Thank You, Saint Anthony, For Locating Lost Keys Grabbed And Hidden By A Baby And Much More...

Saint Anthony image obtained from website about St. Anthony, click here
for link, permission to share assumed, blog post by John Hoff

Now for the third time, (click here and here) this blogger acknowledges the miraculous intervention of Saint Anthony in finding a lost object. 

Some days ago I was visiting a relative in rural Minnesota and I set my keys down on the kitchen table. 

Yes, I know better than to set those keys down where the baby can grab them, because the baby loves to grab the keys and toddle off with them...

JNS Blog Acknowledges That Don Allen Of IBNN Is Trying To Get To The Bottom Of The Death Of Major Topps...

Social media image of Don Allen, used under First Amendment Fair Comment and
Criticism, blog post by John Hoff

For a couple of years, this blog has more or less razzed IBNN blogger Don Allen about not getting to the bottom of the story about the mysterious death of Major Topps, as Allen had publicly promised. 

Now with "ceasefire breaking out all over" in the North Minneapolis blog wars, this blogger wishes to acknowledge that Allen recently...

JNS BLOG GLOBAL EXCLUSIVE: Douglas McArthur McCain, Who Died In Syria Fighting For ISIS, Left A Detailed Trail Of Minnesota Online Court Data...

Image obviously taken from social media, used without attribution on International Business
Times, click here for article, here re-used on Johnny Northside blog for First Amendment Fair
Comment and Criticism, blog post by John Hoff



From The Twin Cities To Syria 

The Washington Post, as well as pretty much all the mainstream media in the world, are reporting on the death of Douglas McArthur McCain...an American who died fighting for ISIS in Syria.

Click here for Washington Post Article.  

McCain spent a good part of his life in the Twin Cities metro area and as soon as I read in the Washington Post how McCain had a minor criminal record in Minnesota I thought, geez, I could totally look up his record on MNCIS...

US Army Lieutenant Peter Teachout, Who Helped Take Back The Hawthorne EcoVillage From Drug Crime And Urban Decay, Is Already "Boots On The Ground" In Afghanistan...

Facebook photo of Lieutenant Teachout graduating from OCS, blog post
by John Hoff

When this blog announced in early July that Lieutenant Peter Teachout was headed to Afghanistan, I figured there would be a "train up" period of a few months before Teachout was actually "boots on the ground" in that distant, troubled land. 

However, it turns out Teachout is already in Afghanistan and participants in one North Minneapolis Facebook forum are already putting together a care package the size of a small fridge...

What Has Become Of Good Sports Bar And Grill? "Temporary Bar Closing" And "See You Soon" Was Five Months Ago...

Photos, blog post by John Hoff

Good Sports Bar and Grill has been a place close to my batter-dipped, chicken-fried heart since it opened. I wrote in July of 2012 how my journey to Afghanistan began and ended at Good Sports Bar and Grill, with a basket of their amazing wings. Many a key community event, from Jim Wentzell Day to victory parties and strategy meetings has taken place at Good Sports, which long ago was the old Johnny A's. 

OK, so what happened? A sign on the door says the place closed April 14 of this year, which coincides with the account of a North Minneapolis citizen who posted something on...

Saint Anthony Comes Through For Me Once Again, Which Is Particularly Miraculous Since I'm A Protestant...

Internet image of St. Anthony, no copyright assumed, blog post by John Hoff


Click here for a previous acknowledgment of the miraculous helpfulness of St. Anthony. 

Rather than getting into my long and complex lifelong spiritual journey, I will just summarize a relevant portion: 

I am a Protestant, but in the tender years of my youth I was either exposed to Catholicism or, arguably, even raised "somewhat Catholic" while being raised "somewhat Lutheran" at the very same time. An epic battle took place over how I and my sister Mary would be raised. Protestantism won the war, but Catholicism settled in for a long, determined insurgency. 

So even though I am Protestant through and through, there are what might be called "Catholic bones in my body" which cause me, from time to time, to say a Hail Mary or seek the assistance of Saint Anthony in finding a lost object.

It was not the teachings of my youth, however, that brought Saint Anthony into my life but an adjunct college professor of strong Roman Catholic faith who I used to work for at the University of Minnesota...

Minnesota Investment Property Blog Goes Away, Leaving Only "Is This Your Domain Name?" Notice To Mark Its Passage...

Stock photo, blog post by John Hoff

This is the third of three blog posts making historical note of the demise of blogs that once occupied my blog roll, for two previous posts click here and here. 

The Minnesota Investment Property Blog (www.minnesota investmentrealestate.com) has occupied a place on my blog roll since about 2010, but unlike other blogs I've highlighted it was NOT a site with a mission I supported even in the broadest sense. 

In fact, "MIPB" was promoting tours through my neighborhood to highlight...

Fare Thee Well, Irving Inquisition Blog, You Burned Too Brightly To Burn Very Long...

Creative stock photo, blog post by John Hoff

For the past two years, Irving Inquisition blog (www.theirving
inquisition.com) has occupied a sentimental place on my "blog roll," a sidebar feature where I try to highlight blogs I feel are important to our North Minneapolis neighborhood issues. 

But it's been a long time since any new material was added to The Irving Inquisition. In fact, it's been a while since ANYTHING was on that blog besides what I might dub "placeholder material," including a notice that "this domain name may be for sale." 

Sigh. For a while, Irving Inquisition burned brightly. It pulled no punches and asked for no quarter in return...

End Of An Era As Minneapolis Crime Watch Blog Goes Away, Leaving Foreign Language Spam In Its Wake...

Stock photo, blog post by John Hoff

The Minneapolis Crime Watch blog (http://minneapoliscrime
watch.blogspot.com) was, once upon a time, one of the most popular blogs in North Minneapolis. Though ostensibly covering crime all over the city, for obvious reasons the blog tended to cover North Minneapolis A LOT. 

Some years ago the author of the blog moved on to other professional opportunities, but the Mpls Crime Watch blog itself remained--still being fed upon by search engines, still modestly useful in an archival sort of way--and so it remained on my blog roll. 

Today that changes. The crime watch blog has apparently been taken over by spammers speaking a foreign language...

AmeriCorps Inner City Tutors Program Gets Short End Of Wage And Benefits Stick, But It's The Children In North Minneapolis Who Pay The Ultimate Price...

Stock photo, blog post by John Hoff

A recent article republished on Twin Cities Daily Planet, but originally published in Insight News, (click here for the article) highlights the fact our North Minneapolis schools need 150 tutors for math and literacy. 

In case that number didn't register, let me stomp my virtual foot and highlight it more. Our North Minneapolis schools need ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY TUTORS to teach our children basic math and literacy...

Don Allen Of IBNN Confirms A Ceasefire In North Minneapolis "Blog Wars," Tenuous Internet Peace Appears To Be Holding Among The Two Major Players In Widespread, Complex Social Media Conflict That Spanned Years...

Image from IBNN blog, original images were from another media source, (left) and
Don Allen Facebook (right) and have both been used extensively under Fair Comment
and Criticism by various entities, blog post by John Hoff

A ceasefire in the vicious North Minneapolis "blog wars" has been called by the two major players, JNS blog and Don Allen of IBNN, as first announced here on JNS blog and now subsequently announced by Don Allen upon IBNN. With the ceasefire now publicized by both parties, it is becoming more and more of a reality. 

"Don and John" (or "John and Don?") have discussed the possibility of mediation or other direct and formal talks...

JNS Blog Acknowledges St. Anthony For Helping Me Recover My Lost Keys...

Image found on CatholicCulture.org, which hopefully doesn't mind me using it
and linking back to their website, (if they do I'll remove it) blog post by John Hoff

I acknowledge the miraculous helpfulness of St. Anthony, yesterday, in the finding of my lost keys. 

Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, look all around. Something is lost which must be found...

Plus I will add this saintly intervention is particularly miraculous due to the fact I am not Roman Catholic. 

JNS Blog Brings Back Open Thread "Free Speech Friday" Which Is Kind Of Strange, Because It's Saturday...

Creative stock photo, summer 2013 Dad and Alex road trip, blog post by John Hoff

Like Mike Myers used to say on the SNL skit "Coffee Talk," go ahead and...

Talk amongst yourselves. 

Here, I'll give you a topic...