Month: May 2020

A former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) claims House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s coronavirus relief package exploits the pandemic to push a progressive agenda.

“Nancy Pelosi and her party, they are taking advantage of this crisis to push a radical agenda. Look, she wants to use our taxpayer’s money to reward illegal behavior,” said Tom Homan on Fox News Thursday. Homan led ICE early on in the Trump administration.

Commentary: The Indispensable American Family

In August 1884, Washington Gladden, possibly the most famous Christian preacher in the America of his day, wrote an article in The Century Magazine on “Three Dangers” besetting the welfare of the nation he loved. Of the first and third dangers he named, intemperance and gambling, I have little to say here. I will note that Dr. Gladden concedes that alcohol may be used well, even for conviviality, though he himself did not drink.

Biden Must Agree to ‘Independent And Nonpartisan Investigation’ Now That He Wants Voters to Assess Tara Reade’s Accusation, Reade’s Attorney Says

2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden must agree to an “independent and nonpartisan investigation” now that he wants voters to assess Tara Reade’s allegations against him, her attorney told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Friday.

Attorney Douglas Wigdor renewed calls for an investigation the morning after Biden said that voters should choose between voting for him and believing Reade, who accused him of sexually assaulting her when she worked for him as a Senate staffer in 1993. Biden has repeatedly denied this allegation.

Nationwide, Feds Find Cozy Connections Between China and University Professors

The Chinese Virus began infiltrating the United States in early 2020, but the communist country already had a foot in the door well before then.

In the last year, Campus Reform has covered multiple instances of U.S. law enforcement officials charging professors and students with lying about their ties to China while conducting U.S.-funded research and even attempting to smuggle U.S.-funded researched to China.

Commentary: Rigid Lockdowns vs. Relative Freedom

In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper has adopted the policy premise that anything done in the name of safety from the coronavirus trumps all other interests, including economic, religious, or other health considerations. Despite comparatively low numbers in the Tar Heel state, the ninth most populous state in the United States, and with no evidence of the healthcare system being overwhelmed, North Carolina has been in full lockdown for over a month.

Music Spotlight: Brian Callihan

May 17, 2020May 16, 2020 Bethany Bowman

Born and raised on a small farm in South Georgia, Brian Callihan was your typical country boy as he hunted and played baseball and football. However, he found his true passion when he started listening to Keith Whitley.

Callihan said when he was around 10 or 11 years old he got a “Keith Whitley’s Greatest Hits for Christmas,” which was his dad’s favorite singer.

Loeffler Turns Over Documents to SEC, DOJ Over Stock-Trading

Republican Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler has turned over documents related to controversy over her stock-trading to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice and the Senate Ethics Committee, according to Politico.

The documents she submitted show that both she and her husband Jeffry Sprecher “acted entirely appropriately and observed both the letter and the spirit of the law,” a spokeswoman for Loeffler said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

ICE Program Collects DNA Samples of Illegal Aliens

A division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun collecting DNA samples of illegal aliens in its custody and storing the information in a national database.

ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations launched a pilot program earlier in May in Dallas, Texas, that collects the DNA samples of individuals arrested and placed into its custody, the agency confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation on Friday. The launch of the pilot program followed backlash from critics who chastised the agency for not implementing it sooner.

Pakistani Doctor Indicted on Charges of Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS

May 17, 2020May 16, 2020 Jordyn Pair

A man in Minnesota has been indicted by a federal grand jury on an attempt to provide a terrorist organization with material support, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.

Muhammad Masood has been charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Initially, the 28-year-old Pakistani national was charged in a criminal complaint in March, 2020.

National Guard Deployed to Nursing Homes, as Senator Housley Suggested

Senator Karin Housley has been pushing for testing in nursing homes and on May 14 the National Guard was rolled out.

National Guard workers are currently assigned to help test people. According to KNSI radio, the Guards are trained medics, and many of them work clinical jobs. The Governors of Pennsylvania, Colorado, California, Maryland, Georgia, and Florida had all deployed the national guard by late April.

Commentary: The Intolerant, Ingrate Left Wants Christians to Stop Helping COVID-19 Victims

Just as soon as the Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse came to the aid of overwhelmed New York City officials and sick residents struggling to combat the effects of COVID-19, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson decided the diverse, “tolerant,” progressive city had enough of its assistance, due to its Christian foundation, and effectively kicked the charity out.

While it’s usually Christians who are scolded for their so-called intolerant beliefs that are rooted in centuries-old religious traditions, here it seems like it’s progressives who aren’t so tolerant of other people embracing views that are different than theirs—even if those very views inform their acts of charity and medical care.

Poll: 40 percent of Americans More Likely to Home-School, Enroll Children in Virtual Schools After Lockdown

A new RealClear Opinion Research poll of 2,122 registered voters found that a strong majority surveyed support school choice and 40 percent are more likely to pursue homeschooling opportunities after COVID-19 restrictions end.

Slightly more than 40 percent polled said they are more likely to home school or virtual school after lockdowns. Before the coronavirus shutdown, roughly 4 percent of K-12 students were in home education settings.

Google Employees Blame Conservative Backlash for Canceled Racial Justice Program

Google acknowledged nixing an internal racial justice program Wednesday, and some employees believe the company did it fearing lawsuits from “right-wing employees,” according to an NBC News report.

The company ended Sojourn in 2019, claiming the program designed to teach about racial injustice was too difficult to expand beyond the United States, NBC News reported Wednesday. Current and former employees, however, told NBC the program ended because Google feared backlash in the wake of former software engineer James Damore’s 2018 lawsuit that accused the company of ideological discrimination.

Montgomery County Sued For Doling Out Coronavirus Money to Illegal Aliens

Montgomery County, Maryland, a sanctuary jurisdiction that garnered national attention in 2019 for a string of alleged rapes by illegal aliens, is being sued for allotting millions in coronavirus relief funds to its undocumented community.

Two residents in Montgomery County sued county executive Marc Elrich, a Democrat, and the director of the Department of Health and Human Services for green-lighting a program that provides direct financial assistance to illegal aliens who live in the county, but are not eligible for any federal or state relief, according to The Washington Post.

Facebook Offers $100K for Developers Who Create AI to Police ‘Hateful Memes’

May 16, 2020May 15, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

Facebook is working to set up an AI meme police.

The social media behemoth said it is creating a contest with a $100,000 prize to encourage developers to create artificial intelligence that can “identify multimodal hate speech.”

PBS Stations That Received Millions in Federal Funds Partnered with Chinese Foreign Agent on Pro-Beijing Film

PBS affiliates that receive millions of dollars in federal funding each year are airing a pro-Beijing documentary produced in conjunction with CGTN, a Chinese-government controlled media outlet that is registered as a foreign agent with the Justice Department.

The film, “Voices from the Frontline: China’s War on Poverty,” did not disclose CGTN’s links to the Chinese government. Nor did it detail the ties that the film’s producer, Robert Lawrence Kuhn, has to Chinese officials and the government’s State Council Information Office, which specializes in foreign propaganda.

Minnesota Citizens Protest Shutdown Again Outside Govs’s Mansion

May 16, 2020May 17, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

Hundreds of protestors congregated in front of Governor Tim Walz’s executive mansion, Thursday, to protest Minnesota’s thrice extended economic shutdowns.

The demonstration began around noon, as concerned citizens lined the street outside the governor’s mansion holding protest signs and flags as vehicles adorned with anti-shutdown messages drove slowly down Summit Avenue in St. Paul. Those in attendance aimed to express their displeasure with how Walz has handled Minnesota’s COVID-19 response.

New York Admits Knowingly Undercounting Nursing Home Deaths After Quietly Changing Reporting Rules

May 15, 2020May 15, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

New York has omitted an unknown number of coronavirus deaths in recent reports regarding residents of nursing home and adult care facilities, the New York State Department of Health acknowledged in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

In early May, those reports quietly began omitting long-term care residents who died of coronavirus in hospitals. Even so, New York still leads the nation with 5,433 reported deaths at nursing homes and adult care facilities as of Wednesday.

More Than 40,000 File for Unemployment in Minnesota, State Totals Nearly 700,000

May 15, 2020May 14, 2020 Jordyn Pair

More than 40,000 filed for unemployment insurance in Minnesota, bringing the state total to nearly 700,000, according to recent data.

Data from the U.S. Department of Labor showed that 40,427 people filed for unemployment insurance benefits in the week ending May 9. That number is down a little more than 1,000 applicants from the week prior.

Commentary: Borders and Taking Care of Our Own

One of my favorite short stories is “The Lame Shall Enter First” by Flannery O’Connor. The plot centers on a young, atheist widower who takes in a violent teenage orphan and attempts to reform him. Neglecting his own young and motherless son, the widower focuses all his love and attention on the delinquent teen, even blinding himself to certain crimes the teen commits.

As is common in O’Connor’s work, the ending is gut-wrenching, with the father realizing his neglectful behavior too late as his son commits suicide.

GOP Lawmaker Breaks Ranks, Will Vote for Pelosi’s Coronavirus Package

An outgoing Republican lawmaker says he will buck his party to vote for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s coronavirus stimulus package, a bill that includes a slate of progressive measures.

New York Rep. Peter King told to The Hill Wednesday that he plans to vote for House Democrats’s HEROES Act, a $3 trillion relief package for Americans suffering financially from the coronavirus pandemic. The bill has been criticized by some Republicans as a “liberal wishlist” that has no chance of passing.

Trump Plans to Keep Borders Closed Until Coronavirus Isn’t a Threat: Report

The Trump administration is preparing an order that will extend current border restrictions indefinitely, until a top public health official declares the novel coronavirus is no longer a threat, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The White House plans to keep border restrictions in place until it decides the coronavirus outbreak is not a significant threat to the public anymore, according to a draft of a public health order obtained by the NYT. If such an order is implemented, it would remove any concrete timetable to open up the U.S.-Mexico border to non-essential traffic.

U.S. Sen. Burr Steps Down from Senate Intelligence Committee Chairmanship

A day after his cellphone was seized by federal agents as part of an FBI investigation into insider trading, North Carolina U.S. Sen. Richard Burr is leaving his position as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“Senator Burr contacted me this morning to inform me of his decision to step aside as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee during the pendency of the investigation,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said in a statement. “We agreed that this decision would be in the best interests of the committee and will be effective at the end of the day tomorrow.”

Confirmed: China Pressured WHO Against Declaring Coronavirus Global Health Emergency

China pressured the World Health Organization (WHO) against declaring the coronavirus pandemic a global health emergency, a senior U.S. intelligence official told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

That official’s account confirms aspects of Newsweek’s reporting, which cited a CIA report stating that China urged the WHO not to declare the pandemic a global health emergency.

Bezos Could Become World’s First Trillionaire as Amazon Rakes in Cash During Pandemic, Research Shows

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is expected to ride the wave of business his company is collecting during the coronavirus pandemic to become the world’s first trillionaire, research shows.

Bezos’s net worth has grown by 34% on average over the past half decade, which could make him a trillionaire, according to an analysis from Comparisun, a platform that helps companies create business management tools. Along with creating marketing tools, the company also conducts studies forecasting what will happen in the business sector, Comparisun’s website noted.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down Evers’ Safer-at-Home Restrictions

A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ extended safer at home order Wednesday, siding with Republicans who claimed the governor overstepped his authority when his administration extended restrictions on individuals and businesses through May 26.

In the 4-3 decision, all but one of the court’s conservative members ruled that the Evers’ administration does not have the legal power to continuously extend restrictions in the name of trying to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Commentary: Senate Should Adopt Sen. Rand Paul Amendment to Ensure FISA Abuse Never Happens Again

Reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is once again up for consideration and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has an amendment to fix it — and is urging President Donald Trump to veto the renewal legislation if the Senate doesn’t adopt it.

What makes the Paul amendment unique — and why it must be adopted — as summarized by Lawfareblog.com is that it would “require that electronic surveillance, use of a pen register or trap-and-trace device, production of tangible things, or targeting of U.S. persons for information can be done only pursuant to a warrant issued by a non-FISA federal court and only under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.”

Lewis Says Any Politician Who Purports to Represent the People Can’t ‘Deny Them Their God-Given Right to Earn a Living’

May 15, 2020July 9, 2020 Anthony Gockowski

There’s no “pandemic exception” to the Bill of Rights, Republican Senate candidate Jason Lewis told The Minnesota Sun in a recent interview. That’s the same argument U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr made in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt. “We have three branches of government, and allowing the…

Minnesota Organization for Retired Americans Sue To Keep Voting Rights for Quarantined Residents

May 15, 2020May 14, 2020 Jordyn Pair

The Minnesota Alliance for Retired American Educational Fund, along with three of its members, filed a lawsuit to protect voting rights of those who may be self-quarantining without a legal adult.

The lawsuit alleges that those who are quarantining alone — or without a voting-age member of the household — essentially lose their ability to cast a vote, as mail-in absentee ballots require a witness signature.

Nearly Three Million New Unemployment Claims Drives Two-Month Total to More Than 36 Million

May 14, 2020May 14, 2020 Minnesota Sun Staff

New jobless claims continued their COVID-19 surge last week, driving the total number of those filing for unemployment benefits to more than 36 million over the past two months.

Even as many states across the country began easing restrictions and slowly reopening their economies, 2.98 million Americans filed for new unemployment benefits for the week ending May 9, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Jason Lewis Says Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar Have Made a Mockery of #MeToo Movement

May 14, 2020May 14, 2020 Anthony Gockowski

Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith have made a mockery of the #MeToo Movement by remaining silent in the face of sexual assault accusations against former Vice President Joe Biden, Senate candidate Jason Lewis said.

Commentary: After COVID-19, Bring on Limited Government and More Freedom

It is time for transformative change…towards limited government and more freedom

Out with the old, in with the new.

Judge Orders Paul Manafort Released from Prison to Home Confinement

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to be released from prison to home confinement amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

Manafort, 71, is serving a seven-year prison sentence on fraud and money-laundering charges. He was convicted in August 2018, sentenced to jail in March 2019 and scheduled to be released on Nov. 4, 2024.

Data Show Michigan Residents Are Defying Gov. Whitmer’s Stay-at-Home Orders

Michigan residents went out more last week, according to cell phone data reported by The New York Times, even as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer continues to push her stay-at-home executive orders during the coronavirus pandemic.

Approximately one million more people began to move around the state between May 1 and MAy 8, to move around the state again, The NYT reported.

Commentary: China’s Electrifying Rags-to-Riches Ascent – at America’s Expense

A friend of mine who traveled China from the 1970s until recently described what the country was like 30 years ago:

Its cities were sprawling, impoverished places with dirt roads and low-rise structures. With few automobiles in the country back then, the Chinese people got around mostly by rickshaws and bicycles. The country had only a few tall buildings and just two sizable airports, in Beijing, its capital, and Shanghai, its financial center. China had no modern highways, bridges or high-speed rails, and the only trains that traversed the country were pulled by antiquated steam engines.

Gov. Tim Walz Signs Six Bills, Skips Mail-in Election Bill

May 14, 2020May 13, 2020 Jordyn Pair

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed six bills into law on Tuesday on legislative topics ranging from health to underage marriage.

One law extends the funding used to increase testing capacity for the coronavirus pandemic, as well as ensure there are hospital beds and personal protective equipment. Another requires drug makers to provide a “detailed rationale to the state” for large price increases for drugs that cost $100 or more for a 30-day supply. A third prohibits marriage by residents in the state under age 18.

University of Minnesota Students File Civil Rights Complaint Against School Alleging Misuse of Student Fees

Two students filed a civil rights complaint against the University of Minnesota for misuse of student fees and “worship[ing] the great god of political correctness.” Along with a student group called Viewpoint Neutrality Now!, students Evan Smith and Isaac Smith claim student fees being used to fund nine cultural centers in Coffman Union with subsidized space is unconstitutional, reported the Minnesota Daily.

Viewpoint Neutrality Now! is not officially recognized as a campus organization at UMN, but it is an association of students who pay student fees and “support and advocate for viewpoint neutrality and other reforms.” The students say that the current system has offered “preferential treatment” to nine cultural groups receiving student fees in that they are offered free lounge space in the student union.

Democrats’ $3 Trillion ‘Relief’ Package Declared Dead-on-Arrival, Republicans Say

A new Democratic bill proposed by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), without input from Republicans or the Trump administration is “dead on arrival,” top Republican leaders say.

The White House has said it wants to wait and see how the $3 trillion Congress already allocated will impact the economy and help Americans suffering from the economic shutdown due to the coronavirus.

Emory Professor Xiao-Jiang Li Admits to Chinese Spy Ring Involvement

A former professor at Emory University pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns by failing to disclose $500,000 in income from Chinese sources.

The professor, Xiao-Jiang Li, worked at two Chinese universities as part of China’s Thousand Talents Program, according to the Department of Justice. Li was ordered to pay $35,089 in restitution and sentenced to one-year probation.

Facebook Is Giving $1,000 to Content Moderators Who Said Online Trolls Turned Them into Conspiracy Theorists