Apparently panhandling is big business in the Twin Cities:
That should help assuage the guilt I feel every time I pass by someone begging on the corner. Instead the article encourages giving to organizations that can actually help people, which is a good start.
Yesterday there was a big story in the Star Tribune about a prostitution bust. The bust included eight brothels across Minnesota that were bringing in women from Mexico and Central America and forcing them into prostitution. And the scary part? One of the brothels was in my tiny suburb of less than 20,000 people. Human trafficking in my own backyard.
Today the Star Trib talked to neighbors who were shocked at the news, despite the odd things they saw:
“Every 10 minutes there’d be a car going in or out,” said Mangan. “It would start in the morning and go until all hours of the night. But it was very quiet. And the yard was always clean. It looked just like a regular house.”
So if you’re an international criminal wanting to exploit and enslave women all you need to do to keep the neighbors off your back is mow the lawn. If you see something suspicious you can report suspected human trafficking to the Polaris Project: 1-866-US-TIPLINE
(Unfortunately, this one was another chance to do some overlapping coverage with the Foursquare NextGen Summit ’07. Twice.)
The Minnesota Legislature passed a bill that will ban indoor smoking, including all bars and restaurants, effective October 1, 2007. It’s about time. I think this is a simple public health issue. I just don’t get these kind of complaints:
“I don’t smoke, but I’m a small-business owner and this is a huge violation of personal choice. It is a simple violation of people’s rights,” said Sue Minehart, owner of the Main Street Grill in Alden, Minn.
Personal rights end when they infringe on the rights of others. My right to healthy lungs trumps your right to destroy your lungs. And frankly, I don’t see why we shouldn’t ban smoking entirely. We ban other harmful substances regardless of personal choice, why not cigarettes? It’s not like they offer a shred of benefit or even illusory medicinal value. They just kill people.
“Every possession is just another stick to beat yourself with.”
Ouch.
Relevant magazine has an interesting interview with Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution, on consumerism:
When you think, “How do I love my neighbor as myself?” it becomes just impossible to do that within the worldview of the American dream.
But I think what’s exciting is that Jesus has another dream, and Jesus is offering us another dream. Where it’s not even just this ascetic simplicity–give up everything and be poor–but it’s this idea that God created an economy of enough. God didn’t create a world of scarcity. But we’ve created poverty and need by not living out this command to love our neighbor as ourself.
Continue reading Tired and Energized by the Consumerism Debate
In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shooting racism is on my mind. The morning after the shooting NPR had a story about the impact of 9/11 and the unfounded racism anyone who could be mistaken for an Arab experienced. A similar story appeared earlier in the month based on the documentary Divided We Fall, about Sikhs persecuted after 9/11 (an estimated 19 people were killed in the racially charged aftermath of 9/11).
And now that the Virginia Tech shooter has been identified as a Korean, there are fears of backlash against Korean Americans. NPR (can’t find the link) had a story about a Korean student who was afraid to take the bus to school and once at school noticed that everyone was looking at her strangely.
I just don’t understand this type of response. It’s so stupid.
Continue reading Fear What’s Different: We’re a Stupid People
Futurist and author Juan Enriquez (I want to be a futurist–how fun would it be to get paid to think about the future?) talks about “a long history of borders, countries and flags that have changed, and warns the United States isn’t immune” in a half-hour video podcast from the Pop!Tech conference.
It’s very interesting to consider why there has been little country breakup in the Americas, and even more interesting to think about how likely it is, especially considering how polarized our society is becoming.
Enriquez’s recent book, The Untied States of America: Polarization, Fracturing, and Our Future looks interesting, though the charge in the Amazon review that he plays a little loose with facts and figures is disconcerting (94%? 51%? Meh. Same difference). (link via kottke.org)
The Washington Post has an intriguing story about violin master Joshua Bell playing in a D.C. Metro station as a street performer to see if busy people can recognize beauty in mundane settings. The piece is long and over-written, but as a one-time street performer myself it’s pretty interesting.
Long story short, Bell made $32.17 in 43 minutes (actually, it was $52.17, but they didn’t count the $20 sheepishly tossed in by someone who recognized Bell and knew how amazing what she was experiencing really was). The article is mostly full of bewilderment that people are too busy to notice a master at work. I’m just impressed a street performer could do that well with a commuter crowd (the weekend tourist crowd is really what you want–they have the time to kill and the money to burn).
Bell’s response to his own haul: “Actually, that’s not so bad, considering. That’s 40 bucks an hour. I could make an OK living doing this, and I wouldn’t have to pay an agent.” (link via kottke.org)
Interesting story in USA Today about more men taking on their wives’ last names when they get married. Some newlyweds are no longer following the patriarchal tradition of taking the man’s last name. There are all kinds of alternatives from combos to hyphenations to taking the woman’s last name.
But I don’t understand the backlash people get for this over some kind of lack of manliness. How stupid is that? Apparently women should take the man’s name–along with his DNA–and stay in the kitchen.
What I do understand is the backlash for practical reasons. Say Joe Johnson and Patty Smith get married and become Joe and Patty Johnson-Smith. They have a kid, Bill Johnson-Smith. Then Bill Johnson-Smith marries another child of a hyphenation-name marriage, Sally Martin-Graham, and they become Bill and Sally Johnson-Smith-Martin Graham? Boy, their kids are screwed.
OK, that’s ridiculous. I know that.
Continue reading The Changing Name Changes When We Get Married
Invisible Children has always impressed me. Last year’s Global Night Commute was incredible. 80,000 people in over 100 cities walked downtown to camp out in a show of solidarity with the invisible children of Uganda. The videos nearly bring me to tears (both the trailer and the recap).
Now they’re doing it again. Bigger. Better. And asking even more of the people involved.