Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/category/religion/page/10/)
As a convert to Judaism, there is a part of me that will always feel a bit like Lutefisk trying to be Gefilte fish. My first Passover Seder was no exception as I tried, desperately, to fit in. There are a few things that would have been good to know: Continue Reading
It’s Pi Mai Lao (Lao New Year) this April 14-16th on the Buddhist calendar and the BeerLao is flowing, water attacks are happening, and your parents are nagging you to finally Spring clean the house. Whether you’re in the states or in Laos, here are ten basic ways to make sure your pi mai is fun-filled in ultimate Lao-style. Continue Reading
Governor Mark Dayton may be taking fire from advocates for the legalization of medical marijuana and Republican gubernatorial candidates (none of whom support the Melin/Dibble bills), but he’s getting in a few shots of his own. Continue Reading
Like many young women, I couldn’t wait to get married. I met my spouse in college when we were both 19, and we had been together ever since. We got engaged just a few days shy of my 24th birthday. We will celebrate nine years of marriage this summer. Continue Reading
The Safe and Supportive Minnesota Schools Act passed the Minnesota Senate on Thursday.After a contentious debate inside and outside the Minnesota Legislature, the bill passed a major hurdle and now heads to the House where the bill passed last year. The House will have to concur with the changes made by the Senate, then the bill heads to Gov. Mark Dayton who has said he will sign it.The bill is a comprehensive plan to tackle bullying in Minnesota’s public schools. It provides a clear definition of bullying, protects all students while listing 19 categories of students often singled out for bullying, creates a school climate center and council to provide up-to-date anti-bullying research to school districts, and focuses on bullying prevention as opposed to punishment.Republicans tried everything to derail the bill. Amendments were offered to delete the current bill and replace it with North Dakota’s anti-bullying law, to strip the bill’s School Climate Center and School Climate Council out of the bill, to allow bullies to confront their accusers, to add a mention of First Amendment rights (already included in the bill), to mandate that parents be contacted before a school refers students to resources, to exempt contact sports from anti-bullying requirements, and to mandate parental notification when a student is accused of bullying other students.Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie proposed an amendment that would have mandated a pilot project in up to 9 schools for several years instead of the anti-bullying law applying to all school districts.None of those amendments were successful.Some changes were made to the bill, however. The bill’s purpose statement was stripped out, which is often done as the bill moves through the process. Continue Reading
The letters arrived at the end of a busy semester, the middle of summer, and even as recently as a few weeks ago, according to the Minnesota Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN). They notified Minnesota students, families, and business owners that their TCF Bank accounts would be closed. Despite the fact that none of the letters provided an explanation for the account’s closure, TCF Bank maintains that they did not discriminate against their former customers. However, all of the account holders happened to have Muslim-sounding names.Since 2012, more than 30 bank accounts of Minnesota Muslims have been closed by TCF Bank. According to CAIR-MN, there are reports that account closures also are happening in other states.On February 27, CAIR-MN welcomed the decision by the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) to file a Director’s Charge investigating the situation. Continue Reading
First, I want to thank everyone for the feedback on the article I published yesterday, “About the Gasthof’s Nazis, We’re Talking About the Wrong Thing.” The feedback has been largely positive, and the response to this article (both good and bad) has been truly overwhelming. I wrote the bulk of the article on Tuesday afternoon, when the only report was the initial City Pages article and the subreddit thread. Continue Reading
Monday morning, City Pages published a photo and accompanying developing story about a party at Gasthof’s showing what appears to be men dressed in SS uniforms and Nazi swastika flags hanging on the walls. Photos of swastikas hanging in a Minneapolis bar is a big deal, and as a news and culture magazine for the Jewish Twin Cities, TC Jewfolk wants as much as possible to be a place for interaction on Big Deal stories. Continue Reading
Gasthof Zur Gemutlichkeit, a popular German restaurant in northeast Minneapolis, hosted a Christmas party for a group of World War II re-enactors, which included persons dressed as SS officers and Nazi flags hung on the walls.