Day: January 19, 2018

MOVIE REVIEW: ’12 Strong’ Explodes with U.S.-Afghan War Effort

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“12 STRONG” – 3 stars – Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Pena, Trevante Rhodes, William Fichtner; R (war violence and language throughout); in general release Once it gets past a few early stumbles, Nicolai Fuglsig’s “12 Strong” shapes up to be a dramatic and exciting war film. Based on the book “Horse Soldiers” by Doug Stanton, “12 Strong” tells the story of the first American troops to fight in Afghanistan after 9/11.

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Banged-Up Predators Host Coyotes

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Preds NHL Hockey

Injuries are a part of any season. They have hit the Nashville Predators at the midway point of 2017-18, potentially leaving them without their entire first line for Thursday night’s visit from the Arizona Coyotes. Fortunately for Nashville (26-11-6), it got plenty of practice at dealing with key injuries during last spring’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals. So if it has to play Arizona without Filip Forsberg (upper-body), Viktor Arvidsson (lower-body) and Ryan Johansen (upper-body), it wouldn’t be ideal by any means, but so be it.

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Commentary: Did ‘Government Expertise’ Make America Fat?

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by Richard Morrison   A panel of government experts gets together and decides what is healthy to eat and what isn’t. What could possibly go wrong? Freethink Media’s new video on the history of the Food Pyramid will make for surprising viewing for anyone who assumes official health and nutrition advice should be taken at face value. Starting in the late 1980s, the office of the U.S. Surgeon General took the lead in waging the federal government’s war on dietary fat. This led to years of recommendations and public information campaigns that, among other things, demonized animal protein sources (that often come along with a significant amount of fat) and steered Americans towards consumption of lots of low-fat carbohydrates instead—the base of the pyramid. Many Americas will remember the 1990s as the golden age of carbs. Now, of course, further research suggests that going down that path has actually made diet-related chronic health issues like obesity and diabetes even worse. And the same is true for other items on the government’s food enemies list. My colleague Michelle Minton documented in her detailed 2016 study Shaking up the Conventional Wisdom on Salt the largely false narrative most Americans have come to believe about sodium consumption and high blood pressure. Not…

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Why ‘Forever My Girl’ Is Different from Its Hollywood Competition

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“I didn’t want a movie that felt like homework,” producer Mickey Liddell told LifeZette in an exclusive interview about his upcoming film “Forever My Girl,” which hits theaters on Friday. The movie is in the vein of Liddell’s earlier work, through his company LD Entertainment, in that it harkens back to old-school Hollywood work that aims to entertain and inspire. Liddell’s filmography includes everything from the biblical epic “Risen” to true-story dramas like “The Zookeeper’s Wife.”

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Fever Dreams: Harvard Prof on ‘How Hillary Clinton Could Still Become President’

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Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig says there’s still a scenario in which Hillary Clinton becomes president. A candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination himself, Mr. Lessig envisioned a scenario in which President Trump resigns or is impeached, Vice President Mike Pence resigns or is impeached, and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan – who would be next in line – nominates Mrs. Clinton to be his vice president, and then steps aside to let her have the job.

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Nashville Transit Polls? What Polls? Opposing Sides United In Not Talking

Jason M. Reynolds

Both sides in the fight over the upcoming May 1 referendum in Nashville/Davidson County on a proposed increase in sales and hotel taxes to fund Mayor Megan Barry’s $9 billion transit plan are playing their cards close to the vest in terms of releasing information. NoTax4Tracks, the PAC opposing Mayor Barry’s plan, sends out frequent email communications to the public with the headline “The Morning Line.” They don’t always acknowledge the information in those email communications when talking to the media. One case in point deals with polls that have been conducted on both sides. The Tennessean reported Oct. 12, 2017 on a Megan Barry mayoral campaign committee-financed poll. The telephone poll found that 57 percent of respondents supported a plan for mass transit projects, including light rail, that would be funded by higher sales taxes, hotel taxes, car registration fees and business taxes. Thirty-seven percent were opposed. One NoTax4Tracks email communication reads, “You may remember in October of last year, The Tennessean touted getting their hands on an ‘internal’ poll that showed the transit plan had 57% support. Their pollster, John Anazalone, is very good at what he does and we don’t doubt that number. But they apparently did only registered voters,…

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Celebration Turns to Fury When State Rep. McCormick Drops, Then Announces a Replacement, to His School ‘Bathroom Bill’

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LGBT activists were ecstatic Wednesday when word spread that State Representative Gerald McCormick (R-Chattanooga) announced he was dropping his “controversial bathroom bill” following, as the Times Free Press reported, “assurances from Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery that he already can and will step in with legal aid to smaller systems facing lawsuits over LGBT access policies.” But alas, it was short lived – “Fake News,” if you will. A follow-up report by the news outlet clarified that while the McCormick did withdraw the measure, afterward, in an interview, the Chattanooga-area Republican said that he had a new bill in the works he planned on introducing soon that he told the Times, “should be a little clearer,” adding (sarcastically): “…plus, I wanted to give the Democrats time to introduce their own legislation since they’re so opposed to this and in favor of men being in little girls’ bathrooms.” The Times continues: McCormick said he believes the new wording “is a little bit better in terms of just giving the locals common-sense discretion to take care of this problem on their own without lawyers from New York or California coming in and telling some little rural county what to do in their bathrooms.” The…

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Victor Ashe Commentary: Butch Jones, John Currie, and The University of Tennessee-Knoxville’s $18 Million Dollar Misadventure

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by Victor Ashe   It is never fun to voice concern about the University of Tennessee and its spending practices. As a graduate of the UT College of Law, I am proud of my Tennessee law degree. Having attended graduate school there, I wish the following was fiction instead of fact. However, when we learned over the past few weeks that donors to the UT athletic program are having over $18 million diverted from other purposes to fund payouts for three persons who were terminated, one has to wonder: Who is minding the store from a financial standpoint? With the forced departure of Butch Jones as football coach by AD John Currie and now Currie’s departure, preceded by payouts for former AD Dave Hart and Mike Hamilton the total cost potentially exceeds $18 million. That is not pocket change. When UT Chancellor Beverly Davenport fired (suspended) Currie, did she consider the cost involved to the Athletic Department as only 8 months earlier she had signed a contract with Currie on top of his actual salary which would guarantee him $100,000 a month until June, 2022 if fired without cause. Davenport and Currie worked well together until she suddenly removed him…

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Franklin Mayor Ken Moore and Savannah Mayor Bob Shutt Endorse Dr. Mark Green for Congress

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State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville) picked up two more endorsements Thursday as Franklin Mayor Ken Moore and Savannah Mayor Bob Shutt both added their full-throated support to Green’s bid to replace Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) in this Fall’s elections. “Mark Green served our country with honor in the United States Army and has served Tennessee with honor as a State Senator,” Franklin’s Mayor Moore said in a statement. I am confident he will continue his record of distinction as the next Congressman from the Seventh Congressional District.” Savannah’s Mayor Shutt added, “Like many Tennesseans in the 7th district, Mark grew up on a dirt road in a small town and understands firsthand the challenges facing our communities. He has dedicated his life to service, and I am confident he will represent us well in Congress.” The duo brings Dr. Green’s distinguished list of Mayoral endorsements to an impressive dozen. This is in addition to a myriad of statements of support and approval from individuals and groups from all 19 counties across the district, including the endorsements from 100 conservative leaders across Tennessee and a 147-member finance committee including 14 legislators. “I’m honored to have Mayor Moore and Mayor Shutt’s endorsements” Green…

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Commentary: Jeff Flake, Not Donald Trump, Is The Real Threat To Constitutional Liberty

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by George Rasley, CHQ Editor   Yesterday, Senator Jeff Flake excoriated President Trump for launching a “war” on the media. In his remarks, Flake compared the president to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and warned the country that nothing less than American democracy is at stake. Anyone who has studied the history of the 20th century will likely agree that if Trump was like Stalin, then Flake would be dead or in the Gulag, and the wall on our southern border would already be finished. Flake’s over the top characterization of President Trump as a dictator is intended to obscure the fact that the real threat to constitutional liberty is not President Trump and his conservative – populist agenda, but the elitist oligarchy that controls the establishment political parties and the establishment media. It’s a cinch that you are going to lose a fight—let alone a war—that you don’t even know you are in, but for the past one hundred odd years, the grassroots conservative voters of the Republican party have been under regular attack by the very people they elected to run their Party—the establishment leadership of the GOP. As CHQ Chairman Richard Viguerie documented in his book TAKEOVER, this…

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Gingrich Mocks Flake, Says He ‘Probably Could Get a Job at CNN’

Tennessee Star Staff

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) ridiculed Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) for comparing President Donald Trump to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Gingrich said Thursday on “Fox & Friends” that the retiring Arizona senator “probably could get a job at CNN.” Flake earned praise and intense coverage from mainstream media outlets and pundits when he…

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Bills to Watch in the 2018 Session of the Tennessee General Assembly

Laura Baigert

As the second half of the 110th Tennessee General Assembly gets underway, many committees are in the hearing and organization meeting mode awaiting bills to review. There were several interesting bills scheduled for the House Civil Justice Subcommittee Wednesday, but most were “taken off notice” by the respective bill sponsor, which means they will only come back for review by the subcommittee at the sponsors will. Bills are listed below with the respective House and Senate sponsors as well as the bill abstract as published on the Tennessee General Assembly website. HB0676 by Lynn. (SB1183 by Niceley.) Statutes and Codification – As introduced, enacts the “Original Intent Act of 2017,” which requires the constitutions and laws of the United States and Tennessee to be interpreted in a manner to preserve their meaning at the time written. – Amends TCA Title 1. HB0884 by Matheny. (SB1341 by Bailey.) Handgun Permits – As introduced, permits a valid handgun carry permit holder to carry a firearm at any time and in all places in Tennessee unless the permit holder has been drinking alcohol, is in a judicial proceeding, or is on school grounds and does not tell the principal. – Amends TCA Section…

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