Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Makes $285,000 Per Year, Has Outside Consulting Business, Taxpayer Provided Car, and Much More

Shawn Joseph

Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Shawn Joseph has a pretty sweet arrangement with his employer, according to his four-year contract, which began in 2016. He makes $285,000 a year. That salary, all courtesy of taxpayers, will never decrease — but it could increase. Joseph’s contract clearly states he must devote all his full working time to the school district and can have no other gainful employment — except for later in the contract when it says otherwise. Joseph, as the contract goes on, owns an LLC named Joseph and Associates. “The board agrees that the director is entitled to engage in outside professional activities, including writing, consulting, and lecturing, with or without honorarium, as long as such activities do not interfere with the performance of his duties as the director,” according to the contract. The school district did not return a request for comment Wednesday. Among the other luxuries in Joseph’s contract: • The school system pays for the medical, vision, and dental benefits for Joseph and his family — using the program of their choice. • Joseph gets a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, an answering machine, a printer, and a computer installed at his house. Taxpayers are billed…

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Facebook’s Political Ad Rules Seem To Be Already Causing Problems

Facebook privacy concerns

by Eric Lieberman   A professor was recently unable to promote a podcast on Facebook that delved into Russians’ perspective of President Donald Trump because it was deemed to fall under the tech company’s new rules against political advertising. Sean Guillory, a scholar with a doctoral degree from UCLA, is the digital scholarship curator at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Russian and East European Studies. In his podcast episode published Saturday called “Russians on Trump,” Guillory interviewed another expert Laurence Bogoslaw, who has established a collective resource for translated Russian news coverage of Trump. Knowing very well how hot of a topic the president, the foreign adversary and alleged connections between the two are, Guillory wanted to promote the dialogue. Facebook denied his request to purchase an ad slot for the podcast. Eventually, after an appeal, the tech giant explained that it regards Guillory’s interview as political content, meaning there would be greater scrutiny and a potentially higher cost for sponsorship. “This is the crux of the problem: What is ‘political’?” Guillory told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “I see my podcast as educational in that its mission is to interview people who have some expert knowledge about Eurasia’s politics, culture and…

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President Trump Says He Wishes He’d Picked Another Attorney General

Trumo FBI with Docs

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wished he picked someone other than Jeff Sessions as his attorney general because Sessions quickly removed himself from oversight of the investigation of links between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia because of his own contacts with Moscow’s ambassador to Washington. Trump has often railed against Sessions’ recusal from the case, voicing frustration that it has left him without someone he feels should be loyal to him at the country’s top law enforcement agency to protect him from the year-long probe headed by special counsel Robert Mueller. But Trump vented his ire anew in a Twitter remark, citing a television interview comment from Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy that Sessions, a former Alabama senator and early Trump political supporter, had not told Trump before he was named to the country’s top legal position that he would remove himself from control of the Russia investigation. Gowdy said he too would have been “frustrated” in such a situation if not told ahead of time that his attorney general would not handle “the most important case in the office.” He told CBS news “there are lots of really good lawyers in the country. He could have picked somebody else!”…

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De Beers Sees Sparkle in Synthetic Diamond Jewelry

Diamonds

Reuters   Anglo American unit De Beers is launching a company to sell laboratory-produced diamonds for jewelry in a departure from its century-old business model of promoting natural stones. Real diamonds created over thousands of years remain the priority, but De Beers is responding to customer demand for more affordable jewelry using stones made in days or weeks and sold for hundreds rather than thousands of dollars. “They’re not to celebrate life’s greatest moments, but they’re for fun and fashion,” De Beers Chief Executive Officer Bruce Cleaver said of synthetic stones in a telephone interview. “We have always said we are a natural diamonds business. We remain a natural diamonds business,” he said, adding that manmade diamonds used in fashion would not undermine the business for real diamonds as they served different markets. As the world’s biggest seller of natural diamonds by value, De Beers is a leader in technology and security processes to guarantee the authenticity of natural stones. To ensure there is no confusion between manmade gems that have little resale value and the real thing, the manufactured diamonds used in jewelry will include a tiny mark showing they are made by Element Six, a unit of De…

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President Trump Puts an End to Taxpayer Subsidies for Unions

President Trump

by Richard Manning   Government employee unions have enjoyed an absolute boondoggle in recent years, receiving hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds. But the boon could soon be over thanks to a new executive order from President Donald Trump. Last Friday, the president signed an executive order requiring that federal government employees who work full-time for the public employee unions at taxpayer expense spend at least 75 percent of their paid time on the government’s business. The administration estimates this will save taxpayers $100 million. This measure is one of three executive orders the president signed on Friday. Those orders do not eliminate taxpayer subsidies for public employee unions altogether—that is Congress’ job—but they do end the taxpayer subsidy of travel for union business; mandate that unions be charged fair market value for rents of government office space; streamline the public employee appeals process so that bad apples can be fired more rapidly; and force taxpayer-funded union workers to spend at least three-quarters of their time doing the people’s business. Most people are shocked to learn that taxpayers have been footing the bill for public employee union salaries, but they become incensed when they learn that in 2016, union employees were paid $177 million by the…

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Promise Kept: President Trump’s Landmark ‘Right to Try’ Legislation Curbs Government’s Monopoly on Medicine for Terminally Ill Patients

Trump right to try

In a signing ceremony on Wednesday, President Trump fulfilled another campaign promise by signing legislation nicknamed “Right to Try” that will expand seriously ill patients’ access to experimental treatments that could extent or even save their lives. Mr. Trump called the measure a “fundamental freedom” for people with terminal conditions to use medicines that have not yet completed the approval process of the Food and Drug Administration, but nonetheless show promise in their initial testing. “With the ‘Right to Try’ Law I am signing today, patients with life-threatening illnesses will finally have access to experimental treatments that could improve or even cure their conditions,” President Trump said. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives last week largely along party lines, with Republicans backing the measure – saying it could give hope to people looking to save their own lives – while Democrats opposed the the bill, citing such a law would engender ‘false hope.’ Similar laws have been passed in all but ten states with broad support by both parties – an uncomfortable fact many Democrats will have to explain as they return home for the campaign season. As Marc Thiessen wrote in the Washington Post Wednesday, “In the states, Right to…

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Neighbors, Farmer Settle Pitched Lawsuit Over Green Groups and Her Property Rights

Martha Boneta

by Kevin Mooney   A husband-and-wife real estate team accused of teaming up with environmental activists and government officials to interfere with a Virginia farmer’s business have reached a legal settlement with the farmer, according to court records. Martha Boneta (pictured), who owns and operates the 64-acre Liberty Farm at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Paris, Virginia, sought damages from the real estate agents, her neighbors, in a lawsuit filed in Fauquier County Circuit Court. Under the terms of the legal agreement, Boneta is not permitted to disclose the amount of money attached to the settlement. She sued the neighbors, Phillip and Patricia Thomas, for $2 million, court papers show. Phillip Thomas owns Thomas & Talbot Real Estate, based in Middleburg, Virginia, and used to own Boneta’s Liberty Farm. His wife, Patricia, also is a lawyer admitted to the bar in Virginia. Their farm, Liberty Hall, is across the road from Liberty Farm. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] The Thomases are members of Piedmont Environmental Council, a nonprofit land trust headquartered in Warrenton, Virginia, that also was named in Boneta’s litigation. Their…

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Commentary: Media Monopolies Declare War on Conservatives

Vig Right Turn

by Richard A Viguerie, CHQ Chairman   Conservatives, wake up!  We face a problem that challenges our very existence.  Elitists want to eliminate us as a cultural and political force to be reckoned with.  To reach that goal, they will decide what news we see and which opinion viewpoints we hear.  And they have the power to do that. I’m referring to the elitists’ new information monopolies—Facebook, Google, Twitter, and YouTube.  We are in the early stages of this Information War, but be forewarned—that war has already started. Recent changes in Facebook’s rules of operation, for example, have already resulted in conservative sites losing an average of 14% of their traffic, while liberal sites have enjoyed increases.  This doesn’t mean the number of liberals is increasing while the number of conservatives is decreasing—far from it.  It means that the new rules are manipulating the news and opinions the public is allowed to see.  Let this continue, and conservatism will be “the incredibly shrinking movement.” But this is a wake-up call, not a call for despair.  Conservatives have faced elitist information monopolies before, and we beat them.  We can do it again.  It’s in our genes! The old information monopolies were known…

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Disgraced Congressman Faces Trial For Campaign Abuses After Failed Appeal

Aaron Shock Downton

by Kevin Daley   The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected former Rep. Aaron Shock’s request to toss out indictments against him on constitutional grounds Wednesday, in a massive blow to his efforts to duck a criminal trial. Shock hoped rulings from other federal courts affording special status to the internal rules of the House of Representatives might shield him from criminal prosecution, but a three-judge panel repudiated those theories. “The ruling is not consistent with those rendered by other U.S. Courts of Appeals in similar circumstances, thus we will be evaluating our options regarding further appeal on these constitutional issues,” Shock’s attorney, George Terwilliger, said in a statement. The former congressman, a Republican, resigned in disgrace in 2015 after press accounts revealed profligate spending practices. He was subsequently charged with wire fraud, mail fraud, and submitting false tax returns. Shock argued his actions were protected by the Constitution’s speech and debate clause, which provides immunity to members of Congress when they are engaged in official legislative activities. The indictments impermissibly draw from the internal rules of the House of Representatives, he further said. The Constitution’s rule-making clause grants the House alone the prerogative to set its rules and punish members. Shock’s…

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White House Official Feels ‘Duped’ By FBI Informant Who Sought Ambassadorship

Navarro

by Chuck Ross   White House trade czar Peter Navarro said he feels “duped” by Stefan Halper, the FBI informant who sought out members of President Donald Trump’s campaign and applied for an ambassadorship in Trump’s administration. “I feel duped, yeah, pretty much,” Peter Navarro told Fox Radio’s Brian Kilmeade on Wednesday. “It’s baffling,” Navarro added. Halper, a former Cambridge professor with deep ties to the CIA and MI6, approached Navarro in 2017, seeking a nomination to an ambassadorship to an unidentified Asian country, Axios reported on May 21. At the time he submitted his application for the ambassadorship, Halper was working as an informant for the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. As part of that under cover operation, Halper met with three Trump campaign associates — Carter Page, Sam Clovis and George Papadopoulos. [ RELATED: Stefan Halper Pitched Himself For Trump Administration Ambassadorship ] Halper maintained contact with Page from July 2016 through Sept. 2017, as The Daily Caller News Foundation has reported. He met Clovis once, on Sept. 1, 2016. And Halper paid Papadopoulos $3,000 to write a policy paper that appears to have been cover to arrange a series of meetings in London. Papadopoulos has told associates Halper…

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JC Bowman Commentary: Dark Money + Union Money = Corrupt Politics

Dark Money

This election cycle we have already seen an influx of unaccountable cash, known as dark money, which pours into our state. Outside money hurts more than it helps. Tennessee voters were not swayed by big spending outsiders. It is worth noting the message the outsiders bring is almost always negative. If you don’t think this is an erosion of democracy, you’re not thinking about it hard enough. The formula is simple: Dark Money + Union Money = Corrupt Politics

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Humboldt’s Tyson Plant Breaks Ground Without Permits From State Dept. of Environment & Conservation

Tyson meat processing

Despite lacking mandatory permits from the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC), Tyson Foods went ahead and broke ground yesterday for its new chicken processing plant in Humboldt. After reviewing Tyson’s application for a permit to discharge storm water from the Humboldt plant construction site, a letter dated May 18, 2018, from the TDEC Division of Water Resources informed Tyson that the company’s “Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) “was deficient so no permit could be issued. TDEC’s letter cautioned Tyson’s Senior Project Engineer Larry Jackson, that “[n]o discharges of stormwater associated with construction activity are authorized by the general permit until the completed NOI [Notice of Intent] is submitted and Notice of Coverage issued by the division.” The NOI submitted by Tyson Farms, Inc., as referenced in the May 18 TDEC letter was “submitted to obtain coverage under a General National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Construction Activity.” Jackson was also directed to review “the enclosed checklist for deficiencies in the SWPPP that must be addressed before permit coverage can be issued.” You can read the May 18, 2018 letter from the TDEC to Tyson’s Jackson here: [pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/DWR-TNR122070-Notice-of-Deficiency-18-MAY-18-2366.pdf” title=”DWR-TNR122070-Notice of Deficiency-18-MAY-18-2366″]  …

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When President Trump Comes Calling, Nashville Answers by the Thousands

President Trump in Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–President Trump visited Nashville Tuesday to show his enthusiastic support of Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07), who is running to replace retiring Senator Bob Corker. Republicans and Democrats seem to have settled on their candidates, with both Republican Blackburn and her presumed opponent, Democrat Phil Bredesen running alone in their respective primaries. As the election cycle heats up through the summer and into the fall, political watchers are predicting the battle for the open U.S. Senate seat with be as costly as it will be brutal. President Trump’s appearance in Nashville set the stage for that contest to begin in earnest – and the people of Tennessee were there to listen, cheer and jeer. From the reserved seating to the filled floor, Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium was packed with 8,000 raucous Trump supporters who turned out – despite the bad weather – to show the President their commitment and appreciation of him and his agenda. Here are some highlights The Tennessee Star captured leading up to and during the event. Like all Trump events, the lines were many and long, but Tennesseans were ready for the wait – even when it started raining! You never know who you’ll run into at a…

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Phil Bredesen’s Illegal Alien Driving Certificate Problem

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) threw a well-aimed punch at former Gov. Phil Bredesen’s glass jaw earlier this month, criticizing him for his role in pushing the Tennessee General Assembly to pass his ill-advised illegal alien driving certificate program, which he signed into law in 2004 and made Tennessee a magnet for illegal aliens. The program, which Bredesen touted originally as a “common sense solution” was such an unmitigated disaster, he was forced to end it in 2006. Bredesen’s 2018 campaign team, with the help of a compliant and uninquisitive mainstream media in Tennessee, has attempted to spin his way out of culpability for this serious debacle, but The Tennessee Star has prepared this synopsis of the facts that sets the record straight. Former Republican Governor Don Sundquist sent a number of very bad policy proposals to the Tennessee General Assembly during the two terms he served between 1995 and 2003. One of them continues to reverberate throughout the 2018 statewide elections, playing a role in both the U.S. Senate general election between Bredesen, the presumptive Democratic nominee, and Marsha Blackburn, the presumptive Republican nominee, and the increasingly bitter GOP gubernatorial primary contest between front runners Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06) and…

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Millennials Hold the Line for Trump in Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tennessee— If you’re older than 50 and worry millennials will eventually muck things up for America then look no further than who stood in line to hear President Donald Trump speak in downtown Nashville Tuesday. There were a  good number of young people waiting six, seven, maybe even eight hours outside Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium to cheer on Trump, despite mainstream media narratives that say only older working class folks support him. They were not only young, but they relocated from parts of the country that traditionally vote left. These millennials say they get a bad rap. “I would say within the last year and a half I’ve seen the narrative flip flop dramatically. The mainstream media is losing the narrative,” said McKenzie Blaser, 21 originally from Akron, Ohio. “Don’t count out the young female conservatives. They voted for Trump too, and I’m living proof.” Another Ohio native, Danny Kosko, came to Nashville only because he said he wanted to see last year’s solar eclipse. He liked Middle Tennessee so much he decided to pro-long his stay, although he is moving back home soon to start a new business. “I love Trump so much that I would blast Abraham Lincoln’s…

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Obama Holdovers ‘Working Toward A Union Takeover’ Of US Chemical Agency

by Michael Bastasch   Obama administration appointees are “working toward a union takeover” of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), two sources familiar with the matter told The Daily Caller News Foundation. CSB board members are expected to vote an Obama administration appointee as “interim executive” to take over for outgoing CSB chairwoman Vanessa Sutherland, said sources, both of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity. Sutherland announced her resignation on May 21, and the following day sent out what’s called a notation item to vote on her successor. Sources said the notice only had one name: Kristen Kulinowski. Kulinowski has support of the United Steelworkers (USW), the labor union most involved with CSB matters, sources said. While Kulinowski has a background in chemical and safety regulations, she grew closer to USW since joining CSB in 2015, the sources said. “Before she became a CSB member in August 2015, she had limited involvement with the unions, but over the past three years, she has increased it markedly,” said one source. “There’s been a very tight relationship over the years with the steelworkers,” a second source told TheDCNF. “They want to have their own people in there. They are very, very powerful in…

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Will Liberal Teachers’ Union Endorsement Hamper Beth Harwell In Her Gubernatorial Nomination Bid?

As The Tennessee Star has reported, Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell has received the Tennessee Education Association’s endorsement for the Republican nomination for Governor. The Tennessee Education Association Fund for Children and Public Education (TEA-FCPE), which is the PAC and political arm for the teachers’ union in Tennessee, has endorsed House Speaker Beth Harwell for the Republican nomination for Governor. The TEA’s PAC also endorsed House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh in the Democratic Party primary. Harwell welcomed the endorsement: “I am honored to receive the endorsement of the Tennessee Education Association,” Harwell said. “Education is my top priority, and as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, I have led some of our boldest reforms that resulted in Tennessee being one of the fastest improving states in education.” But, is this an endorsement that will actually help Harwell in her race for the nomination, or could it backfire? The Star went on to explore the potential downside in its previous coverage. The endorsement of the liberal TEA will not play well for Harwell in a contested Republican Primary for Governor. A Tennessee Star Poll conducted a few months ago reveals that accepting TEA money and support may come at a…

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Tennessee Jobs Now Launches Television Ad Targeting Diane Black’s Support for Driver’s Licenses for Illegal Aliens

Anti Black Ad

Tennessee Jobs Now, a SuperPAC that supports Randy Boyd in the Tennessee Governor’s race, began airing a new television commercial last week that continues on the theme of its recent statewide radio buy.  The radio spot aired by the group criticized Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06) for voting to issue Tennessee driver’s licenses to illegals in 2001. The television ad does the same thing but also hits Black for her March 22, 2018 vote against the Omnibus Spending Bill (HR 1625) that funded a small portion of the border wall embraced by President Donald Trump. The bill passed both the House and the Senate and was signed into law by President Trump, who vowed that he would never again sign such an “ridiculous bill” that consisted of more than 2,000 pages, failed to follow regular order and was jammed through by the Republican House and Senate leadership unto the membership with less than two days to read and review. Almost every conservative member of the House of Representatives voted against the Omnibus Spending Bill, including Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07), Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04), and Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-TN-02). President Trump was so unhappy with the bill’s failure to fully fund the border wall,…

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Billionaire Activist Tom Steyer: Democrats Who Don’t Back Impeachment Crusade Are On The Wrong Side Of History

by Chris White   Billionaire Tom Steyer suggested Tuesday Democrats who are hesitant to jump aboard his impeachment campaign are at risk of normalizing what he believes is President Donald Trump’s bad behavior. Democrats who maintain a wide berth from campaigns to impeach Trump are alienating a large swath of liberal voters, Steyer told Politico on Tuesday. Rebuking the campaign also places vulnerable Democrats on the wrong side of history, Steyer said, responding to his crusade to oust the president. “If you look at the civil rights movement, the pushback was not, ‘You’re not telling the truth;’ the pushback was, ‘We’re dealing with it in time. Stand down so we can deal with it in tie [sic],” said Steyer, a former hedge fund manager who poured tens of millions of dollars into Democratic coffers over the past six years. Steyer, who often suggests without evidence Trump conspired with Russia to win the election, used various social media platforms in October 2017 to launch a “need to impeach” Trump movement. More than 5 million people have signed his petition so far, but House Democrats think the wealthy activist is wearing out his welcome. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, for instance, called an impeachment campaign impractical in…

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Commentary: Time For Democrats and The Media To Admit the Russia Investigation Was Illegitimate from the Start

by George Rasley   In the last week, as revelation upon revelation hit that Obama administration officials and career employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) spied on the Donald Trump campaign in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, Margot Cleveland writing for The Federalist, observed that the mainstream media, the Left, and Never Trump Republicans have fallen back on three ready responses: A solid plurality of this contingent continue to avert their eyes from the facts and dismiss the claims of misconduct as peddled by tinfoil-hat conspiracy theorists. There is not much you can say to this faction, because they refuse to consider the proof. A second – and more extreme group – believes Trump conspired with the Russians to steal the election from Hillary Clinton. There is not much you can say to this bunch either, because they are tinfoil-hat conspiracy theorists. But the final group sees things differently. While they don’t necessarily believe Trump was treasonous, they argue that the FBI and other intelligence-gathering agencies rightly targeted the Trump campaign. With Russian-leaning Paul Manafort and Carter Page involved in the campaign, and Trump trolling Hillary with praise for Vladimir…

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Nashville Protestors Whine More About Capitalism Than Trump

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–The protestors who showed up to picket President Donald Trump’s visit to Nashville Tuesday didn’t seem to have a problem with him as much as they had a problem with capitalism. Take Nashville resident Nicholas McKenzie, 19 (pictured, right). He said little about Trump and fixated more on what he called “the oppressive nature of capitalism.” McKenzie, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), told The Tennessee Star that his political party is growing in Tennessee, having started out with six members and is now up to 15. “I had to drop out of school to work to live. I worked several jobs. I worked jobs that were technically illegal for me to have when I was underage. I’ve experienced some of the worst aspects of capitalism,” he said. “I know capitalism is oppressive. I may be young, but I’ve lived it and I’ve studied it.” McKenzie, who said his job is to “agitate and educate,” said his organization plans to get platforms in public schools and make sure schools have PSL extra-curricular programs to promote the cause. “There are several chapters of PSL who have PSL clubs at schools. There’s members of high schools and…

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President Trump to Impose Tariffs on $50B of China’s Tech Goods

by Peggy Chang   The White House says it plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods that contain “industrially-significant technology” as trade talks between United States and China continue. The White House said Tuesday the proposed tariffs are in response to China’s practices with respect to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation.  It will announce the final list of covered imports by June 15, 2018, and the tariffs will be imposed shortly thereafter. The Trump administration made the announcement in a statement called “Steps to Protect Domestic Technology and Intellectual Property from China’s Discriminatory and Burdensome Trade Practices.” Other punitive steps include implementing stronger investment restrictions and enhanced export controls for Chinese citizens and companies related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology to protect national security. The proposed investment restrictions and export controls will be announced by June 30, 2018, and adopted shortly thereafter, according to the White House. In addition, the Trump administration said trade talks with China will continue, and it will request China remove all of its many trade barriers, including non-monetary trade barriers, and that tariffs and taxes between the two countries be “reciprocal in nature and value.” In April,…

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Senator Grassley: Fusion GPS Founder Gave ‘Extremely Misleading’ Testimony About Trump Work

by Chuck Ross   The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is accusing Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson of giving “extremely misleading” statements, if not telling “outright lies,” during Senate testimony in 2017. Simpson may have lied when he denied working for clients to investigate President Donald Trump after the 2016 election, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said in a May 24 letter made public on Tuesday. Fusion GPS, which Simpson started in 2011, worked for the Clinton campaign and DNC to investigate Trump’s possible ties to Russia. The opposition research firm hired former British spy Christopher Steele, who would go on to write a dossier alleging Trump’s campaign colluded with the Kremlin. Grassley noted that in his Aug. 22, 2017, testimony, Simpson claimed after the election, he was not working for a client to continue his Trump work. [ RELATED: Back Channel To Christopher Steele Goes On The Record About Senate Testimony ] “So you didn’t do any work on the Trump matter after the election date; that was the end of your work?” Simpson was asked during the interview. Simpson responded, saying: “I had no client after the election.” Grassley said Simpson’s denial was false. “As we now know, that was extremely misleading, if…

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Trump Contends Prosecutors Will ‘Meddle’ in 2018 Elections

U.S. President Donald Trump contended Tuesday that prosecutors investigating his 2016 campaign’s links to Russia “will be MEDDLING” in November’s congressional elections. The 13 Angry Democrats (plus people who worked 8 years for Obama) working on the rigged Russia Witch Hunt, will be MEDDLING with the mid-term elections, especially now that Republicans (stay tough!) are taking the lead in Polls. There was no Collusion, except by the Democrats! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2018 Trump offered no explanation how he thinks the legal team of special counsel Robert Mueller would interfere with the voting for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and a third of those in the 100-member Senate. Last week he suggested that the length of Mueller’s year-long investigation could turn voters against candidates he favors and “put some hurt on the Republican Party.” Trump, in a string of Twitter comments, ignored the conclusion last week by his new secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, that U.S. officials expect “continued efforts” by Russia to interfere with the congressional elections, just as the U.S. intelligence community concluded it did in the presidential election two years ago to help Trump win. With the congressional campaigns now in…

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President Donald Trump: Phil Bredesen ‘Is An Absolute Total Tool . . . of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi’

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–President Donald Trump took an ole hickory stick to former Gov. Phil Bredesen Tuesday night and the raucous crowd of more than 8,000 supporters jammed in to the Municipal Auditorium loved it. You can see the transcript of the portion of the president’s talk that addressed Bredesen, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for the U.S. Senate seat from which Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) is retiring, here: To keep this momentum going – to keep this incredible progress, to keep on winning, you have to vote Republican in November. You see what’s happening with the Democrats! So Marsha’s very liberal Democrat opponent Phil Bredesen – have you ever heard of this guy? [BOOS] (at about the 1:30 min mark of the audio file below) He’s an absolute, total tool [pause – audience starts cheering] of Chuck Schumer. He’s a tool! Of Chuck Schumer and, of course, the MS-13 lover, Nancy Pelosi. (emphasis added) [BOOS] She loves MS-13. Remember? I said, ‘they’re animals’ and she said, ‘how dare you say that – HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT.’ Have you seen what they’ve done? Have you seen what they are doing to us? And we’re taking them out of our…

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Missouri’s Governor Eric Greitens Resigns Amid Impeachment Firestorm

Facing impeachment my his legislature for legally questionable behavior involving an extra-marital affair, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens resigned Tuesday afternoon in a live press conference. Local NewsChannel5 KSDK broadcast the Governors remarks via Facebook Live: The announcement was brief. Greitens entered the room through a door at the front of the room in suit coat and open collar, stepped up to the podium and said: Good afternoon. Today, I am announcing I will resign as Governor of Missouri effective Friday, June 1st, at 5pm. I came to office to fight for the people of Missouri. To fight for the forgotten. I love Missouri, and I love our people. That love remains. I am thankful to all those who have worked beside me, sweated beside me, those who gave their time, their energy, and their precious resources so that we could pursue our mission of taking Missouri in a new and better direction. We have accomplished a lot together. I am proud of you, and I am proud of all of our work. The last few months have been incredibly difficult for me, for my family, for my team, for my friends, and for many, many people that I love. This ordeal has…

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State Rep. Courtney Rogers Speaks About Her Father, Killed in Vietnam, At Sumner County Memorial Day Service

Courtney Rogers

GALLATIN, Tennessee – The Memorial Day ceremony held at Sumner County Veterans Park featured Rep. Courtney Rogers (R-Goodlettsville), a retired Air Force Lt. Colonel and Tennessee Air National Guard member, as the keynote speaker during its midday event sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Chapter 240 and Associates of Vietnam Veterans. A few days prior, Rep. Rogers sent a personal email message about the Memorial Day event, to which she was invited to tell the story about her father. It was the first time she was able to tell as much of his story, her email stated, only recently learning more, as she reminded her supporters that her father flew HMX-1, also known as Marine I, for three U.S. Presidents and was later killed in Vietnam. Among the several hundred attendees, many of whom were military veterans, a number mentioned that it was Rogers’ email that inspired them to come out to the event despite the heat, humidity and threat of rain. The welcome was delivered by VVA Chapter 240 President Dave Peterson, followed by an opening prayer from the Chaplin.  The National Anthem, sung by Gold Star mother Cathy Mullin, followed the Presentation of Colors.  Recognition of…

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Corker Says He Will Attend Trump Rally and Blackburn Fundraiser in Nashville Today

President Trump. Marsha Blackburn, Bob Corker

A tweet  from CNN’s Elizabeth Landers indicates that Bob Corker will accompany President Trump tonight as he visits Nashville to stump for GOP Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn, including attending a rally for her. A spokeswoman for @BobCorker confirms that he will greet @potus at the airport in Nashville tonight- and will attend the rally and fundraiser as well. — Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) May 29, 2018 President Trump’s plane is scheduled to land in Nashville at 4:30 p.m. today. A rally will be held at the Municipal Auditorium at 7:00 pm tonight, with doors opening at 2:00 pm. President Trump held an earlier rally in Nashville attended by an estimated crowd of 10,000 back in March of 2017, also at the Municipal Auditorium. As reported by The Tennessee Star on April 10, Corker has expressed his support for Blackburn in the past, although he stopped short of a rousing endorsement. Though he did not use the formal term “endorsement,” Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) announced his support for Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN-07) bid to replace him in the United States Senate on Monday. Corker sent this tweet out late Monday afternoon: Now that the Republican primary has essentially concluded, I am sending a contribution…

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After Retrieving American from Venezuela Prison, Senator Bob Corker Urges Dialogue with Socialist Dictator Maduro

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is urging engagement with Venezuela’s socialist government after he traveled to the South American nation to bring home a Utah man jailed for two years without a trial. Joshua Holt is scheduled to return to Salt Lake City on Monday night after receiving medical care and visiting President Donald Trump in Washington. He was released over the weekend following secret, backchannel negotiations between members of the U.S. Congress and Venezuelan officials. Corker meets with Maduro Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee traveled to Caracas on Friday to seal the deal with President Nicolas Maduro that would bring Holt home. Corker stressed in an interview Monday with The Associated Press that “nothing was asked, and nothing was given” in exchange for Holt’s freedom. But he said the 26-year-old’s release as a goodwill gesture by Maduro shows what can be achieved through dialogue with the United States’ adversaries. “In my conversations privately, I could not be more strident in my criticisms of the way the Venezuela government has handled itself. I’ve seen in Venezuela people lined up outside grocery stores just to buy toilet paper,” Corker said. But he contrasted the hardliner approach toward…

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Dramatic Decline in Memphis Airport Traffic Not Helped by ‘Nashville-Based Government That Mainly Focuses Dollars on Middle and East of State,’ Shafer Says

The Memphis International Airport has had a dramatic decrease in the amount of traffic that goes through there, and the chairman of the Shelby County Commission says some of the blame lies with the Tennessee state government. Shelby County Commission Chairman Heidi Shafer talked to The Tennessee Star in response to a recent New York Times article that detailed how Memphis International Airport has lost almost two-thirds of its passengers in recent years. “All of West Tennessee is in the process of adjustment…trying to adjust to the reality of heavy competition with neighboring states’ tax incentives, the move away from brick and mortar, a Nashville-based government that mainly focuses its dollars and action on the middle and east divisions of the state (think Mega-Site), and an airport that must balance crucial cargo traffic with de-hubbed passenger status,” Shafer told The Star. In a report that came out this month, the Times described the Memphis airport as “a glaring casualty of an airline merger that transformed the American aviation industry but cost the Mid-South’s most important city its status as a hub.” As the Times went on to say, there once was a time when Northwest Airlines was the dominant carrier.…

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Lifson: Did You Know That President Trump Stood on Concrete in the Hot Sun and Shook the Hand of Every Single Naval Academy Graduate?

Conservative thinker and self-admitted ‘avid consumer’ of the political news-of-the-day Thomas Lifson watched the coverage of President Trump’s address to the Naval Academy graduates and their commencement ceremony over the weekend, and noticed a story that was largely overlooked by the mainstream media. As he writes in American Thinker: I am a fairly avid consumer of political news, and I watched the live coverage of President Trump’s address to the Naval Academy graduates at their commencement ceremony. (If you happened to miss the inspiring speech, Rick Moran’s coverage of it was excellent. But Rick and I, and probably you, did not hear about the fact that the President of the United States, a 71 year old man, stood in the Maryland sun and heat, wearing a suit jacket, and took the time to shake the hand and thank every single one of the 1,191 graduates. I learned of this via Glenn Reynolds and The Newly Press. (emphasis added) It was not exactly a secret, yet got little play in the media. You can see the entire process, speedy up, in this tweet: Awesome video of Pres. Trump shaking hands of Naval Academy graduates for 90 minutes. Here’s every single one in under a minute. pic.twitter.com/HGkrH7f3bV — Josh…

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Officials: Trump, Japan’s Abe to Meet Ahead of Possible US-North Korea Summit

Trump and Abe

by Steve Herman President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are to meet before a planned summit between Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, according to Japanese officials. Trump and Abe spoke Monday as American officials were in North Korea and Singapore to discuss arrangements for the prospective talks. The White House has not responded to VOA queries about the details of the Trump-Abe discussion, however. The phone conversation took place before Trump went to Arlington National Cemetery for a Memorial Day ceremony. There the president made no reference to the situation on the Korean peninsula in his 22-minute scripted remarks. Nearly 34,000 Americans died as a result of hostile action in the three-year war on the peninsula. Hostilities ceased in 1953 with an armistice but no peace treaty has ever been signed. It is unclear when or where Trump and Abe will meet before the anticipated Singapore summit, which the U.S. president has said in recent days is likely to occur on June 12 after he declared last Thursday that the summit would not be held on that day. Both Trump and Abe are set to attend the Group of Seven economic summit June 8-9…

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US Government Won’t Release Details of Settlement With FBI Agent

As they fight allegations that Connecticut FBI agents retaliated against employees for whistleblowing, federal government officials are refusing to release details of a legal settlement with a special agent and asking a judge to throw out another employee’s lawsuit. Special Agent Kurt Siuzdak’s lawsuit, filed in 2014, exposed allegations of internal strife and dysfunction within the FBI’s main Connecticut office in New Haven. It also disclosed a 2013 visit to the New Haven office by then-Director James Comey, who apologized to employees for “the failure of the FBI’s executive management to correct the leadership failures” in Connecticut. Siuzdak’s lawsuit was reported settled in court documents filed in March, but the FBI and Justice Department have declined to release the details and rejected recent requests under public records laws by The Associated Press for a copy of the deal. Officials would say only that there was no admission of wrongdoing in the settlement. Federal officials are now battling another lawsuit by a second New Haven FBI employee, electronics technician Omar Montoya, according to court documents obtained by the AP. Montoya alleges the retaliation against him included his supervisors falsely labeling him an “insider threat” to the FBI, which sparked an investigation,…

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Off the Record: A Number One ‘Hit’ About La Raza Randy

  First it was “The Ballad of La Raza Randy,” a lyrical stroll through Boyd’s “conexion” to the leadership of the National Council of La Raza which earned him his nickname not long after he decided he wanted to “spend whatever it takes” to get elected. Hint – it had something to do with his quarter of a million dollar donation to the Nashville organization whose founder and director has been the chairman of the board of the National Council of La Raza when Boyd decided to turn on the greenies – that is, the paper stuff, not the dog breath freshener. Granted, he’s tied to plenty establishment type issues and groups like Common Core, Jeb! and the big-business-cheap-labor lobbyists. But the alliteration with La Raza? Just sirens out to creative conservatives in Tennessee to bring it on! And sure enough, the newest, catchiest tribute to La Raza Randy, was recently posted on YouTube. Boyd’s been trying to convince voters that he actually really does support Trump. He’s even running ads where he says, with a straight face, that he and President Trump “have a lot in common.” Pay close attention when you get to minute 1:26 – it could be…

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State Senator Mark Green Commentary: Why the Delay on Federal Judges?

by State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville)   Why are there still more than 30 federal judge nominees awaiting a floor vote by the U.S. Senate? These well-qualified nominees are broadly-supported and have all been approved by the Judiciary Committee. At a time when federal courts are desperately needing new judges to handle their caseload, these nominees are still stalled. Why? After reading Scalia Speaks, the collected speeches of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, I understand why. In the not-to-distant past, judges were voted into the Judiciary in a bipartisan fashion. In fact, the vast majority of judges were approved with resounding majorities if they were not unanimous. The litmus test was minimal and usually revolved around the individual’s commitment to the original meaning of the Constitution. What did change the method of picking our judges has larger ramifications than the delay for these judges. It actually threatens the very existence of our democracy. The problem began with the creation and permeation of the concept of a living Constitution. From our nation’s founding until the 1950s or so, the analysis of the Constitution was intended to be the original meaning of the words contained in the document. During the era of…

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Federal Civil Service Abuses Bigger Than Just the Department of Veterans Affairs

By Natalia Castro   When news broke of employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) putting the lives of veterans at risk with waiting lists to die, the country was outraged. When it became clear that these employees were not being terminated for their failures and mismanagement, Florida Senator Marco Rubio led bipartisan legislation that protected whistleblowers and provided management the authority to remove bad employees. Unfortunately, the VA is not the only department allowing bad employees to stay on the job despite grotesque violations of employee guidelines and even the law. Here we highlight some of the worst stories of civil service abuse in recent years and how they have been allowed to occur. Department of Veterans Affairs Some stories of abuse are obvious, like the Washington Times of April 2016 which reported on two senior VA officials who were responsible for the death of nearly 300 veterans on waiting lists, yet took over two years to even be proposed to be terminated. But as Senator Rubio argued in a May 2017 press release, this large-scale abuse flourished because of a culture of mismanagement. Rubio explained, “To list just a few examples, one VA employee was arrested and spent time in jail…

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‘Little Pink House’ Journalist Proposes City Return Land to Former Owner Susette Kelo

  A new proposal by journalist Jeff Benedict to return the land once owned by Susette Kelo appeared in the pages of The Day newspaper from New London, Connecticut, The Volokh Conspiracy’s Ilya Somin reported over the weekend: Jeff Benedict is a prominent reporter and author of Little Pink House, an excellent journalistic account of the events leading up to Kelo v. City of New London, the controversial 2005 Supreme Court decision in which the justices ruled that it is permissible for the government to take homes and other property in order to transfer it to new private owners for purposes of promoting “economic development.” His book was recently made into a powerful movie about the case (which I reviewed here). Benedict writes: It was 20 years ago this month that the City Council authorized the New London Development Corporation to prepare a plan to acquire and redevelop 90 acres on the Fort Trumbull peninsula where the Thames River joins Long Island Sound. For its part, Connecticut invested $75 million in the plan, which was intended to complement the $300 million global research facility that Pfizer opened next door to the redevelopment area in 2001. But after acquiring nearly all of the targeted 90 acres, the city and…

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Trump’s Populist Coalition Reshapes American Politics

President-elect Donald Trump

by Ginny Montalbano   Salena Zito and Brad Todd recently co-authored the book The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics. They spoke to The Daily Signal’s Ginny Montalbano about who the Trump voters are, what motivated them during the 2016 election, and what they can tell us about the future. “The Great Revolt” by Salena Zito and Brad Todd does much to tell the story of our great Election victory. The Forgotten Men & Women are forgotten no longer! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2018 Ginny Montalbano: Your new book called “The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics” just came out. Can we start with what inspired you to write this book and what it’s about? Brad Todd: I didn’t see Trump’s nomination coming in 2016 in the election. I was working for a different candidate. After watching it come about in spite of my expectations and then watching the general election develop, I really was interested to know if the long term question; was this something that was just starting, was this something that was in the middle, or was this something that was finishing with this reforming of the coalition…

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Commentary: Time to Fire Deputy Attorney General Rob Rosenstein

by CHQ Staff   We’ve said many times that we think Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should be fired, but his latest round of tone deaf pronouncements ought to be the final straw for the President and Attorney General. After President Trump rightly complained about the latest revelations about the Obama administration spying on his campaign, Rosenstein snarked back at his ultimate Boss during a presser discussing the Justice Department’s approach to corporate crime. Rosenstein said current policy discourages “piling on” penalties. He paused to prepare his New York audience for the punchline. “The dictionary defines piling on as joining with other people in criticizing someone, usually in an unfair manner,” Rosenstein said. “I also have experience with that.” This snide complaint about “piling on” came as the Daily Caller and Breitbart are reporting that FBI agents out in the field are begging to be subpoenaed to blow the whistle on Obama administration skullduggery. “There are [FBI] agents all over this country who love the bureau and are sickened by [James] Comey’s behavior and [Andrew] McCabe and [Eric] Holder and [Loretta] Lynch and the thugs like [John] Brennan–who despise the fact that the bureau was used as a tool of political intelligence…

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Malware Discovered Pre-Installed On Android Devices Including Chinese Company ZTE

Smartphones

by Kyle Perisic   An anti-virus company has discovered malware comes pre-installed on Android phones, including on ZTE phones — a Chinese phone company with ties to the Chinese government. “Thousands of users are affected” by the ad-related malware, or adware, according to Avast, the Czech anti-virus company, in its May 24 blog. “The adware we analyzed has previously been described by Dr. Web and goes by the name ‘Cosiloon,’” according to Avast. “The adware creates an overlay to display an ad over a webpage within the users’ browser. The adware has been active for at least three years and is difficult to remove, as it is installed on the firmware level and uses strong obfuscation.” ZTE — the Chinese-based tech company President Donald Trump has been negotiating a new trade deal with after they violated U.S. sanctions on Iran — is one of the phone companies infected with the adware. China’s telecom giant was subject to a crippling U.S. ban after the company was discovered to have violated North American sanctions by selling products to Iran. The U.S. and China have been renegotiating a trade deal with ZTE. The U.S. is expected to lift the ban after ZTE pays a $1.3 billion…

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Report: Britain’s May to Urge Trump to Avoid London Protests During UK Visit

Reuters   British Prime Minister Theresa May will urge U.S. President Donald Trump to avoid protesters in central London during his UK visit in July and instead meet her at her country residence, the Sun newspaper reported on Sunday. The details of the plan will be given to the White House by Kim Darroch, British ambassador to the United States, the report said. There are two proposals that will be made to the White House by Darroch upon May’s approval – one for a Downing Street visit or one based at Chequers, a 16th-century manor house 60 km (40 miles) northwest of London – the report said, citing a source, who added it would be made clear that May prefers the meeting take place at Chequers. Trump will also be asked to have tea with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle, a royal residence west of London and not at Buckingham Palace, according to the report. Darroch will suggest to the White House that Trump does not visit Britain’s houses of parliament, the Sun reported. May’s office was not immediately available for comment. Trump will travel to Britain in July for a working visit with May, after months of back-and-forth over…

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Archaeologists Discover New Geoglyphs Near Nazca Lines in Peru

Geoglyph

Reuters   Archaeologists using drones have discovered more than 25 geoglyphs etched into a swath of coastal desert in southern Peru near the Nazca Lines, a culture ministry official said Monday. Most of the newly found geoglyphs, which include figures of a killer whale and a woman dancing, appear to have been made by the Paracas culture more than 2,000 years ago, hundreds of years before the Nazca people created similar giant drawings nearby, said Johny Isla, an archaeologist who heads the culture ministry’s conservation efforts in the region. An additional 25 geoglyphs that had previously been spotted by local residents have also been mapped with drones, Isla said. Drones “have allowed us to broaden our documentation and discover new groups of figures,” Isla said on a tour of the geoglyphs in the province of Palpa. But unlike the Nazca lines, most of which can only be seen by flying above them, many of the so-called Palpa Lines were carved into hillsides and can be seen from below, Peru’s culture ministry said in a statement. The geoglyphs created by the Nazca and Paracas cultures are striking reminders of Peru’s rich pre-Columbian history and are considered archeological enigmas, as no one…

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U.S. Officials Arrive in North Korea to Hold Talks on Possible Trump-Kim Summit

Tennessee Star

In a new twist to the ‘will they or won’t they’ saga of President Trump’s summit with North Korea–originally planned for next month–the Commander-in-Chief tweeted Sunday afternoon that a US team arrived in North Korea to plan for a possible meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jung Un. Our United States team has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the Summit between Kim Jong Un and myself. I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2018 Although President Trump sent a letter calling off the talks Thursday, he kept the option to go ahead with the Signapore talks on the table. “We can be successful in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, that would be a great thing for North Korea, it would be a great thing for South Korea, it would be great for Japan, it would be great for the world, it would be great for the United States, it would be great for China. A lot of people are working on it. It’s moving along very nicely,” Trump said. Shortly…

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Chelsea Clinton Says ‘Racist’ President Trump ‘Degrades What It Means to Be American,’ Supports Protest During Planned U.K. Visit

Chelsea Clinton

While overseas promoting her latest book, “She Persisted Around the World” Chelsea Clinton sat down with the UK’s Guardian for an exhaustive interview, in which the former First Daughter insisted President Trump “degrades what it means to be an American,”  applauded the efforts to organize mass protests against him during his planned visit in July, saying she would join the demonstration (were she British), and called the President a racist. The 3100 hundred-word feature is equal part biography and advertisement, with a consistent promotion of hard-left ideology that is all wrapped up in a brash, ‘poor me’ victimhood. In other words – Classic Clinton. Here are just some of the highlights. Blaming President Trump for “mainlined hate” She used to believe the right thing to do about “all of the meanness” was simply ignore it, she reflects. “Now I’ve come to feel differently, because I think that the way that our president and many people around him have not only mainstreamed hate, but mainlined it, is so deeply dangerous.” Her eyes fill with dismay as she cites the rising reports of bullying in schools catalogued by the Southern Poverty Law Centre. “Not just the hundreds but now thousands of instances…

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Jason Reynolds Commentary: U2 Turns Nashville Concert Into Political Rally

U2 Twitter

There is no question U2 is one of the most talented bands in our time. They also have done some great work in terms of social justice. Their work has included relief efforts for HIV-positive people in Africa. (RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver in 2006 to fight to end AIDS in Africa. U2 is currently campaigning for global women’s rights such as an estimated 130 million girls who are not getting to attend school. I applaud them for that work. Then there is the right to life — but U2 is not campaigning for people’s rights to live, but rather, for women to have the right to murder their babies. Watch @butchworley's broadcast: U2 Nashville #U2eiTour https://t.co/vwqMpGLM30 — Neon Heart (@ClosertoOne) May 27, 2018 On Friday, the people of Ireland voted to legalize abortion. The nation’s Eighth Amendment had protected preborn babies since 1983. Five previous votes on the repeal had failed. Earlier in May, U2 stepped into the debate by tweeting their support of ending the protection of preborn babies. Breitbart reports, “After U2 tweeted a photo endorsing the ‘Repeal the 8th; campaign… fans erupted with a barrage of more than 800 overwhelmingly negative replies, with…

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The Forgotten History of Memorial Day

Memorial Day History Headliner

by Richard Gardiner   In the years following the bitter Civil War, a former Union general took a holiday originated by former Confederates and helped spread it across the entire country. The holiday was Memorial Day, and this year’s commemoration on May 28 marks the 150th anniversary of its official nationwide observance. The annual commemoration was born in the former Confederate States in 1866 and adopted by the United States in 1868. It is a holiday in which the nation honors its military dead. Gen. John A. Logan, who headed the largest Union veterans’ fraternity at that time, the Grand Army of the Republic, is usually credited as being the originator of the holiday. Yet when General Logan established the holiday, he acknowledged its genesis among the Union’s former enemies, saying, “It was not too late for the Union men of the nation to follow the example of the people of the South.” I’m a scholar who has written – with co-author Daniel Bellware – a history of Memorial Day. Cities and towns across America have for more than a century claimed to be the holiday’s birthplace, but we have sifted through the myths and half-truths and uncovered the authentic story of how this holiday…

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Commentary: There’s a Due Process Problem with Homeschool Regulations

Homeschoolers

by Kerry McDonald   At over two million young people, the number of US homeschoolers is comparable to the number of US students enrolled in public charter schools, and it is now considered a worthwhile education option for many families. According to the Department of Education, a top motivator for homeschooling parents is “concern about the environment of other schools.” While their homeschooling approaches and educational philosophies vary widely, most homeschooling parents value the freedom, flexibility, and focus on family and community that a homeschooling lifestyle offers. In many ways, this freedom, flexibility, and family-centered learning are terrifying to the state. Despite the fact that homeschooling has been legally recognized in all 50 states since 1993, attempts to limit homeschooling freedoms are ongoing. Recent efforts to tighten homeschooling regulations have been spotlighted in New Hampshire and Iowa, and homeschoolers in the United Kingdom are now dealing with mounting pressure to make their homeschooling laws more restrictive. An underlying theme in these calls for regulating homeschoolers is that parents can’t be trusted and government knows best. Considering the fact that US students are lagging far behind their peers in other nations on international comparison tests, and the National Center for Education Statistics reports that only 14% of African-American eighth graders are proficient readers – while homeschooling students…

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Explainer: Congress Rolls Back Dodd-Frank Regulations on Banks and Financial Institutions

Obama Frank Durbin Dodd

by Joe Carter   On Tuesday, the House voted 258-159 (including 33 Democrats) in favor of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act. The legislation rolls back some of the Dodd-Frank banking and financial regulations that were implemented after the financial crisis a decade ago. The Senate has already approved a similar version and President Trump said he will sign the bill. What is Dodd-Frank? The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act(better known as Dodd-Frank) is a federal law signed in 2010 as a response to the financial crisis of 2007-2008. The stated purpose of the Act was to “promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end ‘too big to fail’, to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts, to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices, and for other purposes.” What are the major changes in the bill? The rollback mostly affects small and midsize banks and financial institution, exempting them from some of the more onerous regulations that were imposed under Dodd-Frank. “The Main Street banks and credit unions that people depend on, they’ve been suffering,” said Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), chair of the House Financial Services Committee. “They’ve…

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In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens: Randy Boyd Says He’s Against It, But He’s Likely to Let it Become Law if Legislature Passes

Randy Boyd

The in-state tuition for illegal aliens issue is expected to be put on the legislative calendar in 2019. Its importance cannot be understated in light of the opening it creates to award additional state and local public benefits to illegal aliens in Tennessee. The four candidates for the GOP gubernatorial nomination–Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd, Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06), Williamson County businessman Bill Lee, and Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville)–are notably different in their approach to this issue. During an April meet and greet in Memphis, Randy Boyd repeated his opposition to in-state tuition for illegal aliens – “I’m against in-state tuition for illegals.” Boyd’s claim doesn’t necessarily mean that as governor Boyd would stop an in-state tuition bill passed by the General Assembly from becoming law. Both Diane Black and Bill Lee have affirmatively stated they would veto an in-state tuition bill. Neither the Harwell campaign nor the Boyd campaign responded to The Tennessee Star’s question during the legislative session about the in-state tuition bill that was making its way through the committee process. Harwell did not cast a vote on the 2015 in-state tuition bill since she left the House floor almost immediately before the bill was brought up…

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