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Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Hennepin County's HUB Project
2:16 AM | 
Posted by
The I.I. |
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
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1st Up: The HUB
Let’s pick up where we last left off on the subject of the HUB. This proposed project is intended to break ground on the north end of Broadway between Girard and Irving next March.
This blogger was the lone attendee from the Jordan neighborhood at the NRCC meeting on the 12th where the plans for this project were finally unveiled to the affected neighborhoods. You may be wondering to yourself, why does this matter? It matters because the county wants to distribute its currently efficient and centralized operation into satellite offices. These satellite offices would be scattered around the county, three in Minneapolis, and the remaining three somewhere in the burbs. When I asked Hennepin County Area Director, Rex Holzemer, how this would save money, he replied with a statement about how this would increase service levels. This of course if code for added expense and added operational costs.
But let’s cut straight to the chase shall we? The HUB has quickly been labeled as a pocket of poverty. Why? The sole purpose of this facility is to provide financially related social services. In the NRCC meeting, Holzemer stated that 80% of all North Minneapolis residents utilize county services. I almost fell out of my chair when I heard that. Did I understand Rex correctly? Am I some stupid, naïve, starry eyed idiot, living in a fantasy land? Is virtually everyone surrounding me in North Minneapolis suckling off the government teat except me? No, I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure that is statistically impossible. In fact there’s no way that’s possible. Even in a neighborhood like Jordan, owner occupancy is no less than 35%. That means that if absolutely everyone renting was in dire financial straits, and they required financial assistance, a maximum of 65% of all people living here would be on assistance. I draw this conclusion because the logic of home owners being on public financial assistance is quite frankly a non sequitur. When confronted with the home owner statistic, Mr. Holzemer replied that county services went beyond financial. They included child and mental care as well. Now I’m really confused. The HUB is supposed to be strictly for financial services—at least that’s what was said at the NRRC meeting—yet 80% of North Minneapolitans are going to be paying a visit there? Once you shower off the bullshit being lathered on oh so thick, it’s fairly clear that the rationalization to move ahead with this project will be whatever sounds the most emphatic.
So what about the building? What is it supposed to look like? Here it is! This glorious structure is going to be 30,000 square feet, two stories, and crammed into the southwest section of the lot. Everything else will be parking. Imagine three quarters of a city block in a residential area consumed by black top parking. It’s so lovely it makes me vomit in my mouth a little.
HUB
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Jerk Du Jour: Al “Mayor of Crazy Town” Flowers
The NRRC meeting was civil for the most part. When I say “most part”, I’m referring to everything that transpired that didn’t involve this guy speaking. Once Stupid opened his mouth, the collective intelligence of the room dropped precipitously.
This blogger had the indignant dishonor of sitting next to this douche. At first I didn’t realize I was sitting next to one of the biggest turd blossoms in all of Minneapolis. Therefore I made the mistake of shaking his hand. An hour later I realized who’s fecally laced prehensile paw my hand had made contact with; I quickly ran to the bathroom and washed my hands!
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| Al "Mayor of Crazy Town" Flowers... a.k.a. Stupid (image by JNS blog) |
At the end of the NRRC meeting, I introduced myself and stated my case as opposition to this project. Flowers quickly blurted out that I was a writer for a racist blog. To date, nobody that’s actually called me a racist has actually pointed out anything concrete to substantiate that claim. Flowers didn’t hesitate to identify himself as a member of the NAACP after calling me a racist. Then he went on to threaten me by stating that I had better watch myself. Again, this is nothing new. Outsiders have been threatening local north side activists for years. The sociological irony is irresistable. But just in case there is any confusion, I think I’ll ask NAACP CEO, Benjamin Todd Jealous how he feels about Al Flowers and his verbal attacks on people trying to conduct business in their communities. Somehow I think Jealous would be inclined to distance himself from Flowers, especially considering that NAACP’s M.O. doesn’t generally include heckling the locals. Did I mention that Al Flowers is a south sider?
There’s no point in even linking Al Flowers to other blogs. A simple Google search will yield endless references to Flowers endless and shameless abuse of the legal system, as well as bad taste in apparel.
On a sad note, I must say that I was disappointed with my first and hopefully last confrontation with Al Flowers. Like so many things in North Minneapolis, mediocrity has become the accepted staple to reign supreme. Incidentally this includes building concepts, non-profit initiatives, and government projects. Unfortunately, this mediocrity has spilled over to people as well. Even blog trolls and villains like Al Flowers are mediocre. I was hoping to be wowed and impressed by the vaunted “Mayor of Crazy Town”, yet sadly his inaudible and broken English reveals a man that probably didn’t make it through high school. A pity, I was hoping for a worthy advisary.
Al “Mayor of Crazy Town” Flowers… Today’s Jerk Du Jour!
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18 comments:
Where have Al the Flowers gone? Looong time sassing... Where have Al the Flowers gone, long ti---me a ho, Where have Al the Flowers gone, gone dead braincells everyone, when will he ever learn, when will he eeeever learn. This took me three hours so don't feel too bad,Gal, i mean, Al. Smoke up, brother, cuz you be lookin' real goofy on your community access comedy show. Jerk.
Ah yes, Al 'just spit it the hell out' Flowers. Didn't he scam some money from Minneapolis Public Schools to encourage more students to stay in school? Probably royalties for being the poster boy.
Al Flowers is a racist that claims to be a black man but is really a white guy wanna-be. He bought a bag of oregano from a purple guy who was standing next to a blue gentleman who was peddling rock salt at half price to all of the obviously ignorant green folks that wandered by. You know how them orange folks get jealous when they receive little attention, so they lashed out at all the light orange folks and proved that they were even racist towards their own blood....when it's convenient. A legend in his own mind. Double Jerk!!! What makes anyone think Al is black is beyond me. He is the color of a turd when the turd itself has diarrea. Don't get me started on his incarcerated relatives. I will be back and you know who i am. I am Sam, i am, the color of spam, i am.
It appears that Al Flowers has quite a fan club.
Al(you don't send me)Flowers(anymore) is a flatulent echo from an abandoned asshole. L.S.D. and other assorted drugs really put a beat down on that booty, didn't it AL? All that remains is an empty turtle shell of a man who reminisces about trying to recapture that very first high. Al, i would assume that you would like to go back to the 70s and be the half-ass respectable guy you used to be, but that isn't any more possible than it would be for you to wash that nasty ass more than once a month at some local gas station. Fool.
Why would anyone talk about another human being with such vile language. Al is the first person who will tell you that he's crazy, but he'll also have the courage and integrity to tell you what's on his mind while IN YOUR PRESENCE. If any of you knew what was really going on in the pits of poverty, marijuana would be the least of your conversation. Mr. Flowers sits in meetings you are not privy to, meetings about young people who are addicted to and desensitized by prescription drugs and a police state. If you think his Southside address should decide whether or not he is at the table as an advocate for a clearly underrepresented population, one would question your ideas of civic duty. You can disagree with him, you can dislike him, but you can't discount him; he was at the SAME meeting YOU were and you knew of him well before he forgot about you. He can't be too stupid or unimportant, you dedicated a whole blog to him.
@ Anon 12:25,
You forgot to end your sentence with a question mark, assuming you were intending to ask a question. The "vile language" you are referring to is more satirical than anything else. Incidentally, it is accurate. I don't care if Al is crazy or sane, that makes no difference to me. And the meetings Al sits in on are irrelevant to the subject at hand.
Your tone is very self-righteous is if you're trying to state that Flowers is some sort of freedom fighter, instead of a lunatic. Lunatics are easy to discount. You are correct of me knowing of him, that part is true. But I didn't realize it was him until he identified himself. Al knew right away who I was. Therefore what you just said was a load of crap.
And if looks as if I have to keep correcting you. I dedicated half of one blog post to Flowers. That's .003% of total dedication. So yes, he's stupid and unimportant.
Who is this I'm addressing anyway? Paul Koenig? Don Allen? Terry Yahoo?
Anonymous twelve twenty five pee em seems to think that only one race knows anything about poverty, when in reality that same race is the one that glorifies robbing and killing as the way to get out.They happen to be the worse racists, contrary to popular belief, and no other race is even a close second. A whole lot of prejudging going on with this statement since i did not mention any specific race. Anyways, the snotty nosed racist, Mr. Weed, Flowers, whatever, is a goddamn joke.
I think its unfortunate you guys are trying to make this about race. This issue isn't about race. People of multiple racial backgrounds are on both sides of this issue. Try to remember that before you reduce yourselves to the lowest common denominator.
You know, Mr. Irv, the lowest common denominator was when he claimed you ran a racist blog. He threw the first rock at you. Typical White guy afraid to call a Black guy on their racism. How many racial epithets have been thrown your way since you started your blog, and how many times have you displayed racism towards others? I have thouroughly perused your blog and understand that you are a man that gets along with people from all backgrounds. Anyone that has an iota of a testicle will call others on their racism and not worry about the threats of getting their asses kicked. I call a racist a racist and Al Flowers and his ilk will call you a honky motherfucker in a minute. There is a huge segment of society that believe that only Whites are racist and that is total bullshit. Flowers and anyone like him belong enshrined in the racists hall of shame. Quit playing patty-cake patty-cake and see the light.
If Al Flowers shows up at a meeting, it's because someone has called him and let him know that they need the meeting disrupted. Generally, it's someone like Al McFarlane, who tries to maintain a veneer of respectability and likes to farm out the crazy shenanigans to people he doesn't care about, like Al Flowers. But all the poverty pimps call on Flowers whenever they fear that something productive might be happening on the Northside, especially if they suspect that one of their rival poverty pimps will get either credit or (even worse) public funds that they want for themselves.
So, the important question isn't "what kind of show did Al Flowers put on this time?" but "who wanted this particular meeting turned into a sideshow?"
A fascinating blog post about Al Flowers.
I hope somebody reads it to him.
You might as well shut your damn blog down if you get scared everytime you write something. Stick to whatever you do best because you have no courage to persevere in the blog activist world. You do not follow up on stories and i am sure you got intimidated somewhere along the way by someone saying something to you. Try needlepoint.
I think Al Flowers is a JOKE!!!
WOW ! I JUST SAT AND READ ALL THIS HATRED, AND JUDGEMENT, COME ON FELLAS WERE NOT GOD, AND NONE OF US ARE PERFECT, INSTEAD OF ASSASSINATING EACH OTHERS CHARACTER , WHY NOT JUST TRY TO HELP EACH OTHER ,CORRECT SOME OF EACH ONES DEFECTS , WE LIVE AND WE LEARN, BUT WE MUST CONTINUE TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE. I KNOW NOTHING OF WHAT ANY OF YOU BLAME EACH OTHER FOR, BUT I DO KNOW THAT IM BURYING OUR CHILDREN WHILE , YOU GUYS ARE VERBALLY FIGHTING EACH OTHER, ITS SI HARD TO POINT THE FINGER AND SAY WHOS RIGHT OR WHOS WRONG HERE, BUT IF WE FOCUS ON SOLUTIONS, INSTEAD OF WHOS NOT DOING WHAT, I BELIEVE WE CAN ACHIEVE SOME POSITIVE GOALS IN THIS CORRUPT SOUNDING COMMUNITY. I PERSONALLY HAVE NO-BEEF WITH ANYONE TODAY, IM PRAYING THAT IT STAYS THAT WAY, I HAVE NO-TIME FOR FOOLISHNESS , IM TRYING TO SAVE SOME LIVES. ITS TIME TO STOP THE FIGHTING, SO WE CAN COME TOGETHER TO DEAL WITH THE KIDS, KILLING, KIDS HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY. I GOT LOVE FOR ALL YALL. IM NOT LOOKING FOR IT BACK IN RETURN. PEACE 2012 H M C J F- BACK ON THE BLOCK.
GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU ALL !!!!!!!
I don't agree with the sentiments above. Your blog is still useful and I link to it from time to time
However, you really should find the courage to persevere in the blog activist world.
You're the ultimate pussy - everyone knows, even John talks about you.
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