Free Republic

The town rejected the Islamic center on zoning grounds, but at a meeting, some opponents of the project “made disparaging remarks about the Muslim faith.” Time to call in the Thought Police! Time for Obama’s feds to force the mosque on this city! It is impossible to have a mature discussion about mosques in the U.S. It is impossible to point out that 80% of mosques in the U.S. are Saudi-funded, and that four separate, independent studies since 1998 have found that 80% also teach hatred of Jews and Christians and the supremacy of Sharia over Constitutional law. Anyone who...

In one of Minnesota’s largest labor organizing efforts since the Depression, home care workers across the state on Tuesday voted to join the Service Employees International Union, giving that organization the power to bargain on their behalf. The vote is the culmination of one of the most sweeping union expansion efforts in Minnesota history and represents a victory for Gov. Mark Dayton and the DFL-controlled Legislature, who pushed through legislation that enabled the certification vote. Workers and those they care for erupted in cheers and chants of “When we fight, we win!” when results were announced at the labor pavilion...

The Islamic Society of North America or ISNA, the nation's largest Muslim group, will hold its 51st annual convention in Detroit's Cobo Center Friday through Sept. 1, and will feature former President Jimmy Carter as the keynote speaker. ... A “secret special guest” is also on the bill. The convention‘‍s opening session Friday will include words from Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, the national leader of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim member of Congress,

Laura Ingalls Wilder penned one of the most beloved children's series of the 20th century, but her forthcoming autobiography will show devoted "Little House on the Prairie" fans a more realistic, grittier view of frontier living. "Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography" — Wilder's unedited draft that was written for an adult audience and eventually served as the foundation for the popular series — is slated to be released by the South Dakota State Historical Society Press nationwide this fall. The not-safe-for-children tales include stark scenes of domestic abuse, love triangles gone awry and a man who lit himself on fire...

Minnesota Liberians are trying to help relatives; groups have canceled mission tripsAs alarm grows over the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa, families in Minnesota’s large Liberian community are scrambling for plane tickets and visas to get relatives out of the stricken zone and at least two Twin Cities churches have canceled mission trips intended to deliver medical and other aid to Liberia. “We decided to err on the side of caution,” said Wynfred Russell, executive director of African Career, Education & Resource Inc. in Brooklyn Park and co-leader of a planned January trip of missionaries and public health volunteers....

Now they've both been indicted: The undercover cop and the trained security officer who shot him in a Coon Rapids road-rage incident last summer. On Thursday, an Anoka County district judge unsealed a grand jury indictment against Robbinsdale undercover narcotics officer Landen Beard, 27, of Coon Rapids, for terroristic threats, a felony. Records obtained Thursday by the Pioneer Press offer the most detailed narrative to date - as well as conflicting accounts - of events June 7. A potential key witness told police she saw Beard hanging out of the unmarked sedan he was driving, screaming, ''I'll (expletive) kill you....

Sen. Al Franken’s Republican challenger made a case for a power shift, bashing Democrats’ regulatory and education policies. Mike McFadden, seen as having an uphill battle, said Americans are hungry for new leadership. “Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes. But when it comes to the challenges working families are facing, all we get from Democrats is 10,000 excuses. “November presents a tremendous opportunity for America to elect new leaders, with the vision to turn our country around, and get us back onto the path of growth and prosperity.” McFadden said the Obama administration and congressional Democrats have presided over...

You know, being a fan of the Minnesota Vikings is difficult enough just based on what happens on the field. We’re 0-4 in Super Bowls. We’ve got to deal with the stomach-curdling memories of the 1999 NFC Championship Game, not to mention 41-doughnut in the same game two years later, and the bounty-hunting Saints putting out a contract on Brett Favre in 2010. But on a cultural level . . . hey, what the heck did we do? We were just sitting here minding our own business. First we got stuck with a petulant, attention-mongering punter who couldn’t and can’t...

This is currently the most-read story on the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s web site: “Stillwater cafe faces heat for adding ‘minimum wage fee’ to tab.” Minnesota’s Democratic legislature recently voted to raise the state’s minimum wage to $8 an hour, 75 cents more than the federal level. Naturally, that increase is leading to higher prices: A small cafe in Stillwater has thrown itself into the big battle over Minnesota’s minimum wage increases, inundating the cafe with dozens of phone calls and online comments this week after it tacked on a 35-cent fee to meal tabs. Oasis Cafe owner Craig Beemer said...

A former Afghanistan Marine who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder has found refuge in rowing the length of the Mississippi river. The trip to the mouth of the river at the Gulf of Mexico took Joshua Ploetz, 69 days, about 50 of them spent paddling. But Ploetz said he needed every inch of the more than 2,500-mile river to paddle away the demons of the war, or at least calm them a bit. Ploetz, 30, from Winona, Minnesota, returned from the war eight years ago after being injured by a roadside bomb, suffering a minor stroke and watching his friends...

The University of Minnesota is working with the Minnesota Vikings in an effort to keep the Washington Redskins’ name from being used in “promotional and game date materials” during the NFL teams’ Nov. 2 game at the school’s stadium in Minneapolis, according to an Aug. 1 letter from university President Eric W. Kaler to U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.).

The Minnesota Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance has spent the past few weeks compiling its biennial legislative report card. As, for that matter, have a lot of Minnesota activist groups. It’s election season, after all. But I’m going to guess not very many got a response like a GOCRA volunteer got from Minnesota state representative Ron Erhardt (DFL, HD 49A) of Edina: “No more surveys! You come near me, I’ll blow your head off” was Erhardt’s response, according to GOCRA. I have sent Rep. Erhardt an email asking for elaboration. I’m trying to imagine what’d happen if a pro-life Representative...

Torrey Westrom if a lifelong proven conservative with a record of creating jobs while ensuring government operates within its means. First elected to the Minnesota Hose of Representatives at the age of 23. Westrom has fought and defended conservative principles in the state legislature for the last 10 years. Torry Westrom is a state senator representing a large portion of the counties that makeup the 7th Congressional District. http://teapartycheer.com/bios/midwest/minnesota.torrey-westrom-mn-bio/

The man was 6-foot-4, weighed more than 300 pounds and wanted James Gray's gun, prosecutors say -- and he didn't ask nicely. It didn't take long for the St. Paul police sergeant to figure out "that things were going to break bad." It took Gray, two fellow officers and one vigorous wrestling match in a gas station to bring the suspect under control, according to court documents filed Monday. Anthony Michael Nickson, 49, of Hudson, Wis., was charged in Ramsey County District Court with five felonies -- three counts of terroristic threats and two of trying to disarm an officer....

Over the weekend, both the Senate and the House approved $225M in funding for the Iron Dome. The bill passed by unanimous consent in the Senate and by a 395 to 8 vote. Opposition to the funding of the Iron Dome demonstarted an unfortunate bi-partisan measure – four Democrats and four Republicans voted against it. The four Democrats were Keith Ellison (MN-05), Zoe Lofgren (CA-19), Jim Moran (VA-08), and Beto O’Rourke (TX-16); The four Republicans were Justin Amash (MI-03), Walter Jones (NC-03), Tom Massie (KY-04), and Mark Sanford (SC-01). Rep. Ellison explains vote on “Meet the Press”: “Because a ceasefire...

You may recall that on Friday, in what would have been a Christmas Miracle were it not several months early, Congress actually got something done. It was the passage of a bill approving $225M in funding for Israel’s Iron Dome defensive missile system. It was quite the bipartisan effort in retrospect, garnering an overwhelming 395 votes in the House with only eight in opposition. One of those eight was Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, and as The Corner reports, he went out on the weekend gab circuit to explain why he didn’t support the measure. “Because a cease-fire is what we...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the weekÂ’s top news, including the struggle on Capitol Hill to find a resolution to the political division on the border crisis before Congress leaves for August recess, as well as how these events will affect the November election, plus the outlook for ending the war between Israel and Hamas. (AUDIO-AT-LINK)TRANSCRIPT JUDY WOODRUFF: In Washington, House Republicans were racing to pass something on the border crisis after a day of confusion and chaos on Capitol Hill Thursday. For a taste of what went on...

Maybe it’s just a coincidence that somebody like Jesse Ventura is also a major fan of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara? (Or claims to be for the publicity value among the “hip”?) Recalling his visit to Cuba and meeting with Fidel Castro in 2002 Ventura grew misty-eyed: “Fidel Castro looked into my eyes and told me I was a man of great courage…Maybe he (Castro) saw a little of him in me.” Recall the Cowardly Lion’s reaction when the Wizard grants him “the NERVE.” Well, Jesse Ventura’s moronic gloating outdoes even the lion’s (“Shucks, folks, I’m speechless..ha-ha…Ain’t it the truth!...

The Roman Catholic archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis says he won’t resign despite criticism over the archdiocese’s handling of sexual abuse claims involving priests. Archbishop John Nienstedt made his comments in in a column that will appear in Thursday’s archdiocese newspaper, The Catholic Spirit. He says he’s bound to stay in office as long as Pope Francis wants. …

CNN’s Van Jones went head to head Tuesday with Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann over the border crisis, saying the congresswoman crossed the line in scapegoating the surge of unaccompanied migrant children for crimes committed by other undocumented immigrants. “Are you scapegoating every one of these kids?” Jones asked Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican, on CNN’s “Crossfire.” “Well, hold on a second. There are lines that can’t be crossed here. I’m sorry congresswoman, I’m sorry congresswoman. There are lines that can’t be crossed here.” Bachmann, who acknowledged that 57,000 children have crossed America’s southern border into the country in recent months, also...