Carter Page, the man at the center of the FISA warrant controversy, appeared on ABC News Tuesday morning. In his interview with former Clinton White House official George Stephanopoulos, Page made a startling claim: STEPHANOPOULOS: But you’ve been under surveillance from the court since 2016. Since that time have you ever spoken to Donald Trump?
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A California judge refused this week to order a baker to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, ruling that to do otherwise would be to trample on the baker’s free speech rights. Superior Court Judge David R. Lampe said in his Monday ruling that wedding cakes run to the core of the First Amendment.
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Lucasfilm announced plans Tuesday for a new series of “Star Wars” films made by the team behind “Game of Thrones,” as it seeks to build on the lucrative sci-fi franchise. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators of the smash-hit, Emmy Award-winning television series, will write and produce new films that are separate from the main Skywalker saga and the trilogy being developed by Rian Johnson, writer-director of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”
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The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence voted unanimously Monday evening to release the Democratic Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act memo to the public, sending the document to the president to decide whether he wants to approve its release. Republicans voted to declassify the Democratic memo, which reportedly weakens allegations made in the memo crafted by the intelligence committee’s chairman, Devin Nunes. The committee’s unanimous vote sends the Democratic memo to the White House, giving President Donald Trump five days to decide if he wants to declassify and release it to the American public, Politico reported.
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NASHVILLE – In a press conference held the same day he filed a bill to put an end to Tennessee taxpayer dollars funding abortion clinics, State Rep. Jimmy Matlock (R-Lenoir City) appeared with Senate sponsor Mike Bell (R-Riceville), and debunked the narrative that Tennessee abortion providers are fully defunded. “The fact is,” Matlock said, accompanied by 20 legislators explained to members of the news media, “through the form of TennCare reimbursements, abortion providers still receive some state taxpayer money.” Through the required 90-10 federal-state match, over $1 million has been paid to these facilities over the past six years, according to Matlock. It’s “our money, [so] we should have a say where it goes,” he said. House Bill 2251 instructs the Commissioner of Finance & Administration “to seek a Medicaid waiver under the current TennCare II waiver to be able to exclude providers who perform elective abortions from receiving taxpayer dollars.” “We argue that these dollars do, in fact, support abortion clinics and, therefore, abortion.” As such, Matlock vowed, “We will see this bill through, and end taxpayer support of abortion facilities.” The House bill has 22 co-sponsors, including Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) who spoke of her long-standing pro-life position and support…
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Amidst the daily revelations surrounding the scandalous behavior of Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, Off the Record thought it might be interesting to explore the teachings of Barry’s extremely liberal husband Bruce, who teaches at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Bruce is a member of the national board of directors of the ACLU and is past President of the Tennessee ACLU chapter. According to his Vanderbilt bio: “Professor Barry’s current and recent research explores the social context of ethical decision making, the intersection of ethics and emotion, and deception and entitlement in negotiation.” (Emphasis added.) Vanderbilt also notes that Professor’s Barry’s expertise is in two particular areas: “(1) social issues in management, including ethics, public policy, and workplace rights; and (2) the psychology of interpersonal and group behavior in organizations, including power, influence, negotiation, conflict and justice.” So, exactly how does Professor Barry impart his expertise and research on these issues into the minds of his students? A review of the course syllabus from one of his classes at Vanderbilt’s Owen School a few years back is instructive. The syllabus details the various class assignments and expectations, grading, etc. for Management 443, Power and Influence in Organizations. One particular assignment of interest, representing…
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New questions surrounding the need for Mayor Megan Barry to have such extensive, around-the-clock security led by her lover, Sgt. Rob Forrest, were asked by NewsChannel 5 in a segment that aired Monday evening. Phil Williams, the investigative reporter the embattled Barry sat down with to initially admit her affair with Forrest, reported the Mayor’s office released “new details about the Mayor’s travel and the use of security, in hopes of convincing the public that she did not abuse taxpayer money.” Mayor Barry spent Sunday morning at two African-American churches praying on stage for the communities’ forgiveness. Meanwhile, Barry’s staff gathered evidence to document her travel, and her time spent with her Security Chief and paramour, Rob Forrest in the course of their two year affair. The documents released by the Mayor’s Office say that Barry traveled out-of-state alone in 2015-2016 to Boston, New York City, Washington, DC, Oklahoma City and Phoenix. Other trips to Los Angeles, Williams reported, were with staff members and no security. Her first trip that included Forrest with additional staff was to Minneapolis in April of 2016. Starting in 2017, Barry and Forrest began traveling alone, and the couple took a total of nine trips together outside of…
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Williamson County Director of Schools Mike Looney signed a letter sent to Williamson County voters by Citizens for School Funding, a political action committee supporting the proposed sales tax increase on the ballot in the county today its supporters say is necessary to fund increased construction of Williamson County Public Schools. The proposal, widely panned by limited government conservatives, is the only issue on the ballot, and has a chance of passing primarily because its supporters have orchestrated the vote to take place in the dead of winter. In the letter, which is clearly intended to support the sales tax increase, Looney advances the fiction that he is not taking a position on today’s vote: My position does not allow me to advocate for-or-against the election, but I can confirm WCS currently lacks the funding needed to build additional classrooms needed for students. More specifically, we need to build schools and upgrade some of our older campuses. Please use your voice to help our elected officials best determine how to provide for the school district’s needs. Time is of the essence. As always, if you have questions about our schools feel free to contact me at 615-293-0997. Presumably, both Dr.…
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Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson was struck and killed Sunday morning as he was helping an Uber driver along Interstate 70, by a vehicle driven by a twice-deported illegal alien. Jackson, 26, had stopped to help Jeffrey Monroe, 54, who had pulled over because of illness. Jackson and Monroe, of Avon, Indiana, were standing near a…
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Sen. John McCain is reportedly joining with Democratic colleague Christopher Coons to introduce legislation that gives Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals’ illegals a path to citizenship, but denies President Donald Trump his funding to build a wall. McCain giving the Democrats what they want at the expense of the Republicans – now there’s something you don’t see every day… NOT!
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Gubernatorial hopeful Diane Black picked up her petition to run for Governor in her hometown of Gallatin Monday as friends and family looked on. “I was honored to join my family and supporters from middle Tennessee today,” Black said in a statement. “I’ve been humbled and energized by the outpouring of support I’ve received all across this state since announcing my campaign, and I’m grateful to all of those who have come out to show their dedication to having a strong conservative leader in the Governor’s office.” In the latest fundraising reporting, Diane Black outraised all other gubernatorial candidates, with a total of nearly $1.75 million dollars between August and January, representing more than 1,000 contributions from all 95 Tennessee counties. The Tennessee Star / Triton Poll released last week found that in a head-to-head contest, Black leads Democratic frontrunner Karl Dean by 11 percentage points.
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by Robert Romano “I want reciprocal. If they’re going to charge us 100 percent for a motorcycle, it should be 100 percent the other way, too.” That was President Donald Trump in an interview with CNBC’s Joe Kernen on Jan. 26 while he was on the ground in Davos, Switzerland renewing his call for “fair and reciprocal” trade. Here, the President was referring to India’s 100 percent tariff on motorcycles manufactured in the U.S., including Harley-Davidson, and telling the subcontinent that if it’s going to put that kind of tax on U.S. goods, then it should go in the other direction, too. Trump is right. Sometimes the only incentive for another country to lower their tariff wall is for them to feel tariffs, too. That is how tariffs have been lowered the past century following Smoot-Hawley — reciprocally. When each side is mutually agreeing to lower their tariffs in an enforceable, the world gets closer to free trade. In the case of India, a good place to start is the $4.7 billion of trade preferences the U.S. gives under the General System of Preferences. At $19 billion a year, the General System of Preferences, which expired Dec. 31, “provide opportunities for…
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Bloomin’ Brands Inc., the parent company of Outback Streakhouse, has apologized to a uniformed officer who was told to leave its “gun-free zone.” Andrew Ward of the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency was eating with his wife in Cleveland, Tennessee, last Friday when an Outback Steakhouse manager approached.
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