Day: January 15, 2021

New Jobless Claims Spike to 965,000, Economists Expected 800,000

Minnesota Sun Staff

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims increased to 965,000 last week as the economy continued to suffer the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) figure released Thursday represented a increase in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending Jan. 9, in which there were 787,000 new jobless claims reported. Roughly 18.4 million Americans continue to collect unemployment benefits, according to the BLS report Thursday.

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Commentary: Impeachment Is Not Just About Removing President Trump—It’s About Canceling You

Minnesota Sun Staff

The House has voted to once again impeach President Donald Trump, charging him with incitement of insurrection. The single article of impeachment states the President “willfully made statements that, in context, encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — lawless action at the Capitol.”

President Trump did nothing of the sort, but the facts do not matter to the House.

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Cotton, Senators Demand SBA Stop Planned Parenthood’s ‘Naked Attempts to Defraud’ Government Through PPP Loans

Minnesota Sun Staff

Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton is leading lawmakers in calling on the Small Business Administration (SBA) to investigate alleged illegal loans distributed to Planned Parenthood affiliates, according to a letter exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Planned Parenthood affiliates are well aware that they are ineligible to receive PPP loans, on the basis of SBA’s letters and the frank admission of their political action committee” the senators wrote in a Thursday letter to SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza. “Their attempts to apply for PPP loans are naked attempts to defraud the United States government.”

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MIT Professor Who Received $19 Million in Federal Grants Is Charged Over Undisclosed Ties to China

Minnesota Sun Staff

A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has received nearly $20 million in grants from the Department of Energy was arrested Thursday on charges that he failed to disclose ties to the People’s Republic of China.

According to prosecutors, Gang Chen, a mechanical engineering professor at MIT, has held various positions on behalf of the PRC aimed at promoting China’s technological and scientific capabilities.

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Commentary: Vote to Impeach Imperils Liz Cheney’s GOP Leadership Role

Minnesota Sun Staff

Among the 232 votes in the House of Representatives to impeach Donald Trump a second time were 10 cast by Republicans — and now the GOP has a messy church fight on its hands. That’s  because one of the 10 breaking ranks was Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who chairs the GOP conference. The immediate question for House Republicans is whether Cheney should remain in that post after voting to impeach Trump. But this is a proxy fight. The broader question is whether Trump populism ought to remain Republican Party orthodoxy.

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Young Americans for Liberty Fires President Amid Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Young Americans for Liberty announced Wednesday that the organization has terminated its former President Cliff Maloney “effective immediately” following allegations of sexual misconduct.

“Losing the confidence of the board, YAL staff, and key stakeholders makes the ability to lead impossible and this action necessary,” the organization said in a statement.

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Woman Charged for Plans to Smuggle Chinese Nationals into U.S. for Financial Gain

Minnesota Sun Staff

A Nevada woman was arrested and charged in connection with a scheme spanning several years to commit fraud and launder money to smuggle Chinese nationals into the U.S, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

Haiyan Liao, 43, was charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud, money laundering conspiracy and to illegally smuggle Chinese nationals into the U.S. for financial gain, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

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Martha Boneta Commentary: Beginning to Look Like Time to Invent Another Internet

Minnesota Sun Staff

Tim Berners-Lee, the man who invented the Internet, says he is fed up with what it has become and he’s taking action to fix it.  

He has expressed frustration for years with how major corporations have taken what was supposed to a free environment and restricted in a variety of ways. He doesn’t like the way Facebook, Google and Amazon have centralized it and he especially doesn’t like how they control the data of almost all Americans.  

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Minnesota Group Sues USA Powerlifting for Banning Trans Athlete

Minnesota Sun Staff

Gender Justice, a Minnesota-based gender equality organization, is fighting alongside a transgender athlete in a Ramsey County lawsuit against USA Powerlifting.

JayCee Cooper, a transgender powerlifting athlete from Minneapolis, is suing USA Powerlifting and USA Powerlifting Minnesota, with the help of Gender Justice and attorney Nicholas Kaster.

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