Day: May 26, 2018

Beth Harwell Locks Down Teachers’ Union Endorsement for Governor

Admin
Beth Harwell

The Tennessee Education Association Fund for Children and Public Education (TEA-FCPE), which is the PAC and political arm for the teachers’ union in Tennessee, has endorsed House Speaker Beth Harwell for the Republican nomination for Governor.  The TEA’s PAC also endorsed House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh in the Democratic Party primary. Harwell welcomed the endorsement: “I am honored to receive the endorsement of the Tennessee Education Association,” Harwell said. “Education is my top priority, and as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, I have led some of our boldest reforms that resulted in Tennessee being one of the fastest improving states in education.” “As a former teacher, I understand and value the work our educators do day-in and day-out, and I am grateful for TEA’s support,” Harwell went on to say. “As governor, I will continue to have an open door and listening ear for teachers and parents, always keeping in mind the best interests of students who represent the future of Tennessee.” The endorsement of the liberal TEA will not play well for Harwell in a contested Republican Primary for Governor. A Tennessee Star Poll conducted a few months ago reveals that accepting TEA money and support may…

Read the full story

Bob Corker Meets with Venezuelan Dictator on Friday, American Prisoner Released on Saturday

Tennessee Star Staff
Bob Corker Meets Venezuela Dictator

UPDATE, Saturday 10:45 a.m. President Trump tweeted early Saturday morning that American Josh Holt has been released from a Venezuelan prison: Good news about the release of the American hostage from Venezuela. Should be landing in D.C. this evening and be in the White House, with his family, at about 7:00 P.M. The great people of Utah will be very happy! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2018 Senator Marco Rubio (R-TN) tweeted about two hours ago that Sen. Orin Hatch (R-UT) has secured the release of Utah resident Josh Holt from a Venezuelan prison. Notably, Rubio made no mention of Sen. Bob Corker’s (R-TN) meeting with Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Friday.   .@senorrinhatch has worked tirelessly to bring this innocent young man & his bride home. It is unfortunate he had to go through this. Josh & Thamy Holt had nothing to do with internal politics in #Venezuela #GodisGood https://t.co/FgMUNOPcit — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 26, 2018 In his statement announcing the release, however, Hatch thanked Corker for his “pivotal” efforts: BREAKING: Senator Hatch has secured the release of Utahn Josh Holt from Venezuela. #utpol pic.twitter.com/q9bPIVHgmk — Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) May 26, 2018 Saturday,…

Read the full story

Shelby County Commission Chairman Heidi Shafer Helps Lead Memphis Anti-Addiction Effort

John Bryant
Shelby County Commission

On May 14th, the current chairman of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, Heidi Shafer was joined by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, her fellow Commissioners, Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter, U.S. Attorney Mike Dunavant, UTHSC Dr. David Stern, District Attorney Amy Weirich, and a myriad of law enforcement, fire, and government leaders from Shelby County, to unveil the “Multifaceted Plan to Eliminate the Addiction Epidemic in the Greater Memphis Area.” An opioid task force unveiled a plan Monday to fight the opioid epidemic in Shelby County. The task force formed last year and quickly got to work on a problem they said cannot wait any longer for a solution. From 2013 to 2016, 474 people died from opioid overdoses–most of those deaths were concentrated in the heart of the county. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the opioid epidemic has not yet peaked. The Shelby County opioid task force said it plans to spend $2.4 million in the first year to combat the epidemic. The money will be spent to help the county map out opioid-related deaths, track overdoses, boost public awareness of the epidemic, and subsidize the cost of opioid-combating…

Read the full story

Why Amazon Associates Removed Legal Insurrection From Its Program

Admin
Amazon Fulfillment

by Kyle Perisic   Amazon dropped the conservative news and law publication Legal Insurrection from its profit sharing associate program, the publication announced Wednesday. The reason behind why Legal Insurrection was terminated from the associates program raises unanswered questions about Legal Insurrection’s supposed violations of an agreement with Amazon, including Amazon’s abilities to track links in emails and a dubious claim that Legal Insurrection implied Amazon endorsed the publication. Legal Insurrection came to the conclusion, citing a May 5 Daily Caller News Foundation article, that the reason Amazon terminated their contract could possibly be due to a political bias Amazon has against conservatives. “Clearly someone wanted us gone,” wrote Legal Insurrection’s William Jacobson. The Amazon Associates program is an affiliate program that Amazon has in which associates earn a portion of Amazon’s profits from sales that come from the associates’ users. Amazon knows the purchases come from specific associates’ users through the use of special links, according to Amazon’s operating agreement. The program is a common way for content creators on the internet to earn an income. “Legal Insurrection was removed from the Amazon Associates program due to a violation of the terms of the Amazon Associates Operating Agreement,” an Amazon spokesperson stated in…

Read the full story

Trump Expands Ability to Fire Federal Workers

Admin
Wasteful Bureaucrats

Reuters   President Donald Trump on Friday signed three executive orders designed to make it easier to fire federal government workers and to crack down on the unions that represent them, drawing immediate criticism from a group representing federal employees. Administration officials said the orders would give government agencies greater ability to remove employees with “poor” performance, get “better deals” in union contracts and require federal employees with union responsibilities to spend less time on union work. “Today the president is fulfilling his promise to promote more efficient government by reforming our civil service rules,” said Andrew Bremberg, director of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, in a conference call with reporters. “These executive orders will make it easier for agencies to remove poor-performing employees and ensure that taxpayer dollars are more efficiently used.” The American Federation of Government Employees said in a statement that the moves intended to “strip federal employees of their decades-old right to representation at the worksite” and would hurt veterans, law enforcement officers and others. “This administration seems hell-bent on replacing a civil service that works for all taxpayers with a political service that serves at its whim,” the group’s president, J. David Cox, said…

Read the full story

DNC Chair Tom Perez Dragged Through Mud By His Own Party After Supporting Cuomo

Admin
Tom Perez

by Henry Rogers   Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez has faced constant backlash from his own party after endorsing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the primary Thursday — breaking with his own beliefs that the DNC should not get involved in primary elections. Perez’s decision was a surprise to many Democrats, including his own deputy chairman, Keith Ellison, who disagreed with Perez’s endorsement of Cuomo in the primary election. Perez himself has continued to urge Democrats to not get involved in primaries and assumed the role of chairman after controversy surrounding the DNC’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election. But Perez went against his own messaging Thursday, and Democrats are not happy. “The Democratic Party should not intervene in the primary process,” a spokesperson for Ellison told NBC News. “It is our role to be fair to all contestants and let the voters decide.” Ellison’s statement, disagreeing with his superior, is by far the most shocking; but Democrats across the country are lashing out over the primary endorsement. “The entire reason we hold primaries is because voters should decide who’s on the ballot, and not party bosses,” Karthik Ganapathy, a spokesperson for MoveOn.org, told NBC News “It’s wrong for those in charge…

Read the full story

The Crisis of Confidence in the United States’ Intelligence Community Reaches New Heights

Admin
Kremlin Capitol

by Printus LeBlanc   The FBI is in serious trouble, not just the people in the bureau that lied to the Office of Inspector General, fixed the Clinton investigation, and spied on a political campaign. The American people are losing confidence in the bureau. FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich stated in January, “When I look through the prism of risk for our organization, I find the No. 1 risk for our organization is losing the faith and confidence of the American people.” The FBI has reason to be fearful because public trust in the institution is headed in the wrong direction. A recent poll by Axios showed that less than half of America had confidence in the FBI, with only 38 percent of Republicans having faith in the bureau. This should be extremely worrying to any prosecutor using the FBI’s evidence or agents as a witness at a trial — and a dream for any defense attorney. Half the jury pool has an unfavorable opinion of the feds, and recent revelations about the once revered law enforcement agency are sure to increase the unfavourability. The FBI’s treatment of Carter Page was reprehensible. The propaganda outlets never mention it, but Carter Page was a witness…

Read the full story

Trump Lawyers Say Environmentalists Can’t Use Children As Props In Climate Change Court Case

Admin
Little kid blowing bubbles

by Tim Pierce   The Trump administration is attempting to convince a federal district court to throw out a case blaming the federal government for climate change, arguing the plaintiffs lack standing, The Washington Examiner reported. On behalf of 21 children and young adults, the environmental group Our Children’s Trust sued the U.S. government in 2015. The suit claimed the government had failed to secure the plaintiffs’ constitutional right to a stable climate and protect the public trust. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the plaintiffs’ suit and standing earlier this year on March 7. The Trump administration continued to push its case late Tuesday night, filing a motion with the U.S. District Court of Oregon to dismiss the case because of a lack of standing, or the ability of the plaintiff to show clearly that they have been harmed by another’s actions. Standing also refers to whether the court has proper jurisdiction to make a ruling in the case. The administration’s motion came paired with another requesting summary judgement in the case. A summary judgement from a judge is often requested in cases of petty crime and civil suits with small amounts at stake. Judge Ann Aiken, who is presiding over the case, is not…

Read the full story

Who Is This ‘MS-13 Gang’ the Media and Democrats Are Defending?

Admin
Hooman

By Natalia Castro   Since the 2016 election, President Donald Trump has waged war on gangs within the U.S., most notably, the violent MS-13. For nearly 40 years, MS-13 has grown across the United States and Central American to become one of the deadliest gangs in the world. To understand the best method of combatting their continued rise, we must first understand who these people are and how they have grown to take over American cities. What began in the 1970s as a group of low-level drug users in Los Angeles emerged into a violent and satanic group in the early 1980s. Dara Lind of Vox Media explains, the LAPD’s first reference to the group was of the “Mara Salvatrucha Stoners,” but as Civil War in El Salvador and conflict with Nicaragua intensified it brought waves of illegal immigrants hardened from escaping violence in their home country. Immigrants from El Salvador flooded areas dominated by Mexican-American gangs and used brutal tactics, such as machete killings, to take control over the area and expand. The BBC of April 2017 reported that  U.S. intelligence data suggested the gang has spread to 46 states and maintains an international presence of at least 60,000 members. The group operates…

Read the full story

Identity Politics Is Now Undermining Science

Admin
JPL Scientists

by Michael Liccione   The prestige of science in our culture is well-earned. That scientists discover truths (or at least serviceable approximations to truths) is undeniable. The evidence for that is how successfully scientific findings have been applied for centuries as technology, which has improved life greatly for countless people. Sound science depends on methodologies that are as objective as possible, in the sense of being designed to minimize various forms of bias. Through objective methodologies we can discover what is really the case, versus what we want or expect to be the case. It’s how science corrects its errors over time and makes progress. But scientific progress is now threatened by a new form of ideology. This time around it’s not religious ideology, but political. It’s not news that identity politics and two of its intellectual pillars—the push for “diversity” and the theory of “intersectionality”—have strongly influenced the practice of the social sciences. A good deal of the peer-reviewed literature in sociology, political science, and even psychology is now produced from that perspective, and amounts to political advocacy. This decline in the objectivity of the social sciences is seen by many as a virtue, because the bias is seen as favoring the right sorts…

Read the full story

Trump Issues Commercial Space Policy Directive on Eve of Anniversary of JFK’s Space Program Speech

Admin

by Ginny Montalbano   President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a space policy directive, calling for “updating and refocusing” those policies in a bid to promote innovation and modernize American commercial space policy. The White House said the move “reforms America’s commercial space regulatory framework, ensuring our place as a leader in space commerce.” This is the second space policy directive the president has issued, after taking into account recommendations made by the National Space Council. Trump revived the council, which disbanded in 1993. His first directive, signed on Dec. 11, ordered a restart for manned missions to the moon and future manned missions to Mars. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] Space is a topic that Trump frequently references. He has discussed his hopes for future space exploration on multiple occasions—even contemplating a military “space force.” It dovetails with the vision of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who shares the president’s interest in space exploration. During his 2012 presidential run, he spoke of routine flights to Mars and envisioned base camps on the moon. Gingrich, who spoke at The Heritage Foundation this week, discussed the…

Read the full story

Commentary: Delusional Democrats’ Blue Wave Found Only at the Beach This Weekend

Admin
Donald Trump rally

by Jeffery Rendall   Heading into Memorial Day weekend perhaps it’s fitting to step back and reassess the political situation in American politics today. The weather is warm, the economy is good and gas prices are still low enough for Americans to feel confident hitting the road for the three-day holiday with the reassurance they can spend a few bucks and not blow a gaping hole in their family budgets. The Trump tax cuts are taking effect and many families will likely be sharing their windfall with retailers, recreational providers and the hospitality industry very soon. In other words, life is good. Not everything’s about what’s happening in Washington these days. President Donald Trump’s approval ratings remain mired in the low 40’s – but that’s not bad considering it’s higher than for most of the three years he’s been in politics. As of earlier this week the generic congressional ballot showed Democrats with a solid (though shrinking) lead of D+4 and political experts seemingly revise their forecasts for the fall elections every day (note: The Dems’ lead completely vanished in the Reuters poll.) Conservatives are heartened by the mostly rightward direction of the Trump administration and Republicans are optimistic they’ll at least survive this November.…

Read the full story