himself at odds with left-wing Minnesota Democrats and Democratic Socialists for what he charged was their extreme messaging. > > During the height of the defund the police movement in Minneapolis, Martin criticized the local Minneapolis DFL chair for calling the burning of Minneapolis’ Third Precinct a “genuine revolutionary movement” and an “act of pure righteousness.” > > “(The Minneapolis DFL chair’s) disturbing remarks do not speak for our party. If you want to know where DFLers stand, look to the criminal justice reforms our party enacted last year and look to the fact we successfully continued the fight for reform this year. DFLers are not anti-law enforcement; we are pro-public safety,” Martin wrote in a Reformer column. > > Shortly after the Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, the Twin Cities chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America shared a statement of solidarity with Palestine, saying that it was “resolved to proclaim ‘From the River, to the Sea, Palestine will be free!’ today and until liberation.” > > In a tweet, Martin said “‘From the river to the sea’ is a chant used by extremists to support the destruction of Israel. It is appalling to embrace this rhetoric in this statement, which also doesn’t even acknowledge the slaughter of Israeli & American civilians. This is disgusting.” > > Minnesota Democrats currently hold all statewide offices, but the state wasn’t immune from the national red wave that swept across the country earlier this month. The DFL lost its trifecta after Republicans flipped three key Minnesota House seats, resulting in a tied 67-67 split between House Republicans and Democrats. > > “Politics is not a sport. We can’t pat ourselves on the back and then head home to lick our wounds for the next four years, because when the Trump agenda fails Americans, as it most certainly will, they need to know that we have their back,” Martin said in his campaign video.

https://archive.is/iHUDE

https://archive.is/rwX3r

> Jury selection begins in federal court Monday for two men accused of human smuggling. The charges stem from the January 2022 deaths of the Patel family from India. > > Jagdish, 39, Vaishaliben, 34, Vihangi, 11, and Dharmik, 3, died while attempting to cross into the U.S on foot during a snowstorm. Their bodies were later found by Royal Canadian Mounted Police in a field near Emerson, Manitoba, just yards from the international border. > > Steve Shand, 49, and Harshkumar Patel (no relation to the family), 28, will stand trial for their involvement in an illegal operation based in the Indian state of Gujarat. U.S. authorities said it used fake student visas to smuggle migrants from India into British Columbia and then into the United States. Once in the U.S., they would be transported by vehicle to Chicago to work in a restaurant chain. > > Gujarat police told U.S. authorities that they suspected the restaurant owner facilitated the smuggling to find people “to work in his restaurants for substandard wages.” > > The U.S. Border Patrol arrested Shand, of Deltona, Fla., after allegedly finding him a mile south of the border driving two undocumented people from India in a 15-passenger van. Authorities found five others walking nearby. All were from Gujarat. > > Shand allegedly told federal investigators that Harshkumar Patel, an Indian national who was in the U.S. illegally and had been living in Florida, recruited him to pick up people from India who crossed the border into Minnesota and drive them to Chicago. > > According to an earlier criminal complaint filed against Harshkumar Patel, Shand “described five total trips he had made to the international border in Minnesota in December 2021 and January 2022 to transport Indian nationals.” > > For one trip, Harshkumar Patel allegedly paid Shand $3,500 in cash up front and an additional $8,000 after delivering people to Chicago. > > Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial is expected to last five days.

> The energy transition sweeping across the U.S. offers an unprecedented opportunity to transform Minnesota’s economy and workforce for the better. > > As Minnesota works to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040 as well as a carbon-neutral economy by 2050, we are addressing the risks and impacts that climate change is having on our citizens, businesses, and infrastructure while also building a solid foundation for good-paying, high-quality jobs that will sustain our local communities for generations to come. > > Minnesota’s clean energy sector is already leading the way, and this year’s 2024 Clean Jobs Midwest report further underscores the tremendous growth potential that lies ahead. > > Today, 62,102 Minnesotans work in a clean energy job — a new state record. > > Thanks to landmark legislation like the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act — along with the state’s 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040 law providing policy certainty — Minnesota’s clean energy jobs are growing nearly five times faster than jobs in the overall economy. This growth creates opportunities for all Minnesotans; 38% of these jobs are based in greater Minnesota, delivering economic benefits beyond the Twin Cities and into rural communities. Veterans account for 11.2% of the state’s clean energy workforce compared to 4.0% in the broader workforce, showing that clean energy jobs appeal to those who have served our country and are looking for fulfilling careers back home. > > Small businesses, which account for 71% of clean energy jobs in Minnesota, are the backbone of this thriving sector, driving growth and supporting local economies. Clean vehicles represent the fastest-growing subsector, with jobs increasing by 13.2%, while manufacturing has also seen a significant boost, adding over 436 new clean energy jobs in 2023. With clean energy job growth expected to surge another 6% over the next year, Minnesota is poised to expand its leadership in this space while further strengthening and diversifying the state’s economy. > > But to accelerate a just transition to a net-zero economy, we need smart policies that support the businesses, workers and communities driving this transition. > > Policymakers must defend the federal clean energy and clean vehicle investments that are propelling job growth across the state. Developing and funding workforce development programs at both the federal and state levels will ensure Minnesotans have the skills needed to meet the rising demand for these high-quality jobs. > > Additionally, investing in transmission infrastructure and continuing to modernize permitting processes will ensure the state remains open for clean energy businesses and jobs while meeting the growing demand for clean, affordable and reliable energy. > > Finally, Minnesota’s policymakers must continue to advance the state’s clean energy policy leadership that complements and leverages federal initiatives to solidify and grow a thriving clean energy workforce. > > As Minnesota leads the charge to a carbon-free future, stable and predictable policies are critical to helping usher in more good-paying, family-supporting clean energy jobs that are building stronger, more resilient communities in all corners of the state. > > The transformation of our energy system is an opportunity to redefine what’s possible for our workforce, our economy and our future. > > With our highly educated, innovative and skilled workforce, Minnesota is perfectly positioned to continue our record-breaking clean energy jobs success if we choose to seize this moment.

> On August 2, not long before he was selected as Kamala Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was asked on Ezra Klein’s podcast what the Democratic Party’s top priority should be in 2025, should it win a governing majority. > > “I think paid family and medical leave,” the then-VP candidate quickly answered. “We’re the last nation on Earth basically to not do this.” > > Three months later, casual or even close observers of the Harris-Walz campaign would have to be forgiven for not knowing this was ever part of the platform. > > Progressives were eager to spin Walz’s nomination as a victory for the left when it was first announced. By the standard of Minnesota’s Democratic Farmer-Labor Party, Gov. Walz is a moderate, which thereby places him squarely to the left of the average U.S. politician. This includes the remaining coterie of inoffensive white dads the Harris campaign assembled for her VP short list. Unlike Pennsylvania's Gov. Josh Shapiro or Arizona's Sen. Mark Kelly, Walz had opposed military interventions while in the U.S. House, signed a bevy of progressive legislation as governor, expressed support for Medicare for All and legal marijuana, and even mounted a polite defense of the Uncommitted movement on national television. > > As the Biden-Harris era has shown, on substance, vice presidents are of little consequence. Running mates can matter when it comes to crafting a narrative, however. > > In the early stages of his candidacy, Walz did provide optical value to the campaign, which giddily released a video of Kamala and Tim poking fun at the governor’s low spice threshold. Walz's image—rural Midwestern National Guardsman, football coach, and hunter—gave the pundit class a few solid weeks of fodder. But when the spotlight turned back to the top of the ticket, it became evident that Walz’s selection was not indicative of a larger turn toward populism. > > Even the “weird” epithet that rocketed the little-known Minnesota politician to cable news stardom was abandoned after Kamala’s advisors determined it had lost its mileage. In retrospect, Walz’s entrance on the national political scene was a short burst of good feeling in an otherwise confused and rudderless campaign. > > It wasn’t that Vice President Harris jettisoned paid family and medical leave the way she had done with the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, a humane immigration policy, and a host of other left-wing policies she ran on before her 2019 presidential campaign self-destructed. Like support for the PRO Act and a higher minimum wage, paid leave was buried on the Harris-Walz website’s "Issues" tab beneath the subhead “Support American Innovation and Workers” and a long paragraph touting President Biden’s accomplishments. Aside from a pledge to crack down on price-gouging and some tailing of Trump’s “no tax on tips” proposal, Harris presented little economic vision of her own. > > The Harris-Walz team was positioned to lean into the policy wins of a governor who had just enacted not only paid leave, but major investments in education, infrastructure, affordable housing, a ban on non-compete agreements, ambitious decarbonization targets, free school lunches, and codified abortion rights. It'd be hard to spin that agenda as boutique and coastal when it had been signed into law by an average gun-toting, walleye-hoisting Tim from flyover country. > > The point of elections, as Gov. Walz famously said, is “not to bank political capital, you win elections to burn political capital and improve lives.” As postmortems for the Harris-Walz campaign have illustrated, its literal capital apparently was spent more on celebrity appearances, consulting fees, and ominous orbs than helping Americans understand how our lives would be improved should Vice President Harris get a promotion. > > When the moment presented itself, Harris failed to break with the unpopular incumbent, perhaps afraid to offend her boss or his dwindling diehards. Four years ago, Biden pitched his presidency as a “bridge” to a new “generation of leaders.” While he didn’t anticipate this metaphorical bridge would have to be lowered through threat of force, once it was, his successor had an opportunity to complete the transition away from the timidly centrist Democratic Party of yore. It was Joe Biden, after all, who won in 2020 after synthesizing his platform with that of Bernie Sanders and won, like Barack Obama, by activating the base. > > Yet Harris, preoccupied with courting the scarce, elusive never-Trump Republican, managed to elevate Trumpian concerns like the "border crisis" at her own peril. It can’t be easy to craft an exciting, modern New Deal when your economic team is made up of venture capitalists and Blackrock alums, Wall Street guys who likely accept the orthodox explanation that this latest round of inflation came from excessive government spending. Adding to that swerve away from economic populism: Harris's brother-in-law, top Uber exec Tony West, acting as the campaign's "guiding hand." Tim Walz, ever the good soldier (or "joyful warrior"), was forced to watch as his running mate quadrupled-down on losing Democratic strategies. > > On October 21, Walz made an appearance on The Daily Show, where host John Stewart asked, “the Cheney thing… do we really have to do that?” For a brief moment, the Minnesota governor was flummoxed. “Uh… look,” Walz stammered before underscoring the big-tent nature of the campaign: “Bernie Sanders. Dick Cheney. Taylor Swift.” Stewart appeared less than convinced: “What country did Taylor Swift get us to invade?!” > > It’s now widely accepted, even by never-Trump Republicans, that making Liz Cheney a centerpiece of the campaign was a major mistake. The few voters who were persuaded by the Cheney family’s endorsement? They didn’t need Liz at forum after forum with inauspiciously phrased “Country Over Party” banners to reinforce their decision. As reporter John Nichols observed, these events ate up precious time that could have been spent trying to win back support from minority neighborhoods where Trump was able to make considerable inroads, or doing a tour of union halls with fresh faces like United Auto Workers' President Shawn Fain, AOC or, for that matter, Harris’s own running mate Tim Walz. > > Most successful Democratic presidential campaigns win with an eye to the future. Despite the relative youth of the candidates, the Harris-Walz campaign maintained an odd and misbegotten fixation on the past. Leaving aside Harris’s paeans to the pre-Trump Republican Party, two of her most active surrogates toward the end of the race were former presidents with political instincts trapped in their respective eras: Bill Clinton lecturing Palestinians about the history of Judea and Samaria and Barack Obama trying to motivate Black men by accusing them of sexism. > > Think of what we could have had with a campaign that actually met the moment. Instead of yet another platitudinal town hall where Liz Cheney recounts January 6, imagine if Harris sat down with working class people to talk about what their lives would be like with paid leave, a living wage, or a union. Better yet, imagine if she had a governor at her side from a state that had enacted things like that and more. A running mate who could lay out why immigration is not a threat, how fighting climate change can provide more economic security, or how the “weird” cultural hangups of Republicans are meant to distract people from achievable progressive policies that will make the world a better place. But, in all likelihood, the real obstacle to Harris and her advisors running a campaign like that was more foundational: Not believing in all of those things in the first place.

https://archive.is/NXjnL

https://archive.is/bewBp

https://archive.is/f690v

https://archive.is/62RET

> The Minneapolis City Council adopted a new code last year that prohibits fur stores in the city. This decision follows numerous other U.S. cities and the state of California that have prohibited the sale of new fur products. More than two dozen countries have either voted to ban fur farming or prohibit the raising of particular species for fur, or introduced stricter regulations to curtail the practice. > > While the fur industry is on a steep downward trend, tens of millions of wild animals like foxes, mink and raccoon dogs are still suffering in fur factory farms across the world. The majority of them are in China, though about 100 remain in the U.S., including a few mink and fox farms in Minnesota. > > Animals killed for fur are confined their entire lives in cramped, unsanitary conditions. Zoologists who studied captive mink found that despite generations of being bred for fur, mink suffer greatly in captivity. They lack any behavioral enrichment, and they suffer in tiny wire cages no bigger than a microwave. These animals go stir-crazy, resulting in self-inflicted wounds and cannibalizing of cage mates, and only death — usually by anal electrocution, gassing or neck breaking — brings an end to their misery. > > Now, evidence is mounting that beyond their evident cruelty, fur factory operations pose additional harm to humans and wildlife. > > For example, some fur farms operate along — and threaten — important bodies of water. > > Water samples collected by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency just a few miles downstream from a fur farm were described by the agency as, “not always suitable for swimming and wading due to high bacteria levels caused by the presence of human or animal waste.” Another report analyzed the water consumption used to produce mink, fox and raccoon dog fur, finding that fur products ranked the worse among all other fashion materials in water consumption, surpassing acrylic by 104 times, polyester by 91 times, and cotton by five times. > > Fur production also adds to greenhouse gas emissions. One recent study found that per kilogram, fur generates the most greenhouse gas emissions of any fashion material — 31 times higher than cotton and 25 times higher than polyester. > > Lastly, fur factory farming poses serious biosecurity and public health risks. Mink fur farming has produced three different variants and 13 different mutations of COVID, and there have been COVID outbreaks on 450 mink farms in over a dozen countries, including in the U.S. The outbreaks have infected farm workers. Numerous European countries have closed or restricted fur farming operations because of COVID-related concerns. > > In the U.S., including in Minnesota, there are essentially no regulations or oversight of these facilities. Most states don’t even require a permit to operate a fur farm, let alone require any regular inspections — and because fur-farmed animals are not raised for consumption, humane slaughter and animal welfare laws do not apply. > > Providing basic veterinary care to sick or injured animals is entirely up to the fur farm operator. > > Fortunately, Minnesota agencies and legislators are beginning to recognize the need for oversight. Last year, state agencies released a report detailing some of the risks fur farms pose and the need to strengthen regulations to protect public health. The report notes that, “[m]ink are susceptible to and can transmit multiple reportable infectious diseases that can infect people including but not limited to SARS-CoV-2, influenza, leptospirosis, rabies, and toxoplasmosis.” > > After the report’s release, state Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, and a bipartisan group of legislators passed a bill mandating oversight of fur farming in our state. The new law requires fur farmers to register with the Department of Natural Resources and gives the agency authority to inspect these facilities and test for disease. > > Fur factory farms will continue to pose great risks to all of us, however, in the absence of strict regulations requiring proactive testing for infectious diseases; mandatory inspections; environmental contamination limits; and basic standards animal welfare. > > With so many options available for environmentally friendly, cruelty-free fashion materials, we simply shouldn’t give fur a pass in light of its substantial harm to animals, the environment and human health. > > Minnesota legislators can take steps to prohibit fur factory farming altogether in our state, and in the meantime, at the local level, city councils can eliminate the sale of new fur products, joining many other cities that have already done it. > > There should be no vexing or divisive issues in regard to fur, but rather, the simple moral and practical imperatives that lead to the inescapable conclusion that it’s time for us to consign this failing industry to history.

> Meat processing giant Smithfield will pay a $2 million penalty to resolve a child labor compliance order with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, the largest child labor enforcement action in DLI history. > > The fine will have almost no impact on the company’s bottom line, however, given annual revenue of parent company WH Group Limited tops $26 billion. > > A consent order with the company will also require the Chinese-owned Smithfield to conduct industry outreach related to child labor compliance; require child labor compliance with its labor staffing agencies and sanitation contractors; and take other steps to ensure future child labor compliance, according to a DLI press release. > > A DLI investigation found that between 2021 and 2023, the St. James area plant owned by Smithfield employed at least 11 minor children between the ages of 14 and 17. The children were also working late on school nights and performing hazardous jobs like working near chemicals; operating power-driven machinery, including meat grinders, slicers and power-driven conveyor belts; and operating nonautomatic elevators, lifts or hoisting machines, including motorized pallet jacks and lift pallet jacks. > > “It is unacceptable for a company to employ minor children to perform hazardous work late at night. This illegal behavior impacts children’s health, safety and well-being and their ability to focus on their education and their future,” said DLI Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach. “Combatting unlawful child labor in Minnesota is a priority for DLI and it will continue to devote resources to addressing and resolving these violations.” > > In fall 2023, DLI entered into a consent order with Tony Downs Food Company in Madelia in another child labor law case. > > Also in 2023, Wisconsin-based Packers Sanitation Services paid civil penalties to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division for employing minor children in hazardous occupations at meat processing facilities in eight states, including Minnesota. > > In a statement, Smithfield offered an at-times combative response, denying “that we knowingly hired anyone under the age of 18 to work in our St. James facility. We have not admitted liability as part of this settlement; however, in the interest of preventing the distraction of prolonged litigation, we have agreed to settle this matter.” > > The company said it uses E-Verify, a federal system that validates employment eligibility based on federal records. > > “Each of the 11 alleged underage individuals passed the E-Verify system by using false identification. Each used a different name to obtain employment with Smithfield than the name by which DLI identified them to Smithfield,” the company said in the statement. > > Smithfield emphasized that the company is opposed to child labor and has “taken proactive steps to enforce our policy prohibiting the employment of minors.” > > The child labor issue has come into focus in recent years, spurred in part by a series of investigative articles in the New York Times that exposed the exploitation of migrant children especially. > > “This shadow work force extends across industries in every state, flouting child labor laws that have been in place for nearly a century. Twelve-year-old roofers in Florida and Tennessee. Underage slaughterhouse workers in Delaware, Mississippi and North Carolina. Children sawing planks of wood on overnight shifts in South Dakota,” the article states. > > And child meat processing workers in Minnesota.