Day: August 29, 2021

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Promoted Activist Who Defended Alleged Sexual Predators

Minnesota Sun Staff
Winona LaDuke

The Minnesota House DFL modified its announcement of a women’s equality event after originally promoting an anti-pipeline activist with a history of allegedly covering up and defending accused sexual predators.

An event for Women’s Equality Day hosted by Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman was promoted with graphics displaying various levels of “sponsorship” named after prominent women in history, like Maya Angelou and Shirley Chisholm.

One of the women promoted in the original graphic was Winona LaDuke, a leading anti-Line 3 pipeline activist who has defended child abusers.

Read More

Commentary: Christian Schools Vastly Outperforming Public Schools During COVID-19, According to New Survey of Parents

RealClearWire

Among last year’s other lessons, none may be more important than this: Our taxpayer-funded education establishment cares more about adults than children.

Consider the evidence: public school union bosses pressured officials to close schools and keep them shuttered beyond what medical authorities recommended. In spite of the obvious harm to children of school closures, unions throughout the country lobbed threats and issued demands. In Chicago, the union went so far as to sue the Mayor to keep schools closed; in San Francisco, the city had to sue its school board.

A public education system that failed to do right by our children has kept union bosses empowered and politicians cowed. Thankfully, our country offers an alternative—one that proved its mettle this past year. In a recent survey of public school and Christian school parents, the Herzog Foundation found that parents of children who attended a Christian school were vastly more satisfied with their school experience.

Read More

Border Officials Are So Overwhelmed They’re Struggling to Verify Whether Illegal Migrants Are Adults or Minors

Minnesota Sun Staff
border surge

MCALLEN, Texas — Customs and Border Protection agents are so overwhelmed with the number of migrants arriving at the southern border they’re having a hard time verifying whether some illegal migrants are minors or adults, agents told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Tuesday.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials are supposed to conduct extensive interviews with migrants they suspect of lying about their age, a senior agent told the DCNF. The agents spoke to the DCNF on the condition of anonymity since they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

“In the past, our intelligence would interview these subjects until eventually getting them to admit they had falsely claimed to be minors. But now with the sheer volume of people coming in and people that we have to process and move, that part of the equation is just a hindrance and would create a bottleneck,” the senior CBP agent told the DCNF. “In other words, our processing machine has now switched gears to quantity over quality. Sad.”

Read More

Commentary: Who Are the Americans Stuck in Afghanistan?

Minnesota Sun Staff

Having met a number of global traveler-types, I was surprised some years ago when I heard American citizenship described in very unromantic, mercantile terms. The most common expression was, “It’s a good passport to have.”

For blood and soil Americans, citizenship is something entirely different. After all, two-thirds of Americans do not even have a passport. Rather, this nation is who we are. It is mom, apple pie, Main Street, the English language, our ancestors, our only political loyalty, and our destiny. Unlike globe-trotting “citizens of the world,” we are not just passing through.

Read More

January 6 Committee Demands 15 Social Media Companies Hand over Records, Documents Tied to Capitol Riot

Minnesota Sun Staff

The House committee probing the Jan. 6 riots is demanding over a dozen social media companies hand over extensive records related to the events at the Capitol.

The Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot sent letters dated Aug. 26 to Facebook, Google, Twitter, YouTube and Reddit, along with Parler, TikTok, 4chan and seven other social media platforms asking them to provide all documents, data and other information related to the Capitol riot since April 2020.

Read More

Marine from St. Louis Area Identified Among Those Killed in Kabul Attack

Minnesota Sun Staff

A Marine who was killed in Thursday’s terrorist attacks in Kabul has been identified as a 20-year-old man from St. Louis, his father told local affiliate KMOX.

Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz is one of 13 marines who lost their lives in Thursday’s ISIS-K terror attacks at Kabul airport, his father Mark confirmed to St. Louis’ KMOX Friday. Schmitz was notified early Friday morning that his son had died.

Read More

Report: Wisconsin Lost Track of 82,000 Ballots in State Biden Won by 20,000

Minnesota Sun Staff

Wisconsin lost track of more than 82,000 mail-in ballots cast in the state in the November 2020 elections—more than four times the margin of difference separating the two presidential candidates in the state, according to a report by the nonprofit Public Interest Legal Foundation.  

The legal foundation, an election integrity watchdog group, released a research brief Friday looking at one of the most closely contested states in the 2020 presidential election. 

However, the Wisconsin Elections Commission disputes those findings, as the commission spokesman said the report “mischaracterizes election systems and cherry-picks data,” adding, it is “unreliable and frankly, it’s sloppy work.” 

Read More

Biden’s Education Department Won’t Enforce a Key Due Process Protection for Students Accused of Sexual Assault

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Department of Education announced it would stop enforcing a Trump administration rule designed to protect those accused of sexual assault on college campuses.

A district court in Massachusetts upheld most of the Title IX 2020 amendments in a July ruling, maintaining new regulations related to public institutions managing allegations of harassment, assault, violence, and more. Although, the court struck down one procedural regulation related to what evidence a “Decision-Maker,” or the employee who is designated to adjudicate the case, may consider in making rulings.

Following the court ruling and a letter from the Department of Education on Tuesday, the chosen adjudicator can now consider emails and texts between the parties and witnesses, police reports and medical reports, regardless of cross-examination status at the live hearing.

Read More

‘I’ll Make a Decision’: Justice Breyer Weighs in on His Potential Retirement

Minnesota Sun Staff

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer remains undecided about retirement plans, saying in an interview published Friday that there are “many considerations” playing a part in his eventual decision.

Breyer, 83, is the oldest member of the court, and he has yet to decide when to retire, despite increasing pressure from activists to retire immediately.

Read More

Pediatricians Sue Biden Administration for Requiring Doctors to Perform Trans Surgeries Against Beliefs

Minnesota Sun Staff

Medical professionals are suing President Joe Biden’s administration over a mandate requiring doctors to perform transgender surgeries in violation of their religious beliefs or medical judgement.

Represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, the American College of Pediatricians, the Catholic Medical Association and an OB-GYN doctor specializing in adolescent care filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga Thursday against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Read More

Harvard Selects an Atheist for Chief University Chaplain

Minnesota Sun Staff

Harvard University has selected a man who does not believe in God to be the school’s chief chaplain.

Chief Chaplain Greg Epstein is the author of “Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe.” He also serves as Harvard’s Humanist Chaplain, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) humanist chaplain, and as Convener for Ethical Life at the MIT Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life.

Read More

San Diego Border Patrol Encounters 7,300 Brazilian Nationals, a 2,200 Percent Increase in One Year

The Center Square

Since Oct. 1, 2020, San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents have apprehended more than 7,300 Brazilian nationals, an increase of more than 2,200% from the prior fiscal year. In all of fiscal 2020, 330 Brazilian nationals were apprehended, the sector reports.

Every month since April 2021, San Diego Border Patrol has encountered more than 1,000 Brazilian nationals who enter the U.S. illegally. In fiscal 2020, the sector apprehended six, the agency states.

Read More

Governor Bill Lee ‘Heartbroken’ on Death of East Tennessee Soldier Killed in Afghanistan Terrorist Attack

Chris Butler

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee commented Saturday evening on the death of Ryan Knauss, an East Tennessean who was one of the 13 American service members killed in a deadly terrorist attack in Kabul, Afghanistan last week “Maria and I are heartbroken and mourning the loss of U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ryan Knauss, a Tennessean who was killed in the tragic terrorist attack on Kabul. On behalf of all Tennesseans, we offer our full support in the difficult days ahead,” Lee tweeted Saturday.

Read More

Stop Line 3 Protesters in Minnesota Unlawfully Gathered Outside of Governor’s Mansion

Hayley Feland

ST. PAUL, Minnesota – Around 150 Stop Line 3 protesters unlawfully gathered outside of the Governor’s Mansion on Saturday afternoon. The protesters blocked Summit Avenue in St. Paul where the Governor’s Mansion is located and hung signs on the surrounding fences. Other protesters blocked entrances and exits to the house, sitting with their arms linked.

Read More

Atlanta Mom Fights Segregated Classrooms at Daughter’s School

Minnesota Sun Staff

When a principal at an Atlanta public elementary school segregated students in classes based on their race, some parents supported it, says Kila Posey, mother of a student at the school.

Sharyn Briscoe, the principal of Mary Lin Elementary, who is black, segregated second-grade classes based on race in the 2020-2021 academic year, limiting black students to two classrooms to choose from while white students could choose between six different classrooms.

Read More

Thousands Gathered at Medical Freedom Rally at Minnesota State Capitol

Hayley Feland

ST. PAUL, Minnesota – Thousands gathered at a medical freedom rally on the steps of the Minnesota state capitol on Saturday. Estimates ranged from 3,000 to 5,000 participants.

Many protesters held signs saying things like “Stop the mandate” and “My body, my choice.” Others wore shirts that had phrases that stated “Health is not mandated” and “Medical freedom.”

Read More