Whatever happened to ‘Minnesota Nice’? Actually, it’s still with us, and that may be a contributing factor to the bad vibes emanating recently from Golden Gopherland.
In a state of some 5.8 million people, 43% claim at least partial Scandinavian heritage — the highest percentage in the country. There are around 410,000 Swedes in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.” Nearly 60% of Norman County is Norwegian. That Scandinavian culture has fueled the state’s “welcoming” reputation, which has attracted a large recent influx of immigrants from Africa, particularly Somalia (maybe 100,000+) and Ethiopia. They tend to be packed into a section of Minneapolis called “Little Mogadishu.”
True, most of the bad things that have happened in Minnesota in the past few years — the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the assassinations of two state legislators last year, the senseless death of protester Renee Good, fatally shot in her SUV by an ICE agent last week, and the ongoing street demonstrations — have little to do with African immigrants.
So maybe it’s just a coincidence, but another recent stream of events seems to have turned into a bullet train. Blink and we’ll miss something. A 23-year-old Youtuber just made a video that contributed to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pulling out of a re-election bid. Walz has plummeted from being the Democrats’ 2024 Veep nominee to a premature political retirement. The video nudged us to cue Carl Sagan’s COSMOS voice, as in ‘BILLIONS AND BILLIONS’ of dollars, allegedly stolen by Minnesota’s Somali community. The fraud is wide and deep. So far, the tab is estimated around $9 B-for-baby Billion.
Egg is on faces from St. Cloud to Frostbite Falls, and not just somnolent state watchdogs. The entire Minnesota Nice Media got scooped like the Mighty Mountaineer Coal Shovel. If scandal this big can fester right under their noses, what good are they?
Now young Nick Shirley, the YouTube videographer, has partnered with David Hock, founder of Minnesotans for Responsible Government, to shoot another projectile into cyberspace. The duo claims the fraud bill could be way higher, and they also question how this massive steal could happen.
Basically, the MN Somali community is tightly organized politically, and can deliver ballots like Lake Effect delivers blizzards. “Nick Shirley interview exposes Somalians go block to block ballot harvesting in Minnesota. They’ll have one Somalian go collect all the ballots for entire complexes, sometimes ‘9 ballots’ per apartment home, and then submit them all for Democrats.” From X https://t.co/o9d4Syq8wc”/ X
We may remember how last year’s federal DOGE budget exposed how, in Washington, D.C., political machines use nonprofits, or Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs.) Lawmakers direct tax money to allied NGOs with benign sounding names, and the NGOs turn around and work as allies to the party that gives the money.
For example: a jurisdiction gives taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood for “Women’s Health Services,” and PP turns around and endorses those same lawmakers for reelection. Maybe the NGO has a political action committee that donates to those pols. All perfectly legal.
In Minnesota, it’s alleged that the Somali community ginned up lots and lots of Non-Profits for fake Day Cares that raked in millions (billions?) along with bogus medical transport companies and home health care services. The scope is mind-blowing.
But why look the other way? Remember the ballot harvesting machine? This makes the Somalis crucial power brokers in the MN Farmer-Labor Democratic Party, i.e., “You send me ballots; I send you contracts and see nothing.” Now federal investigators are descending on Minneapolis/St. Paul en masse.
What does that mean for Michigan? Former state Rep. Chuck Moss (R-Birmingham), an ex-chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, notes that the current Michigan House, led by Speaker Matt Hall, has just formed its own DOGE task force to flyspeck spending. Says Moss: “I’m sure that non-profits/NGOs will receive their share of scrutiny. If it turns out that NGOs got taxpayer money and used it for political agendas, it won’t look good going into the elections.”
Similar big-time fraud is also being alleged across America, including Ohio. How about Michigan? Our major media is no longer the sole driver on stories, and it takes only one wild bulldog to put stuff on YouTube. If any hint of election shenanigans pops up, it might splatter right onto the Democrats’ anointed candidate for Governor: Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. It might help independent gubernatorial aspirant Mike Duggan and would certainly help the GOP candidate To Be Announced.
There’s also the ethnic angle. We have a lot of ethnicities here in Michigan, especially one well known for its hardball style, bombastic political figures, and less-than-pristine tactics.
But enough about the Irish.
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Very interesting, /bill. thank you for a good one!Sa
Yes, it is important as it underscores the quid pro quo conduct that permeates Michigan politics.
The Scandinavians don’t exactly have a good reputation for acculturating immigrants back in their old countries. Sweden is the hand grenade attack capitol of the world. Norway is trying to staunch the flow because they can’t build accommodations fast enough. Denmark and Finland simply throw them out if they don’t speak the local languages.
That comment is an insult to Scandinavians whin assimilate immigrants just fine. As for the Irish being less than pristine, give me a break. You and Bill are looking for evil that doesn’t exist!
It’s taken me a while but I’m finally catching onto your humor. Very funny in a gallows sort of way.
Sweden has about the same population as Michigan, maybe 600,000 more. They all live in the southern third of the country, about the size of Michigan.
Can you imagine the media freak out if there were 200 hand grenade attacks a year in Michigan? Every other damn day? All of them by immigrants. Or how about a 12 year old immigrant hit man killing the wrong target? A hit man with three other kills to his credit? Sweden has the highest rate of gangland killings in Europe. Two-thirds of their convicted rapists are migrants.
You have a peculiar idea of “assimilate immigrants just fine.”
Finland just (08 January) adopted Denmark’s extremely restrictive immigration controls. Their populaces have had enough. Their political classes are desperately attempting to head off “far right wing” take overs.
The left’s “cultural enrichment” shtick has crashed into reality, around the world.
I guess the same arguments could have been made during the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s and the ensuing wave of Irish immigration to the U.S.. Send Irish-Americans back to Ireland.
……..Or following the Civil War there was sentiment to return blacks as freed slaves to Africa.
…….Or Italian immigrants in New York City during the 1920s and 30s creating a wave of crime and corruption.
…….Or in the 1980s, the wave of Cuban immigrants in south Florida causing Miami to have the highest homicide rate in the nation.
Punishing the individual criminal rather than the nationality is the proper government response to immigrant crime. Effective law enforcement minimizes crime – not discriminating against an “unpopular” minority group.
A teammate of my son on UM’s tennis team is from Sweden. Good person with a liberal bent. He is beside himself with the problems immigration problems in Sweden.
Wow! That’s a potential political bombshell Bill. Not sure the local media will pick up on it.
If the there is any group in Michigan who is running a similar scam it will be a political game changer. Excellent reporting Bill.
Think of the several questionable “deals” and other controversies that have tainted Democrats:
(A) the MEDC fiasco with Quentin Messer and “friend” Fay Beydoun and suspected diversion of $10 million dollars of a $20-million grant that was initially intended as a “business incubator” to be administered by the Arab-American Chamber of Commerce – as of yet AG Dana Nessel – who has been a recipient of campaign funding from Beydoun – has filed no civil lawsuit to recoup the $10-million paid to Beydoun’s Global Link organization – despite the fact there is no proof any monies ever were used for incubating businesses.
The Arab-American Chamber of Commerce received an apology by Whitmer’s chief of staff over the fiasco – but the investigation is moving as fast as molasses in January;
(B) The “Supreme Felons” non-profit from Ypsilanti received $1.2 million in ARPA funding by the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners – U-M journalism professor Patricia Lesko received a journalistic award for her investigative reporting on the questionable use of the funding and the conduct of the parolees receiving the monies. Supreme Felons “duties” included promoting voter registration of Ypsilanti residents – who were overwhelmingly Democratic.
(C) the Bengali-American Democratic Caucus and Bangladeshi-American PAC endorsing and supporting Dana Nessel and Jocelyn Benson in their rise to power in 2018 and afterwards – and the apparent inaction of Nessel and Benson to multiple complaints of ballot harvesting and other election violations in Hamtramck that has gone on for years. Two Bengali-American councilmen from Hamtramck were eventually charged by Monroe County Prosecutor Jeff Yorkey and one of those awaits trial on a felony. Charges only brought after Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj complained loudly to the press – and she was eventually placed on leave by the city manager.
(D) Democratic Party legislator Mai Xiong from Warren having the Macomb Daily report that her residence was paid with funds from her sister’s Ponzi scheme. She had to explain that she was fighting a default judgment from a Wisconsin court by a plaintiff seeking recoup those funds and he sister faced action by the SEC – the story was a campaign issue in 2024 when she was seeking re-election.
Interesting article, Bill.
Could it happen here, maybe. The overlooking of the Somali scandal could not happen in a vacuum. It’s been abetted by the powers you referenced in this report.
What is not mentioned, though, is Minnesota’s reaction. Concerning immigration enforcement, Minnesota is trying…nullification…arguing in Federal Court that the law does not apply to them. Shades of John C. Calhoun, and just imagine the media’s reaction if southern segregationists made that argument in the 1950s. In his January 15th column, Byron York of the Washington Examiner linked to the 80 pages of lawsuit filed by Minnesota Attorney General (and Michigan native) Keith Ellison that basically argues the 10th Amendment exempts Minnesota from ICE enforcement. I will let Mr. York explain. (And is my wont, the quotes from the story will be in all caps, I am not shouting, but I still can’t figure out how to successfully put a link response or italicize quotes, so I capitalize): IT IS “A FEDERAL INVASION OF THE TWIN CITIES,” THE SUIT READS, “DRIVEN BY NOTHING MORE THAN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S DESIRE TO PUNISH POLITICAL OPPONENTS AND SCORE PARTISAN POINTS.” ICE’S ACTIONS “APPEAR DESIGNED TO PROVOKE COMMUNITY OUTRAGE, SOW FEAR, AND INFLICT EMOTIONAL DISTRESS,” THE SUIT CONTINUES, “AND THEY ARE INTERFERING WITH THE ABILITY OF STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS TO PROTECT AND CARE FOR THEIR RESIDENTS.”
AND SO ON. THE LAWSUIT ARGUES THAT THE 10TH AMENDMENT “GIVES THE STATE OF MINNESOTA AND ITS SUBDIVISIONS, INCLUDING THE CITIES OF MINNEAPOLIS AND SAINT PAUL, INVIOLABLE SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY TO PROTECT THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING OF ALL THOSE WHO RESIDE, WORK, OR VISIT WITHIN THEIR BORDERS.”
IT’S WHAT A NUMBER OF ANALYSTS HAVE DIPLOMATICALLY CALLED A “NOVEL” ARGUMENT. MINNESOTA IS BASICALLY ASKING A JUDGE TO USE THE 10TH AMENDMENT TO BAR A FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT BODY, ICE, FROM ENFORCING FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAW IN A CITY AND STATE. IT SEEMS LIKE A CRAZY ARGUMENT, AND IT IS. “WHAT THEY’RE ASKING IS THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CANNOT USE THEIR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY IN A CITY,” CBS LEGAL ANALYST JOE TAMBURINO SAID. “IT WOULD BE LIKE ASKING THE FEDERAL COURT TO BAR THE FBI, THE ATF, THE U.S. MARSHAL SERVICE, SECRET SERVICE.”
WHEN ASKED WHETHER THERE IS LEGAL PRECEDENT TO DO THAT, CNN ANALYST ELIE HONIG ANSWERED, “NONE. “THERE IS NO EXAMPLE … OF A JUDGE PROHIBITING A FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT FROM ENFORCING FEDERAL LAW IN A GIVEN STATE. THE REACTION THAT WE’VE HEARD FROM VARIOUS MINNESOTA OFFICIALS, INCLUDING ATTORNEY GENERAL KEITH ELLISON, WHEN CONFRONTED WITH THIS LACK OF PRECEDENT AND LACK OF CASE LAW, IS ESSENTIALLY, ‘WELL, THIS IS REALLY BAD, THOUGH. WELL, THIS IS AN INVASION.’ THERE IS PLENTY OF DRAMATIC LANGUAGE IN THE COMPLAINT, BUT THAT DOESN’T CHANGE THE LEGAL CALCULUS. YOU CAN’T JUST TAKE A SITUATION THAT HAS NO LEGAL PRECEDENT AND NO LEGAL SUPPORT AND SAY, ‘WELL, YES, BUT OUR SITUATION IS REALLY, REALLY BAD, THEREFORE WE GET TO INVENT NEW LAW.’”
The Federal judge, Katherine Menendez, declined to grant an injunction. I wonder why.
And one wonders why Minnesota state government and its regulators were asleep at the switch given the state of Minnesota’s legal actions. Though in their defense, there were employees using social media to point this out as reported by Ashley Carnahan of Fox News and Kate Plummer of Newsweek on December 1, 2025, Jenny Goldsberry of the Washington Examiner a day earlier and implied in a story by Ernesto Londono in the New York Times the day before that.
Of course, there has been ongoing Federal prosecution since the mid-Biden administration, though the lead prosecutor was one of the attorneys who left the DOJ over Renee Good and follow-up investigations, so the rot is not solely in state government.
As for the media, the traditional media has been hollowed out. No more Tom Greenes here in Michigan, or Minnesota it appears. Now it is up to the Nick Shirleys of this world to do the heavy lifting. Charlie LeDuff tries (and I suspect he will not be getting Christmas cards from SOS Benson, AG Nessel, Gov. Whitmer, former Mayor Duggan or former Gov. Snyder), but it is only when this stuff goes viral that we get to hear about it. Too many newspapers are owned by hedge funds, private equity firms and the like who want immediate return on investment. They purge staff, slash costs and try mightily to make sure nothing gets their reader base mad at them. Which means they deal in pabulum. When Jeff Bezos declined to endorse Kamala Harris, we’re told tens of thousands of rage quits happened. Same with the LA Times. It seems these people did not want news as much as they wanted affirmation. And as long as that remains the case, the media will not do what it used to do.
But all of this puts a new spin on the GOP’s fight with Benson over voter lists; lack of serious investigative action (in their opinion) by Nessel over fraud issues; their attempt to DOGE Michigan; run legislative oversight; and make a coherent reason for folks to vote for them in 2026. Too bad Speaker Hall is more intent on his delusional property tax thingy that will distract from this.
And as for my fellow Irishmen, we were never that greedy. Hardball style? Check. Bombastic political figures? Absolutely. Less-than-pristine tactics? When necessary. But these character traits are why the Father of the US Navy is Irishman, John Barry. Irish-born generals have long fought for this country. John Sullivan (no relation that I am aware of) with George Washington at Trenton and all the Irish who fought on both sides of the Civil War – Phillip Sheridan, Thomas Sweeny, Thomas Meagher, Patrick Cleburne, the men of the Irish Brigade and many more I will willingly share over a pint or two of Guinness.
I just downloaded some Charlie LeDuff YouTube material regarding Traci Kornak, former Michigan Democratic Party treasurer and close friend of Dana Nessel.
Kornak is currently in a controversy over her administration of conservatorship funds.
Leanne,
I believe he brings out the whole new video on Tuesdays with the snippets popping up later.
Tim/
Everyone is transfixed by the Minnesota Medicaid frauds whose proceeds were shipped to Somalia to support the terrorists of Al Shabaab, but my personal favorite fraud is the Nigerian King who just pleaded out to looting Medicaid in North Carolina. Small potatoes compared to the Minnesota Somalis’ operation, but here we have an actual foreign king looting Medicaid.
“Ekelekamchukwu Alphonsus Ngwadom, 61, received a suspended sentence requiring three years probation and $72,014.66 in restitution after pleading guilty to twenty-seven felonies in regards to hundreds of Medicaid claims for children’s therapy he fraudulently filed in 2020 and 2021 at his Raleigh practice, Almarch Counseling.
It was during this same period that Ngwadom was crowned King or “Eze” of the Mbubu-Amiri kingdom in Nigeria’s Imo State, according to a local news source which also identified him as the Chairman of African Diaspora Coalition of North Carolina and Professor of Psychology and Sociology at the University of Mount Olive.”
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson’s press release was posted to his web site on 14 January, should you doubt this.
Is America a great country, or what?
Michigan has a lot of small immigrant perpetrated frauds being charged by U.S. Attorneys, which usually run in the single digit millions. They do not seem to be coordinated and run the gamut from the typical opioid prescription mills to the Nkechy Ezeh Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative ripoff.
The one really big fraud case is the $ 566 million Fast Lab Technologies case. A Turkish national, Cemhan “Jimmy” Biricik, was indicted on 22 July for running a nationwide COVID testing scam by the Eastern District of Michigan USA. Biricik used Wisconsin Physicians Service, a CMS carrier contracted by Michigan DCH, to tap into Medicaid and Medicare. MDHHS was slow to detect this scam, but so were the feds. This one will take years to sort out.
Anybody happen to notice the slam dunk win for Trump, the American people, the Europeans, the world, in Davos? All while stealing the agenda from the globalist elites. The Art of the Deal comes through again. Forget the rhetoric and focus on the policy. You’ll rest well at night.
The Board of Peace imposing an outside authorities was panned by both Israeli and pro-Palestinian commentators.
Israel’s PM Netanyahu was livid that Qatar and Turkey will have seats on the executive committee in charge of re-establishing Gaza and warned Turkish troops would not be permitted in the Gaza Strip.
Former U.S. State Department official Josh Paul, a critic of U.S. foreign policy in the region, has countered that Gaza needs to be ruled by Palestinians – not having an outside force imposed upon them.
Most observers feel that without disarmament of Hamas, the Gaza War is not really over – and that coaxing Hamas leadership to turn in their weaponry for rewards as was done in Afghanistan previously may be the only way to achieve peace.