Bluestem Prairie

Metro Mark, Mpls Paul & Big City Smith savor rural broadband funding more than Dale Lueck

These are the times that try poor country bloggers' souls, especially the moments of nincompoopery that Representative Dale Lueck, R-Aitkin, dropped in a debate this week..

In District 10B candidates share positions, Chelsey Perkins' coverage for the Brainerd Dispatch of a candidate forum between Lueck and DFL challenger Erin Wagner, we read this passage:

 . . . Funding for broadband internet expansion in rural areas, was also a success, he said, adding metro legislators don't understand those needs.

"Frankly, they just don't know what you're talking about when we're talking about no coverage or spotty coverage," Lueck said.

Everybody knows "metro legislators" is Republican code for "DFL." But as the infographic at the top of this page illustrates, those God-awful metro-centric Democrats stated the digital divide quite clearly when they posted the image to the Minnesota House DFL Caucus Facebook page on January 21, 2016.

That damn metro Minority Leader Paul Thissen and his crew, spreading those facts before the session started. We gather Lueck missed that part about his "metro" colleagues knowing what talk about "no coverage or spotty coverage" means.

The Aitkin Republican must have missed another image posted that same day:

Indeed, that inglorious metro bastard Thissen, who represents Minneapolis for cats' sakes, had been rattling on for months--months! we tell you!--about such matters. Witness his October 7, 2015 column in the Grand Forks Herald, GOP leaves communities disconnected by underfunding broadband:

At a recent forum about the lack of high-speed Internet access in greater Minnesota, a woman from Aitkin, Minn., told us, "this isn't just a need—it's a necessity."

I agree. The availability of high-speed Internet has become a critical issue of economic vitality and quality of life for all Minnesotans. Unfortunately, House Republicans ignored this critical priority for greater Minnesota and halted our momentum to ensure all Minnesotans have access to high-speed Internet.

Broadband infrastructure—the means in which we provide high-speed Internet access across our state—got its first significant investment in 2014 by our DFL-led Legislature. But we knew this was only a down-payment. In fact, the Governor's Broadband Task Force has recommended a $100 million per year investment in our state's Border-to-Border Broadband Development Grant program.

Many people in greater Minnesota began this year with high hopes, given the promises Republican legislators made on the campaign trail. But despite a $2 billion surplus, the Republican-led House did not continue this commitment to rural broadband access in 2015. They initially zeroed-out our state's broadband investment and ended up putting just $10 million into our broadband program.

They also proposed to eliminate the Office of Broadband Development. That's because their top priority last session was massive tax breaks that benefit large corporations and businesses that predominantly reside in the metro area.

We knew that $10 million for broadband was inadequate then, and we have now confirmed it. This past week, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development released their list of communities that applied for broadband grants. The resources passed by the Republican-led House will only cover about one-third of the requests, leaving dozens of Minnesota communities disconnected.

And as noted at the meetings, the skimpy Republican commitment probably discouraged a lot of communities from applying.

Consider what is happening in Pine City, Minn., and in many rural areas across the state. After closing time at the local library, you can see people huddled in their cars with their laptops, struggling to maintain a connection on the library WI-FI so that they can complete homework or send an e-mail.

We must do better—for a student who can't log on to the Internet to complete a research paper, for a small business owner trying to stay competitive with the metro area, and for a parent who wants to connect online with a son or daughter at college.

We hear a lot of happy talk from Republican legislators about broadband. But talk won't build a single mile of broadband infrastructure.

Before next session, I urge Herald readers to contact their legislators and urge them to put their money where their mouths are in support of broadband infrastructure funding.

Indeed, the Republicans ended up taking Thissen's advice--though with only one-third of what that equally-metro governor wanted for broadband.

Perhaps Lueck was talking about "metro" lawmakers in the state senate? Alas, no, since the Senate DFL's 2016 supplemental budget target for broadband was $85 million.

No wonder Lueck is reduced to placebaiting of the lowest sort. The fact is that "metro" legislators--like the leader of the Minnesota House DFL Caucus--fully understand the problem, as does the DFL governor and Lt. Gov. Tina "Bright Lights, Big City" Smith.

Indeed, the urbane Smith was on it, according to an April 2016 article in the Brainerd paper, Kresha, Lueck support broadband funding; Lt. Gov. says it's not enough:

However, Lt. Gov. Tina Smith said in a statement that the Republican broadband proposal wasn't enough, and pointed out that Gov. Mark Dayton proposed $100 million in grant funding.

"The governor and I welcome the work of House Republicans on broadband," Smith said. "Their proposals, however, barely make a dent in the need for high-speed, affordable broadband access in greater Minnesota. At the level of investment they are proposing, the 244,000 households in greater Minnesota without broadband connections will wait decades to get up to speed. This is bad for our economy, bad for greater Minnesota, and we need to do better."

Perhaps Lueck simply imagines that since so much of rural Minnesota is still left without reliable high-speed broadband, no one's going to fact check the complete blither that escapes from his mouth into the world as he placebaits his metro colleagues.

Learn More

For more on this issue and Rep. Lueck, we recommend our post County commish factchecks what Dale Lueck talks about when he talks about broadband love and Fact Check: did #mnleg 2015 state broadband funding attract Connect America Fund dollars?. (Connect America Fund is a federal program--read the posts to learn why they're not adequate to serve Greater Minnesota's need for broadband speed.

Images: Infographics released by the Minnesota House DFL Caucus. Via Facebook.

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All House & Senate candidates in District 21 oppose North American High Speed Rail project

In Candidate forum, Terri Lenz reports in the Kenyon Leader:

Local political candidates for the office of Minnesota Senate District 21 and Minnesota House District 21A and 21B met for a political forum at the Cannon Falls High School last Thursday evening. 

The event was sponsored by Toastmasters, Minnesota Farm Bureau, Citizens Concerned About Rail Line and Minnesota Farmers Union. 

State senate candidates were current Senator Matt Schmit and Mike Goggin. State house candidates were: Elise Diesslin, Barb Haley, Lisa Bayley and current Representative Steve Drazkowski.  . . .

On the issue of a potential high speed rail line between the Twin Cities and Rochester, all six candidates said they would not support such a project. Goggin said it would make Goodhue County a fly-over county. He proposed a three-point threshold: no eminent domain, setup a decommissioning fund and no government money used to build it. 

Diesslin said infrastructure funding should be used to support the existing roads and bridges, not a new project that would affect too many landowners. Bayley said to watch the eminent domain question, because she watched it play out on CapX2020 and eminent domain laws are very strong. 

Schmit and Drazkowski both urged residents to fight for transparency in the process as zip rail is being studied, so that citizens know what is going on and can represent their concerns. Haley added that people need to consider the cost of loss in productive farm land and loss of income for property owners. 

Will potential investors understand the depth of opposition to the project in "fly-over country"? While Wendy Meadley is compiling secret guest lists for invite-only receptions, those citizens who oppose the North American High Speed Rail Group's zip-train from the Twin Cities to Rochester are organizing each other--and putting together public debate for candidates.

Meadley, of course, believes the small people of the grassroots don't matter. That's a winning ticket in some areas of the world, but those aspiring to serve in St. Paul seem to hold a very contrary notion of how things should get done.

Photo: A famous scene from The Simpsons. Because boondoggles.

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MN01 nominee who called women senators "bimbos in tennis shoes" stands by Trump

Headlines may read as does that at Minnesota Public Radio, Growing group of MN Republicans withdrawing support from Trump, but Jim Hagedorn, repeat Republican candidate for Minnesota's First Congressional District, is standing by his man.

We're not sure who's left to bake the cookies.

In an uncharacteristically terse moment captured in the screengrab above, Hagedorn reiterated his support for Trump in a one-word comment on Facebook late Monday evening:

Amy Anderson Do you still support Donald Trump? I live in your district and would like to know. Thank you.

8 hrs

Jim Hagedorn Yes.

Anderson's question followed that by a Lake Crystal resident Sunday:

Kent Wawrzynaik http://www.cnn.com/.../donald-trump-women-lewd-comments...
When are you going to comment on this? You have attached your candidacy to Mr Trump and as a father and husband I think you need to denounce this. I live in the first district and I and many others would like to hear from you on this.

Wawrzynaik's query went unanswered.

Hagedorn's support for Trump has been unwavering, as we reported in our early August post, #MN01 Hagedorn: no misgivings on Trump's feud with grieving parents because they're Muslim. Later that month, Heather Carlson reported in the Post Bulletin article, Hagedorn doesn't shy from Trump:

Looking ahead to November, Hagedorn said he is confident Trump will win the 1st District and the White House in November.

He added, "I predicted a long time ago that by the end of the election, (Democrats) will be running away from Hillary Clinton as fast as other Republicans will be running toward Donald Trump. I really believe that."

Of course he did.

 Hagedorn gained national attention during his unsuccessful 2014 bid against incumbent Democratic congressman Tim Walz following the publication of Tim Murphy's article in Mother Jones, House Candidate Called Female Senators "Undeserving Bimbos in Tennis Shoes";Jim Hagedorn's old blog, "Mr. Conservative," is a ticking time bomb.

Hagedorn later issued a non-apology apology, Murphy reported.

Minnesota's First Congressional District, which stretches across the bottom part of the state from the South Dakota to Wisconsin borders, with the Iowa border at its feet, is not considered competitive by any national handicapper.

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For first time in his second rodeo, Duluth News Tribune endorses Rick Nolan for MN08

In his first rodeo, Nolan served in Congress from January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1981, in Minnesota's old, old Sixth Congressional district. In his second, he's served as congressman for Minnesota's 8th, from the northern exurbs to Duluth and the Range.

As Bluestem noted in a post this summer, Reader smells bias in Duluth "liberal paper that leans socialist" despite nods to Mills & Johnson, the Duluth News Tribune endorsed incumbent Republican Chip Cravaack in the 2012 contest with Nolan and challenger Stewart Mills III over Nolan in 2014.

The paper also endorsed Cravaack over veteran lawmaker Jim Oberstar in 2010.

Though part of the Forum Communications chain, which tends to endorse more Republicans than Democrats statewide, the congressional endorsements are made by the local editorial board.

That's why the newspaper's endorsement of Nolan today (posted late Saturday night online) is a big deal

The board writes in Our view / endorsement: Keep Nolan fighting for Duluth, Northland:

With each passing year, this becomes increasingly clear: U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan, simply put, is good for Duluth, good for the Iron Range and good for Northeastern Minnesota.

On Nov. 8, voters here are going to be needed to propel Nolan to re-election victory, assuring the congressman stays on the job for them, the same congressman who got pavement-pounding semis off of Superior Street in our downtown, a feat long eluding local leaders; who has been consistent and unwavering in his support of mining, pipelines and protecting good-paying Northland jobs; who has made national headlines by fearlessly butting heads with politics-as-usual Washington; and who has been willing to contradict his party in favor of supporting his 8th Congressional District.

Rick Nolan has been accessible and responsive and has earned the support he’ll need to prevail and remain in office.

Little his challenger has done or said suggests he’d be as open or as willing to address our needs here in the north. Republican Stewart Mills’ base of support clearly is in the southern end of the district. He’s rarely seen in Duluth or on the Range. That’s in stark contrast to Nolan and, before him, Reps. Chip Cravaack and Jim Oberstar. Mills has no campaign office here, even though Duluth is the biggest city in the district.

And voters can be forgiven for being suspicious of Mills’ seeming unwillingness to answer questions publicly or to face scrutiny — or even inquiry — in front of constituents in the north or anywhere. Mills turned down numerous invitations this campaign season to debate his opponent or to appear with him on television, on radio or elsewhere. And the one time he did agree to share a stage with Nolan — at the Playhouse in Duluth on Sept. 19 at a candidate forum sponsored by the News Tribune and Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce — he arrived through a back door moments before the debate was to begin and then dashed away soon after it was over.

When the News Tribune editorial board requested a follow-up meeting, Mills said he’d only do so off the record. . . .

Read the rest at the News Tribune.

One example of Mills public shyness? On Thursday, Minnesota Public Radio host Tom Weber and Nolan chatted about Nolan's record, then Nolan took listeners' calls. Readers can listen to the audio online at Mills and Nolan battle it out over Minnesota's 8th District.

In the copy that follows the audio, the MPR staff did provide Mills some time with the website's readers:

Mills declined the invitation. . . .

Below are some key points taken from Nolan's conversation with host Tom Weber. Also below are answers Mills has given in other instances on similar topics.

Check out the answers at MPR.

Photo: Via MPR, Mills (left) and Nolan (right) in their only debate, back in September. Perhaps Mills fears the giant blancmange on stage between them will return and challenge him to a game of tennis. (Hat-tip Chris Steller for recognizing the object for what it is).

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 33166 770th Ave, Ortonville, MN 56278) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.

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Aftermath of Usama Dakdok anti-Islam snake-oil show rips independent Brainerd church asunder

In the online Brainerd Dispatch, Zach Kayser reported Friday in At Oak Street Chapel, board members resign, embattled pastor remains:

The after-effects of an anti-Islam speech late last month by Usama Dakdok ripped a Brainerd church apart.

Todd Wooden is still pastor of Oak Street Chapel, a nondenominational Christian church founded in 2000. The church board members who asked to him resign last week, however, have instead resigned themselves.

Wooden came on as pastor in 2013, two years after original pastor Julian "Chip" Avelsgaard was killed in a motorcycle crash. Avelsgaard's death prompted fears the group he founded out of his garage would disintegrate into nothing—though the church endured.

However, Dakdok's presentation sparked an internal conflict at Oak Street. 

Former board of trustees president Dace Julifs said Wednesday he had resigned his post along with other five board members, four of whom had agreed that Julifs would ask Wooden to resign following Dakdok's presentation at the church Sept. 29. That left one remaining board member of the original seven people.

Alpha News reported earlier this week that the entire board had resigned and that "around half of the 80 member congregation have left or plan to leave the church." [italics in original].

Julifs told the Brainerd Dispatch:

"What does Dakdok care?" Julifs said of the church's subsequent problems. "He got his minute of fame. He's going to move on to the next town, and do the same thing to the next church."

"As far as I'm concerned, (Oak Street Chapel) now is a blight on the community, with this hate," Julifs said. "It's so sad, because this church used to be a shining example of what we're supposed to be as Christians: happy, fun, caring, giving."

That certainly seems to have been the case with Dakdok. As Bluestem noted in With time on his hands in Minnesota, anti-Muslim speaker Usama Dakdok bothers some Christians:

According to an interview with radically anti-Muslim activist Usama Dakdok on the October 4, 2016 edition of Brannon Howse's show on Worldview Weekend Radio, the public and internal church turmoil that his speaking engagement created at the Oak Street Chapel in Brainerd in late September prompted at least one congregation to cancel his speaking engagement.

Sure enough, an event planned at a church in Wadena has vanished from Dakdok's calendar for October.

Nonetheless, Dakdok is managing to find ways to gain free earned media (he's an attention addict, regardless of his talking dirty about the news industry). Witness his publicity stunt in Detroit Lakes.

DL Online's Vicki Gerdes reports that Meet your Muslim Neighbor event in DL interrupted by anti-Muslim activist.  Our favorite part? This fine turn by the local chief of police, who happened to be attending the event while out-of-uniform:

As Dakdok tried to continue grilling the two speakers, he was asked forcefully to sit down by several members of the audience, who although they didn't outright "boo" him, applauded both Haider and Kamel when they responded, clearly making a point about who had been invited to speak, and who had not.

"You had your turn to speak in Brainerd," Haider said at one point, referring to a recent event where Dakdok was invited to be the featured speaker at a Brainerd church, for an anti-Islam presentation that had taken place just a couple of days prior to Sunday's forum. After several minutes of back-and-forth exchanges, Dakdok approached the front of the room, stating that he wanted to show Kamel a passage from his copy of the Quran (as Kamel did not have a copy with him), and Kamel said, 'Sir, please sit down."

At that point, Detroit Lakes Police Chief Tim Eggebraaten ‒ who was present at the forum, but not in uniform — quietly approached the Florida minister from the side of the room. After escorting a clearly reluctant Dakdok back to his seat, Eggebraaten sat down in the chair right next to him — where he remained for the rest of the presentation.

Aside from Dakdok's interruption, most of the forum was focused on showing the similarities of Muslims and Christians, and how peaceful, friendly relationships can be forged between the two groups.

Dakdok's next scheduled appearance in Minnesota will be at the Saw Mill in Grand Rapids, Monday, October 10, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The sponsor is Acting for Grand Rapids, a chapter of Act! for America. Dakdok will also hold a closed meeting a week from today at a place that's not been announced.; drop us a line if you have more information about this event.

Photo: Dakdok at the meeting in Detroit Lakes.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 33166 770th Ave, Ortonville, MN 56278) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.

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With time on his hands in Minnesota, anti-Muslim speaker Usama Dakdok bothers some Christians

According to an interview with radically anti-Muslim activist Usama Dakdok on the October 4, 2016 edition of Brannon Howse's show on Worldview Weekend Radio, the public and internal church turmoil that his speaking engagement created at the Oak Street Chapel in Brainerd in late September prompted at least one congregation to cancel his speaking engagement.

Sure enough, an event planned at a church in Wadena has vanished from Dakdok's calendar for October.

Nonetheless, Dakdok is managing to find ways to gain free earned media (he's an attention addict, regardless of his talking dirty about the news industry). Witness his publicity stunt in Detroit Lakes.

DL Online's Vicki Gerdes reports that Meet your Muslim Neighbor event in DL interrupted by anti-Muslim activist.  Our favorite part? This fine turn by the local chief of police, who happened to be attending the event while out-of-uniform:

As Dakdok tried to continue grilling the two speakers, he was asked forcefully to sit down by several members of the audience, who although they didn't outright "boo" him, applauded both Haider and Kamel when they responded, clearly making a point about who had been invited to speak, and who had not.

"You had your turn to speak in Brainerd," Haider said at one point, referring to a recent event where Dakdok was invited to be the featured speaker at a Brainerd church, for an anti-Islam presentation that had taken place just a couple of days prior to Sunday's forum. After several minutes of back-and-forth exchanges, Dakdok approached the front of the room, stating that he wanted to show Kamel a passage from his copy of the Quran (as Kamel did not have a copy with him), and Kamel said, 'Sir, please sit down."

At that point, Detroit Lakes Police Chief Tim Eggebraaten ‒ who was present at the forum, but not in uniform — quietly approached the Florida minister from the side of the room. After escorting a clearly reluctant Dakdok back to his seat, Eggebraaten sat down in the chair right next to him — where he remained for the rest of the presentation.

Aside from Dakdok's interruption, most of the forum was focused on showing the similarities of Muslims and Christians, and how peaceful, friendly relationships can be forged between the two groups.

That's some high-quality community policing. In An open letter to the fearmonger who crashed our DL event, Paula Quam (the editor of the paper) also expressed her appreciation for the manner in which the chief responded to Dakdok's extreme mansplaining:

Perhaps you misunderstand us, Mr. Usama Dakdok, so let's get things clear. When you stood up and spewed hate speech at our local "Meet Your Muslim Neighbors" event designed to build bridges and create understanding, you were not a welcomed presence. You came all the way from Florida to do this first in Brainerd and now here, but as it turns out, we were not the audience you probably thought we were.

Yes, we are located in a mostly rural, mostly white, mostly Scandinavian part of the country. We're not a big melting pot — we know that. We're more of a crock pot full of tater tot hot dish. Whether we realize it or not, many of us have fairly thick northern accents that, to some, may be misinterpreted as simple and a bit back-woodsey. To be very, very honest, anybody who shows up here in traditional Islamic clothing and speaking another language will be probably be stared at. We're not used to it. The majority of our community knows very little about Muslims, except what we see on TV, which leaves many people at least a little uneasy about it all.

Here is the thing, though. Just because we may seem like an easy target — a persuadable audience — doesn't mean we are. The same stubborn, slow-to-change attitudes that many of us here have may mean we're not the best at reaching out to newcomers, particularly if they are obviously different from us, but it also means we don't take your word either.

At the meeting, you tried to "educate" guest speaker Fauzia Haider on her own faith, as if you had the right to clarify what her religion should mean to her. We're sure you would have been open to her breaking down the actual meaning of your own religious beliefs for you, but she didn't do that. It's almost like she thought you had the right as an American to believe in your God the way you wanted to. Huh strange. It's weird when people break out their true American values like that.

It's too bad you wasted your time and money coming here, but just so that you don't feel the need to stay, let us explain to you who we are in this "neck of the woods."

We are low maintenance. If somebody moves in next door, we generally only require a few things in order for them to earn our favor. Number one, we feel certain you are a good hearted person with no intent to harm. Number two, you work for your paycheck unless you are legitimately disabled. Number three, you shovel your own driveway. Boom. We're happy. We're not a hateful group here, Mr. Dakdok. We assume that you learned that during your hate speech when you were told to sit down by audience members. Our own police chief, Tim Eggebraaten, even sat down next to you like a teacher sitting down next to a misbehaved child, to ensure you didn't stand back up. Are you grasping this by now, Mr. Daktok? Our community literally did not want you standing up. We're not perfect, but we're not you. We will evolve on our own accord and in a way that we will be proud of — we don't need your help or "education" — thank you very much. Safe travels home.

If that doesn't introduce the word "uffda" to Dakdok's vocabulary, Bluestem doesn't know what will. Also trending in the paper? Mice are coming out of the woodwork in lakes country.

While the Wadena event has disappeared from Dakdok's calendar, a different engagement has been penciled in for a "closed meeting" with time and place omitted. We'll let readers know if we learn more.

Photo: Usama Dakdok rises to speak at an event in Detroit Lakes and the crowd erupts in a riot of subdued  body language. Pass the tater tot hotdish and sit down, dude. Photo by Vicki Gerdes. Bob Collins' take at the News Cut blog at MPR, Detroit Lakes rallies to its Muslim neighbors is also worth a look.

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Gruenhagen: repairing MN’s aging roads & bridges affordable if we pay workers less

Worried about maintaining a middle class in Minnesota, especially for those workers whose positions might not require a four-year college degree?

Glenn Gruenhagen might not be your guy.

The Hutchinson Leader reports in Glenn Gruenhagen and rival Darrel Mosel see different solutions in House District 18B:

Gruenhagen said he will help repair Minnesota’s aging road and bridges by addressing one factor that makes the work expensive.

“We need to reform Minnesota’s prevailing wage law,” he said. “It artificially inflates the cost.”

Prevailing wage sets the hourly wage employers must pay workers on construction projects that receive state money. Gruenhagen said the mandated pay hurts state projects, and local projects that receive state money.

“Minnesota is among the four states with the highest prevailing wage law,” he said.

To see the prevailing wages for state-funded projects in Gruenhagen's district, check out Region 7 (includes Sibley County) here and Region 8 (includes McLeod County) here.

After he takes out "artificial" prevailing wages, maybe he'll go after worker safety measures and restrictions on child labor, both of which drive up the costs employers face. Perhaps prison chain gangs doing road work, rather than reopening the closed private prison in Appleton, could replace honest construction workers while we're at it. For a bit of porridge and bread crusts--roads would be repaired, prison overcrowding solved.

Photo: Glenn Gruenhagen arguing for his bill to make sure people use the bathroom assigned to their biological gender at birth. Maybe Minnesota construction workers could get second jobs as bathroom monitors if both of Gruenhagen's "reforms" succeed. Photo by Tom Olmscheid via MinnPost.

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Live Video: Walz-Hagedorn 10/4 Debate, 6:30p.m

Via The Uptake, here's the live stream for Tuesday night's debate:

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Most of Sept article in Alpha News first appeared in March Crows Nest Politics, Ken Crow byline

Sometimes, we have to wonder how the semi-mysterious funder of Alpha News imagines he or she is getting their money's worth.

Take the September 24, 2016 article about Muslim student associations in Minnesota's public schools.

Bluestem received a tip this morning that anti-Muslim speaker John Guandolo  and his "Understanding The Threat" team will be appearing in Minnesota October 17-20, 2016.

A google search produced two very similar articles related to Guandolo and Minnesota. The first to be published was Ken Crow's March 24, 2016, article at The Crows Nest Politics conservative news site, The Muslim Brotherhood HAS Invaded Minnesota’s Public High Schools.

The second was published on September 24, 2016 by Alpha News over an anonymous "Alpha News Staff" byline, Are Muslim Students Associations in Public Schools Cause for Concern?.

The months-later Alpha News article makes this claim for itself:

Alpha News has discovered that chapters of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) are popping up in public schools throughout the Twin Cities.

Various Minnesota public school websites and a number of school districts’ online documents show that the MSA has or had chapters of the organization in the following high schools: Eden Prairie, Apple Valley, Burnsville, Hopkins, St. Louis Park, Southwest High School, Blaine High School, South High School, Champlin Park High School and Como Park High School in St. Paul.

An investigation of The Muslim Students Association revealed a link between the MSA and the Muslim Brotherhood.  In a key document titled “The Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America”, it lists The Muslim Brotherhood’s “organizations and organizations of our friends” on page 31 of the document.  Listed second out of 29 Muslim Brotherhood affiliated groups is The Muslim Students Association. The list of affiliated groups in the Explanatory Memorandum is prefaced by the statement “Imagine if they all march according to one plan.”

Unfortunately, Alpha News doesn't have the integrity to tell readers where it discovered these developments. From the March 24, 2016 article by Ken Crow in Crows Nest Politics:

In Minnesota, many colleges and several public high schools have chapters of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) on their campuses. Various school websites and a number of school districts’ online documents show that the Muslim Student Association now has chapters of the organization in the following high schools: Eden Prairie, Apple Valley, Burnsville, Hopkins, St. Louis Park, Heritage Academy of Science and Technology, Southwest High School, Blaine High School , South High School and the beleaguered Como Park High School in St. Paul, which has been in the news recently for unrelated student violence incidents. In some cases, tax payers are helping to fund these clubs and activities because high schools need to have money in their budgets to pay for club advisors.

There is a link between the Muslim Student Association and The Muslim Brotherhood.  A key Muslim Brotherhood document, entitled “The Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America”, lists The Muslim Brotherhood’s “organizations and the organizations of our friends” on page 31 of the document.  The Muslim Student Association is listed second among 29 groups and organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.  The list is prefaced by the statement, “Imagine if they all march according to one plan!”

If this were submitted as original research and writing in any composition class in any of those Minnesota high schools and the similarity between the texts were discovered, the student would be flunked for plagiarism, regardless of race, color, religion or creed.

There's more.

From the Crows Nest Politics story:

Former FBI agent and author of “Raising A Jihadi Generation: Understanding the Muslim Brotherhood Movement in America”, John Guandolo said, “The Muslim Students Association was the first national Islamic organization created in the United States by the Muslim Brotherhood.  It’s primary focus is “Dawah” (invitation to Muslims and non-Muslims to Islam) and recruiting Jihadis. The Muslim Student Associations are now on every major university and college campus in America and are now infiltrating high schools, middle schools and even elementary schools.”

Guandolo emphasized, “All MSAs should all be shut down and their leadership imprisoned.  The failure of the federal government to take strong and aggressive action against the MSAs is yet another indicator of their catastrophic incompetence and criminal negligence.”

From Alpha News' version:

Former FBI agent and author of “Raising A Jihadi Generation: Understanding the Muslim Brotherhood Movement in America”, John Guandolo told Alpha News, “The Muslim Students Association was the first national Islamic organization created in the United States by the Muslim Brotherhood.  It’s primary focus is “Dawah” (invitation to Muslims and non-Muslims to Islam) and recruiting Jihadi’s. The Muslim Students Associations are now on every major university and college campus in America and are now infiltrating high schools, middle schools and even elementary schools.”

Guandolo emphasized, “All MSAs should all be shut down.  The failure of the federal government to take strong and aggressive action against the MSAs is yet another indicator of their catastrophic incompetence and criminal negligence.”

We'll hand it to Guandolo: he sure is consistent in what he tells news outlets months apart. At least Alpha News edited out the part about locking up high school students. That's tactful.

There's more--do the comparisons yourself. Alpha News does include seven additional paragraphs about the groups in Eden Prairie and Apple Valley. Other than that, the "research" it claims as its own is lifted from the Crows Nest Politics article without attribution. Naughty-naughty.

There is a connection between Crows Nest Politics and Alpha News; they share a writer, although that writer isn't Ken Crow, under whose byline the original article appears. (Crow's most recent book is Ego in a Tea Bag, according his bio on Crows Nest Politics).

It's self-described Minnesota Hockey Mama Andrea Mayer-Bruestle. Alpha News bio here.

This isn't the first case recently in which Alpha News' presentation of information has been sketchy. At The Column, Andy Birkey reported on September 22 that MN news site uses gays, 7-year old video to paint Somali community as dangerous.

Why are we not surprised to learn the Alpha News staffer who cooked that one up is none other than Mayer-Bruestle.

For short examination of the manner in which the anti-Islam movement uses the Muslim Brotherhood Muslim Brotherhood Explanatory Memorandum, we recommend David Shipler's May 2015 article in the New Yorker, Pamela Geller and the Anti-Islam Movement.

Image: Alpha News: minimalism logo, minimalism logos.

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Willmar student royalty: homecoming court could help show the world what their schools are like

While some adults in Brainerd and Aberdeen are freaking out about Muslims and refugees, Willmar High students are confident their homecoming court demonstrates that "being around people from other ethnicities just feels normal."

The West Central Tribune's education beat reporter Linda Vanderwerf interviewed Willmar High's homecoming royalty for The privilege of diversity, an article centered around the student body's selection of Anisa Abdulahi, a Somali-American senior, as homecoming queen for the public high school in the West Central Minnesota regional center that's a two-hour drive west of Minneapolis. Vanderwerf reports:

To her classmates, Anisa Abdulahi deserved to be elected Willmar Senior High's homecoming queen because she's so nice, and everybody likes her.

The other members of her royal court recognize she's the first Somali-American homecoming queen, but they pay more attention to the type of person she is.

Anisa was crowned Monday evening, along with homecoming king Grant Duininck. They were elected by the entire student body after seniors chose the candidates.

For Riley Schneider, the homecoming princess, "I didn't think about it that much; I thought Anisa deserved it most out of anyone, because she is so amazing."

Grant said he was happy when Anisa was named queen. "It was kind of a unique situation that no other class has had before, and it was the opportunity that we had."

The students said attention given to the diverse homecoming court could help show the world what Willmar's schools are like.

The Senior High has had Hispanic students in its homecoming court in the past and this year. Anisa was the first Somali ever nominated. The student body is 57 percent white, 23 percent Hispanic, 18 percent black and 2 percent Asian.

The relative lack of racial strife in Willmar's schools stands in contrast to reports of problems with Muslims or other minorities around the state and country.

"From the outside, it looks kind of cool for other schools to see," said Sophie Schmitz, one of the queen candidates. "This is Willmar; this is what we represent; this is what we have." . . .

The coronation follows last spring's graduation, to which United States Senator Al Franken spoke and personally congratulated each student, out of respect for Muna Abdulahi, one of the graduates who had served as a U.S. Senate page, and "he’d been largely impressed with her." The Class of 2016 valedictorian was Maité Marin-Mera, who was born in Ecuador.

The more recent article continues:

Anisa's family moved to Willmar when she was a third-grader, and the schools have been a welcoming place.

"I feel like they don't judge you on your color, on your race or religion or where you came from," she said. "They treat you the way they would want to be treated." . . .

High School Principal Paul Schmitz said people who aren't connected to the schools may not realize "it's just what's normal" for kids who have gone to school together for years.

Students of all backgrounds rise to prominent positions in the school, Schmitz said. "To me, it isn't a surprise; it just seems like a natural progression. That's just the way our school is," he said.

Students recognize the cultural and racial backgrounds of their classmates but "they really see each other as individuals," Schmitz said. . . .

Read the whole thing at the West Central Tribune. Amazing young people.

Photo: That crowning moment. Photo by Briana Sanchez, West Central Tribune. Photo gallery here.

If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 33166 770th Ave, Ortonville, MN 56278) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post.

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