Nebraska
Minds polluted? New film making rounds in Nebraska is filled with falsehoods, education experts say
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/VG7EBEQQKJBN5KC72JUSDLP6UA.jpg)
LINCOLN, Neb. (Flatwater Free Press) -On a Saturday this March, Stephanie Nantkes walked into the Civic Middle in downtown Seward and located a number of dozen individuals gathered within the assembly room downstairs, heads bowed in prayer. She discovered Kirk Penner, working for re-election to the Nebraska State Board of Training. She discovered Jessie Bremer and Jacob Bierbaum, native college board candidates.
She discovered a desk of fellow lecturers. Some retired, like her. Some nonetheless at it: grading essays, revising lesson plans and organizing area journeys.
Collectively, they waited for a brand new movie referred to as “The Thoughts Polluters” to start – a movie that might finally be publicly screened by Nebraska for Founders’ Values and the Defend Nebraska Youngsters Coalition roughly two dozen instances throughout the state, from Omaha to Gordon.
The lights have been dimmed. The projector turned on.
“Let me ask you a query…,” Mark Archer, the movie’s director and narrator, begins. “What if I informed you that your baby was being not solely sexually harassed, however proven pornography in an effort to groom them for sexual exercise? What in the event that they have been being groomed for gay exercise? What in the event that they have been being groomed for intercourse with pedophiles….”
He speaks slowly, softly. Involved.
“Now right here’s the massive query: What if I informed you all these items have been taking place to your baby of their college classroom?”
Nantkes watched as audio system rifled accusations at “authorities education programs” – at lecturers like herself, she felt.
Months later, Nantkes, mom of former ACLU of Nebraska director Danielle Conrad, struggled to articulate the depths of her bewilderment.
“A horror movie,” she referred to as it.
“How insane is that this?” she requested. “There isn’t one reality behind what they have been saying.”
She hadn’t spent 40 years educating in Nebraska’s public faculties and served two phrases on the Seward college board solely to have her life’s pursuit portrayed because the work of the Antichrist.
“And that’s the correct definition…,” insists writer Alex Newman close to the movie’s finish. “So mother and father, you might have an obligation as a Christian to take away these youngsters from that college.”
When the movie ended and Penner rose to talk, Nantkes snapped.
“Boo!” she yelled. “Boo! Boo!”
She stored at it till the hosts tried – and failed – to usher her from the constructing. She dared them to name the police. They backed down.
“They have been telling individuals lies about what I’ve liked my whole life,” she says. “And I’ll go down preventing for it.”
Leaders of the Nebraskans for Founders’ Values and the Defend Nebraska Youngsters Coalition rejected interview requests for this story, as did Nebraska Board of Training member Penner and state board candidates Elizabeth Tegtmeier, Marni Hodgen and Sherry Jones, who’ve been endorsed by the PNCC and took part in a displaying of the movie.
“Any statements attributed to the PNCC or myself shall be disavowed,” wrote Sue Greenwald, retired pediatrician and Defend Nebraska Youngsters Coalition member. “If you want to speak in regards to the movie, I might recommend you discuss to the producers.”
Mark and Amber Archer, the Indiana-based husband-wife filmmaking duo who produced the movie, additionally declined to remark.
Doug Brady, candidate for the Studying Neighborhood of Douglas and Sarpy Counties’ Coordinating Council, hosted an April viewing of “The Thoughts Polluters” in Bellevue.
“An actual eye opener,” he stated. A film that “tells rather a lot about what’s really occurring in our faculty districts round right here.”
***
“The Thoughts Polluters” is the second feature-length movie produced by the Archers. The film alleges that “authorities faculties” are “grooming” youngsters by means of applications like complete sex-ed and social-emotional studying, along with what audio system name pornographic youngsters’s books.
“Overcoming the pure inhibitions that youngsters have is the objective of each the sexual predator and the sexual educator,” Amber Archer says. “Breaking down the God-given boundaries that youngsters have in the direction of sexual content material and conduct is the important thing: the important thing to manipulation and in the end enslavement…”
The movie doesn’t interview any lively public college lecturers, directors, teachers or consultants in public well being or baby psychological improvement.
The Nebraska Division of Training and the Nebraska State Training Affiliation – the lecturers’ union – don’t all the time see eye to eye.
Each agree that “The Thoughts Polluters” has no foundation in actuality.
“This film is pure propaganda,” wrote NSEA President Jenni Benson in an e-mail.
“I believe it’s detrimental to the faculties,” stated David Jespersen, the Nebraska Division of Training’s public info officer. “I believe it’s detrimental to the lecturers. And I believe it’s really detrimental to society to be making these broad, baseless claims.”
Not like the couple’s first movie – about disgraced Indiana physician and abortion supplier George Klopfer – “The Thoughts Polluters” was prohibited from launch on Amazon. (Amazon couldn’t be reached for remark). It prices $24.99 to lease on Vimeo.
The Nebraskans for Founders’ Values (whose director, Mark Bonkiewicz, additionally stars within the movie) and the Defend Nebraska Youngsters Coalition started collectively screening “The Thoughts Polluters” in church buildings, libraries and group facilities this spring, shortly after the Nebraska Board of Training voted to indefinitely postpone the state’s first-ever well being schooling requirements.
State and native college board candidates endorsed by the teams appeared as visitor audio system at these occasions.
Phrase of the “The Thoughts Polluters” rapidly unfold on social media and bled into native college board conferences.
Amanda Ripley, a Lincoln nurse and mom of two, streamed the film on-line. She then publicly addressed the Lincoln Board of Training, sure the state’s proposed well being requirements would quickly inch their means again into consideration.
“It could virtually be negligent for anybody to vote sure or no on the proposed well being requirements with out seeing this very complete and well-sourced documentary,” she informed the college board in February.
In a follow-up interview, Ripley stated she hasn’t personally seen any of the grooming actions alleged in “Thoughts Polluters.” She referred to as the lecturers at her youngsters’ public college “beautiful individuals” and stated she hasn’t hosted a screening of the movie “as a result of this does appear tremendous excessive for Lincoln, Nebraska.”
“It does appear…to color lecturers in a nasty gentle,” she stated. “So if I have been a trainer, would I be proud of that? No. However then show your self. Show that you just’re higher and may be trusted with our youngsters…”
Jespersen, on the Nebraska Division of Training, stated there’s no proof to help the movie’s accusations. He stated Nebraska lately made headlines when comparable “baseless claims” have been aired within the Legislature.
Repeating a rumor that unfold from the PNCC Fb web page, Sen. Bruce Bostelman of Brainard claimed public faculties have been offering litter containers to “furries,” or youngsters figuring out as cats. A number of college districts discredited the rumor. Bostelman apologized.
“If mother and father actually consider one thing’s occurring, it needs to be investigated.,. And in case you assume the administration is pushing it, then the Division of Training ought to get entangled,” Jespersen stated. “However we don’t have these claims.”
Lecturers are the only largest reporters of kid abuse annually in Nebraska, he stated.
If mother and father are morally against a part of the curriculum, they’ll usually choose their baby out, he stated. In the event that they consider materials is inappropriate, they’ll file discover with the college board and district for evaluate.
“However we’re simply not conscious of any of these items taking place,” he stated.
Even because it misleads, the movie could have energy as a result of, in some ways, the US has remodeled. In accordance with a current Gallup ballot, 7.1% of American adults who now determine as LGBT, almost twice as many as a decade in the past. The variety of LGBT youngsters is rising sharply. The nation’s multiracial inhabitants is rising at an unprecedented fee. The proportion of white Individuals is shrinking and so, too, is the proportion of self-identifying Christians.
“The world is turning into a daunting place to many as a result of it’s altering,” stated Rita Bennett, former Lincoln Training Affiliation president, who opposes the documentary.
Brady, candidate for the Studying Neighborhood’s Coordinating Council, agrees that issues are altering. He stated faculties are pushing that change.
He stated classes about gender and sexuality taught in faculties are sometimes inappropriate. Any information about intercourse needs to be taught by mother and father, he stated.
Citing “The Thoughts Polluters” as proof, he stated faculties are educating youngsters that it’s acceptable to have intercourse with adults.
“The massive factor they all the time say is ‘No means no and sure means sure,’” Brady stated. “They’re telling a younger baby that’s is O.Okay. for them to provide permission to have intercourse, even to older individuals.”
Jill Brown, Creighton College professor who teaches “The Psychology of Gender,” testified earlier than the Legislature’s Training Committee supporting the proposed well being requirements in February.
She stated “Thoughts Polluters” does a disservice to “the true work” of stopping sexual abuse, which many research have proven may be considerably lowered when complete sexual schooling is taught in faculties.
Many claims made within the movie are disproven by present analysis.
The movie says “each cell in your physique testifies to the truth that you’re both male or feminine.” In accordance with a United Nations report, as much as 1.7-percent of the world’s inhabitants is born with intersex traits.
The movie says transgenderism is the results of trauma, confusion or whimsy. However quite a few research have proven in any other case.
The movie says youngsters’s “pure aversion” to intercourse will stop abuse. However the U.S. authorities stories almost one in 4 ladies and one in 13 boys expertise sexual abuse yearly.
***
After the “Thoughts Polluters” program in Seward was completed, Nantkes and different lecturers from her desk reconvened exterior the Civic Middle. They have been shocked. Indignant. One among them later in contrast it to stepping off a curler coaster. “Your again is up in opposition to the wall, and so they have you ever get out, and also you’re simply wobbling round like, What simply occurred right here?”
However they have been additionally stuffed with conviction. All of them, Nantkes stated, are “hellbent” on damning the move of disinformation.
It’s a frustration shared by the Nebraska Division of Training.
“Individuals see movies like this and so they marvel why lecturers are having a tough time proper now. This undoubtedly contributes,” Jespersen stated. “With every part that we’re asking of lecturers, we needs to be celebrating them, not utilizing baseless claims to convey them down.”
FFP reporter Natalia Alamdari contributed to this story.
The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska’s first impartial, nonprofit newsroom targeted on investigations and have tales that matter.
Copyright 2022 KOLN. All rights reserved.
Nebraska
NE officials say voting went mostly smoothly in state's first election requiring voter ID • Nebraska Examiner
OMAHA — A school lockdown in Lincoln on Tuesday briefly shut down a polling place.
In Omaha, a power outage caused by a construction crew gaffe had some voters casting ballots by the light of a lantern.
Those were among a few notable mishaps reported on primary Election Day in Nebraska.
But the biggest change that Nebraskans saw in voting procedures — the new legal requirement that they show a form of identification to cast a ballot at the polls — caused no widespread problems or concerns as of early evening, according to a check with various Nebraska officials.
“This has been a pretty smooth day,” said Steve Smith, spokesman for Civic Nebraska, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting voter rights and democracy. “We really didn’t know what to expect.”
MVP of the day
He said earlier outreach efforts by the Nebraska Secretary of State — whom he called the “MVP” of the day — and advocacy groups appeared to have helped educate voters about requirements under the recently passed law.
Overall, Civic Nebraska as of about 6:30 p.m. Central Time reported an “efficient” Election Day. Smith said about four dozen observers visited a total of about 100 precincts.
Just under 50 queries were received by the “election protection line,” he said.
“Our primary is the state’s first election with the new ID requirements, and it continues to be top-of-mind with voters,” said Heather Engdahl, Civic Nebraska’s director of voting rights. “We have been providing clarity about the new law so that everyone who wishes to cast a ballot can do so without impediment.”
Among issues reported to Civic Nebraska:
- In Omaha and Lincoln, poll workers in a few instances were briefly unsure how to proceed after a voter presented a current Nebraska driver’s license that contained an old address. The new law allows outdated or expired ID cards, as long as they carry the person’s photo and name. Civic Nebraska said each of those situations was “quickly resolved,” and the voters were allowed to cast their ballots
- In Douglas County, a poll worker asked a voter to put away a mobile phone while in the voting booth. The voter cited a state law that allows voters to employ such resources to help in their voter process — and was allowed to vote.
Driver’s license and state ID were most common
Jackie Ourada, spokeswoman for the Secretary of State’s Office, said voting across the state had gone mostly smoothly into the evening.
She said most voters have chosen to show either a driver’s license or a state ID.
And now for a little ‘mood voting’ on Election Day in central Omaha
A news photographer said on social media that his Supreme Court-issued media photo ID was rejected. He wondered out loud if he would “risk a confrontation” by returning to the polling place in Otoe County.
Ourada said she was told by the county clerk that it was the name on the ID that caused confusion for the workers, as opposed to the type of ID. The name reportedly was similar to another voter’s name on the roster, the clerk said.
In another instance, Ourada said, a voter in Douglas County showed an out-of-state driver’s license, which is not acceptable ID under the new law. She said the person was allowed to fill out a provisional ballot, which requires the voter to report to the election commissioner within a week with an acceptable form of ID so the ballot can be counted.
Social media also highlighted pro-life messages scribbled in chalk near a polling place at Omaha Skutt Catholic High School.
Brian Kruse, Douglas County election commissioner, said he did not see the chalkings as electioneering violations since no abortion-related initiatives were on the ballot.
SWAT team in the area
Kruse said that voting overall in Douglas County had gone relatively smoothly into the evening, with perhaps the most notable mishap being the power outage in central Omaha that affected two church polling places for less than two hours.
Voting continued with the help of natural light in one church. The other had voting booths in the basement. The Election Commissioner’s Office sent a runner to the facility with several lanterns, and the church also provided lanterns and flashlights.
In Lincoln, a polling place at Mickle Middle School was closed from about 8:20 a.m. to 8:54 a.m. because the school was placed in lockdown, said Lancaster County Election Commissioner Todd Wiltgen.
The school chose to go into lockdown mode after learning that the Lincoln Police Department and its SWAT team were in the neighborhood serving an arrest warrant.
Wiltgen said his office had a plan to relocate the polling place to another spot nearby, but the school reopened before the move started.
He said there was light voter turnout at the time, and he did not think anyone was turned away.
Overall, Wiltgen said, voting operations had gone smoothly into the evening. He knew of no problems related to voter ID.
Washing machine woe
An official at Spirit Life Church in Bellevue said morning voting had gone without any snags.
A yard sign planted at the entrance of a long driveway reminded voters of the need for ID. Another sign waited at the door.
“People have their IDs ready,” said Stephanie Warren.
At the American Legion Post 331 in South Omaha, polling official Janet Bonet said voting was light and no concerns had surfaced with voter ID.
She said one woman, a naturalized citizen born in El Salvador, had walked to the polling place to vote for the third time since becoming a citizen. She told workers that her mail-in ballot had gotten ruined in the washing machine.
Bonet said the decision was made for the woman to cast a provisional ballot, as everyone wanted to see her vote count.
“It’s been a good experience so far for me and everybody else,” Bonet said of the day.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
OMAHA — A power outage in central Omaha on Tuesday morning offered some Nebraska voters a “romantic” setting of sorts as they cast their ballot on Election Day.
At least two polling places were without light and power for less than two hours. Omaha Public Power District officials said power was restored around 10:30 a.m.
One seemed to have sufficient natural lighting, but the other, a Lutheran church at about 60th and Center Streets, had voting booths in the basement and needed a bit of intervention from the Douglas County Election Commissioner’s Office.
Brian Kruse, county election commissioner, said his office sent a runner to the location with several lanterns that helped light pathways to voting booths.
People were using flashlights on their cell phones. The facility also had some flashlights.
“That’s a first for me,” Kruse said of the incident.
OPPD said fewer than 1,000 customers were without power after a private construction crew hit an underground power line near 48th and Leavenworth Streets. No one on the crew was injured.
The area affected was between Dodge and Center Streets, from 60th to 48th Streets, plus University Drive North and Pacific Street from University Drive West to 46th Avenue.
Nebraska Examiner’s Aaron Sanderford was among the voters that marked their ballot in the dark during the power outage.
“Me and some of my neighbors got to vote like it was the 1800s,” he said.
One voter called the lighting “romantic.” Another called it “mood voting.”
Meanwhile, Tuesday marked the first election that, under a new state law, workers checked identification of voters. Kruse said all seemed to be going smoothly on that front so far, with no voter complaints as of midday.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Nebraska
What to know before you vote in Nebraska’s first statewide election with Voter ID • Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — Nebraskans, check your wallets and purses for a picture ID before heading to the polls on Tuesday.
If you forget, you’ll need to request a provisional ballot at your polling site and follow up with your local election office by the close of business on May 21 to make it count. Or you’ll need to go back before the polls close and try again.
Tuesday is the first statewide election since Nebraska voters approved a requirement that IDs be checked before voting.
Early voting reminders
The 35% to 40% of Nebraskans that Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s office expects to vote early in the primary election already know.
“Nebraska’s polling places will be fully staffed and prepared for voters on Election Day,” Evnen said. “County election offices are ready.”
Early voters had to write down a state ID or driver’s license number or use a copy of an approved ID to request a ballot by mail or vote early in person at their county election office.
Ballots requested by mail must be returned to local county election offices or an official county election drop box by the close of voting at 8 p.m. CT or 7 p.m. MT Tuesday.
People casting early voting ballots can make sure their ballots were counted by checking the Secretary of State’s website at https://www.votercheck.necvr.ne.gov/voterview.
Voting in person
State and local election officials urge patience for the bulk of Nebraskans who still show up to vote in person on Election Day.
Lines could be longer and a little slower at morning and evening rush hours, as poll workers learn to check IDs and as people who came to vote without them adjust.
Voters can use Nebraska driver’s licenses, state IDs, military IDs, college IDs, nursing home or hospital records, tribal IDs, political subdivision IDs or U.S. passports.
Douglas County has added an extra staffer as a greeter at every local polling place this spring whose job is to communicate with people in line and make sure they have the proper ID.
Election rights advocates and both major political parties will be watching how the changes are implemented. Voting advocacy group Civic Nebraska urged Nebraskans who face any problems to call the group’s Voter Help Line at 402-890-5291.
People with questions can also call their county election office at one of the numbers listed here: https://sos.nebraska.gov/elections/election-officials-contact-information. Or they can call the Secretary of State’s Office at 402-471-2555.
Few complaints so far
Few complaints have been relayed so far. Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse, who has the largest number of people voting early, about 50% of his expected primary tally, said he had not had one person request to talk to a supervisor to complain.
“We have had over 1,500 people vote (early) in person,” Kruse said. “We’ve had one of the new provisionals where someone forgot their ID. They’ve come back and cured it.”
Steve Smith of Civic Nebraska said his organization has heard about a dozen questions about when and where voters need to write down their state ID number while early voting. Truth is, county election officials check ID info when people request early voting ballots, so they don’t have to write it on the ballot-returning envelope.
People who live in counties and precincts that vote exclusively by mail — 11 whole counties and in parts of 19 others — will need to write their state ID number on the return envelope.
The state will start posting unofficial election results online starting at 8 p.m. Central or 7 p.m. Mountain at electionresults.nebraska.gov.
The Secretary of State’s Office updates results every five minutes until county election officials call it a night. Nebraska’s counties often finish counting a few days after Election Day, although most results can be determined by the close of business Friday.
Ring announcer resigns following post-fight controversy that shook the boxing world
How to safeguard your older PC
Pro-Palestinian activists protest at Google developer conference amid Israel-Hamas war
Bill Burr and Bill Maher think Louis C.K. should be uncanceled: ‘It’s been long enough’
With a new jewelry line, Aleali May is designing mini monuments to the self
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
Canadian Nobel-winning author Alice Munro dies aged 92
W. Va. AG known for opposing Obama and Biden policies wins GOP primary for governor
Read the N.T.S.B.’s Preliminary Report on the Baltimore Bridge Collapse
Biden moving forward on $1B in weapons for Israel after previous shipment paused over Rafah concerns: report
Co-leader of Germany's far-right AfD party fined for using Nazi slogan
-
Politics1 week agoHouse Dems seeking re-election seemingly reverse course, call on Biden to 'bring order to the southern border'
-
Politics1 week agoFetterman says anti-Israel campus protests ‘working against peace' in Middle East, not putting hostages first
-
World1 week agoGerman socialist candidate attacked before EU elections
-
News1 week agoUS man diagnosed with brain damage after allegedly being pushed into lake
-
World1 week agoGaza ceasefire talks at crucial stage as Hamas delegation leaves Cairo
-
Politics1 week agoRepublicans believe college campus chaos works in their favor
-
World1 week agoStand-in Jose Raul Mulino wins Panama presidential race
-
World1 week agoTech compliance reports, Newsletter