Hamblen County Commissioners Send All Cameras to the Back of the Room

  Hamblen County commissioners recently adopted a policy mandating that anyone recording commission meetings with cameras, video equipment or other recording devices must stand in the back of the room. The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has criticized the policy. But County Commissioner Tim Goins told The Tennessee Star this week that “it’s not a big deal” and “some people were complaining” about people up front making too many noises. Commissioners speak into microphones, meaning everyone in the room should already hear or capture audio on their recording devices, Goins said. “This is not a threat to government transparency,” Goins said. “We want transparency. We want all that good stuff.” County Commissioner Wayne Nesmith told The Star the local cable company televises their county commission meetings. Nesmith also said, however, County Mayor Bill Brittain does not want recording devices in the room. “The mayor doesn’t want anybody recording our commission meetings. In my opinion you should be recording all committee meetings, budget meetings, jail study commission meetings, any meeting the county is doing, they need to be recorded,” Nesmith said. “I’m not sure why. My gut feeling is they don’t want the people in the county knowing what’s going on…

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Franklin Lands Mitsubishi Motors Headquarters With 200 Jobs Moving Here Beginning in August

  Mitsubishi is saying “buh bye” to California’s high taxes and moving its headquarters to Franklin, multiple media outlets report. Mitsubishi was one of two final Japanese car manufacturers to have its headquarters in California, CNET said. Honda will be the lone Japanese holdout. Moving to Franklin will allow the company to be closer to its Alliance partner Nissan, which moved there around 13 years ago. Nashville Business Journal added that other Middle Tennessee automotive brand names include Bridgestone, General Motors, Hankook and suppliers and other related companies. The move will include about 200 jobs and an $18.25 million investment in corporate jobs including legal, finance, IT, sales and dealer operations. Mitsubishi is negotiating a long-term office lease plus a lease for interim use. A move to a temporary space will start in August and be done by the end of the year, Nashville Business Journal said. Automotive News said Mitsubishi cited Franklin’s high-tech community, cost savings, business-friendly work environment and, again, proximity to Nissan. Mitsubishi’s decision is yet another loss for Southern California, referred to in 2000 as “Motown West” for the concentration of automotive brands that based their U.S. operations there. Since then, the brands under Ford’s former…

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Commentary: It Is Joe Biden’s Race to Lose as He Leads Every Poll, but Do His Opponents Smell Blood?

by Robert Romano   As the national race for the Democratic nomination for President in 2020 kicks into high gear with debates on June 26 and June 27, the race is Joe Biden’s to lose as he has led every single poll against his Democratic opponents both nationally and in statewide races compiled by Real Clear Politics since the end of April. Biden’s advantage comes as having served as Barack Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2016, with the highest name identification. At this point in the 2016 cycle, Hillary Clinton was leading all of the polls on the Democratic side, and Jeb Bush was temporarily leading a few polls for the GOP nomination in June 2015 but soon trailed to then-candidate Donald Trump who dominated the field starting in July 2015. Biden is being viewed as the “safe” candidate to take on now President Trump, even as some his utterances and votes on trade issues might make him ill-suited to take on Trump, particularly in the Rust Belt states that gave Trump a majority in the 2016 Electoral College in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. Biden voted for NAFTA and granting China permanent normal trade status, and the Obama White…

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Blackburn Joins Other Pro-Life Senators in Introducing Bill to Halt Use of Taxpayer Dollars in Funding Abortion Services

  U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined several colleagues to introduce the Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act to halt the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortion services. “Sixty percent of Americans oppose their tax dollars being used to fund abortions,” Blackburn said in a press release. “We should honor their wishes by ending the use of public funds. The pro-life community should not be forced to directly or indirectly fund this abhorrent practice.” Co-sponsors are U.S. Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS). The House version is H.R. 833, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO-04). The Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act is supported by the Susan B. Anthony List. In January, Blackburn introduced her first bill in the Senate, The Tennessee Star reported. That bill – S. 105, the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act – would strips all abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, of federal funding under Title X of the Public Health Service Act. Of the Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act, Cramer said, “Abortion providers do not deserve taxpayer subsidies. While current law prohibits federal funds from being used for abortions, companies like Planned Parenthood still receive millions of…

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Meet the Retired General Who Fought the Taliban on Horseback Now Running for Senate

by Peter Hasson   Retired Brig. General Don Bolduc officially announced Monday that he’s running as a Republican against Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. The general was motivated to run by what he described as a crisis of leadership in national politics, he told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a phone interview. “We are facing a leadership crisis. Our politicians are working for themselves, and if we don’t make a change in New Hampshire, nothing’s going to change in Washington, D.C.,” Bolduc said. He said his goal is to bring “servant leadership, personal responsibility and a dedication to our core values” to the Senate. Bolduc’s 36 years in the Army included 10 tours in Afghanistan, two awards for valor, five Bronze Star medals and two Purple Hearts. He’s a former Green Beret and was the commander of Special Operations Command-Africa. The general’s announcement video highlighted his time as one of the legendary “horse soldiers” — U.S. special operations forces who invaded Afghanistan on horseback in a top-secret mission following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. I’ve always put people over politics and service over self. Check out my story ⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/3j83Vgli3k — Donald Bolduc (@GenDonBolduc) June 24, 2019 Republicans…

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Trump Orders Hospitals to Disclose Prices Up Front

  U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday which he calls a “groundbreaking action” that will increase the “quality, affordability, and fairness” in the U.S. healthcare system. The order would require hospitals to disclose prices up front showing what patients can expect to pay for services in a manner Trump says will be “clear, straightforward, and accessible.” This also means patients must be told at the beginning how much they can expect to pay out-of-pocket for deductibles and co-pays. Trump says patients would be able to find another doctor if their first choice is too high. “We believe the American people have a right to know the price of services before they go to visit the doctor,” he said. The president complained that for decades, insurance companies, lobbyists, and special interests have not been transparent in disclosing the real costs of medical procedures to patients, often leaving them with huge bills and unexpected costs. “This lack of price transparency has enriched industry giants greatly, costing Americans hundreds of billions of dollars a year.” Trump says he has seen such bills as $800 for saline, $6,000 for simple drug tests, and more than $17,000 to stitch a wound. He…

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Mexico Has Deployed 15,000 Troops to the Border, Is Now Detaining Illegal Migrants

by Matt M. Miller   Mexico has deployed 15,000 soldiers and National Guardsmen at the U.S.-Mexico border and is detaining migrants who attempt to illegally cross. The Mexican government’s actions aim to meet President Donald Trump’s demands that the country help slow the influx of migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico, AFP reports. “We have a total deployment, between the National Guard and army units, of 14,000, almost 15,000 men in the north of the country,” Mexican Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval said at a press conference. Sandoval confirmed the governing is now detaining migrants at the border, AFP reports. “Given that (undocumented) migration is not a crime but rather an administrative violation, we simply detain them and turn them over to the authorities” at the National Migration Institute, he continued. Earlier this month, Mexico committed to deploying 6,000 National Guardsmen to its southern border to control immigration, but only a fraction have actually been deployed, according to the New York Times. Trump gave Mexico an ultimatum last month, threatening to place a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports starting on June 10 unless illegal immigration from Mexico into the U.S. was stopped. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expressed…

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Border Patrol Removes Hundreds of Children From Station Following Reports of Unsanitary Conditions

by Jason Hopkins   Border Patrol officials relocated the majority of children held at a government facility following reports that more than 300 children being housed were subjected to unsanitary and “inhumane” conditions. Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas said Monday that 30 children remained in the border facility near El Paso, Texas, The Associated Press reported. The massive relocation came after an AP report on June 20 gave lurid details of the conditions migrant children were living in. The Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas, contained children who were reportedly hungry, had not showered in days and were left to take care of young infants, according to attorneys who visited the station. Many of the children had been living in the facility for weeks — despite that they are required to be taken into Health and Human Services’ custody within 72 hours. Fifteen children had the flu, and 10 were being held in medical quarantine. “How is it possible that you both were unaware of the inhumane conditions for children, especially tender-age children at the Clint Station?” Escobar asked in a June 21 letter delivered to Customs and Border Protection acting commissioner John Sanders and U.S. Border Patrol chief…

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Stephanie Grisham Is Named New White House Press Secretary and Communication Director

  Stephanie Grisham is becoming the new White House press secretary and communication director, according to First Lady Melania Trump. “I am pleased to announce @StephGrisham45 will be the next @PressSec & Comms Director! She has been with us since 2015 – @potus & I can think of no better person to serve the Administration & our country. Excited to have Stephanie working for both sides of the @WhiteHouse. #BeBest” I am pleased to announce @StephGrisham45 will be the next @PressSec & Comms Director! She has been with us since 2015 – @potus & I can think of no better person to serve the Administration & our country. Excited to have Stephanie working for both sides of the @WhiteHouse. #BeBest — Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) June 25, 2019 Grisham becomes the fourth women to hold this position after Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced her resignation earlier this month. Also, she replaces Bill Shine who left his position in March. Sanders showed support for her successor on Twitter. “@StephGrisham45 will be an incredible asset to the President and the country. I’m sad to leave the WH, but so happy to leave our team in such great hands. Stephanie will do a phenomenal job.…

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Ohio House and Senate to Begin Talks Wednesday on Budget Agreement

by Tyler Arnold   Formal discussions between the House and the Senate regarding a budget agreement are expected to begin Wednesday. House Majority Leader Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, told The Center Square via email that some informal discussion are already underway. Although both chambers have a Republican majority and successfully passed bipartisan bills, the plans differed from each other on some specifics regarding healthcare transparency, tax cuts, a film industry tax credit and education spending. “I think we’re going to work well together and I fully expect a quality bill that is satisfying to both chambers and the governor,” Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, told reporters. On healthcare, the House version includes a plan called “Healthy Ohio,” which calls for a controversial provision on price transparency. The transparency provision would require hospitals to give patients cost estimates on non-emergency procedures and products. Although supporters argued that this would reduce costs, the Senate pulled it out of its budget proposal after backlash from the medical industry. Although both chambers pushed tax cuts, the Senate version has larger cuts to the personal income tax than the House. The Senate plan would also maintain the current threshold for the small business tax credit, which…

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Commentary: Google Teaching Artificial Intelligence to Attack Conservatives

by George Rasley   Fans of the Terminator series of science fiction action movies will recall that the Terminators were the product of an Artificial Intelligence defense system that turned against humans and decided to wipe out its creators. But what if Skynet had been programmed so that it only learned to attack white people, or Christians, or conservatives? The movie and the results of that dystopian vision of the future would have been a lot different. But not so different from what Jen Gennai, Head of Responsible Innovation at Google Global Affairs had in mind for Google’s Artificial Intelligence when she told an undercover reporter for Project Veritas: The reason we launched our A.I. principles is that people were not putting that line in the sand, that they were not saying what’s fair and what’s equitable so we’re like, well we are a big company, we’re going to say it… …my definition of fairness and bias specifically talks about historically marginalized communities. That’s what I care about. Communities who are in power and have traditionally been in power are NOT who I’m solving fairness for. That’s not what I set up for *inaudible* people to address. Our definition of…

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Google Exec Responds to Project Veritas Undercover Video, Says She Was Tricked

by Chris White   A Google executive said Monday night that an undercover video of her discussing what the company plans to do about the “next Trump situation” was deceptively edited. Project Veritas caught veteran Google employee Jen Gennai in a video appearing to suggest that her company is working on preventing President Donald Trump from winning re-election. She said in a Medium post shortly after the report was published Monday that she was referring to ways the company can wipe out misinformation online. “Project Veritas has edited the video to make it seem that I am a powerful executive who was confirming that Google is working to alter the 2020 election. On both counts, this is absolute, unadulterated nonsense, of course,” Gennai wrote. Gennai claims her comments were misconstrued to seem ominous. “I was explaining how Google’s Trust and Safety team (a team I used to work on) is working to help prevent the types of online foreign interference that happened in 2016,” she said. Google has not responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for an interview with Gennai. Her comments come as big tech companies are feeling pressure to do more to clean up their platforms…

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Iran Says White House Is ‘Mentally Retarded’ After Learning of New Sanctions

by Shelby Talcott   President Hassan Rouhani of Iran said that the White House is “mentally retarded” Tuesday after new sanctions were imposed on the country. “Hard-hitting sanctions” were placed on Iran by President Donald Trump Monday as tensions between the two countries increased. The sanctions were specifically placed on the Supreme Leader of Iran and the Office of the Supreme Leader, among others. They are intended to deny government officials “key” financial assets that are under U.S. jurisdiction. ….a dangerous journey. We don’t even need to be there in that the U.S. has just become (by far) the largest producer of Energy anywhere in the world! The U.S. request for Iran is very simple – No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2019 “The White House is afflicted by mental retardation and does not know what to do,” Rouhani said on television Tuesday, according to The Hill. Rouhani also said that the sanctions were “outrageous and idiotic,” and that the decision by the Trump administration showed Trump was not looking to talk to Iran. “You [Trump] immediately proved you were lying,” Rouhani said Tuesday, according to BBC. “You are not…

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We Build the Wall Online ‘Wall-A-Thon’ Raises $460K and Counting

  Today is the final day to view the “Wall-A-Thon” held at the border by We Build the Wall. The broadcast feed is available here. “LIVE: Broadcast from our new border security wall funded by donors! Broadcasting daily June 24th – 26th! Bookmark this page! We’re excited to update you LIVE from the People’s Wall!” the group’s website says. “You are welcome to call in and speak with our team, including Brian Kolfage, Steve Bannon, Sheriff David Clarke, Congressman Tom Tancredo, Angel parents Mary Ann Mendoza and Steve Ronnebeck, PLUS MANY MORE! It will be an exciting and informative THREE day live event and we can’t wait to share it with you!” As of Tuesday evening, the “Wall-A-Thon” had raised $460,000. The link above provides a way to make a donation. A $100 donation will get your name on a brick. For $1,000 you get a bollard. For $5,000 you get a large bollard. The “Wall-A-Thon” began Monday with We Build the Wall’s Brian Kolfage and Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, KTSM reported. Kolfage told the TV station there are other projects in various stages of work. “We’re just taking it literally one at a time but right…

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Reporter Calls Star Tribune ‘Frauds,’ Says They Owe Minnesotans Apology for Omar Coverage

  Few reporters have done more to expose Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) than David Steinberg, with the possible exceptions of Preya Samsundar formerly of Alpha News and Scott Johnson of Power Line. The three of them together did most of the grunt work in uncovering Omar’s marriage controversy. Samsundar was reporting on the topic as early as August of 2016, when Omar was running for the Minnesota House. But according to The Star Tribune, they’re just “conservative activists” who can’t even be trusted with a screenshot. ‘Covering their tracks’  In a June 22 article, The Star Tribune took a look at the allegation in question: whether Omar “once married a man – possibly her own brother – to skirt immigration laws.” But much of the information in that article was reported by Steinberg in a series of articles he wrote for PJ Media between August and November of 2018. “The Star Tribune ran a dishonest, cowardly piece of journalism tonight,” Steinberg said in response. “For 3 years, the paper ignored the work of reporters Preya Samsundar, Scott Johnson, and myself on Ilhan Omar’s disturbing past. Ignored our emails offering new evidence. Now, Ilhan Omar is a national disgrace. Globally, anti-Semites…

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Nashville Mayoral Candidates Stake Out Their Positions on Property Taxes and Youth Violence

  Nashville mayoral candidate Carol Swain made a stark contrast between herself and the other more liberal candidates who want the job at a forum at Belmont University Tuesday night. Moderators, for instance, asked if she, as mayor, would pass a property tax next year to fund public schools and give Metro workers a raise. Swain said she would not — that’s because revenues are up 23 percent between 2015 and 2019. “The revenues were an estimated $440 million. We need to find out where the money is going. Where the waste is and so, no, I don’t believe we need to raise property taxes. We need to cut spending,” Swain said. “We don’t have a revenue problem in this city. We have a spending problem because we have leaders who can’t say no. They make irresponsible decisions. They spend like drunken sailors.” At-large Council member John Cooper, when asked the same question, said there are other sources of revenue for the city other than property taxes. State Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, also criticized the notion of any proposed tax increase. “It’s unfortunate we found ourselves in a position where the most fiscally responsible option was a property tax…

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