Taxpayers Spend $700,000 on University of Tennessee Knoxville Program with No History of Success

Knoxville

The feds are handing out more than $700,000 of taxpayer money to the University of Tennessee Knoxville so school officials can find more ways to get women involved with STEM. There’s just one problem, said Toni Airaksinen, in a column this week for PJ Media. Previous attempts have had “zero record of success,” Airaksinen said. According to Live Science, STEM incorporates the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics all into one curriculum. Officials at UT-Knoxville did not respond to The Tennessee Star’s questions about this matter before close of business Friday. Writing for Campusreform.org one year ago, Airaksinen profiled a Georgetown University economics professor, Adriana Kugler, who found STEM recruitment efforts that target women backfire. The problem, the article went on to say, is how the media portrays the situation. “The trouble begins when the media and recruitment efforts capitalize on that preponderance of men, since it sends an additional message to women that they don’t fit into those fields, and that they don’t belong there,” Kugler told Campus Reform. “With the media, women are getting multiple signals that they don’t belong in the STEM field, that they won’t fit into the field. That’s what we find. It’s very…

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‘Not Here, Not Now’: Gov. Brown Signs Bill Blocking Trump’s Offshore Drilling Plan

Jerry Brown

by Chris White   Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Saturday effectively prohibiting new federal offshore oil drilling along California’s coast, and announced that he opposes plans to expand crude exploration on public lands in the state. The legislation he signed blocks the Trump administration’s plan to expand offshore oil drilling through the prohibition on new leases for new construction of oil and gas-related infrastructure, such as oil pipelines. Brown has worked to cultivate a status as one of President Donald Trump’s chief opponents. “Today, California’s message to the Trump administration is simple: Not here, not now,” the Democratic governor noted in a press statement announcing the move. “We will not let the federal government pillage public lands and destroy our treasured coast.” Brown also submitted formal opposition to the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to open new public land and mineral estates for oil and gas lease sales. His move comes nearly six months after officials on the California Coastal Commission urged the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to rescind plans allowing companies to drill for oil off the coast. “It has been more than twenty years since the Bureau of Land Management last expanded the availability of federal public lands and mineral…

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Dr. Carol Swain Commentary: Barack Obama and the Evil Plan to Destroy President Trump

by Dr. Carol M. Swain   As we move toward the midterm elections, former President Barack Obama is back in the news, working overtime to make himself relevant by claiming partial credit for the Trump economic growth and prosperity. We should be alarmed because of what we know about the Obama presidency and its disregard for American traditions about elections and how one treats political opponents. There is no sense of protocol or qualms about abusing power or trampling the U.S. Constitution. Presidential protocol once meant former Presidents showed a measure of deference and respect for current officeholders. Former President Jimmy Carter, in 2007, broke this precedent when he called George W. Bush’s presidency, the “worst in history.” Until 2007, Carter was the uncontested winner of the worst modern presidency in history. But then I digress. President Obama is obsessed with President Trump, and Obama is supported by his army of paid and unpaid protesters as seen in Organizing for Action, a pro-Obama group that will not leave the president alone. Given the corruption in the FBI and Department of Justice during the Obama years, the unprecedented use of the institutions of government against political opponents, and the never-ending Mueller investigation,…

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North And South Carolina Declare State Of Emergency As Florence Bears Down

Tennessee Star

by Chris White   South Carolina followed North Carolina’s footsteps in declaring a state of emergency Saturday as Tropical Storm Florence approaches the East Coast on its way to becoming a hurricane. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency Friday, as the state prepares to make resources available if Florence morphs into a hurricane. He called on residents to make proper precautions. “While it’s still too early to know the storm’s path, we know we have to be prepared,” Cooper, a Democrat, said in a statement Friday. “During harvest, time is of the essence. Action today can avoid losses due to Florence.” Here are the 11 AM EDT Key Messages on #Florence https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/L5VdT2Ueh3 — National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 8, 2018 South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster followed suit. “This is not an evacuation. It is way too early for that,” he said Saturday. “We know that it’s coming, and we know that we need to take precautions.” McMaster, a Republican, called Florence “a very unpredictable hurricane,” adding: “We are preparing for the worst and of course hoping for the best. Being prepared is always the best strategy.” Florence might not be the only major storm Cooper and McMaster…

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Thousands March Through The Streets To Protest ‘Climate Crisis’

by Jason Hopkins   Thousands of environmental activists participated in marches around the world Saturday, calling on their governments to end fossil fuel production and embrace renewable energy. Dubbed the “Rise for Climate” movement, thousands of environmentalists took to the streets to demand an end to the fossil fuel industry, claiming it is fueling a “climate crisis.” Around 820 demonstrations took place in 91 different counties, according to the Rise for Climate website. Led in large part by 350.0rg, the worldwide marches were orchestrated by other environmental groups, including the World Wildlife Fund, Climate Action Network and GreenFaith. Protest organizers are demanding a “swift” and “just” transition to 100 percent renewable energy, which would include solar and wind technology. “Climate change is the defining issue of our time, it is a crisis of democracy, justice and human rights,” May Boeve, the executive director of 350.org, said in a prepared statement. “The climate movement is made stronger by its sister movements: for human rights, economic justice, democracy, and much more. This weekend Rise for Climate will demonstrate the growing strength and diversity of the climate movement.” Demonstrations took place in San Francisco; Paris; Sydney; Bogota, Colombia and numerous other cities around the world. "The people gonna…

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All Eyes On Red State Dems As Kavanaugh Emerges From Hearings Intact

Brett Kavanaugh

by Kevin Daley   Attention is fixed on a handful of moderate senators expected to cast the decisive votes on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, after Kavanaugh emerged relatively unscathed from several days of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democrats tried to infuse the hearings with defiant gestures and dramatic reveals — like a 2003 email purporting to show Kavanaugh misled the committee about his views on Roe v. Wade — but their tactics gained little traction with key lawmakers, while the judge put in a disciplined performance throughout. “Over the past three days, Judge Kavanaugh demonstrated exactly why President Trump nominated him to the Supreme Court,” said White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah. “His fidelity to the Constitution, impeccable qualifications, and extraordinary temperament were on full display for the American people to see. Through long hours and days of questioning, Judge Kavanaugh consistently reinforced his firm belief in the bedrock principles of judicial independence and the rule of law.” For his part, Kavanaugh avoided serious blunders, meeting pointed questions about abortion, race, guns, and executive power with narrow, carefully planned answers, showing good command of legal doctrine but little about his actual views. Supreme Court nominees have generally avoided…

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Commentary: The New York Times Belatedly Discovers The Deep State

by George Rasley, CHQ Editor   The New York Times recently published what it touted as a bombshell anonymous op-ed by a “senior” Trump administration official that trashed President Trump for being among other things “amoral” and showing “little affinity for ideals long espoused by conservatives: free minds, free markets and free people.” The op-ed, which we have read and re-read several times, is all about Trump’s style, as opposed to the substance of his policy accomplishments. Indeed, it reads like nothing so much as a #NeverTrump manifesto ghostwritten by a NeverTrumper, like Bill Kristol or Jonah Goldberg, rather than a senior White House or administration official with inside knowledge of Trump’s decision-making process and the alleged failures thereof. It will surprise no one who voted for Donald Trump that he does not hew to the Republican establishment’s idea of “presidential” style – that’s one reason why we voted for him. And Trump understands that better than the #NeverTrump gang in and out of the halls of government. One of the more compelling (and hilarious) moments of Trump’s recent speech and rally in West Virginia was when he did an imitation of a “presidential” establishment Republican robotically walking back and forth behind the…

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Activists Sent 3,000 Coat Hangers To Sen. Collins’s Office To Protest Against Confirming Kavanaugh

Murkowski, Collins

by Neetu Chandak   Activists sent coat hangers to Maine Sen. Susan Collins’s office to protest against confirming Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The Republican senator’s office received 3,000 coat hangers, which served as reminders of back-alley abortions, according to The Associated Press Saturday. Collins and Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who both support abortion rights, are considered as crucial voters for Kavanaugh to be confirmed. “I have voted for Justice [Sonia] Sotomayor, and I’ve also voted for Justice [Samuel] Alito,” Collins said, the AP reported. The two judges have opposite ideological perspectives. Collins added that she would not make a decision on Kavanaugh until his confirmation hearing was over, according to the AP. The four-day hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee ended Friday. “I was shocked when many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle took a position on the nominee before his identity was even known,” Collins said. “That’s just extraordinary.” Pro-choice supporters believe Kavanaugh would help overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortions. “I want to be clear that a vote for any of the proposed nominees on [President Donald] Trump’s list is a vote to overturn Roe v. Wade,” co-founder of the protest group Indivisible…

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Memphis Tells Police Not to Cooperate with ICE

Shelby County officials arrest suspected illegal immigrants. If this happened in a lot of other places, the feds would step in and ask the county to detain these suspected illegals for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release. Officers with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office would then come get them. This is a common thing since U.S. President Donald Trump assumed office. But not in Shelby County. County officials, specifically the folks at the county attorney’s office, tell their law enforcement officers to ignore the feds, especially ICE. They said such requests likely violate the 10th Amendment ban against commandeering of local governments by the feds. Members of the county attorney’s office also say the requests likely violate the Fourth Amendment protection against arrests without probable cause. Despite this, members of the sheriff’s office have found a loophole. Sheriff’s deputies will release suspected illegal immigrants, but they will notify ICE agents about when, precisely, they’ll release those people. This according an article this week in The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “Sheriff’s policy adviser Debra Fessenden says ICE is still notified whenever a non-citizen is booked into the jail. The immigration agency is allowed to make arrests at the…

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