President Trump’s nominee for FBI director led the Justice Department’s criminal division when 9/11 terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui pleaded guilty, and served as a personal attorney for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie during the “Bridgegate” scandal. But when asked to name the 10 most significant cases he’s litigated, Christopher Wray put the prosecution of former Atlanta Braves…
Read the full storyDay: July 7, 2017
Aziz Sayyed Practiced Knife Skills For Beheadings And Planned To Bomb Buildings In Huntsville, Prosecutors Say
A Huntsville, Alabama man arrested on a terrorism charge last month told people he wanted to practice beheadings and was learning how to make an explosive device to bomb public buildings, a prosecutor said in court this week. Aziz Sayyed, 22, downloaded ISIS beheading videos in February and in April obtained plywood that he allegedly used to practice knife skills for beheadings, said Madison County Assistant District Attorney Jay Town at a bond hearing Wednesday. According to WHNT News 19, Town also said Sayyed made statements he watched videos to learn how to make an explosive similar to the one used in the May 22 attack at the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in England, which killed 22 people and injured more than 200. The prosecution alleges in court filings that Sayyed admitted he wanted to plant explosives in Madison County public buildings and had specific plans to bomb a law enforcement center in Huntsville. Authorities said materials to make bombs were found in his apartment after his arrest. Investigators said after his arrest that Sayyed is a U.S. citizen born in North Carolina. His arrest came after a tip from a citizen. A Madison County judge is still considering whether…
Read the full storyLetter to the Editor: Time for Patriotism Over Insurrection on the Left and Nationalism on the Right
Dear Tennessee Star, Memorial Day picnics and Independence Day fireworks are behind us. Veterans Day looms. Summer is a season where we celebrate our heritage and reflect on the human cost of American freedom. But no thanks to unscrupulous politicians, a citizenry anesthetized with amusements, and perilous memes like “Diversity Is Our Strength,” Americans seem confused on the difference between patriotism and its mischievous twin, nationalism. Elbowing to the forefront and shrieking ever louder is the red-headed stepchild, Insurrection.The nationalist admires America for being “the most powerful nation on earth,” where national pride is contingent on military might and economic supremacy. Patriots love their country for its historical virtues, not for its prowess in drone-bombing Yemen or manipulation of global markets. Patriots are willing, within reason, to tolerate China in the South China Sea and Russia in Syria, respecting the fact that rival civilizations have intrinsic spheres of influence. Patriots observe Syria’s location on the map (i.e. in Russia’s backyard,) ponder the region’s ancient Sunni-Shiite animosities, and wonder how an Arab civil war is relevant to American security. Nationalists figure Syria is just one in a series of sovereign nations where we can waltz in, unprovoked, regardless of historic animosities,…
Read the full storyDonald Trump Tweets That G-20 Participants Are Talking About John Podesta’s Emails
President Trump tweeted Friday that many at the G-20 summit in Germany were talking about the hacking at the Democratic National Committee. “Everyone here is talking about why John Podesta refused to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful!” Mr. Trump tweeted. Mr. Podesta was Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager for…
Read the full storyState Rep. Judd Matheny Running at Full Speed for Sixth Congressional District Seat: 500 Miles in First Week
One week after he formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Congress in the Sixth Congressional District, State Rep. Judd Matheny (R-Tullahoma) is already running at full speed. The August 2018 Republican primary is still more than a year off, but Matheny is not wasting a minute of his time. On Friday, his campaign announced that in the first seven days since his announcement he has traveled more than 500 miles throughout the Sixth Congressional District. The district is currently represented by Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06), who is considered to be a likely candidate for the Republican nomination for governor. When he announced on June 30, Matheny made it clear that he was running for the Sixth Congressional District seat whether or not Black chooses to run for governor. “During my 8 terms as a TN Representative, I have learned the value and necessity of planning ahead for important decisions and missions. As a candidate for the next District 6 Congressional Leader, I will continue to work hard and communicate with the voters, for their interests,” Matheny said in a statement released by his campaign on Friday. His statement included his very busy schedule of campaign appearances throughout…
Read the full storyDonald Trump’s Tweet Attacking CNN Shatters President’s Personal Record for Retweets
President Trump’s recent tweet containing an altered video of himself assaulting CNN personified is officially his most retweeted post since joining Twitter in 2009, a company spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. The controversial clip was retweeted more than 340,000 times since being shared by the president’s personal Twitter account Sunday morning, a Twitter spokesperson told The Associated Press…
Read the full storyKevin Baigert Named Executive Director of New Roving Patriots PAC
After helping to launch The Tennessee Star as an investigative reporter on the Legislative Plaza beat, Kevin Baigert is moving on to use his political connections, activist skills, and business acumen as the Executive Director of the new Roving Patriots PAC. “For years, Tennesseans have saved, worked, and sacrificed in hopes of securing a bright future for their children and grand children. Tennesseans, have long awaited the day that we would become the shining city on the hill that President Reagan spoke of ,” Kevin Baigert said in a Facebook video announcing the new group, in which he appeared with his wife, Laura. He added: Today, marks the beginning of the end for the elitist rule in Tennessee. We will fight to ensure that the voices of everyday Tennesseans are heard. Roving Patriots will be watching our elected officials, we will be in their districts informing their constituents and we will be holding them accountable. Roving Patriots PAC seems to have struck a quick chord with Middle Tennesseans. Although it was formally announced on Independence Day, already, their Facebook page has garnered over 300 likes, and the announcement video has been viewed nearly 4,000 times. Learn more about the Roving Patriots…
Read the full storyScary Fireworks Mishap Singes Titan’s Nissan Stadium, Everyone’s Okay
There were some tense moments toward the end of the Independence Day fireworks display at Nissan Stadium Tuesday, as at least one shell fell, landing in the upper decks before exploding, TitansInsider.com reports. “It took place toward the end of the show,” Lansden Hill told TitansInsider.com. “The shells are supposed to go off in the air, but this one came back down and didn’t go off until it landed in the upper deck. Hill is the owner of Pyro Shows, which has been doing the fireworks show in Nashville for thirty years. “It was just one of those things that will occasionally happen,” Hill said. “That’s why the fire code requires that we keep the crowd a certain area away from it. We know out of every 1,000 shells not all of them are going to work right.” TitansInsider.com reported: The Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp confirmed that the damage had taken place to the stadium and that the extent of that damage was still be assessed. Personnel from the NCVC was on hand at the site around 3 p.m. Wednesday to begin assessing the damage. The firework shell hit on the west side of the upper deck of…
Read the full storyHouse Democratic IT Suspects Wanted Untraceable Payments, and Sure Enough, Millions Disappeared
A Pakistani family under criminal investigation by the U.S. Capitol Police for abusing their access to the House of Representatives information technology system may have engaged in myriad other questionable schemes besides allegedly placing “ghost employees” on the congressional payroll. Imran Awan, his wife Hina, and brothers Abid and Jamal collectively netted more than $4 million…
Read the full storyDonald Trump Commits to NATO Defense, Slams Russian Aggression
President Trump voiced a clear commitment Thursday to NATO’s “Article 5” principle of common defense, reassuring nervous Europeans who had worried about his support for the alliance. Speaking to a huge crowd in Poland, Mr. Trump said Europeans should never question the U.S. commitment to NATO. “The United States has demonstrated not merely with words but…
Read the full storyCommentary: United States Department of Education and the Circular Firing Squad
The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Can you list an irrefutable positive consequence on the academic performance of school children in the United States as a direct result of the involvement of the federal government since the creation of the United States Department of Education?
Read the full storyDNC Email Server Most Wanted Evidence for Russia Investigations
It is perhaps the key piece of forensic evidence in Russia’s suspected efforts to sway the November presidential election, but federal investigators have yet to get their hands on the hacked computer server that handled email from the Democratic National Committee. Indeed, the only cybersecurity specialists who have taken a look at the server are from…
Read the full storyThe Number of Young Men Not Working Has Doubled in 15 Years
Young men are working less and playing video games more, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research study published Monday. Men ages 21 to 30 years old worked 12 percent fewer hours in 2015 than they did in 2000, the economists found. Around 15 percent of young men worked zero weeks in 2015, a rate…
Read the full story‘White Middle Class Studies’ Urgently Needed to Understand Donald Trump Voters, GWU Law Professor Says
Professor John Banzhaf of George Washington University Law School says there is an “urgent” need to launch “White Middle Class Studies” to understand President Donald Trump’s supporters. Thursday’s International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities in London will feature Mr. Banzhaf’s plan for figuring out why many reporters and academics failed to understand Mr. Trump’s…
Read the full storyMetro Nashville Public Schools Promotes ‘Faux Psychology’ Of Social-Emotional Learning
Metro Nashville Public Schools recently held its annual Social Emotional Learning Conference to promote practices that well-known education scholar Chester Finn has called “faux psychology.” The seventh annual conference, co-sponsored by the behavioral health team at Alignment Nashville, was held June 29 and 30 at Cane Ridge High School. More than 800 educators, experts and community members were expected to attend. According to the Alignment Nashville website, social-emotional learning (or SEL) has “core competencies” which “include self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, responsible decision-making and relationship skills.” In a May press release, the school district said it is gaining a national reputation for its commitment to social-emotional learning. The district has a partnership with CASEL, a Chicago-based nonprofit devoted to helping schools implement social-emotional learning. Writing in Education Week on June 19, Finn equated social-emotional learning with the self-esteem fad that originated in California in the 1980s. Finn is president emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and a former assistant U.S. secretary of education. In his piece, he wrote: Today, few people talk explicitly about self-esteem or other kooky curricular enthusiasms of the past, but the worldview and faux psychology that impelled them have never gone away. Of late, they’ve reappeared—and gained remarkable traction—under the banner of…
Read the full storyFaith: Verse of the Day for Friday, July 7
VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing July 7, Friday Acts 18:9-10 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
Read the full story