12/1 DHS employees insist that Gov Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota

Summary

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Garage Logic – December 1, 2025

Episode Title: DHS Employees Insist That Gov. Walz Is 100% Responsible for Massive Fraud in Minnesota
Host: Joe Soucheray ("The Mayor")
Panel: Chris Reivers, Kenny Olson, John Hage, Rookie, Gabe

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the explosive claims by Minnesota Department of Human Services employees who allege that Governor Tim Walz is directly responsible for failing to prevent, and even retaliating against whistleblowers in, the state’s massive social service fraud scandals. The hosts dissect recent developments, analyze Governor Walz’s evasive responses in national media appearances, and discuss media complicity and system failures. The team also explores the perverse financial incentives driving large-scale immigration into Minnesota and ponders the political future of the governor. As always, the commentary is biting, irreverent, and heavy on "common sense," with signature Garage Logic tangents along the way.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. “Bouncy Castle” Rant and Setting the Tone (03:00–06:57)

• Joe opens with a humorous yet pointed rant against bouncy castles, symbolizing his broader grievances on parental responsibility and societal decline.
• Quote:
  “No kid that I’m familiar with will ever enter a bouncy castle and then me watch him sailing off to Fridley in the damn thing.” – Joe Soucheray (05:06)
• This sets the “stream of today's show,” urging listeners to think more critically and skeptically about responsibility.

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2. On Institutions, Accountability & Cultural Decline (06:11–08:53)

• Joe reads quotes from Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, and Booker T. Washington, arguing that lack of accountability and honest reporting is an endemic institutional problem.
• Quote:
  “A system that does not hold individuals accountable treats them as less than full citizens. In such a world, people are reduced to the status of children or even worse, treated as though they were animals without a soul.” – Clarence Thomas, read by Joe Soucheray (07:38)

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3. Minnesota & Fraud: Years in the Making (10:11–11:40)

• Listener mail highlights how Soucheray has been talking about Somali daycare/social services fraud since at least 2018, ignored by mainstream outlets until now.
• Joe laments that national outlets finally caught on, but there’s “nothing new in it”—underscoring the state’s ongoing mess and leadership’s evasion.

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4. Media Complicity & The “Running Cover” Phenomenon (12:03–16:49)

• Discussion of how the Star Tribune soft-pedals or outright neglects negative stories about the DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party) and Somali-related scandals.
• Suggests connections between Star Tribune’s publisher (previously part of Walz’s cabinet) and media reluctance to aggressively pursue these stories.
• Quote:
  “Now they're doing the same thing with Somali fraud... They’re running cover.” – Chris Reivers (13:22)

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5. DHS Employees: Explosive Whistleblower Allegations (16:08–19:10)

• Citing verified reports from Alpha News and a since-suspended X (Twitter) account representing hundreds of DHS employees:
  • Employees claim they warned Governor Walz about fraud early on.
  • Instead of partnership, employees say they faced retaliation, were told to keep quiet, or reassigned.
  • The administration, they allege, prioritized not looking discriminatory over stopping fraud.
  • Direct accusations that Walz lacks ethics, integrity, and accountability.
• Quote:
  “Fundamentally, Tim Walz is dishonest, lacks ethics and integrity, has poor leadership abilities, and has never taken any accountability for his role in fraud.” – Anonymous DHS employees, cited by Joe (18:17)

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6. National & Political Fallout: Meet the Press Clip (26:56–30:34)

• Audio and analysis of Governor Walz’s appearance on Meet the Press:
  • Walz avoids direct responsibility, claims credit for prosecutions (which were actually federal).
  • Attempts to deflect by blaming Trump, generalizing the issue, and touting Minnesota’s generosity as a “well-run state.”
• Memorable Moment:
  The panel breaks down how Walz’s claim that “prosperous, well-run” Minnesota attracts criminals flips logic on its head.
  • “He actually says that criminals come here because we're so well run. Is that how criminals decide where they're going to go?” – Joe Soucheray (34:31)

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7. “Running Cover” & Political Predictions (32:08–36:18)

• Hosts openly speculate that Walz might be forced out of office soon under mounting scandal.
• Multiple panelists predict he won’t last until the election, with musings about whether the DFL will use him as a fall guy.
• Quote:
  “I think he needs—at the very least, this guy should resign... I’m now convinced the only reason he is running again is to keep himself out of jail.” – Joe Soucheray (33:42)

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8. How Financial Incentives Fuel Migration—Lutheran Social Services Example (37:04–41:38)

• Gabe dives into how organizations like Lutheran Social Services receive millions in taxpayer money to resettle migrants in Minnesota.
  • The agency receives $100–125 million annually, mostly from government grants.
  • They’re paid $850–$2,000 per person resettled—almost like a “bounty.”
• Panel questions the legitimacy and efficiency of these incentives.
• Quote:
  “So it’s a financial incentive for them to come here... They already got the money! Why then do they get a bounty per head of somebody they bring in?” – Joe Soucheray (41:05)

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9. Media Soft-Pedaling and Racial Dynamics (43:35–44:06)

• The hosts discuss how any story involving a person of color is “soft-pedaled,” regardless of crime severity.
• Rejects the idea that fear of appearing discriminatory is a sufficient excuse for not addressing the problems.

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10. Further Fraud: Care 11 and Medicaid Abuse Example (67:05–68:32)

• Chris reads a listener email about a Care 11 investigation:
  A Minnesota Medicaid recipient living in Kenya discovers that a fake Somali company has fraudulently billed over $200,000 to Medicaid using obviously fake phone numbers.
• Showcased as an example of oversight dysfunction and the utter lack of verification.

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11. Political Consequences, Family Leave Act Tangent, and More (79:23–81:49)

• Critical of Minnesota’s new Family Leave Act, predicting disastrous impact on businesses.
• Details how nearly anyone earning just $3,900 in the past year qualifies.
• Quote:
  “That allows 20 weeks of leave... I can't imagine how companies will survive this. Even as well run as this state is, it seems problematic.” – Joe Soucheray (79:29)

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12. Final Groin Kick & Exit Predictions (81:51–83:04)

• Hosts award Walz a “fresh groin kick” for his handling of the fraud crisis.
• Multiple staffers double down that Walz will be gone “by January 1st”—if not, he'll be kept around as a designated fall guy until later.

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Notable Quotes by Segment

• On Walz’s Deflection:
  “He’s so deeply involved in it, the only thing we can expect from him is this kind of fainting, dodging the bullet. He has nothing to say that's valuable.”
  – Joe Soucheray (30:34)

• On Media Conduct:
  “Star Tribune, in concert with the DFL, continue to point fingers at others for things they too are guilty of... they’re all the same body.”
  – Kenny Olson (15:41)

• On Fraud Culture:
  “We were hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud. But no, we got the opposite response... It’s scary, isolating… left us wondering who we can turn to.”
  – Anonymous DHS employees, cited by Joe (17:50)

• On the System:
  “The level of fraud of these programs is staggering. Unfortunately, our system of trust but verified no longer works.”
  – U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, cited by Joe (20:32)

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• Bouncy Castle Rant & Show Opening: 03:00–06:57
• Critical Quotes on Education, Accountability, and Racial Grievance: 06:57–08:53
• Historical Coverage on Somali/MN Fraud: 10:11–11:40
• Media and Star Tribune’s Coverage: 12:03–16:49
• DHS Whistleblower Account Discussion: 16:08–19:10
• Meet the Press: Walz’s Response Dissected: 26:56–30:34
• Political Fallout Predictions: 32:08–36:18
• Lutheran Social Services & Migration Finances: 37:04–41:38
• Care 11 Medicaid Fraud Anecdote: 67:05–68:32
• Family Leave Act Criticism: 79:23–81:49
• Groin Kick & Walz’s Prospects: 81:51–83:04

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Tone, Style, and Additional Color

Classic Garage Logic: sarcastic, unapologetic, irreverent, and deeply skeptical of government and media institutions. The hosts emphasize “common sense,” skepticism toward political and media elites, and a deep weariness with Minnesota’s reputation as a “well-run, generous” state being used as cover for dysfunction and corruption. Frequent asides, running jokes, and side-eyed humor populate the entire episode.

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For New Listeners

This episode provides a thorough, opinionated, and often biting look at Minnesota’s fraud scandals, the role of Governor Walz and the state bureaucracy, and failures in media accountability. It provides both local context and national parallels, with enough irreverence and color to keep even complex policy discussions accessible and engaging.

Transcript

[Joe Soucheray]

Hey, Garage Logic fans, Mishke here slipping in ever so briefly to mention that I have a podcast that comes out every Wednesday and every Friday, twice a week now. The show is pretty much about everything you care about and are interested in and need in your life and want to know more about. I tailored the darn thing specifically to your liking. I tailored it to your loves, to your true passions. That took a long time. I'm spent, you know what I'm saying? Absolutely wasted.

[John Hage]

Guys.

[Rookie]

Thanks for helping me carry my Christmas tree.

[Joe Soucheray]

Zoe. This thing weighs a ton.

[John Hage]

Drewski, live with your legs, man.

[Kenny Olson]

Santa. Santa, did you get my letter?

[Joe Soucheray]

He's talking to you britches.

[Rem]

I'm not.

[Rookie]

Of course he did.

[Rem]

Right, Santa, you know my elf Drew Ski here.

[John Hage]

He handles the nice list.

[Joe Soucheray]

An elf?

[Kenny Olson]

I'm six three.

[Joe Soucheray]

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[Chris Reivers]

You can get it on them. That center stage front camera is amazing for group selfies.

[Joe Soucheray]

Right, Mrs. Claus?

[Rookie]

Hi Mrs. Claus. Claus much younger sister and AT T Mobile. There's no trade in needed when you switch, so you can keep your old.

[John Hage]

Phone or give it as a gift.

[Rookie]

And the best part, you can make the switch to T Mobile from your phone in just 15 minutes.

[Rem]

Nice.

[Kenny Olson]

My side of the tree is slipping, Kimber.

[Joe Soucheray]

The holidays are better.

[Chris Reivers]

AT T Mobile switch in just 15.

[Joe Soucheray]

Minutes and get iPhone 17 on us.

[Chris Reivers]

With no trade in needed. And now T Mobile is available in US cellular stores with 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers plus tax.

[Rem]

And $35 vice connection charge credits and imbalance too. If you pay for earlier, cancel finance agreement to $830. Eligible for it in a new line, $100 plus a month plan with auto payments, taxes and fees required.

[Joe Soucheray]

Check out 15 minutes or less per line. Visit t mobile.com Josh Arnold, Investment consultant, brings you Garage Logic podcast number 1670. December 1st already December 1st, 2025. 68 degrees was the record high on this day. That was in 1998 and it was 15 below on this day in 1893. Call Josh Arnold at 952-925-5608 for a free 48 minute consultation.

[Chris Reivers]

Hail the flashlight king.

[Joe Soucheray]

And now from the mayor's office above the boathouse on the east shore of Spoon Lake, it's Garage Logic with Chris Reavers manning technology corner, Kenny Olson from the crabby coffee shop, John Height in the newsroom, and of course the rookie. Here is your flashlight fireworks commissioner and the keeper of common sense, your mayor, Joe Susher. I'd like to get something off my chest I have a few matters to get us into the stream of today's show, but first I must get this off my chest. I am very sick and tired of reading stories. You get five a year about bouncy castles that blow away. I don't. I don't want it. I don't want. I don't want to read that anymore. And in fact, in. Well, here's one right here.

[Kenny Olson]

If that was a fill in the blank, I never would have guessed.

[Chris Reivers]

Get out of my head.

[Joe Soucheray]

I was thinking taxes, imminent war. No, I. I'm tired of this bouncy K. Look at. Here's one. It went away in New South Wales. The wind was up and the kids got in that thing and off it went.

[Chris Reivers]

How many kids were in it when she took off?

[Joe Soucheray]

No one died, which is why I can have my tirade. Paramedics had to show up, though, because five kids needed treating. Because they flew around and then the thing came back to ground or they chased it or whatever the hell they did. But look, it doesn't say a great deal about the human race. If you put your kid in a bouncy castle on a windy day and you've done no due diligence, you haven't walked around the edges of it to see if it's tied down, how deep are the stakes in the ground? Here's what you do.

[Kenny Olson]

I think you're making a critical error here.

[Joe Soucheray]

What's that?

[Kenny Olson]

How many of those parents just dropped their kids off and then quick got in the car and got the hell out of there?

[Rookie]

We'll be back at three.

[Joe Soucheray]

That's the lesson I have to issue here. If your kid gets invited to a birthday party, you have a solemn obligation to call the host and say, are you having a bouncy cancel by any chance? Yeah, we are.

[John Hage]

Okay.

[Joe Soucheray]

I'm sorry. We're in Ecuador that week. We can't make it. My little Johnny's got to go.

[Chris Reivers]

Would you want to check traveling. Wouldn't you want to check the conditions first before you made that declaration?

[Joe Soucheray]

No. No, you're done. You don't go anywhere where there's a bouncy castle. All you have, you.

[Kenny Olson]

Have you ever. Have you ever had the privilege of having one? Of being in one?

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, God, no.

[Chris Reivers]

I was just in one in October.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, I'm not going in one.

[Kenny Olson]

It's the most fun. You can.

[Joe Soucheray]

It's not fun. They blow away. I don't want to hear about it anymore.

[Kenny Olson]

Joe. You get rocked around and knocked around and upside down.

[Joe Soucheray]

No kid that I'M familiar with will ever enter a bouncy castle and then me watch him sailing off to Fridley in the damn thing.

[Chris Reivers]

In fact, the most recent episode I had with a bunch of young ones is they all wait for me to jump, and then they go flying in the air because I'm a big.

[Joe Soucheray]

Was it a birthday party?

[Chris Reivers]

It was a Halloween extravaganza.

[Kenny Olson]

Sure.

[Joe Soucheray]

Did you call ahead and say, do you have a bouncy castle?

[Rem]

No.

[Joe Soucheray]

When you got there, did you check to see if she was tied down?

[Chris Reivers]

I trusted it.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, God help me.

[Rookie]

What's your number for the win, though? What's your win?

[Joe Soucheray]

No, no, Matt, you're misunderstanding. Under no conditions are they going in a bouncy castle. It's over. I'm tired of it.

[Rookie]

Kids love that.

[Joe Soucheray]

That story's gone now, and I got it off my chest.

[Kenny Olson]

I have a feeling that I don't see your kids, your grandkids, obeying that at all.

[Joe Soucheray]

Of course not. But I get to say it.

[Kenny Olson]

They're just gonna smile and nod. Your grandpa.

[Rookie]

The lure of brushes with death.

[Kenny Olson]

Go sit down, Grandpa.

[Chris Reivers]

I don't go in a bouncy house, but if I did.

[Joe Soucheray]

I have a number of quotes that I would like to read that will set the tone for what I would like to say today. Number of quotes. They might not seem related, but that's not necessarily true. They all are related in the way that they combat the mystery. Okay. From Thomas Sowell via Jordi. So long as public schools are treated as places that exist to provide guaranteed jobs to members of the teachers unions, do not be surprised to see American students continuing to score lower on international tests than students in countries that spend a lot less per pupil than we do. All right, I have.

[Rookie]

We will not be taking over the world with our future.

[Joe Soucheray]

We return to Thomas Sowell. Too much of what is called education is little more than an expensive isolation from reality. Boy, would that is. Doesn't that ring true when you realize that the U. Of M has a whole department devoted to telling you there's a pandemic of whiteness? That's a suspension of reality. And it's an expensive one. Okay, Rick and Stillwater. This is from Justice Clarence Thomas, and he might have been listening to us over the years.

[John Hage]

Let's go.

[Joe Soucheray]

A system that does not hold individuals accountable treats them as less than full citizens. In such a world, people are reduced to the status of children or even worse, treated as though they were animals without a soul. Justice Clarence Thomas. Thank you. And even more astonishing than Clarence perhaps listening to us is Booker T. Washington. I now quote Booker T. Washington There is another class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances because they do not want to lose their jobs. Booker T. Washington from his book my larger education, 1911. Wow.

[Kenny Olson]

He passed in 1915.

[Joe Soucheray]

1911 and a word Congratulating us, Carol writes thanks for the tip on the Stephen C Show at the Basilica on Friday afternoon. I've heard nothing but great reports from this Carol said I would encourage everyone to check out his Christmas show. His wife Gillian did a shout out to GL fans to which I applauded.

[John Hage]

Nice.

[Joe Soucheray]

The folks I was with asked how I knew about Stephen C. And I told him it was through Glenn. At that moment I realized all the different music that I have come to know and enjoy through gl and I am thankful GL sharing the bounty one good song at a time. Thank you. And then finally, before I get to the thematic end of things, Amy writes Amy Odegaard Joe, over the holiday weekend I was listening to older episodes of GL on the website. I found an episode for May 15, 2018. How long ago is that man?

[Rookie]

2018.

[Joe Soucheray]

Five years? No, seven.

[Rookie]

Seven.

[Joe Soucheray]

Seven years plus.

[Chris Reivers]

We converted to podcast form seven.

[Joe Soucheray]

No, we were still on the radio. We didn't go podcast till September of 2018.

[Chris Reivers]

Okay, that's true.

[Joe Soucheray]

So this was radio. I found an episode for May 15, 2018 where you are discussing the Somali daycare fraud and we're incre as to how no news sources seemed interested in this story. Considering all that has happened in the years since this episode was recorded, it is amazing that the bold fraudulent activity has just now come to national attention. The 5-15-18 hour one episode shows that you have been a lone voice in this discussion for a long while. I have been a Garagelogic fan since the mid-90s when the radio show kept me company when I was at home with my first baby. Thank you for being our mayor, Amy Odegaard we have been on this a long time. Many GL ers wanted me to know that over the weekend they got terribly excited because the New York Times had the fraud story for Minnesota and there was nothing new in it. But I was grateful that they did it because it's continuing to get national exposure and people are realizing what a complete an utter mess this state is. And that I think Mr. Walls is due for a reckoning. I'd like to go ahead.

[Kenny Olson]

Kenny, what were you more shocked by? The Times piece or all of the tweets by the Minnesota Department of Human Services employees that have been verified by Alpha? Have you seen any of those quotes?

[Joe Soucheray]

Yes, I have that story.

[Kenny Olson]

Those combined bowled me over during the weekend.

[Joe Soucheray]

Here's the latest news from the Department of Human Services employees with the Minnesota Department. And this isn't in the Star Tribune or the Pioneer Press.

[Chris Reivers]

No.

[Joe Soucheray]

The behavior of the. Before I get to this, the behavior of the Star Tribune I find really puzzling. You'll recall that they not only downplayed Rick Kupchela's.

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah, a precarious state.

[Joe Soucheray]

Precarious state. They even got to the point where they were demanding to know who paid for it as though there was something nefarious there. They never once questioned any facts in it. But they wanted it to be known that they were opposed to it. They were opposed to a story or the drift of attention to the idea that the socialists on the Minneapolis City Council have proven to be ruinous. They don't want to have anything to do with that. Now they're doing the same thing with Somali fraud. They're finding ways to tell us, oh look at the other day they had a picture of this ding ding garden in Cedar Riverside and look at what the Somalis have done. And I don't understand.

[Chris Reivers]

It's almost as if they're running cover.

[Joe Soucheray]

I'm not suggesting they need to be cruel or unusual. Suggesting they're not fulfilling their obligation as the fifth estate in this case. It's very strange to me. I really don't understand. Might be as simple as that the modern reporter is just so hopelessly ill informed because of the failed academy that there's no chance that this is what their agenda is.

[Chris Reivers]

Remind me, who's the editor of the Star Tribune?

[Joe Soucheray]

A young gal named Hennessy, I heard. First name escapes me.

[Kenny Olson]

No, I thought Chris is looking for the name of the former.

[Joe Soucheray]

The publisher, you mean?

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah, I'm sorry, publisher. My apologies.

[Joe Soucheray]

Steve Grove, who was Walz's Department of Economic and Employment Development.

[Chris Reivers]

Interesting.

[Joe Soucheray]

Okay, now that is interesting because I was thinking about that today. I come from a period of newspapering where even if we knew who the publisher was, we had nothing to do with him. The publisher was the rainmaker and the glad hander. The publisher was the guy who had to go eat rubber chicken luncheons and made sure that the Dayton family was happy with their advertising.

[Rookie]

Parr Ritter.

[Joe Soucheray]

And then it came to be par Ritter in St. Paul who proved to be a lout.

[Rookie]

He was just. That was nepotism at its best.

[Joe Soucheray]

But. And so I am kind of predisposed back on my background to believe or want to believe that Grove has had nothing to do with these decisions. But I think I'm being naive. I think I'm being naive. Grove might be so attached to Walls. I don't know to what extent they're friends, but he was a Walls guy in his cabinet. And then I don't know how, but he ended up as publisher of the Star Tribune. And they have been notoriously easy on walls. They've been notoriously easy on fraud. They've been notoriously critical of the Kupchella documentary.

[Chris Reivers]

A precarious state.

[Joe Soucheray]

A precarious state. Now, I don't know if that's a Grove influence or.

[Kenny Olson]

Of course it is.

[Joe Soucheray]

If the papers just.

[Kenny Olson]

No, they're arm and arm. They're making out in the back seat with the dfl. Yeah, they're the same body. And it's interesting. I find it interesting because the Star Tribune, in concert with the entire dfl, continue to point their fingers at others for doing things that they too are guilty of. It's just amazing to me.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, here's the latest. Employees with the Minnesota Department of Human Services continue to speak out on Governor Walz's failure to take any accountability for his role in fraud. Don't worry, we're going to be backing this up with some audio in a bit. In a viral post over the weekend, an X account that says it represents over 480 current staff of Minnesota DHS wrote that employees let Tim Walz know a fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud. But no, we got the opposite response. Now, I don't like to take my news from X, but. Kenny, you're telling me that's been verified?

[Kenny Olson]

Okay. I immediately thought, this is a bot from some foreign country. Some guy clocked in this morning and this is his job. Halfway through the story, I'm looking at Alpha. It says Alpha News has spoken with multiple people affiliated with the X account and confirmed they work for dhs.

[Joe Soucheray]

Wonderful.

[Chris Reivers]

To the point, too, where our gal.

[Joe Soucheray]

Mir, she leaked this on our show.

[Chris Reivers]

Well, but she also corroborated all of this on social media as well.

[John Hage]

Yeah, this has been picked up by a ton of national outlets, too, already, Joe, New York Post, Newsweek, Fox News. They all printed the same story.

[Joe Soucheray]

Basically, we were hoping, we were hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud. But no, we got the opposite response. Instead of partnership, we got the full weight of retaliation by Tim Walls, certain DFL members, and indifferent mainstream media. It has been terribly indifferent. It's scary, isolating and left us wondering who we can turn to, says the Post, which has been viewed more than you ready? 27 million times. Wow. It goes on to describe a cascade of systemic failures leading up to Tim Walls. As staff, we firsthand witnessed and observed fraud happening, yet we were shut down, reassigned, and told to keep quiet. Sometimes more leadership, did not want to appear to discriminate against certain communities and were unwilling to take action, such as stopping fraud that would have had an adverse impact on their image. Fundamentally, Tim Walz is dishonest, lacks ethics and integrity, has poor leadership abilities, and has never taken any accountability for his role in fraud. Instead, Tim Walz deflects by blaming national politics for his own failings and distracts the public with inveterate lying. It continues. Alpha News has spoken with multiple people affiliated with this account and confirmed that they work for dhs. Minnesota fraud crisis has attracted national media attention in recent days, starting with the City Journal report on fraud proceeds. By the way, the Star Tribune had a story attempting to denounce that. They did, yes.

[Kenny Olson]

Something about just a minor percentage goes to Al Shabaab. Something like that, yeah.

[Joe Soucheray]

Starting with the City Journal report on how fraud proceeds have been sent back to Somalia, where they ultimately landed in the hands of the terror group Al Shabaab. Two days later, President Trump announced he was immediately terminating temporary protected status for Somalis in Minnesota. We discussed that. That's essentially meaningless in terms of the fraud. Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great state and billions of dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from. It's over, the President said. Okay. Minnesota is home to the largest population of Somalis in the US and the vast majority of the individuals charged in the states feeding Our Future scandal are of Somali descent. That case, along with fraud in state housing and autism programs, was the subject of a Saturday New York Times piece explaining how fraud swamped Minnesota's social services system. On Tim Walz's watch, the COVID era scheme saw fraudsters steal hundreds of millions of dollars from a child nutrition program which reimbursed participants. In short, fraudsters claimed they were providing meals to hungry children with few when few, if any, meals were actually given. This is the New York Times that we've covered all of this. The level of fraud of these programs is staggering. Unfortunately, our system of trust but verified no longer works. These programs have been abused over and over to the point where the fraud has overtaken the legitimate services. This is A quote from U.S. attorney Joe Thompson. Now, Walz was on Meet the Press over the weekend and when we return, you're going to hear that. But Walz was asked on Meet the Press yesterday morning, Sunday morning if he takes responsibility for failing to prevent fraud in Minnesota. And you can hear that for yourself. In the event you didn't hear Meet the Press, I hope your garage door is working because I warned you and warned you and warned you the time might even be past. It's cold out so you can still get them.

[Chris Reivers]

Baby, it's cold outside.

[Joe Soucheray]

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[Chris Reivers]

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[Joe Soucheray]

And do not constitute investment. Chris Reivers is a paid endorser. It's the end of the world as we know it and he feels fine.

[Kenny Olson]

Joe Sucere There's a spot on westbound 94 right next to Highway 15 in St. Cloud that every time I go by there I cringe because that where I that's where I was assaulted by a deer in 2008 and that is also the first time I did business with Schoonover Autocare. I've been a customer since since 2008. Since then they've done bodywork, general repairs, tires, accessories, more bodywork, glass and too many other things to name. Not only am I a customer, so is my son and so is everybody on garagelogic and their families and so many Glers Gl ers from the Twin Cities, all over Minnesota and even as far away as the up.

[Rookie]

Why?

[Kenny Olson]

Well, I mean there's many reasons. Number one, they're family owned and they've been there for been around the metro for time long a for 80 years now we're talking generations of trust has built up with Minnesotans. Their honest pricing, their expert craftsmanship. That's another couple of reasons. They stand behind every job. You're never going to be shocked by the price when it comes time to settle up. You're always in the loop and every repair is backed by their guarantee. You leave knowing the job was done right. And we're talking everything when it comes to those jobs. Minor body work, major body work. Not only body work though. They do glass, engine drive, time drive, train repairs, maintenance, tires align. Oh they have an alignment rack. You can get it aligned there when you get new tires, oil changes of course. They are the official auto shop of garage logic. A 4.9 rating on GL and you ask us 5 stars from gallers Schoon over Body Works and Auto care. They're at 1060 County Road, Ian Shore View and they're on the web.

[Joe Soucheray]

Schoonoverbodyworks.com almost had a car that I was going to bring straight to Schoonie but I was outbid on an auction site by 250 bucks. That's pretty close.

[Kenny Olson]

Do you have are there places you drive by every now and then where you go Yep, that's where I was t boned or that's where I got a flat tire that's where the gear hit me. Is it just me?

[Joe Soucheray]

Only on the way up to what we call the lake.

[Kenny Olson]

Yeah.

[Joe Soucheray]

Every time I pass that spot on Highway 169, I remember that's where I got nailed.

[Chris Reivers]

What about the time you buried that thing in the sand?

[Joe Soucheray]

I don't. Try not to think about that.

[Kenny Olson]

There's this bush. It's on the right side. Westbound 94, just five seconds past Highway 15. Every time I go by there, I watch for a deer to come out of that stupid bush.

[Joe Soucheray]

Walls seems to be available to the national press. Whenever he open for business, he wants to, he generally appears before friendly people. I would say Meet the Press. Well, he appear. Let's put it this way. If Walls appears somewhere, it's because he knows he's going to escape. So he was on Meet the Press yesterday and we get this.

[Meet the Press Interviewer]

Speaking of the Somali community, President Trump is targeting them and your state. In part, he's citing fraud as the reason for his crackdown. Dozens of people of East African descent have been charged, convicted and sentenced for stealing more than a billion dollars in taxpayer money from government programs during COVID As you know, Governor, that is more than Minnesota spend each year to run its Department of Corrections. So I want to give you a chance to respond to this. Do you take responsibility for failing to stop this fraud in your state?

[Rem]

Well, certainly I take responsibility for putting people in jail. Governors don't get to just talk.

[Joe Soucheray]

Theoretically, we're going to have to stop this. As he says.

[Chris Reivers]

All right, I'm sorry, I wasn't ready with the trigger.

[Joe Soucheray]

He has no responsibility for putting people in.

[Chris Reivers]

In jail.

[Joe Soucheray]

I continue. Oh, my goodness.

[Kenny Olson]

Well, wait. No, don't continue. It's all the feds, right?

[Joe Soucheray]

He has nothing.

[Chris Reivers]

He's done a jack squad.

[Joe Soucheray]

He's done everything possible to avoid having people go to jail.

[Kenny Olson]

And neither has his attorney general. Minnesota has not done anything.

[Chris Reivers]

Right.

[Kenny Olson]

All right, thank you.

[Joe Soucheray]

Wait a minute, Chris, wait.

[Chris Reivers]

Nope.

[Joe Soucheray]

I think what I'll do is shut up and we'll just let the whole thing play.

[Kenny Olson]

It's so hard though, because this minute.

[Chris Reivers]

And 30 second clip might take us two hours to get through.

[John Hage]

Wrong.

[Rem]

Well, certainly I take responsibility for putting people in jail. Governors don't get to just talk. Theoretically, we have to solve problems. And I will note, it's not just Somalis. Minnesota is a generous state. Minnesota is a prosperous state, a well run state. We're AAA bond rated. But that attracts criminals. Those people are going to jail.

[Joe Soucheray]

I can't help it. Stop.

[Kenny Olson]

Five nos close.

[Joe Soucheray]

That's Essentially the same as a police catching somebody robbing a house and putting it in the backseat of the car and saying to the criminal, why'd you pick this house? Well, I just thought this house looked so well run and so confidently secured that I just thought this would be the place for me to rob criminals.

[Rookie]

Want a flock to be here.

[Joe Soucheray]

I'm not the first, you know, I've been to this house before.

[Chris Reivers]

This house looked generous.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah, it looked like a new place.

[Kenny Olson]

The garage door was open and the BMW was sitting in the garage idling with the door open.

[Joe Soucheray]

This guy. Well, I'll just let me hold my tongue. Go ahead.

[Rem]

Prosperous days, a well run state. We're AAA bond rated. But that attracts criminals. Those people are going to jail. We're doing everything we can but to demonize an entire community on the actions of a few, it's lazy. And as you heard Senator Kelly say, this president has cut a lot of inspector generals. He's cut programs that could help us tackle this on. So we are.

[Chris Reivers]

Wait a minute, he's blaming Trump.

[Joe Soucheray]

He is. But Rem, remember he's running for governor against.

[Chris Reivers]

That's a good point. That's a good point.

[Rem]

Take it on. We'll put folks in jail. I don't care what your nationality is, I don't care who your religion is, your color, if you're committing crimes. These are programs that were meant to serve students with autism, to housing and to making sure people had enough to eat. There's a reason Minnesota ranks as the top lowest childhood poverty, best place for children to live. People are taking advantage of. They're going to prison. That is totally disconnected with demonizing an entire group of people who came here fleeing civil war and created a vibrant community that makes Minnesota and this country better. But, but that's Donald Trump. Deflect, demonize, come up with no solutions. He's not going to help fix anything. On fraud. My God. There's a big difference between fraud and corruption and corruption is something he knows about.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, he didn't answer. First of all, wow. Walz will always have trouble if he's asked this question because we now know more than we've ever known before. Just how come complicit he has been in this fraud. So when he's asked about it, the only thing he can do is dance and move his feet as fast as possible and not say anything of meaningfulness because he can't. He is so deeply involved in it that the only thing we can expect from him is this kind of fainting, dodging the bullet. He has nothing to say that's valuable.

[Chris Reivers]

I'm so old. I remember him saying this about two weeks ago.

[Rem]

I'm going to ask him to think about things like increased penalties for these types of crimes. And I think some of them border very closely on organized crime, where we got the federal government involved, these RICO crimes and things. So, yes, the answer is yes, until we stop this. And I think every business would tell you this, we can do more. These folks try and stay one step ahead of us. We in government need to be given the authority. In some cases, we're pretty certain these people are doing it, but we don't have this story to stop it. You look, in America, you're innocent until proven guilty in these types of situations. Maybe we need a pause that you're not guilty, but we're pretty darn sure this isn't right. Let's put a pause on. And if we're wrong, we'll make up the difference at the time. But the way the system works is now is we're expected to do it and then prosecute you and collect back on the back end.

[Chris Reivers]

We don't have the authority. That was November 12th on NPR.

[Joe Soucheray]

He's. He's a liar. He is. He is lying.

[Kenny Olson]

Here. Let's go to that tweet over the weekend from the Minnesota Department of Human.

[Joe Soucheray]

Services employees, which has been verified.

[Kenny Olson]

Let me read this for you. Tim Walls is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota. We let Tim Walls know a fraud early on, hoping for a partnership and stopping the fraud. But no, we got the opposite response. Tim Walls systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats and repression.

[Joe Soucheray]

And you've seen how he shuffled agency heads around. Walsh has developed this irritating affectation of speaking quickly, I think. I don't know if he thinks that fools people or makes him sound somewhat brighter. It doesn't.

[Rem]

He.

[Joe Soucheray]

He babbles.

[Chris Reivers]

Are you making fun of me, too?

[Joe Soucheray]

No.

[Rookie]

Oh, just when you do ads.

[Joe Soucheray]

Okay.

[Kenny Olson]

That account that I just quoted, the Minnesota Department of Human Services employees has been suspended.

[Chris Reivers]

You're joking.

[Kenny Olson]

X suspends accounts, which violated the X rules.

[Joe Soucheray]

What are the X rules that it violated?

[Kenny Olson]

Hold on, let me read the rules.

[Joe Soucheray]

Wow, that must have just happened.

[Kenny Olson]

Safety, privacy, authenticity, third party advertising.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, Walsh should either be in jail or impeached. And I think he needs. At the very least, this guy should resign. At the very least, he should resign. He has no business running again. And I now convinced the only reason he is is to keep himself out of jail. There's no, there's no justification for this incompetent boob staying on in office. It's just. It's pathetic. It's embarrassing. The state is a laughingstock. He actually says that criminals come here because we're so well run. Is that what. Is that how criminals decide where they're going to go?

[Gabe]

Yeah.

[Chris Reivers]

Well, we have said that we've been ripe for the picking, which is what made us an easy target.

[Kenny Olson]

Remember how the DFL is.

[Joe Soucheray]

That doesn't mean you're well run. You're just ripe for the pick.

[Chris Reivers]

That's true.

[Joe Soucheray]

They came here because you're so poorly run.

[John Hage]

Right.

[Kenny Olson]

Remember how the DFLers reacted to Al Franken's come in Rangoon? Yeah, nonsense.

[John Hage]

Yeah.

[Kenny Olson]

How come nobody has called for him to step down? They don't actually think he's going to win this election, do they?

[Joe Soucheray]

It's.

[Kenny Olson]

I think it's only when they finally realize that the election. He will not win the election.

[Rookie]

You mean like a Biden thing where they came in and wiped him out?

[Rem]

Yeah.

[Kenny Olson]

That they're going to swoop in and say it's time.

[Chris Reivers]

Can I share with you my prediction? I gave Gabe about an hour and a half ago. I'm sorry, I may. I think what's gonna happen is he's gonna step aside around Labor Day, maybe a little bit after Labor Day, and appoint. Or someone will appoint.

[Kenny Olson]

I don't think he'll last that long.

[Chris Reivers]

But he's gonna take all of the slings and the arrows up until then.

[Kenny Olson]

Chris, Gabe, I don't think he's gonna last till the new year.

[Joe Soucheray]

I don't think he should last till the end of this day. And I'm serious, he should not be the governor of this state.

[John Hage]

I would be surprised the way the momentum is building if he. Like Kenny said, if he lasts till the end of this year as their candidate.

[Joe Soucheray]

I'll go with that. Yeah. Yeah. It's just. It's truly an embarrassing, unfortunate situation. He's. He's ruined the state. He's ruined its reputation. He's ruined its quality of life. He's. He's ruined the balance sheet. He's. He's. And, and we're reasonable, probably. We've heard from too many people who know that he knew about the fraud and didn't do anything about it.

[Chris Reivers]

We had someone on the phone, Keep.

[Joe Soucheray]

The money going that said that very thing, who was a legislator. Keep the money going. And as I said, shifting around agency heads. I suppose if one of them tried to tell them early on look at, this is a bad deal. Let's put an end to it. They were replaced. Either that or he got rid of them because they were so involved. They were gonna get in trouble.

[Chris Reivers]

Kenny, here's what I'm seeing on social media. You mentioned that that account had been suspended. There is a separate Minnesota Department of Human Services account that only has about 6,300 people following it, including being followed by Governor Tim Walsh.

[Kenny Olson]

That's not the one.

[Chris Reivers]

Right. So that's what I'm wondering is if they maybe had some type of copyright issue going on there. I'm not sure what's happening.

[Joe Soucheray]

Let's turn our attention to something our young researcher found. How did so many Somalis choose Minnesota? Why Minnesota? And Gabe, you seem to have found some clues to that answer.

[Gabe]

It seems like there were a number of institutions that had a financial reason to bring them into the state government organizations. They are all non government organizations, it seems to me. The one that I'm looking at right now, the Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota, which has a annual revenue of around 100 to $125 million.

[Joe Soucheray]

Derived from what?

[Gabe]

Derived from 89 to 94% of state, state, local and government grants.

[Joe Soucheray]

So taxpayer money.

[Gabe]

Taxpayer money.

[Joe Soucheray]

All right.

[Gabe]

And basically what they do is bring in people that are immigration to the state or immigrating to the state and they give like a 90 day kind of your rent, getting you set up, getting you onto all of the government programs and things that would help that person kind of achieve success, so to speak, in that. That state. Lutheran Social Services mostly focuses on St. Cloud and bringing people. They don't specifically bring Somalis in. They're around 30% of the people that they bring in. And it ranges from $850 to just over $2,000 per person that they successfully bring into the state.

[Joe Soucheray]

State. Almost like a bounty.

[Gabe]

Yeah. So it's a financial incentive for them.

[Joe Soucheray]

To come here and they're. And to be fair, we have no reason to believe that Lutheran Social Service is not acting out of good faith. They're taking people who they find to be troubled or struggling or from war torn countries. Correct. And giving them a new lease on life. And we're paying for that. Which is. I guess that's fine. We pay for so much that we don't even know we're paying for anymore.

[Chris Reivers]

We're generous.

[Gabe]

I would say. The only kind of controversy that I have seemed to dig up is the controversy of how much they pay their executives. It's around 3 to $400,000 annually, which kind of people. People don't like to see that when you're considered a nonprofit, because if you start this and you're making that much money and most of your money, over 90% of it comes from the government, they don't want to see that. Most of that is just going right into your pocket.

[Kenny Olson]

I might disagree with you, Joe. Maybe it's because I don't have enough information. Gabe, why do they make from 800 to. What did you say, two grand each? Why?

[Gabe]

It depends. That's basically from what I've seen of the limited information that's on this, it's the state reimbursing them for what they give the person when they come here.

[Joe Soucheray]

Tell us what site you're on.

[Gabe]

This is from the dhs, state government, arrival ministries. It's kind of a combination of different information.

[Kenny Olson]

So me assuming that this was all profit is completely wrong. Please tell me I'm wrong because it does not look good.

[Gabe]

I would say that you're wrong to an extent. I don't know how wrong you would be, because I don't. It doesn't explicitly say what they provide and when they provide it, and there's a lot of. It's a combination of sources, so they all have different things. So it's hard to reach one conclusion.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, let's put it this way. They're funded handsomely by the government.

[Gabe]

Correct.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, and now Kenny's alerted me to. I was too quick. Why then do they need a payment for the successful bringing in of somebody?

[Kenny Olson]

Well, I think he just.

[Joe Soucheray]

They already have the money. They already got the money. They have hundreds of million dollars from the taxpayer.

[Gabe]

Correct.

[Joe Soucheray]

To operate their operation. Why then do they get a bounty per head of somebody they bring in? Is my rhetorical question. What the hell is that? And that's small potatoes. I mean.

[Gabe]

Yeah.

[Kenny Olson]

So it's kind of a per diem, isn't it?

[Gabe]

Yeah. The estimate of what they bring in per year is. It's a really wide range, if you're looking at the table. But last year, for instance, they brought in around 900 Somalian individuals, and they were paid 3 to 5 million dollars that year, supposedly just for bringing them in. But again, their revenue is around 100 to 125 million.

[Kenny Olson]

Goodness.

[Gabe]

And that's all still from the government?

[Joe Soucheray]

You know. You know what else Wall said on that Meet the Press interview, and the interviewer didn't catch it? Well, we feed people. Well, one of the things we've discovered, Tim, is that. That. No, we don't. No child got fed even the 40,000 kids in Pelican Rapids, they didn't get.

[Chris Reivers]

Down to 5,000 people.

[Kenny Olson]

Speaking of that interviewer, Joe, I don't know if you've caught this, but when she laid that question on him, the question, she used the term dozens of Somalis, according to what I'm seeing. I thought it was 78. It's 77 people have been charged. And we're not counting separate cases where more than 20 young Somalis. Somalis, excuse me, have been convicted of terrorism related charges. So what's. What's 97 divided by 12? That's your dozens.

[Joe Soucheray]

If the topic in this country has anything to do with a person of color, it'll be soft pedaled no matter if it's crime or whatever.

[Kenny Olson]

So do you think that's a legitimate excuse for the hotshots and the government acting the way they are? That's what the employees of the dhs.

[Joe Soucheray]

No, it's not an excuse. They're making people less than they're hiding behind the racial virtue.

[Kenny Olson]

Do you believe that that's why they poo pooed this? Or do you believe it was something much dirtier than this?

[Joe Soucheray]

I think it's dirtier than that. Greasy walls. I wish you'd come on the show.

[Kenny Olson]

Oh, come on.

[Rookie]

I'll try again.

[Joe Soucheray]

I mean, I'm sure the hundreds, but wouldn't it be. Wouldn't it be great?

[Chris Reivers]

Call this number, 651-1500.

[Joe Soucheray]

Walls. Do you have any balls at all?

[John Hage]

Come on.

[Joe Soucheray]

Come on this show, please.

[Chris Reivers]

I'm just a knucklehead, Joe.

[Joe Soucheray]

I'll see. Why don't we.

[Rookie]

John Candy.

[Joe Soucheray]

Why don't we take a break and listen to what the newsman has to say?

[Chris Reivers]

Not before I tell you about North American banking company investing in your success since 1998. And way back then, they made a promise to deliver a better banking experience for their customers. Where you know your banker and they also know you. And while a lot has changed since then, this commitment to being a true community bank in the Twin Cities, that that has not. Online and mobile banking are important for everyone these days. You might think that a community bank would have versions of these that were last updated back in 2012. But no North American banking company has the exact same online and mobile banking tools as all of those other big national banks. They're so easy. And they're also very convenient to use. I use mine almost every single day. It's fantastic. But see it for yourself. Check them out online. Today it's nabankco.com to learn more. It's banking done differently. North American banking company member FDIC is an equal housing lender.

[Joe Soucheray]

Who's doing something.

[Chris Reivers]

Soul man.

[Joe Soucheray]

The earth is not your mother. The Joe Suger Show.

[Kenny Olson]

I was sitting here, here scratching my head, thinking, you know, I really got nothing to talk about. Seafoam related. And then I remembered. Well, I did dose two tractors, a snowblower in the plow truck over the long weekend with the Seafoam engine treatment. Did it help? Well, you know, we'll see. When it comes to fire up those tractors, diesel. So when it's 10 below the plow truck, that one always gets a heavy dose because it's got about 245,000 on it. That's what a plow truck should have. It should have well over 200,000 on it. And you know, the snow blower, that'll be fine. Couple of greasy triples. Here's what's in my future for Seafoam. Got a couple of greasy triples that I shut down last year and a twin cylinder sled that hasn't been run in two years. They're going to be brought to life here in the next week or so. They were put to bed with Seafoam. So I'm not expecting any problems, but we'll see. But really, you shouldn't expect any problems. If you've been using Seafoam, use them to treat those cylinders on the regular. You'll be fine. It's. It's the cylinder's best friend. It's small cars, big cars, big rigs. Tractors, go karts. I don't care what it is. If it's fossil fuel fired, if it's gas or diesel, Seafoam is the ticket. It cleans, it rejuvenates, and it makes everything fantastic. A wonderful product in a world of bad gas.

[Joe Soucheray]

Seafoam, Kenny.

[Chris Reivers]

I can't remember if I told you guys this, but a couple of weeks ago you were mentioning the mileage on your plow truck truck. Royce looked at Joe and he said, hey, probably got to get rid of the convertible. She's up to 60,000 miles.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah, I went pat.

[Chris Reivers]

I put 60,000 miles on last year.

[Kenny Olson]

I had numerous text conversations with your brother Chris over the weekend regarding his cylinders. Oh, yeah, and his John Deere.

[Chris Reivers]

Did you, did he send you the photo of that thing?

[Kenny Olson]

Yeah. You know, he's been using Seafoam and he knows a thing or two about cylinders.

[Chris Reivers]

Yep.

[Joe Soucheray]

I put the snowblower away last spring.

[John Hage]

Okay.

[Joe Soucheray]

By whatever gas was left in it. I ran out. I ran it out and then I put in a whole can of seafoam.

[Kenny Olson]

She's gonna smoke when you fire it up.

[Joe Soucheray]

Ran that out.

[Kenny Olson]

Oh, you did?

[Joe Soucheray]

Maybe not a whole can, maybe a half a can. Ran that out. So the last thing that the fuel maker happener encountered was seafoam. She started Sunday instantly. Yeah, instantly.

[John Hage]

Yeah.

[Rookie]

Loving it. Works out like that.

[Joe Soucheray]

I do too. Here's John Height in the newsroom.

[Kenny Olson]

Fuel making happener.

[Joe Soucheray]

Fuel make it happener.

[Kenny Olson]

Thank you, Derek.

[John Hage]

Thanks, Joe. North American banking company brings us this news update. St. Paul police looking into a fatal shooting Sunday morning. According to police, officers called to an apartment in the 700 block of Victoria street north where nearby residents reported hearing gunfire in the area at about 1:40am after entering the apartment, police said they found an injured man inside who had been shot multiple times. While police and medical services tried to stabilize the man, he was declared dead at the scene. As officers were making their way to the apartment, police said they saw a vehicle leaving the scene at what they called a high rate of speed. That vehicle later crashed in the 700 block of Englewood Avenue. St. Paul police said the driver is believed to be the suspect behind the fatal shooting. He was taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries sustained in the crash and was later released into police custody. Police said the identity of the victim and the suspect will be released later this week as they continue to investigate what led up to the shooting and confirmed the man's cause of death. This is the 12th homicide to have occurred in the city of St. Paul this year, according to St. Paul Police.

[Joe Soucheray]

I do not like the term high rate of speed. Fast driving. Fast driving fast works.

[Rookie]

What's the difference between high rate of speed and fast?

[Joe Soucheray]

Three more words. Okay.

[Kenny Olson]

What's the difference between fast and bad out of hell?

[Joe Soucheray]

I'll take bad out of hell over high rate of speed.

[John Hage]

Police so I'm driving like a bat out of hand.

[Joe Soucheray]

I'll take that over high rate of speed.

[John Hage]

I'll remember that for the next time.

[Kenny Olson]

Yeah, spool it up. Let it rip.

[John Hage]

A man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting at a Minnesota state trooper back in September of 2024. 24 year old Eddie James Freeman pleaded guilty to first degree assault. Two counts of second degree assault, two remaining counts of second degree assault and one count of fourth degree assault were dismissed at sentencing. He'll serve three years of probation after his prison sentence. All this dates back to some gunfire exchange by the state trooper and Freeman on i94 in September of 2020. Four troopers had responded to a crash on the interstate near Dowling Avenue north and learned that shots had been fired while en route to the sea. As the trooper got close to the car, Freeman shot at him and hit the squad. The trooper returned fire. Nobody was injured. An alleged neo Nazi from southern Minnesota sentenced to more than eight years in prison last week for gun and drug crimes. According to the U.S. attorney's office in the state, 41 year old Andrew Munsinger of Redwood Falls received a 104 month sentence, three years of supervised release. A federal jury in April had found him guilty of possession of firearms and ammunition as a felon and trafficking marijuana. Authorities said Munsinger was a member of the Aryan Freedom Freedom Network, a Texas based white supremacist group.

[Joe Soucheray]

But they're fun, huh?

[Kenny Olson]

Yeah.

[John Hage]

Yeah, really.

[Kenny Olson]

Do you think they have a Christmas.

[Joe Soucheray]

Card where they all got a bowling.

[Kenny Olson]

League where they all stand around?

[Rem]

What do you do?

[Kenny Olson]

I mean, you get the form letter.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah.

[Kenny Olson]

Here's what we did last year.

[Joe Soucheray]

Please include $10 for all of our employees gift form fund.

[Kenny Olson]

Nobody sends out Christmas cards like the Sushiray family.

[Joe Soucheray]

I don't have anything to do with it.

[Kenny Olson]

I always look forward to your Christmas card. It is the best.

[Chris Reivers]

And sometimes you're even included sometimes.

[John Hage]

A fascinating story to me anyway, in the Star Tribune. And Kenny, you're my outdoor guy. So you're gonna say you know all this already. I call you up when I have dead animals in the yard because I need information. This one is about turtles. Oh, Jeff, did you see this?

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah.

[John Hage]

You see, I knew Jeff LeClaire, zoologist and amphibian and reptile specialist with the Minnesota Biological Survey, says if the ice is clear, you can sometimes see snapping or painted turtles moving slowly underneath the ice.

[Joe Soucheray]

I like turtles. Yeah, you do, don't you? Thank you.

[John Hage]

Thanks, Jeff. This winter dormancy cold brumation requires them to be deep enough to avoid being fatally frozen in ice and to slow their metabolism drastically to conserve energy. Most don't move at all once the turtle equivalent of hibernation begins and minimizes their need for oxygen, which they absorb from the frigid water through a process called cutaneous respiration.

[Joe Soucheray]

Wait a minute.

[John Hage]

Yes.

[Joe Soucheray]

Turtle can breathe underwater?

[John Hage]

That's correct.

[Joe Soucheray]

Forever. I mean, it doesn't have to come respiration. It doesn't have to come up on the beach once in a while.

[Rem]

Turtles.

[John Hage]

Yeah, well, it'd have to break through the ice. It can't break through the ice.

[Joe Soucheray]

How's it going to do that?

[Chris Reivers]

We have Lily the turtle at Our house and she's pretty much underwater all times.

[Joe Soucheray]

I thought they came out of the water to get some air.

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah, once in a while she sits underneath the lamp.

[Kenny Olson]

What about the winter?

[Joe Soucheray]

I, I would imagine they would have just hunkered down in the cattails or something.

[John Hage]

Research here. I'm going to explain a little more research. Research once sparked the simplified belief that turtles breathe through their butts in the winter. That we found out is quite true.

[Joe Soucheray]

Look at him.

[John Hage]

Turtles have a cloaca, an all purpose organ for excretion and mating. The cloaca includes sac like organs called bursa that are rich in blood vessels and those Joe help to better absorb oxygen in the water.

[Kenny Olson]

He's breathing through his swimsuit.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yes.

[Kenny Olson]

Boy.

[Joe Soucheray]

I, I just, I guess my familiarity with turtles is pretty much based to be a non land experience. I, I didn't know they spent the winter in the water. I really didn't.

[John Hage]

I really. No, I had no idea.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, you did, John.

[Kenny Olson]

See, it's so fun when you guys talk about animals. Farm animals, wild animals. To just sit back anything outside the.

[Chris Reivers]

Six block radius, pretty much fantastic.

[Rookie]

Rather mean snapping turtles. At St. Kate's Dew Drop Pond. Every once in a while I do.

[John Hage]

Rely on Kenny because as he will tell you, I'll call him with, you know, stuff that's probably to him stupid as hell and he'll immediately explain it and go, go, oh, that's just blah blah, blah.

[Joe Soucheray]

He doesn't know anything about turtles.

[Kenny Olson]

I've seen them down there before. I, I, I'm more freaked out by looking through the clear ice. It doesn't matter what's underneath it.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, I love to look through.

[Kenny Olson]

You look through it, you go, oh boy, I could. So then you get out the, the old pounder and you chip your way through and it turns out that there's 4 inches of clear ice.

[John Hage]

And the arrival of below freezing temps and snow is speeding up the arrival of a popular winter attraction, Ice castles. Officials say construction of the icy experience is underway and again it'll happen at the Minnesota state fairgrounds. Tickets go on sale online starting tomorrow at nine in the morning. No opening date has been set yet. Ice Castles usually opens in early January depending on weather conditions. The company says it's ice artisans will grow and place up to 10,000 icicles per day during construction of the 20 foot tall castle which features slides, tunnels, caverns and sculptures. Ice castles was started in 2011 by a Utah man who built a winter playground for his kids.

[Joe Soucheray]

So this, this is not winter carnival affiliate?

[John Hage]

No, no. This Is capital grounds.

[Chris Reivers]

Didn't we cancel that a while ago?

[Joe Soucheray]

The carnival? Yeah, the carnival hasn't had a good ice palace in ages, John.

[Kenny Olson]

Is it with real ice? Ice taken from lakes.

[Chris Reivers]

Bunch of turtles stuck in it.

[Joe Soucheray]

Wouldn't that be something?

[John Hage]

I don't know, Kenny, You've asked a question. I have no idea.

[Kenny Olson]

The iced harvesting in this state of yore is fascinating. Very fascinating.

[John Hage]

As fascinating as turtles underwater.

[Kenny Olson]

Equally so.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, the ice was stored in sheds with sawdust.

[Kenny Olson]

It was, you're right. And would last the entire summer.

[John Hage]

Joe broke into Cliff Clavin there for a minute. Stored in the john.

[Kenny Olson]

You know who does it right?

[Joe Soucheray]

Bears.

[Kenny Olson]

Bears crawl in in the late fall, and they don't come out till, what, late March, early April.

[John Hage]

It sounds comfy.

[Kenny Olson]

They do it right. Yep.

[Joe Soucheray]

We'll have.

[John Hage]

What?

[Joe Soucheray]

Those dens smell good. They smell wonderful.

[Chris Reivers]

When have you ever been outside?

[Joe Soucheray]

I read that.

[Rookie]

Oh, okay.

[Joe Soucheray]

They smell. You know, that's. That's life, that they smell. Nature.

[Kenny Olson]

You know where I learned again.

[Rookie]

Are there any bears in this cave?

[Kenny Olson]

From Dick Prenicky, Joe.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yes.

[Kenny Olson]

Yeah, he crawled into one and he found the plug. Do you know what the plug is?

[Joe Soucheray]

Gross. I don't.

[Kenny Olson]

Well, the plug. Well, it does. It plugs. Yeah.

[Joe Soucheray]

So the bear plugs it up over the winter.

[Kenny Olson]

Plugs himself up over.

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah, it's the bear's version of Mr. Chair.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah.

[Chris Reivers]

Interesting.

[Joe Soucheray]

But those dens, I bet they smell sweet. Fresh.

[John Hage]

Yeah, we'll. We'll have some national international news in a minute. First, though, I want to tell you about something new at my house that we are loving. It's an aura frame. That's a frame for pictures. And, you know, it's now to steal Rook's line, it's now officially Christmas season.

[Rookie]

Oh, it is the season.

[John Hage]

And the gift. The gift giving time is ticking down. So listen, I got your perfect gift solution right here. If it's tough for you to buy for a wife or husband in laws, sibling, close friends, Aura, that's a U. R A is the perfect answer. It's easy to upload unlimited photos and videos to the Aura frames. You just download their app, connect it to your wi fi. You can even preload pictures before it ships to you.

[Joe Soucheray]

Hey, that's. You mean you could just sit there and instantly put a picture from your phone in this frame?

[John Hage]

I do it all the time.

[Joe Soucheray]

I think that's cool. Cool?

[John Hage]

We've had ours about two months now. Between my wife and I, we've stuck over 700 pictures and videos in it.

[Joe Soucheray]

That's the other thing, change it from time to time.

[John Hage]

Well, you can just keep adding or you can delete too if you want.

[Chris Reivers]

And it'll rotate and all that.

[John Hage]

Deal, Johnny. It rotates continuously. In fact, I've been known to sit there, you know, 10, 15 minutes and all the pictures and videos roll by as people in my house make fun of me.

[Rookie]

Yeah, they sound cool.

[John Hage]

The pictures scroll by as you sit there. The video feature is great. Also, it comes with sound too. So I have videos of me playing guitar and D and playing guitar on there. They mix in with the photos to make the experience that much more enjoyable. And now for a limited time, you can save on the gift by visiting auraframes.com to get 35 off Aura's best selling Carver mat frames named number one by wire cutter, just use the promo code GL at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code GL. This deal is exclusive to listeners and frames sell out fast. So order yours now to get it on time for the holiday. Support the show by mentioning us on checkout. Terms and conditions apply. Aura frames.

[I]

Hey folks, it's Patrick Ricey and fruitcake is back on the menu. Baby, let me ask you something. Would you be happy if the only dessert you got this holiday season was fruitcake? Well, no. Neither would I. That's what it's like when you've got one insurance agent with just one company, you don't have any options. That's why I work with the Canopy Group. They're an insurance agency that's unique because they offer 16 carefully selected companies for your home and auto insurance. 16 and behind the scenes, they've got 50 licensed elves. Okay, they're agents, but this time of year, let's call them elves, making sure you always have the best coverage at the best price. So this holiday season, don't settle for fruitcake. Get options. Visit the Canopy Group and see what they can do for you. The canopy group.com.

[Joe Soucheray]

Here'S a man who spends hours in hardware stores sifting through the nuts and bolts of life.

[Chris Reivers]

Joe Succiat Hofferman. Water is here for you. You know what? You're entertaining right now. It's never a better time to get on that schedule and have Hoffman Water come up for that free water analysis. I was entertaining on Thanksgiving and that's exactly what I was complimented on was my wonderful, powerful water drinking system from Hoffman Water and Connecticut. So don't be a dummy. Get on that schedule right now. 612-895-2440 or book your appointment [e-mail] and as long as you're on that website, you can see every single different water treatment system that they have to offer. It doesn't matter if you're in the mood for a water softener, an iron rust and odor filtration system, or a brand new drinking water system. Everything gets better with Hoffman Water and Kinetico. But you got to get on that schedule. They'll come out, they'll give you this thing that's called a Water Score. And then based upon that Water Score, they'll give you recommendations on how they can make an amazing difference in the quality of your water. They have done that with me. They will do that for you. Hoffermanwater.com They've been proudly serving the state of Minnesota for over 50 years. Please do me a favor and mention that you heard about them on the Garage Logic podcast. Johnny.

[Joe Soucheray]

I like the way meats show up in various dishes. I had some wild rice that had bacon in it.

[Chris Reivers]

Oh, boy.

[Joe Soucheray]

And some ground beef. I had some dressing that had Jimmy Dean sausage in it.

[Rookie]

Hopefully sage.

[Joe Soucheray]

I like the way the meats show up. You don't expect it. And there it is.

[Kenny Olson]

By dressing, do you mean stuffing?

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah.

[Kenny Olson]

Okay.

[Chris Reivers]

We were. I was asking about the White Castle stuffing before the program today. If there was anything left to bring in for the staff.

[Rookie]

Had to make an emergency second batch because I left. Left the first batch in the oven overnight. I forgot to take it out.

[Joe Soucheray]

Was it burned?

[Rookie]

No, it just was old.

[Chris Reivers]

Somebody gets that stuffing out of there.

[Rookie]

No, I was well behaved.

[Joe Soucheray]

That's a Reaver's years past. Yes, I would have eaten it. I love it.

[Rookie]

I. I said let's roll the dice. I was overruled.

[Joe Soucheray]

Did you taste it?

[Rookie]

No.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, you fool. That would have been fine.

[Chris Reivers]

Don't tell me I made a good bat.

[Rookie]

The second batch was pretty good.

[Chris Reivers]

Don't tell me me you true it away.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah, I would have eaten that.

[Rookie]

It was just a little pan like that. It was the. The first pan went well.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah.

[John Hage]

I got to tell you right now, the right side of your hair, Joe.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah. This side.

[John Hage]

You look like that side right there.

[Joe Soucheray]

This side.

[Rookie]

Like John Merrick, the Elephant Man.

[Joe Soucheray]

Jeez, I got to get a haircut.

[Chris Reivers]

That's an elephant.

[Joe Soucheray]

I'm a human being.

[Rookie]

Seeing John Merrick going for a pedicure. Whoa.

[Rem]

Remember.

[Joe Soucheray]

Remember that scene that we were walking around the lake? That was a great scene.

[Kenny Olson]

Do you guys ever have an opportunity to eat pheasant?

[Joe Soucheray]

I have. Many years ago.

[Kenny Olson]

We Had I. We fixed pheasant on Saturday.

[Joe Soucheray]

Any BB's left over?

[Kenny Olson]

You know, I've got a neighbor that raises them. I should get each one of you guys a pheasant so you could. And you're not going to believe how good it tastes.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, I would.

[Chris Reivers]

What do you prepare it with, Ken?

[Kenny Olson]

Do you just ask me those questions? Ask Matthew. She put it in a crock pot. That's all I know.

[John Hage]

Okay.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah, she put in a crock pot.

[Rookie]

With some spices, maybe some, what do you call it, the chicken broth.

[Joe Soucheray]

Was it shaped like a bird sitting in the crock pot or is it all.

[Rookie]

They take the feathers off?

[Kenny Olson]

Usually, usually when I do pheasant, I just take the breast. But in this case, I took the whole bird and every part of it was delicious.

[Joe Soucheray]

Were the feathers still on it when you put it in the crock pot?

[Kenny Olson]

No, of course not. Oh, no. And not only that, Joe, I'm glad you brought it up. The easiest bird there is to field drill. I mean, seriously, you can go from a full feathered bird to ready to put in the crock pot in under 10 minutes. They're really easy.

[Joe Soucheray]

You just pluck them out.

[Kenny Olson]

You don't have to. You just pull the skin right off. It's amazing.

[Rookie]

It's like peeling an egg.

[Kenny Olson]

It is. Yeah. Actually it is. Yep.

[Rookie]

Hard boiled egg.

[John Hage]

In national and international news, President Trump said yesterday that he, in his words, wouldn't have wanted a reported second strike on an alleged drug boat. Earlier this year, while pledging to look into the matter that sparked concern among law, top Republican and Democrats in Congress suggested yesterday that American military officials might have committed a war crime. And President Trump's offensive against boats in the Caribbean after a news report said during one such attack, a follow up strike was ordered to kill survivors. The remarks came in response to a Washington Post report on Friday that said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had given a verbal order to kill everyone aboard boat suspected of smuggling drugs and that this led a military commander to carry out a second strike to kill those who had initially survived an attack in early September. The developments came as the US has carried out close to two dozen boat strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, as the President says those boat strikes are to stem the tide of drugs coming into the US A pardon from the President is questioning the seriousness of that claim. President Trump announced on Friday afternoon he would grant a full and complete pardon to a former President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, who as the of a sweeping drug case was found guilty by an American jury last year of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. The news came as a shock not only to Hondurans, but also to authorities here in the US who had built a major case against Hernandez and won a conviction. A DEA agent who worked on the investigation into Hernandez, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, called the pardon lunacy. And Mike Vigil, a former chief of international operations at the Drug Enforcement Administration, reacted with disbelief to the news.

[Joe Soucheray]

What did Trump owe this guy? What? What favor did this guy do for Trump? This is ridiculous. Why are you pardoning this guy? Do we ever have a reason?

[John Hage]

He said he was told by people he trusted that it was a railroad situation by the Biden administration, even though the original charges came during his first administration.

[Joe Soucheray]

Okay, now we haven't had this audio problem for quite some time.

[Chris Reivers]

We have not.

[Joe Soucheray]

But John is. His voice is becoming distort.

[Chris Reivers]

Going a little Scotland on us.

[Joe Soucheray]

Why is that?

[Chris Reivers]

I don't know.

[John Hage]

That's weird.

[Joe Soucheray]

Now it isn't.

[Chris Reivers]

Okay, can I. As long as we're dealing with that, can I read this email? I know we've moved on from the fraud topic, but loyal GL town council member Samantha just sent this to me. Reeves. I know. I hope you guys haven't discussed this, but you have to check out this story. It's a Care 11 piece. Minnesota Man. Okay, that's the catch line. Minnesota man on Taxpayer funded medical. Medicaid is now living in Kenya. Joe. And he had requested his billing records. A fake Somalian company has been billing Medicaid for over $200,000 worth of fake services. They also used fake employee names and stock images for photos on their website. Here's why I'm bringing this up. Their business phone number is listed in this document. You want to know what the business phone number is?

[Joe Soucheray]

Let's hear it.

[Chris Reivers]

012-234-567-8.9. I mean, a little something for the effort.

[Rookie]

I mean, somebody's gotta use that number.

[Joe Soucheray]

See, walls thought that was a real.

[John Hage]

Number.

[Chris Reivers]

With that phone number listed. That's like the scene from Spaceballs.

[John Hage]

Rook.

[Chris Reivers]

What's the password? 1, 2. The Chinese. I'll never figure that out. Oh, Samantha, thank you for saying that. That gave me a laugh. That that' funny. They weren't even trying because they knew they'd get away with it.

[Joe Soucheray]

You don't have to try.

[Kenny Olson]

Carol Levin has numerous stories of this sort. Yeah, they've been doing a lot of investigation.

[Joe Soucheray]

They've been pretty good. Yeah, 9 and 9, 5 and 11 have done pretty good.

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah.

[John Hage]

The last supermoon of the year is coming up this week. Not tonight, no. Thursday. The Moon's orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle, so it gets nearer and farther as it swings around. When a full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit, a so called supermoon happens. It makes the moon look up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest moon of the year. According to NASA, supermoons happen a few times a year in clusters, taking advantage of the sweet spot in the Moon's elliptical orbit. And Thursday night's event is the last of three in a row in 2025. The supermoon can be glimpsed in clear night skies without any special equipment, but it can be tough to discern. The subtle changes change with a naked eye whether a supermoon or not. The Moon also appears bigger when it's close to the horizon because of what's called the Moon illusion. It's a strange visual trick that experts can't yet explain. When you have a supermoon, that effect is just slightly more striking. According to astronomer William Alston at the University of Hertfordshire, tides could be slightly higher during a supermoon because the moon is closer to Earth. But again, the difference isn't very noticeable. Lithuania's Vilnius airport closed yesterday for at least the 10th time since October amid concerns about balloon activity. The closure came amid a wave of air space disruptions, mostly drones, in Europe in recent months. The government also has blamed Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, for the balloon incursions, calling them a hybrid attack that mostly involves smuggling cigarettes into the country. Lithuania says IT recorded over 500 balloons entering its airspace from Belarus this year and nearly 1,000 last year. It has previously closed its border to Belarus over the issue. The disruption comes as the uk, France and Germany recently provided military support for Belgium's anti drone operations after that country's main airport was forced to temporarily close due to drone spotting.

[Joe Soucheray]

I bet a Lithuanian cigarette would be very harsh.

[Chris Reivers]

I didn't realize they were illegal in Lithuania.

[Joe Soucheray]

What?

[Chris Reivers]

Well, John just said they were smuggling cigarettes.

[John Hage]

They probably.

[Joe Soucheray]

They probably want good ones.

[Chris Reivers]

Oh, I see.

[John Hage]

I'm sure it's not.

[Joe Soucheray]

Those are very harsh.

[Chris Reivers]

No filters.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, very, very, very odd. Tobacco.

[Kenny Olson]

What's the cigarette? Jamaica. I had some cigarettes in Jamaica.

[Joe Soucheray]

Marijuana?

[John Hage]

No.

[Kenny Olson]

Well, we had a lot of that too, but horrible.

[Rookie]

The charms.

[Chris Reivers]

Cigarettes are not illegal in Lithuania. However, they are subject to strict regulations and certain products like chewing tobacco are absolutely prohibited. I did not know that.

[Joe Soucheray]

Very harsh. And be tough.

[John Hage]

Can't chew tobacco in Lithuania, apparently.

[Joe Soucheray]

Holiday? No.

[John Hage]

Oh.

[Joe Soucheray]

You know, you're not going to go around looking at people's traps.

[John Hage]

I know that.

[Chris Reivers]

Really?

[John Hage]

Smuggling.

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah.

[Kenny Olson]

Joe, do you ever have conversations with yourself like I did this morning? It's like, you know, I'm pretty sure I could have one or two and I'd be fine.

[Joe Soucheray]

Try not to have those conversations.

[Kenny Olson]

Yeah, I had got. Things got real this morning. Yeah.

[Joe Soucheray]

Boy, you didn't give in, did you?

[Kenny Olson]

No, I, I didn't.

[Joe Soucheray]

But.

[Kenny Olson]

Yeah, it never goes away that, that couple years. Yeah, it's been two or three.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, you're, you're so much better off. Are you done, John?

[John Hage]

I'm not. I got more.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, let's go here. Come on.

[John Hage]

Hey.

[Kenny Olson]

Okay.

[Rookie]

You're so much better off. He says that was touching. He really.

[John Hage]

He really.

[Joe Soucheray]

Tell you what, it was a hell of a lot more touching than a spot spatula. That's.

[John Hage]

That's true.

[Chris Reivers]

That's very true.

[Joe Soucheray]

Was that on here or city council?

[Chris Reivers]

That was on the city council.

[Joe Soucheray]

Rookie was telling us about a gift he bought from his mom once. A spatula at Walgreens.

[Rookie]

Yeah, that was last year.

[John Hage]

99 or so.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah. John, go ahead. I'm sorry.

[John Hage]

An Elton John update. Elton John has vision problems because of an infection he had last year and makes it very hard to see. But he says he, he will not be turning his back on creating music. He'll keep making music. He said, I'm singing better than ever and I'm playing really well and enjoying it. That's helping me a lot, despite the fact that I can't see. Great. His farewell tour wrapped up in 2023, almost five years after launching the farewell Yellow Brick road jaunt grossed $939.1 million.

[Rookie]

He said, let's give her one more go around here.

[Joe Soucheray]

Did Bernie Taupin give John a sheet of lyrics and then Elton would invent a song? Yeah, that's how it worked. And when Bernie was writing the lyrics, did he have a melody in mind or anything?

[John Hage]

I doubt it. Yeah, I don't think so.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, that was a pretty rare gift that Elton John had.

[Kenny Olson]

Yes.

[John Hage]

Yeah, I think he just handed him sheets of lyrics. And Elton John got busy.

[Rookie]

At the first meeting, Williams gave John an unopened envelope of lyrics written by Bernie Topex, who had answered the same ad. John wrote music for the lyrics and then sent it to him, which began their decades long partnership. That still continues.

[John Hage]

Yeah. And those first four or five albums.

[Joe Soucheray]

Are they really Were pretty good. Incredibly wonderful Blue jean lady. So he just wrote like a poem and then handed it to him and said, here, Tickly Ivory.

[Chris Reivers]

Did you guys like the film? Was it Rocket Man?

[Joe Soucheray]

Was that the end of the film? I did.

[Rookie]

His name is Milton Hercules. John. He changed.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah, but that isn't his name. His name was Reginald Dwight. Reginald Dwight.

[Kenny Olson]

Which one? Which song is his best song?

[Joe Soucheray]

Best right now? It would have been in the first five years.

[John Hage]

Yes. And like Tumbleweed Connection didn't have any hits, but everything on there is just killer. So I. I don't know that I can.

[Rookie]

Your song is pretty damn good.

[John Hage]

Which one?

[Rookie]

Your song.

[John Hage]

Your song's a great song.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Kenny Olson]

Benny and the Jets. Are you kidding me? Easy.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, God.

[John Hage]

Oh, God.

[Joe Soucheray]

Any of this. Jets.

[Chris Reivers]

What was his biggest hit? Was it Rocket Man?

[John Hage]

Oh, he had a million number ones. Chris.

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah.

[John Hage]

I don't think you could have a.

[Rookie]

You know the one he did with Britney Spears was.

[Joe Soucheray]

All right. Oh, God. John, thank you very much.

[John Hage]

Yeah.

[Chris Reivers]

Go to break.

[Joe Soucheray]

It's just too much maybe. Who's doing something?

[Rem]

Nobody. Rob.

[Joe Soucheray]

This guy wears many hats, just not indoors.

[Chris Reivers]

Joe Sushiri.

[Joe Soucheray]

We heard this one before.

[Chris Reivers]

I think so.

[Kenny Olson]

How are these labeled in the system?

[Chris Reivers]

They're not. The new way that we play stuff through our YouTube channel.

[Kenny Olson]

I don't like the. I don't. I don't like where you're going with this. We need to, as a staff, sit down and give every one of these a name.

[Chris Reivers]

Oh, a similar assignment to what rookie did years ago when he named the farts that were in the system.

[Kenny Olson]

Exactly.

[John Hage]

Yeah.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah. This just ends.

[Rookie]

Rainy day in Brooklyn. Rainy night in Brooklyn. That was the best.

[Joe Soucheray]

This just in from the American Experiment. Minnesota can release records on Medicaid providers accused of fraud, but will not.

[Rookie]

What?

[Joe Soucheray]

First let me. This is from Bill Gahn writing in the American Experiment. First, let me sincerely praise the Star Tribune for committing an act of journalism. The Star Tribune reported just two months after a jury delivered guilty verdicts in the eye popping feeding our future fraud, Minnesota lawmakers voted to give state agencies. Agencies broad authority to stop payments to individuals and companies suspected of defrauding the government. They also allowed the Minnesota Department of Human Services to disclose when it is withholding payments for a company over credible allegations of fraud. But while the DHS requested the ability to disclose that information, often it won't. The Star Tribune has requested documents, documents under this authority, but it has been refused. Also from the American Experiment. Where is it? Is this it? Yes. Never mind. It's an Old story I almost aired there. I have. This is a Chicago Public Schools policy allows illegal immigrant students excused absences if they or their family members are afraid of ICE activities in the area. A document called Chicago Public Schools Attendance Coding for safety concerns related to federal representative Activity. Well, that's a long title, isn't it? Obtained by Education Watchdog. Defending Education affirms that illegal immigrant students can be marked as excused if a parent conveys to the school a fear of federal immigration authorities. So in other words, these kids never have to go to school. Never having to go to school is the only logical outcome of this because the kids can use that as an excuse for the whole year. They just don't have. They don't have to go. You do.

[Kenny Olson]

Yeah.

[Joe Soucheray]

You take your test all the time. All right. If a parent reports an absence and attributes it to fear of federal representative related procedures, schools can excuse the absence under concern for student health and safety. All right. I don't know how that's going to help the child any, but there you have it. You don't have to. You don't have to do it later in life.

[Kenny Olson]

Those are the kind of kids that when they don't show up for work, they tell their employer, employee or. I just wasn't feeling it.

[Joe Soucheray]

They just weren't feeling it.

[Rookie]

I just wasn't feeling it yesterday. Thank you, Daytron.

[Joe Soucheray]

And that dreadful, dreadful Family Leave act. We're drawing.

[Chris Reivers]

We're one month away.

[Joe Soucheray]

We're drawing closer. It takes effect January 1st. That allows 20 weeks of leave, including leave for family and medical issues. We've been through most of this before, but it should be rescinded. I can't imagine how companies will survive this. Even as well run as this state is. It seems problematic.

[Chris Reivers]

That's what we should call it. Kenny. Nailed it. The I wasn't Feeling It Act.

[Rookie]

Yeah.

[Joe Soucheray]

Right now, I did not know this. The leave. The act. The leave. I'm sorry. The leave is available for most workers, but does not cover federal employees, tribal employees, seasonal hospitality workers, independent contractors, self employed workers, postal workers, or railroad employees. Employees. It does apparently include state employees.

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah, they were going to leave themselves out of that.

[Joe Soucheray]

You have to have learned. Oh, God. You need to have earned at least $3,900 the previous year to be eligible for the leave program.

[Gabe]

Hmm.

[Chris Reivers]

3900.

[Joe Soucheray]

Are you kidding me?

[Chris Reivers]

They're going to need all that.

[Joe Soucheray]

So somebody who scratched out 3900 bucks is going to make. Well, no, because you only get your salary, don't you? I was going to say make more money going on leave, but they'll make at least as much money going on leave.

[Chris Reivers]

But as an emailer pointed out, I.

[Joe Soucheray]

Don'T think you get through the year on 3900 bucks.

[Chris Reivers]

No, but you could apply for that, take a leave of absence, but then work another gig.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, in theory. That isn't supposed to be what happens, right?

[Chris Reivers]

Okay.

[Joe Soucheray]

Okay. Yeah.

[Chris Reivers]

And no one's supposed to not be feeding kids, either.

[Joe Soucheray]

You can do this to care for yourself. Or, you know, you got a pregnancy, childbirth, health needs anyway. And we'll watch it because it's going to be what we call a cluster bleep yellow. I think. I think it will. Don't you, Matt? Only because, in fact, you have to deal. Yeah, I do.

[Kenny Olson]

Are you clearing the desk there?

[Joe Soucheray]

No. What? You know what? Do we still have the groin kick, Sounder? Yeah, well, we haven't issued a groin kick for a long time.

[Rookie]

Yeah, we really have now.

[Joe Soucheray]

I. I think based on his Meet the Press performance, old Wallsy needs a fresh groin kick.

[Rookie]

There you go. That's in the spirit of.

[Joe Soucheray]

It deserves this.

[Kenny Olson]

Yeah, that's a perfect segue for what I wanted to say, Joe.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah, I plan it that way.

[Kenny Olson]

I think we had this discussion off the air, but I want all the g o ers to know that you heard it here first. And I think I'm the only one on the staff that's saying this, but I'm predicting that Walls will not survive the month. He will be gone by January 1st.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, our young assistant then piped up and he contested that by pointing out that they might prefer to have Walls around to be the fall guys guy. And then ultimately, when they pick the his replacement, that replacement will look that much smarter than Walls. Of course, now, a stove placed in your front yard waiting to be picked up is smarter than wall.

[Rookie]

I wonder why he doesn't come on the show.

[Kenny Olson]

Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but, you know, let's go here.

[Joe Soucheray]

Dfl we've got quite the note here from the traveling Lymans. I hope they had a wonderful thing Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving Day, they cruised northeast on the Indian Ocean and crossed the equator for the second time.

[Chris Reivers]

It's like you're going to a wild game, right?

[Joe Soucheray]

They're now back in the northern Hemisphere. Saturday, they cruise the Strait of Malacca between North Sumatra and Malaysia. On Sunday, they made a port of call in Singapore. Tonight, December 1, we will depart Singapore, cruising southward on the Natuna Sea and Camarada Strait. The Katuna Sea is the north of the Camarada Strait and lies between the Riau Islands and West Kaliman Stan. It is the southernmost part of the South China Sea, the Karamata Strait. This wide strait lies to the east of both Riau and West Kalamanti. Separating Borneo from Sumatra, it connects the South China Sea and the Java Sea. This is amazing. We're all, we're, we're. I. I feel that we're on this trip. We're in the. We're with them, we're in the South China Sea every leg. And it's only because they come to us all the way from the South China Sea that we even do this bit from the traveling line. On this day, December 1st in 1850. In other words, if the Lymans ever come home to stay, this bit ends.

[Chris Reivers]

Oh, don't say that.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, yeah, this bit ends.

[Rookie]

Oh, please stay on the road.

[Joe Soucheray]

On this day in 1855, at the Washington Navy Yard, Susan L. Mann christened the steam frigate Minnesota with a bottle of Minnesota water. On April 6th of the previous year, Congress had authorized construction of this ship and coincidentally, the frigate Merrimack, rebuilt as a Confederate ironclad and renamed the Virginia, it attacked the Minnesota during the Civil War. Was on this day, December 5th in 1856. The first issue of Ignatius Donnelly's newspaper, the Emigrant Aid Journal, was published in Philadelphia. The publication encouraged recent immigrants to move to Nininger, a town Donnelly had founded on the Mississippi river downstream from St. Paul. Although 1,000 people lived there at its peak, the town eventually failed. Failed. The editor of the Immigrant aid journal was A.W. macDonald, who later edited Scientific American. Is Nininger still exist?

[Chris Reivers]

I thought it's come up before.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, it's probably on this day in history.

[Kenny Olson]

It just read that it met its demise.

[Joe Soucheray]

I know, but I mean, I wonder if, you know, somebody got a yard sign or something.

[Kenny Olson]

You know what, if anything exists, it's probably a cemetery.

[Joe Soucheray]

That's probably right.

[John Hage]

It says it's a ghost town on the Minnesota Historian.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah, but where is it?

[Kenny Olson]

Just south of St. Paul. So south St. Paul.

[Joe Soucheray]

Well, here I'm being shown it. Help me, Gabriel. Where is that?

[Gabe]

It's above Hastings.

[Joe Soucheray]

Oh, it's above Hastings.

[John Hage]

Four miles northwest of Hastings.

[Joe Soucheray]

Between here and Hastings.

[Kenny Olson]

Nice.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah. I'll be damned. On this day.

[Rookie]

Accurate.

[Joe Soucheray]

On this day, south of South St. Paul, Dec. 1 in 1860, the state's first book quality paper, manufactured at the Cutter and Secum paper mill in St. Anthony was used in the Minnesota Farmer and Gardener, an agricultural magazine. On this day, Joe, today is December in 1941. Oh, my God. Only six days from the world changing on this day in 1941, against a background of war in Europe and bitter pro and anti union activity in The Twin Cities, 18 members of the Socialist Workers Party were found guilty in Minneapolis on account of conspiring to undermine the loyalty of US Military forces and of publishing material advocating the overthrow of the government. Government. That sounds like Chug Tay and Wansley in the game, doesn't it?

[John Hage]

Really?

[Chris Reivers]

They'd be elected to the City council now.

[Joe Soucheray]

Chavez.

[Chris Reivers]

Yes.

[Joe Soucheray]

Vincent R. Dunn, a leader in Teamsters Local 544, and the other defendants were, however, found not guilty on account of seditious conspiracy to overthrow the government by force. Five more defendants, also party members, were acquitted on both accounts. On this day, December 1st in 1982, which would be 30, 40, 45 years ago.

[Chris Reivers]

43.

[John Hage]

43.

[Joe Soucheray]

43. Clement Halpers died in St. Paul in the same Ramsey Hill House in which he was born in 1900. Who? Known for developing the Minnesota State Fair arch show into a major exhibition of local work, he also led the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project in Minnesota. Throughout his career, Halpers insisted that artists should support themselves without government grants. My hero. In this vein, when asked to give art students a lecture on how to survive financially, Harold Hoppers responded, sure. That'll be $150.

[Rookie]

Please consult the.

[Joe Soucheray]

That was pretty interesting. What? Ramsey Hill House. I wonder where that is. Rook. Why don't you find out for me? On this day in Minnesota's Sports Disappointment History, December 1. Oh, what a sad day this.

[Kenny Olson]

Who did we lose to today?

[Joe Soucheray]

On this day in 1970, the Sports Facilities Commission voted 4 to 3 to build the Dome Stadium. That was the beginning of the end for me.

[Rookie]

Were those three naysayers your best buddies?

[Joe Soucheray]

They would have been at the time, yes. On this day, December 1st in 2002, Michael Vick ran to beat the Vikings in overtime.

[Chris Reivers]

Oh, yeah.

[Joe Soucheray]

I don't recall that. Yeah.

[Chris Reivers]

He put on performance.

[Joe Soucheray]

Did he?

[Chris Reivers]

Yep.

[Joe Soucheray]

For Philadelphia.

[Chris Reivers]

No, that was when he was with Atlanta.

[Joe Soucheray]

Atlanta. I see. Right before he. The guy that was fighting the dogs.

[Chris Reivers]

Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. Right before he got busted for killing all them do.

[Joe Soucheray]

Yeah.

[Rookie]

Well, is that dog fighting or cock fighting?

[Chris Reivers]

Just think, a year from yesterday, we could talk about Max Brosmer.

[Joe Soucheray]

That was a. Is Patrick out here?

[Chris Reivers]

Yes, sir.

[Joe Soucheray]

I think that'll come up today on Monday night Sports Talk.

[Chris Reivers]

I think it'll come up, too. Hey, do us a favor if you have not done so already, hit subscribe on the Garage Logic YouTube channel. That's right, we've got a YouTube channel and you can watch the show each and every single day, starting right around noon. You can also see full segments, video shorts, behind the scenes footage. It's all there for you. Just search Garagelogic on YouTube and on all of our social media channels, which includes Facebook, Instagram and X. And you can also sign up for the Daily Logician. That's an email that comes right to your inbox each and every single day, and it includes the most recent episode of the podcast. Find out more and sign up [e-mail].