Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily midday digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
Pork is Back, Baybee!
About a decade ago, “earmarks” became a dirty word in Washington, D.C., and members of Congress were no longer permitted to slide special requests for their districts into appropriations bills. But while the era of Big Pork hasn’t quite come raging back, Ana Radelat reports at MinnPost, members of congress are now allowed to put in requests for 15 “community funding projects.” After all, as rotgut scion/centrist goober Rep. Dean Phillips points out, Minnesota pays more in taxes than it receives in services, so why shouldn’t we claw some back this way? Too bad among his choice of projects is “Edina Police Department Procurement of Tactical Micro-robot Systems” ($77,420). Some additional highlights: Betsy McCollum wants some cash to help Woodbury clean up after 3M; Ilhan Omar is championing several affordable and low income housing sites; and Tom Emmer predictably loves highway maintenance. Michelle Fischbach is the only rep who didn’t request anything. Sorry, no Droid Army for you, Moorhead!
Four Un-Vaxxed Twins Banned from Canada
When news broke earlier this week that several unvaccinated Twins players would be denied entry into Canada, where the team begins a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays tonight, my mind jumped to Max Kepler. Just after the murder of George Floyd, the German-born outfielder posted a selfie featuring a Blue Lives Matter mask. “I had no idea that the mask had any underlying inferences—I simply thought it looked good,” he said afterward in an apology. That chef’s kiss of culture war stupidity signaled, at least to me, that Kep was a prime un-vaxxed suspect. Sure enough, Kepler was revealed Friday to be among the banned, joining relief pitchers Emilio Pagán, Caleb Thielbar, and Trevor Megill. The backsliding 30-23 Twins, while still in first place in the AL Central, sure could use ‘em all, considering the injury bug keeps biting and two players—Jucy Lucy nut Carlos Correa and recent Racket coverboy Joe Ryan—are both out with COVID. “Things can change. Studies change,” Pagán told reporters, noting that he’d consider getting vaccinated for the playoffs. “I don’t want to get into the science of it. I’m not a scientist.”
Was Charles Lindbergh a Nazi sympathizer?
Yes.
But if you want to read 2,500 more words on the topic, the Star Tribune's "Curious Minnesota" series today took a look at Lindbergh, the Minnesota pilot famous for completing the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris. It includes: His anti-Semitic and white supremacist writings and commentary, the fact that he considered Soviet communism a greater threat than Nazi fascism, and his receipt of a Nazi medal. Smithsonian Magazine put it more bluntly, calling Lindbergh "a Nazi sympathizer and spokesperson for the America First Committee," the influential group opposing U.S. involvement in WWII. You can read more about Lindbergh's penchant for Nazi ideology via PBS.
Parking Lot Valiantly Does Its Part to End Car Culture
Look guys, it’s a real slow news day in town. And when it’s a slow news day, some weird stuff is gonna get covered. Like the news that a hunk of concrete fell off the Macy’s parking ramp at Rosedale Mall. About two car’s worth of concrete barrier on the upper level somehow dislodged and came crashing down to the lower level. The fallen rubble weighed “a lot of pounds,” City manager Patrick Trudgeon told MPR News. No one was hurt… but they could have been! No cars were damaged… but they could have been! Anyway, it’s super awesome that this parking ramp decided to give up when no one else was around. That area of Rosedale’s parking will be closed until its structural integrity has been investigated by experts.
