Day: April 20, 2018

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Says He’ll Stop Testing Nukes and Missiles

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North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un announced Friday that he no longer wants to test nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, reported South Korea’s official Yonhap News Agency. The statement would mark a major concession as the young leader prepares for his country’s first direct meeting with a sitting U.S. president, reportedly set to take place late next month or in early June. The announcement came via state media, which said a total freeze for nuclear tests would come into effect immediately local time.

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Tennessee’s Radio and Radiology Mogul Dr. George Flinn Lends His Campaign to Unseat Rep. David Kustoff $1.4 Million

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Flinn and Kustoff

Dr. George Flinn –  after falling short in his bid to replace Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-08) by only 3,000 in the historic 2016 election cycle – has personally lent his 2018 campaign “rematch” with Kustoff $1.4 million, Federal Election Commission filings show. For the first quarter’s reporting period, Flinn reports $863,350 was paid to Caissa Public Strategies of Memphis for “campaign management expenses, leaving a cash-on-hand balance of roughly $530,000. A separate area of the report shows the campaign made a loan payment to Flinn in the amount of $11,000. Apart from the $1,400,000, records show a total of $500 in donations were reported. Meanwhile, incumbent Representative David Kustoff reported receipts of $236,800 across 450 contributions, which range from $500 to $2700 each. A total of $100,000 were from PACs. The sum total of all contributions through the first quarter total $1.12 million – slightly less than Flinn’s loan to his own campaign. Kustoff’s his cash-on-hand shows $955,116 after $21,138 in spending for the quarter. To date, the campaign has reportedly spent $262,866 in this election cycle. Before politics, Dr. George Flinn had a successful career in medicine, where he eventually built a chain of radiology clinics in Tennessee. He took some of that fortune and used it to start Flinn Broadcasting, which acquired a…

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President Trump Stands by His Base, Rejects Trans-Pacific Partnership for Good

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By Robert Romano   President Donald Trump is back to the issue that got him elected more than any other and transformed the U.S. electoral map in 2016, and that is rejecting the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that had been proposed by former President Barack Obama. On Twitter on April 17, Trump appeared to rule out the TPP once and for all: “While Japan and South Korea would like us to go back into TPP, I don’t like the deal for the United States. Too many contingencies and no way to get out if it doesn’t work. Bilateral deals are far more efficient, profitable and better for OUR workers. Look how bad WTO is to U.S.” That had followed a turbulent week for the President as he toyed with the idea of getting back into the TPP.  Bloomberg had reported on April 12 that “Two White House officials who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that the president directed economic adviser Larry Kudlow and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to explore the feasibility of re-entering the TPP.” The President then confirmed his thinking on Twitter on April 12 that he was open to a new deal, but offered certain provisos: “Would only join TPP if the…

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DHS: Dozens Of MS-13, Other Gang Members Released By Sanctuary Cities

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Hooman

by Will Racke   More than 100 suspected members of MS-13 and other gangs were released last year by sanctuary jurisdictions even though federal authorities had formally requested that they be held, according to newly released data from the Department of Homeland Security. Between October 2016 and June 2017, local law enforcement agencies released 142 gang members that immigration authorities were seeking to deport instead of transferring them to federal custody. The prisoners were subjects of active immigration detainers, which are formal requests made by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to local authorities to hold criminal aliens until federal agents can pick them up. The releases occurred in 37 separate jurisdictions, according to a Center for Immigration Studies report on the data, which was compiled in response to a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the rise of MS-13. With the exception of Maricopa County, Arizona, all are considered sanctuary jurisdictions because they refuse to honor ICE detainers that aren’t backed by a criminal warrant or, in some cases, notify immigration authorities of a criminal alien’s release date. About two-thirds of the releases occurred in California, which has a statewide sanctuary law that limits cooperation between local officials and immigration authorities. Santa Clara County led the…

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Parkland Student Plans Conservative Livestream on Columbine Anniversary

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by Ginny Montalbano   Conservative Parkland student Kyle Kashuv is organizing a pro-Second Amendment Facebook Live show on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting. I am working on having 4 prominent speakers, one every 15 minutes, go live on Facebook at 10:00 AM-11:00 AM on Friday, to discuss ways to save lives without infringing on 2A and the importance of mental health and not bullying. Stay tuned! #WalkUpNotOut #WalkUp https://t.co/gVuBikLgrU — Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) April 15, 2018 Kashuv, 16, tweeted that the goal is to “discuss ways to save lives without infringing on [the Second Amendment] and the importance of mental health and not bullying.” Confirmed speakers for the livestream so far include Sebastian Gorka, former deputy assistant to President Donald Trump; Charlie Kirk, founder and executive director of Turning Point USA; Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director; and Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union. Apparently, according to people at my school, Fridays school walkouts were approved by the school board – the same school board that blocked @charliekirk11 from coming and said they're not letting MSD get political on campus. 🤔 — Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) April 16, 2018 Originally, Kashuv planned to bring Kirk…

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Facebook Wants To Exclude 1.5 Billion Users From Privacy Rules It Seems To Consider Overbearing

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by Eric Lieberman   Facebook is planning on adapting to imminently enforced rules from the European Union by trying to exclude around 1.5 billion users from other places around the world. All users of the social media platform outside of the U.S. and Canada are subjected to the same rules, specifically those enacted and enforced by the company’s headquarters in Ireland, according to Reuters, which was the first to report on Facebook’s apparent intentions. Facebook wants to carve out the implementation of the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — a relatively stringent privacy law set to take effect May 25, 2018 that will govern internet and technology — to those in Europe. In other words, it wants to exempt itself from imposing the GDPR on the roughly 1.5 billion Facebook members in Australia, Asia, Africa and Latina America, since they are not confined by the same rules as the involved European countries. Some, of course, will view such a move as a way to elude liability for the way it handles user data, a huge point of contention that arose after a series of recent events and revelations. It could also be perceived as a way to ensure people outside the jurisdiction of the European…

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The Changes That Made California Become a Liberal Fiasco

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by Jarrett Stepman   Is America destined to become like California? Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey created a stir recently when he tweeted out an article calling for an end to bipartisanship and the beginning of nationwide, one-party rule—similar to the Golden State. He called it a “great read.” Great read https://t.co/O2djSQf8Qv — jack (@jack) April 6, 2018 A Twitter spokesperson told The Daily Signal in an email, “Twitter’s tools are apolitical, and we enforce our rules without political bias.” Nevertheless, the tweet certainly brings up concern over Twitter’s political bias. The article, titled “The Great Lesson of California in America’s New Civil War,” argued that due to the intractable division of worldviews in America, bipartisanship is unworkable. It’s time to simply obliterate the other side. The article was authored by Peter Leyden, the CEO of a media company called Reinvent, and Ruy Teixeira, a progressive political scientist. Teixeira arguedafter Barack Obama’s 2008 election victory that the GOP would go extinct for a generation because demographic trends would make Democrats unbeatable. Needless to say, that didn’t come true. But in a larger sense, it’s worth dissecting what a disaster the Californization of the whole country would be. The authors point to California as a model for America’s…

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Joe Carter Commentary: How to Be An Unapologetic Patriot

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American Spirit

by Joe Carter   Patriots’ Day is an annual observance of the anniversary of when the American colonies first took up arms against the British Crown on April 19, 1775. Patriots’ Day has become a forgotten holiday, due in part to the fact we Americans have a peculiar relationship to the term “patriot.” To question someone’s patriotism is considered an insult, while to praise their patriotism is (usually) a compliment. Yet strangely, the only people who refer to themselves, completely without irony or qualification, as patriots are old veterans, old conservatives, and certain pro athletes in New England. Of course, people who do not fit into those three categories sometimes self-identify with that label. But when they do it’s almost always accompanied by an asterisk, denoting—whether expressed or implied—that the use of the word comes with a qualifier: * Sure, I love my country but I that doesn’t mean I support ________. (the President, Congress, the government, the latest military action, etc.) * I am a patriotic, but that doesn’t mean I think America is better than other countries. * Of course I’m a patriotic as they come—though I would never, ever serve in—nor let my child enlist in—the U.S. military. * I’m a patriot…

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Tennessee General Assembly Passes Bill to ‘Hold Harmless’ Students and Teachers Over This Year’s TNReady Tests

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TNReady - Gov Haslam

In the immediate aftermath of several days of TNReady online testing failures, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill on Thursday that will “hold harmless” all students, teachers, and districts from the results of those tests. The bill will “ensure that results from this year’s TNReady tests will not count,” Fox17 reported: The bill would make it so students’ grades, teachers’ evaluations and pay, and schools will not be impacted by this year’s TNReady test scores. However, teachers can still choose to be evaluated based on this year’s scores if their students do well. The state of Tennessee is in its second year of a $60 million contract with Questar for the TNReady tests. So far, Tennessee has paid $12 million of this year’s contact. The state is in the process of reviewing that contract with Questar. The bill is expected to go to Governor Bill Haslam’s desk early next week. “It was clear many members of the General Assembly wanted to address concerns related to the recent administration of state assessments. The governor understands these concerns and did not oppose the legislation,” a spokesperson for Gov. Haslam said. The governor is expected to sign the bill into law next…

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