This Is My Town, Sparky
Posted on June 1, 2020 by Mitch Berg
Thursday evening, I decided to walk down to Snelling Avenue to check out the situation.
I saw broken glass at Lloyd's Pharmacy, at the corner of Snelling and Minnehaha. I decided to check out the situation.
The situation nearly came to me. I saw a vibrant group of youths carrying bags of merchandise out of the Speedway station across the street, chased by the immigrant family who run the place. The other gas station up the block was in the process of being looted as well.
A small group of twenty-somethings jumped out of a car in rudimentary riot-wear, and ran past me, headed toward the Speedway. They took no interest in me – which was good for all concerned. Take that as you wish.
I beat a hasty retreat home, and rode out the rest of the evening.
The next morning, it looked like this:
Lloyd's, which had been in this building for 102 years, as one of the last of Saint Paul's small independent pharmacies, was gone. They'd remodeled last year, adding more lab space and some offices for a medical office – a vote of confidence in the neighborhood.
Here's what confidence in Saint Paul gets you:
That's 102 years worth of rubble.
Some wag commented with a sign:
Lloyd's Pharmacy rubble pile
Lloyd's, and the looted gas stations , were the only visibly damaged bulidings north of Thomas – although it was hard to tell if the stores were boarded up as a preventive measure…
Asian buffet on Snelling at Van Buren
Or repairing damage.
Korean and Vietnamese buisnesses on Snelling at Blair
All I know is that my neighborhood, the Midway – my tough, scrappy, blighted little underdog of a neighborhood – feels gutted today.
Did I say tough and scrappy? Hell yeah. The staff from one restaiurant, immigrants all, climbed up on their roof on Thursday night, vislbly armed, entirely to deter the looters that'd gone over so miuch of the street the night before. I won't name them here – I don't want the neighborhood's many Soy Boys and Karens to try to cancel them for their impudence.
During the day on Friday, University was crawling with people with dustpans and brooms, descending on University to clean up the mess.
They clearned out later in the afternoon, though, as sporadic incidents of looting and violence started to speckle the map. Recovery? Just ending the nightmare seemed a long, hard slog away, given Mayor Frey and Governor Walz's performance.
Anway – to those of you who've been burning down my neighborhood, looting my neighbors' shops, trying to wreck our lives – the neighborhood where I raised my kids, started a business or two, and have lived for what seems like an entire lifetime?
You want to talk about police brutality? Cultures of entitlement? Systemic racism?
Want to talk anger?
Want to make some changes, over what happened to George Floyd? Hey, guess what – I've got huge problems with excessive police power, too. Let's get things done!
But talking isn't' fast or dramatic enough for you? Want to browbeat dissent into submission? Want to vent your inchoate rage on innocent third parties? Want to burn things that don't belong to you?
Racism, inequality and brutality is oppression. But so is rioting.
And if you want to fight opporession with more oppression?
This is for you .
Go back to taking your rage out on your family, or your professors, or on yourself. Jam your adolescent entitlement someplace nature never intended things to be jammed.
Screw your "revolution" – I brought my own.
I'll be here long after you move on to other tantrums. I will listen, if listening and discussion is what you want. But I'm not running anywhere.
This is my town, sparky.
This is our town. All the good people, black and white, Korean and H'mong, Turkish and Ethiopian, and every other flavor of humanity God put here. The ones who built this place, and the ones who'll rebuild it after you've had your excellent weekend of fun.
We deserve better elected "leaders", it's true. But we were here first, and we'll be here last.
This entry was posted in 2020 Riots, St. Paul by Mitch Berg. Bookmark the permalink.
43 thoughts on "This Is My Town, Sparky"
This chopper for official use only on June 1, 2020 at 11:06 am said:
If Prof. Kreapy sees that picture, he'll tweet it for years.
Mammuthus Primigenius on June 1, 2020 at 11:16 am said:
Mitch Berg on June 1, 2020 at 12:08 pm said:
Fuck the creepy professor.
Joe Doakes on June 1, 2020 at 12:34 pm said:
Fireman: Well, how was Minneapolis then, Eamonn?
Eamonn (dressed as an African warrior wearing war paint and feathers, carrying a spear and shield): Well, as I was telling mummy and Mervyn earlier, things is pretty bad there at the moment but there does seem some hope of a constitutional settlement.
Prince of Darkness_666 on June 1, 2020 at 12:36 pm said:
how do you respond to the cries of systematic racism? I'm getting really tired of the left throwing that word around like it's the 50s or 60s
This chopper for official use only on June 1, 2020 at 12:41 pm said:
I get that you're pissed. You've been punked; I'd be pissed too.
But it's a little late to be posting pictures of you flipping the rioters off and telling them "This Is My Town, Sparky".
The fact is, you live there, but it clearly isn't your town.
You you couldn't have defended it alone, and you couldn't have gathered one single neighbor to help you defend it….Hell, the North side of University was doing the looting, and you know it; they had no problem gathering their neighbors in helping out.
You're outnumbered. You are surrounded by Negro wards of the state and have empty sack leftists in control downtown. The town belongs to them willing to show up and prove it. Say what you want, but the vibrant, urban community and their leftist overseers own it.
That's not a slam on you, man; it's just the cold, hard facts.
POD, "systemic racism" started with LBJ's "Great Society". The Democrat party wanted to win back the South, and they figured the best way to accomplish that was to put the Negroes back on the plantation.
They couldn't chain them up any longer, so they trained them like you'd train a dog. Give them treats when they behave as you want them to, and a smack on the nose when they do things you don't want them to do. They followed it up with an intense propaganda regime which further degraded their self-esteem.
That program produced 3 generations of uneducated Negroes, wholly dependent on the Democrat party, and crime to keep them fed, clothed and housed, however miserably. It completely, utterly destroyed Negro families led by committed honest dads.
It's only the past 20 years or so that a Negro middle class has emerged, and they're evidently not interested in sharing the secret of their success; throw those gibs back, leave the plantation take control and responsibility for your own damn lives.
My voice is being stifled again on SiTD. Might go riot, idk.
I am moving back to the suburbs once I get a car again, I'm at the point where I can say, fuck Minneapolis, letitia burn. It deserves nothing less for electing Frey.
This chopper for official use only on June 1, 2020 at 1:13 pm said:
Now here is an "outsiders did it" claim that I believe.
From KTLA:
"Over 400 individuals were arrested Sunday night in Santa Monica after a night filled with looting and unrest, but officials say 95% were individuals who traveled to the city in order to cause chaos."
Yeah, a bunch of them traveled to the city via the Southern border. Santa Monica; LMAO! Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of slobs.
Mitch Berg on June 1, 2020 at 1:33 pm said:
It was too late when I moved here, really.
And I don't care. It's about my only option at this point.
mjb003 on June 1, 2020 at 1:48 pm said:
My initial reaction after walking around the neighborhood- hmmm, Chris Coleman had been trying to destroy my community for years with full support from Merriam Park and Mac Groveland residents. Wonder when these arsonists are going to be found and encouraged to run for mayor and council by those in charge.
My next reaction upon seeing the clean up efforts- either they decided there was something worth saving here after all or they're getting things cleaned up to stage for more housing developers to buy the land.
I feel like Mitch. And my neighbors and I were out there watching it all and being pushed by the police to get away and to go back home.
That's probably true. I know it only took me about 5 years to realize Minnesota wasn't the common sense mid-Western state I thought it was. Another 5 and we were making plans to GTFO of there.
By 2025, Minnesota will be a cold California.
At some point, moving out seems pretty inevitable.
But it's going to cost me an awful lot, and I don't mean just financially.
Prince of Darkness_666 on June 1, 2020 at 2:17 pm said:
Swiftee, political tides are turning, MN will be red in 2020 then the MN GOP can hopefully start getting it's act together and start flipping statewide offices
POD, I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but MN is traveling the exact same path Cali did in the 80's. I lived there, saw it happen in real time. If there is any difference, it's that MN is rotting at an accelerated pace. It took 40 years for the reprobates to get firm control in Cali; it's only been 20 in MN since the big push, and they're almost there.
As urban reprobates age, many move to out state towns and cities and bring their mental disease with them. In addition, more 3rd world refugees and illegal Guatamexidorians will continue to pour in. Duluth and the surrounding areas are already a scumbag HQ, as is Rochester; Red Wing and Worthington are well on their way.
If I'm wrong, I'll be the first to admit it, but if I have any advice to give anyone, it's make plans to get out while and when you can.
Night Writer on June 1, 2020 at 2:35 pm said:
Wednesday evening as events were generating "an abundance of caution" everywhere, the shops and mini-malls near me – on a major street leading out of St. Paul – were boarding up. A friend of mine texted that there were 2 squads of the local constabulary parked in front of a grocery store on our other "commercial" street.
Ok, then. I unlocked the family nukes, and checked the systems. Ready, as I anticipated. And, since it was quiet and nothing was happening yet, I sat and thought through some things; better to have a plan for SHTF before the SHTF (that's a free tip for you, Governor, and Mayors). While we are well able to repel a single marauder, or even a small group, a large, emboldened force could be problematic. We might not even realize the cause was lost until it was too late. So, think about the fastest way to disable the nukes so they'd be useless against the neighbors, should they fall into the wrong hands. I haven't ever tried to do that in a hurry; it was instructive.
So, turns out it was a touch over-reactive, but still good practice – even though I'm sure something like this will never happen again!
Scott Hughes on June 1, 2020 at 4:00 pm said:
Mpls dodged the biggest of bullets (no pun) when they abandoned the 3rd precinct station and the city for that matter to the rioters, St. Paul managed little better. That left the residents and business owners entirely on their own against the thieves and arsonists. I'm shocked actually that many of the filthy miscreants weren't gunned down. At some point the folks "in charge" (laughing) should expect carnage, the blood will be on their hands.
Joe Doakes on June 1, 2020 at 4:28 pm said:
Night Writer – I had a similar experience. Walking around my house, looking at it from the viewpoint of defending against a single Molotov cocktail thrower, was sobering. Double pane windows are just glass. Asphalt shingles are petroleum. Basement egress windows are blocked by furniture and what's Molotov Boy doing while I'm climbing up out of the hole?
Even if all my firearms hadn't fallen into the lake during that tragic canoe accident, they'd only be useful when the Bad Guy is INSIDE the house. I took the class. Joe Biden is mistaken. I'm not allowed to shoot through the door to kill a guy standing outside, certainly not across the street lighting the rag of his Molotov cocktail. If I was even awake to know he was there. I can't stand watch all night – I work during the day.
This place is not defensible. It wasn't intended to be: I live on the East side of Como Park, I shouldn't need a moat and punji sticks, I paid extra to live in a "safe" neighborhood. But the blight is spreading and I no longer feel as safe as I did 17 years ago.
So flee the riots? Where? Let's say Wisconsin. How? Which streets are safe to travel, which highways are open? Am I taking my Bug Out Bag for an overnight, or my INCH bag (I'm Never Coming Home) and leaving forever? Oh wait, I don't have either one ready to go, never got around to finishing packing them.
Sobering.
bosshoss429 on June 1, 2020 at 4:37 pm said:
My brother lives in Shakopee and can see 169 from his house and has two ways out of his subdivision. He is just about done converting a Ford Raptor into an urban escape vehicle. Damn; those run flat tires for a vehicle like that are pricey!
Joe, no home in an even a minimally urban area Is defense-able by itself. Defense relies on the ability to maintain a perimeter.
I know almost everyone living in the blocks around my house by name; many have lived in this neighborhood all their lives. My next door neighbor lives in the house he was raised in.
On Memorial Day, our planned trip to Savannah was called due to rain, so I smoked 3 racks of ribs in the front yard and invited everyone on my street, and behind me to drop by; many did.
With the exception of one man, who prefers not to mingle with others (alright, he's a crabby old man), I have no doubt we can depend on most all to assist one another in an emergency.
That's especially important for someone who suffers an irrational fear of firearms such as myself.
If you don't have a minimally friendly relationship with your neighbors, you damn well better have that bug out bag ready.
He is just about done converting a Ford Raptor into an urban escape vehicle.
So, what does a guy need to add to a $75k off road truck to make it escape worthy? 😉
jdm on June 1, 2020 at 5:17 pm said:
There's a crabbier old man than Swiftee?
Jezuz. Bob Johnson, the founder of BET is on Fox saying that if white Americans don't coff up the reparations (he says $375k is the right number), we're setting the table for CWII.
He's a boogaloo boi!
It's good to have a plan.
Mine is not for public consumption.
But this might be a greeat time to start some private meetings.
jdm, among my people, I'm the model of conviviality, sir.
Heh. Good one, Mr Convivial.
By the way, your description above about your neighborhood and defending it matches pretty much ours here where I live (north of the metro). It's become like a foreign country down there.
So flee the riots? Where?
It's already happening and has been for some time. The real estate market up in central MN is pretty busy. At first it was to get away from the costs, taxes, and regulations. It's now that plus the more recent reasons. So to speak.
shakingmyhead on June 1, 2020 at 7:45 pm said:
Mitch – I'm in.
golfdoc50 on June 1, 2020 at 7:51 pm said:
I have thoughts about "systemic racism." Apparently you can't see it, but it's present everywhere. All white people are affected, period. Reminds me of "the ether." Back when physicists were trying to figure out how light travels, they observed it had many properties of waves. But waves have a medium like air or water to travel through. So, they thought, the universe is filled with a mysterious substance, the ether, that is responsible. It HAD to be true. No other possible explanation. So a grand experiment was designed by Michelson and Morley to prove ether existed. Pause. It was a complete bust. No ether. Later, other physicists showed that all electromagnetic radiation is carried by particles, photons, that have wave and particle properties. Systemic racism is the Ether. Doesn't exist.
Ian on June 1, 2020 at 11:30 pm said:
Bob Johnson, the founder of BET is on Fox saying that if white Americans don't coff up the reparations (he says $375k is the right number), we're setting the table for CWII.
Mr Johnson looks a little young to have actually suffered under slavery in the U.S. If he feels he and his brethren are entitled to financial compensation that their ancestors endured on behalf of some of our ancestors (while ultimately being liberated by some of our other ancestors, let's take it to its logical conclusion. What if one of Mr. Johnson's ancestors was one of the Africans who sold slaves to the whites? Is there a sliding scale on how the monies are to be distributed?
My ancestor was a Huguenot fisherman in Catholic France in the 1630s. He was oppressed. I'm still waiting on my reparations check from the French government.
Go far enough back in anybody's family tree, you're likely to find both oppressor and oppressed.
bosshoss429 on June 2, 2020 at 4:32 am said:
Chopper,
Actually, it's a 2014 model with over 100,000 miles on it, some minor hail damage, a couple of small dings and needed some mechanical work that he can do himself and the guy he bought it from had already bought a new one, so he needed to sell it, even though he's not exactly living check to check, my bro pretty much stole it, price wise and it already had a brush buster front cage, winch, a stout rear bumper and a skid plate, so the run flats are his biggest add on investment. He's thinking about armor and bulletproof glass. 😎
This chopper for official use only on June 2, 2020 at 5:19 am said:
The report noted that Floyd "experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s)."
It also listed "arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease," as well as fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use as "other significant conditions."
Yea, funny that an "expert", paid by the family, finds the exact results that everyone else wants, overriding the ME's report.
I also couldn't stop laughing over the videos of the unwashed masses invading Summit Avenue around the Governor's mansion. Just waiting for one of the elites to send out their illegal Salvadoran gardener to shoo them off of the lawn.
"What we want is for all four of them to go to jail now," activist Mel Reeves told the crowd. "Police violence is a disease. … You know how you get rid of a disease? You gotta cut it out."
ENDORSED!
Now do Negro thugs in Detroit, Chicago, Gary, Baltimore, Kansas City, Oakland, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Atlanta, Richmond, Milwaukee, Tampa, LA, Dallas, New Orleans, Cincinnati….
Mitch Berg on June 2, 2020 at 8:28 am said:
My great-great-great grandfather was bankrupted when Swedish soldiers foraged him into insolvency during the war in the early 1800s, in Sør-Trøndelag. Pony up, Sweden…
…but – DAMMIT! One of my other great-grandfathers was Swedish.
This is getting complicated.
Anyone looking to escape communist controlled Minnesota, may want to consider Polk County Florida. They have a sheriff that gets it.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jun/1/grady-judd-polk-county-sheriff-warns-rioters-well-/
In less than a month, I shall be resident in my new home in Osceola.
My house on the Big Island is for sale. No riots, or covid-19, in Hawaii county.
MP, I'll be interested to hear how your sale goes. Is your house on the lee (downhill) side of the flow?
My bro has been trying to sell his, but Hawaiian Beaches is in a bad place if Pele decides to go again.
I saw that Hoss. Sheriff is based af.
Mammuthus Primigenius on June 2, 2020 at 1:44 pm said:
Swiftee, I am about two miles from the entrance to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, upwind from the caldera. During the 2018 eruption, I experienced a 5.2 magnitude earthquake every 20-40 hours for three months. But no lava, no ash, no fumes. The lava breakouts were down hill from me, and the last I heard, lava doesn't flow up hill 🙂 The lava my house sits on is four hundred years old.
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