Twenty-Two Men, Half Now in ICE Custody, Indicted in Brentwood Human Trafficking Sting

Human Trafficking

Twenty-two men, half of whom are now in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have been indicted in an undercover human trafficking sting in Brentwood. The operation was carried out by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), the Brentwood Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations and the office of 21st District Attorney General Kim Helper. A Williamson County grand jury on Monday returned mostly felony indictments against the 22 men, who were attempting to buy illicit sex from minors. “Unfortunately, the results of this joint operation demonstrate the need for continued vigilance for signs of human trafficking in our communities,” Helper said in a news release issued by the TBI Thursday. “The fact that so many men were willing to engage in sexual activity with who they believed to be a 14- and 16-year-old is shocking. Our office will continue to vigorously pursue and prosecute individuals involved in any form of human trafficking.” As part of the sting in early October, two female TBI agents posed as individuals offering sex on Backpage.com. They identified themselves as 14 and 16 years old in text or phone conversations that followed. Men who traveled to meet with them for sex despite the ages…

Read the full story

Sen. Bob Corker Announces Hearing Tuesday on President’s Authority to Use Nuclear Weapons

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) announced this week that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on the authority of the executive branch to use nuclear weapons, reports The Hill. The hearing comes in the aftermath of President Trump warning North Korea in August that it could face “fire and fury like the world has never seen” if it continues to build up its nuclear program. A frequent critic now of Trump’s leadership abilities, Corker is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has accused the president of putting the U.S. “on the path to World War III” with the way he threatens other countries. On Wednesday, Corker said in a statement that “a number of members both on and off our committee have raised questions about the authorities of the legislative and executive branches with respect to war making, the use of nuclear weapons, and conducting foreign policy overall.” Corker continued, “This continues a series of hearings to examine these issues and will be the first time since 1976 that this committee or our House counterparts have looked specifically at the authority and process for using U.S. nuclear weapons. This discussion is long overdue, and we look forward…

Read the full story

Commentary: The Shocking Truth About Our Average Annual GDP ‘Growth’

Donald Trump

by Robert Romano   One of the greatest disappointments with the U.S. economy since the turn of the century has been its consistent underperformance, not growing above an inflation-adjusted average annual rate of 4 percent since 2000, and not above 3 percent since 2005. What has come in its stead the past 10 years is the slowest economic growth rate in U.S. history — even slower than the Great Depression. Restoring the U.S. to 3 percent or maybe even 4 percent growth has been one of President Donald Trump’s major goals, but getting there will not be so easy. Just take 2017. On an inflation-adjusted, annualized basis, there was 1.2 percent growth in the first quarter, 3.1 percent in the second quarter and 3.0 percent growth in the third quarter, according to data compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. So, to get to 3 percent growth for the year, we’d need 4.7 percent growth in the fourth quarter, right? Wrong. The actual answer would be 14.5 percent. Why? How is that possible? Because annual GDP growth is calculated by the taking the four readings of the real GDP using chained dollars for two consecutive years, averaging each year out…

Read the full story

Tennessee Baptist Convention in Turmoil Over Female Pastor in East Tennessee

An East Tennessee Southern Baptist church is likely to lose its standing with the Tennessee Baptist Convention over hiring a female senior pastor earlier this year. At their annual meeting in Hendersonville Sunday through Wednesday, Tennessee Baptists may vote on whether First Baptist Church in Jefferson City can seat “messengers,” or voting representatives, reports the Baptist and Reflector news publication. The convention’s credentials committee agreed last month that a church with a woman senior pastor cannot be considered a “cooperating church” according to convention bylaws. “If a church with a woman senior pastor tries to register messengers, the request will be denied, but the decision to seat messengers from the church ultimately will be decided by a vote by messengers,” the Baptist and Reflector reported. Ellen Di Giosia became the pastor of First Baptist Aug. 1. “It is regrettable when one of our churches makes a decision that results in a broken confessional relationship with our TBC network of churches,” said Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. First Baptist issued a statement from Di Giosia and deacon chair John McGraw saying they were “saddened” by the position taken by the credentials committee. The statement said the convention “has…

Read the full story

‘My Democratic Friends Are Mad at Me’: Donna Brazile Explains Herself in Deep-Left San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO — After publishing an unfettered memoir critiquing Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential bid, former Democratic Party leader Donna Brazile on Thursday doubled down on her criticism of the nominee before a receptive audience in deepest-left California. Brazile’s tell-all book has revived sour Election Day memories for Democrats, including her claim that the party gamed the…

Read the full story

Dr. Bryan Merrick Makes His Case To Top Federal Officials for Reinstatement into Medicare System

Dr. Bryan Merrick and his attorney Roy Herron met in Baltimore on Thursday with top federal officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the part of the Department of Health and Human Services responsible for administering the Medicare program, to make the case for the reinstatement of his Medicare billing privileges. As The Tennessee Star reported, the well respected West Tennessee family practice doctor’s Medicare billing privileges were revoked in March under an abusive Obama-era regulation over a reported $670 in billing errors. Late last month, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) called on Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to hold hearings at the Senate Finance Committee he chairs to consider revoking the regulation. Earlier in October, McKenzie, Tennessee Mayor Jill Holland wrote a letter to Senator Alexander asking him to hold hearings of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee he chairs to consider revoking the regulation, but Alexander noted that Hatch’s Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid issues. Last week, former Congressional candidate Dr. George Flinn wrote President Trump a letter requesting that he instruct CMS to amend the regulation. “We had a good meeting. We felt like the officials listened carefully and asked…

Read the full story

Faith: Verse of the Day for Saturday, November 11

Tennessee Star - Verse of the Day

  VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing November 11, Saturday Jeremiah 2:2 “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, The love of your betrothals, Your following after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown. Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;      

Read the full story