Many people on Twitter claimed that data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica hacked Facebook to access the personal information of 50 million users. “Hey so the Facebook hack is a HUGE deal. Cambridge Analytica had info on 50 million people and gave that data to the Trump US election campaign,” said one tweet.
Read the full storyDay: March 26, 2018
Pill Shows Promise in Treating Peanut Allergies
Researchers have developed a pill that can act as a sort of vaccine for peanut allergies. The pill contains peanut proteins that harden the immune system, reducing the risk and severity of an allergic reaction to peanuts, one of the most common allergies around the world.
Read the full storyNovel Graphite Filter Removes 99% of Organic Waste in Water
Graphene has been making many appearances in science lately, owing to its unique physical properties. Today, it’s making headlines in a rather unexpected field of research: water treatment. Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney, working together with Sydney Water, have created a world-first graphene filter that can remove 99% of the natural, organic matter left behind by conventional treatment of drinking water. The team is now working on scaling up their technology.
Read the full storyOff the Record: Busted! ‘Fast Eddie’ Smith Files an Amendment That Could Make Boyd’s Property Redevelopment Very Profitable
State Rep. “Fast Eddie” Smith (R-Knoxville) just “filled in” his caption bill, HB2361 last week in the House Transportation Subcommittee and the “amendment that makes the bill” as they say in the legislature, looks like it’s gonna help La Raza Randy make more millions. Think of the caption bill like a shell game. It identifies the shells, but doesn’t necessarily tell you what’s really going to be underneath them. And somehow, the intended filling isn’t disclosed until very late in the legislative session, hidden from controversy until it’s simply rushed through the system. So the bill that Smith filed at the start of the legislative session was supposed to be about reporting the number of automobiles owned or leased by the state government that could use alternative fuel. By the end of the Subcommittee hearing last week, the bill was about a public-private partnership to bring light rail to the greater Knoxville area and voting power to create a Central Business Improvement District that could be based on high land value ownership. Coincidentally (or not), two years ago, while serving as Commissioner of Economic & Community Development, multimillionaire Randy Boyd bought about 7 acres of property in what Knoxvillians call the “Old…
Read the full storyTim Kaine Says Donald Trump ‘Lying’ or ‘Delusional’ in Claiming Democrats Blocked DACA Fix
Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine said Sunday President Trump was untruthful when he said Democrats blocked a DACA fix when he signed the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending package. The president signed the bill on Friday, telling DACA recipients it’s Republicans who are on their side, not Democrats.
Read the full storyCongress Slips CLOUD Act Into Lengthy Omnibus Spending Bill, Granting Authorities Even More Surveillance Power
House Republicans voted 256 to 167 to pass a $1.3 trillion, 2,232-page spending bill Thursday, which includes deep within the abyss of the bureaucratic legalese, a law that eases law enforcement’s ability to collect people’s information that is stored abroad.
Read the full storyState Rep. Mike Sparks Commentary: Dr. George Smith Led by Example
by State Rep. Mike Sparks (R-Smyrna) Edmund Burke once stated, “Those that do not know their History are Doomed to Repeat it.” Dr. George Smith knew his history and he certainly didn’t want others to repeat it. Dr. Smith had a love for Tennessee history and telling those old stories, but most importantly he had a love for his fellow man. He was one of the kindest gentlemen I have ever met with a ‘Christlike Coolness’ about him. Ironically, right after my efforts last year in the Tennessee General Assembly to recognize our ‘Tennessee’s Rich History’ I was invited by Frank Caperton, President of the Historical Society to attend the African-American Heritage Society of Rutherford County event. The resolution created a stir of controversy, the media tried to paint me as a prejudiced Republican lawmaker (The media never mentioned the fact that I was the only Republican in our state’s history to stand alongside the black caucus due to the young 6-11-year old Hobgood school children who were handcuffed and arrested). The resolution mentioned the life of Sampson Keeble, our state’s first black state lawmaker who was from the Old Jefferson community, which once was a small town just…
Read the full storyBorder Patrol Agents Refuse To Turn Over Wanted Felons Because Of California’s Sanctuary Laws
Border patrol agents are refusing to hand over illegal immigrants with felony warrants to police in California because they can’t be sure local authorities will return the criminal aliens to federal custody, according to a top border security official in San Diego.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Deadly Incompetence of the FDA
by Dan Mitchell I routinely grouse about the heavy economic cost of red tape. I’ve also highlighted agencies (such as the EEOC) that seem especially prone to senseless regulations. And I’ve explained why private regulation actually is a very effective way of promoting health and safety. Today, let’s get specific and look at the Food and Drug Administration. This bureaucracy ostensibly is supposed to protect us by making sure drugs and medical devices are safe and effective before getting approval, which seems like it might be a reasonable role for government. But the FDA routinely does really foolish things that undermine public health. The likely reason is that the bureaucracy has a bad incentive structure. As Professor Alex Tabarrok has explained. …the FDA has an incentive to delay the introduction of new drugs because approving a bad drug (Type I error) has more severe consequences for the FDA than does failing to approve a good drug (Type II error). In the former case at least some victims are identifiable and the New York Times writes stories about them and how they died because the FDA failed. In the latter case, when the FDA fails to approve a good drug, people die but the bodies are buried in an invisible…
Read the full storyReport: Obamacare Made Insurance Companies Stock Prices Soar ‘272 Percent’
Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion program and subsidies have made major health insurance companies extremely profitable, according to a White House economic report released Wednesday morning. The White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) report that insurers’ financial health, a measure the group says is reflected in their stock prices, improved markedly after Obamacare took full effect Jan.…
Read the full storyA Modest Proposal to Help Protect America’s Energy Grid Reliability
When it comes to energy policy, the hot topic in Washington these days is “grid resilience.” In essence, this means how do we keep the lights on, even during extreme weather events like the recent extended cold snap and “bomb cyclone” in the northeast?
Read the full storyNot Every Celebrity Supports These ‘March for Our Lives’ Protests
As predictably as ever, many elite celebrities threw their support behind Saturday’s March for Our Lives protests across the country. Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Cher, and plenty of others flew into D.C., raring to join in on the rallies for gun control. “So ready to March today! Landed in DC w North & Kanye. We stand in solidarity with the survivors of gun violence & students who are calling for action on common sense gun safety laws at #MarchForOurLives around the country,” tweeted reality star Kardashian after arriving in D.C.
Read the full storyHere Are The Nearly 100 Republicans Who Voted Against The Spending Bill
Almost 100 Republican representatives voted against the 2,000 page omnibus spending bill Wednesday night. The House of Representatives voted to pass a $1.3 trillion spending bill in a 256 to 167 vote with seven people abstaining from voting. The spending bill offers funding to defense matter, the opioid crisis and more school safety measures.
Read the full storyKansas Wants The Supreme Court To Kick Planned Parenthood Out Of Medicaid
Kansas wants the Supreme Court to take Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid coverage. The state filed a Thursday petition asking the court to do so. Kansas issued a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse an earlier decision positing Medicaid patients have the right to decide who their Medicaid provider will be, despite any state attempt to determine a certain provider.
Read the full storyHannity Digs Up Dirt On Mueller’s Past And Finds He’s Not So Clean After All
Fox News host Sean Hannity devoted time on his Tuesday show to examining the past of special counsel Robert Mueller and his findings were intriguing. Hannity referred to a report from Fox News’ Sarah Carter, citing Mueller’s career as a prosecutor in the 1980’s. When Mueller was serving as assistant U.S. Attorney, four men were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for a crime they did not commit and the special counsel was in charge of the case when it happened.
Read the full storyTransit Improvement District Bill Could Impact Major Knoxville Property Owners Like Randy Boyd
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – State Rep. Eddie Smith (R-Knoxville) and State Sen. Becky Duncan Massey (R-Knoxville) are the sponsors of a bill that would permit the creation of Transit Improvement Districts and is currently targeted to the Knoxville area. HB2361/SB2354, filed as a caption bill on February 1, by March 14 had a 14-page amendment that “makes the bill” and will add a new part to the Central Business Improvement District Act of 1971, the new part to be known and called as the “Transit Improvement District Act.” During the presentation of the Act as an amendment to SB2354 to the Senate Transportation and Safety Committee on March 14, Sen. Massey stated that the Transit Improvement District Act mirrors the Central Business Improvement District Act of 1990 before deferring to a witness. Massey’s witness, former Democrat Knoxville council member and failed Knoxville mayoral candidate, Joe Hultquist, began testifying without any introduction as to his credentials, qualifications or interest in the bill, other than stating his name. The presentation of the HB2361 amendment to the House Transportation Subcommittee a week later was handled by the House sponsor himself, State Rep. Smith. The amendment is still not available on the Tennessee General Assembly…
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