“The Minnesota Marriage Minute videos are an exciting opportunity to promote a respectful dialogue about the future of marriage in Minnesota,” said John Helmberger, chairman of Minnesota for Marriage, in a recent statement announcing the videos.

“We especially want to thank Kalley Yanta, a veteran former news anchor and devoted mother for volunteering her time to make these important videos,” said Helmberger. “We are grateful for Kalley’s faithful commitment to preserving marriage in Minnesota and for her experience and poise in presenting the various topics. We are confident that she will be well received by Minnesotans across the State.”

The first video in the series is an introduction:

Yanta launched her new project with Minnesota for Marriage on Pastor Brad Brandon’s “Word of Truth” radio show on Wednesday.

“This is a big deal,” she said of the anti-gay marriage amendment. “People need to really pay attention to this.”

Yanta said they’ve taped 30 of the “marriage minutes” and are considering also creating radio and television spots. The Minnesota for Marriage group asked her to be the “face” of the effort, she told Brandon.

She also said she signed up for the project because of her own marriage and that fact that same-sex parents are harmful to children.

“I feel very, very grateful to have a good marriage,” Yanta told Brandon. “I want to be a part of … preserving that as our definition of marriage in Minnesota. … There are many efforts under way to tear apart the foundation of our society, which is the family.

“Thirty-one states across the nation have taken up this amendment and all have passed it, so if Minnesota doesn’t, we’d be the first not to, and that sets a precedent for the rest of the nation, and we don’t want to do that” she continued.

Yanta refuted the idea that same-sex parents can raise healthy, well-adjusted children, referring to a conversation she had with a “very prominent CEO of a major metropolitan hospital here in town,” who defended gay parenting.

“I have beg to differ with that opinion,” she said. “There are studies that are being conducted right now about how children are being raised and how that affects somebody in their psyche and in their self-esteem and in the various ways that that can affect a person being raised by either a man and a man or a woman and a woman. It’s not natural.”

Yanta also said that if the amendment doesn’t pass, Christian parents could be arrested.

“If marriage between homosexuals is legalized, what would some of the consequences be?” she asked rhetorically. “Parents who want to opt their kids out of the public school on the day that they’re teaching about homosexual relationships how it should be okay and accepted, and the parents are charged with discrimination and are hauled away sometimes in handcuffs. … We just can’t allow this to happen.

“We all need to have courage when it comes to speaking the truth,” she continued, noting that, so far, she hasn’t received any backlash from the videos.

But while Yanta may not have received backlash, the videos have.

Minnesotans United for All Families, a coalition of more than 100 groups, analyzed the images in the first video released and determined that not a single person in the video was actually from Minnesota.

“While this video is full of stock images, it is strangely lacking in real Minnesotans,” the group said on its Facebook page. “Perhaps they couldn’t find any real Minnesotans willing to support their divisive agenda?”

One image appears to have been taken by a French photographer of a French family, and another is being used on the website of an India-based health-care center.

Most of the images were purchased through low-budget stock-photo websites.

And it’s not the first time a group affiliated with the National Organization for Marriage (NOM is one of three groups that make up Minnesota for Marriage) used stock photos to misrepresent support for their cause. In 2011, the group’s New Hampshire affiliate used images from a rally featuring Barack Obama and passed them off as their own rallies.

The Minnesota for Marriage videos are not Kalley’s first foray into conservative Christian issue-oriented video production.

She has recently produced documentaries that express aimed her anti-abortion beliefs. In a November video, Yanta accuses Planned Parenthood of building “clandestine” and secretive headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota’s Midway neighborhood. The video compares the Planned Parenthood construction to the Nazis’ Auschwitz concentration camp complex.

Yanta’s video also discusses “post abortion syndrome,” a controversial notion that women experience higher rates of mental illness following an abortion. The video portrays it as a real illness, despite recent scientific research to the contrary. A study in January 2011, for instance, showed that women do not have a higher risk of mental illness after having an abortion. In fact, studies that have shown a link often have neglected to assess the mental health of the women prior to them becoming pregnant.

Yanta courted controversy in the late 1990s, when as the anchor of KSTP-TV, a Minneapolis ABC affiliate, she had to cancel a speaking engagement with a group called Concerned Citizens for Action, an anti-abortion group that would later become Pro-Life Action Ministries, an entity that Yanta has worked with for several years. The station did not say why the news anchor had to cancel the appearance, but Yanta later told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that the event created the appearance of bias for the anchor.

She’s also been involved in Total Life Care Centers, a network of crisis pregnancy centers in Minnesota, many of which are state-funded despite providing information that medical experts and reproductive rights advocates have called false and misleading.

Photo: Screen shot of Kalley Yanta anchoring “Minnesota Marriage Minute: Episode 1″ (Source: minnesotaformarriage.org)

The office will be located at 2722 University Avenue S.E., in Minneapolis. An invitation sent to supporters invites them to meet fellow activists and learn about the campaign’s “grassroots strategy for re-electing the president.”

“One year isn’t so far away, and we have to build for the long term and strengthen this movement today. Come on Monday to see how you can be involved and how together we will re-elect the President and reclaim the basic values that make our country great.”

Obama’s Republican rivals are currently focusing their resources on early primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

“I encourage members of the progressive caucus or any public official or any public figure, don’t try to inject yourself into this,” Ellison said on MSNBC over the weekend. “Show up and support it, if people want you speak—speak—but respect the fact that this is a citizen thing.”

Ellison said he’s convinced the Minneapolis occupations are peaceful, and that people are rightly concerned about predatory banks, unemployment and the “expanding wealth gap.”

“It’s deeper than a bill, and it’s deeper than what party’s in the majority,” Ellison said. “There is a growing sense among many Americans that the American dream is getting out of their grasp.”

The demonstrators were the outgrowth of an Occupy Wall Street movement that started in New York more than three weeks ago. They plan to occupy the site in downtown Minneapolis indefinitely.

Their manifesto: “If you are struggling; if you have lost your job, or your home; if you have seen your child unjustly incarcerated; if you are homeless, living without health care, or drowning in debt; if you work full time but still are unable to afford food to feed your family; if you feel no one is listening to you; if you are fed up with the direction this country is going in — then you are one of the 99 percent. We are talking to you. Come and join us! This is your chance to be heard.”

Award-winning photojournalist Kathy Easthagen captured these scenes from the “occupation” of the Twin Cities on Friday morning.

Cody Cooper, second-year law student at the University of Minnesota, is planning on a career as a lobbyist or in public policy. “I, like most of the people here, want to see easier access to a voice in politics.” (Photo: Kathy Easthagen/The Minnesota Independent)

(Photo: Kathy Easthagen/The Minnesota Independent)

An unnamed woman, not wanting the message on the man's sign behind her to go unchallenged but also not wanting to draw attention to it, stands in front of him with a sign of displeasure. (Photo: Kathy Easthagen/The Minnesota Independent)

Educator Pattrice Jones paints a banner for the “teach-ins” that will be held later in the day. (Photo: Kathy Easthagen/The Minnesota Independent)

Jacob Kelly, a 28-year-old resident of the Twin Cities, is like many attending the occupation in that he has a host of reasons for attending that ranged from personal freedom to inequitable public policy. (Photo: Kathy Easthagen/The Minnesota Independent)

Minnesotans are planning a solidarity occupation in downtown Minneapolis Friday, Oct. 7.

The youth summit attendees compared the protests to the pro-democracy Arab Spring demonstrations in the Middle East and recent protests against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

“The future of our country depends on young people demanding the future we believe in,” the statement said. “And we believe that Wall Street should pay for the damage they’ve done to our economy, our jobs, and our communities – foreclosing on homes, making massive profits with no oversight, and not sharing in building a future for the next generation.”

The resolution was proposed by Mary Clinton of the CUNY Murphy Institute in New York. It passed by a unanimous voice vote at the convention.

Citing Occupy Wall Street’s slogan that “we are the 99 percent,” the labor organizers called for a “country that doesn’t just work for the top 1 percent.”

“We stand together to call for a sustainable future that doesn’t begin with massive tax breaks for the wealthy and end with austerity measures and a jobs crisis,” the statement said. “We are one.”

Protests inspired by the Wall Street occupation have broken out in Minnesota. One group, OccupyMN, plans to occupy a site in downtown Minneapolis Friday.

The full resolution is below:

“The world in which we live isn’t working for the vast majority of people. The top 1 percent controls the economy, makes profits at the expense of working people, and dominates the political debate. Wall Street symbolizes this simple truth: a small group of people have the lives and livelihoods of working Americans in their hands.

In the last two weeks, young people have sparked a movement on Wall Street, just as they did through the Arab Spring and in Wisconsin against Scott Walker. Participants at the AFL-CIO Next Up Young Worker Summit left Occupy Wall Street to join with young people in the labor movement to talk about how best to take back our economy for the middle class.

Today, more than 800 Next Up participants from around the country stand with those on Wall Street who are making their voices heard. The future of our country depends on young people demanding the future we believe in. And we believe that Wall Street should pay for the damage they’ve done to our economy, our jobs, and our communities – foreclosing on homes, making massive profits with no oversight, and not sharing in building a future for the next generation.

We stand together in calling for a country that doesn’t just work for the top 1 percent. We stand together to call for a sustainable future that doesn’t begin with massive tax breaks for the wealthy and end with austerity measures and a jobs crisis.

We are one.”

Patrick T. Murphy lifted higher his sign reading, “Jobs?”

Inside, at the annual convention of the American Legion, attendants waited for Obama to discuss veterans benefits. Outside, hundreds of Minnesotans held signs about the environment, war and jobs under the overcast sky.

“I think this president and all the other politicians have failed us,” Murphy said after the motorcade passed. “They’re more interested in serving the needs of their contributors than they are the people of the United States.”

Police reopened the sidewalk to pedestrian traffic as the clusters of people fanned out.

“I came out today because this is so important,” says Patricia P. Hauser, pointing to her sign against the Keystone pipeline. “We wanted him to see a sign, at least one sign—he doesn’t get away scot-free.”

In the body of the protest, Remi Eichten of St. Paul wasn’t disillusioned that the motorcade avoided protesters.

“I want citizens of Minneapolis, of Minnesota, to see we’re out here,” she said.

Eichten says she’s still an Obama supporter, although she hopes he’ll take action on the Keystone project, as well as push for other policies like a new stimulus plan.

“I feel like he kind of needed to have his first term to say I’m a ‘work with you’ person [to Republicans]. If we can get him in for a second term it will be like doot, doot, doot,” Eichten says, checking off accomplishments. “I also wanted to come out and show that you can show dissent with him and still be supportive of him,” Eichten added.

Misty Grandison of Minneapolis said she wished Obama would be a little more scrappy.

“He sometimes feels uncomfortable with  [criticism], especially when it comes from the left,” Grandison said, although she said she still preferred Obama to other presidential candidates like U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Later, as the speech wrapped up inside, protesters streamed to where Obama’s motorcade had entered the convention center, trailed by lines of police and five horses. A police officer announced “Disperse now,” as the horses crowded protesters off the sidewalk near the new security cordon. As it began to lightly rain, protesters argued with police or discussed Obama’s appointees.

Steve Sweet came from Greenville, Miss., to serve as an alternate national executive committeeman at the legionnaires annual convention. He watched the preparations for the exit of the president’s motorcade from across the street.

“This is what I fought for, these people have a right to protest and say what they want,” Sweet said, nodding to the protesters, many of whom carried signs referencing jobs, which the American Legion has concentrated on during this year’s convention. “I don’t have a thing against them, I’d sit down and have coffee with them—it’s that we’re going to have a difference of opinion and that’s what it’s all about anyway—that’s fine.”

While an anti-gay-marriage initiative will be on the ballot in 2012, a policy that would surely turn many same-sex couples away from Minnesota, some of the state’s communities are embracing the growing number of such couples within their communities.

Minneapolis has 3,831 couples, according to the Census, or 23.43 same-sex couples per 1,000 households. It lagged behind only San Francisco, Seattle and Oakland among of cities over 250,000 population. Its place among major cities hasn’t change much over the last three decades. It was fourth in the 1990 Census, fifth in 2000 and in the American Community Survey conducted between 2004-2006, the city placed third.

St. Paul has 1,346 such couples, or 12.13 same-sex couples per 1,000 households, ranking it 24th among cities with a population greater than 250,000. That put it just behind Los Angeles.

Minnesota came in at 33rd among the states for same-sex couples per 1,000 households. It was bested only by Illinois among Midwestern states, ranking just above Indiana and well ahead of Iowa (47th), where gay marriage is legal. Wisconsin was 40th, and South and North Dakota were 50th and 51st, respectively.

Minnesota saw an increase in same-sex couples of 50 percent over 2000.

In Minnesota, the top city of any size with the highest concentration of same-sex couples was Golden Valley followed by Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, St. Paul and Richfield.

In the U.S., the Census reported 901,997 same-sex couples or 7.7 per 1,000 households.

The numbers are prompting some communities to tout their acceptance of same-sex couples as a positive attribute. Pine City did not make the top five in Minnesota, but Pine County did — coming in third behind Hennepin and Ramsey counties. Some community boosters there have seized on those numbers. Pine City, home to 3,100 residents and located about an hour north of Minneapolis, hosts East Central Minnesota Pride, a LGBT pride picnic held each summer. The parade has garnered attention nationally for being one of only a handful of small-town pride events in the nation. And, the Minnesota State Fair Foundation named it a winner for the 2011 Community Pride Showcase.

“This event is one of the ways that the small town GLBT community can help to bring harmony to us all no matter where we live in this great state of ours,” said Dennis Burns, owner of DB Signs in rural Pine City, in a statement about the recognition. “I urge everyone to attend the picnic next summer.”

Nathan Johnson, Pine City’s city planner, noted that Pine City’s proximity to the Twin Cities, as well as its openness, has contributed to an increase in same-sex couples choosing to locate in the area.

Another reason for the concentration of gay couples in the Pine City area might be that the city lives up to its motto: “North. Nice and close.” People are coming here from the Twin Cities area, primarily, because of the great quality of life. The town is home to a health food store, gyms, a community theater and an arts center—not to mention the recreational aspects of the Snake River and nearby lakes. One can buy anything from hummus to sushi here.

And while Minneapolis has been named the nation’s most gay-friendly city, Pine City has evidence of a community that embraces gay residents as well — such as East Central Minnesota Pride.

Bottom line, as reported recently in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the increase since 2000 in the number of same-sex partners reflects three changes: More gays and lesbians in the area; more choosing to live together; and more of them willing to identify themselves as gay.

True in the Twin Cities. True in Pine City.

* “In 2008, Norm Coleman was ahead on Election Night by over 700 votes.”

That’s true, but, as with all elections, late arriving ballots and math errors always change Election Night tallies. Only in close elections are we aware of such shaking out of ballot tallies. When the official recount began, Coleman led by 215.

* “Soon, additional ballots were discovered, over 300 of which should have been disqualified as they appear to be have been cast by convicted felons.”

That’s not true. Additional ballots weren’t “discovered” anywhere. And where does the “300″ number of convicted felons come from? Do Democrats only win close elections by fraud? That’s the implication.

* “Yet, Franken was declared the winner by 225 votes out of nearly 2.5 million cast.”

Off a bit. He won by 312 with more than 2.9 million cast.

As for the convicted felons claim, Weiner explains that while it’s not without any merit, it’s most likely overblown. It originates from an allegation made by a conservative group called Minnesota Majority, which recently alleged that thousands of felons cast ballots in the 2008 election:

Not so, said the county prosecutors who examined the Minnesota Majority’s lists. So far, in the state’s largest counties, which include Minneapolis and St. Paul, a total of about 80 felons who are still on probation and who are barred from voting in Minnesota, have been charged. Not all have been convicted. Across the state, there are handfuls more, it seems, not hundreds.

Franken won by 312 votes. There’s no indication there were anywhere near that many who may have registered or voted illegally. Plus, what makes the Republicans think felons only vote for Democrats? In the first such case revealed about the 2008 election, the illegal voter admitted to casting his vote for Coleman.

The home of Minneapolis anti-war activists Mick Kelly and Jess Sundin were among those searched, they told the AP.

“The FBI is harassing anti-war organizers and leaders, folks who opposed U.S. intervention in the Middle East and Latin America,” Kelly said before agents confiscated his cell phone.

Sundin called the suggestion they were connected with terrorism “pretty hilarious and ridiculous.”

Sundin was “a principal leader of the mass antiwar march of 10,000 on the opening day of the Republican National Convention two years ago,” and Kelly has said he would march on the Democratic National Convention if it were held in Minneapolis this year, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

As I wrote earlier this week, fusion centers have a habit of targeting domestic activist groups as terrorist organizations. During the 2008 protests against the RNC in St. Paul, a Minnesota fusion center played a role in coordinating law enforcement’s response to activists, for instance. The FBI is being tight-lipped about why it conducted the raids and what it was looking for, but it doesn’t take a huge stretch of the imagination to guess that information gathered in 2008 could have some connection to today’s action.