Day: April 29, 2018

Mount Juliet and Lincoln County Win High School State Co-Championship in Tennessee Star Constitution Bee

Tennessee Star Staff

FRANKLIN, Tennessee–Mount Juliet High School and Lincoln County High School were declared co-champions in the State High School Team Competition of the Spring 2018 Tennessee Star Constitution Bee held at the Williamson County Administrative Complex on Saturday. Mount Juliet jumped to an early lead, with 9 points, one for each contestant, followed by Lincoln County with 2 points. One point each was awarded to Central Magnet School of Murfreesboro, Columbia Central High School, Stewart Creek High School, Ravenwood High School, John Overton High School, and the home school team. All told, 17 points were distributed as the competition began, one to the high school of each competitor. Mount Juliet added to its lead with a strong performance by students who provided correct answers when the remaining contestants “Asked a Friend” for help from their positions in the “Friends of the Court Bench,” where students who had been eliminated from the individual competition went to be able to add points for their high school after Rounds 1 and 2. Contestants in Rounds 3 through 7 “asked a friend” for help on four occasions. On three of those occasions, students from Mount Juliet High School–Sophia Maas and Oren Kagan–provided the contestant with…

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Cooper Moran of Lincoln County High School Wins Individual Championship at 2018 Tennessee Star Constitution Bee

Tennessee Star Staff
Cooper Moran Wins Constitution Bee

FRANKLIN, Tennessee–Cooper Moran, a junior at Lincoln County High School, won the individual championship at the Spring 2018 Tennessee Star Constitution Bee, sponsored by the Polk Foundation, held at the Williamson County Administrative Complex on Saturday. Moran was presented a check for $3,000 as the first winner of the Andrew Woodfin Miller Foundation Scholarship, which was provided through a donation to the Polk Foundation, and presented by Constitution Bee master of ceremonies Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star. In addition to the scholarship, Moran will receive a free trip for two to Washington, D.C. to attend a series of events of his choosing. Moran told The Star that his mother, who was among those in the audience on Saturday, will be accompanying him to the nation’s capitol for that trip. Moran hopes to attend Vanderbilt University and plans on majoring in political science. He intends to become a lawyer. Three students, including Moran, survived seven rounds of competition involving increasingly difficult questions and an Essay round to compete in the dramatic championship round. The other two students in the championship round were Amanda Nolan of Mt. Juliet High School and Aryan Burns, also of Lincoln County…

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Mt. Juliet’s Jimmy Hayes Steals the Show With ‘Soul Man’ Version of Preamble

Tennessee Star Staff

FRANKLIN, Tennessee–Mount Juliet High School senior Jimmy Hayes stole the show in the Preamble Challenge warmup round for The Tennessee Star Constitution Bee Saturday with his “Soul Man” version of the Preamble, earning him “The Most Creative Preamble Award” and an extra point for his Mt. Juliet High in the team competition. Amanda Nolan, Jimmy’s Mount Juliet High classmate, wowed the judges and the audience with her pitch-perfect a capella rendition of the “School House Rock” song version of the Preamble, earning her “The Most Entertaining Preamble Award, and an extra point for Mt. Juliet High in the team competition. Alexis Henderson, a senior at Stewarts Creek High School from Smyrna, delivered the most compelling oration, earning her “The Most Persuasive Preamble” and a point for her high school. The idea behind the Preamble Challenge is to give the competing students an opportunity to begin the competition by having some fun, win points for their high school in the team competition, and get “on-stage” one time before facing a potential elimination question. Most of the competing students chose to deliver the 52 words of the Preamble in classic oratorical style, but, as in the Spring 2017 Tennessee Star Constitution Bee,…

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Commentary: Civil Asset Forfeiture Isn’t About Crime – It’s About the Money

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by Michael Maharrey   Last month, a Minnesota House committee passed a bill that would reform asset forfeiture laws to prohibit the state from taking property without a criminal conviction. It would also close a loophole that allows police to circumvent more strict state laws by passing cases off to the federal government. But the bill faces significant law enforcement opposition as it continues through the legislative process. A bipartisan coalition of 15 representatives introduced House Bill 3725 (HF3725) on March 14. The legislation would reform Minnesota law by requiring a criminal conviction before prosecutors could proceed with asset forfeiture and would end civil asset forfeiture in the state. Grassroots activists on the ground in Minnesota say powerful law enforcement lobbying interests could jeopardize passage of HF3725. Follow the Money Police opposition to this legislation in Minnesota is illustrative. This same kind of intense push-back happens in every state that considers asset forfeiture reform, and the arguments being used by Minnesota police lobbyists feature the same twisted logic and duplicity we see across the country. Several law enforcement officers representing various lobbying groups testified during the House committee hearing on HF3725. They swore asset forfeiture wasn’t about the money, but virtually all of their…

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Trump Takes Apart Another Favorite Tool Enviros Use To Push Climate Crusades

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by Chris White   The Trump administration released a new set of regulatory guidelines all-but destroying activists’ ability to cajole and browbeat retirement pension funds into taking up green energy investments. The Labor Department issued a warning Monday to managers of retirement funds to avoid using politically motivated investment strategies to tackle environmental issues. Several retirement funds have used exotic techniques during the past several years to submit proposals designed to push political campaigns. Using resources to promote so-called environmental, social and governance (ESG) proposals is a violation of a pension fund’s fiduciary duty unless the proposal can financially improve the company’s value. If the shareholder cannot demonstrably prove the proposal’s financial benefit, then pension recipients can sue the retirement fund for mishandling their money. “Fiduciaries (including investment managers) may not routinely incur significant plan expenses to pay for the costs of shareholder resolutions or special shareholder meetings, or to initiate or actively sponsor proxy fights on environmental or social issues,” a DOL press statement on the rule change notes. The new guidance rule comes as reports consistently warn about the real-world consequences of forcing pensions to take up green activist agendas. A report published in July 2017 suggested public pension funds…

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Pennsylvania’s Atty Gen Josh Shapiro Sues Little Sisters of the Poor to Remove the HHS Exemption from Paying for Abortion Meds

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by Joe Carter   Once again, the Little Sisters of the Poor are having to go to court to defend their religious freedoms against government intrusion. The Little Sisters is an international Roman Catholic Congregation of Religious Sisters that serves more than 13,000 elderly poor in 31 countries around the world. The first home opened in America in 1868, and now there are nearly 30 homes in the United States where the elderly and dying are cared for. A few years ago, the Obama administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) attempted to force the Little Sisters and other groups groups into providing insurance coverage for contraceptives, sterilization, and abortifacients. The Little Sisters objected on the ground that the requirement violates their religious liberty as protected by the First Amendment and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). In early October, HHS issued a new rule that protects religious non-profits like the Little Sisters, ending their four-year legal ordeal. But shortly after, according to Becket Law, the state of Pennsylvania sued to take away the Little Sisters’ religious exemption. Represented by Becket, the Little Sisters went back to court to ensure that they can continue their vital ministry of caring for the elderly poor without violating their…

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Progressives Use ‘Lawfare’ to Target Their Political Opponents

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Tennessee Star

by Printus LaBlanc   The Democrat Party has unveiled a not-so-new technique to attack their opponents. Everyone knows about the typical intimidation techniques such as boycotts, protesting, and rioting. Lawfare is an asymmetric technique using the legal system against an enemy. Keeping their enemies tied up in court and legal costs demoralize and sometimes forces the opponents to quit. Republicans need to wake up to tactics of the left and realize they are sometimes playing into their hands. This has been a successful strategy for the Democrat Party so far, as we have seen with former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. After the fraudulent Mueller investigation was started, it quickly became apparent Flynn was one of the primary targets. After months of interviews and interrogations, Flynn finally gave in and pled guilty to lying to the FBI. The charge had nothing to do with what Mueller was supposedly investigating, it was just another scalp. Shortly after the guilty plea, the mainstream media concluded Flynn must have lied to the FBI if he pled guilty. It quickly became apparent the plea had nothing to do with guilt or innocence, it had more to do with finances. Flynn was going broke defending himself…

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Commentary: ‘The Bible’ Is the All-Time Bestselling Book – But Do You Know What the Next-Best-Selling Book Is?

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Imitation of Christ

by Daniel Lattier   If someone asks you to name the all-time bestselling book, you’d most likely answer “The Bible.” And you’d be right. According to Guinness World Records: “Although it is impossible to obtain exact figures, there is little doubt that the Bible is the world’s best-selling and most widely distributed book. A survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the number at more than 5 billion.” But you might not have heard of the second-most sold and translated work of Christianity after the Bible… It’s The Imitation of Christ, written by the medieval monk Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471). The Imitation of Christ is a 15th-century devotional work that calls its readers to a radical living of the Christian faith. In the four books that comprise it, it counsels readers to reject the “vanities of the world”, to cultivate silence and turn inward, and to “take up the cross” by embracing suffering and humility in their lives. The fact that between 1500 and 1650 over 650 editions of it were produced, in a wide variety of languages, is a testimony to a less-secularized time in the history of…

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