Video Bar & Grill

Disclaimer: This is an article about lack of community support, and is in no way intended to insult, upset or offend Ms. Clark. It is in no way a personal attack. I wish she'd shown support to our Neighborhood and our cause, as she has so admirably shown support to others in need or in dire circumstance. I do not blame her personally even though the newspaper affects public opinion, and therefore we suffered rather than triumphed under her pen. (I do blame Kevin Anderson, however, who sided with NEXUS against We the People. That, I take, is his personal attack against us.)

Vivian Clark is a real journalist who writes for a real newspaper - the Mille Lacs Messenger. Personally, I like her. Generally I enjoy reading her, but in her latest blog Christmas magic , I became a bit peeved reading about a recent area arson where one angry woman (no it wasn't me) allegedly threw a burning diaper into someone's house, intentionally burning it to the ground as an apparent personal vendetta. (Welcome to the fine folks of Mille Lacs County....) Oh don't get me wrong. I agree with Vivian that the arson was a most terrible thing. What irked me is her selective sympathy. Vivian's reported on the events (which I call "Crimbs of Passion") perpetrated by the Onamia City Council and the Evil Empire NEXUS without one iota of compassion towards the brave Bradbury property owners fighting the corporate fire. Yes, maybe our houses haven't actually been french-fried, but they just as well could have. Our HOMES certainly have been ruined. The lives of our long term residents are shattered by what NEXUS and the government have done to us. And vendetta or not, IT WAS INTENTIONAL!

BUT, you ask: How dare Hannabelle compare the forced entry of 94 sex offenders to a real fire that left real charcoal? Because we are also victims - of an intentional political "arson" and we FEEL very burnt indeed. But where was Vivian throughout our ordeal? She was reporting about the building site "beyond the distant treeline"... as if our good Neighbors were over-reacting to 94 sex offenders moving next door to their twelve year old daughter. She presented us all in a negative light, portraying us as wimpy little scaredycats, hysterical, over-reacting idiots filled with FEAR AND IGNORANCE FEAR AND IGNORANCE FEAR AND IGNORANCE as she quoted John Varner THREE times in one paragraph... instead of defining us as good, upstanding, BRAVE citizens, worthy of RESPECT - as we opposed a defective leadership - a bad government misbehaving with uncivil disobedience.

We've done the homework. We found out things that nobody will acknowledge - not the Messenger, not the county commissioners, and especially not the Onamia city council - because what we have discovered casts aspersions upon NEXUS - and of course, this is Nexusville now. All Hail!

Vivian remained loyal to former Mess editor Kevin Anderson's agenda, and there's something to say about loyalty. (However, it is something Bradburians have not had the luxury of experiencing from their community - loyalty). And to her credit, Vivian showed true compassion towards the one and two year boys whose Christmas ended up in ashes. She certainly showed no indignation about how our Christmas have been affected... didn't even mention it, actually. (My family didn't have Christmas this year, and I doubt whether we ever will again.) Looking back, there has only been one article in the Mille Lacs Messenger which even half presented our side and showed us any degree of sympathy, and she didn't write it.

And I ask you: Where was our "Benefit Dance and Pancake Breakfast for Bradbury" to replace lost property values, not to mention the lawyer fees we've incurred while fighting for our rights (your rights) as American Citizens? No support in our community for We the People.... No outrage that the city council, rather than follow the rule of law, is actually changing the R2 zoning ordinance so that EVERYONE next to a R2 zone can now have their own sex offender treatment center in their backyard. (Shhhh. Let's not mention that in the Messenger! Local readers might actually pull their heads out of their asses and see what's being done to us, ALL OF US... Instead, let them eat cake. More fluff! More fluff! We need more fluff!)

One good thing about Viv's blog is that it points out that some in the community did NOT support the arson victims. What she doesn't say but is obvious to us locals is that one reason this particular family was not supported was because they were Native Americans. Oh yes. Onamia plays favorites, that's for sure. Accolades for the Warrior Princess, zilch for the Warrior Queen... Both struggling to stay alive. One championed with generosity, the other left out on the ice to perish or not. Whatever.

Yes. We lost this war due to lack of community support. Can we really be proud of this community? They are selective in their support, bigoted and biased, self-important and unaware.... Look at Dan Reiner, CEO of the Mille Lacs Health System. He was more than willing to "sacrifice" us for a few jobs. All of the community leaders chose to support NEXUS' sex offenders rather than advocate a different location, (which was certainly available) that would have saved our neighborhood. They were also protective as they supported the "God-fearing Christian" couple who showed us no mercy but took the money and stayed put. Hey! What about the Bradburians? We've got Christians over here too, Bucko. And I'll argue that ours are a whole heck of a lot better than those hypocritical sell-outs favored east of the Rum.

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We are victims of political arson. Our lives up in smoke. Toast.

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And the townsfolks... Not only did they neglect to support us, many actually turned against us as if we were covered in penguin dust or had green feet. The rest were complacent and didn't want to get involved. Or were afraid. As Maxine said, "I don't know if we want to risk our necks" and "We have to stay on good terms with the Village [Onamia]. What if there's a fire?" The implication is that if we displease the city officials, no firetrucks for us. Arson by default. Who are they afraid of?

See the video bar at the top of the column to your right?

I've been meaning to share this video with you for a long time. It is quite graphic and I found it difficult to watch. But it is symbolic of what has happened to us, and I'd like you to see it. Here, the water buffalo represents the people in our community. The calf is symbolic of our Bradbury Neighborhood. The lions are the Onamia City Council, and the crocodile is Nexus. However, in our case, the herd of buffalo did not come to the calf's rescue, but actually joined in the attack of the calf. It just goes to show you that animals are better "people" than the "people" in our Mille Lacs community.

How I wish that Vivian could see and understand the injustices imposed upon us by NEXUS, the local and county governments, and her own Mille Lacs Messenger... She's doing her job. She's reporting the local news. But maybe the news here was not about sex offenders, but about political offenders who have abused their power. She could have told the story well. How I wish her indignation towards the wrongs of the world might have included her neighbors in Bradbury Township. Maybe then our Christmas could have been saved and we could enjoy a good cry with her over "Miracle on 54th Street" instead of a bad cry without her over "Tyranny on 130th Avenue".

A toast to the Ghost of Christmas Past

Scrooge has grown rich selling Tiny Tim's blood.