Day: August 15, 2018

Trump Revokes Security Clearance of Former CIA Director John Brennan

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Brennan, Rice, Comey, Clapper

The security clearance of a former Central Intelligence Agency director has been revoked by U.S. President Donald Trump, who said in a statement that John Brennan has been sowing “division and chaos” about his administration. The clearances of other former officials also are under review, including those of former National Intelligence Director James Clapper, former FBI Director James Comey, former Obama administration National Security Adviser Susan Rice, former National Security Agency Director Michael Hayden and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. “Security clearances for those who still have them may be revoked, and those who have already their lost their security clearance may not be able to have it reinstated,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said to reporters on Wednesday, reading out the statement in the president’s name. Sarah Sanders Reads Trump Statement Revoking Clearances Sanders, responding to reporters’ questions, denied that Brennan and others are being singled out because they are critics of Trump. The president’s statement accuses Brennan of “erratic conduct and behavior” that “has tested and far exceeded the limits of any professional courtesy that may have been due to him.” It also accuses Brennan of “a history that calls into question his objectivity and credibility.”…

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Hambrick Family Attorney Goes Off the Rails in WTN Interview on Police Shooting

Jason M. Reynolds

WTN radio’s Dan Mandis tried to hold a reasoned debate with the attorney representing the family of a man who was shot and killed by Metro Nashville Police last month. Mandis hosted attorney Joy Kimbrough on his Super Talk 99.7 program Monday. The audio is available here. Kimbrough represents the family of Daniel Hambrick. Video shows Metro Officer Andrew Delke shooting and killing Hambrick as he was running away on July 26, News Channel 5 said. The video is available here on the Nashville Scene. The surveillance video obtained from nearby Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School shows the shooting near the intersection of 17th Avenue North and Jo Johnston Avenue on the evening of July 26, the Scene said. Criminal history Hambrick had several pending serious criminal charges at the time he was shot, Fox 17 News said. His prior convictions include felony aggravated robbery, misdemeanor assault, possession or casual exchange, felon in possession of a weapon, drugs in a drug-free school zone, resisting arrest and more. [pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Daniel-Hambrick-Arrest-History.pdf” title=”Daniel Hambrick Arrest History”]   On the rap sheet, the following initials mean: PEND-pending DROS- Dismissed request of the state GLC-Guilty of Lesser Charge DIS- Dismissed GUI-Guilty CONC-Concluded Mayor David Briley last…

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Gravis Poll Says Lee Leading Dean by 11; Blackburn Over Bredesen by 4

Steve Gill
Phil Bredesen, Marsha Blackburn, Bill Lee, Karl Dean

A new post-primary poll conducted by Gravis Marketing shows the Tennessee Republican candidates for Governor and Senate leading their Democratic Party opponents. The poll of likely November voters indicates that Bill Lee has an 11 point margin over Karl Dean, with 9% uncertain, in the Governor’s race. In the Senate battle to fill the seat of retiring Senator Bob Corker, Marsha Blackburn leads Phil Bredesen by a 48-44 margin with 8% uncertain. [pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GRAVITAS_Tennessee-August-12-2018-v2.pdf”] The poll surveyed surveyed 620 likely voters between Aug. 9 and 11. Polls by Gravis Marketing have not always been considered among the most reliable in political circles. In fact, they have been identified as the worst polling company in America by some. Based upon the relatively low approval numbers for President Donald Trump in this poll, 54% approval in a state he carried with over 60% of the vote, and 79% approval among Tennessee Republicans when other state and national polls have shown him with approval ratings in the mid to high 80s among his party, the Gravis Poll may be showing less support for the Republican candidates than they actually have. Nevertheless, there are some interesting tidbits within the data. Both Blackburn and Lee…

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DesJarlais: New Federal Defense Act Will Help Tennessee

Chris Butler
Scott DesJarlais

U.S. Congressman Scott DesJarlais said he has inserted measures into the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act that will give more aid to Middle Tennessee’s Aerospace and Defense Technology Corridor. According to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Tennessee’s aerospace cluster includes 52 companies, including the Arnold Engineering Development Complex. The region also has advanced research centers and manufacturers that supply the U.S. military and commercial enterprises with state-of-the-art equipment. President Donald Trump signed the NDAA into law this week. The NDAA sets yearly policy at the federal Department of Defense. “In terms of Tennessee, there are all kinds of military bases and service members across the state who are interested in national security,” said Brendan Thomas, spokesman for DesJarlais. “In terms of what the congressman is doing, this is the area through Middle Tennessee and parts of Alabama and Kentucky, known as the Aerospace Tech Corridor. This is where there are bases and private enterprises on the forefront of hypersonic and nuclear research. He directed his energy into those endeavors.” Among the beneficiaries are Fort Campbell, the research facilities at the University of Tennessee Tullahoma, and the nuclear research facilities in Oak Ridge. The 2019 NDAA will also…

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Nashville Schools Mum on Security Director Under Investigation

Chris Butler
Jimmy Wheeler

Metro Nashville Public Schools’ Director of School Security Jimmy Wheeler is on administrative leave, according to two news stations, and no one cares to say why. School system officials sent Wheeler a letter last week informing him he may not return to his workplace. He may not contact employees. He also may not attend work-related events while on leave, according to Nashville NBC affiliate WSMV. WSMV is thus far unable to find out why, exactly, this happened. Nashville’s CBS affiliate News Channel 5 doesn’t know the answer either, other than to cite “inappropriate conduct.” Nashville Metro School System spokeswoman Dawn Rutledge did not return The Tennessee Star’s repeated requests for comment on the matter Monday. The school board’s policies, meanwhile, do not seem to address under what circumstances a school district employee gets put on administrative leave. According to News Channel 5, school system officials made Wheeler their director of security in 2013. Before that, he was an officer with the Metro Nashville Police Department for 11 years. According to a 2013 school system newsletter, Wheeler brought more than 25 years of law enforcement experience to the job. He also had 14 years of supervisory experience before coming to the…

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Bredesen Claims He Is More ‘Sophisticated’ Than Rural Americans

Jason M. Reynolds
Phil Bredesen

U.S. Sen. candidate Phil Bredesen released a campaign ad on Tuesday that was filmed outside his grandmother’s American flag-clad house touting his humble roots growing up among “secretaries, nurses, factory workers, and small business owners.” He pledged to stop educated Washington elites from telling Tennesseans how to live. Last week, in a video interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Bredesen said he is more “sophisticated” than rural voters. A clip shows him saying that when he attends family reunions in his native Upstate New York, he experiences “a culture that is different.” The Harvard graduate estimates 70 percent of his extended family voted for Trump but “are not crazy or anything.” Around the 1 minute mark, he says he has one foot planted in that world and one foot in a “more sophisticated” world. He touts his experience at an Ivy League college and his work as mayor, governor and CEO of a public company. Bredesen, the former Nashville mayor and Tennessee governor, is running for retiring Sen. Bob Corker’s seat. He will face U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) on Nov. 6. The Tennessee Star reported recently that while Bredesen claims to be a working stiff, he would become…

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Commentary: There Is Nothing ‘Right’ Or Conservative About Neo-Nazis

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Dinesh D'Souza

by George Rasley   The establishment media, especially CNN, MSNBC and various other fake news purveyors have been working overtime to sell the idea that Neo-Nazis are part of the conservative movement and that the racism and hate they display is a pervasive sickness in American culture and politics. No matter what label Neo-Nazis put on themselves, there’s nothing “right” or conservative about their ideas or their leaders. Indeed, as Dinesh D’Souza proved through his book and new movie, “Death of a Nation,” the ideas propounded by such white supremacist leaders Jason Kessler and Richard Spencer are thoroughly grounded in Leftist and Socialist ideology. As D’Souza explained in a recent C-SPAN interview* “What I am contesting is the meaning of that event [the Charlottesville riot]. Because, from the left’s point of view this was right wing white supremacy, and that was the whole point for Trump to condemn it. I deny that. I deny that, and I deny it, based on a close analysis of who was there and who these white supremacists are, and in this book, “Death of a Nation, I go through the list.” “Jason Kessler, the founder, the organizer of – of Charlottesville, turns out to be…

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Reports of Election Site Hacking Rankle Florida Officials

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voting machine

Child’s play or a signs of a serious security problem in one of the nation’s swing states? That’s the question confronting Florida election officials who are pushing back against reports that an 11-year-old hacked a replica of the state’s election website. Multiple media outlets over the weekend reported that children at a hacking conference in Las Vegas were able to easily hack into a version of the website that reports election results to the public. An 11-year-old boy got into Florida’s site within 10 minutes, while an 11-year-old girl did it in 15 minutes, according to the organizers of the event called DEFCON Voting Machine Hacking Village. State officials contend there’s no way that the replica used by hackers is an actual representation of the state’s website. “This was a mock site with likely very few, if any, security measures in place,” said Sarah Revell, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Ken Detzner. “It is not a real-life scenario and it offers a wholly inaccurate representation of the security of Florida’s elections websites, online databases and voting systems that does not take into account the state-of-the-art security measures the Florida Department of State has in place to prevent any possible…

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Contrary to Nervous Nellie ‘Economic Experts,’ the Trump Economy is Booming with Elevated Aluminum and Steel Prices

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Donald Trump

By Robert Romano   One of the conventional wisdoms to do with the tariffs and duties levied by the Trump administration on steel, aluminum and lumber is that they will lead to higher prices and inflation, hurting producers and consumers, thus stunting economic growth. For example, billionaire Charles Koch warned on July 30 that the tariffs would lead to a recession. So far, however, that does not appear to be the case. In the second quarter of 2018, the U.S. economy boomed at an inflation-adjusted 4.1 percent annualized. And the latest consumer and producer prices, taking into account the period when many of the tariffs were levied, do not show the predicted price hikes. Consumer inflation is up 0.8 percent the past six months, below the Fed’s 2 percent 12-month target. As for producer prices, if you look at finished goods for final demand by commodity less energy and food, you see a 1.44 percent increase the last six months, averaging 0.24 percent a month. That is slightly below the historical average of 0.27 percent a month dating back to 1974. Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning commented on the numbers, saying, “the six-month tracking demonstrates that the economic growth spurt generated through President Trump’s…

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Education ‘Equity’ Professor Wants Mathematics To Honor ‘Other-Than-Human Persons’

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by Rob Shimshock   An Illinois professor who focuses on “equity” in mathematics will present her plan to redefine the field of study to oppose “objects, truths, and knowledge” at a 2019 conference. University of Illinois education professor Dr. Rochelle Gutierrez will give her talk, titled “Mathematx: Towards a way of Being,” at the Mathematics Education and Society 10th International Conference in India during January and February 2019. “The relationship between humans, mathematics, and the planet has been one steeped too long in domination and destruction,” Gutierrez notes in her presentation’s description. “I argue for a movement against objects, truths, and knowledge towards a way of being in the world that is guided by first principles — mathematx.” “This shift from thinking of mathematics as a noun to mathematx as a verb holds potential for honouring our connections with each other as human and other-than-human persons, for balancing problem solving with joy, and for maintaining critical bifocality at the local and global level.” Gutierrez focuses on the effects that class, race and language have on learning. Her University of Illinois faculty profile claims that teachers must not only possess “content knowledge,” but also “political knowledge,” according to her research. The professor received grants from the…

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Leftist State Supreme Court Judge Impeached in West Virginia Announces Retirement

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Robin Davis

A Democratic Supreme Court justice in the state of West Virginia said hours after she was impeached Tuesday that she was retiring, triggering a special election for her replacement and denying the Republican governor a chance to name her successor. The citizens of West Virginia now “will be afforded their constitutional right to elect my successor in November,” Justice Robin Davis said as she announced her departure at the state capital. Davis announced her resignation after being impeached for committing wrongful acts, including spending $500,000 on office renovations. The House of Delegates voted Monday to impeach all four remaining justices over spending issues. They will be brought to trial in the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, as is the House. Davis said their impeachment was a travesty of justice and a brazen attempt by one branch of government to seize control over another. Justice Menis Ketchum retired earlier this year. Any of the three remaining justices who are considering resigning must do so by the Tuesday deadline in order for their replacements to be decided in a November special election. Gov. Jim Justice will appoint replacements who will serve until the election. All four justices were impeached for failing…

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Think Tank: Tax Incentives Hurt Small Business Owners in Tennessee

Chris Butler
small business

Tennessee’s economy would thrive even without local and state governments dishing out tax incentives to already wealthy corporations. What’s more, these tax incentives penalize Tennessee’s small business owners. This from the spokesman for the Nashville-based free market think tank The Beacon Center of Tennessee. “Simply put, corporate handouts benefit rich millionaires at the expense of small business owners and taxpayers,” said Beacon spokesman Mark Cunningham. Cunningham cited an original documentary Beacon released last year. That documentary, titled “Rigged,” was about what the think tank described as the malignant effects of crony capitalism in Tennessee. Under crony capitalism, there are mutually advantageous relationships between government officials and certain people in business. This happens often at the expense of other business owners. This also often gives certain business owners an upper hand over his or her competitors. The “Rigged” documentary featured two Memphis furniture store owners who had to compete against the city’s new IKEA store, which got tens of millions of dollars from the city government. “What ended up happening was that one of those business owners has since gone out of business,” Cunningham said. “Everyone can look at this practice and say ‘This is not fair. This is not what…

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The Government May Require Almond Milk, Soy Milk to Use Non-Milk Names

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Dairy Cow

by John-Michael Seibler and Taylor Chaffetz   If Washington politicians, bureaucrats, and lobbyists have their way, consumers of common non-dairy “milks”—such as almond milk and soy milk—may soon have to buy those products under obscure labeling such as “plant juice” and “tree-nut beverage.” In another unfortunate instance of overcriminalization, after efforts to make it a crime to label non-dairy products as “milk” stalled in the Senate, the Food and Drug Administration may now be trying to do through regulatory means what Congress has been unwilling or unable to do through legislation. That’s an utter shame—pun intended—especially for an administration otherwise committed to sensible deregulation. Last year, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., introduced the “Defending Against Imitations and Replacements of Yogurt, Milk, and Cheese To Promote Regular Intake of Dairy Everyday Act”—the “DAIRY PRIDE Act.” That would make it a federal crime to use the term “milk” on the label of any beverage not derived from “lacteal secretion … obtained by the complete milking of one or more hooved mammals.” The bill’s main premise is that plant-based products labeled as “milk” mislead the average American into thinking that it either comes from cows or has the same nutritional content as a cow’s milk. It also suggests that…

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Socialists Very Active in Tennessee Democrat Party Politics

Chris Butler
Julie Gautreau

Socialists in Tennessee apparently have even more influence over the Tennessee Democratic Party than previously believed, including at the state level. Julie Gautreau (pictured), who represents the Knoxville chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, said as much to The Tennessee Star Tuesday. “A lot of DSA members are members of political parties,” Gautreau said. “I don’t have the statistics, but a lot of them are Democrats. We have members of our DSA chapter who are very active in the local Democratic Party and also in state Democratic Party politics.” Gautreau did not name names. The Knoxville chapter has about 165 members, she said. Gautreau said she did not know how many DSA members Tennessee has statewide. The DSA, she went on, came into existence in April 2016. Even though many members support Democrats it is still a non-partisan organization, she said. Members of the Tennessee Democratic Party did not return a request for comment Tuesday. Neither did anyone from the campaigns of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen or Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean. A recent press release from the Tennessee Republican Party, however, had something to say about this new breed of Democrat. “Democrats Karl Dean and Phil…

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Trump Tax Cuts At Risk: Democrats Conspire to Repeal While Record Low Unemployment Surges

Julie Carr
Steve Gill

Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill discussed on Monday’s edition of The Gill Report – broadcast on Knoxville’s 92.3 FM WETR – how Democrats are conspiring to repeal the Trump tax cuts while record low unemployment among Hispanic and African-Americans surge and the federal government rakes in a record amount of individual tax revenue for 2018. “You know we’ve been hearing from the left ever since the Trump tax cuts were passed by the Republican House and Senate with no help at all from the Democrats,” Gill began.  “Democrats – including Democrats like Phil Bredesen who is running for the US Senate – declaring that they were mere crumbs; that they would only help the wealthy and that most Americans wouldn’t see the benefits.” He added: Now keep in mind that the tax cuts for most Americans haven’t gone into effect yet. They haven’t even gone into effect, because they will go fully into effect next year. The tax cuts have been cut for the income earned this year but the benefits the tax payers will see is when they file their tax returns next April 15th. And yet your already seeing companies give bigger bonuses your seeing pay raises you’re…

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