Important Takeaways:
- “Details Revealed: Inside the CCP’s United Front Work in Minnesota” exposes the presence and activities of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) United Front Work Department (UFWD) in Minnesota. The UFWD is known for conducting influence operations to advance China’s interests abroad.
- Key Points from the Article:
- Location of CCP Operations: A building on North Eustis Street in St. Paul, Minnesota, serves as a hub for CCP-affiliated organizations, including the Overseas Chinese Service Center of Minnesota (Minnesota OCSC). This center operates under the CCP’s united front strategy.
- Engagement with Local Politicians: The Minnesota OCSC has been involved in fostering relationships with local politicians, notably Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Such engagements are part of the CCP’s broader strategy to influence foreign political landscapes.
- Services for Chinese Community: The center provides various services to Chinese Americans in Minnesota, including hosting events with CCP diplomats and dignitaries. While these activities may appear cultural or social, they can serve as avenues for promoting CCP narratives and monitoring the Chinese diaspora.
- Funding Concerns: Entities associated with this building have reportedly received significant grants from American taxpayers, raising questions about the potential misuse of public funds to support organizations linked to a foreign government’s influence operations.
- Broader Implications of United Front Work: The UFWD’s activities are not limited to Minnesota. Similar operations have been identified in other U.S. cities, including the discovery of secret CCP “police stations” used to monitor and intimidate Chinese dissidents abroad.
- Why This Matters:
- National Security: The presence of CCP-affiliated organizations on U.S. soil poses potential risks to national security, as they may engage in espionage, technology transfer, and influence operations that undermine U.S. interests.
- Political Influence: By cultivating relationships with local politicians and community leaders, the CCP can subtly shape policy decisions and public opinion in ways that favor China’s strategic objectives.
- Diaspora Monitoring and Intimidation: These centers can serve as platforms for monitoring and exerting control over Chinese diaspora communities, potentially leading to the suppression of dissent and the promotion of CCP propaganda.
- Understanding and addressing the activities of the UFWD in the U.S. is crucial to safeguarding democratic institutions, protecting national security, and ensuring that foreign influence does not compromise the integrity of American political and social systems.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- The leader of Canada’s most populous province has followed through on a pledge to hike electricity prices for Americans in response to President Trump’s tariffs as residents of US border states New York, Minnesota and Michigan can expect to pay more for power.
- The Canadian province of Ontario raised electricity export prices by 25% for the three American states on Monday — marking a direct response to the escalating trade dispute between the two countries.
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford ordered the Independent Electricity System Operator, which oversees the province’s electricity market, to implement a $7-per-megawatt-per-hour fee on all power exports to the three states, Bloomberg News reported.
- Despite the aggressive stance, the actual impact on US consumers may be minimal.
- Electricity prices on US spot markets, where power is bought and sold in real-time, fluctuate based on supply and demand.
- With multiple sources available, American buyers are not obligated to purchase from Ontario, meaning they may be able to source cheaper electricity from alternative suppliers.
- New York imported about 4.4% of its total electricity from Canada in 2023, according to Bloomberg calculations using data from the state’s grid operator.
- Minnesota and Michigan relied on Canadian imports even less, according to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which manages the power grid across much of the Midwest.
- “In 2024, less than 1% of MISO’s total energy was supplied via Canadian imports and less than half of that came from Ontario”
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Minnesota has declared a state of emergency over the rise of three diseases on commercial farms.
- The state’s Department of Agriculture issued the alert due to outbreaks of three viral infections among animals in the state.
- Avian Metapneumovirus (aMPV) is a respiratory disease that spreads among poultry and has been triggering outbreaks in the state since 2024.
- Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and the H5N1 bird flu virus are viral infections circulating among wild and domestic birds.
- HPAI refers to several strains of bird flu that can cause severe disease in birds, while H5N1 is the name of the most concerning virus that has jumped to humans.
- Thom Petersen, the state’s agriculture commissioner, said the move was an ‘important step in helping Minnesota farmers affected by these… diseases’.
- The declaration means that the state can now offer zero-interest loans to farmers who are forced to cull their flocks or lose cattle because of infections.
- California has also declared an emergency over the bird flu outbreak.
- The outbreaks are leading to the mass culling of domestic birds which has driven up the price of eggs — with the average price now having risen 65 percent since the start of 2024 to around $4.95 a dozen.
- It comes after a farm worker in Ohio became the fourth American to be hospitalized with bird flu this weekend suffering from respiratory symptoms, with the case reported just 24 hours after another in Wyoming.
- Minnesota has detected more than 871 cases of aMPV since April 2024 — compared to the national tally of 2,355 cases over the year to August last year.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Effective July 2025, teacher licensing rules passed last year in Minnesota under Democrat Gov. Tim Walz will ban practicing Christians, Jews, and Muslims from teaching in public schools.
- …Minnesota agencies controlled by Walz appointees will require teacher license applicants to affirm transgenderism and race Marxism. Without a teaching license, individuals cannot work in Minnesota public schools, nor in the private schools that require such licenses.
- The latest version of the regulations requires teachers to “affirm” students’ “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” to receive a Minnesota teaching license:
- The teacher fosters an environment that ensures student identities such as race/ethnicity, national origin, language, sex and gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical/developmental/emotional ability, socioeconomic class, and religious beliefs are historically and socially contextualized, affirmed, and incorporated into a learning environment where students are empowered to learn and contribute as their whole selves (emphasis added).
- Last spring, administrative law judges finally approved these pending changes The Federalist reported one month before they were finalized. Universities are also affected: starting in 2025, they must either train their teaching students to fulfill these anti-Christian requirements or be banned from offering state licensing — and thus the ticket to the vast majority of teaching jobs — to their students.
- Since 2020 in Minnesota, teachers renewing their licenses, which is usually required every five to seven years, must demonstrate “cultural competency” similar to the requirements imposed in 2025 on new teaching licensees. Teachers renewing their licensing must “Show[] evidence of self-reflection and discussion of” topics that include “Gender Identity, Including Transgender Students” and “Sexual Orientation.” They must also show they understand “bias” in themselves and their students related to race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other cultural Marxist categories.
- Doug Seaton, founder and president of the nonprofit Upper Midwest Law Center, located in Minneapolis, said…
- Minnesota’s teacher requirements therefore force Christians, Muslims, Jews, and adherents to other religions to violate their faith and endanger their hopes of eternal life in order to work in government-run schools.
- Forcing people to testify to beliefs they don’t hold, often called compelled speech, is clearly unconstitutional, he said: “They’re essentially requiring people to affirm these ideas that they don’t really believe, in many cases, as a condition of being a public-school teacher or being part of a program to be a licensed public-school teacher. You can’t force that kind of speech; you can’t require adherence to ideas that aren’t believed.”
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- As Iowa prepares to enact one of the nation’s strictest abortion laws, elected officials in Minnesota are ensuring out of state abortion seekers they are welcome to visit and access services.
- On Thursday, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Bloomington Mayor Tim Busse toured abortion provider Whole Women’s Health Alliance in Bloomington.
- “I’m really honored to be here,” Flanagan said after she and others toured the facility. “Sometimes the stigma that is attached to abortion care is just because people don’t know what happens.”
- The Bloomington clinic provides abortions up to 20 weeks, but Founder and CEO Amy Hagstrom Miller says the hope is to expand to 24 weeks.
- “One of the cool things about abortion is we get to sit with someone as they choose the course for their lives,” Hagstrom Miller said. “Abortion is a solution to an unplanned pregnancy, and unplanned pregnancy really shines a bright light on people’s lives. It has them examine their hopes and their dreams for their future.”
- “Let me just be clear. For our friends in Iowa, you are welcome here,” Flanagan said. “There are people who will provide care for you, and we are good neighbors here in Minnesota. So, if you’re afraid, come to Minnesota, we’ve got you.”
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- The raging Blue Earth River, which caused an abutment of the 114-year-old Rapidan Dam to partially fail, has now swallowed most of the iconic home that sits on a nearby embankment amid Minnesota’s historic flooding.
- A nearby store could likely be next, according to the owners.
- Blue Earth County officials say the collapse occurred on Tuesday evening and they continue to monitor for possible impacts downstream.
- The river is expected to drop up to 5 feet by Friday. Officials say it’s still cutting away quickly.
- “It’s very close to the house. We had to evacuate this morning, get as much as we could out. All the freezers and such,” Barnes said. “It’s my childhood. I grew up in the house, I grew up in the dam store. I’ve been there all my life.”
- “My family is sitting here waiting for their history to be washed away minute by minute,” said Shannon Whittet, whose uncle Jim Hruska bought the store in 1972. “My family has lost their home, they’ve lost their business, their livelihood and their land will be gone. This isn’t a simple situation of something happened, and we will rebuild. The land will be the last thing. And it will be gone.”
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Minnesota dam at risk of total failure amid “historic” flooding
- Threat level: Recent heavy rain, including a foot-and-a-half in southern Minnesota, has already closed roads, caused serious damage, and left some communities under feet of water.
- The latest: Blue Earth County officials warned Monday that a breached dam outside Mankato is in “imminent failure condition.”
- Those alarms came as the state deployed 46 National Guard soldiers to Waterville in Le Sueur County in response to what local officials say is the worst flooding in its history.
- By the numbers: The governor said while the $26.4 million currently in the account is “probably not” enough to cover the damages, the federal aid that would flow from a disaster declaration could help fill the gap.
- Another $50 million is already set to be transferred to the account in August, per KARE 11.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Revelations 18:23:’For the merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.’
Important Takeaways:
- Fiery train derailment in Minnesota prompts evacuations
- The train “had numerous rail cars derail” and several caught fire, Tollefson said. Homes in an area 1/2 mile (0.8 kilometers) around the site were evacuated, according to Tollefson, and residents were taken to a shelter in nearby Prinsburg.
- The BNSF train derailed in the town of Raymond, roughly 100 miles (161 kilometers) west of Minneapolis,
- U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN that about 14 cars were carrying hazardous materials, including ethanol.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”
Important Takeaways:
- Minnesota storms knock out power to 75,000 customers
- Severe storms knocked out power to as many as 75,000 customers across Minnesota where power poles were toppled and winds gusted as high as 81 mph in the state’s southern region.
- The largest power outages were west of the Twin Cities and by Wednesday morning service had been restored to about half of those who lost power, according to Xcel Energy.
- Winds Tuesday night gusted as high as 81 mph near Hector in Renville County in southern Minnesota.
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Revelations 6:8 “And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.”
Important Takeaways:
- BIRD FLU FOUND IN FLOCK IN NO. 1 TURKEY STATE
- Avian Flu confirmed in Minnesota, the top turkey-producing state in the nation, said agricultural officials over the weekend. Some 14.6 million birds in domestic flocks have died of HPAI or in culling of infected herds to reduce the spread of the viral disease this year.
- Minnesota was the 18th state with an outbreak of HPAI. Four other outbreaks were reported over the weekend, three on turkey and egg farms in South Dakota and one at an upland game farm in New York State
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