The myth of the welfare queen

The year was 1976 and then California Governor Ronald Reagan was struggling to win the Republican endorsement for the Presidency. In an effort to appeal to a more conservative base. He devised  a story to a lunch crowd in North Carolina that would help carry him to the White House several years later.

"In Chicago, they found a woman who holds the record," he said. "She used 80 names, 30 addresses, 15 telephone numbers to collect food stamps, Social Security, veterans' benefits for four nonexistent deceased veteran husbands, as well as welfare. ... Her tax-free cash income alone has been running $150,000 a year."  Reagan's exaggerated character became known as the welfare queen.

 Over 40 years later,  the Republican Party is  still  trying to hunt down this lazy scheming black women who uses her food stamps to buy filet mingon and lobster at the grocery store for her 12 kids and lavish lifestyle while new men jump in and out of her bed every night, since Reagan conjured her in 1976.

None of them have personally met her because they don't reside in the same areas but they're all sure they know somebody whose paying for steaks and shrimp with her food stamps but now while being goaded on by the current inhabitant of the white house, they are  setting out to put an end to this conniving user once and for all by ensuring she would have to get off her shiftless butt and get a job. The only problem is that she doesn't exist.

The assumption that those who receive food assistance don't work is flat out false, as nearly one-third of all SNAP households report an income. Many families rely on SNAP when they are between jobs or because they are among millions of American’s working minimum wage jobs.

Despite significant increases in enrollment during the recession, SNAP error rates have gone down every year since 1998.  In addition, when Congress passed the the Improper Payments Act in 2000, SNAP was among the few programs to meet its high standards. The U.S. department of Agriculture, who administer the  SNAP Program, monitors it  constantly and they hit states with high error rates with large fines and other sanctions.

Proposals such as work requirements and asset limits accomplish nothing except for ensuring people spend down so they don't have a bank account or any sort of savings and an increased patterns of churning (getting on and off SNAP) people also may not understand eligibility guidelines so they don't utilize the service.They also create an administrative burden to agencies and counties. When Pennsylvania implemented an asset limit, the Dept. of welfare found that it costed  them $3.5 million a year.

So the next time you hear someone complaining about "lazy users" or  a customer taking too long at the checkout because they're paying with food stamps, tell them that it could be a friend or a relative who is simply trying to make ends meet. And as for that elusive "welfare queen"? She's just a figment of the imaginations of the uninformed

Ode to Scott Knight in honor of his retirement

Roses are red violets are blue Police Chief Scott Knight  belongs in a zoo.

 Don't  be afraid, I'll be there too not in a cage but laughing at you

The roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's empty  just like his head

With a servant spirit so full of float of grace
 If only he could hide his face. 

Kind intelligent, helpful and hot  
These describes things that he simply is not. 

I might want to feel his sweet embrace
As long as he keeps that paper bag on his face. 

I love his face, his smile and eyes
Damn I'm good at telling lies.

Sometimes I see his face when I'm dreaming
Maybe that's why I wake up screaming

Your my hero, you take my breath away
What have you stepped in to smell this way.

My feelings for you no words can tell
Except for maybe "Go to Hell"

What inspired this amorous rhyme
Two parts vodka one part lime.

Have a wonderful retirement, Scott! Stay away from Children!

A Horse of a Different Color: the SD50 DFL and thier Progressive racism problem

I’ll often hear other activists  discuss how they have been put down or attacked  by racist neoconservative Republicans, usually over something criminal justice related, and the assumption that anyone with a darker complexion has a lengthy criminal record or is anti cop and soft on crime.

Amateurs. Wait until you’ve had to put up with all that noise while also getting bullied around on by racist liberal white democrats because you've challenged them on their nonsense. White Liberal Progressives or as I prefer to call them "Progressive Racist" are the worst kind of progressive. They attempt to put people of color in boxes and order them to think a certain way and when they don't they proceed to question their legitimacy.

It happens to me all the time. In fact, sometimes it's hard for me to figure out who hates me more — the GOP who think that I am " way too liberal" or white progressives liberals who have an issue with the fact that I think for myself and don't fall victim to their "sirens song" of ideological purity.

I recently was involved in a campaign in Senate District 50 and to this day I believe that the SD50 DFL owes an apology to a variety of different players in the campaign and a lot of different community leaders because quite frankly they were patently offensive. I had one fired up fired up progressive cite that she "really stuck her neck out when she door knocked on Lake Street." I also had derogatory comments made about my hair because I let it grow naturally.

Another member sat right in front of myself and another individual with a disability and talked about how his mother had recently passed away. He inherited her house but unfortunately he also "inherited his disabled brother" and proceeded to go into a 10-15 dialogue about what a burden his brother was to him and society and what's even worse is the other members of the party sat there nodded their heads and agreed with it.

Perhaps you view the above comments as trivial or maybe your saying "Oh Noah we didn't mean it that way, you misconstrued it". Fine. Then I would encourage you to consider the  white liberal in Richfield who after I said I wasn't a huge Hillary Clinton fan told me that I should just suck it up and vote for her out of gratitude to the Democratic because they fought for affirmative action initiatives that have provided me with all opportunities I have here in Minnesota or this just absolute delight of a woman in Edina who told me I should go back to Africa and take Donald Trump with me after I expressed that I didn't think Medicaid for all was the Panacea (Neither does Dean Philips but let's not get the issue confused with facts or anything)... but anyways apparently, dog whistles and the utilization of racial tropes aren't just for the GOP anymore. Are people of color are criminal and pre- destined for the Hennepin County Workhouse? Are people with disabilities degenerates, who have little substantive value other than to burden  society ? or is the SD50's DFL basic understanding of diversity just a few French fries short of a happy meal?

I’ve been around the block a few times. I grew up in Carver County, the most ultra conservative county in the state, I started off my political career in the Southern Indiana back when Mike Pence was Governor and I encountered more than my share of close minded people but I can honestly can say that I have never been more personally offended than in having to deal with the Limousine Liberals in the Bloomington area. There is something about them that is just royally obnoxious.

There really shouldn't be any reason that a candidate can run for Bloomington School board on the sole basis that they're Anti -LGBTQA and win and yet a candidate managed to win on this exact issue in Bloomington School District and they sit there and ponder how this person won and  I can tell them why, It's because in many ways they're merely a "horse of a different color"  except you know the GOP doesn't care about marginalized communities, while these "progressive racists" feign concern, say and do these types of things  in a more nuanced fashion and they say it from a top down from a position of moral superiority, as if they have some sort of right to sit around and tell communities of color what to do. In short, they talk the talk, rarely do they walk the walk.

These types of progressives really only have one frequency when it comes to diversity and racial inequity in Minnesota. They talk incessantly about racism on the right because they have a need for moral superiority and the occasional "black friend" and the Republicans never fail to play right into that narrative by saying or doing whatever outlandish thing it is they're going to say or do today. It's not like it's a secret that the modern GOP has gone off the deep end and they try  to portray marginalized communities as dumb, dangerous, diseased and determined to change their perceived social order of the nation. That rhetoric of this attack used to be really offensive and it still is but it's expected of them and it's really just kind of boring and unimaginative at this point.

Still, as a person of color and a person with a disability who advocates, votes and writes , the progressive racists all  made sure I knew about a recent interview that Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa did  and I hear all about Donald Trump's tweets but at the end of the day it really all just comes down to the same nativist math and the simple fact that whether or not they're a Republican or a Democrat, Racists are like cars, to see what you’re dealing with, you have to look under the hood.

Being Disabled and PROUD

This past month we recognized the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots. Since then, we have recognized the month of June as Pride Month in which we remember how far the gay rights movement has come and recognize the resilience of the LGBTQ Community.

Unfortunately, at a time when diversity and inclusion are front and center in the discussion, people with disabilities continue to be absent from the dialogue. Just last year, the historic Stonewall Inn bar denied entrance to a blind queer person because they didn’t provide paperwork for their service dog, in violation of Title III of the American with Disabilities Act.

That is only one of many examples of how Pride remains mostly inaccessible to individuals with disabilities. Accessibility issues are a rampant problem and they are present in gay bars, parties, big parades, as well as protests and rallies. I haven’t looked but I am willing to bet if I had gone and looked at the website for Twin Cities Pride, it probably flunks digital accessibility standards across the board.

While each individual experiences a disability differently, the obstacles experienced speak to a common theme that people with disabilities are asexual or incapable of being in a relationship.  At the core of the concept of Pride is the invitation for people to be Proud of their body, their sexuality, etc . However the same invitation is all too often denied to persons with disabilities, despite the fact that they want the same thing that everyone wants in life: understanding and not to be “othered”

Including people with disabilities at the table should never be an afterthought but rather a priority because as Elizabeth Warren once said If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu. Both the LGBTQ and Disability communities have spent an ample amount of time on the menu and recognizing opportunities for such inter-sectional solidarity can only serve to benefit both of us.

Been there, Done that: the sensationalism of disability farms

Over, the past decade there has been many conversations occuring around how to address the significant disparities that exist around the state of Minnesota in the State of Minnesota, many of which have not been inclusive of the inequality that exists for Minnesotans with disabilities.



Historically, people with disabilities have been segregated in institutions. They have been placed in special schools, and enclaves and left to thier own devices on the margins of society. Such segregation has been ruled illegal after years of legal challenges by advocates, parents and self advocates.



Despite this and the fact that it has historically led on disability rights,  Minnesota is posed to take a significant step backward with the creation of it's first Autism farm, basically communal agricultural settings where people with developmental disabilities can live and work.



 Proponents argue that high support autistic people can’t live fully in the community but group homes cost too much, so the State should fund farm-based settings instead.



The premise is innacurate because high support people CAN and DO live in the community as evidenced by many examples. To suggest otherwise ignores successful, person-centered models in favor of more depersonalizing institutional settings.



The simple fact of the matter is that the overreliance on Group homes and the concept of farms/compounds are equally bad, and cost isn’t the real issue: the core issue is segregation.



While I am aware of the problems with the drop off in services and resources, for Adults on the spectrum, segregated farms are not a long term or legitimate solution. They are reminiscent of the colony model of institutions that arose in the 1880s and gained prominence in the early 20th century, as the eugenics movement ensured that they  were packed with “feebleminded” people.



Back in the day, institutions required a large labor force to keep themselves operational and patients were doing hard labor for little to no pay with zero control over the Conditions in an entirely segregated setting.  The practice came to a halt when the DC circuit court of appeals ruled that the Fair Labor Standards Act applied to institutional workers in their decision in Souder v Brennan.



It's not that segregated settings don’t have nice enough things, it’s that people are not treated as people; the institutional staff exercise total control and ultimately become custodial, often resulting with people being trapped in a cycle of neglect or mismanagement for their entire lives and ultimately marks the end of the road for the individuals that live there. And that’s the real tragedy: that there is not enough of a fight being put up for real community integration, not that the Medicaid settings rule wants to help people live in the community.



Furthermore the tactics of proponents are blatantly not ethical. A parent doesn’t get to expose someone else 's private information  just to make a point. Your kid’s disability is not about you.Your kid’s disability is not your story to tell. If you want to help other families with tips on how to help their children, do it in private. If you do it in public at your child’s expense, you are not doing your job, which is parenting.



Our humanity and our dignity should not be conditional to how the world will see us through videos, pictures and comments from such parents. We have a right to integration and this entire concept entirely misses the boat in that regard.

Dear Leader...

 In the early days of the Roman Empire, the Imperial cult of ancient Rome identified emperors as having the divinely sanctioned authority of the Roman State. Monarchs and other heads of state were  held in enormous reverence and imputed super-human qualities. Through the principle of the divine right of kings, in medieval Europe for example, rulers were said to hold office by the will of God. Ancient Egypt, Imperial Japan, the Inca, the Aztecs, Tibet and Thailand are also noted for designating their rulers as God kings.

The spread of democracy in Europe and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries brought about restrictions on and the abolition of many monarchies.

However, the subsequent development of mass media, has allowed political leaders to project a positive image of themselves onto the masses as never before and while we are on the topic of fake personalities I thought it neccesary to discuss Representative Jim Nash or as I prefer to call him "Dear Leader"  whose opinions are to be taken as Gospel lest you have to answer to the praetorian Guard we all know as the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus but this past session I had to grovel before him and plead for his divine favor and he informed me and a member of the School Board that we were making him late for lunch.

When the head of Dear Leader can no longer fit in the doorway and Dear Leader's face can be found all over in a form that is larger than the content his image purports to endorse, then it's no longer about anything of substance. It's about Dear Leader. If you were to ask Jim Nash how many mistakes he has made since he was first elected, I am willing to bet that he'd pause only briefly before answering: none.

Take all of this and combine it with his record of achievement which despite his self proclaimed most effective legislator title, is dismal even by Carver County standards.  He's a human, and humans are fallible. Do we need an elected leader whose primary interest is self-deification, or do we need an elected leader whose policies make a difference for ordinary citizens, like me and you?

And all that money from the same special interests like the Gun Owners caucus constantly flowing into his campaign account. How much money is enough for Nash and his clique? An even larger question How much money are ordinary citizens going to have to fork over in taxes before its enough? Maybe if Dear Leader listened to the educators in our community and worked to aid them in addressing funding issues we might have that answer but alas I am but a speck in our God Kings  eternal gloriousness so what do I know

Carver county violates the ADA...AGAIN

Title II of the ADA states that "no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity"

 I have been a Carver county resident for nearly 20 years and I have found that the County is woefully noncompliant with Federal law and regulations in regards to both Architectural barriers and the way it conducts its programming and they  don't have any specific person to address concerns about ADA compliance.

They tell people to go fill out a greivance form on thier website, which coincidentally also doesn't meet accessibility standards and the link to the form is broken, so even in the event I wanted to take the extra  time to fill out the form so they can pat me on the head, say there, there, there and and go on and do nothing about it, I couldn't.

Why can  Carver county address discrimination against the East African community by Scream Town in under 24 hours but discrimmination against people with Disabilities is somehow more palatable and hasn't even gotten a nod in over 2 decades?

Why is there  nobody there to coordinate and provide accommodations and support  to individuals protected under the  ADA?  Who is not doing their job? Is it the County Board, public works or someone else?.

I called Carver County last week and asked for the ADA coordinator or person responsible for compliance with the American with Disabilities Act to make a point. I was sent to Human Services, Taxpayer services, The assessor, the County Attorney, the Sheriff, public works, employment relations, etc. I recorded the entire ordeal and seeing as Minnesota is a one party state. I forwarded it to one of my many Attourneys.

The County needs an ADA coordinator. Furthermore, they are legally obligated to have one pursuant to CFR  35.107 (a) which states:

"a) Designation of responsible employee. A public entity that employs 50 or more persons shall designate at least one employee to coordinate its efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under this part, including any investigation of any complaint communicated to it alleging its noncompliance with this part or alleging any actions that would be prohibited by this part. The public entity shall make available to all interested individuals the name, office address, and telephone number of the employee or employees designated pursuant to this paragraph."

I called the County Attorneys office and was informed they have over 30 employees, the Carver County Sheriff employee 150 plus people.  Meaning they have over 50 employees and should have an ADA coordinator.

You would really think that all these folks working for Metz would know things like this. They're supposed to be Attorneys aren't they?...idk what law school they went to but if I were them I'd be calling and asking for a refund because clearly they aren't very good at it.

Also, if the Countys resident doddering old fool, or should I say Mr. Ivy wants to come after me for the above statement. I say bring it on because he will be violating Title V which prohibits retaliation against those who assert thier rights under the ADA which is just more change in my pocket. Please do.