Category: News

New Jobless Claims Decrease to 900,000, Economists Expected 925,000

Minnesota Sun Staff

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims decreased to 900,000 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 decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending Jan. 16, in which there were 965,000 new jobless claims reported. Roughly 16 million Americans continue to collect unemployment benefits, according to the BLS report Thursday.

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Top House Democrat Calls on FBI to Investigate Parler’s Financing, Possible Ties to Russia

Minnesota Sun Staff

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the Democratic chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, on Thursday called on FBI Director Christopher Wray to investigate financing for Parler, including whether the social media site has any ties to Russia.

Part of Maloney’s rationale for investigating Parler’s links to Russia is that the social media site’s CEO, John Matze, founded the company shortly after traveling to Russia with his wife, who is Russian.

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FBI Feared Foreign Power Was Targeting Money to Clinton Before 2016 Campaign, Memos Show

Minnesota Sun Staff

FBI agents opened an investigation in late 2014 into a foreign power’s effort to curry influence with Hillary Clinton’s prospective presidential campaign through donations, but the bureau’s leadership slow-walked a surveillance warrant and instead arranged for the candidate to get a defensive briefing, newly declassified memos show.

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Biden Halts Work on Border Wall, Thousands of Migrants Are Sent Home to Honduras from Guatemala

Minnesota Sun Staff

As newly installed President Joe Biden halted construction of the wall along the U.S. southern border, thousands of Central American migrants encountered another type of barrier that halted their march toward what they believe are newly reopened doors to America. The barrier came in the form of Guatemalan officials who lobbed tear gas and wielded batons, and who ensured that by Wednesday, some 3,500 migrants were aboard buses whisking them home to Honduras.

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Commentary: Conservatives Need to Stand Up for Their Own Civil Rights

Minnesota Sun Staff

For those making their arguments about whether Section 230 should be repealed or reformed to protect conservatives on social media, it’s time to declare that this ship sailed long ago. Most of the world has now come to accept that these monolithic platforms can remove people or their content at will. The banning of President Trump and a host of other conservatives from all major platforms has proven this point beyond dispute. 

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Two Wyoming Republicans Announce 2022 Primary Challenges Against Liz Cheney After Impeachment Vote

Minnesota Sun Staff

Two Wyoming Republicans have filed papers to challenge House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) in the 2022 primaries following her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump.

Wyoming State Sen. Anthony Bouchard and Rep. and business owner Marissa Selvig both filed statements of candidacy in the 2022 primary election on Wednesday.

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Amazon Offers to Help Biden Administration with Vaccine Distribution, After Ignoring Trump Administration

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Big Tech giant Amazon has publicly offered to assist the new Biden Administration with efforts to distribute the coronavirus vaccine, after previously not making any such offers to the Trump Administration, as reported by the Daily Caller.

The offer was made in a letter to Joe Biden by Amazon vice president Dave Clark, who wrote that “Amazon stands ready to assist you in reaching your goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of your administration.” The letter continued, adding that “we are prepared to leverage our operations, information technology, and communications capabilities and expertise to assist your administration’s vaccination efforts.”

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Rioters Vandalize Oregon Democratic Headquarters, Descend on Seattle

Minnesota Sun Staff

Riots broke out in Seattle and Portland, Oregon on Wednesday night after demonstrators clashed with police and vandalized a Democratic Party office.

People dressed in all black shattered windows and the glass door to the Oregon Democratic Party’s office in Portland, according to The New York Times, vandalizing it with spray paint and posting a video to social media, saying that their actions were in response to the inauguration of President Joe Biden. In Seattle, police said that several buildings were vandalized.

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Minnesota Democrat Leader: You’re Either with Us, or You’re a ‘Nazi’

Peter D'Abrosca

A day before President Joe Biden was sworn into office with the stated goal of unifying the United States, the head of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) made sure to take one last jab at Republicans.

“I think the Republican Party has a choice to make because there’s two sides,” DFL Chairman Ken Martin said in an online press conference. “You’re either on the side of Nazis and White supremacists and far-right groups, or you’re on the side of Democracy and liberty and freedom and our Constitution.”

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Over 100 House Republicans Support Removing Liz Cheney from Leadership Role

Minnesota Sun Staff

Over half of all Republican members of the House of Representatives are prepared to support an effort to remove Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as Chair of the House GOP Conference, according to Breitbart.

It has been reported that approximately 115 House Republicans are committed to voting in favor of a “no confidence” motion on Cheney’s leadership, which could allow for Cheney to be removed and replaced. The position is the third highest-ranking role in House GOP leadership, only behind the House Minority Whip and House Minority Leader.

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Commentary: Under Your Pillow, Inside Your Closet, We Trump Supporters Are and Will Be Everywhere

Minnesota Sun Staff

It is so appropriate that Mike Lindell, founder and CEO of MyPillow — ♪ for the best night’s sleep in the whole wide world, it’s my pillow dot com ♪ — is the latest prominent person to come out yet again, even post January 6, for Donald Trump. Although I disagree vehemently with the “martial law” stuff and although Donald Trump decidedly is not my hero — my late wife Ellen of blessed memory is my hero — I still publicly count myself as a strong supporter of the entire four-year Trump presidency. His presidency was enormously powerful and successful. It was en route to Mount Rushmore until a once-in-a-century pandemic set off inevitable setbacks. None were his fault, and his “Operation Warp Speed” will have saved more lives than the Mainstream Media ever will admit. Indeed, had the COVID impact come during an Obama-quality bleak economy, the plague’s disaster’s catastrophe would have been amplified.

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Biden to Extend Student Loan Payment Freeze Until September 2021

Minnesota Sun Staff

President-elect Joe Biden will order the Department of Education to extend the student loan payment moratorium through September in one of his first presidential moves.

Joe Biden is set to sign the executive order on Wednesday following his inauguration, extending the current pause on student loan payments, which has been in effect since March, according to CBS News. The order is a fulfillment of Biden’s campaign promise to prioritize the U.S. student loan debt crisis.

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Keystone XL Pipeline to be Scrapped Again

Minnesota Sun Staff

President-elect Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he would cancel a permit critical to the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

The move marks the second time that a Democratic administration has effectively killed the $8 billion project. While environmental and conservation groups praised the move, TC Energy, the company behind the pipeline’s construction, argued in an earlier Supreme Court brief that scrapping the project would strip 1,500 construction workers and 300 inspection and management workers of their jobs.

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Commentary: Five Ways Hospitals Can Help Fix Vaccine Rollout Debacle

RealClearWire

Hospitals have come under sharp criticism for their part in the chaotic COVID-19 vaccine rollout. That’s because in the rush to get the vaccine out quickly, many hospitals were shipped more vaccine than anticipated and fewer staff took it than anticipated. As a result, hospitals accrued a vaccine surplus and offered it to their low-risk grad students and young administrative staff working from home and are now scrambling to figure out what to do with the rest. The answer should be simple: give it to older members of your community, but a recent letter from the American Hospital Association cited a number of important barriers to effective vaccine distribution including a lack of coordination and guidance from federal, state, and local governments. 

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Default Settings for Inauguration Flag Donations Sends Money to Planned Parenthood

Minnesota Sun Staff

The default settings to sponsor inauguration flags sends money to the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s partners — including the Planned Parenthood of America, the nation’s largest abortion provider.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee installed an “extensive public art display” that includes 191,500 flags on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Americans may symbolically sponsor flags by donating through ActBlue Charities.

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Minnesotans Under the Age of 40 More Likely to be Murdered Than Die from COVID

Minnesota Sun Staff

Minnesotans under the age of 40 are two times more likely to be murdered than die from COVID-19, Center of the American Experiment economist John Phelan said in a recent article.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 42 Minnesotans under the age of 40 have died from COVID-19. According to the Center of the American Experiment, at least 88 Minnesotans under the age of 40 have died in a homicide since March 21 — the date of Minnesota’s first reported COVID-19 case.

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President Trump Says Goodbye (for Now) at Joint Base Andrews, Vows, ‘We will be Back’

Minnesota Sun Staff

Accompanied by family and supporters, President Trump spoke briefly to supporters Wednesday morning before he and first lady Melania Trump boarded Air Force One for their home in Florida, telling them: “You are amazing people. This is a great, great country.”

The first family arrived for their flight from Joint Base Andrews after arriving on Marine One from the White House.

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Trump Pardons Steve Bannon, Rapper Lil Wayne in Final Wave of Clemency

Minnesota Sun Staff

President Trump pardoned former White House adviser Steve Bannon, several ex-congressman and two high profile rappers in a final wave of clemency and commutations as he left office.

The White House released the list of 73 pardons and 70 commutations early Wednesday morning, and it did not include Trump himself, any family members or his attorney Rudy Giuliani as some had speculated.

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Sen. Klobuchar Blasts ‘Angry, Violent Mob’ in Inauguration Speech

Peter D'Abrosca

A Minnesota Senator used her inaugural speech to demonize mostly peaceful protestors who occupied the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on January 6, while simultaneously calling for unity.  

“Two weeks ago, when an angry, violent mob staged an insurrection and desecrated this temple of our democracy, it awakened us to our responsibility as Americans,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said, speaking to a sparse crowd. “This is the day when our democracy picks itself up, brushes off the dust, and does what America always does: goes forward as a nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” 

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Biden Calls for Ending ‘This Uncivil War,’ in Inaugural Address

Minnesota Sun Staff

In his inaugural address Wednesday, President Joe Biden called for an end to this “uncivil war” and asked his political opponents not to let disagreement “lead to disunion.”

“We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural verses urban, conservative verses liberal, we can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts,” Biden said on the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building.

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Migrant Caravan in Guatemala Pushes Through Border from Honduras to Reach U.S.

Minnesota Sun Staff

Guatemalan officials report that 6,500 migrants are moving from Honduras to the USA. The migrants began pushing through the Guatemalan southern border.

The spokeswoman for Guatemala’s immigration authority, Alejandra Mena, estimated that there were some 6,500 Hondurans crossing the country’s southern border on Saturday, making their way north, with 3,000 to 3,500 of them already in Guatemalan territory.  A Honduran police officer said he observed “more or less 5,000 people” walk past his checkpoint.

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Commentary: If Biden Really Wants National Unity, He Should Call off the Trump Impeachment Trial

Minnesota Sun Staff

Does President-elect Joe Biden really want the first order of business when he is sworn into office to be the trial of outgoing President Donald Trump?

On Nov. 6, 2020, while votes were still being counted, Biden told the nation: “We may be opponents but we’re not enemies, we’re Americans. No matter who you voted for I’m certain of one thing, the vast majority of them, almost 150 million Americans who voted they want to get the vitriol out of our politics. We’re certainly not going to agree on a lot of issues but at least we can agree to be civil with one another. We have to put the anger and the demonization behind us. It’s time for us to come together as a nation to heal. It’s not going to be easy, we have to try. My responsibility as president will be to represent the whole nation.”

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Nearly 200,000 Flags Will Replace In-Person Crowds for Biden’s Inauguration

Minnesota Sun Staff

Almost 200,000 flags were planted on the National Mall before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, intended to replace those who can’t attend in-person, The Hill reported Tuesday.

The exhibition was illuminated Sunday eve and extends from the National Mall, Third Street to 13th Street in the city’s downtown, according to The Hill.

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Commentary: How to Restore Faith in the Constitution

Minnesota Sun Staff

In one of the most extraordinary passages of his most extraordinary book, C.S. Lewis, the 20th century’s greatest Christian apologist, wrote of Jesus Christ, that he was either the son of God, as he claimed, or a madman. In the Christmas season, believers take comfort in their faith and joyfully embrace the first alternative. 

The United States has a tradition of separating church and state, but there is a competing tradition, equally venerable, that our government is only fit for a religious people, one that understands there is a divine order to which humankind ought to conform, and that, as Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett once explained, it is our task to contribute to the building of the Kingdom of God.  

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U.S. Scientist Who Led Charge Against COVID Lab Leak Theory Admits He Was Trying to Protect Chinese Scientists

Minnesota Sun Staff

The U.S. scientist behind an effort to stymie debate surrounding the possibility that COVID-19 could have accidentally escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology admitted through a spokesman that he did so to protect Chinese scientists from online criticism.

Dr. Peter Daszak, the president of the New York-based EcoHealth Alliance, orchestrated a statement published in The Lancet medical journal in February, prior to any serious research on the origins of COVID-19, condemning “conspiracy theories” that suggest the virus doesn’t have a natural origin.

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Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s and Wayfair Pull MyPillow Products from Shelves, CEO Says

Minnesota Sun Staff

Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s and Wayfair have all stopped selling MyPillow products after the company’s CEO continued alleging mass voter fraud occurred during the presidential election.

Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s called MyPillow CEO and Founder Mike Lindell this week informing them of their decision, he told Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN) in an interview Monday. Wayfair and grocery store chain HEB also dropped MyPillow products, Lindell told St. Paul, Minnesota Fox affiliate KMSP-TV Tuesday.

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Conservative Groups Funded by Google Oppose Anti-Trust Action

Minnesota Sun Staff

A handful of conservative organizations have signed onto a letter to House Republicans stating their opposition to any proposed anti-trust action against Big Tech companies, according to Breitbart.

The 10-page letter, addressed to Congressmen Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), declared on behalf of these groups that “both sides of the aisle are pushing for the weaponization of anti-trust, either as a tool to punish corporate actors with whom they disagree or out of a presupposition that big is bad.”

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Falling CO2 Emissions Expose ‘Global Warming’ Alarmism As Anti-Science

RealClearWire

The “experts” that dominate government, big business, universities, and international institutions vitriolically insist that “science” purportedly establishes beyond doubt that carbon dioxide emissions are raising global temperatures and that the warmer earth will be catastrophic.

In 2020, the pandemic-induced shutdowns that inflicted so much economic harm, particularly on the Third World’s already poor, reduced CO2 emissions by a record-breaking 7 percent. Those demanding that Americans reduce emissions must be especially pleased: the U.S. led the world with a 12 percent reduction.

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Minnesota Vaccine Pilot Program Targets Those Ages 65+, K-12 Teachers, Child Care Workers

The Center Square

Minnesota is launching a COVID-19 vaccine pilot program this week, but the number of vaccines available is extremely limited.

Nine appointment-only sites across the state will start offering vaccines on Thursday, Gov. Tim Walz said in a news release.

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The 1776 Commission Releases Report on American Founding with Proposals to Unify Nation

Corinne Murdock

The 1776 Commission published its report on the history and principles of the American founding on Monday. The 45-page account explored the key individuals, events, and documents informing this country’s founding. It addressed the contextual history and meaning of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, ideologies that both historically and presently challenge American principles, and a series of proposals to restore national unity.

The appendices included the entirety of the Declaration of Independence, as well as further insight on the topics of religious faith, identity politics, and a strong civics education. In an interview with The Tennessee Star, Vice Chair Dr. Carol Swain explained that the report focuses on the virtues and ideals of this country that unite and benefit American citizens.

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Commentary: The Social Media Purge Exposes Net Neutrality’s True Goal

Minnesota Sun Staff

For nearly two decades, Silicon Valley made net neutrality its highest policy priority. Under the banner of a “free and open” internet, Google, Facebook, and Twitter sought regulations to ensure the uninterrupted flow of information by treating every bit equally. Or so they said.

Beginning last Friday night, these firms and others executed an unprecedented digital purge of the social media and video accounts of their political rivals. After several years of accelerating suspensions and suppressions, this time YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter permanently banned a number of high-profile conservatives and deplatformed thousands of others, at least temporarily. Many of these accounts had nothing to do with last Wednesday’s heinous events at the Capitol. Yet their histories are erased.

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FAKE NEWS: CNN Botches Story About Virginia Man Arrested at Police Checkpoint in Washington D.C.

Minnesota Sun Staff

Virginia man who was arrested at a police checkpoint in Washington D.C. over the weekend, has been released from custody following a brief court appearance.

Although initial news reports hyped the story, investigators said they do not consider Wesley Beeler, a security contractor who was working in the area, to be a threat to public safety.

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Biden Vows to Undo President Trump’s Pro-Life Policies

Minnesota Sun Staff

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have promised to undo a number of President Donald Trump’s pro-life policies.

Biden has indicated that he will reverse the Mexico City Policy, which bars foreign organizations receiving U.S. funding from providing abortions, abortion information or abortion referrals. He has also promised to restore federal funding to Planned Parenthood, to repeal the Hyde Amendment and to renew legal action against the Little Sisters of the Poor.

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Center of the American Experiment President John Hinderaker Exposes the New Leftist Standards for Minnesota’s Public Schools

Julie Carr

Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed John Hinderaker, President of the Center of the American Experiment to the show to discuss his mission of bringing awareness to the educational curriculum standards in Minnesota’s public schools.

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Hungary Weighs Big Tech Sanctions over ‘Systemic Abuses’ of Free Speech

Minnesota Sun Staff

Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga said Monday that Hungary is considering sanctions against big tech firms over alleged “systemic abuses” of free speech, Reuters reported.

Varga plans to meet with the Hungarian Competition Authority this week to discuss possible penalties for what he says are unfair commercial practices utilized by social media firms including Facebook and Twitter, according to Reuters. In addition, the minister plans to convene a meeting with the state-sponsored Digital Freedom Committee.

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West Virginia School Bus Drivers File Lawsuit Against School Superintendent over Suspensions Related to Capitol Protest

Minnesota Sun Staff

Two veteran school bus drivers from a West Virginia school district have filed a civil lawsuit for suspensions related to their attendance at the January 6 Washington, DC protest.

Tina Renner and Pamela McDonald were suspended by Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Bondy Shay Gibson after receiving word the drivers had “posted threatening and inflammatory posts on their Facebook pages, had been present at the Electoral protest march on Wednesday that erupted in violence, and had violated […] leave policy.”

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Commentary: They Have Opened the Gates of Hell and It’s a One-Way Passage

Minnesota Sun Staff

Recently, we received a copy of a private commentary sent around by a tech founder in Silicon Valley, who wrote the following, which we quote here with permission provided the author’s anonymity is preserved:

The entire American tech stack – which enables Americans to buy, sell, pay, and communicate – has been weaponized in furtherance of a radical anti-freedom agenda.
This is the single most chilling week in my lifetime, and America’s since the Civil War.

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Biden Reportedly Taps Warren Ally Rohit Chopra to Lead Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Minnesota Sun Staff

President-elect Joe Biden will reportedly nominate Rohit Chopra, an ally of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Chopra is a member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and if confirmed by the Senate would take over an agency that he helped create alongside Warren approximately a decade ago. Chopra’s selection was first reported by Politico, which cited four individuals with knowledge of the decision.

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‘All’ Republicans are ‘Guilty’ of Capitol Attack and Should be ‘Forced to Shut the Hell Up,’ Louisville Professor Says

Minnesota Sun Staff

University of Louisville professor Ricky Jones wrote in an op-ed that Republicans should “be forced to shut the hell up” about the Capitol Hill attack unless they denounce their former support of  President Donald Trump.

“Republicans, you should not be allowed to speak about being shocked by President Donald Trump or the recent right-wing raid in Washington, D.C., for your words ring hollow,” wrote Jones, who is the chair of the Pan-African Studies department.

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Commentary: Scholastic Corp. Pushes a False Racial Narrative to Elementary Children

Minnesota Sun Staff

What do George Floyd, Thanksgiving, and the Civil War all have in common? The publicly traded Scholastic Corporation has made a conscious decision to weave them into a twisted account of American History (their label) portraying our country as systemically racist, fundamentally flawed, and essentially evil. Articles written in their weekly Scholastic News Review are mandatory classroom reading and discussion for our children—6 million in total from first through sixth grade across the country, according to Scholastic.

During back-to-school week in August, these 6 million mostly elementary-age students were welcomed back with an article titled “Demanding Justice,” with the subheading: “Protests spread across the United States after a Black man is killed by police.”

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Missouri Becomes First State in U.S. to No Longer Perform Abortions

The Center Square

Missouri has become the first state in the U.S. where abortions are no longer performed.

A total of 45 abortion facilities closed or halted abortions nationwide in 2020, including in Missouri, which is now the only state without an active abortion facility, according to a survey conducted by Operation Rescue, a pro-life activist organization.

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Durbin Says Members ‘Have to Follow Their Own Conscience’ on Trump Impeachment

Minnesota Sun Staff

Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin told CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Sunday that Senate members “have to follow their own conscience” on President Donald Trump’s impeachment.

Durbin told Tapper on CNN’s “State of The Union” that he doesn’t know how members of his own caucus will vote to convict Trump.

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Michigan State Professor: ‘Wuhan Virus’ Is an Example of ‘Linguistic Racism’

Minnesota Sun Staff

Michigan State University recently highlighted linguistics professor Peter De Costa’s study about “linguistic racism.” 

To explain the concept, De Costa cited the phrase “Wuhan virus” as an example.

The university’s official news service, MSU Today, interviewed De Costa following the publication of his study, “Linguistic racism: Its negative effects and why we need to contest it.”

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Puerto Rico: Tax Haven for the Super-Rich

Minnesota Sun Staff

Puerto Rico has become a popular tax haven for super rich Americans who take advantage of local laws, which allow them to avoid paying U.S. federal income taxes.

Over the last decade, thousands of wealthy Americans have built homes, started businesses and spent a significant amount of time in Puerto Rico, all in order to take advantage of the island’s tax code that exempts them from U.S. taxes. While just a few thousand have taken advantage of the law, the U.S. federal government has potentially lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

“It’s being done, in a sense, in plain sight,” Peter Palsen, an international tax expert at the Washington D.C-area law firm Frost Law, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “The IRS has the knowledge of who’s doing it.”

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U.S. Bans Cotton, Tomato Products Made by Uighurs in China

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Trump administration on Wednesday announced a ban on imports of cotton and tomatoes from the Xinjiang area of China,  where the government is detaining more than a million Muslim Uighurs in horrendous prison-like conditions where they are forced into labor, the US Customs and Border Protection announced.

Effective January 13 at all U.S. ports of entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a Withhold Release Order against cotton products and tomato products produced in Xinjiang based on information on information that the Chinese Communist Party was using detainees for “prison labor” in reeducation camps.

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