May 17, 2021 - The Minnesota Sun

Joel Greenberg, Matt Gaetz ‘Wingman’, Pleads Guilty in Sex Trafficking Case

May 17, 2021May 18, 2021 Admin

As expected, Joel Greenberg, the former elected tax collector in Seminole County (near Orlando) and friend and ally of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, plead guilty on Monday to federal charges. The charges included sex trafficking a minor, ID theft, stalking and fraud. Greenberg reached a deal with federal officials which cut the original 33 charges to six, but is still facing the mandatory minimum prison sentence of 12 years. Greenberg has agreed to “cooperate fully” with federal prosecutors.

Now the focus will turn to Gaetz.

University Research Finds AOC, Bernie Sanders Highly Ineffective

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are some of the least effective members of Congress, according to a new study by researchers from Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia.

The researchers, who generated their data using computers and basing their scores on 15 criteria, say the proof is in the math.

Their equations factored how many of a congressman’s bills pass committee, make it to the other house, and eventually become law. They established a benchmark score of 1.5 and above as “Exceptional” and scores of .50 and below as “Below Expectations.”

Commentary: Raising the Minimum Wage Is Not the Answer

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

If Joe Biden gets his way, the federal minimum wage will soon more than double, from the current $7.25 to $15 per hour. To quote our commander in chief, “if you work for less than $15 an hour and work 40 hours a week, you’re living in poverty.”

To rehash the minimum wage debate would be redundant. Anyone with business experience should see what’s going to happen. Many small independent businesses, retail stores, and restaurants that pay minimum wage will go under.

Meanwhile, major corporate chains will automate, shedding workers and raising prices, consolidating their grip on every market sector where they’re active. Unionized government workers will automatically get raises because their wages are indexed to the minimum wage—putting even more pressure on government budgets and taxpayers. People in the private sector who have spent decades learning a skill—and as a result can command wages upwards of $25 or $30 an hour—will become justifiably disgruntled, because they will no longer be making much more than minimum wage. The underground economy will explode.

Border Patrol Announces Seizure of $7 Million Worth of Counterfeit Apple Airpods

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

U.S. Customs and Border Protection this week announced that it had discovered and seized tens of thousands of counterfeit Apple Airpods, a bust the agency said was likely worth around $7 million.

CBP officials earlier this month “inspected three large shipments from China and found what appeared to be tens of thousands of earbuds in violation of Apple’s protected configurations,” the agency said in a press release.

“Each shipment contained 12,000 fake AirPods, for a total of 36,000,” the press release stated. “Although each package had a declared value of $5,280, the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price for all the AirPods would have been $7.16 million had they been genuine.” The bogus products were bound for a Kentucky address.

Biden Facing Increased Calls to Take Action on Border Crisis, Including Dumping His ‘Border Czar’ Kamala Harris

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Joe Biden is facing increasing calls from Republicans as well as Democrats to deal with the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, including dumping his ineffective “border czar’ Kamala Harris.

In a letter to Biden this week, the attorney general of Arizona called for Kamala Harris to fired from the position due to her “absolutely abysmal” performance in the role.

“Her response to the border crisis has been absolutely abysmal, so I am requesting that she be replaced as your ‘border czar,’” AZ Attorney General Mark Brnovich wrote in his letter.

2021 Set to See More Police Officers Shot in the Line of Duty than 2020

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Halfway through the month of May, the year 2021 has currently seen 106 police officers wounded in the line of duty, with 23 killed, as reported by Fox News.

A statement from the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) on Thursday said that these numbers are indicative of grim trends for the remainder of the year, which is “on pace to surpass last year’s historic numbers” of officers killed and wounded in the line of duty.

Of the 106 wounded, 27 were deliberately targeted in 22 different attacks that were carried out like ambushes. Since Monday of this week, which marked the beginning of National Police Week, six officers have been shot while on duty.

CDC Tells Schools to Keep Students in Masks

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Student on campus wearing a mask outside.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told schools nationwide on Saturday they should plan to keep students in masks because of the limited vaccinations of children.

“CDC recommends schools continue to use the current COVID-19 prevention strategies for the 2020-2021 school year,” the agency said in new guidance for students issued just days after it cleared vaccinated adults to ditch their masks in most instances.

“All schools should implement and layer prevention strategies and should prioritize universal and correct use of masks and physical distancing,” it added.

Biden Admin Scrambling to Figure out How Migrant Children Were Left on Buses Overnight Outside Federal Facility

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Biden administration officials are investigating reports of unaccompanied migrant minors spending nights on buses outside a federal holding facility in Dallas, Texas, NBC News reported Thursday.

Migrant children are sleeping, eating and using the restroom on buses outside the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, sometimes for days, according to NBC News.

“This is completely unacceptable,” Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said, NBC News reported. “We’re quickly investigating this to get to the bottom of what happened, and we’ll work to make sure this never happens again. The safety and well-being of the children is our priority.”

A 15-year-old migrant, Joel, made the journey from Honduras to reunite with his mother and was left on a bus from Saturday until the bus departed on its way to Seattle, Washington, on Wednesday, NBC News reported. His mother, Doris, said an HHS employee told them Joel would arrive Monday despite the bus remaining in Dallas.

Commentary: The World Health Organization Endorses Lockdowns Forever

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 RealClearWire

The last 14 months elevated a global group of intellectuals and bureaucrats about which most people had previously cared very little. Among them, the ones who believe least in freedom entrenched their power, thanks to a big push by the lavishly funded but largely discredited World Health Organization.

The WHO tapped an “independent panel” (the fix was already in: the panel’s head is former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark) to figure out what the world did right and did wrong in response to Covid-19. The final report has all the expected verbiage about the needs for more global coordination and largesse going to public health.

The key conclusion follows:

“Every country should apply non-pharmaceutical measures systematically and rigorously at the scale the epidemiological situation requires, with an explicit evidence-based strategy agreed at the highest level of government…”

House GOP Members Want Answers on January 6 Probe

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Representatives Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) asked for information about the Justice Department’s abusive investigation into January 6.

“Those that damaged property and assaulted police officers on January 6th should rightfully face justice,” the pair wrote in a letter sent May 14. “However, the public outcry and hyper-politicization of the events on January 6th may incentivize prosecutors to use overly aggressive tactics, overcharge, and abuse the power of the federal government in order to satisfy favored political groups.”

Roy and Massie asked Garland to schedule a briefing with Congress before the end of the month to address several concerns, including how plea deals are arranged, the FBI’s use of force in raiding the homes of nonviolent protesteors, and the Justice Department’s request to hold defendants behind bars pending trial. “[C]ongressional oversight of these prosecutions is essential as a check and balance on that power.”

Dozens of House GOP Reps Urge Pelosi to Drop Masking Rules Following Revised CDC Guidance

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Nearly three dozen House GOP representatives this week urged Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to formally drop the House’s strict mask mandate, citing recently updated masking guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the Friday letter, issued from the office of Ohio Rep. Bob Gibbs, 34 Republicans “urge[d] [Pelosi] to immediately return to normal voting procedures and end mandatory mask requirements in the House of Representatives.”

“CDC guidance states fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting except where required by governmental or workplace mandate,” the letter declares. “It is time to update our own workplace regulations. Every member of Congress has had the opportunity to be vaccinated, and you have indicated about 75 percent have taken advantage of this opportunity.”

Commentary: Biden’s Union Agenda Betrays American Workers

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Man in safety vest, working during the day.

The consequences of Democratic control of Congress and the White House are just beginning to be felt, as one of the most disruptive pieces of legislation in American history quietly moves from the House of Representatives to the Senate, where only a successful filibuster may prevent its passage. H.R. 842, also known as the Protect the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) goes a long way towards completing America’s transition into a corporate oligarchy. Because it will also make the elite captains of big labor more powerful than ever, they don’t care.

The PRO Act, like the more visible H.R. 1, is an example of disastrous legislation that is packaged and labeled as advancing the interests of the American worker, when in fact they are designed by special interests to destroy democracy and deny upward mobility. The new operative theme is simple and tragic: in America, big labor, big business, and big government no longer engage in healthy conflict. Rather than checking and balancing each other, on the biggest issues they display a corrupt unity.

Here are some of the provisions of the PRO Act:

Analysis: Biden’s Spending Could Become A Hidden Tax On Everything

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

As the U.S. climbs out of a once-in-a-century pandemic, rising prices have led to increasing worry that rapid inflation could be just over the horizon.

Americans have already witnessed higher prices in the past few months, with everything from gasoline to lumber to basic home items jumping in cost. The increases, partially fueled by non-existent interest rates and record government spending, could lead to inflation that the U.S. has not seen in decades, experts say.

“In the short term, consumers can expect to see rising prices across the board,” Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a columnist at The Washington Post, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “I expect in the next few months people will be getting sticker shocked in virtually all aspects of their life.”

Commentary: The List of Contraband Symbolism, Political Views, and Speech Will Grow

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Outside Christie’s home in upstate New York, nestled beneath a tree near her driveway, sits a small rock painted with a Confederate flag that could cost her the custody of her little girl.

In a row between parents identified only as Christie and Isaiah, the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court’s Third Department unanimously allowed the pair to retain joint custody of their biracial child but ordered the mother to remove the rebel rock by June 1. Failing that, the court ruled the rock’s “continued presence shall constitute a change in circumstances.”

Put plainly, the bench threatened to revisit parents’ custody agreement and warned: “Family Court shall factor this into any future best interests analysis.”

Law Enforcement Officers Fired for Inaction in Parkland Shooting Get Jobs Back, Vacation Pay

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Two of the police officers who lost their jobs over inaction during the deadliest school shooting in American history have gotten their jobs back, with back and vacation pay.

Arbitrators reinstated them and could do the same for a third officer as well. Federal Judge Keathan Frink affirmed the arbitrators’ decisions in a May 13 ruling, the Associated Press reports.

Broward County deputies Brian Miller and Joshua Stambaugh were among the police who responded to a February 14, 2018 mass school shooting report at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Minneapolis First-Responder Settlements Could Top $35 Million, Attorney Says

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 The Center Square

Protest in street with sign that reads"I CAN'T BREATHE. SAY HIS NAME! George Floyd"

The true cost of the riots after the death of George Floyd in police custody is starting to pile up on taxpayers.

This fallout could leave the Minneapolis Police Department short-staffed.

Minneapolis city leaders have begun signing large workers’ compensation packages for dozens of departing police officers, Fox 9 reports.