Reading the Minneapolis Star Tribune continues to be a pleasure. As I recently noted, the combination of the area's robustly candid political tradition, the comparative newness of immigration there, and the trouble it causes in this previously highly functional part of the country, produces stories that PC censorship in other areas of America would suppress.
A recent article on health insurance follows this valuable pattern. The authors report that although inhabitants of this well-organized state have a high rate of health insurance by national standards
"The number of Minnesotans without health insurance jumped nearly 30 percent over the past three years… The percentage of Minnesotans without health insurance jumped from 5.4 percent in 2001 to 6.7 percent in 2004…fewer Minnesotans are getting health coverage through their jobs, another sign that employers are cutting or scaling back health care benefits, because of the rising cost of those benefits…"[More Minnesotans are not insured by Glenn Howatt and Josephine Murphy, Star Tribune February 26 2005]],
Hispanic non-insured, the writers acknowledge, are the immediate reason for the increase:
"nearly one-third of Hispanics didn't have insurance coverage in 2004, nearly double the rate in 2001… most work at jobs that don't provide insurance or can't afford the insurance that is offered"
But then the article goes on to lay out the facts: the non-payment by Hispanics of their health costs, (either via insurance premiums or direct settlement) is boosting bills for other Minnesotans, and causing their coverage to erode.
"there is some agreement that an increase in the uninsured means that both taxpayers and those with health insurance will pay the price.
"You get into a death spiral," said Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis. "There are more and more uninsured, more and more uncompensated care, more and more costs left on the people who do have insurance,"
Bruce Rueben, executive director of the Minnesota Hospital Association… said decreasing employer coverage was partly responsible… Hospitals are forced to pass those costs along to patients who have insurance, he said.
"It ends up raising the cost of health care for everybody else"
The article concludes of course with the usual tear-jerking for Hispanics
"At the same time, Latinos are often distrustful of government programs and may not sign up for them even if they are eligible"
The obvious question, of course, is: why should Hispanic immigrants pay for any health care, when they can, in effect, steal it? Either from the Taxpayers directly, or, via the hospital Emergency Rooms, from private sector insurers via cost redistribution, and ultimately from legal employees via higher premiums and reduced benefits?
Ask Glenn Howatt and Josephine Marcotty
Dimitri Vassilaros, of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, has an article about dual citizenship,[ Part-Time Patriots, ] pegged to Alanis Morrisette's taking the Oath Of Allegiance as an American citizen. She has reassured her Canadian fans that she wasn't, like, loyal to the US, but was retaining dual-citizenship, like Salma Hayek. The article quotes Peter Brimelow and Ed Rubenstein. For the story of Brimelow's own swearing-in, go here.
Okay, okay, I know it sounds too good to be true. But the question of dual citizenship really was hotly discussed in a crowd of my fellow Americans-to-be as we all waited patiently for the judge to arrive and administer the Oath of Allegiance one summer day back in 1994. The woman behind me reflected the consensus. "Of course!" she forcefully declared to general approval, in the event of another military draft she would send her children back to the Caribbean — which she could do precisely because they all were retaining their original citizenship. While waiting to "swear allegiance"! With court officers all around!
Don't show the them Chris Rock's famous video, How Not To Get Your Ass Kicked By the Police, as the Associated Press reports that Florida's Juvenile Justice Secretary Anthony Schembri , did.
As a result, six black lawmakers are calling for his removal.
Rock's video, a spoof of a driver training video, makes the point that many confrontations with police are not caused by racism, they're caused by stupidity or criminal behavior on the part of the suspect. He even goes so far as to say that Rodney King should have stopped his car, rather than speeding away at 110 MPH. You can see the video here, or try this direct link in AVI format. [Strong language, don't play it out loud at work]
"Schembri's spokesman, Tom Denham, said it was shown as part of a discussion on racial profiling and Schembri previously used it when teaching college courses to stimulate discussions."
And of course, it's, somewhat predictably, stimulated discussion about his losing his job, for "Speaking truth to power."
By the way, Rock's advice is all addressed to the driver of the car, in a traffic stop. "When you see flashing police lights in your mirror, stop immediately. Everybody knows if the police have to come and get you, they're bringing an ass-kickin' with them."
Passengers should consider asking, before they go for a ride, "Is this car stolen? Are you planning to drive at 100, 120, 130, or any other three digit numbers? Are you drunk?" I can tell you, this happened to me, 25 years ago in Daytona, (the car was a rental, but the other factors applied) and the guy I was riding with did get his ass kicked. (Everyone involved was white.)
Patterico who did a graphic post on LA Times's naïveté about interracial violence in prison,( the same thing that Steve Sailer wrote about Sunday, )has a "told you so" post today, which points to this story:
Prison is still on lockdown after race riot: The state prison in Tehachapi remained on lockdown Friday after violent race riot broke out among hundreds of inmates, leaving three of them injured.
In all, 480 inmates went after one another in the common yard at 6:10 p.m. Thursday, said Mike Coghlan, a spokesman for the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, a medium security facility.
The melee between black and Latino inmates lasted 40 minutes before guards were able to bring it under control using tear gas, pepper spray and nonlethal baton rounds from firearms, Coghlan said.
Oh, violence. Is that what the policy was about? And Patterico adds the following point: "prisoners are not as racially sensitive as the rest of us, and often engage in violence due to race." Yes, of course. That's why they're prisoners, because they can't control their impulsiveness. It always amazes me that the SPLC is going around investigating think tanks, when there are all these criminals out there.
More honesty about Islamic immigration is emerging from the Netherlands. "Putting the Fear of God into Holland" is long but worth reading start to finish because it reviews the history of multiculturalism's downfall in one country event by event.
The piece includes this fine quote from former Somali refugee Ayaan Hirsi Ali, now a member of parliament, who has been under police protection since Theo van Gogh's murder Nov. 2:
"I take back nothing," she said on a brief return from hiding to parliament. "The essentials of Islam are not compatible with liberal democracy. In the Koran and the Hadith, it says that woman is below man, that nonbelievers have to die, and that people who renounce Islam have to die immediately."
The jig is up for Dutch diversity when a counter-culturish Amsterdam pot smoker says, "There are too many immigrants in Holland. They are stealing our society."
Dude, rock on!
On other matters, here are a couple worthwhile blogs from Europe:
Speaking of bloggery, don't forget to check out the (mostly) daily postings at LimitsToGrowth.
